WWE’s ‘The Undertaker’. A Lean Startup.

The lights go off, the church bell rings…goosebumps. The phenom walks in. Nearly 7 feet tall, head down, looks up. He is the perfect blend of dark eeriness and ice cold “coolness”. It was all an act, but I can bet my bottom dollar that every opponent felt some fear.

The Undertaker will no doubt go down in the annals of wrestling as one of the greatest entertainers of all time. As he retires, I look back at his career. I am immediately taken back to my memories as an immigrant 4-year-old Indian boy in the US, who was completely awestruck with the emergence of the Deadman in 1990.

As a current entrepreneur, I can’t help but feel that The Undertaker’s career was a perfect example of a Lean startup (hear me out!).

Problem validation

The Undertaker emerged in arguably the greatest generation of professional wrestlers. No disrespect to the current crop. But when you have the likes of Hulk Hogan, Macho Man Randy Savage, The Ultimate Warrior, Bret “the Hitman” Hart, Shawn Michaels, and eventually, The Rock, Triple H, and Stone Cold — you are in an extremely crowded industry. But there was a problem. People wanted more than the big muscle, bad-mouthing, high energy, sunglass-wearing superstars.

As entertainment, think of WWE as Netflix. You have the dramas and the comedies. But some people want a little bit of darkness.

Solution Validation

WWE (WWF at the time) had dabbled with wrestlers with an occult/supernatural storyline prior to The Undertaker. But it was never a mainstay. However, the Undertaker joined WWE in its Golden Era. This was when Vince McMahon was consolidating and growing the entertainment value of wrestling. And as entertainment, it was clear that people preferred different genres. A supernatural storyline was missing.

Disruption Strategy

To disrupt an existing industry, you start with a “lonely place on the strategic frontier” (Ching, 2018). You try to find a niche of customers who are being underserved. Then you rely on network effects and iterative product development to capture greater market share. High Energy, testosterone-driven, all-American superstars were a dime a dozen. Undertaker managed to break that mould and cater to an audience that was looking for a different genre of superstars.

Partnerships

Why did the stars of the TV show, Friends, each charge the same salary per episode? The reason was simple. Their collective partnership was what gave the show value. The whole was greater than the sum of their individual parts. If one of the co-stars left, there was likely to be a disproportionate drop in programme value (and thus salary paid to the other stars). The short point is, having the right partnerships is critical. And boy oh boy, was Paul Bearer the right early partnership for Taker. White faced, urn in hand and a shrill “Oh Yes…” The Undertaker’s rise had a lot do with the partnership with Paul Bearer.

Build-Measure-Learn

WWE was very quick to learn that the eeriness of The Undertaker was a crowd puller. They used this to build his character with Paul Bearer and the Ministry of Darkness. There was a growth in wrestlers with supernatural storylines. Be it Papa Shango, Edge, Christian, Viscera, and Taker’s “half-brother”, Kane. There was even another Undertaker!

Experimentation and Iterative development

WWE experimented with The Undertaker. There was always a certain “coolness” to his dark character. And the WWE leveraged this “coolness” with his stints as American Badass and Big Evil. But let’s be honest, it was the way he played Taker that made him so damn cool! WWE learned this, and we ultimately saw the return of the Deadman.

UX/UI and Play on Emotion

Why was The Undertaker so much more successful than other wrestlers, including those with dark storylines? I think it’s simply the fact that like any good startup, The Undertaker played on emotion and the “UX/UI” was phenomenal. Everything was spot on - from the theme music to the smoke, to the slow but menacing entry, to the body bags he would carry for opponents, to the rolling of eyes, to the tightrope walking, to Paul Bearer! And to finish it off, he was an incredible performer and wrestler. The Buried alive match with Mankind, Hell in a cell with Triple H, and the incredible matches with Shawn Michaels. Wow!

Well-timed exit

Some will debate with me on this, but I feel his exit was timed well. He was clearly still Taker, but he was not the same as 1990. If he had left any later, chances are, his value would have dropped and I probably wouldn’t have written this blog.

For the 30 years of entertainment — RIP Undertaker, a great Lean Startup. (NB: He is not really dead)

Image Source: WWE