The Undertaker

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Mark William Calaway (born March 24, 1965[1]) is an American professional wrestler better known by the ring name, The Undertaker. He currently wrestles on the SmackDown! brand of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). ------------------------------------------------------------- Early career Calaway began his wrestling career in 1984 by training and wrestling at the Sportatorium in Dallas, Texas with Fritz Von Erich's World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW). Calaway later went on to wrestle in the United States Wrestling Association (USWA), winning the USWA Unified World Heavyweight Championship and USWA Texas Heavyweight Championship. During the mid to late 1980s, he used several ring names: The Commando, The Punisher, Texas Red, The Master of Pain, Punisher Dice Morgan. Mark Calaway had a short stint from late 1989 until late 1990 in the National Wrestling Alliance's (NWA) Jim Crockett Promotions. The NWA became World Championship Wrestling (WCW) during Calaway's time with them. While there, he was known as "Mean" Mark Callous and wrestled as part of the Skyscrapers tag team along with "Dangerous" Dan Spivey and later as a singles wrestler. His most famous match in WCW was against Lex Luger for the NWA United States Championship at the 1990 Great American Bash, which he lost when Luger pinned him after a clothesline. At the end of 1990, WCW declined to renew Calaway's contract, and he signed with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in late October 1990. ------------------------------------------------------------- World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment 1990-1994 Calaway debuted in the World Wrestling Federation as The Undertaker on November 22, 1990 at Survivor Series 1990 as the mystery partner to Ted Dibiase's Million Dollar faction. After Survivor Series, Calaway was also called Cain the Undertaker at several shows until Kane was dropped from his name, and he reverted back to simply "The Undertaker". The appearance of Undertaker was modelled on that of a mortician from old Western movies, with the character being supposedly impervious to pain and possessing supernatural powers, such as teleportation and manipulation of flames and lightning. It was also at this time that the Undertaker switched managers from Brother Love to Paul Bearer. In 1991, the Undertaker's popularity grew rapidly. He made his WrestleMania debut at WrestleMania VII, defeating the legendary "Superfly" Jimmy Snuka. After an undefeated year and high-profile feuds with Ultimate Warrior and Hulk Hogan, he defeated Hogan at Survivor Series 1991 to win his first WWF Championship. This made him at the time, the youngest holder of the WWE title at 26 years of age. He lost the title six days later to Hogan at Tuesday in Texas. Between December 1991 and September 1993, the Undertaker did not lose a single match. Early in 1992, he had a falling out with ally Jake Roberts. After Roberts lost a match on Saturday Night's Main Event to Randy Savage, Roberts planned on attacking Savage and his manager/wife Miss Elizabeth with a steel chair. Undertaker prevented this from occurring, thus turning face. He went on to defeat Roberts at WrestleMania VIII. He feuded extensively with wrestlers managed by Harvey Whippleman throughout 1992 and 1993, most notably Kamala and Giant Gonzales. He defeated Gonzales by disqualification at WrestleMania IX, then pinned Gonzales at Summerslam 1993. In January 1994, he challenged then WWF Champion Yokozuna and met him in two of the best known casket matches in WWF history at the 1994 Royal Rumble and Survivor Series 1994. At the Royal Rumble, Yokozuna sealed Undertaker in the casket. The Undertaker's "spirit" appeared from inside the casket on the video screen, warning that he would return. This began Undertaker's first hiatus. In reality, he had a back injury that was getting worse and he needed time off. An Undertaker "clone" appeared after WrestleMania X, played by Brian Lee and led by Ted DiBiase. This led to the resurrection of the real Undertaker and an epic battle at SummerSlam 1994, where the real Undertaker was victorious. 1995-1996 Throughout most of 1995, the Undertaker was feuding with members of Ted DiBiase's Million Dollar Corporation, including IRS and King Kong Bundy. At WrestleMania XI, while Undertaker was facing Bundy, Kama Mustafa stole the Undertaker's source of power, the urn, and disrespected Taker by converting it into a large gold necklace. The two faced each other in a casket match at SummerSlam. After putting on a great match, the Undertaker finally came out on top, closing the lid on Kama. Several weeks later, the Undertaker was assaulted by Yokozuna and King Mabel, which led to an injury of the eye orbital bone, forcing Undertaker into a period of absence for surgery. The Undertaker returned a while later wearing a Phantom-like ghostly grey upper facemask and defeated all of his competition. The 1996 Royal Rumble saw the unmasking of the Undertaker in a WWF championship match against Bret Hart. Diesel interfered in the match costing the Undertaker the championship. One month later, while Diesel was facing Hart in a steel cage match, Undertaker came up from under the ring to drag Diesel underneath, allowing Hart the victory. This lead to a match between the two giants at WrestleMania XII, in which the Undertaker was victorious. An even more notable feud involving the Undertaker commenced the very next night, when Mankind made his debut, interfering in the Undertaker's match with Justin Hawk Bradshaw. For the next few months, Mankind would ambush and cost the Undertaker several matches. The Undertaker faced Mankind for the very first time at the 1996 King of the Ring. However, Mankind won the encounter when Bearer hit the Undertaker with the urn. The Undertaker's feud with Mankind grew more intense. They began taking their battles into crowds and backstage areas. The two also fought in the boiler room areas of different arenas. As a result, these events lead up to the first ever Boiler Room Brawl match between the two at SummerSlam 1996. Undertaker nearly won the match by using the ropes to fling Mankind off the edge of the ring apron. However, when Undertaker reached for the urn, Bearer hit him with it, turning on the Undertaker and allowing Mankind to incapacitate the Undertaker with the Mandible Claw, giving him the win. The Undertaker's feud continued with Mankind at In Your House: Buried Alive. This event marked the debut of the Buried Alive Match, in which Undertaker defeated Mankind. The match also introduced The Executioner who attacked Undertaker after the match. The In Your House: It's Time event saw the end of the feud with Mankind and The Executioner with a victory for The Undertaker. ------------------------------------------------------------- 1997-1999 The Undertaker, after winning the WWF Championship at WrestleMania 13.In 1997, Undertaker won his second WWF Championship from Sycho Sid at WrestleMania 13. The previous night, Undertaker won 3 awards at the Slammy Awards: Best Tattoo, Best Entrance Music, and Highest Magnitude. After WrestleMania 13, Paul Bearer revealed that the Undertaker had burned his family's house, killing everyone except his brother. He announced that Undertaker's brother was still alive, waiting for revenge all these years. In defense, Undertaker responded that Kane, a pyromaniac, had set the fire and that his brother could not have survived. Meanwhile, a number of wrestlers pursued Undertaker's title, including Vader, Faarooq and Stone Cold Steve Austin. At SummerSlam 1997, referee Shawn Michaels accidentally hit Undertaker with a steel chair shot meant for Bret Hart, costing the Undertaker his WWF Championship. Although the chair shot seemed accidental, Michaels repeated this with added taunting in the oncoming weeks on RAW is WAR. This led to two well-received matches at In Your House: Ground Zero, and In Your House: Badd Blood, where the Undertaker challenged Michaels to the first ever infamous Hell in a Cell Match. During this match, Undertaker's kayfabe brother Kane, made his debut, ripping off the door to the cell and then giving Undertaker a Tombstone Piledriver, Undertaker's trademark finisher allowing Michaels to pin him. The Undertaker's final encounter with Michaels was in the return of the casket match at the 1998 Royal Rumble. Again, Kane cost the Undertaker the win by trapping him in the coffin. He even padlocked the casket lid and set it ablaze. However, the Undertaker had disappeared when the casket lid was opened. Leading up to this match, Kane and Paul Bearer had dug up Undertaker's parents and brought them to RAW. Undertaker was thrown into the casket with his mother's remains while his father's remains were set ablaze. After a two-month hiatus, Undertaker returned and successfully defeated Kane at WrestleMania XIV with three Tombstone Piledrivers. The two had a rematch in the first ever Inferno match one month later at WWF Unforgiven, where the ring was surrounded by fire and the only way to win was to set your opponent on fire. The Undertaker won by setting Kane's arm on fire. Undertaker's longtime feud with Mankind was renewed afterwards, on an episode of RAW, when Mankind cost the Undertaker a match against Kane. As a result, Undertaker and Mankind faced each other in a Hell in a Cell match at King of the Ring 1998. In one of the most memorable matches in professional wrestling history, Undertaker threw Mankind off the roof of the sixteen foot cell onto the Spanish announcers' table below. He later chokeslammed Mankind through the roof of the cell into the ring and finally finished the match by back dropping and chokeslamming Mankind onto a pile of thumbtacks. The Undertaker was able to compete in the match even while sporting a legitimate broken foot. (For more, see Hell in a Cell - Undertaker vs. Mankind). In July 1998 at Fully Loaded, Undertaker and Stone Cold Steve Austin defeated Kane and Mankind t