The Undertaker’s 10 Most Shocking Controversies 2

2. Crucifying Austin

What was Vince McMahon thinking? Casting Stone Cold Steve Austin as Jesus Christ and having him crucified by The Undertaker on Monday Night Raw … it was hardly the smartest move in a Christian country, where religious institutions have significant lobbying powers in key corporate players which the WWF were looking to attract for business.
This angle upset the establishment in a big way, religious groups kicked up a fuss and the WWF got bad press as a result. Undertaker was again coming in for criticism, shocking the wider world as a Satanist who was insulting Christian values. The reality is of course very different, Mark Calaway is from god fearing Texas and wife Michelle is a committed Christian.
This wasn’t the first time a wrestling group had tried to imitate the crucifixion of Christ. Over at ECW in 1996, Raven crucified Sandman, sparking a heated reaction which upset several Christian members of the ECW locker room. Kurt Angle, who was attending that show, walked out in disgust. Paul Heyman ended up having to apologise for the incident, claiming he knew nothing about it. The WWF should have really known better.