The Undertaker was the Quintasensual WWF Superstar for Three Decades | Full A&E Biography Video | World of Sports

Mark Calloway, aka The Undertaker. We watched this guy beat the hell out of just about every wrestler known to man for three decades—it was quite the ride for the three-time World Heavyweight Champion and four-time WWF/WWE Champion.

Image via screenshot/YouTube

I still remember the first time I saw him wrestle. Mean Mark Callous was what he was going by...The name fit him well, but small speedo-like wrestling gear did not (image above). I can't remember if Dan Spivey or Sid Vicious was his teammate the first time I saw them wrestle, but I had never seen two guys that tall together at the same time at that point in life. To say I was in awe would be an understatement. My dad's exact words for him were 'the Big Red Galoot,' which honestly made little sense seeing as he was a guy who could come off the ropes (if dad would have lived long enough to see Kane, we'd of had a good laugh after his 'big red' comments). At any rate, I also remember the first time I saw him in the WWF...to say they did wonders for his career would be just short of saying the sun is bright. He became larger than life under Vince McMahon; who honestly made him a crony henchman for his own storyline more than once over the years.

Cronyism aside, the Taker earned the respect he has these days as a retired wrestler. He is viewed as one of the best of all time, and rightfully so. While at the same time, Vince has been cast out, had his company sold from underneath him, and is reportedly in bad health. I'm not taking up for the guy, in fact, I've never been a fan of the man who I believe single-handedly ruined wrestling by buying/running all the smaller territories out of business back in the day. Essentially, McMahon built his dynasty off the hard work of other smaller sections of the wrestling sector that were not funded as well. It's the main reason wrestling purists have disliked his brand of 'sports entertainment' for years.

At any rate, The Undertaker was the main reason I continued to watch WWF after Hulk Hogan left. Bret Hart never did it for me and I didn't like the Yokozuna storyline. Until Stone Cold Steve Austin arrived, the Taker all but carried that brand on his own. Some could make an argument for Shawn Michaels, but I always viewed him as a great tag-team wrestler and never equated him to singles, even though I know he held belts. Back in those days, I was more into tag-team wrestling, but that's a discussion for another day...one that will likely include the Taker as well.

Check out the Undertaker's A&E Biography below: