Mark William Calaway universally known by the name The Undertaker, is a former American Professional Wrestler who was signed by WWE, announced his retirement on July 21st, 2020. For three decades, The Undertaker has loomed over the WWE landscape like a menacing shadow, spelling out doom for those who dare cross him. Imbued with seemingly mystical abilities and preternatural in-ring skill, The Dead man is a WWE great in a class by himself, and no list of legends would be complete without him.
PROFESSIONAL LIFE
The original Deadman character depicted him as a Western mortician dressed in a trench coat, gray-striped tie and gray-ringed, black Stetson hat with gray gloves and boot spats. He was portrayed as impervious to pain, something accomplished by Calaway not selling his opponents' attacks. He was managed by Paul Bearer, who used an urn to give Undertaker supernatural powers. During his early years, he used the rendition of the Funeral march as his entrance theme.
He was first introduced in 1990’s Survivor Series, the Phenom debuted as the final member of Ted DiBiase’s “Million Dollar Team.” It wasn’t long before he began to battle with Hulk Hogan, then at the top of the food chain in WWE. This clash set the tone for Undertaker’s dominant career. No one was too big, and no one was safe from his gloved grip.
A multiple WWE and World Heavyweight Champion, a six-time tag team titleholder and a Royal Rumble winner in 2007, Undertaker’s accomplishments in WWE have cemented his place among the greatest in the game. He is a true in-ring pioneer, having been part of many WWE firsts, including the first-ever Casket Match at Survivor Series 1992, the first-ever Buried Alive match in 1996 and the inaugural Hell in a Cell Match in October 1997.
But there was one achievement that stood out above all others that will likely never be topped. Since WrestleMania VII in 1991, Undertaker maintained a winning streak at The Show of Shows that grew over the decades to an astounding 21-0. Shawn Michaels, Triple H, Jake “The Snake” Roberts, Randy Orton, Kevin Nash and many more fell at The Deadman’s hand. Only Brock Lesnar proved capable of upending The Last Outlaw in his yard, snapping The Streak in an earth-shocking upset at WrestleMania 30. The Deadman rebounded the next year, though, defeating Bray Wyatt at The Show of Shows and scoring a win over Lesnar at SummerSlam 2015. He recorded his second loss on The Grandest Stage of Them All at WrestleMania 33 to Roman Reigns, but returned the following year to topple John Cena at WrestleMania 34, bringing his record at The Show of Shows to 24-2.
In the face of all challenges, The Phenom has risen stronger and mightier than ever, serving as sports-entertainment’s grim reaper of justice — his name permanently etched like an epitaph on the history books of WWE. It seems that no grave can hold him, no god will claim him and no devil will have him. In the end, there can only be one suitable resting place for the almighty Deadman: the WWE Hall of Fame.
OTHER THAN WRESTLING
Calaway made his film debut as Hutch in the 1991 film Suburban Command. 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 Micheal Landsberg.
Calaway's WWE character has been included in numerous WWE video games, beginning with WWF Super WrestleMania (1992) and lastly in WWE 2020. A special Undertaker-themed version of WWE 2014 was released in 2013. Undertaker has also made the most appearances out of any wrestler, having appeared in every game in the franchis.
A short series of comic books based on The Undertaker character was published monthly by Chaos Comics between February 1999 and January 2000. All ten issues were written by Beau Smith, with art by Manny Clark. It focused mostly on his kayfabe background and also featured such characters as Paul Bearer, Mankind and The Undertaker's half-brother Kane. The series has been collected into several trade paperbacks published by Titan Books between 2000 and 2001, titled WWF Presents: Undertaker.
LATER STAGES OF HIS PROFESSIONAL LIFE
In 2020, Undertaker started a feud with AJ Styles. Styles claimed that, in the last months, Undertaker lost his mystique because he broke kayfabe in social media and shoot interviews. At WrestleMania 36, Undertaker presented a new character called "The Unholy Trinity", a mix of the supernatural, the American Bad Ass characters and the real-life person
For several years, Undertaker has been very hermetic about his personal life, being only presented in character to maintain the mystic of the gimmick However, during the last years of his career, he allowed himself to be seen out of character, giving interviews as Mark Calaway and filming a documentary called The Last Ride.
GREATEST OF ALL TIME,UNDISPUTED CHAMPION,DEAD MAN, THE BAD ASS, THE PUNISHER, DARK MAN….what else, all these would just be our memories. Let us all wish him a good luck for his next and new phase of his life. Wishing him whole heartedly from my side. Please do like and comment your views on this blog.