Michelle McCool opens up about The Undertaker only she knows

Former WWE superstar Michelle McCool, the wife of “The Undertaker” Mark Calaway, talked exclusively with The Post ahead of the debut episode of “Undertaker: The Last Ride.” The five-part docuseries debuts Sunday after the Money in the Bank pay-per-view on WWE Network.(Approximately 10 p.m.). (Edited for clarity and length) Q: Why was this the right …

Former WWE superstar Michelle McCool, the wife of “The Undertaker” Mark Calaway, talked exclusively with The Post ahead of the debut episode of “Undertaker: The Last Ride.” The five-part docuseries debuts Sunday after the Money in the Bank pay-per-view on WWE Network.(Approximately 10 p.m.).

(Edited for clarity and length)

Q: Why was this the right time for a documentary where we finally really pull back the curtain on The Undertaker and get to see Mark Calaway?

I think it’s something that’s always intriguing to the fans because he has protected his character for so many years and as you’ll see in ‘The Last Ride’ when you get a few episodes in, you never know when your last match is going to be. It’s kind of the internal struggle of his. So he kind of wanted to pull back the curtain and let the fans get a peek to who the man behind the character is.

Q: What do you want people to take away from watching this?

I think one of things that I want people to see is his passion for the business is undeniable and people see that, but I don’t think they quite understand the capacity of not just Mark but what all of the wrestlers put their bodies through. With Mark doing this for 30-plus years at this point, having 15-plus surgeries, both of his hips replaced, I don’t think they truly understand what it takes for him to get prepared to go out and wrestle a match and he does it all for the love of the business.

Q: Going into his match at WrestleMania 33 with Roman Reigns, do you have any idea that that could have potentially been his last?

Look, we joke that he’s retired for the last 10 years.

Q: There was just this look of relief on his face after that match in the documentary. That maybe he did actually believe that was it.

I think in his mind, I think he really did. I think he thought that was it. However, I have seen and heard him say that so many times. The only thing that made me go, ‘hmm’ tonight could be a little different was he kissed me on screen. Not because he just kissed me, but because he broke that character in front of the world. He might actually be serious about it this time.

Q: At the very end of the episode, we see you and Mark sitting on the couch watching that match back and there seems to be a disappointment from him. Does he go back after all of them now and kind of gauge them?

No. Not at all. He actually rarely watches his matches back. That was the first time he had watched that. We sat down together and did it. But he rarely watches his matches back.

He’s so hard on himself as is, but he really wanted to dive in and see, is that how I want to see Undertaker’s last match. And without sitting there and watching it and kind of really digging in and evaluating, he wouldn’t have been able to do that. He just wouldn’t have been able to get the closure that he needed.

Q: No one knows when his last match will be, but it feels like he’s waiting for the perfect moment, maybe not a perfect match, but that moment to say, “That’s how I want to go out”, maybe not even knowing it’s his last match going in?

I think that’s what all the performers do. You want to go out with something you’re proud of and he’s no different. He wants to go out … he is a perfectionist. I don’t think any match will get as close to perfection as both years at WrestleMania between he and Shawn Michaels, but you can only look back and say what if or should I have ended there? The reality is he didn’t, so we can’t even look at that. But he does want to go out feeling worthy of what he put on and that’s just coming from expectations from himself.

He is harder on himself. I tell him your legacy is going to live on forever and it’s not going to be tarnished by one match, one missed move, one missed step. But he wants to go out proud. He wants to go out with the closure that I gave it all I got, I put on a good show for the fans and I’m good walking away.

Q: Has he watched the Boneyard match?

He has not watched the Boneyard match.

Q: Have you watched the Boneyard match?

I couldn’t be in attendance, but I watched it like the rest of the word the night it aired?

Q: It was just you and family I guess?

It was just me and family. The only other match he’s watched back is WrestleMania against Brock [Lesnar], but it took probably a year. He only watched it back because he was so badly concussed to see if he could remember the match.

Q: What was he doing while you were watching the Boneyard match?

We were in Florida with family. He was probably just chilling and resting with stitches in his arm and just kind of you know, you get pretty beat up in those matches so he was just chilling in the other room.

Q: What was your takeaway from the Boneyard match?

I thought it was super cool. It’s something we haven’t even seen. That whole cinematic feel was … I didn’t know what to expect, but I thought it turned out neat. I think everyone was super impressed with how it came out, including Mark and A.J. (Styles).

Q: Do you think that that style is something that could extend his career even more and allow him to take less of a beating on his body?

Oh gosh, I don’t know.

Q: It’s something that really got fans excited because they started booking dream matches after that?

Of course. It’s probably the same fans that were saying he probably shouldn’t have any more WrestleMania matches last year and now they’re like, ‘wait a minute he could have 18 more boneyard matches.’ (Laughs)

Q: But do you think it’s a vehicle he could use to do some cool things down the road?

I mean if he wanted to, could he, of course. He can do anything that he puts his mind to that he wants to do.

Q: You were actually a pretty important part of that storyline.

Yeah, what did I do?

Q: You were kind of portrayed as this manipulative kind of wife.

No kidding. First it was (John) Cena now it was (Styles).

Q: When the streak from broken, did you know it was gonna happen?

I did know late in that afternoon that was gonna happen. I couldn’t believe it. I don’t think it needed to happen. But, Mark was fine with it. People don’t understand he’s gonna do business. He understands that business is business.

Actually I remember a few years prior that WrestleMania (24) versus Edge they talked about Edge breaking the streak and it was Edge that was actually like, ‘That makes zero sense. I don’t want to do that. Why would I do that? The fans already love him. What’s it gonna do for Edge?’ It was Edge that went to bat for the streak. I know they had talked about it prior to the match with Brock, but you know it happened. It’s fine, it’s not like it’s an end-all, be-all for Mark by any stretch of the imagination.

Q: So the only other time you had heard talk about breaking it was with Edge?

Yeah, that’s the only other time that I’d heard about it. But (it ending) definitely made for some good memes for years to come (Laughs). People’s faces for sure.

Q: He talks a lot in the first episode about some of the doubts and fears he can sometimes take with him into training or into a match. What’s it like watching him do through that and how do you try to help him?

He’s more mentally tough than anybody I’ve ever met. I think a lot of stubbornness plays into effect, too. I speak from experience from that too. But I just always tell him, whatever you want to do I’m here for you. I’ll work out with you. I’ll cook healthy meals, whatever it takes to get you physically emotionally and mentally ready.

Q: What is the process now for him getting ready for a match?

It’s almost like a fighting camp. For so many years other than the last two years. But before that he was literally doing WrestleMania, having a major surgery, doing rehab for that, and then come January he would start getting mentally prepared to start training for WrestleMania.

It’s like and eight-to-10-week process of hard training, eating right, getting in the ring because no matter how much you lift and condition, the ring is just a whole different beast.

Q: One of the matches referenced in that first episode is the one with Goldberg in Saudi Arabia. It felt like it really struck some fear in Mark. What was the emotion for him and you as a family after that match?

That was really scary for me. Obviously knowing the business, as soon as I saw that I texted our doctors. I was like, ‘Is he OK?’ Because it looked bad. You’re centimeters away from doing some real damage. So I knew it was bad. Mark has literally been caught on fire, stood in a pod for 40 minutes and wrestled another 40 minutes. He’s busted up both eye sockets in matches. He normally responds with, ‘I’m good, babe, I’m good.’ So after that match when I talked to him and I think his exact words were, ‘My back is jacked up. My neck is jacked up.’ I was like for him to put that into words and verbally tell me truly how he’s feeling, it was just I couldn’t imagine the pain.

So that was scary, knowing now he’s got to fly so many hours across the world and he had an appearance the next morning when he landed in the States in Boston or somewhere that he’s not gonna say no to. He does that and standing with fans for four to five hours. It was bad. It was scary. I don’t think he realized until this documentary when he saw it again just how close he was to, yeah, yeah.

Q: Has that changed the way he thinks about who he’s going to wrestle now?

Yes and no. Of course, you want to go in there with somebody that’s going to be safe, but I don’t think age is always a factor in that. A.J.’s not one of the youngest guys but he’s dang sure somebody you want to get in the ring with because you know he’ll be safe and put on a heck of a match.

If they need him (Mark) on the card, he’s gonna be sitting by the phone waiting. If Vince (McMahon) calls and he needs to pull him out of the bullpen he’ll be ready go. But it’s not that he’s seeking out opponents or matches?

Q: How much of Mark Calaway the father and husband are we going to see in this documentary?

More than anybody’s ever seen before. You’ll definitely see some real vulnerability in the next few episodes. A side that really gets seen by me. I mean there are some emotional parts that are really touching. I think people will be surprised. I think they will be grateful that they were let in on that.

Q: Lately he’s been a lot more open about talking about things and showing himself on social media. What has the process been like for him? Has it been kind of refreshing for him to not be Undertaker 24/7 in the public eye?

I think just how the world is evolved and him not knowing when he was gonna be finished, but still wanting to do a few appearances here and there, to be with the fans, I think the transition kind of makes sense. So he kind of started showing bits and pieces here and there on social media and not anything crazy obviously because The Undertaker character is still really alive in a lot of ways in Mark Calaway. It was just kind of a natural transition. Obviously you saw the Boneyard match, obviously kind of going to the more American Badass character versus Undertaker.

Q: How active is he on social media? Is he posting pictures? Is he following Twitter?

He’s as active as you would think The Undertaker would be. That is him posting. Half the time he might come in there and (say) ‘Babe, how do you do this? What do I push?’ But, yeah it’s him. He is capable. He’s catching up with the technology word.

Q: Do you miss performing and being part of the business?

I do miss performing and doing the in-ring stuff in front of the fans. There is nothing else like it and I don’t know if I’d want to go back full-time simply because my daughter didn’t like seeing me getting punched and kicked in the face. She’s OK with daddy getting punched and kicked in the face, but she wasn’t real sure about mommy.

Q: What were you most proud of from your WWE run?

I was in that in-between era where we had to fight for what we wanted and we got very little at the time, so it was a constant fight. It makes me proud that we didn’t just fold over. I think we did have a huge part in this whole evolution that happened. Being the first-ever Divas champion, the first one to win the Women’s and Divas championship was really cool. But I think the tag team that Layla and I formed, the whole LayCool run was something really special. It was fun. It was the first true (women’s) tag team that stayed together for a long time until she retired me. I’m proud we were able to get some storylines going in a time that that wasn’t really happening, controversial storylines like that.

Q: You recently spoke up when you were omitted from a WWE photo gallery of some of the top 45 or so women’s wrestlers from the company. Do you feel like sometimes your contributions to the women’s evolution don’t get the credit they deserve?

I know personally a lot of the girls there when this all went down text us and have told me thank you. But I think in the big scheme of things that whole era there from 2004 to, I don’t know, 2010-11 it did get forgotten because it just kind of got glanced over.

But that whole thing it was kind of like everybody who had won a championship before and I’m like, ‘Goodness gracias.’ I did win the Divas championship. I was the first one. I felt that would be worthy. To be honest, that was a culmination of a bunch of things that day and when I saw it I was like, ‘You know what, I normally filter myself 99 percent of the time, but I’m gonna say something this time.’

Q: If you did come back, do you have a dream match?

Everybody has always from Day 1 compared Charlotte and myself, just from stature and I guess looks and athletic ability. I would love to wrestle Charlotte, Becky (Lynch). I’ve love to mix it up with Tamina, Nia (Jax), Naomi. There are so many and that’s what’s so crazy.

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