#2 The Undertaker
There’s a reason why Undertaker’s retirement at Wrestlemania 33 early this year shook the wrestling world so strongly. The guy has been a bonafide legend since his WWE debut back in 1990. Now highly revered as one of the greatest in-ring characters in wrestling history, it’s amazing to think that he managed to maintain his eery ‘deadman’ gimmick for so long.
What you might not remember, however, is that back in 1996 the Deadman temporarily wore a mask, looking a little like the Phantom of the Opera. In a feud with Mabel, Taker suffered a broken orbital bone as a result of one too many leg drops from the 500-pound big man. Whether this was a random brainwave from Vince to add a little to the Taker character or an idea from Taker himself is unclear.
The Undertaker character, despite its great history, has always been one of those gimmicks that is too tempting to play around with. It’s actually quite a subtle persona when you think about it. An actual undertaker is simply somebody in charge of handling dead bodies before they are buried, but Callaway’s wrestling character has always hovered around the dark and macabre, following the latest cultural trends along the way.
At one time Taker was a goth like figure, attempting human sacrifices and making various members of the McMahon family do things they didn’t want to do. Other times he’s been more like an actual demon, with the ability to control the weather and the lighting in the arena.
The mask wasn’t around for very long, eventually coming off during a match-up with Bret Hart, but whenever you look back on video packages of the Phenom, you will occasionally see the grey mask upon his head and appreciate just how long he was able to keep it relevant and interesting.
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