Nunzio Says His Famous WWE Moment With The Undertaker Was Completely Unplanned

By Jitu Jangir

August 25, 2026 at 9:51 PM IST

11.1K

3 min read

Nunzio Says His Famous WWE Moment With The Undertaker Was Completely Unplanned

Nunzio has explained how one of his most remembered WWE moments with The Undertaker happened without any advance planning. The former Cruiserweight Champion said his frightened escape from the ring was a natural reaction that WWE later began repeating at live events.

Nunzio faced The Undertaker on the June 19, 2003 episode of SmackDown. Chuck Palumbo and Johnny Stamboli accompanied their Full Blooded Italians partner, but their presence did little to improve his chances against The Deadman.

At the beginning of the match, Nunzio repeatedly offered his leg to The Undertaker in an attempt to begin wrestling. The Undertaker suddenly moved toward him and shouted, causing Nunzio to jump over the top rope and escape to the floor. The moment continues to circulate among WWE fans more than 20 years later. Speaking with Chris Van Vliet, Nunzio explained that it was not discussed before the match.

“It’s always the things that you don’t plan on doing,” Nunzio said. “It wasn’t a plan. I was feeding him my leg, and then he just ‘oomphed’ at me, and I just dove out.”

Nunzio believes they may have first tried the interaction at a WWE live event. After seeing that it worked, they added it to other matches before finally using it on television.

“I think it was a house show first, and then when we started doing the TVs, once you do it on TV, you can’t do it anymore,” he explained. “It was just natural. It just happened. I did it, he reacted, I jumped, and then we made that a spot on the house shows.”

Another remembered moment came when The Undertaker lifted Nunzio for the Last Ride. While being held above the ring, Nunzio performed the sign of the cross before being driven into the mat. That reaction was also unplanned.

“That was a spur-of-the-moment thing,” Nunzio said. “I never did that on a house show. I just did it. I didn’t plan it. It just happened.”

Nunzio recalled that Pat Patterson praised the gesture when he returned backstage, even though Nunzio had not realized it would receive such a response. He believes wrestling moments can connect more strongly when they happen naturally instead of being forced into a match.