10 Fascinating WWE Facts About WrestleMania 35

8. The Strange Saga Of The Undertaker WrestleMania Absence

Kofi Kingston title win
Twitter/@StarrcastEvents

As (partially) documented in his WWE Network mini-series, The Undertaker's protracted retirement wasn't going to plan by 2019.

Attempts to have one last truly great match hadn't panned out, and after three 'Show Of Shows' shockers against Bray Wyatt, Shane McMahon and Roman Reigns following the end of his undefeated WrestleMania streak, a fun squash victory over John Cena didn't do much to reset the balance.

Before anything could be set up for an appearance at this specific event, Undertaker - advertising himself as Mark Calaway for the first time in what felt like forever - signed on to do the AEW-adjacent Starrcast II event in May. In what proved to be a battle of wills lost by 'The Deadman' against his longstanding boss, he quickly withdrew from the event. In the meantime, no WrestleMania spot was forthcoming.

Vince McMahon was in the ambulance that took Undertaker to hospital following his concussion against Brock Lesnar in 2014, missing half the card in the process. In 2019 in an act of penance and/or making nice, Undertaker ultimately missed the entire thing.

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Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett