Heartwarming / The Undertaker

• At the end of what was otherwise the worst Hell in a Cell match in WrestleMania XV, when the Brood (Gangrel, Edge and Christian) threw down a long harness cord/noose to Undertaker in an effort to "string up" Big Boss Man, if one looked closely, they could see Boss Man trembling in fear as the "noose" was put around his neck. Taker, knowing that he would never strangle his opponent during the hanging procedure, gave him a quick reassuring look as if to say, "It's okay. Trust me," before attaching the cord to the safety bungee harness Boss Man was wearing underneath his suit. Taker then tightened the "noose" a bit, asking him in a whisper, "Are you good?", and Boss Man answered yes, realizing that he would be okay, and convinced that he would soon play the "Faking the Dead" trope when Paul Bearer lifted the cage to "hang" him from the top of the cell at the press of a button. Even in their otherwise controversial and "horrifying" moments, Taker taught Boss Man to smile even in the face of certain "death".
• Mark Calaway and Glenn Jacobs appearing on America's Most Wanted to appeal for viewers to turn in someone who beat one of their fans. This was during the Bikertaker days rather than his long running death zombie gimmick.
  • What makes this even better is that, according to one of the comments, the perpetrator was found in 2005.
• Taker's farewell to Ric Flair.
  • This wasn't just Taker making a token appearance, there was real meaning behind this: besides the fact that Taker, at the time, was one of the longest tenured active superstars on the roster, he was paired up with Flair as an ally against Hulk Hogan way back in 1991 when Flair first entered WWE. Not to mention that at the time, Taker was the World Heavyweight Champion, holding the same Big Gold Belt that Flair himself had held so many times.
• After Batista did his heel turn in 2009, he and Rey Mysterio Jr. got in a feud. After a particularly brutal street fight, Batista ended up being the victor. But Batista wasn't done. After the match, Batista went out of the ring and got a steel chair and opened it up, leaving enough space for Rey Mysterio's knee. He climbed up the turnbuckle, and was about to jump on Rey's bad knee. But The Undertaker wasn't about to let that happen... *GONG* Cue the lights going out, they come back on, apparently Undertaker saved Mysterio and gave Batista an ass beating to remember. The fact that Undertaker went out of his way to save little Rey is definitely a CMOH.
  • The WWE Heroes Comic takes it further during the last two issues focusing on The Undertaker trying to find Triple H and Cena, plus bring down the cults waging war against them. Not only is Rey his partner, but they are shown to be good friends & save each others lives a good few times in the span of just two issues.
• The Undertaker teams up with Wish With Wings to grant a wish for a little girl with cancer. D'awwwwww...
• During Shawn Michaels' heart-wrenching retirement speech, The Undertaker's music hit. Taker comes out, as if to do his signature hat-removal, and tips his hat in respect before returning to the back.
• During a roast session for Booker T, Taker talks about the Spinaroonie incident which he viewed as betrayal from Booker T after he'd been so supportive of him. In the end, he admits it was funny and has very touching praise for him afterwards.
  "But listen man, hey... you know I've always loved you, Book. I've always thought you were an incredible talent. The Red Bull thing kinda scared me a bit, I'm still a little scarred there, but anyway, I hope you have a great night tonight, Book. Anybody that's there live, watch him, because he'll turn on you like a pit viper. Fortunately for him that night I got my way out, there may not be no way out there guys. So watch him, mmhmm. I could forgive, but I never forget. Booker T, my man. I'm proud to call you a friend and I hope you enjoy this night, and I hope the rest of those guys there wear your ass out, and I can't wait to hear about it. Alright, big man, I'm out. Time to head back to Death Valley. It's nice there this time of year. Peace, have a great night. Book, I love ya brother. You're one of a kind. Peace."
  • Speaking of Booker T, Taker not only has high praise him but is also the Godfather of his twins.
• Another good friend he's made is Mark Henry which is briefly talked about in The Last Ride documentary. They live in the same town, their wives are workout buddies, their kids play together a lot, and Henry sometimes takes their kids for ice cream.
• During WrestleMania 26, when Undertaker was going for his cutthroat taunt as Shawn Michaels was laid out on the mat, he suddenly stops, and just shrugs at the defiant Michaels struggling to get to his feet, clutching to him for support. He even yells at him to stay down, in a tone not too distant from begging. This is the Undertaker. Showing pity to his long-time opponent. At WrestleMania. Only Shawn Michaels could invoke this Out-of-Character Moment from him.
  • Not to mention after the match, after doing his victory pose, he helps Michaels to his feet and shakes his hand before exiting to the back, letting Michaels have the spotlight one more time for the fans.
• After WWE purchased WCW in 2001, thus giving them access to WCW's video library, WWE released the DVD Undertaker: This Is My Yard, which delved a lot into the real life Mark Calaway...sorry. At the end he is in the locker room talking to the other wrestlers during the InVasion/Alliance angle, he says these words.
  "There's no shame in going out there and getting your ass kicked. There's no honor in not fighting at all."
  • Words to live by.
• When Triple H was entering into a real-life relationship with Stephanie McMahon the former would go to the Undertaker backstage for advice on whether or not he should continue and date the the boss's daughter. Of all the people he could go to, the top heel of the promotion at the time would go to the deadman for relationship advice, was a mark of how much Undertaker was respected not just as a wrestler (even by Triple H, who had ascended to main event status by this point and was known to have a massive ego) but as a man. When Trips and Steph were married in 2003, Taker was asked to be a groomsman and agreed. It's one of the few known photos from that time of Mark Calaway completely out of character.
• Apparently, it was The Undertaker who lifted The Miz ban from the Locker Rooms after seeing him change in the hallway. At this point, Miz was banned for about 6 months and going, since he was banned by Chris Benoit, but after Chris double murder/suicide, Undertaker took it upon himself (As the leader of the Locker room), to let Miz back in the Locker Room, seeing that A) by wrestler's court rules that only the one giving the punishment was the only one to rescind it (Which was impossible) and B) Miz probably suffered enough.
• WrestleMania XXVIII: Undertaker with the help of Shawn Michaels hoists Triple H on to his feet and carry him up the ramp and where they later hug. As the tagline for the match called it, it was the end of an era.
• On Raw during March 11, 2013, following Paul Bearer's death, the Undertaker came out into the ring to personally pay tribute to his former manager the best way he knew how. The shot of him giving one final salute to the Paul Bearer's urn and the Jumbotron tribute of him is incredibly touching.
• WrestleMania 30: After the punishing Streak-breaking loss to Brock Lesnar, Undertaker spent several minutes laying on the mat before painfully sitting up and slowly walking out of the arena - the entire time, the fans and commentators are applauding him; by comparison, Lesnar's victory had gotten nothing but shocked silence.
  Michael Cole: Congratulations to Brock Lesnar, but ultimate respect to the Undertaker.
  • The night before, he arrives to pay tribute to Paul Bearer in the only way that he could - raising his signature urn in silence.
• According to Kamala, Undertaker gave him a hug backstage at WrestleMania X-Seven.
• More recently, the "Thank You Taker" chants, especially during the end of his matches in Hell in a Cell 2015 and Survivor Series 2015. A testament to how beloved he is.
  • After WrestleMania 33, this is a bit bittersweet. But all the tweets, all the stories told about Taker in the 24 hours between Mania and Raw are what makes it worth it. From childhood memories, to how he helped and inspired others. Over a quarter of a century of entertaining us has shaped him into one of the most beloved and respected wrestlers ever. Thank you Taker, indeed.
• 'Taker winning the WWF title at WrestleMania 13, holding the strap high, and pointing to his fans in salute to his "Creatures of the Night."
• Undertaker's return to Smackdown on episode 900 of the show. The last time he had been seen was his match against Shane McMahon at WrestleMania. Taker was so impressed by Shane's performance that night that he actually showed deference to him, and even tipped his hat to him.
  Undertaker: There could be no better man to be commissioner of Smackdown than the man who has no fear.
• His (apparent) retirement at WrestleMania 33, in which he quietly removed his Undertaker garb - gloves, coat, and hat - left them in the ring, walked over to kiss his real-life wife Michelle McCool, and went up the ramp to descend to whence he came with his fist held high, with chants of "Thank you, Taker!" somewhat subdued due to the gravity of the moment. And, just like the old-school wrestler he is, he used his final match to help the career of an up-and-comer, Roman Reigns.
  • For their part, chants for Undertaker could be heard on both RAW and Smackdown post-WrestleMania and the fans were MERCILESS to Roman Reigns on the subsequent RAW, even accepting that Roman is X-Pac Heat personified the crowd made it clear how much he had crossed a line for them. A great example among many of how much Undertaker meant to the fans, and how much they will miss him.
• By contrast to the above, 'Taker coming to Roman's aid after finally becoming sick of Shane McMahon's Drunk with Power behaviour, culminating in a No-Holds-Barred Tag Team match pitting the two of them against Shane and Drew Mcintyre at Extreme Rules 2019. And unlike the previous match involving them, the crowd legitimately cheered for Roman because this time the bookers learned from their mistakes, arranging the match so that they both looked good and emphasising how much Reigns respected 'Taker.
• Jim Ross recalled in his autobiography that the night of the Montreal Screwjob, he was worried that a lot of the wrestlers, who were angry about what went down, would turn their attention to Ross; since he was the head of talent relations at the time, they might assume he had something to do with it, which he didn't (Vince McMahon deliberately kept Ross in the dark knowing that "the boys" would never trust him again if they thought he was involved). While on the warpath to find McMahon that night, Undertaker took a moment to find Ross and tell him, in effect, "You're okay. I've got your back." 'Taker knew Ross was innocent of the whole thing, and being the locker room leader, would make sure everyone else knew it, too.
• 'Taker was noticeably absent from the Raw Is Owen tribute show that aired the night following Owen Hart's death at the Over the Edge PPV, but it had nothing to do with preserving Kayfabe or anything like that. Mark had flown to Canada after the PPV ended to visit Bret Hart and the rest of the Hart family.
• When he was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, Undertaker received a 5-minute standing ovation from the crowd after his entrance. He has a visibly hard time trying not to cry among the chants of "Thank you 'Taker" and "You deserve this". Once he regains his composure and starts his speech, the crowd instantly quiets down to let him speak. It is simply impossible to overstate how beloved and respected the Undertaker is among wrestling fans.
• Raw is XXX: To cement the fact that Taker had retired, he reconciled with—and briefly passed the torch to— Bray Wyatt after their attack on LA Knight. Unfortunately, this happened a few months before Wyatt died of a heart attack at age 36.
• In his 2000 memoir The Rock Says, Dwayne Johnson recounted his disbelief when he learned that he was going to be the winner of a Rock/Undertaker match, and the Undertaker's reaction to it.
  ''I found Undertaker a few minutes later and said, "Man, I just heard it's going to be a clean finish. Are you sure you're okay with that?" He looked down at me and said "Absolutely. It's your turn and it's your time."
• The Undertaker's Big Damn Heroes moment at Wrestlemania XL, already a Moment of Awesome in helping clear the final obstacle between Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns, has another level to it beyond just 'Taker getting revenge. Mark's first match as 'Taker had him wrestle against Cody's father, Dusty, who infamously never claimed an WWE championship in his entire career. ^note The closest Dusty came was winning a title bout against Billy Graham in 1977, only to be denied the belt on the technicality that titles couldn't change from count-outs. In helping Cody win, 'Taker paid respects to one of the men who helped launch his career.

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