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Throughout the month of November, The Undertaker is featured extensively on WWE Network programming as this month marks the 30th anniversary of The Deadman debuting with the company. He’s set for an appearance on Survivor Series, the very event he made his debut 30 years ago, which is billed as his “last goodbye.” Sadly, one of the key figures in his career, William Moody, better known as Paul Bearer, will not be attending as he tragically passed away in 2013.
A real-life mortician, Paul Bearer played a key role in The Undertaker’s career and also led many other renowned wrestlers throughout his career.
Here is a look back at the life, career and tragic death of Paul Bearer.
The beginning of William Moody’s career
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At the start of his career, William Moody was not known as Paul Bearer. Using various names, he wrestled in independent promotions in the 1970s while off duty in the United States Air Force, where he served four years. In 1979 he began his career as a manager under the name Percy Pringle, a milder and louder version of Paul Bearer but just as scary.
While he took time away from professional wrestling in the early 1980s to earn his degree in mortuary science, also becoming certified as an embalmer and mortician, Moody returned to the business full time in 1984. Still using named Percy Pringle, he spent time in Championship Wrestling in Florida and World Class Championship Wrestling in Texas, where he handled characters like Lex Luger, Koko B. Ware, Ravishing Rick Rude, Stunning Steve Austin and none other than Mark Calaway, who obviously became The Undertakers.
He made his debut as Paul Bearer in WWE in 1991
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Three months after The Undertaker made his WWE screen debut in November 1990 at Survivor Series, William Moody made his debut as Paul Bearer the following February. He had been recommended to Vince McMahon by Rick Rude and received his name by Road Warrior Hawk, clearly a play on “Coffin Carrier”. Given that Moody was a real-life undertaker and the fact that he had worked with The Undertaker in the past, this was a match made in Heaven … or Hell as WWE would probably say.
In the early years of his WWE career, The Undertaker certainly didn’t cut the top promos, so having Paul Bearer by his side as his spokesperson was a big help. Bearer’s WWE TV segment, “The Funeral Parlor,” took off immediately and provided some of the best moments of the early to mid-1990s.
Paul Bearer turned The Undertaker on in 1996 in The Deadman’s incredible feud with Mick Foley and surprised him with a half-brother, Kane, the following year, which led to a long roster. Bearer retired for a short time in 2000, but returned to wrestling in 2002 and worked as Percy Pringle in TNA until 2003.
Paul Bearer returned to WWE in 2004 to manage The Undertaker in his WrestleMania 20 match with Kane and has continued to make sporadic appearances on television over the years while also working as a backstage agent. He was in and out of WWE during the latter part of the 2000s and didn’t make a WWE TV appearance for six years. He returned in 2010 as part of another Kane vs Undertaker storyline and managed The Big Red Machine from time to time until 2012.
Paul Bearer died of a heart attack in 2013
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Throughout his career, Paul Bearer has faced a number of health issues, including obesity. He underwent gastric bypass surgery in November 2003, which WWE paid for, and lost over 200 pounds.
But after his last run in WWE, he started to have difficulty breathing and developed a bad cough. Following an independent event on March 2, 2013, he told friends he would seek treatment for respiratory problems and was treated for a blood clot. Tragically, three days later, on March 5, 2013, Paul Bearer died of a heart attack at the age of 58.
At the time, The Undertaker was involved in a storyline with CM Punk heading to WrestleMania 29. WWE inserted Paul Bearer into the program by asking Punk to make fun of Bearer’s death, which many found disrespectful. . However, as TMZ reported at the time, the creation of WWE went to the Moody family and requested permission to use Paul Bearer in the script, which was granted. The Undertaker defeated CM Punk at WrestleMania and dedicated the victory to his manager and longtime friend.
Paul Bearer was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2014.
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