The Undertaker On American Badass Gimmick: “I Thought It Had More Legs”

During the latter stages of the Attitude Era and into the Ruthless Agression Era, The Undertaker famously switched his character to the “American Badass,” a biker persona that was a stark departure from his “Deadman” gimmick.

In an exclusive interview with Andrew Ravens of WrestleStar, he reflected on that period and admitted he felt the character could have lasted longer.

“Yeah, no, I thought it had more legs,” The Undertaker said. “I think really, we just kind of began to scratch the surface of what the range of that character would have been.”

He also shed light on the creative dynamic with Vince McMahon at the time, noting that while the former WWE Chairman supported the change, he was always keen on bringing back the original Undertaker.

“It was just, you know, just sometimes you can only fight the man so long and, you know, he loved—Vince, I’m talking about Vince—he loved his Undertaker,” he explained. “He was on board when I came up with the American Badass… he understood my reasoning and my logic behind doing it. But he was also like, always waiting on the day of the return. You know, the hat, the coat….But yeah, I thought it had more legs. But yeah, everything worked out all right.”