The Undertaker was a guest on WWE’s The Bump on Sunday ahead of the Survivor Series pay-per-view and got the chance to reflect on some of his classic moments from his 30-year WWE career. “The Deadman” explained that he always felt a special connection with Survivor Series since he made his debut at the 1990 installment, but his mood changed when the 1993 Survivor Series event was brought up. For those who don’t recall, that show saw Undertaker team with Lex Luger and The Steiner Brothers to form The All-Americans as they combatted The Foreign Fanatics — Yokozuna, Crush, Quebecer Jacques and Ludvig Borga — in the show’s main event.
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During the Nov. 15, 1993 episode of Raw, Undertaker debuted a special coat with the classic Betsy Ross version of the American flag sewn on the inside, signifying his loyalty to the team. The coat was never seen again after its first appearance, and Undertaker openly admitted he hated the idea.
“If it had been up to me, you wouldn’t have seen it this night either,” Undertaker said with a laugh. “Believe me, I’m as big of a patriot that’ll come down the road. I do a lot of work with our veterans and our first responders. But when Vince (McMahon) first presented that to me I was like, ‘There is no way in heck I am going to walk out there and open my coat with flag.’ He thought it was so cool because it was the Betsy Ross, 13 colony flag. That was going to make it cool. I was livid.”
The All-Americans wound up winning that match. A year later Undertaker was back in the main event, this time beating Yokozuna in a Casket Match with Chuck Norris at ringside as the special guest enforcer. Undertaker made his final onscreen appearance for WWE at last year’s Survivor Series, offering a final farewell and closing the book on his in-ring career. He has since stated in interviews that he physically can’t put on the kind of quality match fans would want from a comeback.
“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,” he recently told The Dallas Morning News. “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.”
