Undertaker's Appeal Transcends the Typical Heel-Babyface Dynamic

The Undertaker is on a collision course with Brock Lesnar in a storyline that can only be referred to as exciting yet confusing. The confusing part comes from The Deadman's reasoning for wanting a rematch, which sounds whiny at best.  Meanwhile, Lesnar is being forced to abandon his red-hot babyface run to feud with the eternally popular Phenom.

This is unlike any other storyline in WWE because Undertaker's appeal to fans is curing any problems with the usual heel-babyface dynamic.

Taker's presence alone is enough to change everything for fans.  The moment he suddenly appeared at Battleground, the crowd went crazy.  All the momentum Lesnar had as the company's top protagonist was immediately pushed to the side as Taker stood in the center of the ring.

It was as if all the popularity Lesnar had amassed since before WrestleMania 31 was now nothing more than an afterthought.

This is the power The Deadman possesses.  He has a career's worth of big moments behind him, moments in which he captivated the audience by merely standing in the smoke of the fire around him. The mystique of his character has always been there, from the moment he first got over in the gimmick to the point he is right now.

Fans buy in to what they're seeing from him.  As seemingly unrealistic as a 7-foot-tall gravedigger with otherworldly powers sounds, Undertaker has always connected to the fans.  When they see him, they react, and at this point, it's an automatic reaction.

The mention of his name is enough to pop a crowd, and much of the reason for that lies not only with his character but his career accomplishments as well.

Taker's history as one of WWE's top draws is well-documented, and it's that history fans look on with such awe and respect.  Indeed, he is a walking history book of WWE, a living legend of a man who was there during Hulk Hogan's era and through the Attitude Era to the present day.  He has been involved in some of the biggest matches in company history and headlined some of the biggest events WWE has ever presented.

One of those events was, of course, WrestleMania 30, where he faced off against The Beast Incarnate. 

When Lesnar pinned Taker's shoulders to the mat, it was the count heard around the world.  No one expected it, and even fewer believed it was really happening.  This evidently also included The Undertaker himself.

Fifteen months have passed since Taker's undefeated streak came to an end, and WWE is surely hoping to reap the rewards of this main event booking, but none of that matters to many fans.  The only thing that matters is that Undertaker is back, and he's ready for war.

That war has already erupted on Raw, and as fans watched, the lines between heel and babyface became more blurred than ever before.

Which man is the villain, and which one is the hero? When Taker returned at Battleground, he kicked Lesnar between the legs but was cheered for it.  Lesnar responded the next night on Raw by confronting Taker in a massive pull-apart.  Lesnar broke loose several times to get at Undertaker, and he never ran or backed away from The Phenom.

This bit of confusion is in direct contrast to the typical black-and-white nature of WWE.  The pro wrestling ideology usually consists of good versus evil, right versus wrong.  Fans need to cheer for someone, and they need to hate someone as well.  That's the formula that has been successful for WWE and many other companies throughout the history of the business.

Fans want drama and compelling storylines and to believe in their favorites.  The eternal struggle between the light and the dark is always there, and it needs to be. It works, and it always will.

But Undertaker is the one exception right now.  Fans didn't want the streak to end, and they cheered Lesnar over everyone else the past few months. But now it's all been turned upside down.  Taker has made all the difference, and which side each man lands on may not matter.  That is the power of The Deadman, and that power trumps all.

Tom's work can regularly be found on Bleacher Report and his podcast, Tom Clark's Main Event, is available on iTunes, Google Play, Windows Phone, Amazon Android and online here.