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An eye for an eye will make the whole world blind~Gandhi
The time is always right to do what is right~ Martin Luther King Jr.


Tuesday, August 10, 2021

The Undertaker (wrestler)

This tall, looming figure is often referred to as "The Grim Reaper", or "The Deadman". His whole angle in the ring is centered around an ominous, funereal vibe. Adding to the sinister vibe around him is his signature wide brimmed hat, black leather long rider coat. But outside of the ring, he's not Mark Calaway "The Undertaker", he's simply Mark Calaway

Birth name: Mark William Calaway

DOB: 3/24/1965

Where: Houston, Texas

Trademarks

-He's known for rolling his eyes into the back of his head, revealing the whites of his eyes

-His arms are covered in tattoos, these tattoos being "The Undertaker"

-In the ring, he's known for walking on the top rope






-His entrance theme is funeral music while he walks somberly down to the ring with purple light and smoke

-Some of his signature moves include: Hells Gate (a type of submission hold that makes opponents bleed from the mouth), Old School (walking on the top rope while holding the opposing wrestler's arm and jumping off to club the other wrestler's back), Taking Care of Business (a standing Dragon Sleeper hold), Tombstone Pile Driver (holding the opponent upside down and slamming them, head first, into the mat)

-For a man his size, he has incredibly agility

-He's known for his black leather long rider coat, eye liner and black wide brimmed hat

-He is known for lying completely motionless when struck by his opponent and then suddenly sitting up

-The angle he's known for involves horror and a slight biker angle

Trivia

-He's worn many nicknames over the years. They include: The Lord of Darkness, The Deadman, The Man from the Dark Side, Texas Red, Big Evil, Mean Mark, Kane the Undertaker, The Punisher, The Demon of Death Valley, The Last Outlaw, "Mean" Mark Callous, The Master of Pain

-His wrestling career with WWF started in 1990 as the mystery partner to Ted DiBiase at the Survivor Series 1990

-He was crowned WWF World Champion four different times. 1.) Survivor Series 1991, where he won against Hulk Hogan. Hulk would win the title back, but would be stripped of this title when the circumstances of his win were discovered. 2.) 1997's WrestleMania 13, where he won against Sycho Sid. 3.) 1999's WWF Over the Edge, where he won against "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. 4.) 2002's WWE Judgement Day, where he won against Hulk Hogan once again

-His official introduction into the world of wrestling came in 1984, starting out with World Class Championship Wrestling. 1989 seen him joining World Championship Wrestling (WCW). When this company didn't renew his contract, he decided to join World Wrestling Federation, which changed its name in 2002 to World Wrestling Entertainment. November 2002 seen him take on the name The Undertaker. He's been with that company since then and is now one of the senior WWE wrestlers. He and Shawn Michaels are the only two wrestlers who appeared on the very first episode of Raw

-He was part of a group of wrestlers called The Ministry of Darkness

-Prior to taking on the name The Undertaker, he wrestled as "Mean" Mark Callous








-In 1995, he suffered a crushed eye socket when wrestler Mabel gave him a badly performed leg drop. He wore a mask to protect his eye until it recovered

-He had to go on medical leave for 7-9 months because of a torn pectoral muscle

-The WWE bills his height at 6'10 1/2''. His actual height is only 6'8''

-In a 2001 interview, he says that the 1999 "Lord of Darkness" gimmick is the worst part of his career

-As a wedding gift to his second wife Sara, he had gotten her name tattooed on his throat. He stated it was the most painful tattoo he's ever gotten

-December 1991-September 1993 seen an unbeatable winning streak for The Undertaker

-One thing he's known for is his strong love for family. He's been quoted as saying "Mess with me or my family and I WILL make you famous!"

-The Undertaker had not lost a single match until WrestleMania XXX (30).The opponents he fought against and won against include:

  • Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka (WM VII)
  • Jake "The Snake" Roberts (WM VIII)
  • Jorge "Giant" Gonzalez (WM IX)
  • King Kong Bundy (WM XI)
  • Kevin Nash aka "Diesel" (WM XII)
  • Sid Eudy aka "Sycho Sid" (WM 13)
  • Glenn Jacobs aka "Kane" (WM XIV and XX)
  • Ray Traylor aka "Big Boss Man" (WM XV)
  • Paul Levesque aka "Triple H" (WM X7)
  • "Nature Boy" Ric Flair (WM X8)
  • Tag team Paul Wight aka "Big Show" and Matt Bloom aka "A-Train" (WM XIX)
  • Randy Orton (WM21)
  • Mark Henry (WM22)
  • Dave Bautista (WM23)
  • Adam "Edge" Copeland (WM24)
  • Shawn Michaels (WM25)

-Prior to his 2002 WWE Judgement Day match with Hulk Hogan, he referred to himself as "judge, jury and executioner of Hulkamania"

-He has three kids. A son named Gunner Vincent Calaway with his first wife Jodi Lynn and two daughters named Chasey and Gracie

-Before he became a wrestler, he dreamed of playing professional basketball in Europe until a knee injury ended those dreams

-He went to Angelina College in Lufkin, Texas on a basketball scholarship

-He has a brother, Paul, who is a police officer

-His last WCW match was against Lex Luger



-His WCW manager was Paul Heyman

-One of his closest friends is wrestler Brian Harris, aka "Chainz" to WWF fans. He was the best man at Mark's first wedding to Jodi Lynn

-One of the biggest thrills of his career was riding his own motorcycle to ring in his hometown of Houston, Texas during 2001's WrestleMania VII







-One of the most memorable moments for him was at 1992's Summerslam at Wembley Stadium in London. He entered the stadium in the back of a hearse in front of 80,000 fans

-1991 seen Paul Bearer replacing Brother Love as The Undertaker's manager







-He was almost always chosen for casket matches. He won against Mark Henry at the 2006 WrestleMania 22 casket match

-MMA fighter Pat Miletich and his students Jeremy Horn and Matt Hughes are close friends of The Undertaker. Mark is also a huge fan of MMA and attends UFC and Pride FC events

-A lot of the wrestling techniques he employs comes from MMA, such as triangle chokes, arm-bars, key-locks

-When he's not wrestling, he's a real estate investor

-With his height of 6'9'' and over 325 pounds, he was the first nearly 7' tall wrestler to do high flying moves in the ring

-One of the properties he owns - a ranch in Cedar Creek, Texas - he leased to Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie because they were in the area while they filmed Brad's 2011 film The Tree of Life

-During his February 2010 WWE Elimination Chamber PPV event, he received first and second degree burns resulting from a pyrotechnic issue during his entrance to the ring

-He's of Irish and American Indian descent

-He caused Shawn Michaels to retire after two back-to-back wins over him at WrestleMania 25 and 26






-In 1998, he wrestled Mick Foley aka "Mankind" with a broken foot during his Hell in a Cell match at King of the Ring

-In 2005, he took some time off to not only recover from a hip injury, but also to welcome the birth of he and his wife Sara's second child together

-He announced his retirement on January 30, 2016

-He holds a record for most appearances in video games. He has appeared in every WWF/WWE video game released, starting with WWF Super WrestleMania in 1992 on the SNES system. He was not included on the Sega Genesis edition. Since then

-He's an intensely private person. He values the time he has with his family and asks that fans respect him while he's out with his family by not approaching them

-He's a Fulbright scholar who left college to pursue wrestling. He was a few credits short of fully graduating

-He wore his full Undertaker costume to the first game of the Cleveland Cavaliers game of their 2016 season

-He's a fan of the Cleveland Cavaliers and his favorite player is LeBron James

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