Through nearly the last three decades, the Undertaker has been one of the most iconic figures in professional wrestling beyond the WWE. Mark Calaway’s portrayal of the character has stood the test of time and is still a crowd favorite despite him wrestling into his 50s. In recent weeks, Calaway has gone the route of doing many interviews to promote his Undertaker: The Last Ride docuseries, which has been a drastic change as he didn’t go that route throughout much of his career to product the integrity of his character. 

With that has come much blowback from wrestling fans angry that he has broken character by going this route. It didn’t take long for Calaway to respond to the criticism clearly and directly.

The Undertaker persona

It has well over two decades that Calaway has worked as The Undertaker, who has been a crowd favorite throughout much of his career.

The Undertaker took on the brand of being horror-themed that had the links to the supernatural. He gathered much headway during the Attitude Era, a significant time frame for the WWE that saw other wrestlers such as Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, Triple H, Kurt Angle, Mankind, and Kane all gain significant traction during that time.

Calaway embraced a bit of a biker theme in the early 2000s but has stayed on track with the Undertaker, with the dark and mysterious tone. He gathered more popularity with his dominance at WrestleMania that included a 21-match undefeated streak over the years.

The Undertaker has been one of the most recognizable wrestlers in WWE history that continues to enamor fans.

The Undertaker fires back at critics

The recent media interviews that Mark Calaway has conducted over the last few weeks have provided greater insight into all that goes into being The Undertaker.

However, it hasn’t rubbed everyone the right way as some are angered at Calaway from pulling up the veil a bit by doing media interviews. It didn’t take long for the 55-year-old to fire back as he blasted wrestling fans who are pissed off at him for doing interviews out of character during an interview on The Bill Simmons Podcast. (H/T EWrestlingnews)

“I know I have more matches behind me than I do in front of me,” Taker mentioned. “So people would tell me ‘Dude you need to get yourself out there because this wrestling career is coming to an end, now it’s time to cash in on the brand and the stuff you didn’t do for all these years post WWE’. One of the first things I did out of character was I posted about the Longhorns winning the Sugar bowl, I’m scrolling through comments and I see ‘My childhood is ruined, The Undertaker is now on social media’. You’ve got to be s–tting me. People were genuinely pissed I broke character after 30 years.”

It’s quite a ridiculous stance for wrestling fans to take as Calaway had stuck firmly to the path of keeping his character’s integrity throughout his career. The silliness behind the criticism is comical as he’s in the tail end of his career and wanted to provide fans an inside look to his journey.

The Undertaker’s legacy is not impacted

Yes, there comes great responsibility for wrestlers to handle their character to the best of their abilities.

Mark Calaway has done that and more for nearly three decades and is now getting criticized for opening up at the tail end of his career. There is no lust lost on The Undertaker and the legendary status that he has in the professional wrestling business.

It all comes down to some fans holding irrational stances on a subject that needs no criticism.