#1 He has done it all
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Friday 12 September 2014
07:39
5 reasons why John Cena should retire at WrestleMania 31
07:32
5 reasons why John Cena should retire at WrestleMania 31
#2 A great WrestleMania moment
John Cena has fought some of the most amazing matches in WrestleMania history. He lifted gold on various occasions on the showcase of immortals. His matches with Triple H and Shawn Michaels are considered as the show stealers, while his two time clash with The Rock was a blockbuster for the fans. At this year’s event against Bray Wyatt, he showed WWE fans that Bray is a big star in the making. So is there any WrestleMania moment left for him? Perhaps a final match with Undertaker could possibly be the biggest one. What about a match with Hulk Hogan?
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07:28
5 reasons why John Cena should retire at WrestleMania 31
#3 He will always be a part of the business
John Cena is the kind of guy who loves the business. It is difficult to imagine Cena completely separate from the company. His involvement will always be there in some form or another. It would be interesting to see him in a different role. How about a General Manager role? People would love to see how he would make those decisions every week. Remember Austin’s run as a Manager after his retirement? It was a great one.
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07:26
5 reasons why John Cena should retire at WrestleMania 31
#4 Hollywood is calling
With “The Marine”, “12 Rounds” and “Legendary”, he already has shown a lot of potential for acting in films although they weren’t successful at the box office. We have seen how The Rock established himself as a top movie star after leaving WWE at the peak of his career, still his love for the business is same. Cena could work in the same way and create a big name for himself in Hollywood.
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07:22
5 reasons why John Cena should retire at WrestleMania 31
#5 Need to create future talents
Most importantly, it’s high time that the company needs to think beyond Cena and put the upcoming talents on the main event status. We have seen how TRPs of WWE suffered whenever Cena has been absent from television programming. After Cena, there should be someone who can further move the legacy created by him. There are some amazing talents in form of Daniel Bryan, Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose, Bray Wyatt to name a few.
Thursday 11 September 2014
13:56
10 Things You Didn’t Know About The Undertaker
1. There’s Been Retirement Talk Since The 90s
Following his WrestleMania XXX defeat at the hands of Brock Lesnar, The Undertaker’s future is very much in question — after all, common sense would dictate that the end of the streak marks the end of his career, and the loss functions as a passing of the torch. Furthermore, we all know how banged up Undertaker is — it’s an incredible testament to the man’s toughness that he’s kept going this long. Still, whether he ever wrestles again or he doesn’t (I’m betting he will), this is far from the first time his retirement has been discussed.
Years of working a physical, athletic style on a large, injury-susceptible frame caught up to the Deadman quickly. According to Dave Meltzer in his coverage of the loss to Lesnar, impending retirement first came up in 1997. The following year, ‘Taker injured his ankle (aggravating it jumping down from the hole Mick Foley burst in the roof of the Hell in a Cell), and bone chips kept plaguing him, leading to more speculation of his calling it a career. His “American Bad-Ass” character change was rumored to be ‘Taker going out on “his terms,” and his return to the Deadman persona was thought to be “one last run.” Still, he kept going, with the 2007-2010 period seeing some of the best work of his entire career. A shoulder injury in late 2010 ended his full-time career, but since then, he’s still made it to every WrestleMania, usually stealing the show. Where he goes now is unknown, but he damn sure shouldn’t be counted out.
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13:51
10 Things You Didn’t Know About The Undertaker 2
2. Paul Bearer Had A Very Special Nickname For Him
In 2005, William Moody (better known as legendary manager Paul Bearer) conducted a series of shoot interviews with Ring of Honor. In one, where he was joined by Jim Cornette, an interesting question was raised: what did Bearer call The Undertaker? After all, most wrestlers are called by their gimmick names backstage, but Bearer and Undertaker were particularly close, and the two men had known each other dating back to their days in World Class Championship Wrestling. So what was it — ‘Taker or Mark?
Wendy.
Back when The Undertaker was new to WWE, he didn’t dye his hair black — it was a natural red. Apparently one day, Bearer and The Undertaker got out of their car and walked through a windy parking lot. A gust from behind made ‘Taker’s ginger mullet blow around his neck so that it looked like a pair of pigtails. Bearer remarked that The Undertaker looked like the Wendy Thomas, immortalized in the logo of her father’s fast-food restaurant chain, and it stuck. Granted, I’m sure that not many people had the privilege of referring to ‘Taker by that particular handle, but it was a sign of the bond the two men, forever associated with one another, shared.
And proof that not all of his names were bad-ass.
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13:48
10 Things You Didn’t Know About The Undertaker 3
3. He Almost Wasn’t The Undertaker
If you’ll recall, The Undertaker’s debut wasn’t the only one that took place at Survivor Series 1990 — there was also a tremendous egg, shown on TV leading up to the event, that hatched at the show. We all know that it was WrestleCrap legend The Gobbledy Gooker who emerged — to dance briefly with “Mean” Gene Okerlund and never be seen again — but, as Dave Meltzer initially reported, the original idea was to see a fearsome grappler called “The Eggman” hatch at the event. You can probably guess who was to play The Eggman. According to legend, Calaway refused to be The Eggman (thus saving Paul Bearer from playing “The Walrus,” presumably), and the rest is history.
Another interesting story, though one that’s primarily rumor — by 1996, The Undertaker was established as a cornerstone of the WWF. He met his match, though, in a brutal feud with the deranged Mankind. The newcomer seemed to have The Undertaker’s number, besting him in a series of brutal brawls in the summer and fall. At October’s In Your House: Buried Alive, the two clashed in the first-ever match of the type, and it was Mankind who committed Undertaker to the grave. He was set to make his comeback at Survivor Series, but would it be The Undertaker who returned? Rumors swirled that he would come back in all-white, adopting a different, “risen-from-the-grave” persona. Of course, that didn’t happen — the closest we’d get is Shawn Michaels’s kick-ass white trenchcoat/hat combo leading up to WrestleMania XXV.
13:42
10 Things You Didn’t Know About The Undertaker 4
4. Mabel Really Broke His Face
In 1995, following a feud with King Mabel, The Undertaker began wearing a Phantom of the Opera-style half mask. According to the story, a series of legdrops from the King of the Ring winner shattered Undertaker’s orbital bone, forcing him out of action for a time. When he came back, he wore the mask to protect his injured face.
The truth is almost exactly that, although it was an errant clothesline from Mabel that caused the injury. After a few days of working with a fractured orbital bone, ‘Taker got checked out and was given the diagnosis. A yet-to-air Monday Night Raw already featured Mabel (and Yokozuna) giving Undertaker the beating, so it was used as the kayfabe reason for his injury.
Undertaker would return the following month, sporting the famous mask. After leading his team to a victory over Mabel’s at the Survivor Series, the two squared off in a casket match the following month — where again, The Undertaker was victorious. At the Royal Rumble, Undertaker would face Bret Hart for the WWE Championship, and while he would win by disqualification and, therefore, not claim the title, it wasn’t a total loss — Hart would pull off Undertaker’s mask during the match, ridding him of it forever.
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13:36
10 Things You Didn’t Know About The Undertaker 5
5. He Was In The Same Tag Team As Sid
The Undertaker’s first national run came in WCW, where he debuted in 1989 as “Mean” Mark Callous. He joined Dan Spivey in The Skyscrapers, a big-man tag team that was managed by Teddy Long. They soon entered into a feud with The Road Warriors, but before the match could take place, Spivey left WCW. “The Masked Skyscraper” (Mike Enos) replaced Spivey, and the four men clashed at WrestleWar 1990, with The Road Warriors picking up the victory. “Mean” Mark entered singles competition, but left WCW shortly thereafter.
The Skyscrapers, however, had a history before and after The Undertaker’s involvement. Initially, the team was comprised of Spivey and Sid Vicious — Undertaker only stepped in when Vicious was injured. After “Mean” Mark left WCW, Spivey returned, and teamed with the recovered Sid one last time to take on The Big Cat (Curtis Hughes) and The Motor City Madman at StarrCade 1990.
Despite legends to the contrary, Sid and The Undertaker never teamed up — they simply both called Spivey “partner.” Still, there was more on the line than the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 13 — The Undertaker won the right to call himself a true Skyscraper.
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13:34
10 Things You Didn’t Know About The Undertaker 6
6. He’s Been In Pictures
Mark Calaway is so closely associated with The Undertaker — and the line between the two is so blurred — that he’s very rarely made appearances out of character. While most of the other stars the company’s had over the years have been in a movie here, a network TV show there — hell, at the very least, an appearance on some of USA’s original programming — Calaway has been largely confined to WWE programming.
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There are a couple of exceptions, though. Calaway and big-guy character actor Tony Longo played a pair of intergalactic bounty hunters in the 1991 Hulk Hogan vehicle Suburban Commando, trying (and failing) to capture Hogan’s Shep Ramsey. Calaway’s one speaking line was dubbed with a comically high voice, prompting Hogan to remark, “Now I know why you guys never talk.” Clearly, Undertaker is choosy about his projects.
In an even more obscure bit of trivia, “The Undertaker” was featured in the Bollywood hit Khiladiyon Ka Khiladi — but the character was portrayed by Brian “Chainz” Lee. The movie features a wrestling scene where Lee’s Undertaker battles Crush (Brian Adams) — notable, because Lee played the fake Undertaker in the infamous “Undertaker versus Undertaker” program of 1994. Though not together, both Mark Calaway and The Undertaker have ranked up a bit of screen time.
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13:29
10 Things You Didn’t Know About The Undertaker 7
7. The Meanings Of His Tattoos
While nowadays it seems like every Tom, Dick, and Randy looking to get into the wrestling business has some set of tattoos on his back or arms, The Undertaker’s look was pretty notable back in the 1990s. When he first debuted, he had ominous ink on his forearms, but it soon spread to full sleeves. It all contributed to his unique image and made him that much more intimidating in the often-cartoonish WWE. Still, these aren’t just pictures — Mark Calaway’s tattoos have meaning and are very important to him.
Each arm has its own motif: on The Undertaker’s left arm, he has medieval-inspired imagery, such as castles, a wizard, and a dragon. The right is more supernatural and macabre, with a large necromancer and many, many skulls — showing that the “dark side” of The Undertaker is something with which Calaway identifies. On his stomach, he has “B.S.K. Pride”written, which represents the “Bone Street Krewe,” a backstage “anti-Kliq” group consisting of ‘Taker, Charles Wright, Savio Vega, Yokozuna, Paul Bearer, and the Godwinns.
Most infamously, Undertaker had a tattoo across his throat bearing the name of his former wife, Sara (which he himself described as the most painful tattoo he’d ever gotten), but that one was removed when they divorced. No word on if he’s planning to re-sell that particular piece of real estate.
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13:26
10 Things You Didn’t Know About The Undertaker 8
8. He’s Had A Lot Of Managers
The Undertaker and Paul Bearer are inextricably linked — the legendary manager guided the Deadman’s career from shortly after his WWE debut until 1996, at which point he turned on him. The two reconciled in 1998, and did so again every few years afterwards. It’s safe to say that without Paul Bearer, The Undertaker never would have reached the heights he did.
However, prior to his time with Bearer, The Undertaker had already had associations with several other representatives. He was brought into WWE by Ted DiBiase, who then turned managerial control of his charge over to televangelist Brother Love. Love didn’t last by the Undertaker’s side, leading to the switch to Bearer.
In WCW, The Undertaker competed as a member of The Skyscrapers, where he was managed by Theodore “Teddy” Long. After the dissolution of the tag team (more on that later), he entered singles competition, taking Paul E. Dangerously (a.k.a. Paul Heyman) on as his manager. Still, that was only the tip of the iceberg.
Earlier still, Undertaker competed under a variety of names across several territories in the southern United States. At various times, his career was guided by General Skandor Akbar, Dutch Mantel (who’s a part of WWE today as Zeb Colter), and of course, Percy Pringle III… whom you may know as Paul Bearer.
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13:23
10 Things You Didn’t Know About The Undertaker 9
9. He’s Had Some Bad-Ass Ring Names
The Undertaker. The Master of Pain. Punisher Dice Morgan. Those are the last three men I’d want to come across in a darkened alley.
What? They’re all the same guy? Wow.
Though he’s been The Undertaker since 1990 (well, that or “Cain the Undertaker”), Mark Calaway went through a bunch of monikers before arriving in WWE, and all of them befitted a man of his stature and imposing nature. In Memphis, he arrived on the scene as The Master of Pain, beating Jerry “The King” Lawler to a pulp shortly before defeating him for the USWA Championship. In Dallas, he worked as The Punisher, then went to New Japan, where he tacked on the even-more-intimidating “Dice Morgan.” He also wrestled as The Commando (not of the “Suburban” variety). Like I said, these are some bad-ass ring names, and that’s not even counting “The American Bad-Ass.”
Of course, his original ring name was Texas Red, taken from the Marty Robbins song “Big Iron.” In the song, Texas Red is an outlaw who kills twenty men before finally being taken down by a ranger. Hmmm…
11:44
10 Things You Didn’t Know About The Undertaker 10
10. He’s 49
Mark Calaway was born on March 24, 1965, which may seem a bit surprising, all things considered — he’s been at the top of WWE for so long, that one might think he was several years older. Much like with Batista, Undertaker’s birthdate is the subject of some controversy, with some sources claiming the year as 1962. The later date is the correct one, though — Calaway graduated from Waltrip High School in 1983. He entered the sport the following year, debuted for WWE when he was 25, and became a World Champion at 26.
Wrestlers always seem older than they are (well, except for Diamond Dallas Page), especially those with great career longevity. The punishment to which they subject themselves causes them to age prematurely, and the human memory plays tricks with time — to a casual fan, it might seem like Undertaker debuted several years earlier than he did, especially considering how much wrestling changed over the course of the 1990s.
The fact remains, though, that Undertaker is younger than many of his contemporaries — Hulk Hogan, Bret Hart, even Steve Austin. This in no way diminishes the scope of time his achievements have covered, though — it just provides even more insight into what a great percentage of Calaway’s life has been devoted to wrestling.
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01:01
10 Modern day WWE Superstars who would've flourished in the Attitude Era 1
#1 CM Punk
There aren’t many superstars in the WWE roster who could match up to the attitude that Punk had when he was in the company.
If he was in the Attitude Era, he could’ve given Steve Austin and Rock a run for their money because Punk was that damn good. He had that edginess that the company pushed during that period and who wouldn’t want pipe bombs?
The sad fact however is that Punk got stuck in a family friendly product when he was something more. He was what the fans have been asking for a long time but with the limitations in place, Punk couldn’t do much, which is one of the things that contributed to him leaving the company.
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00:59
10 Modern day WWE Superstars who would've flourished in the Attitude Era 2
#2 Dean Ambrose
Ambrose has that immense charisma which made the fans compare him with none other than Steve Austin. And who was Steve Austin; well he was the biggest star in Attitude Era.
The Lunatic Fringe character was apt for Paul Heyman’s original ECW which was the inspiration for the Attitude Era. Ambrose would’ve been also capable of showcasing his violent side which he has kept confined in the PG atmosphere.
The Attitude Era was all about the feeling of not knowing what will happen next and Ambrose is all about that which makes him one of the biggest misses during WWE’s so called golden era.
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00:56
10 Modern day WWE Superstars who would've flourished in the Attitude Era 3
#3 Bray Wyatt
Well, that’s an Attitude Era star for you. As pointed out in the case with John Cena, most of the Attitude Era stars were famous because of their gimmick and promos while the ‘wrestling’ factor always took a back seat.
He would’ve fit in better during that period than he is doing now and there were many dreams feuds that he might’ve had. The possibilities of Mick Foley and Undertaker are just mere examples of the opponents that Bray could’ve had rather than Jericho and Cena.
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00:52
10 Modern day WWE Superstars who would've flourished in the Attitude Era 4
#4 AJ Lee
AJ might not be the typical diva that WWE looks for. She doesn’t have that perfect figure nor does she have that bikini body. However, no one can deny that AJ is a weird combination of hotness and craziness.
And to add on to this, she even knows how to wrestle which makes her stand out from the rest. She is among that handful of divas that deserves to be in the middle of some good storylines.
Back in the Attitude Era, WWE was fond of having many inter – gender feuds and AJ in one of them would’ve made the fans go wild. She would’ve been one of the best divas during the era without any doubts but then again, Attitude era wasn’t lucky enough to have her.
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00:49
10 Modern day WWE Superstars who would've flourished in the Attitude Era 5
#5 Corey Graves
Graves is another NXT star who is too good to be in development. Currently he is sidelined due to an injury and is at the brink of leaving the wrestling career.
Now for those who are not familiar with Graves, he is a punk, simple as that. Graves has tattoos all around his body and has an attitude that would make the old Randy Orton look like nothing.
With a lot of Indy experience behind him, the only thing that is keeping Graves from a main roster run is his injury history. However, even if he makes it, Graves would completely be out of placed as an arrogant superstar like him deserved a stage like Attitude Era.
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