3. Undertaker Drops The Badass Gimmick, Returns As The Dead Man
Sure, everyone loves to praise the cultish, super gothic resurgence of The Undertaker during the Attitude Era, when he organized the Ministry of Darkness and started trying to crucify people...but there was another iteration of Mark Calloway's character during that era. And he was a motorcycle-riding, American flag-waving, long-winded promo cutter that went by the nickname The American Badass. (And this was before 9/11, you guys.) That gimmick lasted for an almost unbearable three years. By the end of that time, we had to wonder if The Dead Man we'd all known and loved for so many years was officially...dead. Thankfully, our fretting was put to rest when Taker returned from a short absence in 2004 when he returned, dark as ever, to psychologically torture his brother Kane once again. The lead-up to his return was classic Phenom stuff, too: Haunting vignettes, random "power surges" during Kane's matches, the sound of his bells echoing through the arena weeks before we actually saw him step back into the ring. And when he did finally show up, vintage music and all, it was damn near as chill-inducing as it was the very first time he appeared on WWE television.