The Undertaker's dark horror-themed gimmick is perhaps the most iconic, admired and beloved in the history of professional wrestling.

29 years ago, a man named Mark Calaway joined the WWE (following a brief stint with WCW), where he debuted his "Undertaker" character. Few could have known at the time, but it would mark the beginning of perhaps the greatest and most illustrious career for a WWE superstar.

Undertaker has reinvented himself several times throughout his three decades in WWE. He started out as a "Western Mortician," before eventually moving towards that include "The Deadman," as well as "Lord of Darkness" and "The Phenom."

Many of the greatest wrestlers in the industry had to be creative in developing their characters, and oftentimes, the superstars drew inspiration from another well-known figure (real or fictional).

So, who inspired The Undertaker to come up with the legendary character? While speaking to Steve Austin on The Broken Skull Sessions (h/t Ringside News), The Deadman revealed that he built the gimmick around two of the more well-known horror movie figures in cinema history -- Jason Voorhees and Michael Myers:

"As I thought more about the character and what I could do athletically my presentation became, ‘I wanna lull people in I wanna stalk somebody when I get ’em hurt. I want people to feel like the Boogeyman is gonna come down the hallway and grab ya, right?’ That’s what I was trying and honestly, I don’t know why, but it clicked.

Michael Myers and Jason Voorhees and Friday The 13th I wanted to be like those guys were like those guys never moved fast at all, but they always seemed to be at the right place when it was time to cut somebody’s throat."

Related: Undertaker Tells Extremely Scary Untold Story About WrestleMania 30 Match

Well, it's safe to say that Undertaker more than succeeded in mimicking the characteristics of both Voorhees and Myers. Much of his wrestling persona has been based around popping up out of nowhere, catching his enemies by surprise before terrorizing them - just like what you see in the horror movies.

Here are are three decades after his WWE debut, and Undertaker still remains one of the biggest money draws in the world. Even at 55 years of age, he's still going strong - and there aren't any indications that Undertaker is about to hang up the wrestling boots.

Undertaker Changed WWE History Forever

Without The Undertaker, it's impossible to imagine where WWE would be today. He helped the company transition towards the Attitude Era - which played a major role in taking down WCW in the Monday Night Wars. Vince McMahon has called Undertaker his favorite wrestler, and rightfully so. The Phenom has been his most loyal soldier, and together, these two helped take the WWE towards new heights - even when WCW was on the cusp of putting them out of business.

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