The Undertaker is one of the biggest names in sports with an impressive 32-year career in the WWE. The iconic figure, known for his terrifying persona also nicknamed ‘The Phenom’, retired from WWE in 2020 before being inducted into the Hall Of Fame in 2022.
With many records under his belt including the biggest winning streak (21) in wrestling's biggest show, Wrestlemania, and having the most PPV (Pay-Per-View) wins, it is obvious why he is regarded as one of the best if not the best wrestler in the last century.
However, with Undertaker stepping down from the WWE, he now goes by his actual name, Mark Calaway, father of three and husband of former WWE wrestler, Michelle Calaway, also known as Michelle McCool.
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During The Undertaker’s three-decade tenure in the wrestling industry, he has travelled all over the globe performing in high-level matches for the WWE universe including several trips to Manchester and the UK.
With his brand new show ‘Undertaker 1 deadMAN SHOW’ coming to Manchester on July 3, where we see the real side of Mark Calaway, the Manchester Evening News sat down with The Phenom discussing his visits to the UK and what he gets up to in his day to day life.
Mark is getting used to retirement which is not surprising considering he retired at the end of 2020 after a very long career. When asked what he does in his day-to-day schedule and what current sports and TV shows he watches and can recommend, Mark showed he values the outdoors and nature.
He said: “Well, I love being outdoors. I love hunting and fishing and being outdoors. Here in Texas things are warming up too, that’s how I spend a lot of my time. For the first time in several years, I’ve been invested in the NBA playoffs.”
Mark has a history of playing basketball, playing the sport to a serious level when he was younger until he started his career in the wrestling industry
He continued: “Really I haven’t followed it [basketball] in years. I’m not really high on the game today, I come from an era where guys like the Detroit Pistons and watching the Celtics with Parish. For me that was the best era in basketball, that was the attitude era.
“I think this year it will be tough to beat Denver Nuggets. You know the Joker (Nikola Jokic), he’s crazy, he’s 7ft tall. He will bring the ball down. What I like about him is he makes everyone on the team better.”
The Undertaker spoke on his thoughts on Manchester and the UK and revealed that one of his greatest matches ever against Bret ‘The Hitman’ Hart came when the WWE was touring around the UK:
“Man, I love Manchester and the UK in general. In the early nineties and going over there, the energy received in the arena, just carries on. I’ll tell you this, I didn’t get much sleep, but that’s okay!
"I remember having a match against Bret Hart and Bret in the states was a heel at the time, but everywhere else he was still a face.
"It was probably one of my favourite matches of all time, it was really good. Bret pushed me to be more than a character. He pushed me into figuring out how to be the character and be a wrestler too.”
Mark continued speaking on football over in the UK and whether he is a fan of the blue or the red side:
“No comment man, to me football is an amazing sport, I’d say you guys get a little worked up about your football but it’s cool man. I love all that kind of energy."
Tickets for UNDERTAKER 1 deadMAN SHOW are available for sale right now and will show another side of The Undertaker that the WWE universe hasn't been introduced to yet. Visit https://www.aegpresents.co.uk/events/detail/undertaker.
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