On his Six Feet Under podcast, The Undertaker finally addressed the WWF Survivor Series 1996 “bat wings” entrance and openly admitted the entire thing was his idea – and one he deeply regrets.
Michelle McCool set the stage by comparing his 1995 mask to what came next. Undertaker groaned immediately, signaling where the conversation was headed. She said, “Okay, so you went from bat mask to bat wings basically.” Undertaker responded with disbelief at himself: “What? Really, yeah.”
He admitted his mindset at the time wasn’t the clearest: “At this point in my life, I’m staying out really late and probably drinking more than I should and probably, yeah, my judgment might be impaired through a few of these years.” When Michelle asked whether he actually requested the bat wings, Undertaker confessed outright: “I did. That was my idea. Nobody else to blame, huh?”
He explained that the look came from trying to evolve The Undertaker into a darker, more demonic version: “This was my early attempt at being more demonic… The character kind of taking it to that demonic state.” He thought leather gear and massive wings descending from the MSG roof would create an unforgettable atmosphere. “What would be more demonic than me being in all leather… with some really big bat wings?”
But once he was hanging from the rafters, reality hit. Undertaker laughed about how ridiculous the moment became: “Then I’m just kind of hung there trying to be intimidating with my black leather ensemble. It was like Batman on a budget. It was budget Batman at Madison Square Garden.”
The rehearsal footage was even worse. Producers unearthed backstage video of him suspended above the ring while Paul Bearer, Bruce Prichard, Shawn Michaels and others watched. Undertaker cringed as Michelle played it, saying, “Why, why, why are you doing this?” She responded, “I like it… It’s different.”
He noticed immediately that everyone backstage knew the idea was a disaster but didn’t want to be the one to say it: “It’s utterly silent in there. Nobody wants to say anything. They’re all looking at each other like who wants to tell him?” Undertaker even wondered if someone trapped him in the harness longer just to rib him: “I don’t know if he ribbed me and just stuck me there for a while.”
He admitted he genuinely believed the wings could still work, even as he dangled helplessly: “At this point, I still think… we’re gonna pull this off. With the right lighting and the right camera angles… this is still gonna work anyway.” But once the entrance aired, everything collapsed.
Michelle recalled seeing Vince McMahon’s reaction after Undertaker returned backstage. Undertaker confirmed Vince didn’t say a word – which somehow felt worse: “I’d rather be yelled at… than not be made eye contact with.” Eventually Vince looked up and Undertaker remembered the look perfectly: “I got a, ‘Oh…’ Like, what were you thinking?”
That was the end of the bat wings: “One and done… They flew away.”
Even now, Undertaker accepts that the idea came from his own artistic ambition – and some questionable late-night decision-making with friends egging him on. “Everybody in the car… thought it was good. They were pitching ideas. They were like, that’s the greatest thing ever.”
Decades later, The Phenom looks back on the bat-wing gear with humor: “I own the bat wings… I own the snakeskin pants… all of it’s mine.”
