After losing a Buried Alive match to Vince McMahon (with some help from Kane) at the 2003 Survivor Series, the "American Bad Ass" disappeared from WWE television. For months, the Phenom remained silent, but he soon began to stir - and when his gong tolled at the Royal Rumble, distracting Kane and allowing Booker T to eliminate him, it became clear that a familiar version of The Undertaker was returning for revenge. Kane was set to battle his brother at WrestleMania XX, but preceding the Phenom was his old dirge-style music, a host of druids, Paul Bearer, and the golden urn. When The Undertaker emerged in Madison Square Garden, he was dressed in a mix of styles - he wore leather pants and motorcycle gloves, but his hat, black hair, and duster were a throwback to the 'Taker of the 1990s. Whatever his look, though, it was clear from Undertaker's stoic attitude that "The Deadman" had returned. Undertaker proceeded to take the fight to a stunned Kane, scoring his second WrestleMania victory over his brother with a Tombstone piledriver. The streak had risen to 12-0, but more importantly, everybody's favorite iteration of The Undertaker was back.
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
