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By Matthew Couden
Contributing Writer
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WWE star The Undertaker, real name Mark Calaway, is known as a global phenomenon after his illustrious professional wrestling career entertained many fans. However, that doesn't mean he's immune to getting heat from wrestling fans, and that seems especially true now that he's retired.
After retiring as an in-ring performer, Taker launched his "Six Feet Under with Mark Calaway" podcast with co-host Matthew Lyda in 2024. However, their partnership as podcast co-hosts ended when the show went on hiatus in March.
Once "Six Feet Under" returned in June, it was under the WWE & Fanatics podcast network. In addition to that ownership update, The Undertaker's wife, Michelle McCool, replaced Lyda as the podcast's co-host.
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That led to significant backlash towards Taker and criticism for McCool, as some fans felt the WWE legend used his influence as one of the company's all-time biggest legends to secure a job for his wife.
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A WWE Hall of Famer who worked closely with The Undertaker during his career recently reacted to that backlash and gave his thoughts about Taker's situation.
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"What's wrong with helping your wife? What's wrong with that? Is there a problem with that?" Hall of Famer Theodore "Teddy" Long asked during an episode of Sportskeeda Wrestlebinge's "The Wrestling Time Machine."
Long suggested that people were taking it as if Undertaker was "abusing some other talent to make way for his wife," but doubled down that there's nothing wrong with Undertaker guiding her in the business and teaching her how things work.
"That's not Taker's decision. That's WWE's decision whether they wanted to bring the co-host," Long said regarding Matthew Lyda not continuing on the podcast.
Host Mac Davis explained to Teddy that many fans expressed frustration over the podcast's change in co-host and overall flow, which led to McCool receiving a lot of criticism. McCool also replaced former WWE star Mickie James on the television show "LFG," in which Taker also participates.
Long and Davis's co-host, wrestling journalist Bill Apter, said he didn't believe Undertaker would've told WWE to get rid of Lyda and bring in his wife as the co-host, and Long agreed with those sentiments.
While fans might not agree with the decision to replace Lyda with The Undertaker's wife, Lyda told former WWE star Maven Huffman in an interview that there are no issues between him and Taker over the decision.
"I said, ‘Mark, we said something a long time ago… if money ever comes in between us, we’re going to shut the whole thing down… And we’ll forget about all of it.’ And I was like, ‘Dude, there’s nothing business-wise that on my end would ever come between you and I. I was like, ‘This is a podcast, man,'" Lyda recalled.
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