8 Ups & 6 Downs From The Undertaker's WWE Career
6. Making Spooky Bullsh*t WORK
'Taker's positive attributes are legion.
A level of athleticism that allowed him to move around the ring with a poise belying this massive frame. That aura of intimidation. Intensity. A near-unparalleled knack of crafting epic, big theatre spectacles that play out like Hollywood Blockbusters. A steadfast attitude towards protecting the business an its integrity.
Greater than all of these is his ability to take some of the dumbest, most contrived sh*t to ever make it out of a WWE creative meeting and somehow make them work. This guy's gimmick was a literal zombie for a while. A zombie! Yet not once did general consensus shift from "yeah, I can buy into this" to "this is far too ridiculous," despite the odd moment of excessive daftness.
The Undertaker character would've died in the hands of a lesser performer. Mark Calaway took a concept that should've been pure, unadulterated WrestleCrap fodder and made it work for 30 years, making him comfortably the most effective vehicle for supernatural concepts in wrestling history.