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Mark Calloway began his career in Texas as the masked Texas Red, and his
first match was with Bruiser Brody, who welcomed him to the business with
a less than kayfabe beating. He would wrestler as "The Punisher" and as
the "Master of Pain", under which name he defeated Jerry Lawler to become
USWA Unified Heavyweight Champion. He also won the USWA Texas Heavyweight
Title by forfeit, defeating Eric Embry.
He moved to WCW in 1989 as Mean Mark Callous, teaming with Dan Spivey and
replacing Sid Vicious in the Skyscrapers. Callous defeated Brian Pillman
at the Clash of Champions in 1990 and lost to Lex Luger at the 1990 Great
American Bash.
Callous signed with the WWF in the late summer of 1990 and began working
house shows as "Kane the Undertaker" with Brother Love as his manager.
There was a period where it was rumoured he would be the person coming
out of the giant Egg at Survivor SEries 1990, but instead he joined with
Ted DiBiase, Honkey Tonk Man and Greg Valentine as the mystery partner
to defeat Dusty Rhodes, the Hart Foundation and Koko B. Ware. The Undertaker
went on an amazing winning streak, appeared in the 1991 Royal Rumble and
then switched managers as Brother Love left the WWF and Paul Bearer entered.
At Wrestlemania VII, the Undertaker defeated Jimmy Snuka. The next month,
Paul Bearer wheeled a casket down to ringside during a Sgt. Slaughter/Ultimate
Warrior match and the Undertaker popped out to attack the Warrior and lock
him in the casket. WWF Champion Hulk Hogan ran out to save the day but
his blows had no effect as the Undertaker proved impervious to pain, teasing
a future match between the two.
The Undertaker spent the summer feuding with Sid Justice, Randy Savage,
Elizabeth and Hulk Hogan, while teaming with Jake Roberts and Ric Flair,
before defeating Hogan at Survivor Series 1991 for the WWF Title. He lost
the gold a few days later at This Tuesday in Texas on PPV. The World Title
was held up in the 1992 Royal Rumble, where the Undertaker was eliminated
by Hogan.
The Undertaker surprised
many by turning face to feud with Jake Roberts, whom he defeated at Wrestlemania
VIII. The Undertaker continued to feud with rule breakers, including Kamala,
Nailz, Mr. Hughes, the Berzerker, and the Giant Gonzalez, who he defeated
at Wrestlemania IX by disqualification and decisively at Summer Slam 1993.
The Undertaker replaced Tatanka in the 1993 Survivor Series to team with
Lex Luger and the Steiner Brothers against Yokozuna, Ludwig Borga, Jacques
Rougeau and Crush, but was eliminated in a double count out with Yokozuna,
beginning a feud that climaxed in a Casket Match, which the Undertaker
lost after interferance from over a dozen "rule breakers", at the 1994
Royal Rumble. After the loss, the lights began to flicker, the video wall
had a picture of the Undertaker and a very theatrical exit was made with
the casket oozing green smoke, bringing on the era of the mystical character
of the Undertaker, with increasingly theatrical spots that would carry
on throughout his career. The Undertaker took some time off, but in the
summer of 1994, Ted DiBiase brought out an imposter Undertaker and the
real Undertaker returned at Summer Slam 1994 to meet and defeat the fake
Undertaker with the tombstone. The Undertaker also got revenge on Yokozuna,
defeating him at Survivor Series 1994 in a Casket re-match. The Undertaker
began feuding with Ted DiBiase's Million Dollar Corporation, defeating
King Kong Bundy at Wrestlemania XI and defeating Kama, Nikolai Volkoff
and IRS in pay per view matches. In 1995, the Undertaker began feuding
with King Mabel and began to mill around the World Title scene. In January
of 1996, the Undertaker made it known that he wanted the World Title and
beat Bret Hart by disqualification when Diesel interferes at the 1996 Royal
Rumble. The Undertaker and Diesel would engage in a heated feud, ending
in the Undertaker defeating Diesel at Wrestlemania XII. Shortly after,
Mick Foley debuted as Mankind and began a very interesting feud that saw
Paul Bearer switch allegiances to manage Mankind and ally with Goldust.
The feud was to end in a Buried Alive Match but when the Undertaker lost,
a lightning bolt hit the grave site and the hand of the Undertaker came
out, setting the stage for an even more demonic Undertaker return at Survivor
Series 1996 where he defeated Mankind. The Undertaker would almost capture
the WWF Title in a Final Four Match in February of 1997, but then captured
it by defeating Sid at Wrestlemania XIII. The Undertaker's title run would
see him blackmailed by Paul Bearer, who claimed he had a secret that would
destroy the Undertaker. We eventually found out the secret was that the
Undertaker had killed his family, including his baby brother. On an edition
of RAW, we learned that Kane was alive and the Big Red Machine debuted
to wage war on the Undertaker, climaxing in a match won by the Undertaker
at Wrestlemania XIV.
The Undertaker would turn heel and bring back Paul Bearer as his manager
and teaming with Kane to attack the new WWF CHampion, Steve Austin. During
this time, the Undertaker forged the Ministry of Darkness, an occult like
group including the Acolytes, Bearer, members of the Brood, Viscera and
Mideon. The alliance with Vince McMahon's Corporation ended with a heel
versus heel feud where the Undertaker beat the Big bossman at Wrestlemania
XV in Hell in a Cell. The Undertaker took time off to heal an injury and
returned without the dead-man gimmick... but as a biker: The American Bad
Ass era began. He was a fan favourite in 2000, feuding with Triple-H, the
McMahons, Chyna and others. He defeated Triple-H at Wrestlemania XVII in
his 10th straight Wrestlemania victory, before teaming with Kane to win
the WWF World Tag Team Titles, which they lost to Triple-H and Steve Austin
10 days later. When WCW was purchased and the Invasion angle began, the
Undertaker was the inspirational leader of the WWF and feuded with Dallas
Page, Kronic and other insurgents before captaining team WWF to defeat
ECW/WCW at Survivor Series. The Undertaker would turn heel to feud with
Ric Flair and defeat him at Wrestlemania XVIII. He became the Hardcore
Champion during this time, as well. The Undertaker defeated Hulk Hogan
at Judgment Day 2002 to become the undisputed WWE Champion and had classic
matches with Kurt Angle, Jeff hardy and the Rock. The Undertaker would
leave and then return again at the Royal Rumble, leading to Wrestlemania
XIX where the Undertaker defeated Big Show and A-Train in a handicap match.
The Undertaker would lose a Buried Alive Match to Vince McMahon at Survivor
SEries when Kane interfered.
The Undertaker made another comeback, reprising his Dead Man gimmick at
Wrestlemania XX complete with Paul Bearer, to defeat Kane. The Undertaker
would feud with Smackdown General Manager Paul Heyman, the Dudley Boys
and Booker T. Heyman would take Bearer hostage and blackmail the Undertaker
to do evil deeds, leading to a "Live or Die" match at the Great American
Bash where the Undertaker defeated the Dudleys, then pulled the switch
to "kill" Paul Bearer. The Undertaker continues to wrestle in a less
active role, wrestling less and "appearing" more with the theatrical gimmick
of the Dead Man. He sent Mohammud Hassan out of the WWE when UPN pulled
the plug on the gimmick. He defeated Randy Orton at Wrestlemania XXI and
then defeated Mark Henry at Wrestlemania XXII in a Casket Match. He remains
a perennial contender to any World Title and his longevity and impact has
made him a truly worthy member of the UWOW Hall of Fame.
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