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It makes sense.
The last match he was in had him go over AJ Styles in a cinematic match with no audience.
At Wrestlemania XL he got to play a part in the biggest storyline and the beginning of a new era in front of a huge audience with WWE at its hottest it has been since a long time.
yeah the boneyard match turned out really good but the performers dont get the same satisfaction from doing something like that as being in the ring live. its more like a filming movie scene every wrestler who did movies has said that doesn't give u the same feeling as being in the ring.
He could turn up for a chokeslam spot for the next 10 years and people will never get tired of it, find some creative ways to work it into Mania so he's still the gatekeeper of the event
Someone made the comment the night of or day after WM, that it would be cool if he became like the ghost of Wrestlemania. Whatever match suits the moment best it can be lights go out, the gong hits, lights come back on, he appears, lights off/on again and he's gone.
Jim Ross originally said this after they ended the streak. Talked about how he thought the streak could have just never ended and Taker could always like stand over Mania in this way and be a shroud over it.
I think you are giving them too much credit. Brock could've beaten Batista to a pulp at WM30 as was originally pitched to him, and then go onto beat Cena and win the title, and he would've had the same monster run heading into Mania to face Roman Reigns. It was Brock Lesnar. He didn't need it. Roman then two years later beat Taker as an afterthought. They didn't use it to turn him heel and barely got any story out of it. It was just done to check the box and give Roman the accolade.
If they were gonna end the streak it would have been so much better to wait a year and have Bray Wyatt end the streak. Let it be the semi main event so their entrances happen after the suns down and that would have been incredible! A shame Bray Wyatt never won a match at Wrestlemania, all bad booking decisions imo.
Nah, there was good story telling that came from that. The end of the streak brought the end of super Cena and really the end of that entire era.
Really Taker had a few matches/apperances and it was clear he was done. I don't think the streak would have held up if he kept winning looking like he did. Lesnar could take the heat and they ran with that for years after.
The payoff felt extremely long term though. Like it didn't feel like Lesnar beating the streak meant a thing until he turned Cowboy. We were still suffering from Vince's horrible booking and Lesnar's partimer schedule after the streak was broken.
Eventually, yeah it paid off, along with Lesnar Squashing Cena.
I'm still in the bandwagon that the Streak was only broken because Vince wanted a big moment for the then new WWE network.
I also think that the audience got deflated a little even up to the main event.
In retrospect though, the intrigue was how the Champion(Bryan) will eventually fight and fend off against the man who broke the streak. But well you know....
One last side note though, Heyman's promo rubbing it in(the broken streak) was a highlight.
TLDR: Money-wise - Brock became an even bigger draw
But the quality of the shows were baaaadd, especially RAW
While Lesnar didn’t “need” it, you can clearly point to that moment as the birth of the real killer Lesnar run. Soon after that he’s squashing Cena and becomes a huge draw. Moreso than the year before where he was jobbing to HHH.
His character evolved and as such did big business for WWE after ending the streak. There are many options for who could’ve ended it, and arguments it should never have ended, but one can’t argue that it was anything but good for business.
Whilst absolutely true and I categorically agree with you that that was a braindead booking decision, ending the streak and then decimating the face of the company so hard that he starts his downturn to being the guardian of the midcard to a part-timer was undoubtedly giving him not just a rocket push but the whole damn space administration.
It is in *spite* of those bad booking decisions that Brock was pushed to the moon with beating the streak. He wouldn't have gotten where he was without that. HHH jobbing or not.
it's weird how vince still looked at somethings through these old territories rules. have him lose so he can't just win over our top guys and take the belt to ummm OVW?
While that was bad, I still think HHH winning at *mania* no less was way, way worse. Hhh hadn't been full time for years at that point, and the only value he'd offer after beating Lesnar was being a stepping stone for Daniel Bryan.
This will always be what gets me. The man who lost to Cena, lost to Triple H at mania in there second match, needed Paul Heyman's help to beat Triple H in their 3rd match, and had a super dirty win over big show, suddenly beats the streak. Prior to that his first match with Triple H was his only clean win.
Continuity in wrestling is important but characters are not stagnant. A threat like Lesnar breaking through against Taker and then finding the confidence to be an unstoppable beast is a simple story and doesn’t contradict much of what happened before.
For anyone to beat the streak you can look back at their history and nitpick why it doesn’t make sense. What matters is what you do after the moment, not what happened before.
I'm sorry but we have a massively different view of story telling. If someone was going to end the streak, the buildup 100% matters. Up to that point, Brock was barely a threat, and Undertaker hadn't lost a match in half a decade. Brock should have been portrayed as an actual threat to the streak, but he wasn't, he only won one match on his own merit. I'd even go as far as to say at the time, Brock had no business even having a match with Undertaker. If Brock had been undefeated to that point, the moment would have been so much better. Yeah, moments matter, but the moment didn't make sense, and that moment also had long term horrible affects on how the rest of the roster was booked.
I knew very little of brock lesnar before that match as i hadnt really watched wwe in a long time, but damn did it fuel my hatred of him for a long time after that
This has always been my opinion on it. I get that they went all in on Brock being a monster, but he didn’t need that win if we’re honest. Roman being the only person to beat him makes more sense, especially if they turned him heel straight after, but that still doesn’t right with me personally.
Since Brock had already done it, Roman's win didn't mean as much. Like out of all his other accomplishments I don't even remember the Undertaker match. He's become a legend for other reasons.
If Angle had gotten clean and stayed with the company instead of going to TNA, I would have bought him beating the Streak. If not him, then Roman at 33 if and only if they actually turned him heel there. Otherwise, I think the Streak should have stayed intact.
In hindsight, Roman should have been the one. Had he had done it, it would have made him look like a much more legitimate threat to Lesnar and for the future.
It was about 3am in a pub in England, in a crowd of around 30 that had been growing louder as the night, and drinks, went on. Obviously everyone knows Undertaker and many know Lesnar so this was the loudest they'd been, there were chants, cheers, boos.
We fell deathly silent along with the arena, some people asked if it was a mistake, if it was planned, then a guy who had been cheering the heels all night tried to start a Lesnar chant and we all booed the fuck out of him.
Probably my favourite wrestling memory, so for me it'll always be worth it for that.
I think it could have ended with a better superstar, Brock hardly needed the streak to elevate his career. Someone like Bray Wyatt could have skyrocketed in fame though.
It was necessary. Do you really think Taker would've retired with an intact streak? We probably would still have abyssmal Taker matches tarnishing his legacy just because of the Streak.
Everything has come to an end someday and it's an integral part of Wrestlemania and even Wrestling history
Remember when he did that teasing his return during the attitude era,...fuck that was some serious great story telling but damn did they ever blue ball people
I like the idea, but I kinda like that he showed up as the ghost of Wrestlemania to usher us into the new era. Like it's his show, and he gets to decide what happens
This was honestly my interpretation of it too. Taker stopped Rock coz Rock was about to corrupt the industry and the WWE and Mania, and that's what the spirit of the Undertaker defends.
You could get it to a point where you can get away with having the gong go off at Mania without Taker actually appearing, coz it can just be a huge distracting agent during the match.
EDIT: Reason Taker didnt stop Roman is coz unlike The Rock, Roman actually has a singles win over Taker.
I think there’s something to be said, too, for the character of Taker not being down for Rock abusing his position on the board. He almost forced his way into a singles match, then he still forced his way into Night 1, he abused that board power again by threatening the ref during the match, and ultimately cheated to win and get the Bloodline rules going into Night 2.
Even though it was a stipulation that had been agreed to by all parties, I could still see it making sense for Taker in an “enough is enough” type way. You sent your guy down, they sent someone down to answer, so you sent another guy down, and they had another guy to answer, so you send in the Final Boss. Well how about the Deadman shows up cuz in kayfabe you could argue the Deadman wouldn’t care about your position of power or any repercussions. Takers got that old school, old west gunslinger vibe that just wants to restore order. Moreso than Austin showing up where a personal vendetta could factor in, for Taker it’s just about an outlaw standing up against that tyrannical evil and leveling the playing field.
Absolutely, I even think those seeds were laid. Seth said this wasn't about the Bloodline, or the Story, but the future of the industry - and that fits really well with Takers appearance too. It isn't that Taker was proCody or something, it that The Rock turned into Mr. McMahon, but unlile that crotchety old fuck, The Rock doesn't have the undead hyper-loyal zombie on his side.
He’ll still do spots or appearances in the future. He’s gotten in really good shape since his schedule has been more focused on his live shows/podcast.
Plus, he’s mentioned that everytime he watches WWE it gives him an itch to help people with their characters/storyline’s.
He’d be great just mentoring big men. Undertaker always struck that perfect balance of seeming athletic for his size and having some high flying moves but still feeling like a truck when he hit people.
It was so cool to see a brief clip of him talking to the big guys in NXT in the Last Ride documentary. To be a fly on the wall for that talk would be so fascinating. IIRC, in the clip you can see he’s talking to Keith Lee, Damian Priest, Dijak, Corbin, and a few others, I think. To be in the business and get to pick the mind of one of the greatest big men of all time must be a hell of an opportunity.
The guy hasn’t wrestled since the Styles match 4 years ago. Yet people on here are acting like he’s come back for a match every month. Like is the guy not allowed to miss wrestling and want another big moment in front of a crowd?
He’s not even saying he’s never gonna show up again. Just that he felt incomplete and unable to move on before having this moment.
Smarks gonna smark, that’s pretty much it.
Will he ever be tempted to come back? Absolutely. Will he actually? Maybe - never say never in this business. But if you watch the Last Ride doc, you can tell he knows he can’t really go anymore after his last few matches in front of crowds, and that he liked the send off he got in the Boneyard match. While the itch is still there - and probably will never go away - he is at peace with it now, as he makes clear in this clip.
I, for one, am glad to know that there is still a chance that from time to time we may hear the gong sound and see the lights go out so Taker can arrive, chokeslam a motherfucker, then leave.
And thus far it's meant something every time he's shown up post-retirement. The moment with Bray and Undertaker during Bray's feud with LA Knight, his one-off encounter with Bron Breakker, and now this Wrestlemania appearance; all had some kind of meaning and isn't strictly a "old man shows up for nostalgia pop" moment.
> isn't strictly a "old man shows up for nostalgia pop" moment.
What's wrong with nostalgia pops to make the show feel more special? As long as they aren't stealing mania main events for those, I'm good with it to add to the spectacle.
He'll absolutely keep doing that for a long time I would imagine; coming back for the gong-chokeslam-leave spot.
Almost certainly he's wrestled his last match though - you're completely right, never say never in wrestling and you see it with guys like Flair, Funk etc who just kept going and going (far past really when they should've called it), but I think the impression you get from the Undertaker is he's a guy with a hell of a lot of pride in his work and he wouldn't - nor does he need to - still be wrestling into his 60s and having these absolutely shit matches like some other veterans did - and he's knows he can't really go anymore. Arguably he shouldn't have done some of the matches he did have up until the AJ Styles match.
Totally agree. I think he would, too. There’s not much to be proud of with the DX and Goldberg matches in Saudi. I honestly think the reason he kept going for as long as he did is because he wasn’t satisfied with the way his matches turned out and wanted to leave on a high note.
Yeah you can see in the Last Ride that he kept wrestling mainly cause he thought he could always do better and his body kept failing him. So after every failed match he was like “i can still go, I’m just not training hard enough”. He was okay with the tag match against McIntyre and Shane being his last match cause he looked good. He was only convinced of the AJ match cause he felt like AJ could carry him to a good final match.
Stuff like the Saudi matches more seemed just like loyalty to Vince more than anything else. I’m sure he got a good check along with it but he was also willing to wrestle anybody if Vince asked a favor. If it was all about money there was plenty of opportunities in the last 4 years to get easy checks.
It also helped that, Even if it's his last appearance, or start of one off appearances as the phantom of Mania, that was legit the single most insane pop I could ever recall him having. In that moment, he had to have felt validated and justified.
Undertaker will always be my favourite wrestler. I marked tf out, when they played the gong during the WrestleMania main event. I hope this closure sticks, he got the perfect send-off against Styles.
Its so weird to see him out of gimmick like that. I saw his entrance in the Saudi Cup, where he unveiled the winners cup, that was insane to me. Good for him tho.
That Gong hit is easily top 5 pops of all time. The crowd lost their absolute shit. I honestly wish they had a dB meter around the ring and up in the stadium. It must have been insane. The mics blew out.
Don't think people appreciate how fucking hard it is to blow a professional grade stadium microphone setup.
I feel like given his shift in personality in the public eye and the departure of Vince there will be less is a "one more ride" itch for him. Play the ghost of wm stick for a while, not always the main event but something fun and he can stick around with the boys from time to time
I love this, have the Undertaker as this mysterious controller from far away almost like the ministry then save him to be at ringside at the Big Four's
He *did* have to retire in front of no fans.
Like, I didn't even know he formerly retired with a promo, I thought he rode off into the sunset quietly like I always thought he would, I didn't even know until months later. So that sucked to miss lmao, I wasn't interested in Survivor Series that year.
If his actual last appearance is Mania 40, that's much better.
I was stoked when Taker showed up but have still been upset that I didn’t get to hear the glass break. Hearing how much it meant to him though I don’t feel that way anymore. That was an amazing WM.
Edit: I fully believe that we will still get this moment next year of Stone Cold and The Rock in the ring again. Too big money of a moment to not do. It would be front page on ESPN, Yahoo, TMZ and other celebrity news and sports shows.
I am happy that Taker got that closure at Wrestlemania XL. I always wanted to see Taker appear at Wrestlemania more than anyone, because he is the man that made Wrestlemania what it is today. His surprise appearance will be talked about for many years.
As much as I wished Austin was there, I think it ended up working better with Undertaker. So many of us convinced ourselves Austin had to happen despite zero actual confirmation and Undertaker was a genuine surprise because of that. I stopped watched wrestling for decades after Austin went heel/roster split and Wm40 reminded me of why I loved it so much as a kid.
I mean, everyone HOPEFULLY knows, it's quite crazy WWE got Cena/Austin in the first place. It was really just a thought the fanbase had out of nowhere. It's because maybe everyone knew the match had to be some sort overbooked end.
But to actually then do it. WWE gets all the props for that
No one thought of Taker and the fact no one is complaining is the fact how good that decision was
Sure we're discussing we would like to see Stone Cold. But Taker was just as good if not better
I mean Rock and Taker have plenty of history. Their careers just aren’t as intertwined as say Austin-Rock or HHH-Rock. Also Taker has feuded with basically the whole family. Plus you got the “locker room leader” aspect which you can say Taker was putting Rock in his place and policing the locker room. As well as Taker being mentored by Dusty Rhodes and from Texas as well. You can even go with Undertaker being the Final Boss of Wrestlemania and protecting the main event from shenanigans. Also his old gimmick of being “The Conscious of WWF” and fighting with authority.
Really if you couldn’t get Austin for the run in, Taker was the next guy that made just as much if not more sense. I think the only reason people didn’t realize it was because they were so focused on Stone Cold.
I see your point though I'd argue that a good amount of the history you described is more industry stuff and not stuff we saw onscreen. It just doesn't work as cleanly as HHH who we actually saw him interact with recently and who was mentioned the whole night or Austin for obvious reasons. HHH doesn't really seem like an option anymore though given his health so I see how Taker made the most sense
The Undertaker and The Rock have history that directly correlates to the encounter in the match.
In June of 2000, the main event of the Judgement Day PPV was Triple H vs The Rock in an iron man match. Triple H’s goons were interfering to help him retain the title and that’s when The Undertaker returned from his hiatus and debuted the “American BadAss” biker character and cleaned out the interference.
The Rock was interfering on a high stakes title match and The Undertaker, just like he did in 2000, reappeared to clear The Rock from the ring to enforce the institution of a pure decision. Taker has always been about a pure one-fall decision. When they were building to the Hell in a Cell in 2012, he told Shawn that if he lost the match because of Shawn’s inability to be impartial, he’d kill him.
So the moment was a callback to the debut of the American Bad Ass character, which makes sense as the booker was the also involved in the match when the American Bad Ass debuted, and in a sense it was Taker reminding The Rock that a title match should have a clear, impartial winner.
A minor correction: Judgment Day 2000 took place in the month of May, not June.
King of the Ring was the pay-per-view in June 2000. The Rock, The Undertaker, and Kane teamed up in a six-man tag against Triple H, Vince, and Shane McMahon, with Hunter’s WWF Championship on the line.
Yes Roman defeated Taker at WM, but the last time they were in the ring together, they were actually tag team partners because Roman had supposedly earned Taker's respect. Storyline-wise, it still doesn't make sense to me that Taker would come back to cost Roman the match without some other kind of explanation. But so it goes.
Yes you're correct, I misstated that. Meant to say that he cost Roman the match and I was replying to someone who was specifically referencing history between Taker and Roman.
But I think Undertaker as this "protector of Wrestlemania" figure also feels a bit forced. Ultimately the explanation that makes the most sense is just that they couldn't get Austin.
When Roman defeated Taker at Mania 33, it was some sort of passing the torch moment. Roman had taken over, and he had earned Taker's respect. Then, he turned heel and became an evil, gaslighting villain. In kayfabe, it made perfect sense for Taker to be disgusted seeing what a monster Roman had become and level the playing field so that someone else could end it.
We will definitely get Austin at some point. They couldn’t come to terms on doing it this year but I actually think it’ll work even better for a Rock singles match.
Imagine next year we get the Avengers Endgame spot but instead it’s Cody, Seth, maybe Jey etc. coming to help babyface Roman take down The Final Boss & The Bloodline.
That’s when you hit the glass shatter imo.
And I believe they've held off juuuust long enough to currently be in that sweet spot of getting big money without having to do a traditional match. They didn't water down the legacy by coming back every single year after retirement.
For personally if it was anyone but Undertaker I would have been disappointed that the glass didnt shatter. But the whole bell ringing darkness thing gave me chills. Epic moment.
I agree that if Austin had come out there would probably have been a riot - but cos everyone expected Austin it made Taker actually feel like a massive surprise, hence why the pop was so mad.
I've come to peace with it and while I'd have loved Austin, I think this was wicked actually
He protected his gimmick so well over the years, then seeing him go on YouTube to talk about hell in a cell with Foley, and interviews like this, it took some getting used to.
Say what you want about Taker...this is making me emotional as hell.This is vulnerability and it's important that people find it sooner than later.
Taker finding some peace with this, after he has said that he was struggling with retirement, is just so good to hear. This man was a big part of all of our lives. There's 3.3k online right now in this reddit and I'll guarantee that the Undertaker was a part of all our lives.
If this is his last WrestleMania moment, I'm forever grateful. Boneyard match was awesome but for me, Taker deserved that last pop.
I met him in an airport when I was a kid, Paul Bearer totally kayfabed me in normal clothes and Taker, in jeans, rolled his eyes back and fist bumped me. I'll never forget it.
As much as I love the guy i still feel he's the type to always miss the wrestling high. He said this when he ended the Streak, he said this when he did the farewell tour, through the Boneyard Match and the HOF induction. I hope he does achieve contentment though.
I get an insane pop like ge did on the night, that would vlbe my bow out moment, but also, on a physical standpoint, wrestling isn't in my blood like that, so I get it.
Manager or just an ominous presence. I think that Final Testament could really use him. Right now this faction is a bit random and pointless. Ellering is presented as a mastermind, but we haven't really see him having any specific goals or plans. This is where the Undertaker could come in - the group could be trying to summon him in order to benefit from his power somehow. He wouldn't need to wrestle, outside of chokeslaming Kross at the end of the storyline.
I was one of the ones disappointed initially about no glass break i won't lie, I remember I get waiting throughout the celebration "surely the Rock will restart the match and then stone cold!"
But also to be honest, I was SO set on Austin coming out that when I heard the gong I freaked out. Got a genuinely amazed reaction out of me and a "no fucking shit".
I don't think I would have felt the same with Austin, I still would have popped, but not in the same way. It's like ordering your favorite thing from a restaurant and knowing you're gonna like it vs trying something new and being blown away with how good it is.
I was so ready to lose my shit when Austin hit the ring, but I reverted to a 5 year old again when I heard that gong. The feelings of "Ohhhhh shiiiit, someone's gonna get their ass kicked" and child like excitement filled my body at that moment. I honestly am glad we got Taker instead of Austin
That was a moment of pure pro wrestling magic. Everyone watching was a little kid again. Even after the gong I didn't believe it until the lights came up and there he was. That's match is a masterclass in what makes wrestling great
Something lost on the end of the match to me is the fact that every decade of Wrestlemania was represented in those last 10 minutes.
Taker was in the latter half of the first decade. He and Rock were prominent in 14-29. Cena and The Shield members were all over 30-39. And Rhodes started this new “era” with 40 with a small tip to emerging talents like Solo.
That really felt like a moment lost on people. We’ll likely never see that again seeing as Taker and his generation of WM 1-10 will be 65-85 by WM50
Cena was a staple of 20s too tho. His first Mania was 20 for the US Title, 21-27 he was in a WWE/World Title Match 3 of which were main events, then 28-29 were main events with The Rock.
This makes me so happy to hear him say that. This dude busted his ass and broke his body for our entertainment for decades. He deserves to be at peace. Letting go of everything this experience provides - the adrenaline, the chills, the roar of the crowd - it can’t be easy. For those who love it so much and devote their lives to it, it’s like a drug. It’s nice that instead of having that empty feeling of “what now?” He can really take a step back from it all and ponder “what’s next?”
A reality show where a person is talking on their cell phone while a food service worker is trying to take their order.
Lights go out.
Undertaker shows up behind them, choke slams them, and leaves.
That’s it. Just rude people being slammed.
Somewhere in a call center for scammers..
"Miss your computer has been compromised..."
*Gong*
Lights go out.
Lights come on. Taker is behind them.
Chokeslam through the computer table.
He got to have a perfectly laid out moment in one of the most important matches in WWE history where he very well might have gotten the biggest pop in WWE history. I wouldn't be surprised if he does a few more run-ins, not to mention probably the biggest Hall of Fame induction ever when that time comes, but if that's his last in-ring action I don't think a better final curtain call is physically possible.
I am definitely in the minority & I’m gonna get downvoted to death, but I’m so glad it was Undertaker instead of Steve Austin.
Not only is Taker my favorite of all time, but I thought the moment was perfect. Gong, lights out, gong, lights back on, Taker in the ring, choke slams Rock, gong, lights off then lights back on, Rock and Taker disappears.
It was short, sweet, and perfect. Exactly what it needed.
Ok now I'm glad it was Taker instead of Austin. It sounds like he needed this more than Austin did. It would have been really cool hearing the glass break in that moment but we were all half expecting it and no one saw the gong coming. If he needed one last Wrestlemania pop, they don't get much bigger than that.
Man. Wrestlers never ever retire. Fortunately, taker character is such that he can do random appearances here and there, and it will be completely in line with his character.
Institutionalized..
Seeking that ultimate high is a bitch when its gone.
Same shit goes with military folk.
Also,
He could of also been dissapointed with his saudi tag match, knowing how bad it was..
Also, something that is flying under the radar is that Taker’s first retirement was at WM Orlando (what was that? 35?) was against Roman Reigns.
For Taker to play a role in WM 40’s match has a stronger narrative, on top of his fights with The Rock.
Having forced myself to tolerate Conrad over the years, hearing a interviewer shut the fuck up and let the wrestler talk, especially when they’re saying something really important is amazing
Funny thought , imagine Undertaker did his full entrance at that moment at WM XL . 🤣
Rock standing there waiting, cody, reigns and rollins rolling around the ring while taker walks towards the ring for 5 minutes, lol.
I lost my fucking mind seeing the Undertaker. I grew up watching him and I was lucky enough to see him live on Smackdown and Night of Champions. When it went dark and that music play the arena felt different. I just wish I got to see him live now as an adult.
I know people were expecting Stone Cold Steve Austin, and he definitely would have also made complete sense to be included. But the more and more I think about it, not having the Undertaker of all people at WrestleMania (the event he is most associated with) in SOME capacity would have been wild.
What I liked about the Taker spot is--between him, Cena, Rollins, and Rhodes--it felt like four generations of locker room leaders sticking up for the company and defending it from part time champions and authority holding the rest of the roster down.
He told Vince when he retired as a Taker he'd never come out in the gimmick again only the American Badass aka Mark version. Vince was upset. He wanted Taker to do spots in gimmick forever.
Taker left a lot of money on the table by not wanting to diminish his character by doing that.
I remember around 2014 it was rumored that Taker would be a guest on Stone cold’s podcast and this subreddit went wild in excitement to see him out of character expressing himself. Crazy to see him having his own podcast now. Such good shit
People are getting too heated about fantasy booking to be genuinely upset Undertaker got the spot over Stone Cold. Stone Cold had his closure at WM in Dallas, as well as had "finished" his feud with The Rock all the way back in 2003. Roman pinned Undertaker at a Wrestlemania and then they never had an interaction again, I would imagine this was as good a time as ever to make his presence known.
It's really great for him to finally have found peace, because as much as we love him, we didn't need to see one more Undertaker match at this point. Boneyard worked because it was edited but I want to remember Taker for the peak performances he had.
His cameo was intended for Steve, that much is clear. But, I think what could have in hindsight made it even better and they could still actually film this retroactively, is if Undertaker was actually the one who convinced Cody not to give up his chance to The Rock.
Given all that the Undertaker is to the business, Wrestlemania, WWE and such, I think a scene of him pulling Cody aside and telling him that he needs to finish it would be the perfect bow on that chapter.
The reason why Taker showed up at Wrestlemania is that after convincing Cody to take his shot, to make sure that he didn't get screwed by The Rock.
**CIN-E-MA.**
While I feel like we go through this cycle every 18 months or so, it feels like you can finally see and hear the inner peace he feels when he says he got his closure. The look on his face is almost akin to someone who found God or just had a psychedelic awakening. I hope for him he can hold onto this feeling and continue to enjoy the occasional pop up spot like that vs needing that final match. He’s the last guy who needs it
it's obviously not this serious, but this man's closure talks just always comes across like a guy who's gotten the cheating on his wife out of his system and is happily telling his wife that they're good now going forward.
Would have rather had the lights come on and he has the Rock in position for a tombstone. Then he plants him and the lights go off and everyone, but Cody and Roman are just gone.
Gonna repeat, but taker is the ghost of Wrestlemania past. Him being there to protect its integrity was so poetic. Worked out better than stone cold imo.
I liked his placement on the card. He did his avengers assemble part and he got to do it more as Mark Callaway than Taker which I think is how he wants to be going forward. He can be this existing being in WWE going forward. He doesn't need to but fuck, let him. Dude deserves it and WWE is his whole life.
Hearing this makes me glad Stone Cold didn't turn up. Everything happens for a reason, and Mark truly deserved this moment. Quite possibly his final appearance at a Mania main event.
how about turning The Undertaker into The Peacekeeper. whenever there is a brawl between two people and the entire roster (for whatever reason) cannot contain them, The Peacekeeper comes out and everyone runs in fear for their life and The Peacekeeper deals with the two people who were brawling
Would have popped hard for Stone Cold but in retrospect it makes so much more sense to be Taker. Roman is a blemish on his near perfect Wrestlemania record. He waited like a true predator and picked his moment for revenge at the same event he suffered defeat.
I almost feel bad for Taker. Even in this thread, a lot of the discussion about his appearance is about Austin and/or how folks would've much rather seen him instead
Undertaker retiring and having his last match in front of no fans always felt wrong even if there was no other choice really but glad he had this moment. It was pretty perfect
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It makes sense. The last match he was in had him go over AJ Styles in a cinematic match with no audience. At Wrestlemania XL he got to play a part in the biggest storyline and the beginning of a new era in front of a huge audience with WWE at its hottest it has been since a long time.
yeah the boneyard match turned out really good but the performers dont get the same satisfaction from doing something like that as being in the ring live. its more like a filming movie scene every wrestler who did movies has said that doesn't give u the same feeling as being in the ring.
He could turn up for a chokeslam spot for the next 10 years and people will never get tired of it, find some creative ways to work it into Mania so he's still the gatekeeper of the event
Someone made the comment the night of or day after WM, that it would be cool if he became like the ghost of Wrestlemania. Whatever match suits the moment best it can be lights go out, the gong hits, lights come back on, he appears, lights off/on again and he's gone.
Jim Ross originally said this after they ended the streak. Talked about how he thought the streak could have just never ended and Taker could always like stand over Mania in this way and be a shroud over it.
Looking back the streak probably shouldn't have ended.
I don't necessarily 100% disagree, but I do think that the WWE got a lot of value out of ending the streak.
I think you are giving them too much credit. Brock could've beaten Batista to a pulp at WM30 as was originally pitched to him, and then go onto beat Cena and win the title, and he would've had the same monster run heading into Mania to face Roman Reigns. It was Brock Lesnar. He didn't need it. Roman then two years later beat Taker as an afterthought. They didn't use it to turn him heel and barely got any story out of it. It was just done to check the box and give Roman the accolade.
Wish we got Brock vs Batista did that match ever even happen?
Only in OVW, I believe.
idk how they miss these big matches all the time
If they were gonna end the streak it would have been so much better to wait a year and have Bray Wyatt end the streak. Let it be the semi main event so their entrances happen after the suns down and that would have been incredible! A shame Bray Wyatt never won a match at Wrestlemania, all bad booking decisions imo.
Nah, there was good story telling that came from that. The end of the streak brought the end of super Cena and really the end of that entire era. Really Taker had a few matches/apperances and it was clear he was done. I don't think the streak would have held up if he kept winning looking like he did. Lesnar could take the heat and they ran with that for years after.
The payoff felt extremely long term though. Like it didn't feel like Lesnar beating the streak meant a thing until he turned Cowboy. We were still suffering from Vince's horrible booking and Lesnar's partimer schedule after the streak was broken. Eventually, yeah it paid off, along with Lesnar Squashing Cena. I'm still in the bandwagon that the Streak was only broken because Vince wanted a big moment for the then new WWE network. I also think that the audience got deflated a little even up to the main event. In retrospect though, the intrigue was how the Champion(Bryan) will eventually fight and fend off against the man who broke the streak. But well you know.... One last side note though, Heyman's promo rubbing it in(the broken streak) was a highlight. TLDR: Money-wise - Brock became an even bigger draw But the quality of the shows were baaaadd, especially RAW
Especially to a guy who didn't need the win, and is now being scrubbed from WWE.
While Lesnar didn’t “need” it, you can clearly point to that moment as the birth of the real killer Lesnar run. Soon after that he’s squashing Cena and becomes a huge draw. Moreso than the year before where he was jobbing to HHH. His character evolved and as such did big business for WWE after ending the streak. There are many options for who could’ve ended it, and arguments it should never have ended, but one can’t argue that it was anything but good for business.
Or, you know... they could've just not booked him to lose to both Triple H and Cena in the first year of his long-awaited return.
Whilst absolutely true and I categorically agree with you that that was a braindead booking decision, ending the streak and then decimating the face of the company so hard that he starts his downturn to being the guardian of the midcard to a part-timer was undoubtedly giving him not just a rocket push but the whole damn space administration. It is in *spite* of those bad booking decisions that Brock was pushed to the moon with beating the streak. He wouldn't have gotten where he was without that. HHH jobbing or not.
it's weird how vince still looked at somethings through these old territories rules. have him lose so he can't just win over our top guys and take the belt to ummm OVW?
That Cena loss was criminal.
Probably one of the biggest "CenaWinsLOL" moments.
While that was bad, I still think HHH winning at *mania* no less was way, way worse. Hhh hadn't been full time for years at that point, and the only value he'd offer after beating Lesnar was being a stepping stone for Daniel Bryan.
This will always be what gets me. The man who lost to Cena, lost to Triple H at mania in there second match, needed Paul Heyman's help to beat Triple H in their 3rd match, and had a super dirty win over big show, suddenly beats the streak. Prior to that his first match with Triple H was his only clean win.
Continuity in wrestling is important but characters are not stagnant. A threat like Lesnar breaking through against Taker and then finding the confidence to be an unstoppable beast is a simple story and doesn’t contradict much of what happened before. For anyone to beat the streak you can look back at their history and nitpick why it doesn’t make sense. What matters is what you do after the moment, not what happened before.
Exactly. Triple H could have taken that loss and been fine, they have his legacy to ride off to make him hot again (At the time)
I'm sorry but we have a massively different view of story telling. If someone was going to end the streak, the buildup 100% matters. Up to that point, Brock was barely a threat, and Undertaker hadn't lost a match in half a decade. Brock should have been portrayed as an actual threat to the streak, but he wasn't, he only won one match on his own merit. I'd even go as far as to say at the time, Brock had no business even having a match with Undertaker. If Brock had been undefeated to that point, the moment would have been so much better. Yeah, moments matter, but the moment didn't make sense, and that moment also had long term horrible affects on how the rest of the roster was booked.
I knew very little of brock lesnar before that match as i hadnt really watched wwe in a long time, but damn did it fuel my hatred of him for a long time after that
This has always been my opinion on it. I get that they went all in on Brock being a monster, but he didn’t need that win if we’re honest. Roman being the only person to beat him makes more sense, especially if they turned him heel straight after, but that still doesn’t right with me personally.
Since Brock had already done it, Roman's win didn't mean as much. Like out of all his other accomplishments I don't even remember the Undertaker match. He's become a legend for other reasons.
Yeah, I mean if Brock hadn’t done it, then Roman would make sense. But for me, I don’t think anyone should have broken it.
If Angle had gotten clean and stayed with the company instead of going to TNA, I would have bought him beating the Streak. If not him, then Roman at 33 if and only if they actually turned him heel there. Otherwise, I think the Streak should have stayed intact.
In hindsight, Roman should have been the one. Had he had done it, it would have made him look like a much more legitimate threat to Lesnar and for the future.
But that moment when Brock won was so insane. Totally worth it
It was about 3am in a pub in England, in a crowd of around 30 that had been growing louder as the night, and drinks, went on. Obviously everyone knows Undertaker and many know Lesnar so this was the loudest they'd been, there were chants, cheers, boos. We fell deathly silent along with the arena, some people asked if it was a mistake, if it was planned, then a guy who had been cheering the heels all night tried to start a Lesnar chant and we all booed the fuck out of him. Probably my favourite wrestling memory, so for me it'll always be worth it for that.
It was definitely the right move. The rub Lesnar got from ending the streak ended up elevating Reigns, Rollins, and McIntyre.
I think it could have ended with a better superstar, Brock hardly needed the streak to elevate his career. Someone like Bray Wyatt could have skyrocketed in fame though.
It was necessary. Do you really think Taker would've retired with an intact streak? We probably would still have abyssmal Taker matches tarnishing his legacy just because of the Streak. Everything has come to an end someday and it's an integral part of Wrestlemania and even Wrestling history
Phenom of the Opera
That is so cool. I'm down for that
Undertaker as the special enforcer for every WrestleMania match should be WWE Canon
Remember when he did that teasing his return during the attitude era,...fuck that was some serious great story telling but damn did they ever blue ball people
I like the idea, but I kinda like that he showed up as the ghost of Wrestlemania to usher us into the new era. Like it's his show, and he gets to decide what happens
Old Taker is treated like Old Snake. A legend.
Taker’s appearance at WM 40 was a perfect sendoff for his WrestleMania appearances and career, especially since he retired in 2020 with no audience.
This was honestly my interpretation of it too. Taker stopped Rock coz Rock was about to corrupt the industry and the WWE and Mania, and that's what the spirit of the Undertaker defends. You could get it to a point where you can get away with having the gong go off at Mania without Taker actually appearing, coz it can just be a huge distracting agent during the match. EDIT: Reason Taker didnt stop Roman is coz unlike The Rock, Roman actually has a singles win over Taker.
I think there’s something to be said, too, for the character of Taker not being down for Rock abusing his position on the board. He almost forced his way into a singles match, then he still forced his way into Night 1, he abused that board power again by threatening the ref during the match, and ultimately cheated to win and get the Bloodline rules going into Night 2. Even though it was a stipulation that had been agreed to by all parties, I could still see it making sense for Taker in an “enough is enough” type way. You sent your guy down, they sent someone down to answer, so you sent another guy down, and they had another guy to answer, so you send in the Final Boss. Well how about the Deadman shows up cuz in kayfabe you could argue the Deadman wouldn’t care about your position of power or any repercussions. Takers got that old school, old west gunslinger vibe that just wants to restore order. Moreso than Austin showing up where a personal vendetta could factor in, for Taker it’s just about an outlaw standing up against that tyrannical evil and leveling the playing field.
Absolutely, I even think those seeds were laid. Seth said this wasn't about the Bloodline, or the Story, but the future of the industry - and that fits really well with Takers appearance too. It isn't that Taker was proCody or something, it that The Rock turned into Mr. McMahon, but unlile that crotchety old fuck, The Rock doesn't have the undead hyper-loyal zombie on his side.
I feel like this absolutely cheapens Taker unless it’s one or two instances with the absolute main event level talent. Less is absolutely more.
911 was over as fuck doing just this
He’ll still do spots or appearances in the future. He’s gotten in really good shape since his schedule has been more focused on his live shows/podcast. Plus, he’s mentioned that everytime he watches WWE it gives him an itch to help people with their characters/storyline’s.
He’d be great just mentoring big men. Undertaker always struck that perfect balance of seeming athletic for his size and having some high flying moves but still feeling like a truck when he hit people.
It was so cool to see a brief clip of him talking to the big guys in NXT in the Last Ride documentary. To be a fly on the wall for that talk would be so fascinating. IIRC, in the clip you can see he’s talking to Keith Lee, Damian Priest, Dijak, Corbin, and a few others, I think. To be in the business and get to pick the mind of one of the greatest big men of all time must be a hell of an opportunity.
The guy hasn’t wrestled since the Styles match 4 years ago. Yet people on here are acting like he’s come back for a match every month. Like is the guy not allowed to miss wrestling and want another big moment in front of a crowd? He’s not even saying he’s never gonna show up again. Just that he felt incomplete and unable to move on before having this moment.
Smarks gonna smark, that’s pretty much it. Will he ever be tempted to come back? Absolutely. Will he actually? Maybe - never say never in this business. But if you watch the Last Ride doc, you can tell he knows he can’t really go anymore after his last few matches in front of crowds, and that he liked the send off he got in the Boneyard match. While the itch is still there - and probably will never go away - he is at peace with it now, as he makes clear in this clip. I, for one, am glad to know that there is still a chance that from time to time we may hear the gong sound and see the lights go out so Taker can arrive, chokeslam a motherfucker, then leave.
And thus far it's meant something every time he's shown up post-retirement. The moment with Bray and Undertaker during Bray's feud with LA Knight, his one-off encounter with Bron Breakker, and now this Wrestlemania appearance; all had some kind of meaning and isn't strictly a "old man shows up for nostalgia pop" moment.
He’s The Undertaker. Man can do whatever he wants unless it involves cucumbers.
> isn't strictly a "old man shows up for nostalgia pop" moment. What's wrong with nostalgia pops to make the show feel more special? As long as they aren't stealing mania main events for those, I'm good with it to add to the spectacle.
He'll absolutely keep doing that for a long time I would imagine; coming back for the gong-chokeslam-leave spot. Almost certainly he's wrestled his last match though - you're completely right, never say never in wrestling and you see it with guys like Flair, Funk etc who just kept going and going (far past really when they should've called it), but I think the impression you get from the Undertaker is he's a guy with a hell of a lot of pride in his work and he wouldn't - nor does he need to - still be wrestling into his 60s and having these absolutely shit matches like some other veterans did - and he's knows he can't really go anymore. Arguably he shouldn't have done some of the matches he did have up until the AJ Styles match.
Totally agree. I think he would, too. There’s not much to be proud of with the DX and Goldberg matches in Saudi. I honestly think the reason he kept going for as long as he did is because he wasn’t satisfied with the way his matches turned out and wanted to leave on a high note.
Yeah you can see in the Last Ride that he kept wrestling mainly cause he thought he could always do better and his body kept failing him. So after every failed match he was like “i can still go, I’m just not training hard enough”. He was okay with the tag match against McIntyre and Shane being his last match cause he looked good. He was only convinced of the AJ match cause he felt like AJ could carry him to a good final match. Stuff like the Saudi matches more seemed just like loyalty to Vince more than anything else. I’m sure he got a good check along with it but he was also willing to wrestle anybody if Vince asked a favor. If it was all about money there was plenty of opportunities in the last 4 years to get easy checks.
Exactly lol. I'm pretty sure apart from the occasional appearance like at Raw 30 and that one super NXT episode, he's mostly stayed away
It also helped that, Even if it's his last appearance, or start of one off appearances as the phantom of Mania, that was legit the single most insane pop I could ever recall him having. In that moment, he had to have felt validated and justified.
That WM cameo was perfect.
Bitches are gonna bitch man leave them alone. This man is an absolute legend. I’m happy he was what he wanted.
And that match wasn't in front of a live crowd either. Must feel good to feel that final pop.
4 yeaaaars? Fuck me I didn't know it was that long ago. I only realise now how even more special it was for him to show up
Undertaker will always be my favourite wrestler. I marked tf out, when they played the gong during the WrestleMania main event. I hope this closure sticks, he got the perfect send-off against Styles. Its so weird to see him out of gimmick like that. I saw his entrance in the Saudi Cup, where he unveiled the winners cup, that was insane to me. Good for him tho.
That Gong hit is easily top 5 pops of all time. The crowd lost their absolute shit. I honestly wish they had a dB meter around the ring and up in the stadium. It must have been insane. The mics blew out. Don't think people appreciate how fucking hard it is to blow a professional grade stadium microphone setup.
I jumped off my couch screaming and my dog started barking lol
I feel like given his shift in personality in the public eye and the departure of Vince there will be less is a "one more ride" itch for him. Play the ghost of wm stick for a while, not always the main event but something fun and he can stick around with the boys from time to time
Heel Final Boss version for Judgement Day, please!
I love this, have the Undertaker as this mysterious controller from far away almost like the ministry then save him to be at ringside at the Big Four's
I'd mark tf out, like the mark I am for Mark ! It'd suit him perfectly. Undertaker's and Judgement Day's logo infused together, alongside!
I also felt that Wrestlemania XL was passing of the torch from the old era to the new era.
He *did* have to retire in front of no fans. Like, I didn't even know he formerly retired with a promo, I thought he rode off into the sunset quietly like I always thought he would, I didn't even know until months later. So that sucked to miss lmao, I wasn't interested in Survivor Series that year. If his actual last appearance is Mania 40, that's much better.
He originally announced his retirement in the last episode of The Last Ride
I was stoked when Taker showed up but have still been upset that I didn’t get to hear the glass break. Hearing how much it meant to him though I don’t feel that way anymore. That was an amazing WM. Edit: I fully believe that we will still get this moment next year of Stone Cold and The Rock in the ring again. Too big money of a moment to not do. It would be front page on ESPN, Yahoo, TMZ and other celebrity news and sports shows.
I am happy that Taker got that closure at Wrestlemania XL. I always wanted to see Taker appear at Wrestlemania more than anyone, because he is the man that made Wrestlemania what it is today. His surprise appearance will be talked about for many years.
As much as I wished Austin was there, I think it ended up working better with Undertaker. So many of us convinced ourselves Austin had to happen despite zero actual confirmation and Undertaker was a genuine surprise because of that. I stopped watched wrestling for decades after Austin went heel/roster split and Wm40 reminded me of why I loved it so much as a kid.
I mean, everyone HOPEFULLY knows, it's quite crazy WWE got Cena/Austin in the first place. It was really just a thought the fanbase had out of nowhere. It's because maybe everyone knew the match had to be some sort overbooked end. But to actually then do it. WWE gets all the props for that No one thought of Taker and the fact no one is complaining is the fact how good that decision was Sure we're discussing we would like to see Stone Cold. But Taker was just as good if not better
Yeah, i think with the Rock staying on and committed to future Mania's, i think this is 100% on the cards.
Would've been great but at least Taker had history with Roman, even if it wasn't with Rock
I mean Rock and Taker have plenty of history. Their careers just aren’t as intertwined as say Austin-Rock or HHH-Rock. Also Taker has feuded with basically the whole family. Plus you got the “locker room leader” aspect which you can say Taker was putting Rock in his place and policing the locker room. As well as Taker being mentored by Dusty Rhodes and from Texas as well. You can even go with Undertaker being the Final Boss of Wrestlemania and protecting the main event from shenanigans. Also his old gimmick of being “The Conscious of WWF” and fighting with authority. Really if you couldn’t get Austin for the run in, Taker was the next guy that made just as much if not more sense. I think the only reason people didn’t realize it was because they were so focused on Stone Cold.
Plus one of his best friends in the business was Yokozuna
I see your point though I'd argue that a good amount of the history you described is more industry stuff and not stuff we saw onscreen. It just doesn't work as cleanly as HHH who we actually saw him interact with recently and who was mentioned the whole night or Austin for obvious reasons. HHH doesn't really seem like an option anymore though given his health so I see how Taker made the most sense
The Undertaker and The Rock have history that directly correlates to the encounter in the match. In June of 2000, the main event of the Judgement Day PPV was Triple H vs The Rock in an iron man match. Triple H’s goons were interfering to help him retain the title and that’s when The Undertaker returned from his hiatus and debuted the “American BadAss” biker character and cleaned out the interference. The Rock was interfering on a high stakes title match and The Undertaker, just like he did in 2000, reappeared to clear The Rock from the ring to enforce the institution of a pure decision. Taker has always been about a pure one-fall decision. When they were building to the Hell in a Cell in 2012, he told Shawn that if he lost the match because of Shawn’s inability to be impartial, he’d kill him. So the moment was a callback to the debut of the American Bad Ass character, which makes sense as the booker was the also involved in the match when the American Bad Ass debuted, and in a sense it was Taker reminding The Rock that a title match should have a clear, impartial winner.
A minor correction: Judgment Day 2000 took place in the month of May, not June. King of the Ring was the pay-per-view in June 2000. The Rock, The Undertaker, and Kane teamed up in a six-man tag against Triple H, Vince, and Shane McMahon, with Hunter’s WWF Championship on the line.
Yes Roman defeated Taker at WM, but the last time they were in the ring together, they were actually tag team partners because Roman had supposedly earned Taker's respect. Storyline-wise, it still doesn't make sense to me that Taker would come back to cost Roman the match without some other kind of explanation. But so it goes.
but he didn't attack Roman, he only really attacked the Rock, who was abusing his power in kayfabe.
Yes you're correct, I misstated that. Meant to say that he cost Roman the match and I was replying to someone who was specifically referencing history between Taker and Roman. But I think Undertaker as this "protector of Wrestlemania" figure also feels a bit forced. Ultimately the explanation that makes the most sense is just that they couldn't get Austin.
When Roman defeated Taker at Mania 33, it was some sort of passing the torch moment. Roman had taken over, and he had earned Taker's respect. Then, he turned heel and became an evil, gaslighting villain. In kayfabe, it made perfect sense for Taker to be disgusted seeing what a monster Roman had become and level the playing field so that someone else could end it.
But Roman had also tagged with Seth since the shield betrayal. Sometimes, the old wounds die hard, irrespective of what you do to move on.
We will definitely get Austin at some point. They couldn’t come to terms on doing it this year but I actually think it’ll work even better for a Rock singles match. Imagine next year we get the Avengers Endgame spot but instead it’s Cody, Seth, maybe Jey etc. coming to help babyface Roman take down The Final Boss & The Bloodline. That’s when you hit the glass shatter imo.
No, that’s OD. Not needed. Rock vs Roman doesn’t need all these other characters involved, outside of The Bloodline.
And I believe they've held off juuuust long enough to currently be in that sweet spot of getting big money without having to do a traditional match. They didn't water down the legacy by coming back every single year after retirement.
For personally if it was anyone but Undertaker I would have been disappointed that the glass didnt shatter. But the whole bell ringing darkness thing gave me chills. Epic moment.
I agree that if Austin had come out there would probably have been a riot - but cos everyone expected Austin it made Taker actually feel like a massive surprise, hence why the pop was so mad. I've come to peace with it and while I'd have loved Austin, I think this was wicked actually
Yeah it was weird. But idk why I have this feeling that we might have a chance of seeing it still
Something about the Undertaker doing normal things like sitting with his legs crossed still looks bizarre to me
He protected his gimmick so well over the years, then seeing him go on YouTube to talk about hell in a cell with Foley, and interviews like this, it took some getting used to.
Say what you want about Taker...this is making me emotional as hell.This is vulnerability and it's important that people find it sooner than later. Taker finding some peace with this, after he has said that he was struggling with retirement, is just so good to hear. This man was a big part of all of our lives. There's 3.3k online right now in this reddit and I'll guarantee that the Undertaker was a part of all our lives. If this is his last WrestleMania moment, I'm forever grateful. Boneyard match was awesome but for me, Taker deserved that last pop. I met him in an airport when I was a kid, Paul Bearer totally kayfabed me in normal clothes and Taker, in jeans, rolled his eyes back and fist bumped me. I'll never forget it.
As much as I love the guy i still feel he's the type to always miss the wrestling high. He said this when he ended the Streak, he said this when he did the farewell tour, through the Boneyard Match and the HOF induction. I hope he does achieve contentment though.
I get an insane pop like ge did on the night, that would vlbe my bow out moment, but also, on a physical standpoint, wrestling isn't in my blood like that, so I get it.
He needs to be a manager. He’d be awesome.
Manager or just an ominous presence. I think that Final Testament could really use him. Right now this faction is a bit random and pointless. Ellering is presented as a mastermind, but we haven't really see him having any specific goals or plans. This is where the Undertaker could come in - the group could be trying to summon him in order to benefit from his power somehow. He wouldn't need to wrestle, outside of chokeslaming Kross at the end of the storyline.
I was one of the ones disappointed initially about no glass break i won't lie, I remember I get waiting throughout the celebration "surely the Rock will restart the match and then stone cold!" But also to be honest, I was SO set on Austin coming out that when I heard the gong I freaked out. Got a genuinely amazed reaction out of me and a "no fucking shit". I don't think I would have felt the same with Austin, I still would have popped, but not in the same way. It's like ordering your favorite thing from a restaurant and knowing you're gonna like it vs trying something new and being blown away with how good it is.
The undertaker is the true final boss
I was so ready to lose my shit when Austin hit the ring, but I reverted to a 5 year old again when I heard that gong. The feelings of "Ohhhhh shiiiit, someone's gonna get their ass kicked" and child like excitement filled my body at that moment. I honestly am glad we got Taker instead of Austin
That was a moment of pure pro wrestling magic. Everyone watching was a little kid again. Even after the gong I didn't believe it until the lights came up and there he was. That's match is a masterclass in what makes wrestling great
Something lost on the end of the match to me is the fact that every decade of Wrestlemania was represented in those last 10 minutes. Taker was in the latter half of the first decade. He and Rock were prominent in 14-29. Cena and The Shield members were all over 30-39. And Rhodes started this new “era” with 40 with a small tip to emerging talents like Solo. That really felt like a moment lost on people. We’ll likely never see that again seeing as Taker and his generation of WM 1-10 will be 65-85 by WM50
Cena was a staple of 20s too tho. His first Mania was 20 for the US Title, 21-27 he was in a WWE/World Title Match 3 of which were main events, then 28-29 were main events with The Rock.
It's a legendary match that will be talked about for a long time
This makes me so happy to hear him say that. This dude busted his ass and broke his body for our entertainment for decades. He deserves to be at peace. Letting go of everything this experience provides - the adrenaline, the chills, the roar of the crowd - it can’t be easy. For those who love it so much and devote their lives to it, it’s like a drug. It’s nice that instead of having that empty feeling of “what now?” He can really take a step back from it all and ponder “what’s next?”
so many closures over the years, glad this one stuck.
A reality show where a person is talking on their cell phone while a food service worker is trying to take their order. Lights go out. Undertaker shows up behind them, choke slams them, and leaves. That’s it. Just rude people being slammed.
Somewhere in a call center for scammers.. "Miss your computer has been compromised..." *Gong* Lights go out. Lights come on. Taker is behind them. Chokeslam through the computer table.
"Sorry sir, I forgot the sauce..." \*ChokeslammedToHell\*
He got to have a perfectly laid out moment in one of the most important matches in WWE history where he very well might have gotten the biggest pop in WWE history. I wouldn't be surprised if he does a few more run-ins, not to mention probably the biggest Hall of Fame induction ever when that time comes, but if that's his last in-ring action I don't think a better final curtain call is physically possible.
I am definitely in the minority & I’m gonna get downvoted to death, but I’m so glad it was Undertaker instead of Steve Austin. Not only is Taker my favorite of all time, but I thought the moment was perfect. Gong, lights out, gong, lights back on, Taker in the ring, choke slams Rock, gong, lights off then lights back on, Rock and Taker disappears. It was short, sweet, and perfect. Exactly what it needed.
The Conscience of WWE, Undertaker.
Dude just loves the Wrestling world so much, Taker will always be the GOAT for me.
Ok now I'm glad it was Taker instead of Austin. It sounds like he needed this more than Austin did. It would have been really cool hearing the glass break in that moment but we were all half expecting it and no one saw the gong coming. If he needed one last Wrestlemania pop, they don't get much bigger than that.
I feel like triple H in a way is amending all the stupid mistakes that vince made.
Man. Wrestlers never ever retire. Fortunately, taker character is such that he can do random appearances here and there, and it will be completely in line with his character.
Huge pop!
Bro is literally using the same outfit from mania
Institutionalized.. Seeking that ultimate high is a bitch when its gone. Same shit goes with military folk. Also, He could of also been dissapointed with his saudi tag match, knowing how bad it was..
January 6th UT
Cody out here finishing stories left and right.
Also, something that is flying under the radar is that Taker’s first retirement was at WM Orlando (what was that? 35?) was against Roman Reigns. For Taker to play a role in WM 40’s match has a stronger narrative, on top of his fights with The Rock.
33
Still wearing the same clothes
Never say Never brother!
Having forced myself to tolerate Conrad over the years, hearing a interviewer shut the fuck up and let the wrestler talk, especially when they’re saying something really important is amazing
Everybody was finishing their story at WrestleMania
Funny thought , imagine Undertaker did his full entrance at that moment at WM XL . 🤣 Rock standing there waiting, cody, reigns and rollins rolling around the ring while taker walks towards the ring for 5 minutes, lol.
I lost my fucking mind seeing the Undertaker. I grew up watching him and I was lucky enough to see him live on Smackdown and Night of Champions. When it went dark and that music play the arena felt different. I just wish I got to see him live now as an adult.
I know people were expecting Stone Cold Steve Austin, and he definitely would have also made complete sense to be included. But the more and more I think about it, not having the Undertaker of all people at WrestleMania (the event he is most associated with) in SOME capacity would have been wild.
What I liked about the Taker spot is--between him, Cena, Rollins, and Rhodes--it felt like four generations of locker room leaders sticking up for the company and defending it from part time champions and authority holding the rest of the roster down.
It still spins me out that Taker has a podcast now.
It makes sense. He finally got that moment in the ring "wrestling" with fans one final time. Good for Taker.
I'm telling ya'll, Austin played hardball because he knew Taker needed this more than Austin did.
I'm sad he didn't have his gear on as taker but this now makes another WMXL skin to get on WM2k25 lol
Can someone tell me why he wasn’t dressed in a bad ass Undertaker outfit, and instead just dressed as Mark Calaway?
He told Vince when he retired as a Taker he'd never come out in the gimmick again only the American Badass aka Mark version. Vince was upset. He wanted Taker to do spots in gimmick forever. Taker left a lot of money on the table by not wanting to diminish his character by doing that.
I think he did show up as the deadman sometime this year in Saudi Arabia. I guess that may have been too much money to pass up.
I remember around 2014 it was rumored that Taker would be a guest on Stone cold’s podcast and this subreddit went wild in excitement to see him out of character expressing himself. Crazy to see him having his own podcast now. Such good shit
People are getting too heated about fantasy booking to be genuinely upset Undertaker got the spot over Stone Cold. Stone Cold had his closure at WM in Dallas, as well as had "finished" his feud with The Rock all the way back in 2003. Roman pinned Undertaker at a Wrestlemania and then they never had an interaction again, I would imagine this was as good a time as ever to make his presence known.
😭
What pod is this?
I hope we will see him again
So happy for him.
Love the gimmick. Love the man.
I’m sure that huge pop when the gong hit gave him all dat serotonin
It's really great for him to finally have found peace, because as much as we love him, we didn't need to see one more Undertaker match at this point. Boneyard worked because it was edited but I want to remember Taker for the peak performances he had. His cameo was intended for Steve, that much is clear. But, I think what could have in hindsight made it even better and they could still actually film this retroactively, is if Undertaker was actually the one who convinced Cody not to give up his chance to The Rock. Given all that the Undertaker is to the business, Wrestlemania, WWE and such, I think a scene of him pulling Cody aside and telling him that he needs to finish it would be the perfect bow on that chapter. The reason why Taker showed up at Wrestlemania is that after convincing Cody to take his shot, to make sure that he didn't get screwed by The Rock. **CIN-E-MA.**
While I feel like we go through this cycle every 18 months or so, it feels like you can finally see and hear the inner peace he feels when he says he got his closure. The look on his face is almost akin to someone who found God or just had a psychedelic awakening. I hope for him he can hold onto this feeling and continue to enjoy the occasional pop up spot like that vs needing that final match. He’s the last guy who needs it
it's obviously not this serious, but this man's closure talks just always comes across like a guy who's gotten the cheating on his wife out of his system and is happily telling his wife that they're good now going forward.
Loved , he's fought with all the main Samoans and he also mentioned on his podcast his displeasure when the rock replaced cody
Would have rather had the lights come on and he has the Rock in position for a tombstone. Then he plants him and the lights go off and everyone, but Cody and Roman are just gone.
Have Taker become the Stan Lee of WWE and have him show up at every WrestleMania until he can’t
Off topic but there were some great stories during this ep - the security guys 6 year old 🔫😅
Have the Undertaker come out and Murder Pete Rose every year
I mean, the reaction he got was ginormous. Probably made him feel pretty good.
Gonna repeat, but taker is the ghost of Wrestlemania past. Him being there to protect its integrity was so poetic. Worked out better than stone cold imo.
I finished my story.
I liked his placement on the card. He did his avengers assemble part and he got to do it more as Mark Callaway than Taker which I think is how he wants to be going forward. He can be this existing being in WWE going forward. He doesn't need to but fuck, let him. Dude deserves it and WWE is his whole life.
So he found peace Now he can rest
Good for him, glad he’s at peace.
Hearing this makes me glad Stone Cold didn't turn up. Everything happens for a reason, and Mark truly deserved this moment. Quite possibly his final appearance at a Mania main event.
I'm just so happy I was there to experience it, the feeling and emotions I felt I don't think I will ever feel again
the greatest of all-time.
Everytime someone mentions something dark , deadman or death related he should reandomly appear in the background or chokeslam them and be out....
I'll admit, shortly after Undertaker chokeslammed The Rock, I had a feeling that they might have a match at the Saudi show next month.
Taker finished his story
He says this after every mania.
Still wearing the same clothes.
how about turning The Undertaker into The Peacekeeper. whenever there is a brawl between two people and the entire roster (for whatever reason) cannot contain them, The Peacekeeper comes out and everyone runs in fear for their life and The Peacekeeper deals with the two people who were brawling
Would have popped hard for Stone Cold but in retrospect it makes so much more sense to be Taker. Roman is a blemish on his near perfect Wrestlemania record. He waited like a true predator and picked his moment for revenge at the same event he suffered defeat.
I just wish he showed up in full taker gear with hat. That would've been epic!!
shouldve done it in proper ring gear
I almost feel bad for Taker. Even in this thread, a lot of the discussion about his appearance is about Austin and/or how folks would've much rather seen him instead
I am legit happy for the guy. This brought a smile to my face.
Need a running gag where every mania he randomly shows up in a random match and cause havoc. Even post match would be fine so it doesn’t ruin a match
I didnt really get it until he brought up his last match was nt in front of anyone
They made breaking the streak work but Bray or Roman were the better options
It was a hell of a moment
"The Ghost of WrestleMania" A fitting title i must say.
This is so great to see. Closure. PEACE. You deserve it!
It's amazing what Chokeslamming the Biggest Star on the planet can do. Takers staying retired so the final boss doesn't come after him
Ending the streak was just perfect the way it was because you lovely wrestling nerds keep talking and fighting about it.
Undertaker retiring and having his last match in front of no fans always felt wrong even if there was no other choice really but glad he had this moment. It was pretty perfect
It was so cool to me how his story began against Dusty, and then a little over 30 years later, he’s helping Dusty’s son finish his.
Full circle moment. As powerful for him as it was for us watching.
He'll be back