10 Rare Times Wrestlers Were Self-Aware

Unless it's a very specific meta gimmick on the irony scene, the professional wrestler cannot be fully self-aware.

They are portraying outsize characters with intensely masculine characteristics that function to sell the audience on performed fights. It would ruthlessly undercut all that, were one of them to say "Actually, I'm a bit sh*t now. The clue is in the silence that greets every other main event match."

They also literally can't be self-aware because the vast majority of professional wrestlers are headcases who live in a demented bubble in which they embody their fictional characters. The Undertaker was resistant to doing business with Diamond Dallas Page in 2001 because he conflated the person with the character who appeared on WCW programming, which briefly threatened the WWF's monopoly, compelling 'Taker to smash him against a steel cage at SummerSlam really, really hard in a one-sided annihilation.

You see, the stars of WCW didn't know how to work. Smash cut to the very next pay-per-view, at which 'Taker worked the worst match of the year alongside WWF-honed Kane, Brian Adams and Bryan Clark.

Self-awareness is a trait some modern performers have developed - Drew McIntyre and Cody do humblebrag bits to warm up the room - as wrestling evolves beyond a cartoon.

But it's something else entirely when the old carnies shut down the game.

In hindsight, it probably wasn't the best idea, amid sociopolitical war and an imminent global recession stemming from an unprecedented health crisis, for a multi-millionaire to whine about having instant access to an incredibly well-paying job that he wasn't very good at anymore, but was still guaranteed, while wearing a Blue Lives Matter t-shirt.

The Last Ride was a misfire of timing and tone. Meant to resonate with pathos - the battle against professional pride was harder than any defence of the Streak at WrestleMania, etc. - it just reeked of privilege.

The Undertaker discussed with honesty his physical decline and depressing blood money twilight years performance level. It ended happily enough - 'Taker's last two outings, at Extreme Rules and WrestleMania 36, were genuine and creative smoke-and-mirrors triumphs, respectively - but who was this for?

Those with no great affection for him hardly changed sympathised, and for his many loyal fans, it shattered the great myth WWE had spent decades curating.

Also, virtually all of pro wrestling no-sold what was the most tentative of retirements, caveated as it was with the old "At this stage of my life..." and "Never say never..." disclaimers three years after his first symbolic retirement.