The
Undertaker (real name Mark Callaway) is a
professional wrestler. He got his first big break in
WCW (then known as "Mean" Mark Callous) as part of a
tag team known as "The Skyscrapers", but otherwise did nothing of note there.
He joined the
World Wrestling Federation in 1990 and has worked for them ever since--thus making him one of the company's most
loyal and
reliable performers. He was introduced as
Ted DiBiase's mystery partner at
Survivor Series '90, with
Brother Love as his
manager, but
Brother Love was soon dropped in favor of
Paul Bearer (as typical of the
WWF at the time, character names were as
corny as humanly possible).
As
heel (
bad guy), his initial
reign of terror stands unparalleled even today--fan reaction to him was so strong, in fact, that the
WWF decided to
job Hulk Hogan to him...cleanly...giving him the
WWF Championship at
Survivor Series '91--only a scant year after he joined the federation.
There has only ever been
one Undertaker, despite rumors that Callaway had been replaced by another wrestler. Much of the confusion came about in 1994, when
Ted DiBiase introduced a fake
Undertaker (actually Brian Lee). Callaway (who had been taking time off for
family matters) soon returned and kicked the
snot out of the "Underfaker/Overtaker/Fake Undertaker" (the name Lee's character became jokingly known as). This was all part of the
storyline; Callaway was never meant to be replaced by Lee.
A second source of confusion arose in 1995, when
Undertaker started wearing a
mask as a result, supposedly, of vicious legdrops given to him by
Mabel. Many thought that his facial features appeared different while he was under the mask--and Callaway may (or may not) have had
plastic surgery during that period--but it was always Callaway.
In an attempt to revive his stale character,
Undertaker became the leader of the
Ministry of Darkness in 1998--this was a
satanic cult of sorts that went around
kidnapping people and writing weird symbols on them. It was about as
hokey as it sounded.
'Taker abandoned the whole "
dead man" character entirely in 2000 after returning from a nagging injury that had kept him on the sidelines for the better part of a year. He was still known as the
Undertaker, but now was more of an
American Badass--he wore a
bandana, rode a
motorcycle down to the ring, chewed
tobacco, and so on. The idea worked, and he received more
heat than he had in years.
Callaway has stated that he only wants to wrestle for another year or two before retiring (as of 2000)...whether he stays true to that statement
remains to be seen.
While
Undertaker's ability as a
technical wrestler is spotty at best, by all reports he is a true gentleman and a leader in the
locker room--and above all loyal to his company, a fact evidenced by the fact that he's worked continuously for the
WWF for a nearly a decade, longer by far than any other wrestler on the roster.