The Undertaker’s Net Worth: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know

The Undertaker, a.k.a. Mark Calaway, is one of the greatest WWE wrestlers of all time, having entertained millions upon millions of fans throughout his lengthy career. As you can imagine, he has amassed a substantial fortune during that time.

Calaway is 51-years-old, and he began working as a professional wrestler back in 1984. He continues to perform in the ring over three decades later, most recently impressing audiences with a Hell in a Cell match at WrestleMania 32 back in April. Tonight on SmackDown Live, Calaway makes his return.

Here’s what you need to know about The Undertaker and his net worth.

1. His Net Worth Is $17 Million

According to Celebrity Net Worth, Mark Calaway has amassed a net worth of $17 million in his 32 years of wrestling.

This number is quite significant, although it’s slightly lower than some comparable wrestling legends. Hulk Hogan, for instance, is reportedly worth $25 million. Triple H is also believed to be worth $25 million, The Richest reports. However, Calaway’s net worth is higher than that of Bill Goldberg, whose net worth is $14 million.

Beating all of these superstars is “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, whose net worth is $45 million. And then there’s Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, whose net worth is an astounding $125 million, although he has made a significant amount of that through his Hollywood career rather than through wrestling.

2. He Makes $2.25 Million Per Year

Although Mark Calaway only appears on WWE programming a few times a year, he earns a higher salary than most of the superstars who perform just about every single day.

According to Total Sportek, Calaway has a five-year, part time contract with the WWE, and he makes $2.25 million per year. For comparison, if that figure is true, it would mean he’s making more than Randy Orton ($1.6 million), Chris Jericho ($974,000), The Miz ($712,000), Daniel Bryan ($700,000), and Roman Reigns ($245,000).

The only superstars who make more per year with the WWE than The Undertaker are John Cena ($2.75 Million) and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson ($3.5 Million).

The Undertaker appeared on WWE programming earlier this year in the leadup to WrestleMania 32, and he went on to fight Shane McMahon in a Hell in a Cell match at that pay-per-view. He has not been seen since, but he will make his return on SmackDown Live‘s 900th episode on November 15th.

3. He Has Participated in 163 Pay-Per-View Matches

Part of the reason The Undertaker has been able to earn such an impressive fortune is due to his participation in the main events of so many WWE pay-per-views, the huge special events which wrestlers often receive bonuses for.

According to the WWE, the Undertaker has taken on opponents in 163 pay-per-view matches. Of those, he has won 94 of them.

Plus, he has been on the poster of 62 pay-per-view events. The most recent pay-per-view that he was on the poster for was Survivor Series 2015. Although he had a key match in WrestleMania 32, The Undertaker was not on that poster; instead, the poster was of Triple H and Roman Reigns.

4. He Has Acted in ‘Suburban Commando’ & ‘Poltergeist: The Legacy’

Like so many WWE superstars, Mark Calaway has dabbled in acting over the years, although he didn’t quite find his calling in it in the same way that Dwayne Johnson did.

Calaway made his feature film debut in the 1991 action-comedy Suburban Commando, which starred Hulk Hogan in the lead role. The Undertaker has a relatively minor part, but he does get to battle it out with Hulk Hogan in one scene.

The Undertaker did not take on any additional acting roles until 1999, when he appeared in an episode of the TV series Poltergeist: The Legacy. Once again, this was a pretty small role. That same year, he had a guest appearance in an episode of Celebrity Deathmatch.

That was the last time Mark Calaway would act outside of the WWE until 2015, when he did some voice acting work for the animated film The Flintstones & WWE: Stone Age SmackDown. Calaway also provided the voice of The Undertaker for 2016’s Scooby-Doo! And WWE: Curse of the Speed Demon, which also featured Triple H, The Miz, Paige, Lana, Vince McMahon, and more WWE superstars. The Undertaker was the only one to make it onto the DVD cover of that film.

5. He Established a Fund to Help Save Sick Dogs

The Undertaker has put his wealth and celebrity status to good use, as he and his ex-wife Sara Frank established the Zeus Compton Calaway Save the Animals fund at the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences. The fund’s goal is to help dog-owners who can’t afford to treat their sick pet.

“No pet owner should have to put their beloved animal to sleep because they are unable to pay medical bills,” the organization says on its website. “The Zeus Compton Calaway Save the Animals Fund was established to help pet owners bridge the gap between their ability to pay for lifesaving medical treatment and the costs of the procedure.”

The fund is named after Zeus, Mark and Sara’s dog who they adopted in 1999. Unfortunately, Zeus developed a rare disease and, after being examined at Texas A&M University, he died in February of 2004.

“Zeus was not just a dog,” Sara Frank says on the Save the Animals fund website. “He was my best friend and a beloved member of our family. Mark and I decided we wanted to do something special and personal to help other large breeds such as Zeus.”

WWE: Between the Dirt Sheets: Lesnar’s rumored WrestleMania opponent

Survivor Series is only a week away. This is great news because the entire WWE has gone stagnant in an attempt to build for a Network Special that’s a cross-brand event. Meaning, basically, nearly everything we see on Nov. 20 has no impact on angles and stories moving forward.

That’s not the entire case. I don’t want to wet-blanked the entire show. There are two title matches that could result in championships — as well as an entire division — switching brands. Everything else, however, is a one-off.

Hopefully, and hope is all we ever have as pro wrestling fans, things begin to pick back up after Survivor Series takes place.

Let’s take a gander at this week’s gossip, rumors and iffy reports.

BROCK LESNAR’S WRESTLEMANIA OPPONENT IS SHANE MCMAHON

Dave Meltzer is reporting that the tentative plans are to have Brock face Shane at Wrestlemania.

This rumor isn’t all that shocking. There’s still a need to have a form of closure to what happened when the Beast Incarnate walloped McMahon during the entire Randy Orton-Lesnar feud.

Even way back then, reports surfaced that there would eventually be a McMahon vs. Brock battle at some point. Now, however, it appears as though these new reports are putting an exact date to when it will all take place.

With boy guys being on the Survivor Series card, it wouldn’t be shocking to see either (or both for that matter) cost the other their match at the Network Special, helping to reignite this feud a bit.

What will be interesting to follow is if this angle begins in earnest at Survivor Series, to witness how the WWE tries to keep it going for several months while maintaining the WWE Universe’s interest. Given that Lesnar does sparse TV spots, it does naturally help buy the company time, but it probably prevents Lesnar from having another match until Mania itself.

Then again, this feud might not be kick started at Survivor Series at all, and could be something that doesn’t begin to reform until the Royal Rumble.

Odds of this report being true: 5 out of 5

The report uses the word “tentative.” Because of that, this is a 5 out of 5 situation.

TITLE WWE SWITCH HAPPENING AT SURVIVOR SERIES

This rumor mostly comes from the mean streets of Twitter. While some outlets are publishing aspects on it, no one is actually reporting anything about it, which makes this entire thing baseless speculation at this point.

Still, BTDS’ point is to discuss the reports and the rumors floating about the Internet Wrestling Community.

According to a growing popular theory, the WWE is going to have both the IC and Cruiserweight titles switch hands at Survivor Series.

The Cruiserweight division has struggled a bit since debuting on Monday Night Raw. While going to a program that has an entire hour less of programming available to help it grow seems counterproductive, maybe the idea is getting a fresh start.

That said, having ZERO mid-card titles on SmackDown, by giving the IC strap to Raw, makes almost no sense to me. Then again, when does the WWE do things that make sense?

Odds of this rumor being true: 1.245 out of 5

While this is a very, very real possibility, no one is reporting any of this. This rumor basically popped up out of midair. Also, at least from my point of view, it makes no sense to give Raw SmackDown’s only mid-card strap, even if they are getting an entire division in return.

WWE CUTTING BACK ON PPV EVENTS IN 2017

According to The Wrestling Observer Newsletter, there will be fewer pay-per-view events (Network Specials) than originally planned for the 2017 programming schedule.

This is reportedly due to a decline in WWE Network subscription numbers. In a way, it would be like downsizing, but instead of employees, it would be events that cost money to run — ones that aren’t, presumably, making enough money to justify their being. WWE officials are looking at making another change when it comes to the pay-per-view schedule next year.

For some context to see how many Network Specials the company was running: After Roadblock (Dec. 18), WWE will have ran 15 pay-per-view events in 2016, plus five Network-exclusive events. It is here where it is worth noting that the brand-split — making two network specials a month become a thing — hasn’t been around the full year. So, in theory, if the company was to continue with that model, it would have been looking at over 24 Network Specials in 2017.

Odds of this report being true: 5 out of 5

While I believe the WWE acknowledges it is running too many Network Specials, this can all change of the subscription numbers go back. But, at least for the time being, it makes logistical and financial sense the company is thinking of doing this. All still fluid, it’s certainly possible.