People always seem to be wondering who could be the next Undertaker. The Demon of Death Valley is getting older, and we probably won't have him around for much longer. Unfortunately, I don't think we will ever see a "new Undertaker" because the Deadman had something that can't be taught or learned no matter how hard you try. He had the look. 6'10'' and 300 pounds with scary tattoos covering his whole body. He is a phenomenal wrestler, but his look is what made the Undertaker so iconic. He looked like a demon from hell. Sadly, that combination of size, evil look, and in ring talent will probably never be repeated.
When comparing wrestlers with the Undertaker, people always seem to bring up the Fallen Angle Christopher Daniels, the Antichrist Jeff Hardy, Raven, or even CM Punk's messiah gimmick. I don't want to be rude, but they aren't even close. All of these guys are great wrestlers, but they never had a chance at being like the Undertaker. They just look to much like normal guys. There is nothing terrifying about a 6 foot tall guy with a medium build that is claiming he will destroy you and steal your soul. Its the same logic that always made Kevin Sullivan a joke. He was claiming to be Satan, meanwhile he was a 5'7'' pot bellied pig feuding with a 6'7'' Hogan who looked like he could squash him with one hand tied behind his back.
People say size doesn't matter in wrestling anymore, and I'll somewhat agree. However, I still believe that the only way to really get a "dark", or "evil", gimmick over is to have the wrestler be physically terrifying. Fans believed that the Undertaker was unstoppable because in the last twenty years he has only been shorter than 3 or 4 people that he's wrestled. Look at Jeff Hardy, the evil mastermind feud doesn't work when it looks like Matt Morgan could destroy him in two seconds. People forget that Jake the Snake, the second best dark character ever, was 6'7''. Mankind made it work, but he was more of just a psychopath that didn't feel pain as opposed to a dark, or demonic, character. The only other dark characters that have had real success are Kane and Abyss, and if you've read this you already know why.
When comparing wrestlers with the Undertaker, people always seem to bring up the Fallen Angle Christopher Daniels, the Antichrist Jeff Hardy, Raven, or even CM Punk's messiah gimmick. I don't want to be rude, but they aren't even close. All of these guys are great wrestlers, but they never had a chance at being like the Undertaker. They just look to much like normal guys. There is nothing terrifying about a 6 foot tall guy with a medium build that is claiming he will destroy you and steal your soul. Its the same logic that always made Kevin Sullivan a joke. He was claiming to be Satan, meanwhile he was a 5'7'' pot bellied pig feuding with a 6'7'' Hogan who looked like he could squash him with one hand tied behind his back.
People say size doesn't matter in wrestling anymore, and I'll somewhat agree. However, I still believe that the only way to really get a "dark", or "evil", gimmick over is to have the wrestler be physically terrifying. Fans believed that the Undertaker was unstoppable because in the last twenty years he has only been shorter than 3 or 4 people that he's wrestled. Look at Jeff Hardy, the evil mastermind feud doesn't work when it looks like Matt Morgan could destroy him in two seconds. People forget that Jake the Snake, the second best dark character ever, was 6'7''. Mankind made it work, but he was more of just a psychopath that didn't feel pain as opposed to a dark, or demonic, character. The only other dark characters that have had real success are Kane and Abyss, and if you've read this you already know why.