Jim Ross Recalls The Undertaker Taking a Selfless Yet Risky Career Decision in WWE: “He Blessed It or He Wouldn’t Have Done It”

The Undertaker has been a baby face throughout his career, as rooting against him was impossible. However, there was a period in WWE when Taker played the bad guy, and he killed it in that role.

He was known as the ‘Big Evil’ and cut his long hair off in the gimmick. Taker was in that gimmick from 2001 to 2003, which tells us that he was a huge success.

The Big Evil forced Jim Ross to do unspeakable acts, attack his opponent’s children, and beat his enemies up. He was a true bad**s in this era and showed versatility. Undertaker also became the WWF Hardcore champion during this time.

In a new episode of ‘Grilling JR,’ Jim talked about the heel turn and its idea of turning into a bad guy. He said, “Well, I don’t know that it was Mark’s [Undertaker] idea to turn villain, go heel, but he blessed it, or he wouldn’t have done it. He’s a company guy, a team player.”

Ross said it was time to change Taker’s character, to go from The Deadman to the American bad**s. Undertaker wanted to try the character as well.

Indeed, it was a significant decision to change Taker’s character, as it was a chance to show versatility. It also shut his critics, who thought The Undertaker could only thrive in The Deadman gimmick.

Does Jim Ross think it was a mistake to turn The Undertaker into a heel?

In Ross’ podcast, a fan asked him if he thought it was a mistake to turn Taker into a heel. Jim immediately said no and said, “It was a fresh coat of paint on an engine that could still run.”

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Plus, it made Taker happy to try something else finally creatively. So it was a win-win situation for the backstage team and Undertaker. Ross added, “So no, I don’t think it was a mistake. He was loved and respected, but it was not a bad idea at all.”

It freshened the former WWE champion up and gave him a new dialogue regarding his character. It was Jim Ross that Undertaker performed his first act as a heel on.

The fans would have wanted a change sometime later if The Undertaker had stayed in his Deadman gimmick for too long. So it’s wise on WWE’s part to experiment with Undertaker and then stick him with a character that suits him.

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After that, Taker did not have a heel run but showed shades of being a bad guy in 2015. It was the time of his match with Lesnar at SummerSlam in 2015 and hit him with low-blows.

While his actions screamed ‘heel,’ the fans thought differently and still cheered him on.