The Undertaker Explains Why Transitioning Into Retirement Has Been “Horrible”

The Undertaker announced back in 2020 that his legendary WWE career was officially over as he viewed his Boneyard Match with AJ Styles at WrestleMania 36 as a suitable final match. He was given the chance for a “final farewell” at the 2020 Survivor Series event, then was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in the Class of 2022. And while he has popped up a few times on WWE TV since then, most recently at Raw XXX last month, he hasn’t gone back on that retirement claim.

He explained why in an interview with the Dallas Morning News in 2021, saying that even though he could mentally put together another match his body can’t physically keep up with what he used to be able to do in the ring. 

“I think it’s always in my head and in my heart, especially getting ready for WrestleMania here at AT&T Stadium it’s just like … man. But it’s just at a point where physically, I can’t perform at a level,” Undertaker said at the time. “I mean, I could go out and walk through something and I could get through a match. But I can’t give people what they expect at this point. When you see Undertaker, you pay money to see that guy wrestle. I can’t deliver physically on what people’s expectations are. … The passion is obviously still there. I think that will always be there. It’s just the physical side of it. … My time has come, my time has gone. This is the WWE and things happen, you never know. But I know that my time has passed and it’s time for these young guys to step up and take over and lead us to where we’re going.”

He was recently a guest on the Hawk vs. Wolf podcast and openly admitted that transitioning into retirement has been a “horrible” experience (h/t WrestlingNews.co) — “I would be [out there] without any hesitation at all if I thought I could deliver a performance that people expect when they see my name on the card. I would do it, but I know I can’t. It’s been a horrible transition. I don’t know that I’ll ever find a passion like I did for actually being in the ring. I’m doing the one-man show, and I’m enjoying that it’s new to me. I can pour myself into it again, but I don’t know if I’ll ever have that passion that wrestling gave to me. And then again, I watch the product, and I’m like, ‘damn, I would have done that differently. Why won’t you work!””