Line #12 WhatCouldHaveBeen/TheUndertaker


1	Wrestling/TheUndertaker is one of the longest-tenured characters in Wrestling/{{WWE}}, if not all of pro wrestling, (and so is the career of the man who portrays him, Mark Calaway) so of course he's bound to have lots of these.
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3	* Mark Calaway originally wanted to be a pro-UsefulNotes/{{basketball}} player.
4	* Wrestling/{{WCW}} had their chance with Mark, who wrestled there in the late 80's, but true to WCW style they fired him because [[ItWillNeverCatchOn they thought he'd never catch on]].
5	** According to Kevin Nash, they nearly coaxed him back in 1999 to come in as himself, in between better money offers and being tired of playing the Deadman at the time, but between his long injury hiatus and WCW cratering in quality around the same time, he decided against it.
6	* The Undertaker's original manager, back when he was "Kane the Undertaker" (get a load of ''that'' name)? '''''[[Wrestling/BrucePrichard Brother Love]]'''''. Now just imagine how the character would have evolved if Brother Love had ''stayed'' his manager.
7	** This led to one '''hell''' of a BrickJoke about [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AsC5ACBmEbc a decade later]].
8	** The name "Kane the Undertaker" turned into an even more massive BrickJoke [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASmdxXaOzd4 later on]].
9	* Mark almost became Wrestling/TheGobbledyGooker! Wrestling/VinceMcMahon wanted Mark to debut by being hatched from the egg as "The Eggman" (yes, written like ''that'' [[Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog Eggman]]), but was persuaded by Wrestling/PatPatterson to take up the Undertaker persona he had created.
10	* The Undertaker long knew he was taking some time off in 2000 to heal up from some injuries, and wanted to come back with a new gimmick, as he felt the Deadman had run its course. This ultimately led to [[BadassBiker Bikertaker]]. One of the ideas bandied about was that Wrestling/JakeRoberts would "save" the Undertaker and he would come back wearing all white and basically be a reverse of his Phenom character. Taker rejected this, as it would have been worse than the deadman character, and ultimately the biker gimmick was born.
11	** Not too long after he started the gimmick, Music/LimpBizkit came out with "Rollin'" and Taker's theme music was switched to that to cash in on its popularity, and then the demonic aspects of the character were dropped because they didn't fit in anymore. If Limp Bizkit hadn't written Rollin', we might never have had Bikertaker as we know him.
12	* The Streak has dozens of opponents who nearly fought Undertaker:
13	** Several fans have remarked about what might have been had the Wrestling/UltimateWarrior resolved his differences with Wrestling/VinceMcMahon after the 1991 ''Wrestling/SummerSlam'' and continued his feuds with Undertaker and Wrestling/JakeRoberts. These hardcore fans wanted to see -- after disposing of Roberts -- a final, ultimate showdown pitting Warrior and a still-heel Undertaker at ''Wrestling/WrestleMania VIII'', with Warrior gaining a decisive victory. Surely, Undertaker's push would have been squashed (as his credibility as an unbeatable, more-dire-than-usual force would have been destroyed) and certainly there would never have been anything close to resembling "The Streak," much less Calaway remaining with WWF/WWE all these years, and certainly not as the Undertaker.
14	** Thrice over at ''Wrestling/WrestleMania 21'':
15	*** The original plan was for Taker to feud with then newcomer [[TheFundamentalist Religious Zealot]] Wrestler, Mordecai. Vince, Taker, and Mordecai were all set on the idea, but the plan was scrapped after Mordecai was fired for [[RoleEndingMisdemeanor getting involved in a bar fight]].
16	*** The second plan was for Taker and Wrestling/{{Kane}} to reunite to face Heidenreich and Snitsky. Taker refused as he wanted to face Wrestling/RandyOrton so he could help build the future of the company.
17	*** Taker actually wanted to ''lose'' to Orton, but Orton flat out refused out of respect. This was probably also why this was the first year that The Streak itself became a major built part of his Mania match.
18	** According to Wrestling/KurtAngle, he was considered to end Undertaker's streak at ''Wrestling/WrestleMania 22'' in a match for the World Heavyweight Championship instead of at ''Wrestling/{{No Way Out\|WWE}} 2006''. Undertaker was willing to take the loss because he hadn't had a 5-Star ''[=WrestleMania=]'' match and the writing team was willing to do it to keep Angle looking strong as champion.
19	** Wrestling/TommyDreamer mentioned that he had worked out a deal for Wrestling/{{Abyss}} to come to WWE, and they were even considering him as an opponent for The Undertaker at ''Wrestling/WrestleMania 23''. Unfortunately, Abyss got cold feet about leaving [[Wrestling/ImpactWrestling TNA]], and backed out of the deal at the last minute.
20	** Wrestling/BobbyLashley was heavily considered to challenge him and possibly end the streak at ''[=WrestleMania=] 24'', but Lashley leaving the WWE before then put an end to those plans.
21	** Twice over at ''Wrestling/WrestleMania XXVII'':
22	*** Wrestling/{{Sting}} was approached to wrestle the Undertaker, but turned it down because he disliked Wrestling/VinceMcMahon's treatment of former Wrestling/{{WCW}} talent. The fact that the Undertaker's eventual opponent that year Wrestling/TripleH used part of Music/{{Metallica}}'s "For Whom the Bell Tolls" for his entrance was taken as proof of this, as for a while in the late 90s in WCW, Sting had used a live version of "Seek and Destroy" as his entrance theme, and it's assumed that WWE had already paid for the rights to use a Metallica song and decided to use it regardless of Sting appearing.
23	*** There were also plans to have Wrestling/WadeBarrett vs. Undertaker at quite early on, which appears to be evidenced by the rather sudden beatdown by Wrestling/TheNexus upon the Undertaker at Bragging Rights 2010.
24	** Plans were for Undertaker to originally face Wrestling/JohnCena at [=WrestleMania=] 32 ''and'' [=WrestleMania=] 33 (before they finally faced off in [=WrestleMania=] 34), and Taker himself handpicked Cena to potentially be his final opponent. However, there are two separate reasons why it was called off:
25	*** ''[=WrestleMania 32=]'': Cena was still recovering from his latest injury (although he briefly showed up to help [[Wrestling/DwayneJohnson The Rock]] fend off the Wrestling/WyattFamily), resulting with Wrestling/ShaneMcMahon taking over in Cena's place.
26	*** ''[=WrestleMania 33=]'': Vince replaced Cena with Wrestling/RomanReigns because he wanted to build on future stars instead. Cena brought this up and lampshaded it during a ''[=SmackDown=]'' segment with Wrestling/TheMiz and Wrestling/{{Maryse}} (with whom he was set to face off at ''[=WrestleMania 33=]'' in a mixed tag team match, teaming up with his then-girlfriend [[Wrestling/BellaTwins Nikki Bella]]) when The Miz accused him of being a backstage manipulator.
27	----> '''Cena''': If I were really this "black-arts manipulator", pulling all the strings this close to ''[=WrestleMania=]'', you really think I'd be standing in a ring toe-to-toe, face-to-face with YOU!? Hell no! I'd be standing face-to-face with the Undertaker!
28	* Former WWE writer Brian Gewirtz revealed on Platform/{{Twitter\|X}} that there was discussion to have Kaval, better known as Wrestling/LowKi, become Undertaker's secret long lost son. Ultimately, the idea wasn't discussed for long nor was it pitched to Vince [=McMahon=]. Hilariously enough, Kaval became the NXT rookie of Taker's wife Wrestling/MichelleMcCool [[Wrestling/LayCool and]] Wrestling/{{Layla}}.

Context WhatCouldHaveBeen / TheUndertaker