The man behind The Undertaker: Mark Calaway in his own words
By Ryan Satin
FOX Sports WWE Analyst
Born in 1965 to a family with four other siblings in Texas, Mark Calaway’s fascination with the dead began long before his start in wrestling.
"I was always just enthralled by mystery and scare," the WWE icon known for decades as The Undertaker said of his childhood. "When I was a kid, it was more theater of the mind. Later on, the movies, they kind of went into full gore and didn’t leave anything for you to think about. They showed you everything. But early on, they would cut things off and just kind of let your mind figure it out. So I was always fascinated, even with death."
That fascination was only enhanced by the fact that young Calaway had family who worked in the place he’d one day become synonymous with. As early as kindergarten, the man who’d grow up to have his own "Funeral Parlor" segments on WWE TV actually hung out in a mortuary.
"There was a time where I had family members that actually worked in a funeral home, so I was around caskets, and I was in embalming rooms," he explained. "Little did I know, at that point, where my career and future was gonna go."
Yet somehow, Calaway hasn’t talked about that or much of anything from outside the ring. While the Undertaker has graced TV screens for more than 30 years in WWE, very little is known about the man behind the character — until now.
This week, The Undertaker joined me on "Out of Character," my podcast in which I interview WWE Superstars on who they are outside the ring, and discussed his actual, real life.
This is Mark Calaway, the man behind The Undertaker, in his own words.
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In later years, Undertaker’s backstory explained that he grew up in a funeral home, then one day burned it to the ground with his brother, Kane, and his parents inside. Kane managed to survive (thanks to Paul Bearer), and years later, the high-pitched manager brought "The Big Red Machine" to WWE for revenge.
That was not the case with the mortuary Calaway grew up around as a child, but he does recall a distinct death-related memory there.
"I remember as a little kid, they were going to have a service, and they had already brought in the casket. The deceased was in the casket, but the service wasn’t going to start for another couple of hours, so there was nobody in the chapel. My little, morbid self decided I was going to go and see up close, so I worked my courage all the way up to this casket and peeked in.
"I could’ve swore that the corpse inside moved, and I took off like a scalded rabbit," Undertaker added with a laugh. "It’s just funny what life prepares you for."
In the case of Calaway, it prepared him for a successful WWE career that began in 1990 and continued until 2020 at the Survivor Series, where he ended his run in the company at the same event where it began.
Throughout that time, Undertaker forged a legacy as one of the all-time greats in a multitude of ways. His in-ring skill. The iconic looks. The voice. The entrances. These are just a few of the things that helped him stand apart.
Most notably, however, was his insistence on staying in-character at all times to ensure that fans would believe what he was doing. This despite the fact that Undertaker was basically supposed to be dead.
But why? Why such commitment to what in wrestling is known as kayfabe?
"In my mind, I had to do that to give that character credibility," Taker said. "Because the character itself was so over the top, in my mind, I was like, ‘I’ve gotta make people believe.’ And it was crazy what people believe. Half the people would say, ‘Are you really dead?!’ I mean, I got that! I honestly got that quite a bit.
"Before I wrestled [Hulk] Hogan at Survivor Series [‘91] and won the title, I had already felt the momentum and just the difference that my character presented, as opposed to a lot of the other characters. That was always my goal: to be different."
And to be different, one has to know what the norm is.
"So, one, I studied whoever was on top," Taker continued. "I studied Warrior, and I studied Hogan, and I studied Jake the Snake. I was watching what they were doing and was always thinking, what am I gonna present that’s different than everything you stereotypically think of a professional wrestler?"
Then a light bulb went off in his head, and the young Superstar began immersing himself in horror villains and the macabre fascinations he had all his life. "It started coming to me, and I’m studying Jason Voorhees and Michael Myers and all these different things."
This eventually convinced Undertaker to start living the gimmick 24/7, a task that was much more possible in 1991.
"It was a lot easier because everyone didn’t have cell phones then, and you’re not being recorded almost anytime you’re in public, like you are now. But I did want to present, when people did see me in the airport, or when they saw me out and about — though I wasn’t dressed in my TV Undertaker garb, it wasn’t much different."
Now, Mark Calaway lives a much simpler life.
After letting his guard down in 2020 and dropping his gimmick in the public eye, the 56-year-old has become hyper-focused on spending time with his family and learning who he is as a person, rather than a character.
As we spoke over Zoom, Calaway wasn’t in a hotel room or out on the road like most active pro wrestlers living the life. He was in his kitchen, relaxed, wearing a bandana and hat over his signature braid.
In the background, kitchen countertops could be seen, overflowing like in any regular household, with a framed memorial flag case atop one of the cabinets, a cross and family photos on the wall.
"The Phenom" was joyous and inviting — excited to chat about his life, rather than brooding and private like you might expect.
It was a stark contrast to his iconic persona.
"I’m not nearly as dark as what you see on TV. I love cutting up. I love playing practical jokes on people," Undertaker said. He then took a brief pause and noted that this is the attitude of current-day Mark Calaway.
The younger version was a bit different.
"There was a long period of time there where it was hard for me to shut Undertaker off. It’s well chronicled now that I lived that character, and that sometimes bled over into my personal life. But at this point, I’m rediscovering who Mark Callaway is. A lot of the things I sacrificed for the sake of my career, and that character, I’m getting to do now. It’s really cool."
This includes spending quality time at home with his family, rather than obsessing over his next opponent. Hunting, fishing and going to the beach, rather than training to look good in front of 100,000 people.
"I’ve been on TV for 30-plus years, so it’s kind of hard to blend in and hide, but I make a much, much bigger effort now to do those kinds of things while I still can," Calaway noted of the transition. "I guess I’m in the middle of a deep exhale. Because I do — I miss being in the ring. If my body would allow it, I would probably still be out there, but it’s nice being at home and not having to worry.
"I’ve got the answer [in a wrestling ring]. But you take that coat off, then it’s a whole different ball game," he added.
"That’s something that I’m having to learn and deal with.
"I have to learn that with my family. I have to learn that with my wife. Because, and I kinda hate to say it, but this is really the first time in their lives that they are the true priority. That sounds horrible, and it is, but that’s one of the sacrifices sometimes you have to make to go out and be something different and be something special.
"I wasn’t good enough to balance those things together. I was consumed by one half of that, and fortunately, I’m given an opportunity now to really share the other half. Which is exciting, and I’m just fortunate and blessed that I have that opportunity to spend time with my younger kids and be a husband and do all those things that got put on the shelf because the career came first."
This interview was edited for length and clarity.
Ryan Satin is a WWE analyst for FOX Sports. Satin previously appeared on FS1's "WWE Backstage" and founded Pro Wrestling Sheet, where he broke countless news stories as editor-in-chief.
