Undertaker Ends Iconic Career with Bittersweet WWE WrestleMania 33 Sendoff

The immortal Undertaker looked painfully mortal at WWE WrestleMania 33.

In what appears to have been his last match, The Deadman was stiff, slow and limited against Roman Reigns. He and his foe told an engaging story of two titans battling for position at Sunday's pay-per-view, but his body failed him at times.

Undertaker looked his age under the glow of the WrestleMania spotlight.

Fans knew this was coming. The future Hall of Famer has been wrestling since 1984 and turned 52 in the days before WrestleMania 33. It was easy to deny the inevitable, to drown out the sound of an icon's twilight approaching.

The Phenom has long been one of WrestleMania's greatest attractions.

Whether he was battling Triple H, CM Punk or Edge, the audience wanted badly to see what Undertaker would do next at the event where he won 21 straight contests. He had composed a string of classics at the PPV. His mythos grew each year, with the veteran emerging from hibernation to step on to The Grandest Stage of Them All.

He did so against Reigns on Sunday in his presumed final match.

Undertaker exuded his usual magnetic aura. He was the captivating dark gunslinger stepping through smoke to enter battle once more.

His humanity jutted out, though, past the larger-than-life figure. 

He struggled to lift Reigns up for the Last Ride. He and The Big Dog had an awkward exchange where Reigns couldn't reverse the Tombstone Piledriver. And all night, The Phenom was unable to hit the high notes the violent song in the ring required.

There were flashes of vintage Undertaker in between showcases of how many steps he has lost.

ESPN boxing writer Dan Rafael was not a fan of the action that unfolded:

Reigns had to fire his best weapons again and again to keep The Deadman down. Undertaker kept rising after taking spears to the gut, a movie monster refusing to die. 

When The Big Dog did finally pin him, the stage was his.

He stripped his gloves from his hands and slipped his jacket from his shoulder and laid it all in the ring. Undertaker was a warrior leaving his sword plunged into the battlefield. He kissed his wife at ringside and took a somber walk up the entrance ramp.

This was a grand moment befitting of WrestleMania, a somber salute to an all-time great.

You could see it in the forlorn faces in the crowd—it was hitting fans that this was a farewell for one of the best to ever do this. Undertaker has teased exits before, but this felt different. This felt final. Not only did he have strain to cross the finish line, but there was a look of peace, relief and a touch of melancholy on his face.

Denny Burkholder of CBSSports.com noted how Undertaker seemed to savor the moment:

If this is truly it, WWE offered him quite the sendoff. Undertaker main-evented WrestleMania for the fourth time. His defeat came only after the mightiest of struggles, after Reigns fired every bullet in his holster and then some. 

WrestleMania ended with him saying goodbye, riding off into the proverbial sunset. 

Fans chanted "Thank you, Taker!" Much of the buzz after the event will focus on him. He gave one last gutsy effort in the ring, pushing himself to excel and create something stirring.

He will walk away with numerous world title reigns wins to his name. His great feuds with Shawn Michaels and Mankind will long be remembered. The Deadman was one of WWE's enduring characters, one of its longest tenured stars and a cornerstone of its biggest event. 

But even legends succumb to Father Time. 

Sometimes you drive a car until the tires wear down to the rim, the pistons gum up and the vehicle struggles to even start. You remember how it used to glide down the road but realize it will never do that again.

That was Undertaker on Sunday night—his time up, his journey finally at its end.