The Undertaker has come a long way to imprint his footsteps for the WWE. Mark Calaway, aka The Undertaker, started his wrestling career in 1984. But he was not known until he became a part of the WWE. The Undertaker entered the WCW wrestling promotion in 1987, where he wrestled under the ring name Texas Red. However, Taker left the WCW to join Vince McMahon’s company in 1990.

You will be surprised to know that the character ‘The Undertaker’ was not allocated to Mark Calaway until the last minute of his debut match in the WWE. 

WWE legends believed in The Phenom!

Mark Calaway sat down with UFC commentator, Joe Rogan, on The Joe Rogan Experience a year ago. They discussed how The Undertaker came into life unknowingly to Mark Calaway.

Mark said, “That’s Vince’s [McMahon] brainchild. So, I went to another company, WCW, where I was ‘Mean’ Mark Callous.” Mark stated that his contract with WCW was about to expire, and he tried to renegotiate with WCW for more time in the promotion.

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However, the WCW did not believe in him and told him that no one would ever pay money to watch him. Nevertheless, ‘The Phenom’ undoubtedly paved his way to prove the WCW wrong and become one of the greatest athletes in history. 

The Phenom added, “Fortunately, guys like Paul Heyman and Bruce Prichard, they believed in me, and they kind of kept pushing for me to get this meeting with Vince [McMahon].” 

Mark Calaway back then connected with the WWE Executive Bruce Prichard to have a shot in the company. Bruce Prichard mentioned to The Undertaker that Vince McMahon would be watching him wrestle inside the ring. Instead of having a back injury, Mark Calaway went on to wrestle and impress Vince McMahon. However, the match resulted in Mark Calaway’s defeat.

Vince McMahon gave birth to The Undertaker!

In 1990, Mark Calaway was called up at Vince McMahon’s house in Connecticut to discuss his role in the company. But the meeting between Mark and the company owner did not go in the way it was supposed to be. Vincent McMahon told Mark, “We don’t have anything for you right now.” 

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Mark Calaway imagined at that time that he was left with no job as he had already dropped a notice to WCW about his departure. So imagine The Undertaker did not even exist until Chairman Vince McMahon pitched Mark Calaway the character.

“One day I am sitting at home, phone rings, I get up and go answer it because we didn’t have cell phones back then. Hello, he[Vince] goes, ‘Is this The Undertaker?’ I was like, ‘Undertaker, that’s pretty f**king cool. Yeah, this is The Undertaker.’ And it was Vince, and that was how he introduced the character to me,” Mark Calaway said. The Deadman also mentioned that he did not have a clue what The Undertaker was until that point.

Mark Calaway carried the magnificent persona for three decades

Vince McMahon later flew Mark Calway to the WWE office. He showed him the storyboard of the most extraordinary persona in wrestling. McMahon had this character for a long time. But he never found a person better than Mark Calaway who could play The Undertaker.

Mark Calaway finally made his debut in the WWE at Survivor Series 1990. Mark carried Vince McMahon’s brainchild, The Undertaker, close to his heart for thirty years. The future Hall of Famer later played characters such as the Ministry of Darkness, The American Bada**, Big Evil, and The Deadman.

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Over three decades, Mark Calaway evolved the legacy of The Undertaker and became an epic saga. Ultimately, WWE Legend, The Undertaker, will be inducted into the 2022 Hall of Fame class. The WWE will honor his legacy in Dallas on April 1st, 2022.