WWE: It’s Time For The Undertaker To Be The ‘American Badass’ Again
By Josh Raibick
As WWE WrestleMania 33 drew to a close it appeared that the WWE Universe said their farewell to The Undertaker. In a way, maybe they did. This year at WrestleMania with a talented John Cena on the other side of the ring, The Undertaker might be forced to be the “American Badass” again.
The Undertaker’s reason for bringing back the late Attitude Era, early Ruthless Aggression era gimmick is solely because of his opponent, John Cena. A few weeks ago on WWE Raw, John Cena teased the idea of a WrestleMania dream match with The Undertaker.
Instead Cena elected to pursue the WWE Championship which is held by AJ Styles. Following a failed attempt to capture the championship at WWE Fastlane 2018, Cena ended up back on Raw, except this time he wasn’t teasing a match with The Deadman, he was demanding it.
Cena went as far as proving that The Undertaker was the one responsible for this match not happening because if the higher ups were so against the idea then Cena’s microphone would be shut off and he would be escorted from the arena. The Leader of the Cenation did not stop there, as he would call foul on any “lame excuses” The Undertaker could have that includes: being too old, being washed up, or being broken down.
Then Cena went for the kill when he referenced Undertaker’s workout videos posted through his wife Michelle McCool’s Instagram account. Immediately it was difficult to refrain from hyperbolic thoughts of Undertaker posing for selfies with him throwing up the deuces and giving a duck face.
Cena’s promo this past week on Raw was designed for him to get under The Undertaker’s skin. The theme of the promo was that The Undertaker has an ego and that his pride is hurting.
Simply put, no superstar has ever spoken about The Undertaker with such disrespect. That is why if shots are going to be fired in the build up to WrestleMania, The Undertaker needs to ride his motorcycle down to the ring once more.
The Undertaker does not have another option. The Deadman character is a mythological, cartoonish character that has worked because Mark Calaway is that good.
Over the past few years it is clear the toll that has been taken on the body of The Undertaker, and because of that it is no longer believable (even in the world of professional wrestling) that he is still an immortal force. Cena is shooting on Undertaker’s confidence, his personality, and his unwillingness to wrestle.
Everything that this story is being built around is in fact the mortality of The Undertaker. Bringing back the biker gimmick would give The Undertaker more freedom with his promos instead of sending cryptic messages that eventually end in “Rest in Peace”.
Fans sometimes forget how good The Undertaker was on the microphone when he feuded with superstars like Kurt Angle and Brock Lesnar. Cena might be the greatest at cutting a promo in WWE history, and therefore The Undertaker has to have the capability (that The Deadman gimmick does not have) of matching Cena stride for stride.
In over a quarter of a century the WWE Universe has not had the chance to learn about The Undertaker as much as other superstars because of the media restrictions to The Deadman character. The only point in The Undertaker’s career that fans felt they learned about him as a person was during the biker gimmick.
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So if this is the end, let’s see more than a cartoonish gimmick that was brilliantly performed by a talented superstar. Let’s watch the American Badass, the guy that was the general of the locker room during the greatest era in professional wrestling history.