15 Rare Photos Of The Undertaker That WWE Don’t Want You To See

The man, the myth, the legend.

The Undertaker is WWE’s biggest legend. On screen he was a fearsome character and exceptional wrestler. Off screen he was a leader and inspiration to the locker room. He has carried this revered reputation for nearly three decades now, in a main event run that is unrivalled in the business.
His legacy will endure forever, but his story is perhaps over after losing to Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 30. That loss marked the end of Taker’s 21 year unbeaten streak at WrestleMania. It was significant, because at that point, Undertaker and the streak were one of the same thing.
If that was the narrative ending for The Undertaker character, then what we are left with are some great memories. You’ll have your own personal favourite moments, perhaps the time he launched Mankind off Hell In A Cell or his classic match against Kurt Angle at No Way Out 2006.
There are some rare Undertaker moments that you may have missed over the years. Through various rare photographs, you can now see the moments WWE didn’t want you to see.
Take for example the photo above, the wedding ceremony of Mr and Mrs Calaway. Undertaker started dating WWE Diva Michelle McCool at some point after 2007 when he divorced Sara.
It is just one aspect of his life that fans have always been fascinated with and this feature will include several rare images that will blow you away!

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10 Major WWE Stars The Internet Completely Turned A Corner On 1

1. John Cena

Let’s go back to late 2002 through 2004 when John Cena was as popular as any WWE performer with internet fans. Fans would talk about how incredible his raps were. They would try to find videos of them so they could watch them. Youtube wasn’t around, so it wasn’t as easy as it is now. People loved the guy. They didn’t care so much about his in-ring style. What mattered was he was different from others because he looked like he was tough, he brought rap to WWE and most importantly he was cool.
When Cena’s rap CD You Can’t See Me was released in 2005 he had just won his first WWE Title, so he was still pretty fresh. The album did well, reaching as high as 15th in the Billboard 200 and as high as third in the Rap Album category on Billboard. Cena’s a bigger name now than he was then, but it’s unlikely that his albums would do as well because there are more haters now.
The internet fans turned on Cena after a few years at the time. He stopped doing the cool rapping stuff and he became a “white meat babyface” as Steve Austin has called him in the past. Instead of being a cool, hip, fresh voice in the stale world of wrestling, he’s become like those guys we grew up watching in the 1980s.
Cena’s at a point in his career now where there are enough of us that respect him for all he’s done and acknowledge his great work, but he’s always going to have haters because he’s been at the top for the last decade.
Cena was absolutely an internet darling. To some, he still is. To most, he definitely is not.

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10 Major WWE Stars The Internet Completely Turned A Corner On 2

2. CM Punk

CM Punk is one of the internet’s most favorite wrestlers. At least he was. The reason Punk was so believed is that fans knew that he grew up wanting to be a wrestler, he chased that dream even though he wasn’t a prototypical big guy and he made it.
Prior to signing with WWE in the mid 2000s, people knew who he was. His rise in Ring of Honor from an unknown to a top guy was something that earned him a huge fanbase. The people loved him right away. When he signed with WWE those same people were there, but it was just on a bigger stage.
When Punk became a top guy in WWE his popularity grew. When he did that incredible real life story around Money in the Bank 2011 the people continued to support him. It lasted for a few more years. He was an “internet darling” that made it to the top, but the love that fans had for him didn’t last just like his career.
The reason Punk is here is because there are a lot of fans that don’t like him anymore. Why? Because he quit when he wasn’t happy earlier this year. Instead of sticking around to wrestle and do his job, he quit.
We don’t know why he quit. He hasn’t talked about it, nor does he have to. Now there are stories out there that he’s sent a legal team after WWE about using his likeness and royalty checks. That’s not going to make him popular with the fans either.

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10 Major WWE Stars The Internet Completely Turned A Corner On 3

3. Rob Van Dam

When ECW was becoming really popular, the internet wrestling scene was just starting out. It was the late 1990s. Everything ECW did was seen as cool by the fans because Paul Heyman was a booker with a vision while they did such an awesome job of telling stories. One of the guys that the forefront for ECW was Rob Van Dam, who was as popular as any wrestler in the late 1990s.
He was the guy that people were talking about in a “did you see what he just did?” kind of way. I can remember when he debuted the Van Terminator for the first time. They created so much buzz for it and it was the coolest thing ever.
The cool factor of RVD carried over when he went to WWE in 2001 too. Within a few months he was one of the most popular guys in the company and even in main event storylines with Steve Austin. It lasted for a few years, but then he got stale.
When WWE brought back ECW in the mid-2000s he had a career revival too. He may have been as popular as ever at One Night Stand 2006 when he beat John Cena for the WWE Title even though he was stale before that. Once that title win wore off, he was stale again. Eventually he left WWE to go to TNA, where he was also hot for a while. That didn’t last long either.
RVD’s return to WWE last year was built up well although when it was obvious he was just there to put over the young guys the fans just didn’t care. It also hurt when WWE kept calling him “innovative” even though he was doing the same spots for the last 15 years.
To those same fans that thought RVD was the coolest back in the day, they think of him as an older guy in his early 40s that is way past his prime. They’re probably right about that, but they should also show some more respect for what he’s done in his career. Once again it’s a case of “what have you done for me lately” with RVD.

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10 Major WWE Stars The Internet Completely Turned A Corner On 4

4. Mark Henry

Finally we have a guy that people didn’t really like that much for a long time, but now he’s one of the most respected veterans in the business.
When Henry signed with WWE in 1996 he was apparently given a 10 year contract worth a lot of money. It was WWE’s way of investing in a young talent that they hoped would become a star. They probably wanted him to be a World Champion within five years. That didn’t happen until his 15th year in 2011. Henry’s one of those guys that peaked in the later years of his career so much so that it has us wondering what took him so long? It’s just a case of a guy taking a while to figure it out.
A big part of the reason that Henry succeeded so much in 2011 was because management gave him the push. He was booked like a beast that was beating everybody while putting all of them into his “Hall of Pain,” which was WWE’s way of saying he was one a destructive force that few people could stop.
Henry got better as he got older. It’s not easy to do. These days he’s in a babyface role set to face off with the evil Russian named Rusev and it seems like the fans are rooting for Henry more than ever. It’s good to see that. He’s worked hard. He deserves all the respect.


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10 Major WWE Stars The Internet Completely Turned A Corner On 5

5. Rey Mysterio

When it comes to being an innovator, few wrestlers of the last 20 years can touch Rey Mysterio. He’s a guy that helped change American wrestling because he brought the cruiserweight style to the forefront. Before him, little guys were barely getting any attention. There were moments of greatness like when the 1-2-3 Kid was getting the occasional push in WWE, but for the most part the smaller guys were being looked down on because as we all know it’s a big man’s business.
Fans loved Mysterio when he started in WCW in 1996. For the next five years he did things nobody else could do. His matches were as good as anybody in the world and he was still such a young guy. Then he went to WWE in 2002. He was immediately loved by the fans. Maybe some hated that he was a smaller guy beating bigger wrestlers, but he always found a way to make it entertaining.
In the last few years things have changed. Injuries have slowed down Mysterio’s career so much that we don’t know if we’ll ever see him in WWE again. There are stories that he’s trying to get out of his WWE deal because he’s so unhappy.
A lot of fans don’t seem to care about what he did in his career. All they want to do is make fun of him for injuries. It’s sad, but true. Wrestling fans a lot of the time have the “what have you done for me lately” kind of attitude and for Mysterio that means they ignore what he’s done.


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10 Major WWE Stars The Internet Completely Turned A Corner On 6

6. The Miz

The relationship between online fans and The Miz has changed over the years. When he first started in WWE it was after Tough Enough. He didn’t win his season, but he did well enough that WWE kept him around. He hosted a Diva Search, which he was terrible at, and eventually he got signed as a wrestler. Even though he’s not a big guy, his personality was able to carry him a long way to the point that he started moving up the ranks.
When online fans really liked him the most was when he was teaming up with John Morrison when they did their online show called “The Dirt Sheet.” A “dirtsheet” is an old term that people in the wrestling business would use to talk about wresting newsletters like the Wrestling Observer Newsletter by Dave Meltzer. Those publications were filled with insider news that wrestlers and fans didn’t know, so it was called a dirtsheet. When Miz & Morrison did their show, they were very entertaining. Online fans watched it regularly. They laughed at how clever it was.
The Miz had established himself as a cool midcard heel that the fans were rooting for because he came off like a regular guy instead of some jacked up wrestler. When he won the Money in the Bank contract and the WWE Title in 2010 fans were happy for him. However, when he headlined WrestleMania 27 with John Cena in 2011, people started to wonder why he was in a top spot. He wasn’t seen as a top guy by fans and because of that, a lot of people that liked him all of a sudden turned on him.
When The Miz went babyface he failed miserably. People didn’t cheer. They booed him. The best wrestlers can get over in either role. The Miz did not. Now that he’s Hollywood Miz the fans that have hated him are warming up to him a bit although there are always going to be a group of fans that don’t like him and probably never will.


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10 Major WWE Stars The Internet Completely Turned A Corner On 7

7. Sunny

If you watched WWE during Sunny’s prime from 1996 to 1998 you probably remember how WWE always seemed to mention that she was the most downloaded woman on the internet. That was back when the internet was just starting out for the general public. Most people were using America Online or some other program like that. Things were still so new to all of us, but WWE was smart to push Sunny as a star and the fans responded by downloading images of her. A lot of us had posters too. She was hot. No denying that.
When Sunny’s time in WWE was over her life and career went into a tailspin. She had a brief run in WCW, then worked some indies and sadly the love of her life, Chris Candido, passed away. She’s had alcohol problems for many years along with several arrests. She’s been a trainwreck in a lot of ways, quite frankly.
Sunny managed to turn her life around in 2011 as WWE inducted her into the Hall of Fame while everybody felt nostalgic about her again, but then more craziness happened with more arrests along with stints in rehab. Now she’s not in the public eye much although if you follow her on Twitter she will talk to fans on Skype or the phone if you pay ridiculous prices for it.
Those same fans that were teenagers when she was in the prime of her career are quick to make jokes about her now. They don’t remember all the happiness she brought them back then. It’s all about the now with those fans and because of that those fans have definitely changed their opinion of one of WWE’s original divas.

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10 Major WWE Stars The Internet Completely Turned A Corner On 8

8. Vince Russo

Even though he’s a former WCW World Champion, Vince Russo is not a wrestler. He was a key figure in WWE during their most important period as well as somebody that’s also worked for WCW and TNA Wrestling.
If you polled wrestling fans about Russo the opinions would be mixed. Some people respect him for his role as Vince McMahon’s lead writer from the 1997 to 1999 we’ve come to know and love as The Attitude Era while others are quick to mention how he failed big time in WCW while also having so many hot & cold periods writing for TNA as well.
As mentioned, fans loved The Attitude Era. Russo was a key figure in that. He was the guy that got in Vince McMahon’s ear to say that what they were doing wasn’t working, so they needed to change. Russo played a key role in creating so many of the characters and storylines that helped WWE became the juggernaut that they were 15 years ago.
When fans are watching the Attitude Era on WWE Network they should remember that Russo was a huge contributor to that era. His contributions should be more celebrated than they are by a lot of his detractors.

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10 Major WWE Stars The Internet Completely Turned A Corner On 9

9. The Rock

Let’s make it clear that a lot of wrestling fans love The Rock and always will because he’s one of the biggest names in the history of wrestling. He was also a key performer during WWE’s very successful Attitude Era, so there are fans that have a lot of love for the man.
The ones that don’t like him are very vocal too. The Rock left WWE as a regular performer in 2003, returned in 2011 as a part timer for three years and after saying he was “never leaving” he ended up leaving as expected. He’s one of the biggest movie stars in the world and he doesn’t need wrestling, so he stays away. Some fans hated that he got to main event WrestleMania 28 & 29 with John Cena while a top guy like CM Punk had to have midcard matches.
If The Rock never left WWE his legacy in wrestling would be even greater. Whether he was a heel or face, there’s no denying how awesome he was. Nobody should blame him for going after his movie career considering how successful he’s been in the last decade.
Rock’s always a guy that I’ll like and respect. I don’t really get mad about him coming back as a part timer, but it’s understandable that fans are mad about it. They want WWE stars to be around regularly. When a guy comes back for a few matches, yet he gets to headline WrestleMania that’s sending the wrong message.
He’s one of the most respected guys in wrestling by a lot of people, but there are still a vocal group of fans on the internet that are quick to point out that the former main event “via satellite” just doesn’t get them excited about wrestling anymore.
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10 Major WWE Stars The Internet Completely Turned A Corner On 10

10. Chris Benoit

This one’s obvious, but it still needs to be said that Chris Benoit was one of the favorite wrestlers of internet wrestling fans. When he was in WCW he was known as one of the best in-ring technicians, but they didn’t push him to the top until the company was clearly falling apart.
When he went to WWE they used him well from the beginning. He had great feuds with a lot of big names and proved that he could be a top guy in the biggest company in the world. All those awesome matches with The Rock, Triple H, Steve Austin, Kurt Angle and others opened the eyes of management too.
Benoit’s WrestleMania 20 World Title win in 2004 set off a huge celebration among internet wrestling fans in 2004 because it was a moment we didn’t think was ever going to happen. When it did, people celebrated it like their favorite sports team winning a major championship.
His image is tarnished in a major way due to the double murder of his wife and son along with his suicide. Fans that celebrated him now try to forget he existed, which is certainly understandable.

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10 Major WWE Stars The Internet Completely Turned A Corner On

There was a time when John Cena was absolutely loved by internet fans. Not anymore.

Wrestling fans on the internet can be a critical bunch. We’re the ones that watch every segment of Raw intently, then go on Twitter, Facebook or websites like this one to gripe about it. It happens all the time. Some fans are overly critical. Maybe they don’t want to be, but they can’t help it. That’s just how things are when you follow wrestling on the internet as closely as we do.
If you’ve been an internet wrestling fan for longer than five or ten years then you know that terms like Internet Wrestling Community (IWC) weren’t around back in the early days of the internet.  The term “blog” wasn’t a regular part of our dialogue either. A lot of things have changed. Along with all those things, the opinions of online wrestling fans have changed about certain wrestlers too.
There have been a number of wrestlers that fans loved for a long time that those same fans have turned on for one reason or another. Maybe that wrestler that was once healthy became injury prone, so the fans just don’t put that wrestler on the same pedestal anymore. There are other reasons too as you’ll see.
It’s time to look at those guys (plus one woman) that had the full support of the IWC and now things have changed. We’ll look at why that person was popular and what happened to cause a change. There’s also a guy that wasn’t really liked by internet fans, but now he is. There aren’t a lot of those types, that’s for sure.
Here’s a look at ten WWE performers that internet wrestling fans changed their opinion on.

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10 WWE Questions You Most Want Answered 1

1. Is Raw Being Hurt By Total Divas?

The Bella Twins feud definitely doesn’t feel like a major storyline that WWE is booking it as. Brie main evented Raw twice with Stephanie McMahon prior to SummerSlam and her segments with newly turned heel Nikki have been featured in key top of the hour slots. They get significant promo time as well as replays as if it’s a main event feud.
Raw has definitely been suffering for a few weeks at least in part because this feud has been getting so much screen time. Due to all the screen time they get, there haven’t been great matches as often as we’re used to seeing.
Part of the problem with the storyline is they are getting too much time. When talents are overexposed and they aren’t very good at doing promos (sorry Bellas, but it’s true) then fans are bored by it. If great talkers like Paul Heyman are doing 10 minute promos we have no problem because he’s awesome at it. What WWE needs to do is put the women in tag matches or do something more physical than a shove.
Watching women in their 30s crying about stuff as if they are teenagers is causing fans to lose interest. Raw needs to be better and soon.


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10 WWE Questions You Most Want Answered 2

2. Vince Russo Going Back To WWE

What Russo wrote on his pyroandballyhoo.com website was that he wondered if WWE was doing the absolute best they could in providing an entertaining Raw show. It was an open letter that drew a good reaction because a lot of people echoed his sentiments after a lackluster Raw this past Monday. I agreed with him because I thought it was the worst Raw of the year.
It’s unlikely that he would be hired back. For one thing, he worked there in the 1990s. It’s been 15 years. There was a time in the 2000s where they thought about bringing him back, but it didn’t work out and he was back in TNA. Speaking of TNA, all of his time there as well as in WCW has tarnished his reputation in the wrestling business. He’s a talented guy with strong opinions that could be the kind of voice WWE needs in their creative team, but it seems unlikely that they would bring him back.
Russo also has made it clear he’s not clamoring for a job or anything like that either. People think just because he’s writing about WWE that he wants to work there again. That’s not necessarily true. He’s trying to connect with fans of the business, which is very cool of him.
Also it should be added that Vince Russo writes for this website. I really haven’t interacted with him much aside from a few tweets, but I’ve enjoyed his insight into the business. He’s a smart guy that was very influential during WWE’s Attitude Era and I think people should respect his opinions.

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10 WWE Questions You Most Want Answered 3

3. A Cena Heel Turn To Benefit Reigns

The “should John Cena turn heel” question has been the most common question asked by internet wrestling fans for the last decade. The reality is it’s unlikely. Cena said it himself a few weeks ago when he said “never happen” because he knows how important he is to the WWE machine.
Remember on Raw when they said that Cena was WWE’s cash cow and they were going to milk him for all he was worth? That’s true. They’re going to keep him a babyface because if he turns there’s no guarantee the fans are going to boo him because those same fans booing him now will think he’s cool as a heel. Plus, he’s proven as the top guy that sells the most merchandise by far. There’s a big risk if you turn somebody that makes you money.
A Cena heel turn is the one angle that would probably boost ratings and attendance at least in the short term. Fans would want to tune in to see the “new” John Cena. If he was a heel that feuded with the rising faces like Reigns it would be huge for Reigns, but they can still push Reigns with Cena in the face role.
Never say never in wrestling, but Cena saying that it will “never happen” is about all that needs to be said about his heel turn.

10 WWE Questions You Most Want Answered 4

4. The Ambrose Feud With Rollins

There’s not much WWE could have done about the timing of the movie. They have a film division, somebody decided that Ambrose was the right guy for the role and he wanted to do it. They wrote him out of the storylines in a major way by having Seth Rollins attack him with a cinderblock after they had one of the best matches of the year on Raw a few years ago.
Ambrose is going to be back soon. It’s been reported that he might be back for Night of Champions on September 21, so they timed it well with him missing five weeks of action. The angle they did is a good way to build sympathy for him so that when Ambrose does come back he’s going to be more popular than ever. Sympathy angles work and it will work for him too.
The Rollins/Ambrose feud is going to remain hot when Ambrose gets back. The October PPV is Hell in a Cell, so hopefully we see them in a Hell in a Cell match. From there they could also have other PPV matches. Be patient. This feud has plenty of time to be great.


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10 WWE Questions You Most Want Answered 5

5. The Future Of Enzo Amore

You are right  there when you say he’s got a unique look with lots of charisma. Those are the kinds of attributes that will allow anybody to stand out.
His promos are generally really good. He has a lot of energy when he talks and it’s obvious he has a lot of confidence too. In the ring he’s solid although there’s nothing about him that’s really going to make people notice him.
What hurts him is his size. He’s billed at 5’11” and 200 pounds. When you’re that size it’s a lot harder to make it as top level talent. He’s probably going to have a successful career because he can talk so well, but it will be difficult for him to ascend to the main event level due to his physical traits.
Enzo has a lot of talent. It’s just a situation where he might not be able to outshine some of the other young guys they have.


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10 WWE Questions You Most Want Answered 6

6. Underrated Wrestlers On WWE Roster

When I see a question like that I look at “underrated” to mean people that aren’t being used on television much at all or just not used the right. Two names come to mind: Tyson Kidd and Justin Gabriel.
It’s wrong that Kidd & Gabriel are not wrestling on Raw/Smackdown regularly. They should either team up to be a tag team like they were before or give them a shot as singles wrestlers. If you watch NXT then you know Kid has all the tools to be a great heel and could do the same thing on the main roster. Gabriel’s a high flyer that the fans love. It’s easy to utilize guys like that.
If I had to pick a diva it would be Emma. She’s got so much talent and is not being used at all. Maybe it’s punishment or the shoplifting incident she had a few months ago, which is all a big understandable. She’s good looking, she knows how to work and she’s got the kind of personality you want in a wrestler. Give her a shot.


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10 WWE Questions You Most Want Answered 7

7. Sting Instead Of Hogan In The NWO

For those that don’t know, it’s been mentioned many times over the years that originally it was Sting that was going to turn heel on WCW and become the third man in the New World Order stable with Kevin Nash and Scott Hall. Instead, Hulk Hogan decided he wanted to do it because he felt like his career needed it.
If it was Sting that turned it wouldn’t have been as good. Remember that the reason the NWO group worked with Hall & Nash “invading” WCW is because they were WWE guys that fans thought were there to “take over” WCW. If Sting turned heel it wouldn’t have been as impactful as the Hogan move because of Hogan’s history with WWE. Even though Hogan was in WCW for two years by the time he turned in 1996, he was always going to be seen as a WWE guy. When Hogan turned it made the invasion angle seem that much more legitimate. It was absolutely the right call.
This was mentioned on the Monday Night War documentary on WWE Network. They talked about the Sting possibility, but most of them said that it wouldn’t have been as good without Hogan there. It’s true. His star power and his name made it work as well as it did.

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10 WWE Questions You Most Want Answered 8

8. Getting Cesaro Back On Track

It’s just a matter of investing time into his character both on the microphone and in the ring. Let the man wrestle, ya know?
He’s one of the best wrestlers alive. Cesaro seems incapable of having bad matches. The only time fans are upset about his matches is when he only gets three minutes because we want to see him wrestling for 10 or more minutes. We know that if he gets time he’s as good as it gets in wrestling today.
They spent a few months jobbing him out for reasons we don’t really know. Then they realized that Night of Champions is an actual PPV and they need an opponent for Sheamus, so they’re putting Cesaro against him. Those two already had a match at Payback. It’s being done again because WWE knows they have great chemistry and it will be good. Don’t expect a title change.
All they have to do is give him a chance to prove himself. Put him in longer matches, let him talk and booking him to win meaningful matches would help too.


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