This is a part of “14 Days of The Deranged Writer”, a birthday blog series on The Diary.
I, The Deranged Writer, was born on December 5, 1990. 13 days before that, on the night of November 22, 1990, WWE unleashed a stoic monster and then-future legend at Survivor Series. That was the night Mark Calaway became The Undertaker.
Since his debut, The Undertaker has become one of the greatest characters and professional wrestlers of all time. He has won the WWE Championship four times, the World Heavyweight Championship three times, the WWE World Tag Team Championship six times, the WWE Hardcore Championship once, and the 2007 Royal Rumble Match (entering at number 30). But his most impressive accomplishment is The Streak, a series of 21 straight victories at WWE’s flagship event, WrestleMania.
The Undertaker has faced and beaten numerous iconic opponents, notably The Rock, Bret “Hitman” Hart, “The Heartbreak Kid” Shawn Michaels, Stone Cold” Steve Austin, Mick Foley, Triple H, John Cena, Randy Orton, Batista, Edge, and CM Punk, and he has earned the respect of all that he has fought in the squared circle, his other peers and the fans. And after retiring on November 22, 2020, 30 years after he made his debut, he was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2022.
In celebration of today, The Undertaker’s WWE anniversary, I will explain why he is my all-time favorite pro wrestler. Buckle up because this is going to be a long post.
His Character Work
The Undertaker has survived the WWE for 30 years because he has tweaked and evolved his character, which is evident in all of his eras and outfits.
Let me try to compress all his eras into one paragraph: the old Western mortician with a black hat and coat, and grey gloves, the resurrected Deadman with a black hat and coat and purple gloves, the gothic yet humanized Lord of Darkness, the cloaked leader of The Ministry of Darkness, the tobacco-chewing, trash-talking biker called The American Badass, a menacing, short-haired version of the previous incarnation called Big Evil, a hybrid Deadman/American Badass with a black hat, coat and gloves (sometimes switching to other outergarments), and finally, the Unholy Trinity (a fusion of The Deadman, The American Badass, and Mark Calaway himself).
And in all of those eras, from the eye-rolling and proclaiming opponents to “rest in peace” to riding his bike to the ring and telling everyone that the ring is “his yard”, Mark Calaway has portrayed The Undertaker with 100% intensity and integrity. No, scratch that—he is not portraying a character; he IS The Undertaker.
But wait. What are my favorite Undertaker eras? My top three would be the Hybrid, The Lord of Darkness, and The Rebirthed Deadman (with purple gloves).
His Entrance
One of my favorite things about The Undertaker is his entrance. When he is The American Badass and Big Evil, the crowd roars while he rides his way to the ring on his bike, and “Rollin'” by Limp Bizkit or “You’re Gonna Pay” is blaring through the speakers. When he is The Deadman, he walks slowly, stoically to the ring with purple lights and smokes all over the area while “Graveyard Symphony” or “Rest in Peace” (versions of the most iconic entrance music in pro wrestling) is being heard. And guess what? The crowd still roars to that. Only the Phenom can do that even if the entrance lasts for ten minutes or more.
What are my favorite Undertaker entrances? I have many. But in my opinion, Taker’s best entrance happened on WrestleMania XX. I mentioned that Mania entrance before, but I will share it again here because it’s truly bone-chilling and amazing.
His Move Set
In my opinion, The Undertaker has the best move set for a superheavyweight pro wrestler. He possesses the best striking, paired with deadly submission moves like an MMA fighter. Weighing between 328 and 299 pounds (depending on the year), he can lift anyone from a cruiserweight to sometimes even bigger opponents. Also, he can surprise you with his aerial maneuvers, notably the top rope suicide dive. He also shows off his balancing skills with Old School—where he twists his opponent’s arm, climbs the top turnbuckle, walks the top rope with ease, and hits the back of the opponent’s shoulder. (See the following video for reference.)
And, of course, how can I forget his four finishing moves?
- Hell’s Gate: The Undertaker’s patented submission move. It’s a modified gogoplata that is so excruciating for the opponent, it can make his opponent tap out right away, or they get unconscious while spitting blood. At one point, Hell’s Gate was banned. It was that scary.
- Chokeslam: One of The Undertaker’s classic finishing moves, along with the Tombstone Piledriver (which I will discuss shortly). He chokes his opponent’s neck, lifts him up with one arm, and slams them on the floor.
- Last Ride: The Undertaker’s finishing move when he became The American Badass. He executes the first few steps of the standard powerbomb, but then he lifts his opponent higher and slams him violently to the floor.
- Tombstone Piledriver: My favorite wrestling move of all time. The Undertaker snatches his opponent, flips them upside-down, and drops his knees ferociously, crashing the head and neck to the floor. Other than his storyline half-brother Kane, The Undertaker is the only one who can execute the Tombstone Piledriver.
His Best Matches
Most of my favorite matches in pro wrestling have The Undertaker in them, and his opponent would weigh less than him. Kurt Angle (in his “Wrestling Machine” era) and Taker put on a wrestling clinic at No Way Out (2006). Taker almost killed Mankind in that legendary Hell in a Cell match at King of the Ring (1998). “The Best in the World” CM Punk and Taker had a slobber-knocker at WrestleMania 29.
But my favorite pro wrestling match of all time would be The Undertaker vs Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania 25. Their WrestleMania 26 encounter had higher stakes, but I love their previous match better because it’s simply an excellent clash between two different athletes (the pure athlete and the heavyweight striker). I also love how they billed it as “Heaven & Hell” because I love any references to religion (Catholic, etc.).
His Best Moments
I have many unforgettable Undertaker moments, and a few of those moments showcase his morbidly poetic mic skills as The Deadman. In an episode of SmackDown in 2016, Team SmackDown (consisting of Randy Orton, Bray Wyatt, Dean Ambrose, AJ Styles, and Shane McMahon), with Edge and James Ellsworth, was visited by The Phenom himself. Before he gives them words of motivation for their match at Survivor Series, he proclaims to everyone in the area, “I’m back, taking souls and digging holes!” I love it.
And when The Undertaker is a version of The American Badass, he is still great on the mic. (I would say, sometimes, even better!) Here is one of my all-time favorite promos of his (and I believe it’s one of his last promos as an active professional wrestler): Taker’s pre-WrestleMania 36 promo after AJ Styles disrespected him and his wife, Michelle McCool.
And some Undertaker moments are simply iconic without him saying a single word. I mentioned that Taker almost killed Mankind in a Hell in a Cell match, right? Please watch the clipo of how he did it.
His Influence on My Life
Now, this is the most important reason I admire The Undertaker: He has influenced my life in a few ways.
Let me explain. Like any child, I was afraid of the dark. But thanks to my heroes who cover themselves in darkness like The Undertaker, I started liking monochrome (black, white, grey), I found comfort and strength in the dark, and I grew up believing that you can turn something negative into something positive. And I quote Randy Savage about The Deadman at WrestleMania IX:
“You know what’s amazing about The Undertaker? A man that surrounds himself with all darkness sheds so much light in people all over the world.”
Randy Savage, WWE WrestleMania IX (April 4, 1993)
Also, thanks to The Undertaker, I became a fan of WWE and professional wrestling in general… and I still am! Yes, there were times that I didn’t watch WWE because I didn’t like where the stories were going, but when The Deadman is on TV, count me in. Recently, Taker chokeslammed Bron Breakker on WWE NXT (a show I never thought he would cross over), and I freaked out like a fanboy. I always feel like a kid again whenever he makes an appearance, either as The Deadman, The American Badass, or as Mark Calaway himself.
And thanks also to The Undertaker for being one of my inspirations for The Deranged Writer persona, as you can tell by my monochromatic blog and skull mask. Without The Undertaker, my persona would look different, and I’m glad I was influenced by The Lord of Darkness. Thank you, Undertaker.
And that’s it! These are the reasons I admire The Undertaker. In the future, I’m going to review his career and character work. Maybe I should rank his eras first? I will see about that.
To The Undertaker, thank you for giving so much in the pro wrestling business and influencing my life. You have worked so hard and performed for the fans for a long time, and you deserve a fruitful retirement. Happiest anniversary, Deadman!
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Header image: WWE. Edited in Adobe Photoshop 2022.
Updated on September 3, 2025.
The Diary of The Deranged Writer 