5 Times The Undertaker broke character leaving the fans shocked

#3 Jeff Hardy’s rub

This episode happened when Jeff Hardy was making his way up the ladder as a singles competitor in the WWE. How poetic, then, that it transpired after a Ladder match for the WWE Title against.

Taker was a full-blown heel in 2002 when this match swung about... he couldn’t really be anything else against an underdog Superstar that the fans were rooting for in Jeff Hardy, could he?

In typical and ominous Deadman fashion though, he had promised death and destruction for the younger Hardy brother in the lead up to the encounter.

In what would then turn out as one of the more iconic Ladder matches in the company’s history, Undertaker defended the WWE Title, retrieving it from above the Ladder and then turned his attention to his opponent.

Many people thought he was going to deliver the beatdown he had promised, but to everyone’s surprise, Undertaker raised the defeated Hardy’s hand in a mark of respect.

Not at all something you would expect from heel Undertaker...but it was applauded on as it played beautifully with the moment. The fans were wholeheartedly behind the underdog who had lost despite his very best efforts, and the Deadman came across as classy and completely un-Undertaker like.