He's baaaaaack (again)
The Deadman is back!
No, I’m not talking about Andy Kaufman (though I wish I were), but about the WWE’s very own Undertaker who made a surprise appearance—and an attack on Brock Lesnar—this past Sunday at WWE Battleground.
The Undertaker (real name Mark Calaway) is one of the oldest, if not the oldest, current roster wrestler in WWE today. Since debuting in WCW as Texas Red in 1984, Calaway’s 31-year run has outlasted entire careers of many other wrestling professionals.
To put Calaway’s wrestling history in perspective: On November 19th, 1990, he debuted as Kane the Undertaker on an episode of WWF Superstars. Six months earlier, Bo Dallas was born! Neville was four years old! Kevin Owens was only six! And Ric Flair was... okay, Flair was already 107 in 1990, but you get the idea.
The Undertaker’s return this past Sunday came after a four-month hiatus; after beating Bray Wyatt at WrestleMania 31 he totally disappeared. Of course, when you’re 50 years old and have beaten the shit out of your body in the way Calaway has over the past three decades, this is completely forgivable. But even if it weren’t, the fans don’t seem to care. When the lights cut out and that bell gongs, fans eat it up, especially when it happens after a long absence.
Over the past 25 years, the Undertaker has gone through many sudden disappearances...but each one has been followed up with a triumphant return. Here are five examples.
SummerSlam: August 29th, 1994
The Undertaker’s first significant pause in action came on the heels of the Royal Rumble in January 1994 after being defeated by Yokozuna in a casket match. Calaway had injured his back and needed seven months to heal, but only two months later the company started promoting his return. After WrestleMania X in March, “The Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase reintroduced the Undertaker to fans, but while his moniker was the same, the man playing the role was not. This new Undertaker was portrayed by Brian Lee, not Calaway, and quickly dubbed by fans as “The Underfaker.” As the company looked to promote SummerSlam later that year, more promos started appearing including an odd series of clips featuring Leslie Nielsen on the hunt for the Deadman.
Finally, in August, the real Undertaker returned, this time with a change in aesthetic; he had lost a bit of the Western mortician shtick he had made popular, and became a more mythical character that announcers referred to as the Lord of Darkness. This new version of the Undertaker would go on to defeat the Underfaker in the main event of SummerSlam.
Survivor Series: November 19th, 1995
One year later, shortly after fighting Kama in a casket match at SummerSlam 1995, Calaway injured an orbital bone and once again was forced to take a pause from ring action while he underwent surgery and healed.
But unlike the previous injury, which took him out of commission for more than a half year, this injury was less serious making the break much shorter. Three months later, Undertaker returned to action in a four-on-four elimination match at Survivor Series. This time around, he wore a Phantom of the Opera-like mask, which both served as a protective barrier to his injury and looked totally badass. Undertaker’s team, known as The Darkside, consisted of himself, Savio Vega, Fatu, and Henry O. Godwinn, with Paul Bearer serving as the team’s manager. The Darkside went on to defeat the opposing team, known as The Royals, which consisted of King Mabel, Jerry Lawler, Isaac Yankem, DDS, and Triple H, with Sir Mo serving as their man outside the ring.
Judgment Day: May 21st, 2000
For the next five years, Undertaker went through many, albeit subtle, changes. He teamed up with Kane to form the Brothers of Destruction, and then lead the Ministry of Darkness, a Satanic-themed stable of talent that included The Acolytes (Bradshaw and Farooq), Mideon, Viscera, The Brood (Gangrel, Edge and Christian), and Paul Bearer. But Undertaker’s biggest change was just around the corner. In September 1999, Calaway left action to treat a groin injury. When he returned eight months later at Judgment Day, Calaway had lost the Deadman gimmick entirely and instead had become The American Badass (AKA Big Evil). He wore bandanas, waved a huge American flag in the air, and drove a motorcycle down to the ring while Limp Bizkit and Kid Rock songs blared. Apparently, Calaway wanted a break from the Deadman and asked Vince if he could change his character to reflect more who he was in real life. At Judgment Day, The American Badass debuted when he interfered in the Triple H/The Rock main event match. It would be nearly four years before the Deadman would rise again.
WrestleMania XX: March 14th, 2004
After a four-month break from action, the Deadman rose once again to fight/defeat Kane! And this time he returned with Paul Bearer, robed druids, and a shitload of fog and fire! In my opinion, this was the best—and definitely most theatrical—Undertaker return ever.
WrestleMania 31: March 29th, 2015
One year earlier—at WrestleMania XXX on April 6th, 2014—Undertaker’s WrestleMania win streak ended in one of the most surprising outcomes in wrestling history. His match against Brock Lesnar lasted 25 minutes, but within the first few minutes of the match Calaway had already suffered a severe concussion. Immediately after the match, he was hospitalized. He wouldn’t be seen again for almost a full year. On the March 9th episode of Raw, Undertaker appeared to accept Bray Wyatt’s challenge at WrestleMania 31 three weeks later. Undertaker went on to defeat Wyatt. But while this return lacked a lot of the color and fanfare of past returns, fans respect this return because he was coming back after such an historical loss. That, and because Calaway had just turned 50 five days earlier.
