Why The Undertaker Worked

[TUFFY54]

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.

 

[wrestlingfan]

What about Goldust? He had a dark character, height 6'6 in Black Reign. As probably a tall person himself he could probably end up being on the level of Undertaker if only he wasn't Goldust for so long.

I say it again Daniels would make a good dark character. The whole Fallen Angle person worked out. His problem is he needs to rid the Angel self out of him. The goody goody X-Division style. His heel turn was great and if they made him a good heel then just add the gimmick to it and you're good.

 

[Serious Jones]

The reason The Undertaker gimmick worked was that he committed to the character and made it work. It's true that the gimmick wouldn't have worked on a 5'9 Cruiserweight, as a dark type of character demands a menacing look. However, we have seen similar situations fall short. For example, Kevin Fertig tried it twice, with Mordecai and Kevin Thorn, and neither really reached anything near their full potential. He had a pretty good look, but he didn't have the total package like The Undertaker does. We've learned time and time again that look (and more specifically, height) cannot be all a wrestler has. One of the most common complaints about the WWE today is that guys are pushed just because of their look, and not because of any natural talent.

Look is a necessary part of a successful wrestler, but Undertaker deserves full credit for becoming a legend, not his look. To say it's mostly because of the way he looks is simply wrong (Not that the OP was necessarily saying that). It's just a part of the package. Undertaker mastered ring psychology and promos that fit his character perfectly, and those are all necessary aspects that made The Undertaker "work."

I will agree that there probably won't be a "next Undertaker." His legend can't be replicated. People will be able to replicate his menacing presence, but it's doubtful that anyone will be able to replicate every important part of the gimmick that made him a success.

 

[CH David]

To start off, for anyone who thinks that there should be a "new Undertaker", are you fucked in the head? It would be a complete failure because the Undertaker was given to one person who has made it succeed for far more years than most probably thought it could. There have been different variations of the Undertaker, but the mythical fucker still looks like he could fuck you up, even if he is older and could pass for a dead man with the right makeup on. It's like people trying to get Ted DiBiase to be like his dad, 9 times out of 10 you won't replicate the success of a famous gimmick.

The Undertaker worked because when he was first introduced there was still potential for "cartoony" gimmicks to work. A deadman who was introduced by Ted Dibiase actually. He was a freaky monster. You wouldn't want to mess with him and all he wanted to do was inflict pain. As his career went on he always made little tweaks here and there to his character, but always remained the guy who would inflict pain. After he came back in 2004 as the Deadman the gimmick just couldn't stop. Mark Calaway has been one of the most talented big men to keep one gimmick working (with tweaks) and make it entertaining for just about 20 years. His gimmick doesn't ask for him to talk much, but when he does he gets his point across, and has put on some good matches up into his older years. He has been evil and he has been good. Now he is a legend for his ability to keep it going.

 

[Arkham Noir]

His look was a big part of it, but there were more contributing factors . The Undertaker always moved very quick for a guy his size, to the point where you almost forget that he is 6"10 and is about three hundred pounds. Even though he has slowed down considerably in the past eight or so years.

The main reason that the Undertaker worked and continues to work is because he captures your imagination like no one else. When 'Taker comes out, it is unique, gives you a sense that serious shit is about to go down, and is just straight up cool. Nobody else (except maybe Triple H) has that level or raw presence. He brings a level of theatricality that is sorely lacking among stars today, and isn't easy to replicate.

 

[H33LTurn]

Someone mentioned it before, he was an original character, thats why it worked. It hadnt been done in that way before. There were dark characters and all, but there wasnt a walking dead guy who could scare grown men before. The fact that it was unique and that Mark put a great deal of effort into taking the charcter to the next level put Undertaker in the status he is in now. If anything similar to him emerges, people are going to emidiately think its a rip off. Every generation has its reincarnations, like Cena/Hogan but Cena was so modernized that it didnt look like they just dumped the Hogan gimmick on Cena. I think in a couple of years we'll get a modern day Undertaker but as far as the casket matches, the lights going on and off, the spooky promo's that make little kids think "wow, maybe he really is a deadman", i dont think we're going to see much of that. To pull out some ideas that others posted here, what we're going to get is a Jeff Hardy/Christopher Daniels hybrid who could possibly reach main event status, but will never reach the magnitude that the Undertaker's multi-decade long career has reached.

 

[The Ace of Knaves]

There will never be the next Undertaker. He's called "Once in a lifetime superstar" by good ole JR not for nothing. The closest we've seen to his character was Mankind and Kane, and that too wasn't as successful as he is.

The day The Undertaker retires is the day when darkness gimmick vanishes for the rest of our lifetime.

 

[Mr. Artistic guy]

There is a whole host of reasons why the undertaker gimmick worked but the one that may receive the least credit is the actual who played the undertaker. Undertaker was one of the only semi-athletic big guys that were around at that time, the way undertaker stared in his début couple of years were in-fact bone chilling and played to a tee, hence why he made a very rare occurance at that time a reality.... the turned face without changing his character at all at WM8 against Jake Roberts.

The other primary reason is that undertaker is the original. The same way that hulk hogan was the first guy on TV going around as a super-face and being goody-goody, Undertaker was the proprietor of darkness, since which have been mountains of figures under that category... because darkness and Gothicism has an inexplicable and otherwise irreplaceable relationship with professional wrestling and taker being the first and the ultimate dark figure you could possibly imagine always made his character a long-term possibility. The only other guy you could make an argument for would be Abdul-ah the Butcher, but he was more a morbid character than dark in itself.

The undertaker has always been something of the ultimate anti-hero in a way that nobody else in wrestling could achieve because their gimmick would not allow it, he could do the impossible and that makes him similar to a superhero. The way he sat up from a move that would otherwise end a guy, the inexplicable effect that the urn had on his health and regeneration and all the small touches that made him more or less invincible, they are what attracts people to him. Whilst every single wrestler once in the ring would have to then wrestle a normal match, roddy piper, million dollar man, Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels or almost all guys with the possible exception of hogan's hulk up and warriors.... thing that he did, undertaker could break from the traditional format and deliver something different in the ring which you could see from no other guy. And whilst this factor of the undertaker deteriorated to the point where in the ring he became more or less normal i.e. at this current time, the difference laid out a great and unique path for him.

I could go all day about what makes the character of the undertaker so good, but I'll stop there because there is just a few good reasons. Else my fingers will end up bleeding from over-typing..

 

[LSN80]

Undertaker defied the stereotype that many big men are saddled with. He was a big man who could have a good match with virtually anyone because of his agility. He's so quick for a large man that its easy to forget that he's a 7 footer at 300 pounds. Some of the aspects of his moveset are of that of a much smaller man, allowing him to adapt his style to the wrestler that he's facing.

At the time Undertaker came in, those over the top gimmicks were quite successful. He gained instant credibility by being linked to The Million Dollar Man, and his character was mysterious and had layers. He's one of the few characters that doesnt have to adapt his gimmick or actions to the PG era, because his persona is so much larger then life. Because of that, it works beautifully for him.

Undertaker also gets credit for owning several matches. Hell in A Cell is considered to be Undertaker's match. He's the first that you think of when you here it mentioned. The same goes with the Casket Match. Just as Shawn Michaels is seen as the innovator of the ladder match, and Edge of TLC, Undertaker has put his stamp on those two matches like no other.

Undertaker's presence always has such an important feel to it. Every match he competes in has a big match feel to it, each promo seems integral to the show. You know that when Undertaker makes an appearance, something big is about to happen. And its been that way for 20 years. No other superstar can make that claim, which is why Undertaker has been so successful and will continue to be as long as he's healthy and wants to continue.