Watch: The Undertaker Defends Switching to the American Badass Persona

The Undertaker's character shift from the supernatural "Deadman" persona to the more grounded "American Badass" gimmick (or Biker Taker as many fans call it) is one of the more debated topics in the wrestling fan community. Some fans loved when Taker switched things up from 2000-03, while others can stand the gimmick and applauded when Undertaker went back to being the mysterious demonic force starting in 2004. But after years of conversation and debate between fans, wrestlers and backstage personalities who were there during Taker's transformation, the man himself is finally speaking out about it. In a rare non-kayfabe interview with Steve Austin that's set to drop on the WWE Network on Sunay night after Survivor Series, "The Phenom" defended the biker character, saying that it was necessary for him to survive the back half of the Attitude Era.

"I think that's my best attribute, is being able to figure out [what needed to be updated or changed.] I always felt like if I started feeling stale, my audience is probably feeling it before me. Because you get wrapped up in what you're doing. The small changes, the breaks at the right time. But I don't think I would've made it through if I hadn't changed when I did to go the the 'American Badass.' The character wouldn't have lasted through the Attitude Era."

Undertaker's most recent match took place this summer at the Extreme Rules pay-per-view, in which he teamed with Roman Reigns to squash Shane McMahon and Drew McIntyre in a tag match.

Check out the full card for Survivor Series below.

• WWE Championship: Brock Lesnar vs. Rey Mysterio (No Holds Barred)
• WWE Universal Championship: Bray Wyatt vs. Daniel Bryan
• NXT Championship: Adam Cole vs. Pete Dunne
• Men's Survivor Series elimination match: Team Raw (Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens, Drew McIntyre, Randy Orton, Ricochet) vs. Team SmackDown (Roman Reigns, Braun Strowman, King Corbin, Mustafa Ali, Shorty G) vs. Team NXT (TBA)
• Women's Survivor Series elimination match: Team Raw (Charlotte Flair, Natalya, Asuka, Kairi Sane, Sarah Logan) vs. Team NXT (Rhea Ripley, Candice LeRae, Bianca Belair, Io Shirai, Toni Storm) vs. Team SmackDown (Sasha Banks, Carmella, Dana Brooke, Lacey Evans and Nikki Cross)
• Raw Women's Champion Becky Lynch vs. SmackDown Women's Champion Bayley vs. NXT Women's Champion Shayna Baszler
• United States Champion AJ Styles vs. Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura vs. NXT North American Champion Roderick Strong
• Raw Tag Team Champions The Viking Raiders vs. SmackDown Tag Team Champions The New Day vs. NXT Tag Team Champions Kyle O'Reilly & Bobby Fish