The Undertaker
| The Undertaker | |
|---|---|
 Calaway (2014) |
|
| Data | |
| Surname | Mark William Calaway |
| Ring name | Mark Callous Master Of Pain Texas Red The Punisher The Undertaker |
| Additions to names | Big Evil The American Bad-Ass The Deadman The Demon of Death Valley The Last Outlaw The Lord of Darkness The Phenom |
| height | 208 cm |
| Fighting weight | 136 kg |
| birth | March 24, 1965 Houston , Texas , USA |
| nationality |
 United States
|
| Announced from | Death Valley |
| Trained by | Don Jardine |
| debut | 1984 |
| retirement | June 21, 2020 |
Mark William Calaway (born March 24, 1965 in Houston , Texas ), better known by his ring name The Undertaker , is a retired American wrestler . He was under contract with the WWE and was the longest under contract player in the league with a continuous employment from 1990 to 2020. He also received the WWE's highest title seven times.
Private life
Mark Calaway was born one of five sons to Catherine and Frank Calaway. His father died in 2003 at the age of 76.
Calaway has been married to wrestler Michelle McCool for the third time since June 2010 , with whom he has a daughter (* 2012). From 1989 to 1999 he was married to his first wife, Jodi Lynn. From this marriage comes a son (* 1993). His marriage to his second wife Sara, whom he met at an autograph session at WWF and with whom he has two daughters (* 2002 and * 2005), lasted from 2000 to 2009.
Calaway studied at the University of St. Thomas and apart from his wrestling career is active in buying and selling real estate.
Wrestling career
Beginnings (1984–1989)
After a basketball scholarship at Angelina College in Lufkin (Texas) , Mark Calaway studied sports management at Texas Wesleyan University in Fort Worth . Here he played as a center basketball player with the aim of becoming a professional until he was offered a career as a wrestler. He dropped out of college shortly before graduation, worked as a bouncer and debt collector before he was signed to World Class Championship Wrestling in 1984 . After he left the promotion in 1988, he was active in smaller leagues. In 1989 Calaway won the USWA Unified World Heavyweight Championship as The Master of Pain in a match against Jerry Lawler .
World Championship Wrestling (1989–1990)
From 1989 to 1990 Calaway appeared as Mean Mark Callous in World Championship Wrestling . In March 1990 a short interlude as Punisher Dice Morgan followed at NJPW , before he moved to the World Wrestling Federation a few months later .
World Wrestling Federation / Entertainment (since 1990)
Western Mortician and WWF Champion (1990–1994)
In the WWF which originated gimmick The Undertaker ( German The undertaker ), as Western gravedigger, which at the big event Survivor Series was officially launched in 1990 to the general public (in fact, he has already appeared a few days earlier, in a recording of the broadcast WWF Superstars for the first time as Kane the Undertaker , but the show only aired after the Survivor Series). As ring monitoring and mouthpiece he was first briefly Brother Love set aside, which, however, soon of the "undertaker" Paul Bearer : (pun English pallbearer on German pallbearers was replaced). A year later, at the Survivor Series in 1991, Calaway received the WWF Championship from Hulk Hogan , only to return it to him six days later. From that point on, his career took off.
Between the big events Royal Rumble 1992 and Wrestlemania VIII , the character was finally developed into a baby face , a crowd favorite. A feud program followed with his previous ally, Jake Roberts , after preventing him from beating Miss Elizabeth . This ended in Wrestlemania VIII with a victory for the Undertaker. At the same time, this was Roberts' last appearance in the WWF for the time being, as he left the league shortly afterwards. Later in 1992 he played a feud program with Kamala , which culminated in the Survivor Series in 1992 in the first WWF coffin match . 1993 followed a feud against Giant González , which appeared unannounced at the Royal Rumble 1993 and eliminated the Undertaker. The program ended with the taker winning the 1993 SummerSlam in a Rest In Peace match with no disqualification or counting. Towards the end of the year began a program against the sumo wrestler performing yokozuna , before Calaway had to take a longer injury break in early 1994. For this purpose, an angle was staged in which the Undertaker was attacked by various heels and carried into the coffin during the WWF Champion title match (also a coffin match) at the Royal Rumble in 1994 . Then he floated away, accompanied by lightning and thunder and enveloped in clouds of fog to the sky or to the hall ceiling (in fact it was Marty Jannetty in an Undertaker costume hanging on wire ropes) and did not return until the summer of the same year.
The Deadman and first victories at WrestleMania (1994-1996)
After his return, Calaway defeated his evil doppelganger, presented by Ted DiBiase as the "real" Undertaker (this was played by Brian Harris, who appeared as a wrestler under the names Chainz and Brian Lee and is a cousin of Calaway) in a bizarre storyline, and then finished feud with yokozuna in another coffin match in the Survivor Series. The actor Chuck Norris acted in this match as a special enforcer , i.e. as a guest referee, who this time should prevent interference from outside the match (and did this with a karate kick against Jeff Jarrett ). Throughout 1995 he continued to feud with the Million Dollar Corporation as Ted DiBiase sought revenge for the defeat of "his" Undertaker. In the course of the feud he defeated u. a. King Kong Bundy at WrestleMania XI and Kama (again in a coffin match) at SummerSlam '95. Calaway later injured his orbital bone during a backstage recording , forcing him to take another injury break.
Calaway returned to the Survivor Series in 1995 with a specially made face mask for him (according to the storyline, the injury had not yet completely healed) and began a feud program against Diesel after he claimed him to win the WWF Championship at the Royal Rumble against Bret in 1996 Hart had prevented. The feud ended with a Wrestlemania victory for Undertaker, whereupon Kevin Nash soon moved to WCW. A very intense feud with the fresh out of ECW exchanged Mankind , in the other wrestlers like Executioner and Vader were involved, followed. In the course of this, he was betrayed by his long-time manager Paul Bearer, who sided with Mankind. The Undertaker then won the feud at the Survivor Series in 1996. Here he was able to take revenge on Paul Bearer (who was hanging in a cage over the ring during the match) for his betrayal and after the match let a fireball explode in his face. It was at this time that the Undertaker's look changed for the first time: his outfit now consisted more of black leather and rivets, giving it clear Gothic borrowings. He also spoke more often, and his character generally became a bit more human and vulnerable. This was in keeping with the zeitgeist, as the zombie-like grave digger gimmick slowly but surely seemed to be wearing off and the previously predominant, colorful and exaggerated cartoon characters became more and more out of fashion and gave way to more realistic, adult figures.
Lord of Darkness and The Ministry of Darkness (1997-1999)
1997 Calaway was involved in a program for the WWF Championship and was able to win this at Wrestlemania 13 against Sycho Sid for the second time in his career. Bret Hart, Sycho Sid and Steve Austin were also involved in the program, the title changed here several times. He lost the title again to Bret Hart at SummerSlam in August after the guest referee Shawn Michaels accidentally hit him in the face with a chair that should have hit Hart. In turn, a feud with Shawn Michaels, which subsequently to its Heel- was turn and indirectly establishing the D-Generation X led. The two met u. a. in the very first Hell-In-A-Cell match that was unusually hard and bloody for the time. During the match, the debuting Kane came to the ring accompanied by Paul Bearer and caused the defeat of his hated "brother" with a tombstone against the Undertaker. During another coffin match for the WWF Championship against Shawn Michaels at the Royal Rumble 1998, Kane intervened again and carried the Undertaker into the coffin, which was then poured over with gasoline and set on fire. The Undertaker won the first match against his brother at WrestleMania XIV after three tombstones. The feud did not end there, however. a. the two later met in the first Inferno Match , which Calaway also won.
In the course of the following years this story of the brothers was to be taken up again and again in various variations. Sometimes the brothers were allies (Brothers of Destruction) , sometimes they were enemies. Since this story continues to this day and both wrestlers are still active, it is probably the longest-lasting storyline in wrestling at all. At Over the Edge in 1999, Calaway won his fourth WWE Championship.
In the course of the so-called Attitude era of the WWF, in the mid to late 90s, the figure of the Undertaker was once again darkened with satanic aspects and he was allowed to gather a following, the Ministry of Darkness .
This was followed by feuds against Shawn Michaels and his storyline brother Kane , before Calaway formed the tag team Brothers of Destruction with Kane . You won the World Tag Team championship several times. During this time, the Undertaker's feud with Mankind was renewed, which ended in a legendary Hell-in-a-Cell match among fans .
American Bad Ass and Big Evil (2000-2003)
At the turn of the millennium, the management changed the gimmick Calaways into a patriotic biker who appeared on the ring with a motorcycle . A feud program began with Vince McMahon , in which Kane was later included. After the Survivor Series 2003, Calaway had to take a break due to injury.
Return of the Deadman and World Heavyweight Champion (2004-2010)
Calaway made a return at WrestleMania 20 with the original Undertaker gimmick. In the following years Calaway was booked in several feuds, some of which were about titles, some of which ended in special matches such as coffin matches , buried alive etc.
In early 2007 he won the eponymous Royal Rumble and thus received a title match at WrestleMania against Batista . Calaway won it and became World Heavyweight Champion . Due to a biceps tendon rupture , however, he had to surrender the title to Edge on May 8, 2007 in SmackDown .
After his return in September 2007 he feuded with the renewed World Heavyweight Champion Batista until December. From November 2007 Edge and later his La Familia ( Vickie Guerrero , Chavo Guerrero , Bam Neely, Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder ) were included in the program. At WrestleMania 24, Calaway and Edge, who was the reigning World Heavyweight Champion, met. Calaway won this match and became World Heavyweight Champion again. The title was to him on 29 April 2008 by Vickie Guerrero stripped . After the One Night Stand event on June 1, 2008, Calaway had to take another break due to an injury. He returned at SummerSlam on August 17th of that year with a Hell in a Cell match against Edge and ended the feud.
After another program with Vickie and Big Show , a feud began with Shawn Michaels in the spring of 2009 , whom he defeated at WrestleMania 25 in a match acclaimed by the trade press. At SummerSlam 2009 Calaway returned from a break since WrestleMania. He started a feud program with CM Punk for the World Heavyweight Championship, which he eventually won at the 2009 Hell in a Cell event .
At the major event WWE Elimination Chamber 2010, Calaway lost the title in the match of the same name to Chris Jericho and then feuded again against Michaels. At WrestleMania 26 in Phoenix, Calaway defeated Michaels again, after which Michaels retired. After WrestleMania he was sidelined due to an injury. After a few sporadic appearances, he was involved in the events of the World Heavyweight Championship. However, he had to take another break due to an injury after an incorrectly executed seated senton by Rey Mysterio . Calaway returned at SummerSlam 2010 , to then deny a feud program against the reigning World Heavyweight Champion Kane. After losing a Buried Alive Match at Bragging Rights , Calaway took another illness-related break.
Defense and end of the winning streak at WrestleMania (2011-2014)
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On February 21, 2011, Calaway made a general return on Raw from his injury break. After winning a match against Triple H at WrestleMania XXVII on April 3, 2011, he paused again. After nearly ten months, he returned to Raw on January 30, 2012, and resumed the Triple H feud. At Wrestlemania XXVIII on April 1, 2012, Calaway defeated him in a Hell-in-a-Cell match in which Shawn Michaels was the guest referee.
On July 23, 2012, Calaway appeared on the 1000th episode of Monday Night Raw . This makes him the only wrestler on the current WWE roster to have appeared in both the first and the 1000th episode.
When RAW Old School -Issue on March 4, 2013 Calaway returned to the official WWE shows, having previously been at a two weeks house show had denied a match. At the following WrestleMania XXIX he defeated CM Punk. A few weeks later he played a team match at RAW, after which he paused again.
On February 24, 2014, Calaway returned to the shows for a feud program with Brock Lesnar . He played against Lesnar in a match at WrestleMania XXX , in which his WrestleMania winning streak ended after 21 matches.
Isolated appearances and indicated end of career (2015-2017)
On March 29, 2015, Calaway returned to Wrestlemania 31 . He played a match against Bray Wyatt , which he was allowed to win.
After that, Calaway paused again and did not return until July 19, 2015 at the PPV Battleground . Here he intervened in the match Brock Lesnar against Seth Rollins . Thus a feud program started again with Brock Lesnar, which should end in two matches. At the following PPV, the SummerSlam , Calaway was allowed to win controversially against Lesnar.
The feud ended with Lesnar winning on October 25, 2015 at PPV Hell in a Cell . Then began a feud with the Wyatt Family . The feud culminated at the 2015 Survivor Series , dedicated to Undertaker's 25th WWE Anniversary. Together as Brothers of Destruction , Calaway and his storyline half-brother Kane took on Luke Harper and Bray Wyatt in a tag team match. The Brothers of Destruction won the match .
Calaway returned to the shows on February 29, 2016. Now he became active in the feud against Shane McMahon himself, which had already started the week before. The feud culminated on April 3 at WrestleMania 32 . The Hell in a Cell match against Shane McMahon could Calaway decide for themselves. With a match time of more than 30 minutes, it was the longest match in the PPV.
Calaway then took another break for several months. Calaway celebrated its return with the 900th edition of SmackDown on November 15, 2016. However, it stayed with a single segment and he was no longer seen in the TV shows in the following years. It wasn't until January 9, 2017 that Calaway came back, but to RAW . Here he announced his participation in the Royal Rumble Match, which took place at the PPV of the same name on January 29th. He came into the ring as number 29 and was eliminated as the 26th participant (by Roman Reigns ). He was in the ring for 5:30 minutes and eliminated Sami Zayn, The Miz and Bill Goldberg in his second Royal Rumble Match. On April 2, 2017 at WrestleMania 33 the Undertaker played his last match against Roman Reigns , which he lost. He then left his gloves, coat and hat in the ring, indicating the end of his career.
Return and Various Feuds (2018-2019)
In the spring, the Undertaker (according to the storyline) was repeatedly challenged by John Cena to a match at the upcoming Wrestlemania for weeks. The Undertaker, who gave no sign of himself for weeks, surprisingly returned during the pay-per-view and was allowed to win the match against John Cena within a few minutes.
On June 16, it was announced that Undertaker and Triple H would meet for the last time in one match at the PPV Super ShowDown . When it finally came to the match on October 6, 2018, probably no one had expected Triple H to win. But that happened, despite Kane at the Deadman's side. At the side of Triple H was his best friend, Shawn Michaels . After Hunter's victory, the Brothers of Destruction attacked him and Michaels.
At the Pay-Per-View Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia , there was a tag team match between the Brothers of Destruction (Undertaker and Kane) and D-Generation-X (Triple H and Shawn Michaels), which was the Undertaker and Kane lost. On June 7, 2019, Taker played a singles match against Goldberg at WWE Super ShowDown, which he won. On July 14, 2019, he played a No Holds Barred Tag Team Match with Roman Reigns against Drew McIntyre and Shane McMahon , which he won.
Return of the American Bad Ass and Resignation (2020)
The Undertaker made a surprise return on Super ShowDown on February 27, 2020 . He defeated AJ Styles to win the Tuwaiq Trophy. In the following weeks, Styles provoked Undertaker and called him by his real name Mark Calaway. Styles ultimately challenged Undertaker to a match at WrestleMania 36 . The Undertaker then held a promo in which he appeared for the first time in years not as a Deadman but as an American Bad Ass . At WrestleMania 36 , both fought in a remote rural area rather than a traditional wrestling match. Undertaker appeared for the match with a motorcycle. He won the match by burying Styles in the empty grave. Calaway later announced that the match in which he had to bury a person had been particularly difficult for him because of the news of his brother's death the day before.
On June 21, 2020, the last episode of the documentary The Last Ride was broadcast on WWE Network. In it, Calaway explains that he has no interest in continuing to actively get into the ring. It is unclear whether he will perform in the future as part of his wrestling gimmick.
Outside of wrestling
Calaway made his film debut as Hutch in The Knight from Space in 1991 . He had guest roles on Poltergeist - The Unbelievable Power and Celebrity Deathmatch . In 2002, Calaway appeared on the Canadian sports program Off the Record with Michael Landsberg .
Calaway's WWE character has been featured in numerous WWE video games, starting with WWF Super WrestleMania (1992) and most recently in WWE 2K20 (2019). A special Undertaker version of WWE 2K14 was released in 2013.
A short series of comics based on The Undertaker were released monthly by Chaos! Comics published between February 1999 and January 2000. All ten editions were written by Beau Smith and designed by Manny Clark. The focus was mostly on his Kayfabe background and characters like Paul Bearer , Mankind and Kane were also part of the series. The series was also later published in paperback by Titan Books , entitled WWF Presents: Undertaker .
Filmography (selection)
- 1991: The Knight from Space (Suburban Commando)
- 1999: Poltergeist - The uncanny power ( Poltergeist: The Legacy , TV series, episode 4x08)
- 2012: Clash Times (TV series, 4 episodes)
- 2017: Surf's Up 2: Wave Mania
Titles and awards
-
Pro Wrestling Illustrated
- Comeback of the Year (2015)
- Feud of the Year (1991 vs. The Ultimate Warrior , 2015 vs. Brock Lesnar )
- Match of the Year (1998 vs. Mankind, 2009 vs. Shawn Michaels , 2010 vs. Shawn Michaels, 2012 vs. Triple H )
-
United States Wrestling Association
- Unified World Heavyweight Championship (1 ×)
-
World Class Wrestling Association
- WCWA Texas Heavyweight Championship (1 ×)
-
World Wrestling Entertainment
- WWE Championship (4 ×)
- World Heavyweight Championship (3 ×)
- World Tag Team Championship (2 × with The Big Show , 2 × with Kane , 1 × with Steve Austin , 1 × with The Rock )
- WCW World Tag Team Championship (1 × with Kane )
- WWF Hardcore Championship (1 ×)
- Royal Rumble (2007)
- Slammy Award (12x)
- Best Entrance Music (1997)
- Best Tattoo (1997)
- Match of the Year (2009 vs. Shawn Michaels , 2010 vs. Shawn Michaels, 2012 vs. Triple H, 2015 vs. Brock Lesnar )
- Moment of the Year (2010 vs. Shawn Michaels)
- Most Intimidating (1994)
- OMG Moment of the Year (2011)
- Rivalry of the Year (2015 vs. Brock Lesnar )
- Star of the Highest Magnitude (1997)
- Greatest Hit (1996)
- Tuwaiq Trophy Winner (2020)
WrestleMania stats
Calaway held the record of 21 matches without loss at Wrestlemania, also known as the undefeated streak . According to the storyline, an opponent tried to break this series every year. On April 6, 2014 at WrestleMania XXX Brock Lesnar succeeded, three years later Roman Reigns.
| Result | record | opponent | date | event | method | time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| victory | 1–0 | Jimmy Snuka | March 24, 1991 | WrestleMania VII | Pinfall | 4:20 |
| victory | 2–0 | Jake Roberts | April 5, 1992 | WrestleMania VIII | Pinfall | 6:36 |
| victory | 3–0 | Giant González | April 4, 1993 | WrestleMania IX | Disqualification | 7:33 |
| victory | 4-0 | King Kong Bundy | April 2, 1995 | WrestleMania XI | Pinfall | 6:36 |
| victory | 5–0 | diesel | March 31, 1996 | WrestleMania XII | Pinfall | 16:46 |
| victory | 6-0 | Sycho Sid | March 23, 1997 | WrestleMania 13 | Pinfall | 21:19 |
| victory | 7-0 | Kane | March 29, 1998 | WrestleMania XIV | Pinfall | 16:58 |
| victory | 8-0 | Big Bossman | March 28, 1999 | WrestleMania XV | Pinfall | 9:48 |
| victory | 9-0 | Triple H | April 1, 2001 | WrestleMania X-Seven | Pinfall | 18:17 |
| victory | 10-0 | Ric flair | March 17, 2002 | WrestleMania X8 | Pinfall | 18:47 |
| victory | 11-0 | A-Train & Big Show | March 30, 2003 | WrestleMania XIX | Pinfall | 9:45 |
| victory | 12-0 | Kane | March 14, 2004 | WrestleMania XX | Pinfall | 7:45 |
| victory | 13-0 | Randy Orton | April 3, 2005 | WrestleMania 21 | Pinfall | 14:14 |
| victory | 14-0 | Mark Henry | April 2, 2006 | WrestleMania 22 | Casket | 9:26 |
| victory | 15-0 | Batista | April 1, 2007 | WrestleMania 23 | Pinfall | 15:47 |
| victory | 16-0 | Edge | March 30, 2008 | WrestleMania XXIV | Submission | 24:03 |
| victory | 17-0 | Shawn Michaels | April 5, 2009 | WrestleMania XXV | Pinfall | 30:44 |
| victory | 18-0 | Shawn Michaels | March 28, 2010 | WrestleMania XXVI | Pinfall | 23:59 |
| victory | 19-0 | Triple H | April 3, 2011 | WrestleMania XXVII | Submission | 29:24 |
| victory | 20-0 | Triple H | April 1, 2012 | WrestleMania XXVIII | Pinfall | 30:50 |
| victory | 21-0 | CM punk | April 7, 2013 | WrestleMania 29 | Pinfall | 22:07 |
| defeat | 21-1 | Brock Lesnar | April 6, 2014 | WrestleMania XXX | Pinfall | 25:12 |
| victory | 22-1 | Bray Wyatt | March 29, 2015 | WrestleMania Dec. | Pinfall | 15:12 |
| victory | 23-1 | Shane McMahon | 3rd April 2016 | WrestleMania 32 | Pinfall | 30:05 |
| defeat | 23-2 | Roman Reigns | 2nd April 2017 | WrestleMania 33 | Pinfall | 24:58 |
| victory | 24-2 | John Cena | April 8, 2018 | WrestleMania 34 | Pinfall | 2:46 |
| victory | 25-2 | AJ styles | April 4, 2020 | Wrestlemania 36 | Bury | 18:24 |
Web links
- The Undertaker in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- The Undertaker profile on wwe.com
Individual evidence
- ↑ The Undertaker . WWE . Retrieved November 25, 2017.
- ↑ The Undertaker . WWE . Retrieved November 25, 2017.
- ↑ The Undertaker . WWE . Retrieved November 25, 2017.
- ↑ Born in Texas 1926–1995 . Family Tree Networks . Retrieved February 25, 2011.
- ↑ WWF4Ever on Calaway's father
- ↑ Famouswhy via Sara Calaway
- ↑ Jolie & Brad Pitt: A Connection With WWE Wrestler Undertaker ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as broken. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Celebrity blog The Ledger, March 14, 2008 (accessed May 3, 2015)
- ^ Philip Kreikenbohm: Matches Undertaker. In: cagematch.net. Retrieved November 22, 2018 .
- ↑ wwe.com: Undertaker new champion ( Memento of the original from December 1, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ WWE Undertaker with a surprising house show appearance , cagematch.de
- ↑ The Undertaker left heartbroken after brother Timothy, 63, died of heart attack during WrestleMania 36 match filming. June 22, 2020, accessed June 23, 2020 (UK English).
- ↑ Untertaker retiremant no desire for another WWE match. In: nypost.com. June 21, 2020, accessed June 22, 2020 (English, (US)).
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Undertaker, The |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Calaway, Mark William (real name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American wrestler |
| DATE OF BIRTH | March 24, 1965 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Houston , Texas , United States |