Just like realising Father Christmas doesn’t exist when you reach a certain age, there also comes a point as a wrestling fan when you discover that it’s scripted sports-entertainment and that all is not what it seems. This article may not sit pretty with some grapple fans but there is no denying the facts. The Undertaker debut 25 years ago this Sunday at the WWE Survivor Series PPV, and this Sunday the WWE celebrates that anniversary. Mark Calaway’s depiction of the Undertaker is easily the most successful gimmick the wrestling industry as ever seen, but there are also comments of him being one of the best ever! However some would say has he been one of the luckiest superstars of the last 25 years.
The Gothic like Undertaker character debut at the 1990 Survivor Series as part of Ted DiBiase’s Million Dollar team in a traditional Survivor Series match. Like most of the Undertaker’s early WWE matches and feuds this was mediocre at best, however the gimmick went down a treat and the creative team and commentators did everything to push the Deadman character. Another change they made to the gimmick was the adding of iconic manager Paul Bearer, who as much as creative is known for being hugely pivotal to the success of the Undertaker character so is Bearer. Without Paul Bearer Undertaker would have never had a voice.
If you look back at the first decade of the Undertaker’s career there isn’t that much evidence of why he would be considered a future WWE Hall of Famer in 2015. As explained above he debut in 1990 and made a sudden impact but his ring skills and non existent promo were not to be desired. His aura as the Deadman was the only thing that kept the interest of the audience. Undertaker has always been known for his haunting entrance and in the 90’s that is where the gimmick excelled as once he stepped in the ring the act fell apart. In his early days as a WWE competitor his ring style was slow……dead slow, which led to mediocre matches and tiresome feuds which never really paid off.
Undertaker is known for winning the WWF title a year to the day of his debut by defeating Hulk Hogan, a great triumph it wasn’t as six days later at the ‘Tuesday in Texas’ PPV he dropped it back to Hogan. The now infamous streak began at Wrestlemania in 1991 when Taker defeated Jimmy Snuka, he would then go on to compete at every Wrestelmania for the rest of the decade. During the 90’s The Undertaker character went through many changes from the funeral parlour gimmick to the Lord of Darkness in 1999. He also had a multitude of feuds with a range of characters from the Ultimate Warrior to Kamala, however it wasn’t until Mick Foley entered WWF in 1996 that Undertaker’s career started to be taken seriously.
The subsequent feud with Foley resulted in some of his best matches in the WWE, they competed together in the first ever Boiler Room Brawl and Buried Alive match, in 1998 they took part in the most memorable Hell in a Cell match ever at the King of the Ring. In 1997 Undertaker captured the WWE title for a second time before dropping it to Bret Hart, he then entered into a celebrated feud with Shawn Michaels in what would become a precursor to their famous matches a decade later. Taker & HBK clashed three times on PPV but their most famous was the inaugural Hell in a Cell match at the Badd Blood event in October. Shawn who was arguably No1 in the world in 1997 sold for the Deadman like no other. Personally it is one of the best matches in WWE history. Due to the debut of Kane at Badd Blood who interfered, HBK emerged victorious.
As previously stated the only memorable performance for Undertaker in 1998 was the HIAC at the King of the Ring. Apart from that he feuded with Kane which led to a mediocre match at Wrestlemania 14 he also became the No1 contnder for Steve Austin’s world title. The two squared of at Summerslam 1998 where Stone Cold retained the title, they met again throughout the latter part of 98 in various scraps involving Kane and Vince McMahon. In 1999 he debut his ‘Lord of Darkness’ character and created the ‘Ministry of Darkness’ which then became after merging with Vince McMahon the ‘Corporate Ministry’. Undertaker performed a light schedule in 1999 then walked out of WWE (kayfabe) to recuperate from injuries, he wouldn’t return until May 2000.
The Undertaker returned in the new millennium with a completely new gimmick ‘The American Bad Ass’, decked out in biker attire and riding a Harley Davidson to the squared circle the Deadman had definitely changed. As well as his entrance and ring attire his in ring skills seemed different. He moved faster than his original creation. Although the aura was still there Undertaker failed to excite me in the ring, it wasn’t until he faced Kurt Angle at the Survivor Series in 2000 that I took interest. The only other memorable moment from 2000 was the sight of Undertaker throwing Rikishi off a 20ft HIAC at the Armageddon PPV.
The next few years were very hit and miss for the Deadman, he had a very good feud with Triple H at Wrestlemania 17, in 2002 he turned his attentions to Ric Flair who had returned to the company in December 2001. They clashed at Wrestlemania 18 in what is actually one of my favourite matches, it was actually a very good contest between the two veterans who held nothing back looking at the event now it was arguably the best match on the card. After a career high he then descended back into mediocrity as feuded with current WWE champion Hulk Hogan whom he defeated at Judgment Day. However once the Hogan debacle was over Undertaker became embroiled in a mini feud with Jeff Hardy, the highlight being a Ladder match for the WWE title live on Raw. 2002 ended well for Taker as he did the right thing in putting over Brock Lesnar in a big way at the No Mercy PPV, they collided in a HIAC match which Lesnar won convincingly.
After the Brock loss Undertaker took a hiatus until the 2003 Royal Rumble, there is nothing really to write about in 2003 as his in ring contributions were poor, once more the gimmick got him through. In 2004 Calaway returned to his Deadman persona at Wrestlemannia 20 and battled Kane, later in the year he had hostilities with then WWE champion JBL. The feud was long and boring and featured zero action, it was a throwback to big man matches of the 80’s. My interest in the Deadman returned when Randy Orton decided he was the one who finally defeat the Undertaker at Wrestlemania 21. Orton was brimming with confidence during this feud and it showed, the match at Mania was Undertaker’s best to date, the fans in attendance were even cheering when Orton hit his patented RKO finisher. Taker won the much praised match with his streak still intact.
I personally believe the Orton match at WM21 was the start of a career revival for the Deadman. 2007 was when the Undertaker really started to become a ring general, gone was the slow plodding antics of years gone by, Taker being an avid UFC fan had slowly adopted certain techniques into his act and it showed. In the coming years Undertaker would slow down his schedule and be very careful with his potential opponents. Over the course of the next decade Undertaker did still partake in the odd mediocre feud or match but overall the quality of his matches improved greatly.
It was his matches at Wrestlemania most importantly that made people stand up and take notice, in those matches alone Undertaker raised the bar and so the expectancy level went up over the years. His undefeated winning streak became bigger than any world title and arguably bigger than the Deadman himself as each year everyone anticipated who would next to take the challenge. He put together a world-class selection of matches from 2007 right through to 2014, it started with his titanic battle with Batista at Wrestlemania 23 to his slow burning classic against Edge in 2008. What would follow those battles defined the careers of both Undertaker and Shawn Michaels.
In 2009 & 2010 respectively HBK and Taker eclipsed anything that came before them with two of the greatest matches in wrestling history. As we all know the Deadman emerged victorious in both matches the latter being Shawn’s retirement as per the stipulation. No more can be said about how good these matches were. Undertaker followed that with two more career enhancing performances against Triple H at WM 28 & 29, they stole the show. The following year however would change the course of wrestling history as Brock Lesnar was chosen as the man to end the streak at Wrestlemana 30. In a hard-hitting duel Brock eventually took Taker down with three F5’s.
I must reiterate my respect for the Undertaker, truly one of the best superstars in WWE & wrestling history. His gimmick has survived the test of time and continues to be one of WWE’s greatest creations, a fact obvious by the reaction he still receives. Recently he was referred to by many as the best or greatest in WWE history, as a gimmick yes as a wrestler no. People seem to forget the first half his WWE career was shockingly bad, his style was nowhere near as captivating as it became in the new millennium. Undertaker as a business man surely surveyed the landscape and knew he had to change, there is no denying certain opponents were picked to make Taker look better than he was.
Mark Calaway was quickly going nowhere until his WWE debut in 1990, the gimmick gave him a wrestling career and made him famous and we should celebrate it. However is Undertaker one of the greatest ever? I think I’ll let you decide.
@ciaran_1986
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