Mity1

I agree. This was my frst sighting of the new Taker and you could see the different elements of his characters all in one. Let's just hope they can make it work and no just fizzle like sooooo many other character retooling has in the past.

Cyrus

It was even worse on Smackdown. A biker headband........ He is 90% American Badass Taker. Don't know why people don't see that.

Good Ol' JP

Im really not into it. The dude puts a coat on and a hat and thats a new image? Thats not blending characters, the first shot of him at mania was great but it was all down hill from there.

Rhyno's #1 mark just layed the smackdown!

If I am no one, and no one is perfect, then I am perfect.

AudioSavior

He did more then that sheesh. exagerate much? He does his old finisher and pin, rolls his eyes back, has Paul with him, and has Taker enterance.

MollyLover

There is a reason they mixed it with LOD and ABA, as I said before, the ABA was buried alive. Since the ABA (American Bad Ass) was buried alive, it does make sense that he should still wear the ABA stuff. They decided to put a bandanna on 'Taker's head because his hair is still NOT long enough. Don't know why people can't get that through your thick heads.

Hello? It does make sense that the dead American Bad Ass turns into a zombie, and that's what this new version of the Undertaker is.

I'm sick of wrestling fans complaining about new angles. They are not true fans.

MollyLover

Read what Idaman just said.

This new Undertaker is a mixture of both, American Bad Ass and the Lord of Darkness.

They just took his body out of the grave, it clearly makes sense to make it that way.

Good Ol' JP

yea...

Im willing to give it a chance, but all im sayin is I dont like it at the moment. An would you give it a rest with the "we're not fans because we dont like somthing" thing. Are we spose to blindly love everything the WWE throws at us? If you have a problem with people having opinions, dont read them or dont ask.

Rhyno's #1 mark just layed the smackdown!

If I am no one, and no one is perfect, then I am perfect.

Chewy

fuck, Taker should start a stable along with J.R and Austin, the three biggest red necks in the WWE.

Creature of the Night

I don't personally think a total 'old school' Undertaker would survive in the current WWE climate. I think the closest we could get to that would be the 'Lord of Darkness' corporate power-monger Undertaker of '99, because theres believability in a guy that wants control of WWE and the whole supernatural occurences and the association with the occult is just his edge. It was a focus more on things like illusion and mind games rather than straight up supernatural events that defined the Lord Of Darkness, and that would work now too. The gimmick was going well but frowned upon by the PTC if my memory serves me correctly, and that was a factor in its demise, now that WWE isnt under the cosh so much, maybe they can get away with it.

As for 'Takers ring attire, I don't think it was that much of a dissappointment. I was hoping for longer hair but knew realistically it wouldnt happen (hair extensions on a WRESTLER seemed a big no-no for me) I really thought that when Taker returned at Judgment Day 2000 that this was the Taker that we would get; i.e old-school but with a different take on it, an evolved Undertaker that was unmistakably Undertaker but wore different clothes and was more of a modern day bike-riding goth than the biker version that we actually got. What hurt the character the most back then was the way he spoke when he came out on SmackDown the following week, that whole 'listen up dawg, lemme break it down to ya' speech that he went into completely destroyed the old image of the gimmick. I like this, its a modern twist on an old gimmick that would otherwise become very tired very quickly. I just pray he talks like the Taker of old (Ministry-esque) and not Bikertaker so that we get a little continuity of gimmick and he isnt just using for all intents and purposes the old music and entrance on the Biker gimmick. That would suck. We haven't seen how far the new character development has gone yet to make a decision on how well its over. Taker looks to be physically in tremendous shape, and he hit his trademark spots pretty well. I hope the Tombstone comes back as a regularly used finisher for him because that to me was the final touch for Undertaker. The name of the move, the way its executed leading into the 'darkness pin' is superb, and its suddenness at times too. I do love the Tombstone Piledriver :$ On SmackDown, Taker looked great, and the bandana looks like its there because the hair isnt long enough yet (im hoping anyway).

To mollylover, I think the problem with having him come out with the same ring attire as when he was the 'American Bad Ass' is that people associate that attire with that era of the Undertaker. It puts the fan into the mindset that you aren't watching Undertaker of new, but the ABA. He needs to move differently around the ring, he needs a vicious streak to get over really. I think someone else said he needs to look like he's working stiffer too, I wholeheartedly agree with that.

Dr. Giganto

agree that a complete return to the Darkside character wouldnt work, but i still think they should have at least changed his ring attire. If not to something old, then at least to some sort of variation. Keep the old music though. It just fits perfectly. and its unique.

I've yet to see Taker on t.v., since I didnt see Smackdown last week and i was in attendance at WM, but from seeing pics on wwe.com, i gotta say that the cowboy hat and trenchcoat look awesome