American professional wrestler Mark Calaway, better known by his ring moniker The Undertaker, is the Deadman of the WWE and has also been inducted into the Hall of Fame. Recognised as one of the best professional wrestlers of all time, became well-known to the general public as a macabre, horror-themed character with supernatural connections.
As WWF experienced a period of unprecedented commercial success in the late 1990s, Undertaker emerged as one of the most notable characters of the Attitude Era, appearing in several significant storylines and matches. The Phenom changed personas in the early 2000s, going from being a biker to a more polished version of his prior persona in 2004.
The Streak, which saw The Undertaker win 21 straight times at WWE’s main annual event, WrestleMania, is what made him famous. Undertaker has been the main attraction at several WWE pay-per-view events and has five WrestleMania main events under his name. He has had several threatening opponents during his time in the company. His unmatched success in the 1990s saw him rise to the top of the company.
The WWE required a new opponent for The Undertaker in 1994. During this time, the promotion ran out of ideas for The Undertaker after epic feuds with Yokozuna, The Ultimate Warrior, and Hulk Hogan. Consequently, a replicated version of the Phenom was created by the company.
The Undertaker was injured in his back in real life and sent to heaven in kayfabe after losing the renowned WWF Championship casket match to Yokozuna. Vince McMahon stirred the pot while he waited for The Deadman to be cleared so that he could come back. This is when the fake Undertaker was created which led to a bizarre yet thrilling storyline involving Mark and his replicated version, Brian Lee.
Who played the fake Undertaker character during Mark Calaway’s absence?
The Million Dollar Man, Ted DiBiase, entered the ring and presented the impostor Undertaker, Brian Lee at Survivor Series 1994. He declared that the Undertaker was back, claiming that The Deadman had switched allegiances and was now motivated by wealth. However, Paul Bearer declared that the true Undertaker would return. Being notably shorter than Mark, Brian Lee did his job commendably well.
He copied the mannerisms of the Deadman and applied them in the ring against several low-profile wrestlers each week on RAW and WWF Superstars. Lee was a very close friend of Mark in real life and was a good fit for the job until The Real Phenom corrected his wounds. Brian was no stranger to the world of professional wrestling and used to wrestle in several wrestling promotions before being the fake Undertaker.
Apart from his time in the WWE, Brian was also involved in WCW and TNA during his varied wrestling career. He did return to the Stamford-based promotion as ‘Chainz’ but didn’t get much over the crowd. Being the fake Undertaker, fans were not very thrilled to see Brian squashing lower-card opponents each week. This all changed when Paul Bearer announced that he had contacted the real Undertaker and he would be back for a match.
The Undertaker wrestled his impostor at SummerSlam 1994
Bearer promised that Undertaker would be produced at the SummerSlam event in 1994 and face his impostor. It indeed happened and the Phenom made his way to the ring receiving a huge ovation from the crowd. The real Undertaker Mark and the fake one, Brain, faced off in the main event of SummerSlam. After the actual Undertaker used two Tombstone Piledrivers to kill off his opponent, the eight-minute match came to a conclusion. Mark celebrated his win in style as the fallen imposter was placed in a casket and carted away.
The match itself is known for its moments and memories such as the face off between the two Undertakers inside the ring. Brian was also scheduled to be used in further storylines being the fake Phenom but by seeing the dull response from the crowd, Vince cancelled all the plans of involving the fake Deadman in any future storylines.