Close-up of The Undertaker snarling in the wrestling ring with long hair and intense eyes

The Undertaker

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Published October 2, 2026

The Undertaker is the horror-themed ring persona of retired WWE wrestler Mark William Calaway, who debuted the mortician gimmick in 1990 and racked up 21 straight WrestleMania wins known as The Streak. His 2014 loss to Brock Lesnar and 2017 farewell to Roman Reigns spawned waves of online tributes, including the viral #ThankYouTaker hashtag.

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Overview

The Undertaker is the long-running horror gimmick performed by Mark William Calaway in the WWF/WWE, a trench coat wearing mortician whose slow walk, rolling eyes and lightning cues made him one of pro wrestling's most memeable characters3. Across 27 years, the character shifted through several looks, from the 1994 to 1996 Deadman, into the Lord of Darkness run during the Attitude Era, and then the biker American Badass of the Ruthless Aggression era before returning to the Deadman3.

Online, the character is best known for two meme moments tied to The Streak, his 21 straight WrestleMania wins. The shock loss to Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 30 produced a tidal wave of stunned reaction shots and clip edits3. His WrestleMania 33 exit then spawned a dedicated tribute cycle under #ThankYouTaker, with fans sharing match clips, drawings and the image of his hat and coat left in the ring5.

Fans also meme his iconography directly, from the Urban Dictionary entries riffing on the eye roll that fans mimic during oral sex jokes6, to the recurring note that he kept wrestling after suffering second-degree burns to the chest, which hardcore fans cite as proof of his legend status6.

Origin & Background

Platform
WWF television (origin) / Twitter (viral tributes)
Creator
Mark William Calaway
Date
1990

Calaway debuted in 1984 as Texas Red in World Class Championship Wrestling, then wrestled as Mean Mark Callous in WCW from 19893. He arrived in the World Wrestling Federation in 1990 as the Undertaker, a western mortician in a long coat, and the gimmick stuck3. The in-ring origin of the meme-worthy Streak traces to every WrestleMania he worked from that debut forward, which built an unbroken win column that fans eventually tracked as its own stat3.

The meme catalyst event came on April 6, 2014, when Brock Lesnar pinned the Undertaker at WrestleMania 30, ending The Streak at 21 and triggering the stadium's now-iconic shocked-fan reaction shots3. The tribute meme format emerged on April 3, 2017, the day after Roman Reigns beat him at WrestleMania 33, when Twitter spun up a Moments page collecting fan goodbyes under #ThankYouTaker15.

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How It Spread

The character went mainstream through WWF television in the 1990s and kept growing a social footprint well after the gimmick's debut. A Facebook page for the Undertaker launched on January 28, 2008 and pulled past 17 million likes in the following nine years23. In December 2013, the @WWEMarkWCalaway Twitter account went live and picked up more than 60,700 followers inside four years34.

The first major online spike came with the end of The Streak at WrestleMania 30 on April 6, 2014, when the loss to Brock Lesnar flooded timelines with stunned reaction gifs pulled straight from the broadcast3. The second spike landed three years later. After the April 2, 2017 WrestleMania 33 loss to Roman Reigns, Twitter published a dedicated Moments page the next day aggregating fan tributes15.

The #ThankYouTaker hashtag became the center of that farewell wave, carrying short career montages, hand-drawn tributes and shots of the gear he left behind in the ring5. The gimmick itself kept earning meme reuse outside wrestling, including crude Urban Dictionary slang entries that borrow his name for jokes about hand positions and the back-of-the-head eye roll6.

Timeline

1990

Mark Calaway debuts in the WWF as the Undertaker, a trench coat wearing western mortician gimmick.

2007-04

The Undertaker beats Batista at WrestleMania 23 to win his first World Heavyweight Championship.

2008-01-28

The official Undertaker Facebook page launches, eventually passing 17 million likes.

2013-12

The @WWEMarkWCalaway Twitter account is created.

2014-04-06

Brock Lesnar ends The Streak at WrestleMania 30, triggering viral shocked-fan reaction shots.

2017-04-02

The Undertaker loses to Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 33 and leaves his hat, gloves and coat in the ring.

2017-04-03

Twitter publishes a Moments page gathering tributes under the #ThankYouTaker hashtag.

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How to Use This Meme

The #ThankYouTaker format typically pairs a career clip, fan art, or a photo of the hat, gloves and coat left in the ring with a short goodbye caption5. The shocked-fan reaction shot from WrestleMania 30 is often used as a standalone image macro for any moment of pure disbelief, with no wrestling context required3.

Frequently Asked Questions