The Undertaker

The Undertaker

The Undertaker(Bio)

Date Of Birth: 24 March 1965
Real Name: Mark William Calaway
Birth Place: Houston, Texas, U.S.
Height: 6 ft 10 in (208 cm)
Weight: 309 lb (140 kg)
Spouse: Jodi Lynn (1989-1999), Sara Frank (2000-2007), Michelle McCool (2010-Present)

Wrestling Career

Ring Name: Cain the Undertaker, Mark Callous, Commando, Mean Mark Callous, Dice Morgan, Mean Mark, Texas Red, The Punisher, Kane the Undertaker, The Master of Pain, Dice Morgan, The Undertaker
Trained by: Buzz Sawyer
Debut: 26 June 1987
Retired: 21 June 2020
Billed from: Death Valley, Houston, Texas

Introduction

The Undertaker is arguably one of the greatest wrestlers in WWE and definitely the most intriguing character to ever come out of the company. Real name Mark Calaway, he made his debut at Survivor Series 1990 with the ring name “Kane The Undertaker.” He has now completed 30 years in WWE and during this time, has won most of the WWE’s major championships like WWE Championship, World Heavyweight Championship, Tag Team Titles, and other titles.

Career Before WWE

Basketball Career

Before getting into wrestling, Mark Calaway pursued a career in Basketball. After completing his graduation, he got into Angelina College in Lufkin Texas on a basketball scholarship. Then, he got into Texas Wesleyan University and played for their basketball team Rams in the 1985-86 season as a center. In 1986, Calaway dropped out of university to focus on a playing career.

WCCW(as Texas Red)

World Class Championship Wrestling was Calaway’s first official wrestling promotion where he wrestled under the name Texas Red, a masked character, in 1987. He wrestled his first match on 26 June 1987 and lost the match to Bruiser Brody. Percival “Percy” Pringle III(Paul Bearer) entered with his as his manager in his debut match.

CWA(as the Master of Pain)

Calaway joined Continental Wrestling Association in 1988 and worked under various gimmicks. He later debuted as the Master of Pain(with manager Dutch Mantel) and was projected as a just-released prisoner who served 5 years for killing two men. On 1 April 1989, Master of Pain defeated Jerry Lawler to win USWA Unified World Heavyweight Championship, the first title in his pro-wrestling career.

WCW (as Mean Mark)

Calaway then joined World Championship Wrestling in late 1989 where he started to work under the ring name “Mean Mark” Callous. At the start, he worked in tag team division. After the Skyscrapper tag team was discontinued, he started working as a singles wrestler under the guidance of Paul Heyman(known as Paul E. Dangerously at the time).

The Undertaker has revealed that he was told by WCW that despite being a good athlete, nobody would pay to watch him wrestle. This had him pondering about his future in pro-wrestling.

WWE Career

It was revealed by WWE Executive Bruce Prichard that Paul Heyman told WWF about Mark Calaway. WWE Chairman Vince McMahon saw him wrestle a match but not that interested. However, Prichard insisted on their meeting. During their meeting, McMahon narrated his ideas regarding ‘Kane the Undertaker’ character. After being impressed by McMahon’s vision, Calaway decided to sign with WWF.

WWF Debut

Kane The Undertaker’s WWF debut came at Survivor Series 1990 on 22 November 1990. He was part of Ted DiBiase’s Million Dollar team in a 5-on-5 tag team elimination match. His character had a horror-based theme – wearing black clothes, long hairs, and spooky make-up. Brother Love worked as his manager. He eliminated Koko B. Ware and Dusty Rhodes from the match before himself getting eliminated via count-out.

Soon after his debut, Kane’s name was dropped from his name. Paul Bearer became his manager who use to carry an urn which was shown to revive Undertaker’s strength.

WrestleMania Debut

The Undertaker’s first WrestleMania match came at WrestleMania VII in a win against Jimmy Snuka on 24 March 1991.

First Loss in WWF

The Undertaker’s first major feud came against the Ultimate Warrior after he attacked Warrior during Paul Bearer’s Funeral Parlor segment and put him in a casket. Ultimate Warrior defeated Undertaker to give him his first WWE loss in the first-ever body bag challenge match.

Youngest WWF Champion

Undertaker defeated Hulk Hogan at Survivor Series 1991 to win the WWF World Heavyweight Championship and becoming the youngest person to win the title at the time. (Ric Flair helped him in the storyline to win the match). He then lost the title back to Hulk Hogan six days later.

Turning Face for the First Time

Undertaker turned face for the first time in his WWE career when he stopped Jake “The Snake” Roberts from attacking Miss Elizabeth. Undertaker then defeated Jake Robert at WrestleMania VIII.

Main Event First Ever RAW

Undertaker main evented the first-ever episode of Monday Night RAW on 11 January 1993 where he defeated Damien Demento.

The Deadman and The Underfaker

After he suffered an elbow injury, Undertaker was written off TV. As part of the angle, he was put into a casket by Yokozuna after their match at Royal Rumble 1994. Taker appeared on the screen from inside the casket representing his spirit and said he will return. 

Ted DiBiase introduced an imposter of the Undertaker who was played by Calaway’s real life cousin Brian Lee. This led to the return of Undertaker at SummerSlam 1994 and he defeated the Underfaker and put him in a casket to end that storyline. Upon his return, he was given the nickname of The Deadman also, referring to the spirit angle at Royal Rumble and believing that Undertaker returned after being dead.

Feud with Mankind & Paul Bearer’s Betrayal

Mankind made his debut by interfering in Undertaker’s match. After several more interferences from Mankind and resulting brawls, Undertaker faced him at SummerSlam 1996. During the match, Undertaker reached out to Paul Bearer to take his urn, but Bearer hit Undertaker with the urn which allowed Mankind to take the win.

Then, a Buried Alive match was announced between Taker and Mankind in the main event of In Your House 11: Buried Alive, where The Undertaker won the match after a chokeslam into the open grave. However, The Executioner & other wrestlers helped out Mankind and buried Undertaker in the grave instead.

Half Brother Kane

After Undertaker won the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 13, Paul Bearer tried to join him back. Bearer then threatened to reveal Undertaker’s family secret and finally revealed that his brother Kane is still alive. Taker also had a rivalry going on with Shawn Michaels and they faced off in the first-ever Hell in a Cell match at Badd Blood: In Your House event in 1997. During this match, Kane made his WWE debut, ripping off the cage door and helping Michaels win the match.

Kane seemed to have aligned with his brother as Taker vs Michaels continued. However, during the WWF Championship Casket match between Michaels and Taker, Kane attacked Taker and trapped him in the casket to cost him the match. Undertaker then defeated Kane at WrestleMania XIV. The Deadman also won the rematch between them, an Inferno match, after setting Kane’s arm on fire.

A few months down the line, Undertaker and Kane started working together as it was revealed that they were trying to dethrone Stone Cold Steve Austin from WWF Championship for Mr. McMahon. Austin joined with Mankind to feud with The Brothers of Destructions, as they were called later.

The Ministry of Darkness

In 1999, The Undertaker updates his character once again and took a role with a much more demonic presence. He appeared in a hooded black robe and he sat on a throne that was designed with his character symbol. Taker claimed to be invoking and taking orders from a “Higher Power” under this gimmick. He took the help of his followers to punish other wrestlers and perform magic incantations on them in order to reveal their dark side. The Ministry of Darkness consisted of Edge, Christian, Gangrel, Bradshaw, Farooq, Mideon & Viscera.

Undertaker also desired to have taken the control of WWF at the time, which resulted in a rivalry with Mr. McMahon and The Corporation. Undertaker faced Corporation’ Big Boss Man in a Hell in a Cell match at WrestleMania XV. Later, it was revealed that McMahon was the “Higher Power” all along and the story came to an end.

American Bad Ass Character

Undertaker was injured at the end of 1999 and was forced out of action for around 8 months. When he returned at Judgement Day 2000, he debuted a new character – came to know as the American Bad Ass version on the Undertaker or the Biker Taker. He attacked the Helmsley-McMahon faction and turned face in the process.

Later, he would team up with Kane to contest for WWE World Tag Team Championship. However, when they failed to win the title, Kane turned on Taker once again. They faced off at SummerSlam 2000 where the match ended in a no contest after Taker removed Kane’s mask and forced him to run away.

Undertaker was unsuccessful in winning the WWF Champion from Kurt Angle at Survivor Series 2000 after Angle switched places with his brother Eric Angle during the match. The Brother of Destructions once again joined forces at the start of 2001. Undertaker defeated Triple-H at WrestleMania XVII but their storyline continued as Triple joined forces with WWF Champion Steve Austin. Taker was part of Team WWF at Survivor Series 2001 that defeated the Alliance. 

Big Evil

Undertaker once again turned heel after attacking the commentator Jim Ross and forcing him to kiss Vince McMahon’s butt. He started calling himself the “Big Evil.” He went on win the WWF Hardcore Championship from Rob Van Dam at Vengeance 2000. Taker lost that title to Maven after the Rock interfered.  The Rock then defeated Undertaker to become the #1 contender for WWF Championship after interference from Ric Flair. Undertaker defeated Ric Flair at WrestleMania XVIII to increase his WrestleMania streak to 10 matches.

Undertaker defeated Hulk Hogan at Judegement Day 2002 to win the WWE Undisputed Championship. He later lost the title to The Rock in a triple threat match at Vengeance 2002. Undertaker was then drafted to SmackDown on 29 August 2002 WWE Draft. He started the feud with Brock Lesnar for WWE Championship but failed to win it on two occasions. He worked with a legitimate broken arm during their second title match at No Mercy.

Taker was written off TV in an angle which saw him thrown off the stage by Big Show. He returned at Royal Rumble 2003 and restarted his feud with Big Show, whom he then defeated at No Way Out. Taker trained Nathan Jones with whom he defeated Big Show and A-Train at WrestleMania XIX.

The Undertaker Entrance Theme Song

  • “Miracle Man” | Artist – Ozzy Osbourne | NJWP | 19 March 1990
  • “China White” | Artist – Scorpions | NWA | 19 May 1990 – 25 Aug 1990
  • “Funeral March” | Artist – Jim Johnston | WWF | 19 Nov 1990- 8 Jan 1991
  • “The Grim Reaper” | Artist – Jim Johnston  WWF | 19 Jan 1991- 29 August 1994
  • “Graveyard Symphony” | Artist – Jim Johnston | WWF | November 1995-1998
  • “Dark Side” | Artist – Jim Johnston | WWE | 1998-1999
  • “Ministry” | Artist – Jim Johnston | WWF |1999
  • “American Bad Ass” | Artist – Kid Rock | WWF (2000)
  • “Rollin (Air Raid Vehicle)” | Artist – Limp Bizkit | WWF/WWE | 2000-2002
  • “Dead Man” | Artist – Jim Johnston | WWF (2002)
  • “Big Evil” | Artist – Jim Johnston | WWF (2002)
  • “You’re Gonna Pay” | Artist – Jim Johnston | WWE (2003)
  • “Rest in Peace” | Artist – Jim Johnston | WWE | 2004 – 2012 – Present
  • “Ain’t No Grave” | Artist – Johnny Cash | WWE | 2011

Finishing Moves & Signature Moves

  • Finishing Moves
    1. Tombstone piledriver (1990–present)
    2. Chokeslam (1990–present)
    3. Last Ride(2000–2003)
    4. Devil’s Triangle/Hell’s Gate (2008–present)
    5. Triangle choke (2003–2006) used rarely
  • Signature Moves
    1. Back body drop
    2. Old School
    3. Knee lift
    4. Snake Eyes
    5. Big Boot
    6. Suicide Dive
    7. Over The Top Rope suicide dive
    8. Reverse STO
    9. Running DDT
    10. Running elbow drop
    11. Sidewalk slam

Championships & accomplishments

  • WWE/WWF
    1. WWE/WWF Heavyweight Champion – 4 times
    2. World Heavyweight Champion – 3 times
    3. WWF Hardcore Championship – 1 time
    4. World Tag Team Champion (6 times) – with Big Show (2), Steve Austin (1), The Rock (1) & Kane (2)
    5. WCW World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Kane
    6. Tuwaiq Mountain Trophy 2020 Winner
    7. Royal Rumble 2007 Winner
    8. Slammy Award 
      1. for WWF’s Greatest Hit (1996) Sucking Diesel into the abyss
      2. for Best Tattoo – 1997
      3. for Best Entrance Music 1997
      4. for Star of the Highest Magnitude 1997
      5. for Match of the Year (2009) vs. Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania XXV
      6. for Moment of the Year (2010) vs. Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania XXVI
      7. for OMG Moment of the Year (2011) Kicking out of Triple H’s Tombstone Piledriver at WrestleMania XXVII
      8. for Match of the Year (2012) vs. Triple H in a Hell in a Cell match at Wrestlemania XXVIII
      9. for The rivalry of the Year (2015) vs. Brock Lesnar
      10. for WWE Network Documentary of the Year (2020) Undertaker: The Last Ride
  • United States Wrestling Association
    1. USWA Unified World Heavyweight Championship -1 time
  • World Class Wrestling Association
    1. WCWA Texas Heavyweight Championship – 1 time

One Comment

  1. hey the undertaker I think you should make a Youtube channel so we know more about your daily life and get to know you more

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