The Undertaker: Every Reinvention Ranked Worst To Best

This was the most dramatic of the Undertaker's reinventions. Returning to the WWF in May 2000 after an eight month absence, 'Taker kept his name but changed everything else about his character. No longer an undead zombie, he was a motorcycle-riding, denim-wearing Texan. His return in the closing moments of Judgment Day 2000 was wholly unexpected, his hair back to its natural colour, sporting a bandana and sunglasses and minus the classic Undertaker theme music.

'Taker's mystical powers had disappeared; he spoke like a regular man, letting his native Texan accent take over, and he had feuds that involved his real life wife of the time. It added layers of humanity to the ice cold Phenom of the previous decade. Although the overblown insanity of his Ministry of Darkness incarnation needed correcting, this was such an abrupt change that it resulted in the character losing some of its unparalleled mystique.

Yet to return to his physical condition of 1997, the American Badass often did not deliver in the ring. In addition, it was during this period that Undertaker easily defeated rising stars such as Kurt Angle and Rikishi, as well as decimating any member of the WCW Invasion he encountered. Such annihilations seemed more acceptable when portraying the supernatural Deadman, but as a supposedly regular American, these hammerings became frustrating.

Certainly a memorable change due to its boldness, the decreasing match quality and demolition of exciting talent put this reinvention squarely in the middle rank.