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It's truly astonishing how long The Undertaker has been in this business with so much dedication. Mark William Calaway will forever be remembered as a legend in pro-wrestling because of his exceptional gimmick and his illustrious career that started in 1989 and is still active. The Undertaker became a household name thanks to the way he executed his gimmick and created an aura of invincibility that is matched by none, evident by his Wrestlemania streak. After 28 glorious years in the business, there are many facts and stories that the fans are oblivious about. Following are some of those rare facts that are sure to interest you:
#1 He was supposed to debut as The Eggman
The Undertaker wrestled under various gimmicks suck as Texas Red, “Mean” Mark Callous, Master of Pain for the WCCW and WCW before his legendary debut at Survivor Series in 1990. But The Undertaker was not the original gimmick planned for him.
In the weeks prior to the 1990 Survivor Series, there was a big egg at display at various WWE events which was advertised as a big deal. When the egg eventually hatched, a man named Gobbledy Gooker came out of it dressed as a turkey which got a lot of negative reaction from the fans. The plan that was originally to debut a new superstar from the egg under the gimmick, The Eggman with the entrance music “I am A Walrus” by the Beatles. The Eggman was originally supposed to be Mark, but the plan was dropped.
The Undertaker as The Eggman would have been a destruction of a talented superstar and thankfully it never happened.
#2 The Undertaker has never officially lost via submission
The Undertaker has never officially lost a match via submission. There is one instance though in which Taker tapped out to Kurt Angle on a SmackDown episode that aired on 4th July 2004. Taker tapped at the same time while pinning Kurt Angle for a three count. Due to the referee being confused about the result, the match was declared a draw. Other than that The Undertaker has never tapped out in his WWE career.
He did tap out to Lesnar at SummerSlam 2015, but it doesn't officially count since he won the match in controversial fashion.
#3 He nearly choked Kurt Angle out in real life
The story involves Vince McMahon, Kurt Angle, and Undertaker and it goes like this. Vince McMahon once in pure jest jumped on Kurt Angle backstage and took him down to the floor in good fun. After the incident, Vince used to often remind Kurt that he is the only one backstage who could take Kurt Angle down.
Kurt wanted to take revenge and he did on the aisle during a plane ride all in good fun. They would continue to one-up each other with Vince trying to retaliate and during one of these playful exchanges, the noise was too loud which woke up The Undertaker who was asleep. When he woke up he saw Angle in a scuffle with Vince and rushed towards Angle and put him in a choke. He nearly choked him out before realizing that Angle and Vince were just messing around. If he had applied the choke for a little more time, it sure would have been end game for Kurt.
#4 Undertaker has a phobia of cucumbers
It is quite astonishing that The Deadman has a great fear of cucumbers. In an incident involving Paul Bearer, there was a time when Taker used to always travel with Bearer to stay in character and protect kayfabe. He used to always make Bearer get out of the car to fill fuel. One time, Bearer had to pee pretty bad, but Taker made him fill the fuel first which resulted in Paul wetting his pants. Undertaker found it hilarious and told everyone backstage including Vince.
To avenge this incident, Bearer stuffed cucumbers in Takers hat without him knowing and when Taker picked up the hat he legitimately freaked out and almost puked.
#5 He has a black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and is an avid MMA and boxing fan
The Undertaker was awarded a black belt in Brazilian Jui Jitsu by Rolles Gracie in 2011. Undertaker is a regular at UFC events and is often seen with many MMA fighters. His submission manoeuvre, the ‘Hell’s Gate’ is inspired from an MMA submission move called the triangle choke. He has stated in many interviews that if he would not have pursued pro-wrestling, then he would have been a mixed martial artist.
#6 The Undertaker actually had a beef with Brock Lesnar
The Undertaker and Brock Lesner feud is much more than kayfabe and it is stated that Taker actually dislikes Brock. They had a confrontation at UFC 121 after Brock was walking past him after a fight. It is because he wasn’t amused when Brock left the WWE when he was built up to be the future and that too without struggling in the mid-card for long. He was pissed at the fact that Brock went to another organisation and didn’t even give due credit to the WWE.
Brock Lesnar was pretty brash about the WWE which might have been the reason Taker disliked him for his career choice.
#7 The Undertaker won his first Championship against Jerry "The King" Lawler
The Undertaker won his first championship which was the USWA Unified World Heavyweight Title in 1989 in WCCW by defeating the legendary Jerry “The King” Lawler. Jerry put over a young talent in Taker that time by letting him pick up the win and the championship. Jerry Lawler has faced Undertaker 42 times. Undertaker won 9 times, Lawler won 17, and the rest were draws or others. That's right, Jerry Lawler has beaten Undertaker more times than Undertaker has beaten Jerry Lawler.
#8 The Undertaker has been married thrice and has four children
His marital life has been a topsy-turvy ride with three marriages and four children. His first and longest marriage was with Jordi Lynn from 1989 to ‘99. They had a son in 1993 named Gunner Vincent. His second wife was Sara, who was part of a feud at a time. They had two daughters Chasey and Gracie. His current wife is Michelle McCool, whom he got married to in 2010. Thier daughter Kaia Faith Calaway was born on August 29, 2012.
#9 The Undertaker had backstage problems with Shawn Michaels
The 1990’s were dominated by Shawn Micheals and he was at the top of the WWE. He was WWF Champion but his backstage behaviour wasn’t good and a lot of superstars were unhappy with his attitude. He filled the ears of Vince with what to do and tried to influence him in making decisions favourable to Shawn. He tried to bring down Bret Hart by influencing Vince that he shouldn‘t be at the top anymore. Undertaker sided with Hart and believed Shawn was crossing the line.
In the lead up to WrestleMania XIV, Shawn suffered a back injury which would lead to his first retirement but was not willing to drop the title to Stone Cold Steve Austin. Undertaker thus confronted Shawn backstage and threatened to knock him out if he didn’t lose the match as planned to the fast-growing Austin. Shawn obliged and went according to the storyline by dropping the title.
#10 The Undertaker has faced Kane the most in his career
The Bothers of destruction have been one of the most dominant tag teams in the WWE. Ironically, Undertaker was going to be originally called Kane -The Undertaker but the moniker was given to his kayfabe brother.
His most common opponent is ironically Kane. They have clashed 184 times with Undertaker winning 106 and losing 21 with the rest being draws or other.
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