10 Wrestlers Who Lost Touch With Humanity

5. The Undertaker

Edge WWE
WWE Network

To the 'Lord Of Darkness' first, and a 1999 full of The Undertaker repeatedly trying and failing to fit into a wrestling world that was decidedly passing him by.

As the genuine magic of the original Kane feud/partnership wound down in 1998, so too did Undertaker's sense of purpose. He'd fought and lost against Stone Cold Steve Austin but turned heel in the process, limiting his options beyond a major character change. Said shift came in the form of the Ministry Of Darkness, but there was a weird and icky feeling around that from the off - he was no longer the conscience and cornerstone of the company but a cult leader who enjoyed controlling mostly average wrestlers.

After that got lost in the molasses of the Corporate Ministry and a short exchange of the WWE Championship with Steve Austin at very least drew monster numbers, he tried to simplify all the silliness and lame lore by forming a big hard b*stards team with The Big Show.

But he just couldn't help himself.

An infamously terrible promo about killing snakes in the desert and wearing each other's skin as coats defined their entire run, and indeed Undertaker's last pre-Biker days. He rambled so long and incoherently that Chris Jericho's negging interruption scanned more as a damaging and devastating shoot.

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Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett