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Profile: The Undertaker
Prior to his "afterlife" as The Deadman in World Wrestling Entertainment, Mark Calloway found his first mainstream exposure in World Championship Wrestling, as Mean Mark Callous, one half of the Skyscrapers. In 1990, when his contract was not renewed by WCW, he debuted with WWE as Kane The Undertaker at the Survivor Series, where he was introduced as the mystery member of Ted Dibiase's four-man team.
The "Kane" part of his name was soon dropped, but his gimmick remained the same - a silent, mysterious assassin obsessed with death, and seemingly impervious to pain. Originally managed by the brash Brother Love, The Undertaker was delivered to the care of mortician Paul Bearer in January 1991. During interviews, Bearer would do most of the talking in his high-pitched voice, with trademark phrase "ohhhh yeeeessss," before The Undertaker punctuated the monolog with a cold declaration of "rest in peace." At ringside, Bearer would inspire his charge with a brass urn, said to wield an untold power over the Phenom. Often the raising of the urn would lead to him sitting up from where he lay on the canvas, and mounting a comeback from the rare instances when his opponent gained the advantage. In a magazine interview later in the decade, it was claimed that the urn represented the souls of fallen warriors.
A year after his debut, The Undertaker faced Hulk Hogan at the next Survivor Series for the WWE Title. After taking the challenger's deadly Tombstone piledriver, Hogan rose straight back to his feet and "Hulked up," but another Tombstone onto a steel chair provided by Ric Flair allowed the Deadman to score the pinfall and win the title. However, just days later at the Tuesday In Texas pay-per-view, Hogan would regain the championship.
The Undertaker wouldn't taste gold again until 1997, following a babyface turn years earlier that saw him become one of the most popular characters in WWE. At WrestleMania 13, Taker defeated Sycho Sid for his second WWE Championship, meanwhile continuing to mount an unparalleled undefeated streak at WrestleMania.
The previous year, Paul Bearer had turned on his long-time associate, siding with Mankind in the climax of a Boiler Room Brawl at SummerSlam '96, where he struck The Undertaker with the mysterious urn. Mankind proved to be Taker's toughest opponent in years, and the feud was rekindled in 1998 when, at King of the Ring, they fought in the second-ever and certainly most infamous Hell in a Cell match, which saw the Phenom throw Mankind off the roof of the cell through an announce table, and then later through the roof itself into the ring below.
Taker had also competed in the first Hell in a Cell match, the previous year at In Your House: Badd Blood, against Shawn Michaels. The winner of this match would earn a shot at the WWE Title at the following month's Survivor Series. In the weeks leading up to the match, Paul Bearer had threatened to reveal a dark secret of his, and finally told the world that the Phenom had a younger brother named Kane. Bearer claimed that Taker had started a fire when they were children that killed their parents and seemingly Kane as well, but unbeknownst to the Deadman, Kane was still alive and wanted revenge. The Undertaker dominated most of his bout with Michaels, but when Bearer arrived with the debuting Kane, the younger sibling ripped the door of the cell off its hinges and Tombstoned the Phenom, allowing a bloody Michaels to win the match.
After initially refusing to fight his own brother, The Undertaker defeated Kane at WrestleMania XIV, then again in the first ever Inferno match at In Your House: Unforgiven. That July, Taker would pair up with Steve Austin to win his first WWF Tag Team Championship (now the WWE World Tag Team Titles), defeating Kane and Mankind at In Your House: Fully Loaded. This formed part of the build towards SummerSlam '98, with Taker gradually seen to be in cahoots with Kane in pursuit of Austin's WWF Title. After losing at SummerSlam, Taker battled both Austin and Kane in a Triple Threat match at In Your House: Breakdown, resulting in the title being vacated when the brothers pinned the champion simultaneously. A rematch between Taker and Kane for the gold ended in a no-contest when special referee Austin attacked them both.
During the bout, Taker reunited with Paul Bearer, and soon strengthened his heel turn with a confession to setting the fire that killed his parents. Amidst a rivalry with Kane, he continued feuding with Austin, attempting to embalm him and "sacrificing" him in a crucifixion-like ritual on a large Undertaker symbol.
In January 1999, Taker and Bearer unveiled The Ministry of Darkness, a heel cult-like faction led by the demonic Deadman. After WWF Chairman Vince McMahon was revealed as the "Higher Power" from whom the Phenom took orders, the group merged with fellow heel stable The Corporation on the pilot episode of SmackDown, forming the Corporate Ministry. During this time, Taker defeated Austin for the WWF Title at Over The Edge '99, before losing it back to his nemesis at Fully Loaded.
When tension between The Undertaker and the McMahons split the Ministry apart, Taker took The Big Show under his wing on a quest for the Tag Team Titles, but a groin injury cut the angle short, resulting in him "quitting" the Federation after an on-screen argument with the Chairman.
A bicep injury forced Taker to miss WrestleMania 2000, extending his absence until May when he returned at Judgment Day with a radically new look, decked in denim with dark shades and a bandana as he interrupted the main event and obliterated a heel Triple H and the McMahons. The American Badass had arrived, and with him came a more vocal interview style, a motorcycle riding entrance, and a new finisher - the Last Ride powerbomb effectively replacing the Tombstone piledriver.
As a babyface, the new-style Undertaker briefly reunited with Kane to challenge for the Tag Team Titles before his brother turned on him, leading to a match at SummerSlam 2000 that ended with Kane running from the ring hiding his face, after Taker had ripped off his mask. In 2001 however, they again teamed up to finally claim tandem gold.
During the early stages of the WCW Invasion, Diamond Dallas Page debuted as the stalker of The Undertaker's wife Sara. At SummerSlam that August, Taker and Kane won the WCW World Tag Team Titles and went on to defeat Page and Kanyon for the WWF straps, becoming the first team to hold both sets of championships at the same time.
Following the Invasion angle, The American Badass cut his hair short and turned heel by forcing Jim Ross to join the Mr McMahon "Kiss My Ass" Club. In December he pinned Rob Van Dam at Vengeance to become WWF Hardcore Champion, before losing the title to Maven in February due to interference from The Rock.
Taker's brief feud with The Rock fed into a WrestleMania X-8 program with Ric Flair, which saw Big Evil score the landmark tenth win in his 'Mania undefeated streak. That May, as a member of the Raw roster following the initial brand extension, Taker became WWE Undisputed Champion by once again relieving Hulk Hogan of the gold.
After showing respect for Jeff Hardy for his gutsy performance in a ladder match between the two, Taker turned babyface while champion, before losing the title to The Rock in a Triple Threat match where Kurt Angle was pinned. Taker soon took up residence on the SmackDown brand and began feuding with Brock Lesnar, putting over the rising star in a physical Hell in a Cell match.
At Survivor Series 2003, The Undertaker clashed with Vince McMahon in a Buried Alive match, which he lost due to interference from Kane. After several months away from television, Taker began playing mind games with his brother, as special effects reminiscent of the Phenom plagued Kane's televised appearances in early 2004. Finally a match was announced for WrestleMania XX, accompanied by the tagline "Where It All Begins Again." Making his first appearance since November at the pay-per-view, Taker returned with a hybrid of his previous gimmicks, behaving much like his old Deadman character but with small touches of his biker persona weaved into the new image. Following a dramatic entrance alongside Paul Bearer, he would earn his second WrestleMania victory over Kane.
Remaining a babyface despite encasing Bearer (a "liability") in concrete, The Undertaker spent much of the next two years in an unsuccessful pursuit of John Bradshaw Layfield's WWE Championship, and feuding with Randy Orton. At No Mercy '04, Taker introduced the Last Ride match while challenging JBL for the gold, but was cost the match by Heidenreich.
After ending his feud with Orton via Hell in a Cell, Taker took some time off until Royal Rumble 2006, when he returned to destroy the ring with a lightning bolt during Kurt Angle's celebration of a successful World Heavyweight Title defense. A bout between the two hailed as a Match of the Year contender at No Way Out - The Undertaker's first shot at this championship - ended with an attack on Taker by Mark Henry, setting up their WrestleMania 22 match that took the Deadman's streak to 14-0.
In a rematch the following week on SmackDown, the Phenom was targeted by The Great Khali, who pinned the Deadman at Judgment Day with a single foot on the chest. The two were set to meat again in the first ever Punjabi Prison match, but due to elevated liver enzymes, Khali was replaced by The Big Show, with Taker escaping the elaborate bamboo structure to win the contest. He later defeated Khali on an episode of SmackDown in a Last Man Standing match.
As 2006 turned into 2007, The Undertaker battled Mr Kennedy before winning the Royal Rumble for the first time, last eliminating fellow veteran Shawn Michaels. Having earned the right to challenge any champion to a match at WrestleMania 23, Taker threw down the gauntlet to Batista for the World Heavyweight Title, and though forced to maintain an uneasy alliance in the weeks leading up to the pay-per-view, the pair delivered a highly physical brawl which resulted in The Undertaker's first World Heavyweight Championship reign with his fifteenth victory at WrestleMania.
Unfortunately, after another critically acclaimed match with Batista at Backlash under Last Man Standing rules, what was intended to be a long reign for the Phenom was cut short by injury. As it coincided with an injury to fellow SmackDown star Mr Kennedy, WWE quickly reshuffled its scheduled storylines and had Edge win an impromptu match on Raw for Kennedy's Money In The Bank title shot, then cash it in the same week on SmackDown to pin The Undertaker following a cage match between the Deadman and Batista. With Edge as World Heavyweight Champion, The Undertaker would have a fresh feud awaiting him upon his return from a long recovery period.
One of the longest serving members of the WWE roster, with arguably the most successful gimmick in wrestling, The Undertaker remains an integral cornerstone of World Wrestling Entertainment both on-screen and backstage. While enjoying a part-time schedule for the most part, he is undoubtedly one of the most over performers in the company, and carries with him a WrestleMania-sized torch to pass should the Deadman ever decide to hang up his well-worn boots.
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