[prashant316]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVYBg3pTano

Yesterday, for me, was the end of an era. The Undertaker was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. Essentially marking the end of his active career in the business.

Even if you have no interest or awareness about the sports entertainment industry, led essentially by WWE (formerly WWF), you would probably be aware of the name “The Undertaker”. The phenom who is not to be messed with. The mystic who’s soul lies in an urn. The person who possesses dark powers. All these parables that we used to tell each other as children and get intrigued by this super being.

The man behind this character – Mark Calaway, is the real reason why this character is going to be etched forever in the minds of our generation. From his WWE debut in 1990 till his actual retirement in 2020, the man did not break character even once. Not only did he stay in character in the ring, but outside of it as well. Wearing black in all public appearances, keeping up the deadman character. Not giving any media bites, interviews, special appearances and only rare fan interactions, all to keep up with his gimmick. A gimmick, he devoted himself to. A gimmick, that gave him back so much more as a result of his devotion.

The reason this is emotional for me is that he was the last among the few that I admired so much back in the day when I used to actively follow WWE. It was during the end of the infamous Attitude Era. The names that made people jump out of their seats included Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, DX, to name few. Admittedly, Stone Cold, is till date the character that excites me the most. But the character and the man that leave me in awe will most definitely be “The Undertaker”, Mark Calaway.

No one person has made a larger, a sustained and a consistent impact on not only WWE and the world of sports entertainment, but also the moments we had as children. The discussions and conversations about his acts during our lunch breaks were what we looked forward to the most at school. We used to enter a world of ‘make believe’. A world, that we so desperately needed as children. A world that would, for a few moments, take us away from the constant pressure of competing for grades and being the show boat of our parents to show to the society. All this even though watching WWE in my family was nothing short of sin. This, when most family’s favourite pass time was to watch the K soap serials which were laden with patriarchal, narcissistic and often ‘victim inducing mindset’ based content.
Thank you Mark. Thank you Taker. For being with me through my childhood and giving me something to hold on to and look forward to everyday as I battled through my days.

The video you see will show you the applause and the crowd reaction he got as he was inducted in the WWE Hall of Fame and it will tell you that I wasn’t the only one influenced deeply by him. But an entire generation and more.
Mark Calaway reached excellence in his field. Or as Yog Sutras would say – he attained Samadhi.

I look forward to other BHPians sharing their stories with respect to WWE and especially The Undertaker.

[deathwalkr]

I grew up watching WWF with my father. It was Bret The Hitman Hart for me. But as a naive kid i was dead certain that the taker was supernatural

Taker was the big dog in the lockers as well. Dude's a veritable legend.

[aaggoswami]

Definitely not just a tear at the corner of my eye, but more than a few tears rolled out when finally The Undertaker was inducted into Hall Of Fame. What an era, what a character and still how fit he is ! Used to watch WWE just for him, the battle with Great Khali stands out and it was special when The Undertaker won Royal Rumble in 2007. Wrestling career this long is unusual now a days. Literally a Legend. There wont ever be another Undertaker. His retirement also must include mention of Kane. Undertaker was known to be the enforcer in locker room and even lead Shwan Michaels into a tight spot when he was acting like a hero for a match against Bret Hart.

A million Thanks Undertaker !

Edit : The Wrestlemania Streak was not supposed to be broken. And if it ever was to be broken, none other than Kane deserved that credit in my view.

[PaddleShifter]

Last year, I watched a documentary on the Understaker, supposedly from WWE network itself. They showed the wrestler and his manager cracking jokes while shooting videos at a graveyard. Its funny how seriously we used to believe in the storyline as 80s kids watching WWF in the 90s.

The Undertaker and Stone Cold Steve Austin shall remain one of their kind WWE legends forever.

[AYP]

I am not generally a person who becomes a fan of someone(ego?). I do have my favourite list if sportsperson but I am not a fan of any of them but the Undertaker is the person who I might consider myself a fan of.

His final words at the Hall of Fame were- 'Never say never'. While many would say let the man rest, I selfishly hope that he gets 1 final Mania match in front of the crowd. His last appearance in 2020 was in front of TV screens which left many fans including me, dissatisfied.

Thank you Taker!

[Benoit]

I grew up watching him. I had his entrance music as ring tones. For a while i was addicted to playing 'Here comes the pain' on PlayStation 2, where Undertaker has two avatars(the regular one and the legend one), and I made up my mind that he was very special.

It was always Chris Benoit and Undertaker for me, and for my elder brother, it was Stone Cold Steve Austin and Kane. The undertaker's finishing moves are my favorites. I would always argue that the last ride was more powerful than the powerbomb, and there was no match for the tombstone piledriver.

If one wrestler could make wrestlemania special, it is Undertaker.

[karan561]

Watched the Hall Of Fame Ceremony last night and was really touched by The Undertaker's farewell speech. It was really inspiring, touching as well as entertaining the way he introduced us to Mark William Calaway. After 3 Decades of dedication & performance may he now REST IN PEACE

[Eddy]

Height 7 feet 1 inch
Rank 2
Bisceps 21

Legend!!!

[AB10]

Undertaker was really the superstar of that generation. He was the reason kids were hooked on to WWE along with John Cena, Randy Orton, Triple H, Shawn Michaels and Batista to name a few. I, personally believe WWE did a great disservice to his legacy by breaking his WrestleMania Streak. Not only was he made to lose to Brock Lesnar, but also to Roman Reigns which completely baffled me and i was downright outraged. Completely agree that Roman Reigns is THE face of the company after John Cena, but he did not deserve to defeat Undertaker at WrestleMania.

And now officially it is an end of the era. They dont make wrestlers like that anymore.

[2000rpm]

Originally Posted by AB10

Undertaker was really the superstar of that generation. He was the reason kids were hooked on to WWE along with John Cena, Randy Orton, Triple H, Shawn Michaels and Batista to name a few.

Wrong. Undertaker played across three to four generations.
Generation 1 - Hitman, Lex, Hulk Hogan, Yokozuna
Generation 2 - Rock, Stone cold, HHH, Kane, Big Show, DX
Generation 3 - John Cena, HHH, Randy Orton, Batista, Khali
Generation 4 - John Cena, Orton and other newbies

Such longevity in a profession as demanding as Wrestling is just WOW!

[prashant316]

Originally Posted by AB10

I, personally believe WWE did a great disservice to his legacy by breaking his WrestleMania Streak. Not only was he made to lose to Brock Lesnar, but also to Roman Reigns which completely baffled me and i was downright outraged. Completely agree that Roman Reigns is THE face of the company after John Cena, but he did not deserve to defeat Undertaker at WrestleMania.

The Undertaker (Mark) has always been more than forthcoming to give himself out for new and upcoming talents. Something that has been said time and again by many people in the WWE.

The decision for Brock to win over him at WM was taken by Vince Mcmahon just hours before the actual match. Undertaker obeyed. You can catch Vince's Broken Skull podcast by Austin to hear Vince talk about this.

Ironically, in the same podcast with Undertaker as Austin's guest, Undertaker says that he didnt think Brock should have been the one to break the streak as it did not really elevate Brock's status any further. But he was very much ok with losing the streak to Roman. He even suggested that WWE could have kept the streak going and have that as something to talk about for years to come.

Then again, noone crosses the Boss.

[BleueNinja]

This year's hall of fame and WrestleMania was iconic in many ways.

Undertaker getting inducted in hall of fame and the ovation he got, man, i don't think I have ever seen such a long ovation for any other superstar.

Another event and maybe the last time we see it on mania was Vince mcmahon in the ring pulling shenanigans and that iconic "glass shatter" followed by stone cold marching down the ring to pull one last can of whoop a.. on the chairman.

[doxinboy]

Ha dude, you rekindled my childhood memories. Undertaker is a legend, it evoked fear, mystery and something arcane macabre molecule in me. I also remember the Nasty Kids who would run their nasty armpits on the losers face. Yuck. Hulk Hogan, Bret & Oven Heart, the 123 Kid?, Yokozuna, the red Indian guy, Giant, Razor Ramon. Those were the days man, those were the days.

[AB10]

Originally Posted by 2000rpm

Wrong. Undertaker played across three to four generations.
Generation 1 - Hitman, Lex, Hulk Hogan, Yokozuna
Generation 2 - Rock, Stone cold, HHH, Kane, Big Show, DX

Yes, you are correct. However, didn't watch him wrestle in Generation 1 and majority of Generation2. Hence I said that that Gen 3 was the best

Originally Posted by prashant316

The decision for Brock to win over him at WM was taken by Vince Mcmahon just hours before the actual match. Undertaker obeyed. You can catch Vince's Broken Skull podcast by Austin to hear Vince talk about this.

Ironically, in the same podcast with Undertaker as Austin's guest, Undertaker says that he didnt think Brock should have been the one to break the streak as it did not really elevate Brock's status any further. But he was very much ok with losing the streak to Roman. He even suggested that WWE could have kept the streak going and have that as something to talk about for years to come.

Then again, noone crosses the Boss.

I have seen the podcast. It was Undertaker's professionalism that he did what the Boss ordered. Doesn't mean that the booking was a wise one. Infact, personally I lost more interest in WWE after such bookings and sidelining superstars like Cena, Orton.

[JoshMachine]

Perhaps the greatest opponent of The Undertaker was ‘Yokozuna’.

Recall many a great title fights including that with Shawn Michaels, Bret ‘the Hitman’ Hart, The Rock and so on.

The classic moment was always the entry of the Undertaker when he would appear suddenly by the ringside with all the lights off in the stadium!