The Gimmick Change That Saved Biker Taker
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Once upon a time, the Undertaker was public enemy number one for the internet wrestling community. Nowadays, he is hailed as a legend and according to a great many people, he might just be the greatest of them all. His longevity and dedication are peerless but in 2001, Undertaker was seen as past his prime performer and WWE fans wanted him gone.
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By that point, Undertaker had been in WWE for over 10 years. He first started as a seemingly invulnerable zombie and that gimmick worked well for him, but then the Attitude Era came along and Calaway shifted his persona, becoming more human and less demon. After a brief break from WWE television, Undertaker rode down the ramp of Judgment Day 2000 on a motorcycle and that was the birth of the American Badass.
Undertaker Was Hated In The Early 2000s
The debut coincided with the biggest rivalry of 2000, Triple H versus the Rock and that made the return even more epic. The newly humanized Undertaker dismantled the McMahon Helmsley regime and the crowd responded with a roar of cheers but as the months went by, fans began to sour on the new character. The Undertaker sort of existed on WWE television, feuding with main-event and upper-card wrestlers until the invasion storyline. The long-running saga worsened the already sinking reception for Calaway and rumors began to swirl about the Undertaker finally hanging up his boots.
Then, on an episode of RAW, Undertaker came down to make the save for beloved commentator, Jim Ross as JR was being inducted into the infamous McMahon club. After standing up to Jim Ross, Undertaker turned heel and did the induction himself, much to the shock and disgust of the crowd. The American Badass was now Big Evil.
Jim Ross was understandably miffed about what Undertaker had just done, and he referred to him as a piece of garbage. That was pretty much the character of Big Evil, but he could back it up. Undertaker cut his hair short and established himself as a monster heel just weeks into the heel-turn. His first target was RVD, a popular babyface, and Undertaker beat him from pillar to post, winning the hardcore title at Vengeance 2001 and he rolled into Royal Rumble 2001 with a lot of momentum.
Big Evil was rightfully declared as the favorite to win the titular match but Maven pulled off the biggest upset elimination of all time. While the Undertaker was distracted, Maven landed a dropkick to the back and Undertaker was out of the match. Maven was destroyed across the arena and left bloodied and unconscious. This is where fans really started to get behind the heel-turn as the beating was vicious and uncomfortable and Undertaker did not display a shred of mercy.
Even back then, WWE had a habit of adding a cowardly layer to almost every heel wrestler, but Undertaker had no problem throwing hands and whether it was Maven, a low-card talent, or the Rock, the face of the company, Undertaker did not tolerate disrespect and folks who got on his bad side were never truly safe.
The Rock incurred the wrath of Big Evil when he joked about the shock elimination and Undertaker tracked him down, beating him up in the parking lot and landing a tombstone piledriver on the bonnet of the car. The highlight of this heel run was his storyline with Ric Flair and his family. At No Way out, Flair interfered in the match between Undertaker and the Rock and cost the former the match.
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Undertaker demanded a match against Flair at WrestleMania 18 but the legend declined. To coax Flair into the beating at WrestleMania, Undertaker began targeting members of his family and in one particularly uncomfortable segment, he beat the hell out of David Flair and demanded that Flair accept the challenge at WrestleMania. Ric Flair finally accepted when Undertaker threatened his daughter. The Streak continued at WrestleMania.
The Heel Turn Rejuvenated His Career
Soon after WrestleMania, Undertaker was pushed into the title scene and he won the undisputed belt off of Hulk Hogan at Judgment Day 2002. The sadistic monster now held the top prize in the industry but after what Undertaker put on for the masses, week in and week out, fans started appreciating the veteran. Talks of his retirement began to dwindle and Calaway got a career resurgence after years of bad reception.
Soon after his title win, Undertaker reverted back to being a babyface in one of the most underrated WWE television moments ever. His undisputed title was on the line in a ladder match and the opponent was a young Jeff Hardy. Undertaker had all the heat coming into the match-up and he put a beating on Hardy but later raised his hand as a sign of respect. Just like that, he was back to being a babyface.
The Big Evil character saved the legacy of Mark Calaway. He was back in the good graces of the fans and he went on wrestle for several more years before he called it quits in 2020.
