Undertaker Talks WWE Future, Says Vince McMahon Changed 'The Last Ride' Ending
The Undertaker announced his retirement in June during WWE Network's The Last Ride documentary.
But during an appearance on the My Mom's Basement podcast (h/t
"It was in my thought process. I have a whole group of people who are like, 'You can go out and do this, people will go crazy.' On the inside, I'm thinking, 'I don't move the way I used to move, it's a watered down version.' I also love this business so much and love performing. It's almost like I needed somebody to put the bullet in there and stop. Once we started rolling with this, it was in the back of my mind, 'I can get to a point where this will solidify it and I won't have a choice.' Originally, that's where I was at until I had to send the last 15 minutes to the chairman [Vince McMahon]. He didn't like the ending at all. That's where we put the line back in there, 'Never say never.' I'm coming to grips with it. Obviously, as we get close to [WrestleMania], I'll have that internal feeling like I should be getting ready for something."
.jpg?w=256)
Here's the segment he was referencing, when he said on The Last Ride he had "no desire to get back in the ring" after initially offering his "never say never" quote on a potential return:
The 55-year-old Mark Calaway, better known for his WWE pseudonym The Undertaker, joined WWE (then the WWF) in 1990. In his Hall of Fame career, he was a seven-time world heavyweight champion and most famous for his streak of 21 straight victories at WrestleMania before Brock Lesnar ended it at WrestleMania 30 in 2014.
He finished his career with a 25-2 record at WrestleMania, also losing to Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 33 in 2017.
As for whether he could actually return, Triple H said in June he thought The Undertaker would come back at some point, if only to go out in front of the fans in an arena, which he didn't get the chance to do at the Boneyard Match (h/t Joseph Staszewski of the New York Post):
"It's hard for me to say when somebody like him puts it down because I feel like the dragon is always in front of him one way or another and he's always gonna look to do it. I think it would be hard for him to end on some kind of theatrical piece like that because of what you said, the emotionality of it.
"We finished the last shot and then we're like, 'Alright, I think we got some good stuff let's go home.' There weren't 80,000 or 100,000 people standing up going crazy and you getting to stand on the top of that stage and get to have that one last moment. It's not the closure you're looking for."
Only The Deadman knows for sure whether he'll seek that closure in front of a packed house.
.jpg?w=480)
