Mark William Calaway (born March 24, 1965),[7] better known by his ring name THE UNDERTAKER, is an American professional wrestler signed to WWE.[5]
Calaway began his wrestling career with World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW) in 1984. After wrestling for World Championship Wrestling (WCW) as "Mean Mark" Callous from 1989 to 1990, he signed with the then World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) in 1990, making him the company's longest tenured in-ring performer. Calaway is considered to be one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time.[8]
As The Undertaker, Calaway's gimmick is a horror-themed, macabre entity who employs scare tactics and holds links to the supernatural. The character was reinvented as a biker during a period in the early 2000s before returning to his previous gimmick in 2004. The Undertaker is the storyline older half-brother of fellow WWE wrestler Kane, with whom he has alternately feuded and teamed with as The Brothers of Destruction. Since unseating Hulk Hogan as WWF Championin 1991, The Undertaker has been involved in various pivotal storylines and matches within WWE history.[5]
THE UNDERTAKER is also known for The Streak, an unprecedented run of 21 straight victories at WWE's leading pay-per-view event, WrestleMania (including main event matches at WrestleMania 13, WrestleMania XXIV, and WrestleMania XXVI), before he sustained his first loss at WrestleMania XXX to Brock Lesnar.[9] Prior to his WWF/WWE career, he held the USWA Unified World Heavyweight Championship once and has since won the WWF/WWE Championship four timesand the WWE's World Heavyweight Championship three times. He also won the 2007 Royal Rumble.
Early life
Calaway was born in Houston, Texas, the son of Frank Compton Calaway (died July 22, 2003) and Betty Catherine Truby. He has four older brothers: David, Michael, Paul and Timothy. Calaway attended Waltrip High School, where he was a member of the football and basketball teams. He graduated in 1983 and began studying at Angelina College in Lufkin, Texas on a basketball scholarship. In 1985, he enrolled in Texas Wesleyan University in Fort Worth, Texas, where he majored in sport management and played basketball for the Rams in the 1985–1986 season as a center. In 1986, Calaway dropped out of university to focus on a career in sports, and he briefly considered playing professional basketball in Europe before deciding to focus on professional wrestling.[10][11][12][13]
Professional wrestling career
Early career (1984–1989)
Calaway made his debut in 1984 for World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW) under the ring name Texas Red.[6] His first match was a loss against the late Bruiser Brody.[6] In 1988, after four years in the promotion, he left and joined the Continental Wrestling Association (which became part of the United States Wrestling Association after Jerry Jarrett bought WCCW and merged the two organizations into one), wrestling under several gimmicks.
On February 2, 1989, managed by Dutch Mantel, he debuted as The Master of Pain, a character fresh out of the United States Penitentiary, Atlanta after serving five years (much in solitary confinement) for killing two men in a fight.[14] After his second match the next week, he stayed in the ring by challenging USWA Unified World Heavyweight Champion Jerry Lawler to an impromptu match. The Master of Pain easily dominated Lawler until Mantel entered the ring and called him off. Lawler agreed to a title match, which was held on April 1, when The Master of Pain won his first professional wrestling championship. He held it for just over three weeks before Lawler became the first man to pin him, winning it back.
While performing as The Punisher, Calaway won the WCWA Texas Heavyweight Championship on October 5, 1989, when Eric Embry forfeited the title.[15]
World Championship Wrestling (1989–1990)
In 1989, Calaway joined World Championship Wrestling (WCW) as a villain and adopted the ring name "Mean Mark" Callous, a name devised for him by Terry Funk.[16]He was portrayed as a morbid character; he wore predominantly black ring attire and was described by announcer Jim Ross as having a fondness for pet snakes and the music of Ozzy Osbourne.[17] Callous was promptly drafted into The Skyscrapers tag team to replace a legitimate injured Sid Vicious, and he made his debut on January 3, 1990 in a match later televised against Agent Steel and Randy Harris.[18] The new team gained some notoriety at Clash of the Champions X when they beat down The Road Warriors after their match.[19] However, Callous' partner Dan Spivey left WCW days before their Chicago Street Fight against The Road Warriors at WrestleWar. Callous and a replacement masked Skyscraper were defeated in the street fight, and the team broke up soon afterwards.[20] Callous took on the guidance of Paul E. Dangerously and defeated Johnny Ace at Capital Combat and defeated Brian Pillman at the Clash of the Champions XI: Coastal Crush in singles competition. In July 1990, he wrestled against Lex Luger for the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship at The Great American Bash, but was pinned by Luger.
According to an interview with Bruce Prichard on "Something to Wrestle with Bruce Prichard, Episode 14", feelers had already been sent out to the WWF that month for Calaway by Paul Heyman. Calaway wrestled the match with a dislocated hip knowing that he was being watched by Vince McMahon.[21] McMahon initially did not express interest, but Prichard encouraged him to speak with Calaway when WCW traveled to New Jersey for a house show in the Meadowlands on August 24.[18] The meeting between the two went well, and he gave notice to WCW on August 27.[18] His final match was on September 7 at a WorldWide taping in Amarillo, Texas in which he defeated Dave Johnson.
During his time in WCW, Calaway briefly wrestled in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) as "Punisher" Dice Morgan. After leaving WCW, he briefly returned to the USWA to participate in a tournament to determine the new USWA Unified World Heavyweight Champion, defeating Bill Dundee in the first round, but losing to Jerry Lawler in the quarterfinals. In October 1990, he signed with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF).
World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment/WWE
WWF Champion (1990–1991)
Calaway made his WWF debut as Kane the Undertaker at a taping of Superstars on November 19, 1990. The original Deadman character depicted him as a Westernmortician dressed in a trench coat, gray-striped tie, black stetson hat with black gloves (later gray gloves) and gray boot spats. He was portrayed as impervious to pain, something accomplished by Calaway not selling his opponents' attacks. Calaway made his official on-camera debut on November 22 at Survivor Series as a villainous character when he was the mystery partner of Ted DiBiase's Million Dollar Team.[22] Approximately one minute into the match, The Undertaker eliminated Koko B. Warewith his finisher, the Tombstone Piledriver. He also eliminated Dusty Rhodes before being counted out, but his team won the match with DiBiase being the sole survivor. During the match, Calaway was referred to as The Undertaker, omitting the name Kane, which was dropped shortly after the event (and seven years later was given to another wrestler who eventually became Undertaker's younger brother of the same name). At the same time, The Undertaker switched managers from Brother Love to Paul Bearer – a histrionic, ghostly character, almost always seen bearing an urn, which he used to revive The Undertaker's strength whenever Undertaker fell victim to his antagonists. Undertaker placed his defeated opponents (almost always jobbers) in a bodybag and carried them to the back.[23] Throughout the end of 1990, The Undertaker mostly picked up squash victories against jobbers on Superstars of Wrestling and Wrestling Challenge tapings. He was a participant in the 1991 Royal Rumble match which was won by Hulk Hogan. He continued picking up victories in squash matches leading up to his first feud in the WWF with "Superfly" Jimmy Snuka.
The Undertaker made his WrestleMania debut at WrestleMania VII, quickly defeating "Superfly" Jimmy Snuka.[24] He began his first major feud with The Ultimate Warrior, when he attacked Warrior and locked him in an airtight casket on the set of Paul Bearer's Funeral Parlor interview segment. He would later lose to Warrior in the first ever body bag challenge in WWF history. At King of the Ring 1991, Undertaker defeated Animal in a qualifying match before fighting Sid Vicious to a double disqualification in the Semi-Final, which saw both men eliminated from the King of the Ring tournament.
Shortly after, he was announced as the number one contender for the WWF Championship. The Undertaker defeated Hulk Hogan to win his first WWF Championshipat Survivor Series with the help of Ric Flair. The Undertaker also became the first wrestler to win the WWF Championship in his twenties since Bruno Sammartino and is the first wrestler to win the WWF Championship at Survivor Series and was the youngest WWF Champion in history until having this record broken by Yokozuna in April 1993 at WrestleMania IX.[25] WWF President Jack Tunney ordered a rematch for This Tuesday in Texas six days later, where he lost the title back to Hogan.[25]However, due to the controversial ends to the two title matches between The Undertaker and Hogan, the title was vacated by Tunney and then awarded to Ric Flair as the winner of the 1992 Royal Rumble match
The Ministry of Darkness (1998–1999)
After Survivor Series,THE UNDERTAKER returned his attention back to his previous feud with Austin for costing him the title at Judgment Day, hitting Austin in the head with a shovel during a title match with The Rock, returning the favor for what happened a month earlier. With this twist in the storyline, McMahon scheduled a Buried Alive match between The Undertaker and Austin at Rock Bottom: In Your House. In the weeks leading up to Rock Bottom, The Undertaker attempted to embalm Austin alive, tried to have Kane committed to a mental asylum, and had his druids chain Austin to his symbol, raising it high into the arena.[37] However, The Undertaker lost the match after Kane interfered.[38]
After building up to his second villainous run in the latter part of 1998, The Undertaker introduced an updated version of his Deadman identity by January 1999 — the dark priest who in the initial period of this persona reigned over a stable known as The Ministry of Darkness. In this form, he took on a wicked, demonic presence, much more so than ever before. He often claimed to be invoking and taking orders from a "Higher Power". Moreover, he often appeared in a hooded black robe and sat on a throne that was specially designed into his character symbol. With the help of his minions, he often performed sacrifices on select WWF wrestlers, using various incantations and magic words with intent to extract out the dark side of the wrestlers in question so as to recruit them into his Ministry. The completed Ministry of Darkness consisted of The Brood (Christian, Edge and Gangrel), The Acolytes (Bradshaw and Faarooq), Mideon, and Viscera. Calaway himself did not wrestle for a period having undergone a hip replacement. As part of the angle, Undertaker expressed a desire to take control of the World Wrestling Federation, displacing its owner, Vince McMahon. These ambitions culminated into a rivalry between The Ministry and The Corporation, ultimately resulting in a match between Undertaker and Corporation enforcer, Big Boss Man. The two faced off in a Hell in a Cell match at WrestleMania XV, which Undertaker won.[39] At Backlash: In Your House, Undertaker defeated Corporation member Ken Shamrock after interference from Ministry member Bradshaw.[40]
Thereafter, The Undertaker kidnapped Stephanie McMahon, forcing Vince McMahon to enter into a reluctant alliance with his longtime nemesis Stone Cold Steve Austin. The Undertaker attempted to marry before sacrificing Stephanie in an eldritch ceremony conducted by Paul Bearer, but Austin was able to rescue her.[41] At the Over the Edge pay-per-view, The Undertaker defeated Austin for his third WWF Championship with help from Shane McMahon, the special referee.[42] The Ministry eventually merged with Shane McMahon's Corporation alliance to form the Corporate Ministry. The Undertaker later revealed that Vince McMahon had been his "Higher Power" all along.[43] After The Undertaker dropped the WWF Championship back to Austin following King of the Ring,[43] and an additional loss to him in a First Blood match at Fully Loaded, his relationship with the McMahons dissolved and the Corporate Ministry disbanded.[44]
THE UNDERTAKER then began a storyline where he teamed with Big Show in a tag team known as The Unholy Alliance, which held the WWF World Tag Team Championship twice. After their victory at SummerSlam, The Undertaker suffered a groin tear and was seen limping in several matches. He avoided competing in wrestling matches in the following weeks, instead tyrannically ordering Big Show to fight all his battles and oblige all his many wishes. He also began to transition away to the biker character he would play in 2000. Per an interview with Kevin Nash, this was a move to allow Calaway to enter World Championship Wrestling with a non-trademarked persona. Had he entered WCW, it would have been as Mark Calaway. Although negotiations were described as close, he ultimately re-signed with the World Wrestling Federation.[45] To compensate for his lack of physical action, Undertaker became more vocal on the mic, often making smart-aleck remarks and providing commentary. In September 1999, on SmackDown!, Mr. McMahon threatened that he would remove Undertaker from the Unforgiven main event if he refused to participate in a casket match against Triple H. Undertaker retorted that he did not care and maybe he would not be participating in anything, thus walking out of the WWF.[46] In reality, Calaway went on a hiatus from the WWF in order to treat his groin injury. On December 14 he made his return to action, teaming with Viscera in a losing effort against Kane and The Godfather at a house show in Caomo, Puetro Rico.THE UNDERTAKER was advertised on the Armageddon promotional poster to return, but meanwhile also tore his pectoral muscle, making him take almost eight months out of action.[.
Final matches of the Streak (2011–2014)
After the 2011 Royal Rumble, promotional videos began airing, showing The Undertaker entering and standing within a Western-style old house on a rainy desert. Each promo ended with the date 2–21–11 being "burned into" the screen. On the February 21 episode of Raw, The Undertaker returned, but before he could speak, Triple Halso returned and confronted him. The two challenged each other to a match at WrestleMania XXVII, which was later made a No Holds Barred match and which The Undertaker won by submission. However, he had to be carried away from the ring on a stretcher.
Legacy
THE UNDERTAKERr was voted the greatest WWE wrestler ever in a 2013 Digital Spy poll.[170] In naming him the second greatest wrestler ever, IGN described THE UNDERTAKER as, "one of the most respected wrestlers, and characters, in the business; treated with actual reverence. Like a cherished, invaluable artifact".[171] Luis Paez-Pumar of Complex wrote that The Undertaker character is "easily the best gimmick in the history of professional wrestling".[172] Luke Winkie of Sports Illustratedlisted The Undertaker as the fifth greatest wrestler of all time.[173]
Wrestler Big Show named THE UNDERTAKERr as the greatest professional wrestler of all time,[174] while Mark Henry and WWE chairman Vince McMahon have called him their favorite.[175][176] WWE Hall of Famer and company executive, Jim Ross, said: "Without question, The Undertaker is the greatest big man in the history of wrestling... There is no greater WWE star ever than The Undertaker".[177]
Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition mentioned Undertaker as having the most consecutive victories at WrestleMania.[178]
In November 2015, Telegraph journalist Tom Fordy called THE UNDERTAKER "the world's greatest sportsman".[179]
Personal life
Calaway married his first wife, Jodi Lynn, in 1989. They had a son, Gunner Vincent (born 1993). The marriage ended in 1999. Calaway married his second wife, Sara, in St. Petersburg, Florida on July 21, 2000. In 2001, Sara made televised appearances with the WWE (then known as the WWF) as part of a feud between Calaway and Diamond Dallas Page, in which she was acknowledged as being Calaway's wife. The couple had two daughters together: Chasey (born November 21, 2002) and Gracie (born May 15, 2005). In 2007, he and Sara were divorced, and he became romantically linked to former wrestler Michelle McCool, whom he married on June 26, 2010 in Houston, Texas.[180] The couple's first child, Kaia Faith Calaway, was born on August 29, 2012.[181]
In the 1990s, Calaway started his own posse that consisted of fellow wrestlers Yokozuna, Savio Vega, Charles Wright, The Godwinns and Rikishi. The faction was called The Bone Street Krew and each member had the initials of the faction tattooed onto themselves, with Undertaker's being prominently shown on his stomach.[182]
Calaway invests in real estate with business partner Scott Everhart. Calaway and Everhart finished construction on a $2.7m building in Loveland, Colorado, called "The Calahart" (a portmanteau of their last names).[183] Calaway and his ex-wife Sara established The Zeus Compton Calaway Save the Animals fund at the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences to help pay for lifesaving treatments for large-breed dogs.[184]
Boxing and MMA involvement
Calaway is a boxing fan and carried the Flag of the United States while leading Team Pacquiao to the ring during the Pacquiao vs. Velázquez fight in 2005.[185] He was also in attendance at the Lennox Lewis vs Mike Tyson fight in 2002.
Calaway is a mixed martial arts fan, he has been practicing Brazilian jiu-jitsu for a long time, earning his black belt in 2011 under Rolles Gracie,[186] and has attended several Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) shows, including a show where Calaway verbally confronted then UFC fighter Brock Lesnar after Lesnar lost to Cain Velasquez. His striking gloves and Hell's Gate submission (a modified gogoplata) were also inspired by mixed martial arts. During a Calaway interview conducted by an internet show after UFC 121, Lesnar walked past him staring. Calaway answered Lesnar's stare by saying "You wanna do it?"[187]
He was a close friend of actor Tony Longo and remains close friends with mixed martial artists Pat Miletich, Jeremy Horn, and Matt Hughes.
Other media
Calaway made his film debut as Hutch in the 1991 film Suburban Commando. He had guest roles on Poltergeist: The Legacy and Celebrity Deathmatch. In 2002, Calaway appeared out of character on the Canadian sports show Off the Record with Michael Landsberg.
Undertaker was a short series of comic books written by Chaos! Comics that were based on The Undertaker.
On August 1, 2K Games introduced a special "Phenom Edition" for WWE 2K14 would include Undertaker-themed extras, including the "American Badass" playable character.
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