The Undertaker was apparently very much against returning to his Dead Man character 15 years ago.

The WWE legend, named Mark Calaway, birthed The Undertaker in the 90s but dropped the act to become the American Bad Ass in 2000.

According to Bruce Prichard, the 53-year-old was really enjoying his role as the bandana-sporting biker and was not happy when he was asked to bring the Dead Man back in 2004 for his WrestleMania match with Kane.

Prichard claims that Calaway felt that the American Bad Ass gimmick was more satisfying as it allowed him to work a different style in the ring and was a multi-dimensional character.

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“Mark Calaway hated the idea [of going back to the Undertaker],” he revealed on his Something To Wrestle With podcast. “Absolutely hated the idea of coming back as the Dead Man because he thought with the American Badass character, it was multi-dimensional and he wasn’t, uh, doing the head snaps and everything. He could work and go out and have a different style of match. And he felt that if he came back as the Dead Man, that he would have to go back into the Dead Man persona in the ring.”

It took some doing to get The Undertaker back and the WWE had to come to a compromise, telling the wrestler that he would be allowed to be just as diverse in the ring after giving fans the Dead Man at WrestleMania. Yet he felt like fans didn't want Taker back and his reverting to the character would actually be a step back.

Of course, he was wrong about that. While there were certainly many fans who loved the American Bad Ass, there's no denying that The Undertaker is by far the most welcome of his gimmicks.

via ign.com

What This Means

Calaway was probably right in feeling that the biker character made for a better spectacle as there was really no parameters on what he could do in the ring.

The Undertaker is admittedly a bit more predictable but he's nothing short of an icon who will go down as one of the best characters in the history of sports entertainment. It's great that Calaway was convinced to bring it back.

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