{"id":65052,"date":"2020-03-20T13:07:54","date_gmt":"2020-03-20T17:07:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonprowrestling.com\/?p=65052"},"modified":"2020-03-20T13:14:50","modified_gmt":"2020-03-20T17:14:50","slug":"five-decades-of-the-undertaker-part-1-the-1980s","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2020\/03\/20\/five-decades-of-the-undertaker-part-1-the-1980s\/","title":{"rendered":"Undertaker: Five Decades of The Deadman (Part 1)"},"content":{"rendered":"

*The Undertaker<\/strong> technically made it five straight decades at the recent Saudi Super Showdown<\/strong>.\u00a0 However, given that this was more of a glorified cameo appearance, it won’t be counted in this article.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Professional wrestlers tend to have a short shelf life.\u00a0 Given the nature of the job, it is common knowledge that professional wrestling careers tend not to last.\u00a0 Endless travelling and bumping hundreds of times a year means wrestlers fortunate enough to have prolonged careers are usually suffering by the end of them.\u00a0 Take Mick Foley<\/strong>, for example.\u00a0 Foley debuted in 1983 and by the time of his first retirement in 2000, he was barely able to walk.\u00a0 Even today, Foley is still plagued with the limp which largely contributed to the end of his career.\u00a0 Kurt Angle<\/strong> is another example; he has recently gone on record as saying his “quality of life sucks”.\u00a0 Like Foley, the pain Angle feels daily serves as a constant reminder of his years on the road and in the ring.<\/p>\n

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Photo: WWE<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Notably, there are exceptions.\u00a0 Chris Jericho<\/strong> is one example of someone fortunate enough to still be wrestling today, despite a career spanning decades.\u00a0 Y2J made his debut in the fall of 1990 – yet still works today.\u00a0 He sits pretty at the top of the All Elite Wrestling<\/strong> card.\u00a0 He is constantly involved in discussions of the coveted title of the “greatest of all time”.\u00a0 If he had debuted a year earlier, this article would be in celebration of both Chris Jericho and<\/em> The Undertaker.<\/p>\n

\"Chris
Photo\/still going strong…<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

However, as The Undertaker began his pro wrestling career in 1987 and is all set to make it five straight decades of The Deadman at WrestleMania 36 <\/strong><\/em>– when he takes on “The Phenomenal” AJ Styles<\/strong>, this series will be dedicated to the career of Mark Calaway.\u00a0 The article will be broken down into five parts, to celebrate each\u00a0 of the five decades The Undertaker has “dug holes and taken souls” in.\u00a0 This first part will cover Taker’s early years – the 1980s – and will largely focus on his debut and short stint in World Championship Wrestling<\/strong> (WCW<\/strong>).\u00a0 So sit back and relax as we take a stroll through memory lane… or memory graveyard.\u00a0 Because he’s “The Deadman”.<\/p>\n

\"The
Photo \/ World Wrestling Entertainment<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Undertaker was born Mark Calaway on March 24th, 1965.\u00a0 Born in Houston, Texas, Mark would grow to be a staggering<\/em> 6″10.\u00a0 He would grow to become a relatively established center for the Rams.\u00a0 Calaway’s sheer presence and ability with a basketball meant he would receive an offer to play in Europe.\u00a0 A teammate of Calaway’s, Victor Spencer, notably described him as “a hell of a power player”.\u00a0 Calaway’s natural size combined with his athleticism would make him a viable contender for a potential pro-wrestling career.\u00a0 Therefore, Calaway then had to make the choice between carrying on his basketball career, or switching to pro-wrestling.<\/p>\n

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Photo: Texas Wesleyan University<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Thankfully, he opted for a career in professional wrestling.\u00a0 In 1987, at just 22 years of age, Calaway – as Texas Red<\/strong> – made his debut for World Class Championship Wrestling<\/strong>.\u00a0 Though he lost his debut match to the legendary Bruiser Brody<\/strong>, it was in WCCW where Calaway would begin making a name for himself.\u00a0 Undertaker recently appeared on the Stone Cold Podcast<\/em><\/strong> on the WWE Network.\u00a0 When revealing he was brave enough to go toe-to-toe with Brody, Austin declared “you got some balls”, to which Taker replied “I ain’t got no brains”.<\/p>\n

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Photo: PWI<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Brody was a notorious tough guy within the business, so this acts as a demonstration of the kind of qualities Taker possesses as one of the most notorious locker room leaders of all time (more on that later).\u00a0 He would form a friendship with Will Moody – the future Paul Bearer<\/strong>.\u00a0 Moody would manage Texas Red as Percy Pringle III<\/strong> both in WCCW and across the territories.<\/p>\n