2. Undertaker On Knowing When To Hang Up Your Boots
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1hs5zdYkpE Theres been an awful lot of speculation over the last couple of years as to how long itd be before Mark The Undertaker Calaway decided to retire. Its been four years now since he was an even semi-regular presence on the WWE roster, and during 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014 the Dead Man pretty much has only appeared in the lead-up to Wrestlemania and on the big night itself. His laundry list of nagging chronic injuries are well documented, and hes got nothing left to prove in the business itself. With a happy marriage at home, a new baby daughter and a secure financial future established for well over a decade, surely it couldnt be long now? Then the unthinkable happened: Brock Lesnar defeated him at Wrestlemania, breaking the Streak, a worked accomplishment that had achieved an almost mythical importance in WWE over the previous few years, in real life as well as in storylines. In fact, the Streak had been made a part of the Undertakers Mania feuds since his match with Kane at Wrestlemania XX. What was far more telling though, was the manner in which Lesnar beat the the Undertaker. For the first time since 2006s snoozefest against Mark Henry, the Dead Mans match wasnt the best thing on the card this year, the crowd appearing bored and disinterested until the wholly unexpected finish. The above clip is from an interview with The Score in 2003, in which he was asked about retirement. The interview took place during Calaways run as the more realistic biker variant on his Undertaker persona, and in that period he was free to perform out-of-character interviews and public appearances, even to the extent of appearing on evening chat shows. In the interview, he states that hell continue to wrestle as long as he has something left in the tank, and as long as he can hang with the Kurt Angles, the Triple Hs and the Brock Lesnars. He also states that he likes to think that when the time comes that hes no longer able to do so, someone in the company will have the good grace to let him know, if he hasnt figured it out himself. At Wrestlemania XXX, regardless of the worked outcome of the match, it was pretty clear that, at his age and in his physical condition, Calaway couldnt hang with Brock Lesnar like he could a decade earlier. Aside from the mediocre quality of the match, the story also goes that he would suffer a concussion during the match that had him collapse as soon as he made his way backstage, and he was taken directly to hospital. Lets hope that hes figured out that its time to stay at home from now on. The mans done enough.
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