8 Ups & 6 Downs From The Undertaker's WWE Career
5. Genuine Innovation
Although he isn't necessarily known for innovating anything when it comes to the pure bell-to-bell, The Undertaker has been a genuine game-changer in this company, pushing the entertainment side of this pseudo-sport forward in a number of big ways.
He was among the first wrestlers to successfully incorporate supernatural elements into his character. It speaks volumes of his success that almost everyone who has tried to replicate these things feels like a tribute act, with the 'Next Undertaker' tag a millstone round the neck of any unfortunate sap to be lumbered with it. Still, a gimmick like Kane can't exist without 'Taker, and some of Bray Wyatt's best work came from 'The Deadman's' creepy wheelhouse.
Shawn Michaels might be 'Mr. WrestleMania,' but it could be argued that 'Taker is just as big a defining figure in the event's history, having starred in countless historically great matches at 'The Show Of Shows.' Then come the match stipulations. Would Hell In A Cell be half as fearful, imposing, and legendary if not for Undertaker's wars with Michaels, Mick Foley, and Triple H? Would more obtuse concepts like the Casket and Buried Alive gimmicks have even come into existence?
Nuggets like this ensure Undertaker's legacy will continue long after he has retired.