The Undertaker Looks Back On Genesis, Goal Of Ministry Of Darkness Faction In WWE

From October 1998 until April 1999, WWE Hall of Famer The Undertaker led a menacing, occult group known as the Ministry of Darkness. Under The Undertaker's command, the Ministry of Darkness was ordered to carry out sacrifices on the likes of Dennis Knight (rechristened as Mideon), Ryan Shamrock, Ken Shamrock, and even the Ministry's own Christian, albeit the latter two were later stopped. On a recent episode of "Six Feet Under," The Undertaker recalled the initial goal of forming the Ministry of Darkness.

"When you've been on TV for so long, you always run that chance of burnout and wash out and losing interest, so I wanted to take the character even darker, even darker than where it had already been, but in an even more sinister kind of way," Undertaker said. "I wanted to use lots of imagery and symbolism and just really push the envelope to what was going to make people feel uncomfortable. That was my goal – continue to evolve the character."

In addition to preserving and advancing the dark aura of his character, The Undertaker also wanted to elevate talents who had seemingly gotten lost in the shuffle in terms of WWE booking. As such, Undertaker recruited the likes of Bradshaw, Faarooq, The Brood (Edge, Christian, and Gangrel), Viscera, and the aforementioned Mideon. Eventually, The Ministry of Darkness eventually merged with The Corporation — a stable led by WWE authority figures Vince McMahon and Shane McMahon.

"There were guys out there I knew were just floating there in the mix; they were just having matches. They didn't have any storylines going along," Undertaker said. "I was like, 'Well shoot, man, let me take them into and bring them into the Ministry, change their names and then hopefully it might give them a different kind of a rub down the line."

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Six Feet Under" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.