The Undertaker’s reintroduction as the American Badass in 2000 came after a very stressful pitch to Vince McMahon, the Hall of Famer has revealed.
After stepping away from programming in September 1999, The Undertaker returned with a more realistic character at the Judgment Day pay-per-view event in May 2000.
On a recent edition of his “Six Feet Under” podcast, The Undertaker recalled being worried that the then-Chairman would turn down the idea. He said,
“That was probably what I was most nervous about. Not the night that I’d debut it but actually telling Vince ‘What do you think about this?’ … I was totally expecting him to go ‘There’s no damn way, you’ll be fine, screw all those guys talking and cutting those great promos.’
“I have a meeting with him and it’s like ‘Boss this is what I’m thinking.’ And I explained my reasoning for it and it was like ‘God damn that’s good, that’s great.’ I’m thinking it’s a rib, like here comes the punchline, he’s about to pull the rug right out from underneath me.”
The American Badass ended at Survivor Series 2003 when The Undertaker was buried alive and he returned at WrestleMania XX as the Deadman.
The Undertaker has since appeared using his American Badass persona since retiring from wrestling at Survivor Series 2020.
