The Undertaker Shares How He Pitched His 1996 Survivor Series Bat Wing Entrance to Vince McMahon

The Undertaker has detailed how he pitched his 1996 Survivor Series bat wing entrance to Vince McMahon. On his Six Feet Under podcast, he explained that, after several years with the company, he wanted to evolve his character into a darker, more supernatural direction as he faced Mankind. The idea was to descend from the rafters of Madison Square Garden, wearing large black leather wings designed to present a more demonic image.

After The Undertaker came up with the idea, he delivered a detailed pitch to McMahon, outlining the look and how it would support the character shift. Despite rarely winning creative discussions, he recalled that McMahon responded enthusiastically at the time, approving the entrance.

“I just had to pitch it to him. So I mean, by this time, I’m five, six years into my run here. And I’d done pretty well with the things that we had changed. And you know, I constantly was always trying to evolve the character and keep it fresh. So I came in, I was like, ‘I want to take this character in a darker place.’ He made me explain it and give my reasoning for… and I’m not just talking about the bat wings. I’m just talking about the whole different look. Because it was different. And then he trusted me, because I didn’t win a lot of arguments with Vince. If we there just weren’t a lot that I came out on the upper hand with. But yeah, I think I was very passionate when I delivered my idea to him and explained what the look was going to be, and what the character, why I’m doing this. And [Vince said], ‘God damn, that’ll be great. I love it!’ And that’s all I needed.”

The rehearsal, however, produced a different reaction. According to Undertaker, the atmosphere was uncomfortable, with officials unsure how to respond to the entrance during the test run. He noted that Shawn Michaels laughed in the ring, while others, including Bruce Pritchard, Mick Foley, and Paul Bearer, exchanged uncertain expressions.

Undertaker later acknowledged that the entrance did not match his vision, as it was “extremely hot and sticky.” He immediately threw away the eight-foot-long wings after entering the ring. After the match was over, McMahon avoided eye contact before eventually asking, “What were you thinking?” in response to the presentation.

“And then I remember I always had rather been yelled at when I come back to the gorilla position. I’d rather be yelled at than not to be made eye contact with. And like, I had to stand there for a second for it to get him to look up. I think when he looked up, I got an ‘Oh, what were you thinking?’”

On the podcast, the WWE Hall of Famer wondered whether a cloak or coat might have worked. However, ultimately, the entrance didn’t make another appearance.

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