WWE: How Much Longer Will Undertaker Be an Active Wrestler?

Every time The Undertaker steps into the ring, you can’t help but wonder if that will be the last time the Phenom ever wrestles a match. 

He has been competing since 1984, has been in the WWE since 1990 and will turn 47 years old in just a couple of weeks. It’s got to be almost time for him to call it quits, right? 

Well, of course it is. We just don’t seem to know exactly when he will hang up the boots for good. 

There has been no real indication as to when The Undertaker will decide to retire, with the most common reports failing to make Taker’s future plans any clearer. 

From Richard Gray of WrestlingNewsWorld.com: 

"

I can confirm The Undertaker had surgery on his shoulder and hip since working Wrestlemania XXVII last year.

Undertaker is reportedly feeling good going into his WrestleMania XXVIII match against Triple H this year. It’s unknown if Undertaker plans to retire after WrestleMania this year and is believed to be more of the “wait and see” approach. 

"

“Wait and see,” huh? I guess that’s all we can really do right now: Be patient and let this thing play out on its own. 

The more I read that no one is sure if The Undertaker will ride off into the sunset after WrestleMania 28, the more I believe that he won’t. 

I mean, let’s think about this for a second. This is The Undertaker we’re talking about here—the Phenom, the Deadman, the Last Outlaw, one of the greatest superstars to ever step foot in a WWE ring. 

If there were even a remote chance of him retiring in less than a month, don’t you think that the WWE would be making a really big deal out of it? Don’t you think that they would at least mention the possibility of it happening? 

I sure do. But we haven’t seen anything like that happen yet. 

The Undertaker may be approaching half a century, but he hasn’t teased retirement and is one of the rare superstars who’s like a fine wine: He’s gotten better with age. 

You could make a very real case that Taker’s last three matches—against Shawn Michaels at WrestleManias 25 and 26 and against Triple H at WrestleMania 27—have been his three best bouts ever and that he’s better now than he’s been at any point of his career. 

I would venture to guess that this has a lot to do with the fact that The Undertaker is only working one match a year now, and thus, he is able to lay everything on the line every time he steps in the ring. 

If The Undertaker is able to do that—and if he is actually in good health as reported by WNW—then I have to think that he will continue to wrestle one epic match a year for as long as his body allows him to do so. 

Although I can’t get inside Undertaker’s head and know he’s feeling or what he’s thinking, what we’ve seen from him in his most recent matches gives us a pretty strong indication that there’s a ton of gas left in his tank, that it’s a lot closer to full than it is to E.

And if Undertaker can still go out on the WrestleMania stage and be a huge asset to the WWE rather than a liability, he will do so until that’s no longer to the case, until he can no longer tear the house down at the WWE’s biggest pay-per-view of the year. 

That won’t happen in 2012. No way, no how. 

There’s too much value left in the Undertaker. There are too many more matches we want to see him have and too many more matches that the WWE can make bank on. 

Undertaker vs. John Cena, Undertaker vs. Chris Jericho, Undertaker vs. CM Punk—the list goes on and on. 

If that list didn’t exist then I’d say, “Sure, Taker. Call it a career because you’ve exhausted all your options in the WWE.” 

But he has more options, he has more matches left in him and he has more Ws to put in his WrestleMania win column. 

He won’t hang up his boots before he does, and he won't do so until WrestleMania 30.

Drake Oz is a WWE Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter and ask him any wrestling-related questions on Formspring.