Mark William Calaway (born March 24, 1965)[4] is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name The Undertaker. He is signed to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), currently wrestling on the SmackDown brand where he is the current World Heavyweight Champion.
Calaway began his wrestling career with World Class Championship Wrestling in 1984. He joined World Championship Wrestling (WCW) as "Mean" Mark Callous in 1989. When WCW did not renew Calaway's contract in 1990, he joined the World Wrestling Federation (which later became World Wrestling Entertainment in 2002) as The Undertaker in November of that year. Having remained with that company ever since, Calaway is currently one of the senior performers in the WWE. The Undertaker remains, along with Shawn Michaels, one of only two people that made an appearance in the very first episode of Monday Night Raw, who are still with the company today.
The Undertaker has two contrasting gimmicks which are the Deadman and the American Bad Ass. The specialty matches connected to The Undertaker (or more specifically, his "Deadman" persona) are the Casket match, the Buried Alive match, the infamous Hell in a Cell, and the Last Ride match. The Undertaker's (kayfabe) half-brother is Kane, whom he has teamed up with as the Brothers of Destruction. The Undertaker is undefeated at WrestleMania with a 17–0 record and is recognized by WWE as a seven-time world champion, having won the WWE Championship four times and the World Heavyweight Championship three times. He was also the winner of the 2007 Royal Rumble in which he became the first man to win the Rumble at number 30, a record which was overturned by John Cena the following year in the 2008 Royal Rumble.
Contents
1 Professional wrestling career
1.1 Early career (1984–1990)
1.2 World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment
1.2.1 Debut (1990–1994)
1.2.2 Return; feud with Mankind (1994–1997)
1.2.3 Hell in a Cell; Brothers of Destruction (1997–1998)
1.2.4 Ministry of Darkness (1998-1999)
1.2.5 American Bad Ass/Big Evil (2000–2003)
1.2.6 Return of the Deadman (2004–2006)
1.2.7 Brothers of Destruction reunion (2006–2007)
1.2.8 World Heavyweight Champion (2007–2008)
1.2.9 Return and various feuds (2008–2009)
1.2.10 Return and World Heavyweight Champion (2009-present)
2 Other media
3 Personal life
4 In wrestling
5 Championships and accomplishments
5.1 WrestleMania record
5.2 Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards
6 References
7 External links
Early career (1984–1990)
Calaway made his debut in 1984 in World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW) under the ring name "Texas Red". .[5] He wrestled and lost his first match against Bruiser Brody [5] In 1988, after four years in the promotion, he left and joined the CWA (which became the USWA after Jerry Jarrett merged CWA with WCCW), wrestling under several names gimmicks. On April 1, 1989, he was booked to win his first professional wrestling title, the USWA Unified World Heavyweight Championship, defeating Jerry "The King" Lawler, under the stage name "The Master of Pain". While performing as "The Punisher", Calaway won the WCWA Texas Heavyweight Championship on October 5, 1989 when Eric Embry forfeited the title.[6]
His first mainstream exposure was in World Championship Wrestling (WCW). While there, he was known as "Mean" Mark Calous and wrestled as part of the "Skyscrapers" tag team along with "Dangerous" Dan Spivey managed by Teddy Long.[7] During his time in the Skyscrapers, he and Spivey were involved in a feud with the Road Warriors,[8] but Spivey left before the feud came to an end. Calaway then took on the guidance of Paul E. Dangerously and defeated Brian Pillman and Johnny Ace. During this time, he wrestled against Lex Luger for the NWA United States Championship at The Great American Bash, but lost when Luger pinned him after a clothesline. WCW declined to renew Calaway's contract, after losing his last match toSting on September 1, 1990 at a live event. Calaway then briefly wrestled in New Japan Pro Wrestling as Punisher Dice Morgan and in October 1990, he signed with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). After leaving WCW, he briefly returned to the USWA to participate in a tournament to determine the new USWA Unified World Heavyweight Champion; he defeated Bill Dundee in the first round, but lost to Jerry Lawler in the quarterfinals.
World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment
[edit]Debut (1990–1994)
Calaway made his WWF debut as "Cain The Undertaker" at a taping of WWF Superstars on November 19, 1990.[9] The appearance of The Undertaker's first Deadman persona was modeled after a mortician from old Western movies, wearing a trench coat and black hat with grey gloves and boot covers. Under this Deadman persona, he was "impervious to pain," something accomplished by Calaway no-selling his opponents' attacks. Calaway made his official on-camera debut on November 22 at Survivor Series as a heel when he was the mystery partner of Ted DiBiase's Million Dollar team, where he was simply called The Undertaker.[10] Approximately one minute into the match, Undertaker eliminated Koko B. Ware with hisfinisher, the Tombstone Piledriver. He also eliminated Dusty Rhodes before being counted out. Shortly after Survivor Series, "Cain" was dropped from his name, and he was called simply The Undertaker. It was at this time that The Undertaker switched managers from Brother Love to Paul Bearer — a histrionic, ghostly character, almost always seen bearing an urn from which The Undertaker drew mystical power from, reviving his strength during his matches. After defeating his opponents in the ring, he would perform a post-match ritual which involved him putting his defeated opponent in a bodybag and carrying him to the back.[11]
He made his WrestleMania debut at WrestleMania VII, quickly defeating "Superfly" Jimmy Snuka.[12] The win was the first in his undefeated streak at the event. He began his first majorfeud with The Ultimate Warrior, when he attacked the Warrior and locked him in an airtight casket on the set of his manager, Paul Bearer's Funeral Parlour interview segment. After a year of battles with the Warrior, Randy Savage,[10] Sgt. Slaughter, and Hulk Hogan, he defeated Hogan to win his first WWF Championship at Survivor Series.[13] WWF President Jack Tunneyordered a rematch for This Tuesday in Texas six days later, where Undertaker lost the title to Hogan.[13]
In February 1992, Undertaker's ally Jake "The Snake" Roberts tried to attack Randy Savage's manager/wife Miss Elizabeth with a steel chair when Undertaker stopped him, becoming a fan favorite for the first time. Then, Undertaker defeated Roberts at WrestleMania VIII.[12] He then feuded extensively with wrestlers managed by Harvey Wippleman throughout 1992 and 1993, including Kamala,[13][14] whom he faced and defeated in the first televised coffin match in WWF history at Survivor Series, and Giant Gonzales, whom he defeated by disqualification atWrestleMania IX and by pinfall at SummerSlam in a "Rest in Peace" match.[12][14] In January 1994, he challenged WWF Champion Yokozuna to a casket match at the Royal Rumble. At the Royal Rumble, Yokozuna sealed Undertaker in the casket with the assistance of several other villainous wrestlers, winning the match. The Undertaker's "spirit" appeared from inside the casket on the video screen, warning that he would return.[15] This began Undertaker's first hiatus.
No comments:
Post a Comment