Bruce Prichard has revealed that The Undertaker was originally set to debut under a different name before WWE ultimately settled on the character fans came to know.
Speaking on Six Feet Under, Bruce Prichard explained that the original concept for the character was “Kane The Undertaker,” with the name inspired by the biblical figure Cain, the first man to commit murder.
“They sent over the drawings of different looks for you to be this dark character, and the coolest one was what we ended up with,” Prichard said. “Pat Patterson said, ‘He looks like an old-fashioned undertaker, like the guys in the Old West who build the coffin and bury the guy.’ I said, ‘Yeah, that’s great.’ But I wanted to call you Kane, because Cain was the first man to commit murder. Cain killed his brother.”
Prichard said he was drawn to the name because of the character’s symbolism.
“In many ways, Cain was the most evil person in biblical lore. Kills his own brother, first man to ever commit murder. I just loved that name, cool, strong name. I loved it so much, I named your brother and my son.”
When Did Bruce Prichard Say The Undertaker’s Name Was Changed?
Bruce Prichard added that the name was used in the weeks leading up to The Undertaker’s debut at Survivor Series 1991 before being dropped.
“So it was going to be Kane The Undertaker. We went three weeks with Kane until we dropped it,” Prichard said. “You were introduced as Kane The Undertaker. We did three weeks of TVs like that. The next TV, three weeks later, we dropped the Kane and you were just The Undertaker. And I said, ‘That’ll never get over. Way too gimmicky.’”
