Gimmick Some Lovin': WrestleMania X8 No Disqualification Match

A Case for Big Evil

I'd imagine the only thing more painful than a throat tattoo is a throat tattoo that you have to cover up with another throat tattoo.

The last time we discussed Undertaker in this article series, he was wearing purple corpse-handling gloves and showing off supernatural abilities like summoning lightning and teleporting inside of a grave; that version would go through several tweaks (some major, some minor) over the course of three years to end up as a totally-not-Satanic co-leader of the Corporate Ministry before injuries put him on the shelf for eight months.

Nope, nothing religious or symbolic here.

His return in May of 2000 brought with it the first significant overhaul of the character since his debut a decade prior; while small changes had accumulated over three years before the injury, after the injury Taker had replaced the supernatural powers and "is he a zombie?" mythology with motorcycles, chewing tobacco, bandannas, and ill-advised fashion choices.

And, of course, more Kid Rock and Limp Bizkit music than should be allowable by international law.

By early 2002, though, the character began taking on a much harder edge, along with an in-ring style heavily influenced by mixed martial arts, which was beginning its mainstream ascension in popular culture. Taker cut his hair short, adopted a wide variety of chokes, began openly trash-talking his opponents during matches, and developed a habit of breaking his own pin attempts to continue abusing his foes.

"Big Evil" was born, and invigorated the American Badass character as a no-nonsense heel set on owning and defending the ring as "his yard". The feud surrounding today's match catapulted Taker back into the main event scene, giving him an all-too-brief run with the WWE Undisputed Championship and adding a murderous rage to his personality which gave his matches an intensity they had lacked for a long time.