Here's How The Undertaker Feels About His Retirement Not Happening In Front of a Live Crowd

By Connor Casey

The Undertaker's legendary career officially came to an end back in 2020 when he announced he was hanging up his boots on the final episode of The Last Ride docuseries. "The Phenom" explained throughout the series that he was in search of a match he felt would be a fitting end to his career, starting off with his WrestleMania 33 bout against Roman Reigns. However, his own performance in the bout failed to live up to his expectations, so he'd wind up wrestling another nine matches across the next three years. He was finally satisfied after his match with AJ Styles at WrestleMania 36, even though the Covid-19 pandemic changed it into the cinematic "Boneyard Match" with no fans in attendance.

He'd have his "Final Farewell" ceremony later that year at Survivor Series, but by that point, WWE shows were attended by fans virtually through the ThunderDome. "The Deadman" finally got to appear in front of live fans again during his WWE Hall of Fame induction ceremony last year, which was followed by two appearances inside AT&T Stadium at WrestleMania 38.

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In a new interview with Chris Van Vliet, Undertaker admitted that he didn't mind the circumstances of his retirement since he was worried about breaking down emotionally if live fans were there (h/t WrestlingNews.co) — "Even though I knew I was done, and it was over, like, I didn't want to cry. I didn't want to break down. I was still trying to protect that character. I was like, man if I'm out here in front of a live audience, like, I mean you saw how hard of a time I had at that at the Hall of Fame, and you know, that's another year or two later, I would have been a wreck because I didn't want to retire. In my mind, in my heart, there's nothing more that I want to do than get in the ring and perform. You know, it was my body that just said, 'No, you're done dude, We got everything out of this we can get, and it's time for you to move aside and let these guys come up.'"

"So I would have been a wreck if there had been people there and, you know, all that kayfabing I did and protecting the character would have been destroyed in one promo. I would have been balling," he added.

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