Today In Wrestling HIstory: The Debut Of The Undertaker

26 years ago today, former WCW wrestler "Mean" Mark Callous stepped over the WWE(F) ropes as The Undertaker for the first time at the 1990 Survivor Series. Roughly 16,000 people were in attendance and a then-record 380,000 people were watching from home on pay-per-view.

This would be the first time a televised audience would get a look at the lord of darkness. The deadman's actual WWE debut took place the night before on a taping of Wrestling Challenge where he was listed as Cain the Undertaker. Surely, no one is more thankful that Vince decided to drop the "Cain" portion of Taker's moniker than Glen Jacobs, who might still be stuck mangling people's mouths as the evil dentist, Isaac Yankem, DDS.

The Phenom was introduced as the mystery partner on Ted Dibiase's Million $ Team. The mostly kayfabe 1990 crowd was legitimately terrified by the sight of this man. With dead eyes, pale skin and purple gloves, the Undertaker was instantly a fully fleshed out character by the time he stepped through the ropes.

After only 1:39 in the match, the WWE universe would be treated to their first ever Tombstone piledrive, as Taker eliminated KoKo B. Ware with his signature move and haunting pinning style.

Only one year later, The Undertaker would defeat Hulk Hogan to capture his first WWE championship at the 1991 Survivor Series.

While the gimmick of an undead mortician was perfect for the cartoonish-era of the early 90s, had the character been left in literally any other wrestler's hands, we would likely only remember The Undertaker as a relic of wrestling's past. Thankfully, that was not the case and 26 years later we still eagerly await the gong of arguably, the most beloved character in wrestling history.

Fun fact 1: The 1990 Survivor Series was also the debut of one of wrestling's most laughable characters, the Gobbledy Gooker. Still can't believe that a giant wrestling turkey didn't go over.

Fun fact 2: 6 yeas later, The Million $ Man would also become resonsible for the WWE debut of Steve Austin when, on an episode of RAW, Dibiase introduced The Ringmaster as his new Million $ Champion. Ted may have kicked a few basketballs out of the hands of children, but lets be thankful he gave us two of the Attitude Era's biggest stars.

You can relive the greatest debut in Survivor Series history right here on the WWE Network.