The Undertaker receives the inaugural Bill Apter Legacy Award (Exclusive)

WWE Hall of Famer The Undertaker is the first recipient of the Bill Apter Legacy Award, presented by Sportskeeda.

The wrestling icon, real name Mark Calaway, retired from in-ring competition in 2020 after more than three decades in the business. Sportskeeda Wrestling Senior Editor Bill Apter selected The Deadman as the inaugural winner, describing him as the "immediate choice" to receive the prestigious award.

Apter, currently in his 51st year as a pro wrestling journalist, became known for his magazine reporting in the 1970s and 1980s. After accepting the honor, The Undertaker revealed he still owns many of the "Apter Mags" he collected when he was younger:

"Well, first and foremost, thank you. We do go way back. This is truly to me, this is an incredible honor. You go back even a little further than I do. I remember as a kid, the only way you found out what was going on somewhere other than where I grew up in Houston – we had Houston Wrestling with Paul Boesch – but the only way to figure out what was going on around the country was you, yes sir, the Apter Mags. I still, to this day, have stacks of them. Oh my gosh, yeah. They're at my mom's in Houston. That's how I found out who other people were." [2:01 – 2:56]

The Undertaker often rejected interview requests from media outlets once his WWE career took off in the 1990s. However, he says he always had time to speak to Apter:

"I gave a lot of people a lot of nos when I became The Undertaker. I had to! But when the cameras weren't rolling, I obviously always had the utmost respect for you and the work that you do. I'm kinda blown away by this, man." [3:14 – 3:32]

The 58-year-old plans to make space for the award in his new house with his wife, former WWE star Michelle McCool:

"I'm building a new house right now," The Undertaker added. "In my house, there's gonna be my office, and I've already told Michelle, 'Look, I'm not putting a lot of wrestling paraphernalia [on show].' I will [have a space dedicated to wrestling]. This is gonna have its own shelf." [3:35 – 3:54]

In the video above, The Phenom also opened up about the one match he wishes he could have had during his wrestling career.

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The Undertaker hopes to return to India one day

Established in India in 2009, Sportskeeda serves over 100 million fans per month across a variety of sports and entertainment fields.

The Undertaker sent a thank you message to Sportskeeda for sponsoring the first Bill Apter Legacy Award. He also explained why receiving an honor from Apter means so much to him:

"Sportskeeda, thank you for giving Bill the freedom to give out such a prestigious award. For people who grew up being a fan of wrestling before I was in the business of wrestling – I still call it wrestling, not sports entertainment – it was guys like Bill Apter that really kept us in the loop of what was going on around the country. I've always been a fan of his and his work, and for you guys to give him the green light to hand out this award and me being able to receive it, I'm just truly honored. So, thank you, Sportskeeda." [4:39 – 5:25]

In 1996, The Undertaker defeated Dr. Isaac Yankem (aka Kane) and Yokozuna during a WWE tour of India. He added that he would like to return to the country at some stage:

"Hopefully, one day, I'm gonna get back to India. I know I have a huge fanbase over there, and I will get back there before it's all said and done. But, Bill, my goodness, this is just a true honor, and I accept it with just the utmost pride and appreciation." [5:27 – 5:50]

Special thanks to Trapper Tom Leturgey for filming the interview.

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