The Undertaker's place in History

[Slyfox696]

When it is all said and done, the Undertaker will have a long list of accomplishments in professional wrestling. However, what will be his legacy? While he's always been near the top of the card, he's never been THE top of the card. He has an undefeated streak at the biggest show in wrestling, but has had numerous terrible matches on those cards. He's respected as a good worker, but always seems to come up short on the big cards. He has arguably the greatest gimmick in wrestling history (a credit to him, for sure), but hasn't been able to prove himself outside of that gimmick.

Where do you think the Undertaker will stand, when it's all said and done? A great wrestler? A guy who benefited from right place right time? Will he be in the Top 10 workers of all time, or lucky to break the Top 50?

How do you see it?

 

[Y 2 Jake]

All depends on what happens when he finally retires. From what I hear he's very into his gimmick, and once he's retired then that's it for him. He won't make any appearances on shows, he won't be asn agent, no HOF induction. All rather silly if you ask me, most people are aware that he's human.

But without showing his face occasionally he'll be forgotten. It's not like WWE could market a truly comprehensive DVD on him without interviews from him. Without him it would just be incomplete. All it would be is just a couple of matches. And half of them would be shit.

 

[The Mark of Zur-En-Arrh]

But without showing his face occasionally he'll be forgotten. It's not like WWE could market a truly comprehensive DVD on him without interviews from him. Without him it would just be incomplete.

And yet we just had The Rock DVD without having a single interview with anyone about him or their matches with him. Hulk Hogan is never likely to appear on WWE tv again but they'll never allow us to forget him.

Taker isn't going to show up as Mark Callaway after retiring. He has his real estate business to focus on. He doesn't need to make sporadic appearances on TV like Harley Race and Black Jack Mulligan occassionally do (i'm not saying that they need to be on TV).

He and Shawn Michaels will most likely be heralded as the heroes of the Monday Night War. They are the only two guys from Raw's inception that are still active in WWE, but what separates them is the fact that Taker didn't take 4 years off.

IMO THAT is what Mark Callaway will be remembered for by WWE, and the fans will probably always be reminded of Taker by the commentators along the way, and in numerous video packages.

I know that he doesn't show himself at the HOF but he's bound to get inducted, and he's bound to appear now and again afterward, just not frequently.

Compare the HOF with the Oscars. Hall of Famer induction is the equivalent of an Oscar, Taker should get the equivalent of a lifetime achievement award.

 

[klunderbunker]

To me, Taker is the greatest big man of all time. And yes, that's including Andre. That, along with the WM streak (assuming it stays intact) will be his legacy. While its true that some of his Mania matches have indeed been bad, his career there alone is amazing: 3 world title wins. That's equal to what Foley, another Hall of Famer, did in his entire career. While I would agree that Taker is very into his character, its not like he never talks. He showed up at the Slammys and gave acceptance speeches, granted they were very short. While I could never picture him cmoing out in the suit and giving a long speech, he certainly is one of the biggest names of all time. Taker is coming up on twenty years in WWE without ever leaving. No one can say that. Not HHH, not Hogan, not even HBK. He's been around forever, in essence with two gimmicks. The difference between these two is impressive in that they are so different, yet both have elements that are shared.

Overall, Taker to me is one of the best of all time, and should be remembered as such. No he won't make appearences once he's gone, but that's what made his career: The level of kayfabe that he keeps. His gimmick was one of the few that was so over the top that it was ok to get hooked in by it. Even the biggest Taker detractor will feel something when the lights go out and they hear the gong. That's a level that only Hogan and Flair have reached. Taker is a living legend, and should be remembered as such.

 

[Afro-Ameri-Spawn]

To be honest, other than Hell In A Cell and the Wrestlemania streak, The Undetaker doesn't really have a legacy. Sure the streak will be enough to get him into the Hall of Fame, but what has he REALLY done? I mean to look at him and say he's a shoe in would be to look at the 1991 to 1993 Buffalo Bills and say that every member of their roster is a shoe in for the NFL Hall of Fame because they went to three consecutive Superbowls. The thing is that they lost all three. Now I'm sure that man of you will say that this can't apply to the Undertaker because he has held the title. And I fully agree.

But how many times has The Undertaker had to drop the title due to being injury prone? Once? Twice? Try 6 times. That's 6 build ups that had to be let down due to him having to take time off for injuries. So while he had a 6 world title count, they don't really last that long. And let's look at his Wrestlemania Streak. Impressive right? Only if you are counting. Realistically, he has only WON 13 Wrestlemania's in a row as one of the 16 wins in the streak was just won via disqualification. That just means that his opponent wouldn't stop whoopin his ass. And of the 16 wins, the at least 4 were against 4 has beens on their way out of the WWE, one was against a former Klique member who was leaving the WWE, one was against two men who were leaving WWE shorty after, and a couple were against characters who were never intended to be permanant fixtures beyond the one feud that lead to Wrestlemania.

I think that by the time they had decided to start putting the Undertaker up against some credible characters, it seemed rather traditional to have him win. Sort of like how Pete Rose being chokeslammed by Kane was becoming a regular site. So to be honest, I'm not that impressed with Taker's credentials. To me, he has legacy, but there is nothing amazing or substantial about it. Especially seeing as how he's lost to pretty much everybody, at one time or another, that is included in his streak. So in essence, I have to agree with Jake when he says that it all depends on how the they finally retire him. Will he go out with a win or will he go out like Ric Flair, not having truly finished his career. Only time will tell.

 

[Uncle Sam]

To be honest, other than Hell In A Cell and the Wrestlemania streak, The Undetaker doesn't really have a legacy.

You kind of said this: "Apart from his legacy, he doesn't have a legacy." I say kind of because The Undertaker is more than the cell and a streak. It's difficult to define many wrestlers' legacies, even if you know they have massive ones. At least for me. Mick Foley defines the perfection of hardcore wrestling, Stone Cold created a wrestling boom, The Rock had the greatest mic skills of all time. The Undertaker is one of those guys whose legacy is dwarfed by others, but simultaneously interwoven with them.

The Undertaker will be remembered as one of the greatest of all time, I have no doubt about that. Whether it's deserved or not doesn't matter because it's inevitable that's where he'll end up.

For a lot, perhaps most, of his career The Undertaker has been garbage but his memorable moments stand out a lot more than his forgettable ones. Self-explanatory that. His legacy will be of a man that forever evolved yet, usually, retained the same gimmick. A man that was an unstoppable big man one minute, a sadistic motherfucker the next, a pure striker the next and a submission wrestler the next, before diving over the top rope.

I don't think that made sense. Fuck it.

 

[My$terio_Fan]

I think Undertaker's legacy is his gimmick and himself. I almost think his name is more important than anything he has done. Like it's been said, he wasn't known for having 5 star matches(HBK), title reigns, an such. The Wrestlemania streak will probably be what the WWE will bring up but his name will be his legacy, I don't know if people will understand what I mean. I just think the Icon that is the Undertaker is more important and will be remembered more than from anything else in his career.

 

[Tim]

M_F is right. Its the name and the gimmick. Most people you ask, they will know Taker. Heck, my friend who thinks that wrestling is stupid and fake, and knows almost nothing about wrestling knows Taker. Apart from the WM streak and that Hell in a Cell match, there isn't really anything that stands out. But there also isn't really that much that you can remember that was bad. He's been a consistent worker for the majority of his career. But the thing that people will remember most about the Undertaker is not the WM streak, not the Hell in a Cell match, but just the Undertaker himself.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

And yet we just had The Rock DVD without having a single interview with anyone about him or their matches with him.

The Rock is a movie star, he's been in several films. One was called The Scorpion King. There was one called Get Smart, and another called Walking Tall. What I'm getting at is that The Rock DVD was made for WWE, not fans of The Rock. The Rock is bigger than Undertaker as well.

Hulk Hogan is never likely to appear on WWE tv again but they'll never allow us to forget him.

But Hulk Hogan will be on WWE TV again, over and over again in fact. He's also the biggest wrestler of all time. Undertaker is not.

 

[IrishCanadian25]

To me, Taker is the greatest big man of all time. And yes, that's including Andre.

You and I need to have a talk later.

Anyway, on to the question. I can wrap up Undertaker's legacy / lasting imprint on the world of professional wrestling in just one word: consistency.

Like Sting for WCW, Undertaker and Shawn Michaels represented the franchise of WWF / WWE. They didn't split for more money. Maybe they had their quirks, but they represented the brand, and few did it better than The Undertaker. When they needed him to carry the WWF Title, he did it. When they needed him to get a clumsy big man over, he did what he could. But nobody questioned his consistency.

I think that'll be his legacy. People will look back on him fondly as a true showman of the ring, and as the man who carried the flag of WWF for decades.

 

[notorious102]

Jim Ross speaking on The Undertaker's Legacy:

"Taker's legacy in the WWE will be every much as significant as Andre the Giant's when all is said & done."

"The Undertaker’s WM legacy will never be equaled"

"Taker has solidly achieved “Andre status” (there is nothing higher than that) in the WWE"

"Taker has established himself as one of the top 5 all time in the WWE and may well rank with Andre as the top two based on longevity and productivity."

"As I have mentioned in the past, Taker compares very favorably to Andre in many ways. By the time Taker hangs ‘em up his legacy may even super-cede Andre’s."

"In 34 years, I have never met a wrestler who has earned the respect of more of his peers than The Undertaker"

These were all on JR's blog site. So I think The Undertaker's Legacy is pretty well up there.

 

[Nadeem Ahmad]

Mark Calloway's work in the ring has seemed sloppy since he returned from an injury in May of 2000. I don't know if he really did lose weight or not, but he seemed less muscular, slower and not as powerful when he came back. He became more of a brawler and resembled Stone Cold Steve Austin with his fighting style.

Before he took time off after September of 1999, he looked like he had more stamina. During his match with The Rock at the "King of the Ring event" of that year, he did not look like he was having as much difficulty in going through the duration of the match as he was having in the later years, and that match actually went on for a long time compared to his other ones. He fought at a quicker pace than usual at Wrestlemania XV against the Big Boss Man, who was an underrated worker and was holding his own against Steve Austin at the "Over the Edge pay-per-view event" in 1999.

In the matches he had against Steve Austin in 2001, without naming a specific one, he just gave the impression that he was struggling to pull off punches and attacks while giving his full efforts and appeared like he just wanted to get the matches over with instead of taking the time to wear down his opponents as he had done in the prior years.

I am not a hater of him but I just think that he was acting like he was not able to do a lot of things after he resumed fighting in the ring when coming back from the injury to his groin. The only times he seemed as dominant since that injury occured were when he would use the powerbombs that the commentators referred to as "The Last Ride". This could have happened because of continous minor injuries he sustained over the years of working with consistent schedules or he just may have lost some endurance.

I think he will be remembered more for his size and strength than technical wrestling abilities.

 

[AMERICANFIRE]

taker is the best big man bar none in the wwe. he also has the best agility of all the big men in the wwe.

his WM record why impressive is why he is not good ans what he will be remembered for. its his gimmick and character its the only one that fans never get tired of. he plays the part so well he can even play the heel well good to. he puts on great matches not all were great. the ones that mattered though were good. his best feud was to this day still with edge or kane. some of taker best matches were in this feud. he also has put over so many wrestlers that its not even funny. he has put over all the young wrestlers his biggest being Cena or Orton. taker also has the most respect of anybody in the locker room from other wrestlers. he even put over flair at mania when flair did not have a match who stepped up to the plate that is taker again. who has carried smackdown since its debut in 1999. undertaker is the only wrestler from smackdown thats been there all 9 years its run. finally taker will go to the hall of fame ceremoney. are you people drunk or high. this is one wrestler vince wants in the hall and it will happen and he will give a speech. so give it a rest will you. i can name less acomplishments for other top wrestlers right now then taker. so zip your lips and respect the deadman and his legacy.

 

[Mexican Geek]

I think that "The Undertaker" is one of Vince's greatest achievements besides "Hulk-a-mania", "Wrestlemania" and "Stone Cold", all this in terms of business exposure and long term profitability $$$.

In the eyes of a long time wrestling fan, Taker will take a place among the Andre's, The Hogan's, The Hart's, The Sting's and all those wrestling legends who gave form at what today we call "sports entertainment". Taker will be seen as one of the greatest, most respected characters in wrestling. With a very impressive resume (6 times World champion, 7 times Tag team champ, Wrestlemania undefeated streak) some will say the HoF is a no brainer for this man, and I couldn't agree more. He left his mark (no pun intended!) in multiple generations of fans with one of the most dramatic gimmicks of all time, and I'm not talking about the American Badass (which was good, but still).

The problem could come with the younger audience. Taker now days is portrayed as a on-and-off, out of a fantasy book character, which is good (for the busine$$) but i don't know if it will help his legacy/impact in the long term. Certainly, it will be forgotten easily than John Cena's impact with the younger fans, for example. Totally different style, psychology and what not, but you get the idea, do you?

All in all, Taker is a prominent, shining star in the Wrestling stardom who will prevail as one of the most vibrant wrestlers of all time. Love it or hate it, Taker has been kickin' ass for almost 20 years and only he knows how many more before he hang the boots.

Long Live The Deadman.

 

[Undercurrent]

The Undertaker will go down as undeniably one of the greatest of all time. A bold statement but given his in ring abilities, drawing power, fan reaction and loyalty, he has solidified himself into legendary territory. I truly cannot picture the WWE without The Undertaker and that alone says something.

 

[notorious102]

I agree with not being able to see the WWE without The Undertaker.
The WWE truly is The Undertaker's yard. when everyone was going to WCW The Undertaker stayed. Even HBK tried jumping ship to WCW, but Vince wouldn't let him out of his contract then he retired for 4 years.

For nearly 2 decades The Undertaker has become somewhat the face of WWF/WWE the same way that Ric Flair was the face of NWA/WCW.

LEGENDARY .... The Undertaker will go down in history!