YMMV / The Undertaker

• Alternative Character Interpretation: Did he truly tap-out to Lesnar's Kimura at SummerSlam 2015? Or was it actually a deliberate Batman Gambit involving the timekeeper and the referee (given his recent willingness to be more underhanded - e.g., Groin Attacks - against Lesnar)?
• And You Thought It Would Fail:
  • On paper, the Undertaker gimmick should have been a giant flop. An evil seven foot tall wrestling zombie with magical powers. How could it ever work when the WWF was still using Hulk Hogan as its backbone to market a family-centered product? How could the WWF go from Hogan talking about vitamins and prayers and then show Undertaker's speeches about coffins and body bags? And yet it worked.
  • His Boneyard Match against AJ Styles at WrestleMania 36. While the build was good, the Undertaker's last few singles matches hadn't been the best and people weren't sure if even AJ (oft-regarded as this generation's Shawn Michaels) could get a good match out of him. Not helping the issue is that, since the match's announcement, no one (including the participants) was exactly sure what a Boneyard Match was.^note It turned out to be a Buried Alive match that took place at an actual graveyard. WWE allayed these fears...by filming it as a campy horror-esque cinematic vignette in the vein of the Broken Universe and Lucha Underground. By the time it was over, many unironically declared it one of the best WrestleMania main events ever, and before his retirement later that year, this was Undertaker's final WWE match.
• Audience-Alienating Era: While Undertaker is for the most part a Sacred Cow for many wrestling fans in the modern era, there were moments in his career where he wasn't quite as esteemed as what he is now.
  • The Phantom of the Opera mask.
    WrestleCrap: Before we go to the main event of the show, we go to the forest for some reason, where Paul Bearer is having a seizure◊ talking about The Undertaker's face being smashed....Just thinking about that I’m kinda having a similar fit.
  • The Undertaker vs. "Undertaker" feud culminated in maybe the worst Summerslam main event of all time. Two undead morticians the size of basketball centers whose deliberate, methodical, barely-selling motions went tit for tat with each other—to the point the fans in attendance couldn't tell apart who the real one was supposed to be in order to even properly react until the very end—came across as little more than a plodding, confusing mess, something Mark himself has admitted.
  • The low point of Taker's career was probably in the early 2000s under his "American Badass" gimmick when he was almost universally despised by "smarks" and an early, proto-internet wrestling community. During the InVasion arc, Taker became infamous for refusing to sell anything, looked bored like he'd rather be anywhere else, and earned quite of bit of notoriety for burying Diamond Dallas Page, one of the very few acts in Taker's long career that still earns him some serious criticism today, despite Taker nowadays being more of a Sacred Cow. It didn't just extend to WCW wrestlers though - in one incident he wrestled against A-Train and no-sold everything, just a week after Kane underwent The Worf Effect to help build A-Train as a monster. While Undertaker wasn't without his share of fans during this era, he was never quite able to earn the full respect of the wrestling court of public opinion and it wouldn't be until he took some time off and came back with his original "Deadman" gimmick that Undertaker became much more solidified as a well-respected veteran and wrestling legend for both casual and internet fans alike.
• Author's Saving Throw: While opinions are mixed overall about the decision, having him return to the ring to obliterate Cena at 'Mania 34 can be quite easily be read as an apology by corporate for the perceived unsatisfying end to one of the most storied careers in wrestling history in his loss to Roman Reigns, who is quite possibly the biggest ever Creator's Pet in WWE. The fact that Cena himself was (formerly) quite unpopular with the smarks himself certainly sweetens the taste of his victory somewhat.
• Awesome Music: He's had several different themes over the years.
  • Any of the variations on Chopin's Funeral March composed by Jim Johnston for Undertaker's use, whether as entrance music or a DVD special. Funeral Dirge, Graveyard Symphony, The Darkest Side, Rest in Peace...
  • Although real licensed music was not unheard of, Kid Rock and Limp Bizkit performed a couple of his themes in his Bikertaker days, paving the way for bigger bands and artists (Disturbed, Motörhead, Saliva, Alter Bridge) to join forces with Jim Johnston for a good 15-20% of the soundtrack for the Ruthless Aggression Era.
  • He actually branched out from the Funeral March about two years before his American Badass run. The loudest and darkest rendition of the result being his Lord of Darkness theme.
  • In 2011, he briefly used Johnny Cash's "Ain't No Grave". It. Was. Awesome.
  • The "Logofixion" for when he crucified Steve Austin to his Tx symbol (and again years later to Orlando Jordan).
  • He entered his Wrestlemania 36 graveyard match against AJ Styles to Metallica's "Now That We're Dead".
  • The Undertaker Tribute video during the Smackdown Tribute Show for The Deadman was set to Within Temptation's "The Reckoning".
  • And his Hall of Fame announcement video used "Sad But True" by Metallica with a brief interpolation of "American Badass" by Kid Rock^note Which samples the former. as a Continuity Nod.
  • A similar interpretation of "Sad But True" became his entrance music during his 2023 run as the much better received return of the American Badass.
• Broken Base:
  • The American Badass/Big Evil gimmick. Most think that it was a new, creative spin on what seemed like a limited character, or it completely ruined The Undertaker, and made no sense.
  • Not him, so much, but "The Streak." The IWC was pretty split between those that enjoyed the streak and want Undertaker to retire undefeated (at WrestleMania, of course) and then those that had grown tired of The Streak because it was taking away the spotlight from younger superstars. And then, just in that second group, one's liable to get just as many opinions as people as to who should have that auspicious privilege. With Shawn Michaels having ridden off into retirement, it only got worse. And now that Brock Lesnar is the one to have broken Taker's streak, the IWC is even further fractured. For his part, the Undertaker himself revealed in 2024 that he would have rather had Bray Wyatt be the one to break the streak.
  • His and Kane's 2015 feud with The Wyatt Family. Some saw it as a necessary Consolation Award to subvert The Brothers Of Destruction's perceived Badass Decay at the time (particularly 'Taker's after losing to Brock Lesnar once again); others saw it as an insulting Aborted Arc when The Brothers simply Asspulled The Wyatts' recent Chessmastery into pointlessness midway through.
  • His 2018 return to squash John Cena at WrestleMania 34 and apparently resume working part-time again (with him being booked to wrestle a Casket Match against Chris Jericho at the Greatest Royal Rumble event less than a month later). Some think it's great to have him back, some think it would have been great if the squash of Cena had served as a new "final" match to replace the unsatisfying one he had with Roman Reigns the year before but don't want him to just resume his career again, some think the idea of him coming back was good but the match was disappointing and further proof that Taker just doesn't have what it takes any more, and some think he shouldn't have come back at all after the dramatic sendoff at the end of WrestleMania 33.
• Creepy Awesome: A Creepy Mortician-turned-Dark Overlord gimmick given to a man with a properly imposing physique, impressive wrestling skills to match, and dedication to the said gimmick resulting to constant pop from the fans of all ages, is guaranteed to be this.
• Fan Nickname:
  • Bikertaker for his American Badass period.
  • "Underfaker" for the Brian Lee Undertaker in the "Two Undertakers" storyline.
  • After his interference taking out The Rock in Night 2 of WrestleMania XL, fans have started calling him "The REAL Final Boss" in reference to Rock's latest self-given nickname of "The Final Boss" that he'd been using leading up to the event.
• Growing the Beard:
  • Undertaker was pretty much a one-trick pony, until the Mankind feud in 1998. The match against Mankind at King of the Ring in 1998 is one of THE key moments in his career.
  • Taker was forced to work a slow, "zombie" style which meant good matches were pretty rare unless he was in with somebody like Bret Hart who could run circles around it. Once he started expanding his style, he improved a lot.
  • When he made a partial return, similar to other legends, in 2023, He brought back his American Badass gimmick, but this time, the audience were much more appreciative.
• Harsher in Hindsight:
  • Any time he's wrestled someone who later died probably counts, given that his gimmick is centered around death. There was at least one time where he was in a fatal four-way with the British Bulldog, Owen Hart and Yokozuna (for those who don't know, out of these four, Undertaker is the only one still alive). Rest in peace, indeed.
    • Undertaker's absence on the Monday Night Raw following Owen's death despite most of the roster being there to pay tribute was specifically to avoid one of these.^note The fact that Taker decided to fly to Canada to visit the Hart family for a few days immediately after Over the Edge had ended was the other main reason for said absence.
  • Remember that time Undertaker locked Ultimate Warrior in a casket? Yeah....
  • Let's not forget the one time Undertaker attacked Giant González at the ring after the latter was disqualified for knocking him out using the illegal potential carcinogen of chloroform, which was a health issue. Gonzalez passed away in September 2010 due to another health issue (this time with complications from diabetes type 1 and heart issues).
  • The ending of WrestleMania XV's Hell in a Cell match that involves him "hanging" Big Boss Man on a noose after winning the Streak (8-0) can be very difficult to watch, since Boss Man died of a heart attack five years later.
  • Play 'Taker's story modes in the Smackdown Vs. Raw series and you'll find several uncomfortable examples, so much so that fans have talked about "Undertaker's Curse":
    • SVR 2006 had a storyline finish with The Undertaker chokeslamming Eddie Guerrero into a casket. Two days after the game's release, Eddie was found dead in a hotel room.
    • One of the most uncomfortable examples of this ever is in SVR 2007, where 'Taker feuds with another wrestler while playing up the supernatural part of his character and tells the other guy his own persistence will be the end of him, and his family and friends will have only him to blame for the bloodshed. That other guy was, of course, Chris Benoit.
    • Jeff Hardy had a storyline with The Undertaker in SVR 2008; around the time the game came out, his house burned down and he lost everything (including his dog) and he also had Wellness Policy violation around the time of his house fire.
    • WWE 2K14 has a mode dedicated to beating or defending his streak, played in a then-theoretical WrestleMania XXX arena. The Streak would end at the actual PPV.
  • Taker's entrance at WrestleMania XXX featured caskets with the names of every opponent he's defeated at past WrestleManias, plus one more for his potential victim at the event (Brock Lesnar). His undefeated Streak actually ended in the same event, making the extra coffin for the Streak itself instead.
  • Over eight years after Taker defeated Bray Wyatt in WrestleMania 31, Wyatt died of a heart attack at age 36. What's downplayed, though, is that in Raw Is XXX, Taker had reconciled with Wyatt and briefly passed the torch to him months earlier to show Taker's retirement.
  • It came out in the last episode of the Undertaker: The Last Ride documentary series that the very day before WWE filmed Taker's Boneyard Match against AJ Styles for WrestleMania 36 (a Buried Alive match done in a cinematic style), Mark Calaway's real-life older brother Timothy had passed away.
• He Really Can Act: Taker is a character that is usually fairly stoic outside of anger once you've pushed his buttons. But whenever deeper emotions such as despair or grief come into play, most will agree that Calaway sells it wonderfully. Most notably being his feud with Paul Bearer in 1997 which began the introduction of Kane. His promo on June 30th's RAW being the biggest example for the range of emotion he shows from anger to holding back tears.
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • The fake Undertaker is later brought back repackaged with a biker gimmick. A couple years later guess who is repackaged as a biker.
  • Taker originally made his filmed debut as "Kane the Undertaker" on November 19, 1990 in WWF Superstars before dropping the "Kane" monicker altogether in Survivor Series and handing it to his kayfabe half-brother. Guess who Taker was disguised as in the Raw episodes that aired in 1998-99?
  • During his days as a manager in WCW, Paul E. Dangerously gave a promo saying that Mean Mark Callous would send his opponents "straight to the wrestling graveyard". One switch of promotion and gimmick later...
    • Speaking of Heyman's time as Paul E. Dangerously, at one point he managed Mean Mark Callous in WCW. A Paul Heyman guy would ultimately end up being the one that broke a former Paul Heyman guy's streak.
    • Teddy Long also managed Mean Mark Callous in WCW, which makes the meme involving "going one on one with THA UNDATAKAH, playa!" below even funnier.
  • He married his second wife Sara in Florida, the state his next (and current) wife was born in.
  • A week after the debut of Crush's new faction "Disciples of Apocolypse," Farooq states that they should've been called the "Disciples of The Undertaker," accusing Crush of being in league with the Undertaker. Crush's new stablemates Chainz, Skull, and 8-Ball ^note Brian Lee, Ron, and Don Harris respectively. are all real-life cousins of 'Taker.
• Just Here for Godzilla:
  • "The Streak" is getting close to this level, as a few smarks nowadays say "The rest of the card looks like it's gonna suck. I'm just here for Undertaker anyways." Now granted, more often than not they usually end up eating their words when it comes to the rest of the card, but it still technically applies, especially with the last few WrestleManias, the Undertaker matches have outshined all the others.
  • The worst case of this was his last WrestleMania victory, WrestleMania 29: CM Punk vs the Undertaker. The general consensus was that the match was an instant classic and stole the show. The issue is, well... there wasn't much of a show to steal.
• Memetic Badass: Both in and out of kayfabe, to the point where simply just looking him in the eye without flinching gives you uber badass points.
• Memetic Mutation: Theodore Long: "NOW HOLD ON JUST A SECOND, PLAYAH! Tonight, you're gonna go one on one with...DE UNDATAKAH!!"
  • *tapes fists*
  • *DONG!*
  • The 1998 Hell In A Cell where he sent Mankind plummeting through the (Spanish) announcer's table. Notable to begin with, became even more famous due to Reddit.
  • "Pizza......."
  • WHERE TO, STEPHANIE!? MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
  • Buckle Up, Daddio!
• Moral Event Horizon: Getting Ric Flair's attention by pulling his oldest son, David, into a locker room and proceeding to beat the tar out of him.
• Most Wonderful Sound: Pavlov would be impressed by how the fans react when they hear a church bell.
  • The crowd reactions say it all every time that gong goes off. The entire arena practically explodes. Few sounds in WWE today will get that kind of a reaction. Fewer still can say they've been getting it for twenty-two years straight. Taker started getting cheered by the fans in 1992, and even when he formed the Ministry in 1998, he was still getting cheered because the fans loved him as a face or a heel. And when the gong went off again in 2004 at WrestleMania XX after nearly six years away? Forget it. The Garden let loose with a response we haven't heard for him since, though that's not for lack of trying.
• Narm:
  • During a 2015 Hell in a Cell match with Lesnar, they were trying to sell him as totally despicable for Tombstoning him onto the exposed boards of the ring... which may have worked, if not for the camera angle. Lesnar's head would have needed to call a cab to get to the mat. The gap had to be at least 18 inches if we're being generous.
  • Undertaker losing at WM30. Drunk fan: "YOU SUCK!" One of the funniest moments in pro wrestling, it was just so perfectly timed. (Almost as funny as the fan marking out when Michaels turned on Hogan.)
  • Also, for like three WrestleManias in a row, there was a guy who would shout "Guillotine Leg Drop!" at Undertaker during his matches. Every time Taker pulled it off, said fan would shout "Thank You!" (The loudest you can hear it is at WM28.)
  • Possessing Josh Matthews.
• Narm Charm: Most smarks know that feeling: even as kids, it struck everyone as odd. "Why is a supernatural being such as The Undertaker and a Demonic being like Kane doing in a wrestling ring?", but you just go along with it as "How else are they gonna earn money?"
  • His Dying Curse-style promo after getting Zerg Rushed seemingly Deader than Dead at 1994's Royal Rumble — capped off by him literally invoking Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence via some not-unsubtle Wire Fu ^note Actually a Stunt Double (the real Undertaker obviously lacked any window of opportunity to sneak back out of the casket and then rig himself up) — heavily implied to be Marty Jannetty, of all people!. Just as asinine as it was awesome.
• Nightmare Fuel
  • Special mention goes to a feature magazine that had Taker in a coffin. Sellers were fairly freaked by the cover and were wary of selling the publication.
  • Narm Charm: Seriously, it can not be exaggerated just how silly The Undertaker's gimmick is. And it works, just because it's played so straight. In lesser hands the Undertaker gimmick would've been just another silly early 90's gimmick that came and went.
• Older Than They Think: AWA briefly had a mortician Undertaker gimmick of their own and he had Mean Mark pushing his caskets. Brother Love's original plan for the WWF was to bring him in as a murderous monster called "Cain" but Vince wanted him to be a wrestling zombie Undertaker. Unbeknownst to Brother Love or Mean Mark, Hulk Hogan was a supporter of Calaway's that may have helped convinced Vince to keep him around and may have given him the Undertaker idea since he had been in the AWA prior. The Cain gimmick seems to have been recycled in Kane.
  • He actually did appear as "Kane" The Undertaker◊ at a couple of times.
• Once Original, Now Common: A lot of fans hate the Bikertaker gimmick in hindsight. However they forget that it came at a time when his character was stale and had no options left, being reduced to The Dragon to Vince McMahon and only further losing majesty from there. Undertaker was sick of the Deadman gimmick, feeling it had run its course. He would tell longtime friends, "It sucks, but I'm stuck with it for now". Undertaker was so fed up with the character that he'd even considered retirement. He wanted to do a more "reality" based gimmick like the ones he'd seen used during the Monday Night Wars. (Kevin Nash has said that he tried to lure Undertaker to WCW with the idea that Taker would wrestle as Mark Callaway and use a biker gimmick, though the veracity of this claim has been disputed.) The Bikertaker gimmick got over initially and was popular. It also led to some of the more memorable feuds of Taker's career. More importantly, it helped rejuvenate the man himself, and reignite his passion for wrestling, allowing him to later embrace the Deadman character when he revived it. Furthermore, the notion of mixing the American Badass personality with the Deadman's powers should an angle ever get personal enough to dig into Mark Calaway's real life proved to be very successful for his 2020 Boneyard Match with AJ Styles, to the point that the second coming of Bikertaker was much better recieved.
  • The Undertaker in general can come off this way to Gen Z wrestling fans. Anyone who grew up watching WWE in the 90s or 2000s knows him as one of the company's most captivating characters and one of its longest tenured performers. Younger generations of fans, however, tend to view him as an overrated hoss with a hokey gimmick, not understanding the astronomic levels of hype and mystique that surround him. His controversial remarks in various podcast interviews have also not done much to endear him to such fans.
• One-Mario Limit: So much so that the word "undertaker" is almost never used nowadays when not referring to Calaway's character.
• One-Scene Wonder: He was on-stage for half a minute at Wrestlemania XL, and got one of the biggest pops of the night when he arrived to save Cody from The Rock.
• Sacred Cow: His impeccable reputation amongst smarks and casual fans alike, both for his tireless work ethic in matches over his long years in the business and spotless behavior backstage, means it's a bad idea to try criticizing Undertaker unjustly. When even Jim Cornette has nothing to criticize about you, nobody else should really even consider it.
• Shocking Moments: Just try to keep your jaw off the ground when he suicide-planchas over the top rope. Keep in mind this is a 6-foot-10, 300-pound man running full speed toward the ropes, and diving over them headfirst. He pulls one out every WrestleMania.
  • And still doing it well into his 40s.
  • During his Inferno Match with Kane at Unforgiven 98, he did it onto Kane and an interfering Vader over FIRE!
  • The simple fact that after so many years, the Streak was broken by Brock Lesnar, much to the shock of everyone.
• So Bad, It's Good: Many of Undertaker's promos, and arguably, Undertaker's gimmick itself. The fact that The Undertaker takes the gimmick so seriously helps.
  • Hell, the "OH YEEEESSSSSSS!" of Paul Bearer returning with him qualifies this given the reaction of the crowd.
• Special Effect Failure:
  • Not too often, given that you can only expect so much out of WWE effects-wise anyway. However, one glaring example was at a recent WrestleMania when they tried to make it look like Undertaker was 'levitating' to the ring. A camera angle from above revealed he was standing on a moving board, the fog in his entrance wasn't thick enough to hide it.
  • Then there was the botched pyrotechnics at the Elimination Chamber PPV. Undertaker suffered 1st and 2nd degree burns when the fire in his entrance lit his Badass Longcoat on fire. It probably led to a number of flame wars over this being part of his gimmick.
  • The wig he wore upon his return in 2012 was a study in hilarity.
  • Though not necessarily "special effects", one match against John Cena during his Badass Biker phase involved Undertaker riding his bike out to the top of the ramp... and the bike stalling. He spends a few seconds trying to play it off and casually restart the bike, which he can't. Cue several minutes of awkward staring between him and Cena before he gets up off the bike and stomps toward the ring.
    • Hogan had similar problems when he brought his own bike down to chase after Taker during their feud.
  • Every time Undertaker comes to the ring, he'll stand outside on the corner of the ring apron, and motion with his hands to bring the arena lights back up. Sometimes he slowly raises his arms, sometimes he'll quickly throw them up. During one episode of Raw, Undertaker raised his arms quickly — and caught a faceful of Kane's pyro.
  • Rather unfortunately, the profligacy of camera phones at RAW tapings combined with some idiot panning a spotlight around the wrong way at the wrong time resulted in this embarrassing evidence that Taker can not actually teleport through the darkness.
• Tear Jerker: Has its own web page.
• They Changed It, Now It Sucks!: People had differing opinions on the Bikertaker gimmick. Though the "Big Evil" time period of said gimmick is seen a little more positively by most of the Biketaker detractors.
• Took the Bad Film Seriously: Though the gimmick would sound silly at first glance, it was perhaps Undertaker's sheer devotion to it that makes it work so well.
  • And it's not just him, either. The fans absolutely adore the undead version of Taker, to the point that when he came back as The Man From The Dark Side in 2004, every fan in Madison Square Garden came off their feet in absolute jubilation at seeing this much-beloved version of Undertaker return. The fact that it seems to be back for good just adds to it, as Taker claimed the main reason he went back to this particular version of the Undertaker gimmick was due to how much it meant to the fans.
• The Un-Twist: The 2/21/11 promos from January to said date showed a man walking around a cabin in the middle of the night in the rain. The IWC deduced immediately that it was The Undertaker making his return^note (the other guess was Sting jumping ship to WWE, something he hasn't had an interest in doing in over 10 years; this would get Jossed a few weeks later, anyway. When the day came, Smarks were surprised, but for a much different reason.
• Visual Effects of Awesome: Awesome as far as anything in professional wrestling can be. His entrance itself, the occasions where he shoots lightning at people, his symbols that spontaneously combust, among other things. It doesn't matter if it's fake, his kayfabe is still awesome.
  • He brings down lightning strikes on the ring that make it collapse.
• Vindicated by History: To see him give out one more match at WrestleMania 34 (and by that meaning curb stomping John friggin' Cena) kinda did well in erasing the loss he took from Roman Reigns in the previous WrestleMania.
  • January 2023. LA Knight calls anyone out to face him down. GONG. Even as it gives way to reveal the return of Bikertaker, the audience just cheers more. Yes, the jacket and hat may be gone, but this time, the fans are glad to see him, bike or not.
• WTH, Costuming Department?: When Undertaker made his entrance in WrestleMania XXX, he kinda looked like a cool cowboy in a jeweled leather jacket◊, but when the hat and jacket came off, he looked like an old-aged delinquent punk with mohawk hair, a bushed goatee, gray eyeliner, body tattoos, a black sleeveless shirt and black pants with red marks on them and tall black boots with leather gloves on, and "a super-tanned body bordering on deep-fried". Some people thought he was out of place as a◊ Rummage Sale Reject.
• Woolseyism: His elevated powerbomb, the Last Ride, was translated by the (Latin American) Spanish commentators (in particular Hugo Savinovich) as the "Elevador de la muerte" ("Elevator to Death"). Despite "Last Ride" having a pretty easy translation ("Último viaje"), this might've been becase in Spanish "Elevador de la muerte" sounds cooler than "Último viaje".

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