Friday, February 1, 2008

The Undertaker (Mark William Calaway)


Height: 6 foot 10 1/2
Weight: 295 pounds
From: Death Valley
Signature Move: Chokeslam; Tombstone; Last Ride
WWE Debut: Nov. 22, 1990
Career Highlights: WWE Champion, World Heavyweight Champion, World Tag Team Champion, WCW Tag Team Champion, Hardcore Champion, undefeated at WrestleMania (15-0)

From the moment his signature gong fills the air, The Undertaker captivates WWE fans by his mere presence. The Deadman from Death Valley is usually a man of few words, but he can intimidate even the toughest WWE Superstars with just one glance. His somber persona has been a terrifying trademark of WWE for over 15 years and no list of WWE all-time greats can be considered complete without Undertaker.
First seen at the 1990 Survivor Series, Undertaker was introduced as the final member of Ted DiBiase’s “Million Dollar Team.” Since then he has come to be a multiple time WWE and World Heavyweight Champion, and maintained a WrestleMania undefeated streak that currently stands at an impressive 15-0 after defeating Batista at WrestleMania 23. The Deadman has defeated such Superstars as Randy Orton, Triple H, “Sycho” Sid, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, Bret “Hitman” Hart and Jake “The Snake” Roberts to earn his many titles and keep his WrestleMania streak intact. In October 2007, The Deadman also became the first man to break free from The Great Khali’s Vise Grip to defeat the 7-foot-3, 420-pound colossus as well.
Throughout his time in WWE, Undertaker has notoriously disappeared for months at a time; often thought dead and “resting in peace,” The Phenom always mysteriously returns to the ring to seek vengeance against those who have sent him away. From Yokozuna to Kane to Edge, Undertaker always finds a way to claim the souls of those who have wronged him.
In addition to his solo success, Undertaker has been quite the team player throughout his career. From his lengthy relationship with manager Paul Bearer to spearheading the Ministry of Darkness (which included the recruitment of Superstars such as the Acolytes, The Brood, Mideon & Viscera), The Phenom has been successful in every venture. He has even earned multiple World Tag Team Championships, standing alongside the likes of The Rock, Stone Cold, Big Show and his own brother, Kane.
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In fact, the Big Red Monster is the ally-turned-adversary (and often back again) that Undertaker continuously comes to crosses with. Kane made his WWE debut by costing his brother the first-ever Hell in a Cell Match, and while their relationship is always turbulent, they have seen eye-to-eye on many occasions as well. They’ve been opponents at multiple WrestleManias, but they’ve also held the World Tag Team Championship together; a true theme for brothers in all walks of life.
The Undertaker also has many firsts to his credit. Aside from being the originator of the Tombstone Piledriver, he has also taken part in the inaugural Hell in a Cell Match – against Shawn Michaels in October 1997 – as well as the first-ever Casket Match, which saw him defeat Kamala at Survivor Series 1992.
Throughout it all, Undertaker has remained one of WWE’s most popular Superstars while becoming one of its most decorated – another trend that should continue until the day The Deadman’s illustrious career finally does rest in peace.

MR.McMahon (Vince kennedy McMahon) - Chairman of WWE


From: Greenwich, CT
Career Highlights: Chairman of WWE; WWE Championship; Royal Rumble winner (1999)
Associates: The McMahon family; Jonathan Coachman


“I love to fight,” admits Mr. McMahon. “I always have.”
He’s not kidding. He was already a 12-year-old hellraiser “majoring in badass” when he met his father, Vincent James McMahon, a reputable boxing and wrestling promoter in charge of the Northeast region. As a teen, he’d spend summers with his dad in Connecticut, amazed by both the business and his idol, Dr. Jerry Graham, the peroxide-dyed, red-garbed ring performer who lit his cigars with hundred-dollar bills. The rest of the time he channeled his ruthless aggression at Fishburne Military School in Waynesboro, Va., where he’d graduate as the first cadet in the school’s history to be court-martialed. (“Unsuccessfully,” he’s quick to note, citing that there was no evidence of any wrongdoing on his part other than insubordination.)
It took a degree in Business Administration/Marketing at East Carolina University, followed by several unproductive years selling adding machines and ice-cream accessories, before Mr. McMahon convinced his father to bring him into the family business. Strangely enough, he’d spend less than a year learning the ropes as a promoter when the senior McMahon “promoted” him as a match announcer, only moments before a show in Hamburg, Penn. For more than 20 years, Mr. McMahon would remain behind the mic, even after buying the World Wrestling Federation from his father in 1982 and taking it to unprecedented levels. To this day, many out-of-work regional promoters maintain that he continued doing in-ring play-by-play only to smokescreen what he was accomplishing outside the squared circle.
The truth is, the Chairman of World Wrestling Entertainment couldn’t make a global multimedia juggernaut without breaking a few companies. So he broke all of them, and took great satisfaction in devouring any wrestling promotion that refused to “join” his brand of sports-entertainment. As Sgt. Slaughter puts it, “He screwed everybody. That was the part of him that wanted to be the best there is.”
Mr. McMahon admits to feeling a tad remorseful after acquiring his last, and greatest, threat—World Championship Wrestling (WCW), the seemingly “unbeatable” organization bankrolled by billionaire Ted Turner—simply because he missed the struggle. So in 2002 he decided to split RAW and SmackDown into separate brands, effectively creating his own competition.
Despite his vast wealth and social status, Mr. McMahon still loves nothing more than knuckling up. And he’ll do it anytime, anywhere—inside the ring (where his longtime rivalry with “Stone Cold” Steve Austin still raises hell within the WWE fan base) or from the boardroom. He tells those who don’t like it that they can kiss his ass; in fact, he even founded an elite club for doing precisely that.
RAW announcer Jim Ross is convinced that his boss’ constant need to fight is what fuels his success. “His competitive nature is what he carries with him every waking moment,” he says.
Mr. McMahon agrees, adding that no one better than he understands what it means to be a competitor. “You’ve got to grab your competition by the throat,” he insists, “and squeeze the life out of them.”