The Undertaker Reveals He Almost Became A Marine Biologist Before Wrestling

The Undertaker will forever be remembered as one of the greatest characters in WWE history, but his life could have gone in a completely different direction.

On Nightcap with Unc & Ocho, the Deadman revealed his original career plans before stepping into the squared circle — and how the Undertaker gimmick was eventually born. When asked if wrestling was always his dream, Taker admitted that he had other ambitions first.

“I wanted to be a veterinarian because I was into animals. I was into killer whales and dogs, stuff of that nature. Then football came along and that’s what happened.”

Taker explained that football became his focus growing up, and he even thought that might be his ticket out. He played basketball in college, but his career began to shift when a chance meeting at the gym opened the door to wrestling.

“No, I was a big, big fan as a kid of wrestling. But again, like I thought I was going to play football. That was always… I thought that was my dream. That was my way out. I ended up playing basketball. And then wrestling kind of came back around. You know, I was training at this gym — I think it was between my junior and senior year of college — and this guy’s working out and he’s like, ‘Hey man, you ought to go through this wrestling school with me.’ And I’m like, ‘Man, I think I’m going to try and play some pro ball overseas.’”

He admitted the persistence of that gym acquaintance, along with his own practical thinking, led him to consider wrestling as a real option.

“Every day I’d come in, he’d hit me up. And then I kind of started catching up with the product again. And it was a lot different even then than what it was when I was a kid, right? And I’ve always been pretty practical. I know what my abilities are and what my abilities aren’t. And then I start thinking about it like, do I want to be the 12th man on a bench in Lithuania at 21 or 22 years old, right? And then I kinda thought, well, damn, there’s not a lot of big athletic guys in wrestling at the time. That’s kind of how it started. And once I started training, then it was like, okay, yeah, this is it. This is what I want to do.”

From almost becoming a marine biologist or pursuing pro basketball overseas, The Undertaker instead chose wrestling — a decision that would change the industry forever and create one of its most iconic characters.