WWE Hall Of Famer Claims They Came Up With The Undertaker’s Name

WWE Hall of Famer Sgt. Slaughter claimed he had crucial involvement in discovering The Undertaker and co-creating his iconic WWE persona alongside Vince McMahon.

In an interview with the Baltimore Sun, Slaughter, reflecting on his tenure with the WWE, then-WWF, in Connecticut, detailed his routine task of sifting through letters and resumes. It was during one such session that he came across the resume of a young Mark Calaway, then working in WCW and sporting short red hair.

When I was working in the [WWF] office up in Connecticut, part of my job was to go through the boxes of letters and resumes. One of them happened to be a young kid by the name of Mark Calaway, who has short red hair, and he was working down in WCW. It was a tape and a little letter saying he’d be interested.

Impressed by Calaway’s profile, Slaughter quickly recommended him to Vince McMahon. Trusting Slaughter’s judgment, McMahon arranged a tryout for Calaway in Rochester, NY.

Slaughter vividly described the significant moment when Calaway debuted. During the match, McMahon’s interest was piqued, and he inquired about Calaway’s background, leading to an unexpected summon to McMahon’s office. Calaway, initially anxious, feared he had made a mistake.

Halfway through the match, I was on the headset, and I hear Vince McMahon say, ‘Where did you find this guy? Send him to my office.’ Mark came out of the ring and asked me how he did, and I said Vince wanted to see him. He thought he did something wrong.

Following this encounter, Slaughter and McMahon engaged in creative discussions about Calaway’s character. McMahon initially proposed the name ‘Paul Bearer’ for Calaway. However, Slaughter voiced his reservations, suggesting that Calaway’s unique look warranted a different name. This led McMahon to propose ‘Undertaker.’

The topic turned to Mark, and Vince said he had an idea for a character name, and he brought up the name ‘Paul Bearer.’ The next day I went to Vince, and I said I didn’t really care for that name for Mark in particular; I thought he looked different than that, and Vince said, ‘Like an Undertaker?’ and I said, ‘Yeah! Maybe we should do Paul Bearer as his manager…’

Which WWE PLE Is The Undertaker Set To Make An Appearance At?

The Undertaker will be performing his 1deadMAN SHOW in Cleveland, Ohio on August 3rd which is the same date and city that WWE is hosting its SummerSlam PLE. It is not known if The Undertaker will make an appearance in the ring like he did at WrestleMania 40.

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