The 55-year old wrestling superstar expressed deep concern over his mortality as he remembered how he could have broken his neck and died against Goldberg last year in Saudi Arabia. [76][74] While sporting the flashy bling around his neck, he repeatedly cost The Undertaker matches and attacked diehard Undertaker fans, dubbed "Creatures of the Night". He graduated in 1983 and began studying on a basketball scholarship at Angelina College in Lufkin, Texas. [254], Undertaker took part in the Raw 25 Years edition of Raw on January 22, 2018, his first post-WrestleMania 33 appearance. [361], Despite the media criticism, two of The Undertaker's later matchesteaming with Roman Reigns against Drew McIntyre and Shane McMahon at Extreme Rules 2019, as well as his cinematic Boneyard match against AJ Styles at WrestleMania 36were both widely praised, with many fans and critics alike citing both matches as his best performances in recent years. [83] Following Survivor Series, The Undertaker briefly turned his attention to The Executioner, who had been interfering in his matches since his arrival. In this then new form, he took on a Goth appearance and persona, with a brash, rebelling, Championship-driven mean streak (perhaps to better fit in with the then-budding, more adult-oriented Attitude Era). [66] Several weeks later, Undertaker suffered a serious orbital bone injury when King Mabel unintentionally struck him in the eye with his fist during a house show, forcing The Undertaker into a period of absence for surgery. taped on July 4, 2005 (aired on July 7), SmackDown! [53] However, Jones was removed before the match, making it a handicap match, which The Undertaker won with the help of Jones. [191] On the April 24 edition of SmackDown, after losing a match against Big Show by knockout with Big Show taking advantage of The Undertaker's battered neck state from his previous WrestleMania encounter, The Undertaker attacked Big Show. Despite this revelation, The Undertaker told Kane before his SummerSlam bout that he did not want him interfering, even sending Kane away during the match itself when he appeared. On April 1, 2022, The Undertaker was formally inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame at the American Airlines Center. [273] The news was responded to with extensive praise from WWE fans, the professional wrestling community and media outlets alike. [145] Hassan later delivered a promo to the live crowd for the July 14, 2005, edition of SmackDown!, but when UPN announced that the segment would be edited, WWE decided to host the video of the segment on its official website. [356] After his match at Crown Jewel in November 2018, Pro Wrestling Torch's Wade Keller wrote that Undertaker looked "brittle"[357] and Jason Powell of Pro Wrestling Dot Net said "they [Undertaker, Kane, Michaels and Triple H] need to accept their limitations, stop pretending they belong in main events, and stop acting like being in these main events isn't stealing the spotlight". One final ride together, old-timer!!![279]. In this manner, he expressed his desires to take over the World Wrestling Federation, displacing its owner, Mr. McMahon. [87] In the duo's final feud in late 2009 through 2010, Kane emerged victorious in all of their matches. The match ended in a draw after neither man got to their feet by the referee's count of ten, meaning The Undertaker retained the championship. After the match, the four men shook hands as a sign of respect, however, Undertaker and Kane would follow this by attacking them. It stands as the highest-rated segment in Raw history. [217] After The Undertaker accused Triple H of living in the shadow of Shawn Michaels on the February 20 edition of Raw, Triple H accepted the challenge on the condition that it would be a Hell in a Cell match; Michaels was later inserted as special guest referee in the match. Mark William Calaway was born in Houston, Texas, on March 24, 1965,[16][17][18] the son of Frank Compton Calaway (died July 2003) and Betty Catherine Truby. The Flintstones & WWE: Stone Age SmackDown! [165] On the February 5 edition of Raw, Undertaker elected to face World Heavyweight Champion Batista at WrestleMania 23, before attacking him with the chokeslam. Kaia Calaway, who have celebrated her 9th birthday in 2022, is the only child of the former wrestlers, Michelle Leigh and McCool. He was born on December 26, 1960, in Green Bay to Kenneth and Dolores (Van Den Heuvel) Calaway. He feels he was saved from severe injury by applying water to his hair, and altering his attire from a sleeveless to a sleeved jacket, just minutes before the accident. [51] Histrionic, wailing and ghostly in character, Bearer complemented The Undertaker and was almost always seen bearing an urn which he raised in the air to transmit supernatural healing powers to The Undertaker; this typically resulted in The Undertaker recovering from attacks and counterattacking his adversaries. He has two daughters from his second marriage. [96] At WrestleMania XIV in their first match, The Undertaker defeated Kane. [49] Resulting from this, the Warrior enlisted the assistance of Jake "The Snake" Roberts to get him mentally psyched for The Undertaker's morbid alarmist tactics: Roberts would drill the Warrior with "know your enemy" training, setting up the Warrior in a series of creepy, terrorizing circumstances, such as by locking him in caskets and in rooms with snakes. As the years gradually progressed, more details about The Undertaker's persona outside of the wrestling world emerged and it is a known fact that The Undertakers family includes his wife Michelle McCool and four of his children. Moreover, he often appeared in a hooded black robe and sat on a throne with a towering backrest specially designed into his crucifix-like logo. Rather, the expectation was for fans to just go with it. And if The Undertaker were to win the match, he would be rewarded the opportunity to assault Bearer however he pleased. He married Diane Clark in May of 1998 in Bastrop, Texas. Best known as "The Undertaker" from World Wrestling Entertainment. [82] The Undertaker then moved on to feud with Vader, whom he faced in January 1997 at the Royal Rumble in a singles match, which The Undertaker lost after Bearer interfered on behalf of his new protg. Despite being in character, he referred to the real-world media coverage of the storyline, singling out the New York Post's Don Kaplan by name and denouncing his description of the events on SmackDown!, such as Kaplan's comment of the masked men being "Arabs in ski masks". [141] Even with help from his father, Orton lost as The Undertaker improved his WrestleMania record to 130. However, The Undertaker has made several appearances for WWE's The Bump and has been part of several interesting interviews. [319] His American Badass catch phrases, such as threats of I'll make you famous or references to the wrestling ring as his yard, became popular during this era. [129], The Undertaker took a break after Big Show threw him off the stage on the October 24 edition of SmackDown!, sparking a feud. [126] The two faced off at No Way Out, where The Undertaker lost due to interference from Ric Flair. The Undertaker's gimmick has a dark and disturbed family backstory which involves him intentionally burning down his family funeral home as a teenager, resulting in the deaths of his parents and purportedly a brother of his as well. In January 2006 at the Royal Rumble, The Undertaker returned on a horse-drawn cart during Kurt Angle's celebration of his World Heavyweight Championship defense against Mark Henry. There is no greater WWE star ever than The Undertaker". 2007 Wrestling almanac & book of facts. Despite the assistance of Gallows and Anderson, The Undertaker buried Styles in the grave to win this bout and ride off on motorcycle into the sunset,[267] scoring his 25th WrestleMania victory to complete his professional wrestling career. After The Undertaker and Kane won the WWF Tag Team Championship from Edge and Christian on the April 19 edition of SmackDown!,[121] Triple H pinned Kane after attacking him with a sledgehammer at Backlash, where the Brothers of Destruction lost their championships. [5][371], Calaway is a fan of boxing and mixed martial arts, which he incorporated into his Undertaker gimmicks (American Badass and hybrid Deadman). children: Chasey Calaway, Gracie Calaway, Gunner Vincent Calaway, Kaia Faith Calaway. "[271][10] A ten-bell salute was also given for The Undertaker character as he did his traditional take-the-knee pose, and a holographic image of Paul Bearer, the Undertaker's former manager, was projected in the ring.[272]. [128] Flair eventually accepted the match after The Undertaker threatened to inflict the same punishment on Flair's daughter. [9][364][365], Calaway was married to his first wife Jodi Lynn from 1989 until 1999; they have a son, Gunner Vincent Calaway, born in 1993. [87], In spite of Bearer projecting himself as a constant source of mental distress to The Undertaker during his Championship title reign, The Undertaker managed to secure successful title defenses against Stone Cold Steve Austin (A Cold Day In Hell: In Your House),[89] Faarooq (King of the Ring)[90] and Vader (Canadian Stampede: In Your House, revisiting and settling their Royal Rumble feud from earlier on in the year),[91] respectively. Through giving The Undertaker the ultimatum of revealing his deepest, darkest secret to the world, Bearer was able to reunite with him as manager and protg. [340] Luke Winkie of Sports Illustrated listed The Undertaker as the fifth greatest wrestler of all time. In response, The Undertaker cut promos of ominous warning against Styles in which for the first time in years, he broke from the Deadman gimmick by presenting as himself out of character. My time has come to let The Undertaker rest in peace, he said at the PPV. Tim attended school in Houston. when he accepted Khali's challenge to a Punjabi Prison match at The Great American Bash. "Wrestling's historical cards" (p.109110), PWI Staff. [19] He attended Waltrip High School, where he was a member of the football and basketball teams. According to a WWE spokesman, it "looked like a bad sunburn". That was the mindset behind the gong. They received a title shot at No Way Out, facing Edge and Christian and then champions The Dudley Boyz in a tables match but were unsuccessful. It was in the middle of all this stuff going on, WrestleMania you know, when everything is perfect it's hectic and stressful but now I have to call all my brothers and let them know and then call my mother," said The Undertaker. [117][114] In performing this alternate identity, he rode to the ring on motorcycles, chewed tobacco, donned cargo garments and/or denim, printed shirts, and sporty fashion accessories (sunglasses, necklaces, bandanas). For 30 long years Ive made that slow walk to this ring and have laid people to rest time and time again. [280] As his induction, Calaway made a 137-minute speech that opened with a 10-minute, emotional standing ovation from the live audience, bringing Calaway to tears. We found 9 entries for Timothy Calaway in the United States. Bearer raised Kane after the fire, having him institutionalized from the date of the fire into adulthood. In the weeks leading up to Rock Bottom, The Undertaker attempted to embalm Austin alive, tried to have Kane committed to a mental asylum, and had his druids chain Austin to an immense structure of his Undertaker crucifix-like logo (which took the appearance of a capital T combined X) before having that structure lifted up on high into the air.