The Undertaker’s transformation from the supernatural “Deadman” persona to the motorcycle-riding biker “American Badass” character in May 2000 is one of the most drastic character shifts in the company’s history.
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The merits over the change, which were reversed four years later in a storyline with Kane at WrestleMania XX, are still debated to this day by WWE fans. But in a recent episode of his Something Else to Wrestle with Bruce Prichard WWE Network program, Bruce Prichard revealed the debate around the character extended to backstage.
According to Prichard, the change was an idea Undertaker came up with, looking to channel his real-life persona after going incredibly over the top with the dark and demonic “Ministry of Darkness” Undertaker.
“He wanted to be the biker, he wanted to be the guy that he is in everyday life,” Prichard said. “Of course, with the volume turned up quite a bit. So there really wasn’t a whole lot of ‘what if we did this? What if we did that?’ It was, if we’re gonna change that was something he was immediately comfortable with.”
Prichard said Vince McMahon was supportive of the idea, but reportedly always intended for the original incarnation to return at some point down the road. “The Phenom” disagreed.
“Now in the back of Vince McMahon’s mind, and the back of my mind, it was ‘we’re always going to go back to the original Deadman,” Prichard said. “We are always going to go back to the original Undertaker.’”
“In Taker’s mind it was ‘if we make this change, we can never go back,’” he continued. “He felt that going to the American Badass that’s a new direction, and you can move forward, but you can never go back. We agreed to disagree at that point because we needed to make the American Badass character work. At this point in time it was, ‘let’s make this character the most that we can make it.’”
Entering to the tune of “Rollin” by Limp Bizkit, the new persona of Undertaker had all but eliminated the supernatural aspects of his character. He even went so far as to replace his iconic Tombstone finisher with a lifting powerbomb called The Last Ride.
While not loved by all, the change did keep Undertaker in the world championship picture for the next few years, feuding with the likes of The Rock, Triple H, Kurt Angle, Diamond Dallas Page and Ric Flair.
After his switch back, “The Phenom” remained a staple of the SmackDown from 2004-11, winning multiple world championships and extending his impressive WrestleMania undefeated streak.
