Real Name: Mark Calloway
Height: 6'10"
Weight: 328 lbs
Hometown: "Death Valley"
Titles Held: WWF World Heavyweight Championship(3), WWF Tag Team Championship(5)
Federations Worked With: World Championship Wrestling, World Wrestling Federation
Finishing Manuever: The Last Ride Powerbomb
Wrestling Aliases: Mean Mark Calious, Cain the Undertaker, The Undertaker


Career Sketch

The Undertaker, or Mark Calloway, is one of the most remarkable men in the wrestling business. He has taken a cartoonish 1980's character into the year 2000 and still has an edge that the fans like. He is a three time WWF champion, and he went 7 years between title reigns. This is the story of the Lord of Darkness.

In 1989, Mark began to realize that with his monstrous size and brute strength, he could be a professional wrestler. He trained, and then made his debut in the USWA, where he was immediately the company's top heel, The Master of Pain. He won the USWA world title from Jerry Lawler soon after his debut, but lost it to Lawler soon after. After a few more stints in different USWA factions, Calloway took his skills to WCW.

In late 1989, Calloway debuted in WCW as Mean Mark Callous. He was teamed with Don Spivey to take the place of Sid in the team, the Skyscrapers. The Skyscrapers feuded against teams like the Road Warriors and the Steiner Brothers, but had little success. Mark returned to singles competition where he feuded with Brian Pillman, and even got a shot at the WCW Untied States title against Lex Luger, but he did not win. After the short stint in WCW, Mark headed for the WWF.

At the 1990 Survivor Series, Mark made his debut as The Undertaker. Managed by Brother Love, he was a mystery partner on one of Ted DiBiase's Million Dollar teams. He was a striking figure, he like an Undertaker, white pale face, gravedigger gloves, haunting music, slow walk to the ring. In the match, he dominated, and eventually got himself counted out as he chased Dusty Rhodes to the back.

As 1991 approached, Undertaker got a new manager in the form of Paul Bearer, a much better fit than Brother Love. As the months went on, the Undertaker dominated all his opponents. After every victory, Paul Bearer would put Taker's opponent in a body bag. Paul Bearer used to have an interview segment called the Funeral Parlor, and one day, the subject was Ultimate Warrior. Bearer said he had a gift for Warrior, and it was a casket with the Warriors logo on it. Warrior then attacked Bearer, which brought in Undertaker who threw Warrior in the casket and locked it. The two began to feud, but it never really culminated in a big match.

After the feud with the Warrior, Undertaker was shot into main event stardom when he wrestled Hulk Hogan for the WWF title at the 1991 Survivor Series. Undertaker seemed unstoppable, and with Ric Flair's help, Taker defeated Hogan to become the WWF Champion. After the match however, a rematch was scheduled, which Hogan won with a chair. After that outcome though, the WWF just vacated the title.

The Undertaker may have been the top heel in the WWF as 1992 came, as that year came though, the WWF turned Taker face. They needed faces with Hogan and Piper departing, so Undertaker was the choice. He even saved Elizabeth, who was at the mercy of Jake Roberts.

With the face turn, the Undertaker was left with few opponents that could really challenge him. After a feud with the Berserker, Taker feuded with Kamala, this feud brought the first ever casket match, which Undertaker won at Summerslam 1992.

Undertaker's next feud was an interesting one, at the 1993 Royal Rumble match, Harvey Whippleman had his nearly 8 foot giant, Giant Gonzales attack Taker. At Wrestlemania IX, the two met head to head. It was a DQ victory for Undertaker when Giant Gonzales used a cloth with chloroform on Taker. Later in the year, in early June 1993, Gonzales and Curtis Hughes stole Paul Bearer's urn, which supposedly controlled Undertaker's power. At Summerslam 1993, Undertaker and Gonzales met in a Rest in Peace match for the urn, Undertaker won, and Bearer got the urn back, this ended a long, drawn out feud between the two.

1993 ended with The Undertaker beginning to feud with Yokozuna for the WWF championship, and the two met in a casket match at the 1994 Royal Rumble for the title. It was an exciting match for the time, but in the end, a group of wrestlers helped Yokozuna put Taker in the casket, it was then announced that Undertaker had died, to explain his absence for the next months.

Undertaker returned a few weeks before Summerslam 1994, when Ted DiBiase began claiming he had used his money to bring Taker back, as he had used it to bring Taker into the WWF in the first place. DiBiase introduced a fake Taker, then Paul Bearer came into the picture, and told DiBiase he would have the real Undertaker wrestle the fake at Summerslam. It was a strange match with two identical wrestlers using identical moves, Undertaker won the match, but his fan response had dwindled because of the unbelievable nature of the "death" angle that had left him out of the WWF for months.

After dealing with the fake Taker, Undertaker refocused on Yokozuna, who by this time was no longer WWF champion. The two met in another caskett match at the 1994 Survivor Series with Chuck Norris as the referee. Undertaker won this casket match.

After what had happened at Summerslam, Ted DiBiase wanted revenge on Taker, so he sent his entire Million Dollar Corporation after Undertaker. Taker went through IRS at the 1995 Royal Rumble, but DiBiase stole the urn. At Wrestlemania XI, Taker wrestled King Kong Bundy, and won, but Kama(Godfather) made it off with the urn and melted it into a necklace. Undertaker wrestled Kama in a caskett match at Summerslam 1995, and won handally.

In October of 1995, Undertaker, Diesel, and Shawn Michaels battled Owen Hart, Yokozuna, and British Bulldog. During the match, Mabel(Viscera) and Yokozuna smashed the face of the Undertaker, giving him a bone injury on his face. When he returned, he was forced to wear a Phantom of the Opera-esque mask to protect his face.

Undertaker took on Mabel in a casket match at In Your House 5 for the chain, as is the norm in casket matches, Taker won, and repossessed the chain, which was remade into an urn. After that victory, Undertaker was named #1 contender to Bret Hart's WWF championship, and would get his shot at the 1996 Royal Rumble. It didn't sit well with Diesel, who felt he should be the #1 contender, so at the Royal Rumble, Diesel interfered and cost Taker the title. Diesel got a match with Hart in the steel cage at In Your House 6, but Taker appeared from under the ring and pulled Diesel under allowing Hart to climb out.

Undertaker met Diesel at Wrestlemania XII, it was a well drawn out match, and even when Diesel put two Jackknife Powerbombs on Taker, Taker still won the match with the Tombstone.

The next night on Raw, Undertaker was having a match with Bradshaw when he was attacked by a man never seen before, Mankind. Mankind aligned with Goldust, and together they tried to get inside Taker's head. Undertaker had a casket match with Goldust, and when Taker opened the casket, Mankind popped out and put the Mandible Claw on Taker and stuffed him in the casket.

At the 1996 King of the Ring, Taker and Mankind squared off for the first time. The match ended when Paul Bearer accidentally hit Taker with the urn, giving Mankind the win. At Summerslam 1996, the two met in the first ever Boiler Room Brawl, where the first man to exit the Boiler Room and get to the urn in the center of the ring won. Undertaker dominated, and went to the ring where Paul Bearer stood with the urn. Mankind was following, and as Taker put his hand out to Bearer for the urn, Paul attacked Undertaker with it, gave it to Mankind and left with Foley.

Undertaker was without a manager for the first time in his WWF career. After a short re-feud with Goldust, he concentrated on Mankind and Bearer. At Buried Alive:In Your House, Undertaker met Mankind in the first ever Buried Alive match. The Undertaker won the match when he buried Mankind in the grave, but then The Executioner attacked Taker, and many other WWF heels put Undertaker in the grave and buried him, it appeared Taker was out, but his hand rose from the grave.

At the 1996 Survivor Series, Undertaker met Mankind again. If Taker won, he would get 5 minutes alone with Paul Bearer. No one had seen Taker since the Buried Alive match. Taker made a dramatic entrance from the ceiling with bat wings and a leather outfit, he also had a black tear painted under his eye. Taker won the match, but was unable to get Bearer because of Executioner's interference.

After destroying Executioner, Undertaker began to feud with Vader. The two met at the 1997 Royal Rumble, where Vader won because of Bearer's interference. After that feud, and many strange occurrences with the WWF title, Undertaker was named #1 contender to the WWF title, and would face champion Sid at Wrestlemania XIII.
The match came, and when Bret Hart attacked Sid in the end, Undertaker took advantage and nailed the Tombstone to win the WWF title for the second time.

After his WWF title victory, Paul Bearer claimed he wanted to manage the Undertaker, and he had a secret that would turn every fan against the Undertaker. The promise by Bearer never materialized, and on the March 31 Raw taping, Mankind attacked Taker with a fire ball. Undertaker defeated Mankind in defense of his WWF title. The next defense for Undertaker was Stone Cold Steve Austin, but with interference by the Hart Foundation, the match had a bad ending.

Bearer kept harassing Undertaker about "the secret," so Undertaker decided he would have to go along with Bearer to stop him. With Bearer as his manager, Taker took on Farooq, who was no challenge. After the match, Bearer ordered Taker to chokeslam Farooq, which brought out Ahmed Johnson who tried to talk sense into Taker. Ahmed and Taker were scheduled to feud, but Johnson's injuries prevented it.

On June 23, Taker had taken all he could of Paul Bearer so in a match where he and Vader teamed to take on Farooq and D'Lo Brown, Taker attacked Vader, turning on Bearer, Mankind, and Vader. On June 30, Bearer revealed that the secret was Undertaker had burnt his parents house down, killing them. However, Taker's brother Kane was still alive and looking for revenge.

As the Summer of 1997 came to a close, Undertaker defended the WWF title at Summerslam 1997 against Bret Hart with Shawn Michaels as the referee. Paul Bearer interfered, but it didn't affect the match. Shawn was ready to hit Bret with a chair, but he hit Undertaker by mistake, costing Taker the WWF title. The Undertaker was furious with Shawn, and eventually, a match was set up between the two for Ground Zero:In Your House, which ended in no contest.

The next match between Shawn and Taker was at Badd Blood:In Your House, it would be the first ever Hell in a Cell match. It was a classic match, as the two men put on some of the best performance of their careers. The Undertaker had the match won, when the lights went out. All of a sudden, there were red lightning and fire, and Kane, along with Paul Bearer appeared. Kane ripped the door of the Hell in a Cell, entered, and gave Undertaker a Tombstone Piledriver, giving Shawn the win.

Kane began a rampage where he destroyed every guy on the WWF roster to get a shot at Undertaker, but Taker said he would never fight his brother. At the 1998 Royal Rumble, Shawn defended the WWF title against Taker in a casket match. In the weeks leading up, it appeared that Taker and Kane had reunited. During the match, Kane came in, but he attacked Taker, giving Shawn the win. Then Paul Bearer appeared, and he and Kane set the casket with Taker in it on fire.

Undertaker returned on March 2, 1998. Undertaker finally told Paul Bearer that he would fight Kane, and the match was booked for Wrestlemania XIV. In a great match, the two went back and forth with great moves, Kane displaying the agility and power that the Undertaker has always possessed. In the end, Undertaker finally pinned Kane after three tombstone piledrivers.
After Wrestlemania, Kane burned their parents tombstone, sending Taker off the deep end. On Raw April 20, Kane burned one of the parents caskets and chokeslammed The Undertaker through the other. At Unforgiven, the two met in the first ever inferno match, with the loser being the one whom was set on fire. It was an exciting match because of the nature in which it took place. With a little help from Vader, Taker was able to beat on Kane, and eventually Kane's arm caught fire.

The next night on Raw, Taker called Kane out, but Paul Bearer came to the ring and told Undertaker it was time for a truce. It was then revealed that Kane was the son of Paul Bearer, which brought Bearer to call Taker's mother a whore, which brought rage unseen before out in Taker. Meanwhile, Taker began to mess with Vince McMahon's assault on WWF champion Steve Austin. At the Over the Edge PPV, Undertaker stood in Austin's corner and stopped McMahon and his stooges from costing Austin the WWF title.

The next night, the Undertaker called McMahon out, and blasted him for humiliating his past and his family for ratings, then Taker demanded a title shot. McMahon stated Taker could only have the shot if he defeated Kane in a #1 contender match. Taker had the match won, but Mankind interfered, and Taker lost.

On Raw June 8, Undertaker arrived early and headed straight to McMahon's office, McMahon was not there, so instead Taker kept coming to the ring and attacking the wrestlers. The next week, a match was booked between Kane and Mankind and Austin and Undertaker. Undertaker's music played, but he didn't show up. The match was in the Hell in a Cell, so Bearer went into it to protect himself. Undertaker then came from under the ring and attacked Bearer, he had finally gotten to beat up Paul Bearer after the Summerslam 1996 screwjob. The next week, Taker attacked Bearer at his home.

At the 1998 King of the Ring, Undertaker faced Mankind in the Hell in a Cell in what is the most famous and replayed match in WWF history. The match started on the top of the cage, and after a little brawling, Taker threw Mankind off the cage all the way to the ground, about 20 feet. After that, Mankind amazingly got back to the top of the cell, only to be chokeslammed through it by Taker. After more brutality, Undertaker finally won the match. Later that night, Austin defended against Kane in a first blood match. Undertaker came to the ring and nailed Austin with a chair, busting him open, allowing Kane to become the WWF champion.

Austin regained the title the next night, and then Stunnered Undertaker for his efforts. Undertaker demanded a shot at the WWF title, but instead, McMahon booked Undertaker and Austin to team up at the Fully Loaded PPV to take on Kane and Mankind. In the weeks leading up, the WWF began to tease that Undertaker had formed a bond with Kane, and that he would help Kane at Fully Loaded.

Undertaker also won #1 contendership to the title when he dressed up as Kane and beat Mankind. The week before the PPV, Kane and Mankind defeated the New Age Outlaws for the tag team titles, making the match at Fully Loaded for the tag straps.
The match at Fully Loaded was a good one, and Undertaker reluctantly teamed with Austin to take the tag titles, after the match, Undertaker left with both belts. After weeks of defending the titles, Austin blew up at Undertaker and insulted him. Later in the night, Taker laid down for Kane, giving Kane and Mankind the tag belts. Then it was finally revealed that Kane and The Undertaker were in cahoots, and Kane would be in Taker's corner at Summerslam 1998 when Undertaker got a title shot.

At Summerslam, Austin and Taker put on a great show, and when Kane came to ringside, Taker sent him back because he wanted to win by himself. Austin however, won the match with the Stone Cold Stunner. After Summerslam, McMahon booked Austin to defend the title in a triple threat match against Kane and Undertaker at Break Down. Austin had no chance against both brothers, but when the match came, Kane and Taker could not decide who would win, so they just double pinned Austin, vacating the title.

The next night, McMahon booked Undertaker to face Kane at Judgement Day for the WWF title with Austin as the ref. The match came, and Paul Bearer came to the ring after a long absence and nailed Kane with a chair, to let Undertaker win, but Austin wouldnt have it as he Stunnered Taker, the match ended in no-contest.

Paul Bearer had returned to the Undertaker, and Kane and Undertaker were both given byes in the WWF title tournament so they could face each other. When the tournament came at the 1998 Survivor Series, Undertaker won with Bearer's help. In the next round, Taker faced The Rock, Kane came to the ring and attacked The Rock, giving Rock a DQ victory, eliminating Taker. The Rock won the tourney, and the next night, he defended against Austin. Austin had the match won when Taker attacked, costing Austin the belt, revenge for Judgement Day.
McMahon then booked Taker to face Austin at Rock Bottom in a Buried Alive match. Taker had the match won, until Kane attacked and helped Austin win. Undertaker then took some time off to heel injuries.

Undertaker returned in mid January of 1999 with the Acolytes at his side. He then sacrificed Dennis Knight and renamed him Mideon. Undertaker had taken on a satanic persona. At the 1999 Royal Rumble, Taker and his men assaulted Mabel and kidnapped him. The next night, Mable returned as Viscera. Undertaker then added The Brood to his group. The group was dubbed Undertaker's Ministry of Darkness. Undertaker then began threatening McMahon's family, especially Vince's daughter Stephanie.

At Wrestlemania XV, Undertaker took on McMahon's security guard Big Bossman in the Hell in a Cell. Undertaker dominated the match, and after winning, the Ministry helped Taker hang Bossman with a noose. After Wrestlemania, Undertaker began feuding with Ken Shamrock after Taker abducted Shamrock's sister Ryan. The two met at Backlash 1999, and Undertaker won with the help of Bradshaw. Later in the evening, Taker abducted Stephaine McMahon.

The next night, Taker planned to "marry" Stephaine and make her his dark bride. However, after failed rescue attempts by Ken Shamrock and The Big Show, Austin attacked, and stopped the wedding. A feud was then started with Taker and Austin, as Taker claimed he followed his "higher power." Undertaker took his Ministry, and merged it with Shane McMahon's Corporation of Triple H, Big Bossman, and Chyna to form the Corporate Ministry. At Over the Edge 1999, Taker faced Austin for the WWF title, it seemed each man had a ref in his corner, Taker-Shane, and Austin-Vince. However, Shane tripped Vince, and Undertaker was able to pin Austin and become WWF champion for the third time.

Two weeks later, it was revealed that the satanic stuff, the abductions, and the Higher Power was all a scam by Vince McMahon to get the WWF title off Austin. Vince McMahon was the Higher Power. Linda and Stephanie McMahon, bitter over the screwing by Vince, gave their control to Austin. Meanwhile, Undertaker began feuding with The Rock. At King of the Ring 1999, Undertaker defeated Rock with Triple H's help, but the next night, Undertaker lost the WWF title to Austin. After the match however, Taker viciously attacked Austin.

Austin and Undertaker were booked for Fully Loaded 1999 in a First Blood match for the WWF title, with the stip that if Austin won, McMahon left the WWF, but if Taker won, Austin could never again be WWF Champion. In the weeks leading up to the match, it appeared that Taker had reunited with Kane, but when Undertaker attacked Kane's best friend X-Pac, Kane ended the relationship. At Fully Loaded, Undertaker lost, when he was attacked X-Pac, allowing Austin to hit Taker with a camera, busting him open.

The next night, Undertaker and the Big Show attacked X-Pac and Kane together, forming the "Unholy Union" as Undertaker tried to mold Big Show into an evil machine. The Unholy Union got a shot at the tag team titles against Kane and X-Pac at Summerslam 1999, which they won. However, two weeks later, they lost the belts to Rock and Mankind. The Rock and Sock Connection was then booked to defend against the Unholy Union in a Buried Alive match the next week on Smackdown, with Triple H's help, the Unholy Union won the belts back.
However, the next week on Raw, Undertaker let Big Show defend the titles alone against Rock and Sock, and with Kane's help, the Connection won. After a few weeks of battling Triple H for the WWF title, Undertaker blew up on the just reinstated Vince McMahon, which brought McMahon to suspend Taker indefinetley.

The suspension was a cover because Undertaker needed hip surgery. His return rumors began in the end of 1999, but nothing surfaced. He was rumored to return at the 2000 Royal Rumble, again nothing. In March, as Taker was about ready to return, he tore a pec muscle playing golf, which set him back months. Undertaker appeared at WWF Axxess Wrestlemania 2000 weekend, but never appeared on WWF events.

On May 21, 2000, Triple H and The Rock were competing in a 60 minute Iron Man Match at Judgement Day. The referee, Shawn Michaels, was knocked out, and D-Generation-X and the McMahon's attacked Rock. All of a sudden, a commercial with little girls talking about the devil and similar things, appeared on the titan tron. Bells began to toll, and the Kid Rock song American Bad Ass hit the speakers, and the Undertaker, with a biker outfit, and blonde hair and a blonde beard hit the ring in a motor cycle. He took out all of D-X, and then got his revenge on Shane and Vince. He tried to Chokeslam Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley, but was stopped by Triple H. Taker then chokelsammed Triple H, and the clock for the match expired, with the score tied at 5. Shawn Michaels then ruled that because of Taker's interference, Rock would get a DQ, and a point to Triple H, making HHH the winner and WWF Champion. Undertaker then stared Michaels down the ramp as the show went off the air.

As soon as he returned, Taker focused on the WWF Championship, and was booked in a six man, championship match at King of the Ring 2000, however Rock won the match. At Fully Loaded 2000, Taker beat the hell out of Kurt Angle in a match. However, in August, Kane turned on Taker, so the two were immediately booked for Summerslam 2000. At Summerslam, Taker tried to unmask Kane, and got the victory as well.

Taker then refocused on the WWF Championship. He was booked at Unforgiven 2000, along with Benoit and Kane, to take on Rock in a four way WWF Championship match. However, the match seemed to be all Benoit and the eventual winner Rock, and Taker came up short again.

Undertaker then took some time to recover from nagging injuries. He returned on October 30 and delivered a Last Ride to heel William Regal to the delight of the fans. After a mini-feud with the RTC, Taker got back into the WWF Title mix. Taker was placed in a four way match for #1 contendership against Benoit, Jericho and Kane. Undertaker won the match, and prepared himself for a title match with new WWF Champ Kurt Angle. The match took place at Survivor Series 2000, and the Deadman dominated, but as is a trademark of his WWF career, Angle weaseled a win out when Edge & Christian interfered, another disappointment for Taker.

A few weeks after Survivor Series, Commissioner Foley announced that at Armageddon 2000, Angle would defend the WWF championship against Taker, Rock, Rikishi, Triple H, and Stone Cold in a 6 Way Hell in a Cell match. Armageddon's match was a dissiapontment, and Taker didn't figure in the decision, which favored Angle. The next week however, gold came the Undertakers way, when Taker and Rock defeated Edge & Christian for the tag team championships. However, on Smackdown, with Angle as the ref, Edge & Christian won the titles back from Taker and Rocky.

As the Royal Rumble 2001 neared, Taker and Kane got reacquainted, however, it seemed as a team this time. Kane turned on Rock in a tag team match to help his brother, and in the Royal Rumble, the brothers worked together and dominated for much of the match, which Austin eventually won.

Taker and Kane then were entered in a tag team feud with Rikishi and Haku, who had returned to the WWF at Royal Rumble. This feud dissolved quickly however, and the bros. were thrown into the tag team title mix. They seemed favorites to get the straps, but, the Dudley Boyz defeated them and E & C at No Way Out 2001 for the belts.

Taker then embroiled himself in a feud with Triple H, which resulted in a great match at Wrestlemania XVII, with Taker emerging victorious, maintaining an undefeated record at Wrestlemania over his ten year career. In the next few weeks, Taker and Kane finally pryed the tag straps off E & C. This set up an interesting main event at Backlash 2001, Taker and Kane defended the tag straps against Austin and Triple H, with Austin's world belt and Triple H's IC also on the line. HHH and Austin left Backlash with all four belts to Taker and Kane's dismay.

Taker was then thrown into a WWF Championship feud with Austin, Austin defeated Taker at Judgement Day 2001, the feud was considered a failure and a disaster and the Undertaker was thought by some to be buried by the WWF as a result.

After Judgement Day, many promos appeared with a man with a disguised voice and no apparent identity stalking The Undertaker's wife Sara. Taker was furious, as his wife first came into play when Austin and Triple H began to mention her, and paid the price. After weeks and weeks of promos, and a trail of bodies left by Taker's search for the assailant, the stalker revealed himself as Diamond Dallas Page, a WCW superstar.

Page and Taker went at it in a random fight at King of the Ring 2001. After that, DDP continued to attack Taker and Sara. Taker has begun to bring Sara to the ring with him to ensure her safety.

That brings me to today, where Taker still is involved with main event feuds, just as he has for his ten year WWF career. Taker is one of the only men to have feuded with both Steve Austin and Hulk Hogan, which shows his longevity. Like I said earlier, he transformed a cartoonish 1980's "wrasslin" gimmick into a popular 21st century gimmick, it shows how talented he is.

Pat McGregor
Send feedback to PatMcGregor@tpww.net

RETURN TO MAIN PROFILES PAGE >>>