By 2000, The Undertaker was already one of the most respected superstars in WWE history - and for a number of reasons. Not only had he spent a decade as a constant presence in WWE, but he famously took one of the more outlandish characters Vince McMahon had ever created and played it to the hilt, becoming a beloved superstar in the process. Both The Undertaker character and Mark Calaway were WWE royalty. Perhaps the respect McMahon had for Calaway convinced him to let The Undertaker change his character to one that more closely resembled his real personality. "The Undertaker" name stuck, but his music, ring gear, and attitude all changed. Most notably, he started riding a motorcycle down to the ring. Undertaker was still hugely popular, but many thought that the change shattered his mystique - after all, the "Deadman" character had reached legendary proportions. He kept the biker persona until 2004, then reverted to his classic gimmick at WrestleMania XX. Since then, The Undertaker character has become sacrosanct, and the biker makeover is rarely mentioned.
Scott Fried is a Slammy Award-winning* writer living and working in New York City. He has been following/writing about professional wrestling for many years and is a graduate of Lance Storm's Storm Wrestling Academy. Follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/scottfried.
*Best Crowd of the Year, 2013
