10 Great Wrestlers Who Started Out With Terrible Gimmicks
3. The Undertaker As Texas Red & The Master Of Pain
The Undertaker’s success is quite remarkable. On-paper, he’s a gigantic immortal zombie who just happens to possess supernatural powers: it’s one of the most ridiculous character concepts in wrestling history, but it succeeded. The Undertaker has become wrestling’s most memorable gimmick, and The Deadman has not only been a WWE cornerstone for 26 years, but the most important wrestler in the company’s history.
Like everyone else on this list, The Undertaker’s career began in earnest. He debuted for WCCW as Texas Red: a big, cumbersome monster who wore a mask, only to protect his identity from his college basketball coach. Said coach was reportedly fearful of the impact that Taker’s wrestling career would have on his development as a basketball player, and thus, the future Deadman kept himself hidden.
He eventually gave-up on basketball, and in 1989, Texas Red became The Master of Pain. Fresh out of a high-security prison in Atlanta, The Master had just served five years in solitary confinement for killing two men in a fight, and won his first wrestling championship by beating Jerry Lawler for the USWA World Heavyweight Title that April.
‘Taker later became WCW’s Mean Mark and NJPW’s “Punisher” Dice Morgan before joining WWE in 1990. There, he took one of the most absurd gimmicks in history and made it iconic, but his first few characters were too thin and shallow to ever get off the starting blocks.