What If? The Undertaker debuted today?

[Miko]

Simple question, have 1990's Undertaker debut today, that'd be the slow Undertaker with Paul Bearer as his manager coming out on a hearse. Replace the Million dollar man with JBL.

Now you've got the scenario, kinda, do you think it'd work in todays enviromnent? Would Undertaker get over? Would he get a WM streak? Would he get a pyromaniac younger brother?

Basically would Mark Calloway make a career out of it debuting in front of todays fans?

Me personally think it'd work okay for him, he's done it once after all, although I think the internet would rip him to shreds. Comments like " stupid WWE, they expect us to believe he's dead? " and "wtf, he just eliminated (insert todays version of Dusty Rhodes here)" and "this is just plain ******ed" etc.

Erm, yeah anyway, your turn.

 

[Lee]

WTF Vince loves his big men, why is he pushing another one? we already have Big show, Henry, Khali & Koslov, vince has lost touch with the fans!

WTF Vince expects us to believe that he is dead, give me a break! I want real characters and stuff, it's not the early 90s you know!

I expect both to be said if the undertaker had of debuted this week on Raw, times have changed and the IWC let him off because he's taker!

 

[hArdyPUNKmArk]

Firstly, love the sig LOL.

Anyways, Taker would do fine debuting in todays WWE. However i don'ty think he would get the streak, he wouldnt be a top player and he would probably take a route similar to Kane's. Storylines would have obviously never happened and he might not hold the title as many times as he had. I think now a days there are so many new superstars it's much harder to cement yourself into the role as a main eventer.

Mark Callaway would be successful but i doubt he would be the icon, legend and dead man we all know him to be today.

 

[only1soe]

I remember seeing the Undertaker for the first time and thinking, "WTF. This is not going to last long." Boy was I wrong. The fact that Calloway was put over by Hogan early on and had an association with Flair for sure helped. The attitude era helped even more for the character to go darker.

The man Mark Calloway would of got over I think in any era but I am not sure I can say that of the character especially with how WWE now is trying to do the whole PG deal.

Does anyone else but me remember MM+HP=WC? Someone needs to bring the Heart Punch back. I say give that gimmick to the Big Show.

 

[Black Snow]

I'm torn on this one. He would definitely get a very strong initial push because he's big. It doesn't matter how much or little talent you have. If you're over 6'8" or so Vince will push you for at least a solid year. 'Taker would definitely have a great chance to do well since he's far more talented than most big men.

The gimmick? Yeah, I'm sure people would take a massive crap on it. A lot of people in the know seem to agree that the gimmick worked for 'Taker because he was fully committed to it. As long as he was allowed to no sell, do the zombie situps and get some convincing big wins then he'd probably be in for the long haul. I just think it'd take a few years before fans fully got behind him.

I'd like to see him debut with the Underbiker gimmick but of course I'm biased because the four years when he was the Underbiker were the only four years that I actually liked him.

Entrances that don't last five minutes go a long way in my book. >_>

 

[Decarow]

no, he would not be the same. his zombie gimmick would get so old. i'm sorry, but it just wouldn't be the same this day and time. The boogeyman would be more interesting than him! he's a talented guy, but the character wouldn't go far.

 

[jake85]

i think he would. look at the undertaker he still is the best wrestler wwe has after all these years. i think they should bring him back to smackdown soon as he is wwes heart and soul.

 

[TheOneBigWill]

OF COURSE IT'D STILL WORK!

Why? Because regardless whether he debuted like he did, in the early 90's, or now in the 2000's. He plays the character to a Tee. And if anything, he was on top of his game as the slow moving, never feeling any pain or showing any weakness creature from the Darkside.

Shit, thousands of Wrestling fans are still waiting for the day that Undertaker decides to return. Not this half and half crap we have now. I mean, let's look at what we have right now.. he plays the "Deadman" gimmick, yet he moves quicker than he's ever moved before. (doesn't play well with the character from the early years) He acts like a boxer at times, trying to out punch his opponents, and he jukes. If you're impervious to pain.. why do you need to juke?

So yes, if anything the debut of the Original Old-School Undertaker would work if not the exact same, even better, in this day and age. Because that gimmick, played by that man, worked to a Tee. And that is the type of thing we need right now.

Sure, it's a gimmick in which they want you to believe he's dead and all that.. but it kinda goes beyond in some ways that I can't exactly explain. It's a gimmick you know is obviously fake.. but at the same time, it's played so greatly, you want to see more all the time. What current gimmicks do we have that you can say the same about?

 

[reddevil69]

whether anyone likes the gimmicks of Deadman or BadAss it doesn't matter...Mark Calaway would get over because there has never been a wrestler with his size that can do what he does athletically. Look at anyone over six foot eight that has come along...not one of them can work a match and do the things Taker does, from his speed and his agility to the mat wrestling he has displayed and all the high spots he is capable of.

When he debuted he did the rope-walk and his flying clothesline was un-seen for a man his size, and as he's gotten older he's added more to his matches,while most guys his age are slowing down. If he came in today he'd be pulling out all the stops from the on-set due to the pace of todays product. And every other wrestler that has ever spoke about him says the same thing, that he is very smart and he understands the business in a way many performers do not. He'd still find a way to be successful because of the psychology and business sense that he brings to the table.

no other performer has ever portrayed their character with as much conviction as Taker...he is truly a great actor.What he does is classic theatre in every sense of the word.The man never shows emotion or cracks a so much as a smirk and he protects the gimmick as much as possible. The Bad Ass era was him being himself,the Deadman is character portrayal at it's finest in the industry.

 

[travistragic]

I agree with the general consensus that Calloway would get by just fine on his own merits, but reaching main event status with that sort of gimmick is a little questionable to me for this day and age. I mean, I guess WWE still has Leprechauns, Boogeymen, Cross-dressing Italians and Marky Mark gimmicks managing to stay afloat, but if you look at guys like Edge, Orton, Triple H, Batista, Jericho or anyone else who's really over right now (besides Marky Mark), they don't really have "gimimicks", at least not like WWE's had in the past; and the days of goofy gimmicks like Sumo Wrestlers, zombie graveyard workers, fire-charred siblings and all of that other goofy shit that managed to headline PPVs are pretty much over (for now). The Undertaker still gets away with the theatrics only because, as we've said, we like watching him get into character.

 

["Cool Guy" Jensen]

The Phenom. The Deadman. The Demon from Death Valley. My #1 Favorite Wrestler of all time. What if The Undertaker debuted today? Well, if The Undertaker were to debut today, he wouldn't have gotten where he is now, the same way he did then. The Undertaker debuted in a high-profile match with superstars, such as Ted DiBiase, The Honky Tonk Man, Dusty Rhodes, and Bret Hart, along more. Not many people can say that.

Now, if Undertaker began to have promos hyping his debut today, it wouldn't work. If you saw a promo of someone claiming to be dead, not feeling pain, andalways in the dark, would you take him seriously? I would think this would be one hell of a gimmick, but I would think he'd get released after a few matches.

WWE fans today, are not the same as WWF fans back then. The WWE and Vince McMahon are not the same. The Undertaker's gimmick would be looked at differently and I feel it would be hard for him to get the same reaction today, than he did when he really debuted.

The good thing is that Vince loves the big guys. He continues to push them and push them, unless you're Kane, of course. Many of the big men that he's given pushes to are nowhere near Undertaker's level, in terms of mat skills. So, even if the fans didn't react to The Undertaker the way Vince would want them to, he would just push him and put him against main eventers, so the fans would see that he is not your average big man... he can actually wrestle.

So, The Undertaker would maybe get over if he debuted today. The fans are different now and he wouldn't get the same support, because the support he has today are from people who supported him back then and continued to do so. And also anyone who appreciates good wrestling. I think it was a good thing that he debuted when he did, but who knows what would happen if he debuted now.

 

[Kid A]

i dunno, as much as i hate the elaborate gimmick in wrestling i think i'd love this and it'd work.

there always HAS to be the guy that dominates both the mental and physical game and he is that type of person. he doesnt even always have to be the main guy, or even be him for that matter. he still preys and defeats just about everyone because the gimmick makes him that strong and his style in ring makes him really seem that superior to the people he's facing. i honeslty wish he was debuting again just to get 20 more years, plus get Paul Bearer back...YEEEEEESSSSssss