The Undertaker Recalls Unique WWE Survivor Series Pants
The Undertaker has shed some light on why he wore snakeskin pants during a WWE World Title match.
In May 2000, The Undertaker returned to WWE with a different look compared to what he wore for about ten years prior to that. Instead of wearing the long black jacket and top hat with all-black gear, he was the “American Badass” version of The Undertaker. That meant that he would wear a bandana, grow out a goatee, wear sunglasses and wrestle in a tank top.
It was done as a way to freshen up a character although some fans may not have loved it due to how much they enjoyed the traditional Undertaker character.
At Survivor Series 2000, The Undertaker challenged Kurt Angle for the WWE Championship. What fans may remember most from that match that saw Angle retain in cheap fashion is that The Undertaker wrestled in snakeskin pants in an attempt to try something different.
Over the years, there was a story that The Undertaker wore those pants because he forgot his regular pants and that the pants The Undertaker wore actually belonged to his good friend, WWE Hall of Famer The Godfather. As he revealed on his Six Feet Under podcast, those snakeskin pants were actually The Undertaker’s idea.
“Terry Anderson, she’s the one that did my ring gear, my whole career. She was always trying to get me to do something with my jackets. She always wanted to make them extraordinary, which she did, but I was always super conservative.”
“I remember going to her, I’m the American Badass at this point. I go to her because she was like, ‘Hey, what do you want to do for Survivor Series?’ I said, ‘I want to do python skin pants.’ She looks at me, deadpan, ‘No you don’t.’ ‘They will be badass. Think about it. Snakeskin pants.’ ‘Mark, no.’ ‘Are you kidding me?’ I thought she would love the idea. ‘You’re too big. They will look ridiculous.’ ‘Noooo, this is going to be the absolute coolest look the American Badass has ever presented.’ ‘No, Mark, it’s not.’”
“She tried her hardest to talk me out of those pants, and I wouldn’t hear it. Then, it got to the day of. I didn’t have any backup. When I put them on and I looked. I was like, ‘Holy s**t, you’re the main event tonight against Kurt Angle and you look like you have some pants that belong to the Godfather.’”
The Undertaker Was Grateful Some People In WWE Were Kind About The Gear
As he continued, The Undertaker remarked that while he didn’t like the look of the pants, he was glad that the announcers didn’t make fun of his gear.
“That was the one good point of having the respect of JR [Jim Ross], Michael Cole, and those guys. They were so respectful. They could have had a field day with me if they wanted it. I caught some crap that day. A couple people were like, ‘Are you going to wear those?’ That was not my best idea.”
Regarding Vince McMahon’s reaction, The Undertaker had this to say.
“‘There’s no way that can be my World Champion.’”
The Undertaker did become WWE World Champion as The American Badass in the spring of 2022, but that was when he wore something other than snakeskin pants.