Shaquille O’Neal Blasted Undertaker’s Theme Song Pre Game As An Intimidation Tactic, Says Adam Lefkoe

Joseph Galizia | 13/02/2025
Mark Calaway/The Undertaker(L) and Shaquille O'Neal(R)

Shaquille O’Neal is a well-documented pro-wrestling fan and used to use the theme song of a famous WWE superstar to enter the arena during his days with the Los Angeles Lakers. Given just how intimidating of a physical presence Shaq is, the Undertaker’s theme suits him quite well. The Diesel spoke about this tactic during a recent edition of his “Big Podcast with Shaq.”

The four-time NBA Champion mentioned on the program that he would listen to “anything Death Row” to get him in the proper mindset before a game. His co-host, Adam Lefkoe, reminded Shaq that whenever he comes to set for NBA on TNT, he enters to the Undertaker’s theme. Lefkoe then asked why Shaq would also play the Hall of Fame wrestler’s theme when he was a Laker.

“Everybody know I was coming to kill em. I never warmed up, never went out there with the team, never shot anything. Then when there was six minutes you’d hear that ‘gong,’ then I’d look at the other bench like, ‘It’s going down today,'” Shaq stated. 

Shaq later reiterated that the choice to play Undertaker’s theme was to intimidate his opponents. This lines up exactly with the type of aura the Undertaker had inside a wrestling ring. His ‘dark forces’ persona is one of the biggest wrestling culture crossovers of all time.

It wasn’t just in a basketball setting that Shaq would grace us with the tune of the Deadman. The 52-year-old started his DJ Diesel set at the 2022 EDC event with the world-famous gong before tearing the roof down for an hour.

Basketball fans may also not be aware of Shaq’s skill inside a pro-wrestling ring. In 2016, he entered the Andre The Giant Battle Royale at WrestleMania 32, where he went toe-to-toe with the Big Show. Shaq further proved his love of the rasslin business when he wrestled Cody Rhodes in All Elite Wrestling (AEW) in 2021, delivering a powerbomb and even getting sent through a table.

The Undertaker famously retired from wrestling in 2020 after a historic 20-plus year wrestling career in WWE.

Blasting wrestling music wasn’t the only ritual Shaq had prior to a game

Shaquille O’Neal had several unique rituals before getting locked in for an NBA showdown. He told Allen Iverson all about it on an episode of “The Big podcast” back at the beginning of 2024. The Diesel revealed that he would work in a little pre-game nap, which was instrumental toward him feeling good on the floor — even if he was out the night before.

“That was my thing. Stay out all night…till about 4… get up at 10. So that’s five hours right there. Go to shoot around, mess around. Come back…two turkey clubs, fries, and a pineapple soda…and then I’d sleep the 4 hours. If I get that three hours before the game, no matter what I did the night before…I’m killing somebody,” Shaq said. 

‘The Answer’ agreed wholeheartedly with Shaq. Both men were of the mindset that basketball should always be fun. What neither did fine fun, was having to play a noon game after arriving home at 2 am. Despite all of this, an underslept Iverson or a fatigued Shaq could still put up numbers during their heyday.

Post Edited By: Samir Mehdi
Big Podcast Shaq Shaquille O' Neal The Undertaker

About the author

Joseph Galizia

Joseph is a Las Vegas based actor and circus performer. For the last seven years he's had the pleasure of covering sports for multiple outlets, including the Lifestyles section of Sports Illustrated. In that time, he's conducted over 50 interviews with athletes, filmmakers, and company founders to further cement his footprint in the journalism world. He's excited to bring that skillset to the SportsRush, where he'll be covering the NBA news cycle.

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