Former WWE star Jimmy Wang Yang sat down with WrestlingNews.co’s “The Velvet Ropes with SoCal Val” to discuss his new autobiography “James Yun: Yun’s Time,” offering an honest and often humorous look back at WWE’s backstage culture.

During the interview, Yang reflected on the often-talked-about “Wrestler’s Court,” a locker room tradition overseen by none other than The Undertaker. When asked if he had ever dealt with the mock system, Yang confirmed The Undertaker’s dominant presence. “He was definitely the leader of the locker room. He was the head judge of wrestlers court,” he said.

Yang explained that despite its intimidating reputation, the whole thing was more theatrical than serious. He described it as a room full of wrestlers acting as though they were in a real court, with The Undertaker presiding at the centre of it all. “Those things are just so ridiculous, just like backstage drama. Go in the room and everybody’s acting like they were in the courthouse, and the Undertaker’s there,” he recalled.

According to Yang, there was also a very simple way most wrestlers managed to escape punishment. “Most times they would get out of everything just, they would just bring Undertaker a bottle of Jack Daniels and, okay, well, courts dismissed,” he said.

Despite the character’s aura, Yang only had warm things to say about the man behind the persona. “I love Mark. He was always awesome to me,” he said, describing The Undertaker as a “big teddy bear” once you get past the intimidating exterior.

Host SoCal Val shared a memory of a fan referring to The Undertaker as “Mark” during a Q&A session in Germany and how frightening his reaction was. Yang nodded, acknowledging the presence that came with him: “6’10”, tattoos, everything.”

The conversation then shifted to the topic of “ribs” on the road, with Yang admitting that the pranks in his era could be downright brutal. “I’m old… the ribs back in the day were, like, brutal. It’s not like, ‘Haha,’ like, ‘Oh my God. Did you really do that?’” he said.

He recalled one extreme example from a European tour involving former WWE ring announcer Justin Roberts. “I remember being in Europe, and… they took Justin Roberts passport before the flight,” Yang revealed. The incident occurred at an airport in London. “We’re in London actually… at the airport, and they… take his passport,” he continued.

The prank left Roberts stranded in another country for days. “He was stuck there for like, two or three days,” Yang said. “They took his passport back to the States.”

Yang used this story to underline just how severe backstage culture could be during that time. “That is bad,” SoCal Val remarked, and Yang agreed.