The Undertaker was positioned as a tweener for much of his later career. He never resorted to underhanded tactics, always fought fairly (minus the surges of electricity and blackouts), and was often the victim in dusty finishes. He also had no trouble throwing hands at the babyfaces but more often than not, Undertaker feuded with heels and in the eyes of the fans, he was a babyface.

However, in 2002, everyone’s favorite deadman inspired terror as a despicable monster heel. The Undertaker was the team leader of WWE when they were up against the Alliance but soon after the Invasion storyline came to a close, Undertaker turned heel, and what a turn that was.

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Vince McMahon was indulged in one of his most favorite past times, i.e., humiliating Jim Ross and after ordering his lackey, Kurt Angle, to forcefully induct Ross into his very special club, McMahon froze on the spot when the music of the Undertaker blared through the arena and the American Bad Ass came down the ramp to make the save for JR.

Undertaker Was A Monster Heel In 2002

Unfortunately for Ross, Undertaker was the one who inducted him into the Vince McMahon club. At that point, the Undertaker had been with the company for a long time but he had attacked Jim Ross and the fans were not going to forgive him for that. In hindsight, the heel turn did him well as the fans were growing increasingly annoyed with the Undertaker and the majority of fans and pundits hated him.

Soon after his heel turn, Undertaker set his sights on RVD, the most popular superstar to come out of the WCW invasion. Big Evil defeated RVD for the hardcore title at Vengeance 2001 and he carried the momentum into the next PPV, the Royal Rumble of 2002.

The Undertaker was a favorite to win the whole thing, and he dominated the match upon entering at number 8. He cleared the ring, eliminating Al-Show, Rikishi and Billy Gunn, and Goldust within minutes. Big Evil then fought off the entirety of the Hardy Boys, including Lita. After he had done eliminating Jeff and Matt, Maven was the next entrant. Maven was knocked down right away by the Undertaker, and he was almost eliminated. But the Hardy boys rushed back into the ring, attacking the Undertaker as the personal issues ran way too deep.

Once again, Undertaker fought off the tag team and tossed them outside but while he was yelling at them, Maven snuck up behind him and a dropkick later, Big Evil was eliminated.

Undertaker was stunned into silence but after a few seconds of looking horrified, he walked back into the ring and started beating the hell out of Maven. Do note here that Maven was never eliminated as he went through the middle rope (possible botch) but Big Evil left no doubt and he put up a bad beating on the rookie superstar in a brawl that spilled backstage. Maven was bloodied up and out of it but the Undertaker did not let up one bit. He did, however, enjoy some popcorn during it all.

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This particular elimination was a shocker and might just be the single most impactful elimination in the entire history of the PPV. Maven, a Tough Enough rookie, had just eliminated Big Evil. On the following episode of SmackDown, even the Rock made fun of the Undertaker for being eliminated at the hands of the rookie and this led to Big Evil unleashing his wrath upon the Great One. Alongside his feud with the Rock, Undertaker also had Maven to deal with.

Undertaker Won In The End

Since Maven was never really eliminated from the Royal Rumble, WWE co-owner, Ric Flair awarded him a shot at the Undisputed Champion, Chris Jericho. Maven lost the match within minutes and soon after Jericho was done with him, Undertaker came out to put another beating on the Tough Enough co-winner.

On the following episode of SmackDown, Undertaker put his hardcore title on the line against Maven, and needless to say, Big Evil dominated the contest from the start. Maven was out of his element but he had a few supporters on his side. Tough Enough trainer, Al Snow was in his corner, and in the closing moments of the match, the Rock interfered, putting a chair to the head of Undertaker and after a Rock Bottom, Maven covered the Undertaker and won his first and only hardcore title.

However, the Undertaker was the one who got the last laugh as he defeated Maven and his trainer, Al-Snow, in a handicap match on the 7/3/02 episode of SmackDown, finishing the feud as Undertaker went on to fight Ric Flair at WrestleMania while Maven went on to accomplish a whole lot of nothing in his short WWE career.