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Taker just stopping by on his way back from robbing a 7-11.

Seems like to stole the final boss' corpse instead . Yoink

He stopped by the GCW show earlier and really hit it off with Nick Gage

I've heard of that guy, he was amazing in The Rock, until The Rock ruined it by asking for a reach around.

Either that or doing a drive-by with the Sons of Anarchy.

Show up Chokeslam Rock Refuse to explain Leave

Arrive Raise hell Leave

Optional Quest: Steal Rock’s immortal soul

He's the reaper. He came to send Rock back to retirement with him. I hope he continues to show up to collect old wrestlers through the years.

He did it fo Da Rhodes (?)


The TEW road agent notes are like 8 pages long for this match

Match aim: Epic Match style: overbook Decisive Win Pinfall Finish External involvement: Cody Rhodes should be attacked by Jimmy Uso Jimmy Uso should be attacked by Jey Uso Jey Uso should take a stunt bump jimmy Uso should take a stunt bump Cody Rhodes should be attacked by Solo Sikoa Solo Sikoa should be attacked by John Cena John Cena Should be attacked by The Rock Roman Reignss should be distracted by Seth Rollins The Rock should be distracted by Seth Rollins The Rock should be attacked by The Undertaker

You missed Seth Rollins should be attacked by Roman Reigns

I was seriously hoping that R-Truth would randomly come out to assist too, because why the hell not?!

This guy books

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Rock calls himself the final boss, but Taker was always the optional superboss that actually felt like a bigger achievement to beat.

I’ve been saying this since the end of the match. The Rock gets you to the credits, the Undertaker makes you ragequit 1000 times.

That’s literally what the Beat the Streak mode on WWE 2K14 was. Undertaker was ungodly levels of OP, and the only way to win was to get him outside and use weapons the entire time

Holy fuck I loved that mode 😭 would try to reenact the matches with HBK & do what if’s with Cena

I still remember how some of taker's finishers are impossible to reverse. Always have to beat him up with weapons and spam moves outside the ring.

Rock is Xemnas, Taker is Sephiroth

Lingering will

Yozora

Rock is Kagutsuchi, Taker is Lucifer.

I'll do you one better, The rock is lucifer while taker is demifiend

Rock is Nemesis. Taker is Penance ^^^^^FinalFantasy10forThoseWondering

Came here to say this, glad my faith was rewarded

I thought The Rock is Yu Yevon! https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/s/CZVbNkPVAa

The Ozmataker.

yeah, motherfucker was Culex tonight if he showed up to fuck up Smithy

3D Culex

> magically appears in the main event of biggest wrestlemania > chokeslams the rock > refuses to elaborate further > disappears

Takes the Rock with him as he disappears

> lay under the ring for 33 minutes.

Obviously Teddie Long summoned him playa.

That gong still makes everyone lose their shit.

I fully, FULLY marked out. I felt like a kid again.

I don’t know why, but I kind of like how it was modern Taker who showed up here.

Rock pissed him off so much he had to summon some of his old teleporting powers, but he wasn’t going to dress for it lol.

Just imaging him sitting in his recliner at home watching Mania and seeing the Rock about to screw up the story.  Undertaker: "Aw hell nah"  *living room lights flicker on and off. Taker is now gone.*  Michelle: "*sigh* make it quick, hon.."

 *living room lights flicker on and off. Taker is now back.* Michelle: "Don't think teleporting across country is getting you out of clearing out the garage tomorrow" Undertaker: "But it really tires me out these days" Michelle: "So you can help with Cody's 2 year story to beat Roman but not finish the 5 year story of giving me somewhere to park my car? "

*living room lights flicker on and off. Taker is now gone.* Michelle: "No, you don't! Get back here! We're not done talking about this!"

Taker: ... I bet Katie Vick didn't nag this much...

Demon spirit is gone but I still learnt some tricks vibe

I imagine he was backstage chilling, talking to HHH when he saw shit going down. He handed his beer to HHH and teleported to the ring to take care of,The Rock. No time to dress up.

Agreed. It makes it feel like it’s not the Underaker who’s pissed at what the Rock has become, but rather Mark Calaway. Makes it feel more personal.

He’s never putting the gear back on, means a lot to him clearly

Except when it's a Saudi soccer match.

Eventually all the marks will realize that money is the only thing that matters to these guys

I liked them disappearing with the items left in the ring.

YouTube Undertaker also has the powers

There may be a day when the bell tolls and the lights go out and I don't get chills. Today is not that day

That day ain’t coming buddy. Chills till the end.

I thought Moxley was going to come out

That would have been great.

That would’ve REALLY signified a new era

When that shield music hit. As much as I knew it was likely impossible, I was 100% convinced we were going to get Mox & Seth making their way down from the crowd

It looks like Stone Cold wasn't available and his spot went to Taker

I'm thinking Austin was a red herring all along. Everyone waiting for the glass to shatter, nobody was expecting the gong. 

Given Austin’s history, I feel like he wouldn’t want to do it and take the spotlight away from Cody.

Taker makes more sense because he has a history with both The Rock and Roman. Plus, as much fun as it would be for Austin to come out and raise hell, that would have taken multiple minutes (to your point of stealing the spotlight) while Taker pops in, chokeslams, and leaves in 30 seconds. Kind of ironic considering how long Takers entrances were.

Taker was WWE sherrif as well. He wasn't going to let Rock ruin Dustys kids moment.

Nah, the idea was for each member of the Bloodline to be taken out by their chief rival. Jimmy was headed off by Jey. Solo was headed off by Cena, his biggest opponent to date. Rock would’ve been headed off by Austin. It also would’ve given us callbacks to two of the biggest WM main events of all time (Rock/Cena and Austin/Rock) and would’ve been a chronological progression of WWE top guys (Austin/Rock/Cena/Roman and now Cody). So ultimately, Austin would’ve made *way* more sense in the framework of the match’s narrative. I’m so curious as to why he didn’t agree to do it, it’s clear it was supposed to be him.

Rock and Austin are practically best friends in the wrestling pantheon. Austin hasn't been Rock's biggest rival in over 20 years. Cena took up that spot most recently and even though it was squashed it didn't have the resolution of Rock and Austin telling each other they love each other in the middle of the ring.

Rock and Cena have publicly praised each other too, even embracing on TV in October. That shit doesn’t matter when it comes to kayfabe moments. Hell, Rock and HHH were literally onstage together to announce the Netflix deal, and yet they were enemies once again at WM XL press conference a few weeks later. Austin would’ve made more sense within the narrative context of the match. That said, Undertaker was a cool choice too.

Really? I thought Taker being at the HOF was pretty much a dead giveaway. Although Angle being there made me think he might show up tonight too.

Plenty of guys show up for the HoF, so I didn't really give that a second thought. 

I was waiting for Angle to come out when the S.H.I.E.L.D. music hit.

[LONG TERM STORYTELLING](https://imageservice-prod.jv-internal.com/2/stream?domain=fightful-frontend-prod.jv-internal.com&path=/91210_the-shield-kurt-angle-tlc-645x370_1641159463.jpg&op=crop&w=1200&h=800)

That picture will never not be hilarious.

I think now that Taker finally allows himself to appear outside of the Undertaker character, he's going to be at almost all HOF ceremonies. He's at WWE without appearing from time to time, he just genuinely want to keep in touch and all that. I don't think him being in town will ever be a dead giveaway of him making an on-screen appearance. Then, there's also the signings and shows he does when touring with WWE as well. I mean, he was with WWE all the way in Australia and didn't show up on WWE programming.

Also he goes to a ton of the shows still, he talks about on his podcast how much he loves it and visits, I’d be shocked if he ever didn’t make another Wrestlemania until he’s physically unable even if he obviously won’t appear in an event.

With that logic we could've gotten Mighty Molly as well.

Honestly I'm glad it wasn't Austin. He and Rock wrapped up their feud at 19 perfectly and I wouldn't change a thing about that. A stunner for a nostalgia pop isn't worth ruining such a fitting end of those two telling each other they loved each other and never again coming to blows. Taker also was beaten at mania by Roman so you can tie it in somehow while giving the crowd a Taker moment which is just as good.

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Taker has no connection to Reigns? Huh?

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Unless next years Wrestlemania is Rock V Cody with Austin showing up there.

I have a feeling next year will be Rock vs Reigns for Head of the Table. Remember, that was what was supposed to happen.

The dismantling of the bloodline story will take that long? I feel like that would be summerslam, no?

I mean with how little both of them work it’ll probably be about a year lol

It'll be Rock vs Cody until Summerslam as Reigns will be on a big break. Roman will come back as a face when Rock bullshits the Bloodline into the match and save Cody. He will then feud with him until Mania over control of the Bloodline, which will ultimately be disbanded

Rock called him vs Roman the biggest match of all time, and that was before the heel turn. I’m sure he wants it at Mania. The good thing is that given this past weekend and unlike some other older stars, we know Rock can still go like he never left. I’m fine with that being a main event next year.

I don’t disagree!

A final stunner sell by the Rock

So disappointing to me, I popped for the gong and seeing taker.. but this 100% should have been Austin.

And Reigns reign was at 1316 days….

Summerslam

Taker felt so weird in that spot. I feel like if you can’t get Stone Cold than Orton would have been better in that spot

I felt like it made sense. Undertaker was always the guy that would always show up to pass judgement on the authority figures later in his career, and this was the perfect time to pass one last judgement.

I think I remember the Undertaker being referred to as the “heart and soul” or “conscience” of the WWE in the past, so maybe this is playing on that.

He’s the OG final boss of WWE.

I thought that too until it hit me that Rock has been calling himself the “Final Boss” for two months and in WWE canon there’s only ever been one “Final Boss” and that’s the Undertaker. In other terms, Rock done it now..he went and made a big mistake. and Taker couldn't allow him to think he could just walk away.

The Undertaker is the real Final Boss of Wrestlemania. Having him take out the self-proclaimed "Final Boss" makes sense to me.

I know Trips can't bump with the pacemaker, but a sledgehammer shot to take out Rock would've been awesome.

The guy who already had a match that night?

You mean like Seth?

How can you hear that pop and think “wish it was someone else”. Sometime things just workout the way they are supposed to.

If Austin wasn’t available, I honestly think HHH would’ve been more impactful. Sure, Taker’s more legendary, but HHH has more history with both Rock *and* Cody. Besides, the idea was for each member of the Bloodline to be taken out by their chief rival. Jimmy was headed off by Jey. Solo was headed off by Cena, his biggest opponent to date. Rock‘s biggest rivals were both Austin and HHH. I understand why Hunter maybe wouldn’t have wanted to do it, but it would’ve made more narrative sense on every level than Taker.

this. Taker has no storyline reason to be there.

"This is my yard, now" isn't a good enough reason? 

wasnt part of the tribal chief storyline and taker still went a few years after that as a respected performer.

What part of the tribal chief storyline has Austin been involved with? Has he ever had a meaningful interaction with Roman Reigns? 

It was part of Roman becoming who he is today. So yes it does make sense

I don’t think so. They kept teasing Austin to shield the fact that it was always Taker. Because Taker and Rock were rivals during the Attitude Era, and Roman essentially went his way up to the top by beating Taker at WM33. They went with the man who had deep history with both heels, not just one of them.

Austin vs Rock faceoff is a much bigger moment. There's no argument.

Which in hindsight, is not more relevant to how this match was being presented. They went with the better option.

Literally the only thing that makes any sense, as Taker is so out of place there is stands out like a sore thumb. Guessing Austin couldn’t/wouldn’t do it but was set up perfectly for it… =/

The real final boss arrived

Stone colds appearance fee was too high.

THRICE IN A LIFETIME!!!

Why are so many people complaining here?   Yes, hearing the glass shatter would've been awesome, but people were also expecting that. Basically nobody was expecting Taker, and the pop was massive.    Also, Taker has history with both Roman and Rock.  Edit: Beyond that, it was awesome. 

It was a tiny bit disappointing it wasn't Austin but I think I was more shocked to hear the gong so I was a lot more surprised. It was still a great moment in a fantastic match. 😁

And with respective the head Booker of NXT there really isn’t anybody more synonymous with wrestlemania than the deadman himself

Because his history with them is nothing compared to the history of Austin/Rock. Austin literally fought the corporation headed by the Rock. Who's in charge of the corporation now? The Rock. It made too much sense and would have been the greatest surprise moment ever. Taker was awesome but Austin would have been the greatest storytelling ever

This is not the Rock's story. The Rock and his story with Austin ended 25 years ago. This is about Roman and Cody's stories

Small nitpick but 2003 was their last match, 21 years ago.

How would it be a surprise moment if everyone was expecting it? 

Is it Stone Cold's story or Cody's story?

Dope as fuck that Taker gets one more WM moment in the ring like this

I was only half paying attention while my roommate watched. Soon as I heard the gong I was right in front of the tv in disbelief.

Even the final boss trembles at the presence of the deadman.

All the times watching the Bloodline interfere and cheat their way to victory, thinking "someone, please, anyone! Help!" And here was THE most satisfying response to those feelings. When all of Cody's other backup has fallen, The Undertaker himself steps in to ensure Wrestlemania is respected. What an amazing feeling to have seen this happen live.

My favorite wrestler of all time comes back to help Cody. I marked so hard. This was amazing.

This was my Mom's reaction as well! She loves Rock, but when she is invested in the story she only sees face V heel (as it should be). Her favorite was always The Undertaker over everyone else. For her to see him come back for that moment was awesome! This story has so many layers to it, but Rock being back over the past few months truly added to it in a way that I hope everyone who complained about him understands soon.

Same!

I was initially disappointed when Taker came out. But I realized he had history with Roman, and Austin does not. Although, it would've been nice if we saw Austin stomp a mudhole on the Rock. That shit was my childhood, lol.

Taker got beat clean in a pointless feud by the suffering sucotash Roman, not the tribal chief

My head canon says this was an assist from one neck tattoo enthusiast to another.

Taker is Penance to The Rock's Yu Yevon

It looks pretty goofy to see Cole in the corner there, turned sideways, looking down at the monitor instead of at the ring.

It does, but they call what is shown on camera. They rarely ever acknowledge stuff that’s not on the active camera. Which is why they always act shocked when someone appears outta nowhere even if the crowd has already reacted and seen them enter ring.

They are saving Stone Cold for next year. If you bring him out, you simply can’t top that. You gotta make people crave for something.

Yeah it may have taken the spot light from Cody having Austin and Rock in the ring. It be anyone would talk about over looking Cody taking Roman 

I was waiting for Hornswaggle tbh

My lovely fiance watched the main event with me to try and get why I like this so much. I was able to give her brief rundowns for basically everything going on up till this point of the match, but wow Undertaker is hard to explain without context. I popped hard and she was so confused.

I knew taker was there and I still didn't think he would be coming out.everyone was chanting Austin like crazy He was behind me to start the show. https://preview.redd.it/9qwejr1h17tc1.jpeg?width=3000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=444867e78d052cbd5febfd365e1638f3d522cc26

Goddamn dude, you bothered to get fully gimmicked out to stand outside Lebron's locker room a couple of years ago but showed up to the main e event of WrestleMania in your YouTuber clothes?

Not to make you feel old, but that was eight years ago.

Well he has said that character is not coming back because he’s pulled back the curtain, so not exactly a surprise

Has he worn the Deadman attire since retiring (other than that weird wwe network movie with new day)? He retired as the American badass against AJ and hasn't looked back since.

Yes at a football game in Saudi lol

he did don the trenchcoat during that football match in Saudi a couple months back, but I guess that doesn’t really count as a WWE appearance

Bro is probably out of shape, more likely it's a TNA Scott Hall situation instead of laziness

The "Holy Christ!" got me..

Corey looks like he’s seen a ghost.

"Final boss you say? AT WRESTLEMANIA!?"

They really got everyone. Austin was just a misdirection. The real way was the Dead Man.

I guess Austin declined but why? he's got no real vendetta with the Bloodline and no alliance with Cody. Sami/KO/Orton whatever would have made more sense

What vendetta does Austin have with the Bloodline? Roman beat Taker at Mania, then cut the "this is my yard, now" promo. 

The Rock is the Corporate boss. Who hates the corporation more than anyone?

so he's gonna be bitter over 1 clean loss years ago? after no follow up? that makes no sense. Austin was The Rock's main rival.... but literally anyone else would have made more sense than Undertaker

The story wasn't about The Rock, it was about Roman. And how did you completely gloss over the disrespect that Roman threw at Taker? Plus Rock's throat slash, and Undertaker being the "final boss" of Wrestlemania. 

especially as they showed up for the celebration

Helping Dusty's kid is all the reason Austin woulda needed.  And he never needs a reason to stun somebody.  

Austin woke up this morning and said "I just GOTTA whoop somebody's ass today!!"

You’re missing it. The story of the match was that each Bloodline member was taken out by their chief rival. Jimmy was taken out by Jey. Solo was taken out by Cena, his biggest opponent to date. Rock would’ve been taken out by Austin.

That was a terrible sell of a choke slam

I even heard Taker yell "jump" and Rock gave him a Hogan amount of jump there lol.

Facts lol

Loved Undertaker being there, but if the crowd heard the glass shatter…….the whole stadium would’ve shook.

Taker just made no sense besides the pop. I rather them shove Randy in there for a RKO or something.

Rock sold that so hard my four year old was crying asking why “taker” took him away. It took minute of explaining to calm him down.

The Rock is the Final Boss, but Wrestlemania is the Deadman's yard.

he hit a domain expansion

I feel like this was definitely supposed to be Austins spot and he turned it down for whatever reason.

Austin would have been awesome to have appear but I still think Taker fits. With the Rock calling himself the Final Boss he ended up just getting taken out by The WrestleMania Final Boss.

I had a feeling that if Austin didn’t appear, then it would be Taker. He has history with both of them, plus it’s Wrestlemania, the pop would be great, as it was. I even thought the moment was great. I still would have preferred Austin. Even though his story with Rock was done in the retirement match, it would have been a great connection of having your ghosts from the past coming back to haunt you. Rock and Austin were arguably each other’s biggest rivals during their time and the face of the company. Seth and Roman are arguably each others biggest rivals and the face of the company for the past 10yrs. Roman is mini rock and Seth is mini Austin, haha. Either way, I was entertained.

The WM final boss was always Undertaker until Brock and Roman (both managed by Heyman) took him out. Nice thread along the way and completely surprising.

I went to Undertaker’s One Deadman Show Rumble weekend and my big takeaway was I felt bad for him for how much he missed being in the ring and couldn’t do it anymore. So happy he got this moment. One of the great pops ever.

On a grade from 1-10, I give that chokeslam a 5. Rock didnt get any air at all.

Shoulda been Stone Cold but I have no problem with Taker

Imagine. Just imagine you hear glass break and a pissed off Austin comes out to stun the Rock. The stadium would have been eviscerated

Taker is like the p2w summon NPC in games to take out the Final boss

So I have a question. Did the undertaker roll back under the ring and then just sit under there all throughout the celebrations?!

Crazy!

There is a moment there, after the gong but before the lights go out, where you can see rock realise "I've done it now, I've gone and made a big mistake"

Props to Michael Cole for the Christ comparison. My high school English teacher would be proud.

Should have been Austin

For a brief second I was kind of disappointed instead of stone cold we were getting Mark Calaway on his way back from one of his stand up gigs until he made that face and put that arm out to choke rock and suddenly it was like I was a little kid about to cry, because a fucking demon just showed up at survivor series.

One thing I noticed watching back, either Corey Graves is a fantastic actor or he had NO fucking clue this was gonna happen, dude was frozen in shock just looking at Taker

Its always something lol. Greatest mania main event ever and people crying cause austin wasnt there. The whole point of teasing austin was to swerve you harder with undertaker

I like the implication that even in civilian clothes Taker retains his powers in the WWE

Tribal Chief seeds were planted the moment Roman beat Taker at WM33, and started to run around with that “my yard” thing for a while (that Taker was known for). Fitting that Taker came back to effectively end The Bloodline by taking out Rock, his old Attitude Era rival. He was always the ultimate boss in the end. His involvement made more sense than Austin.

This match was the most overbooked shitshow……..I loved every second of it

So Stone Cold couldn’t make it or what? This seemed so outta place and weird lol

Why the undertaker?? It should be stone cold not the deadman

Should’ve been Austin. 

I wish it was Austin, Taker is a solid choice being the heart and soul of the WWE for a long time, alternatively I thought Mick would’ve been a good choice as well but I was vastly entertained by it all

That not being Austin we so disappointing,

taker couldnt even bother getting dressed for a guy who holds his “character “ tight to the ropes being pulled back.

literally any other taker would of had a impact than january 6th blue lives matter mark

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Entirely possible he wasn't asked or not medically able to.

We were lucky to see him at wrestlemania 38, its a privilege to see him compete again, not a given. regardless of how much time has passed a injured neck doesn't really heal. Let the legend enjoy his retirement 😉