Biker Take Reaction

By Scott Keith on 8 July 2024

Hi Scott,

I got into wrestling in 2000 (which was a great year to become a fan) and before that I only had passing familiarity of wrestlers.

So Taker returning during Judgment Day didn't hit as hard, and his new gimmick didn't even register. I don't event remember there being an explanation follow-up.

Just curious how it was received at the time, specially online. Did people have an idea that he was going to be changing gimmicks?

Thanks!

Oh yeah, it was very well known that he was going to be repackaged in order to distance him from the Lord of Darkness stuff. Even by late 1999 when he teamed with Big Show and then left, he was transitioning into Grumpy Old Man Taker and not really incorporating any of the supernatural stuff into the act. So in a sense it was actually a natural transition. Of course it ended up being his most obnoxious phase where he didn't want to sell for anyone and expected everyone to treat him as the biggest star in the company in the absence of Rock and Austin, but at the time it was an interesting move.