'Stone Cole' Steve Austin officially retired from professional wrestling following his defeat to The Rock at WrestleMania 19. His retirement was not made public and only a select group of WWE officials were told Austin's intentions with regards to his future in the WWE. There was no tribute show, no official gesture on the part of the WWE but rather a quiet end to a legendary career that was completely at odds with Austin's 'Stone Cold' gimmick. Eleven years later it would seem that The Undertaker has opted to follow Austin's private route into professional retirement. As discussed earlier, the man behind The Undertaker character Mark Calaway is a private and reflective wrestling traditionalist; identical traits to Steve Austin. It would make sense that Calaway would want to fulfil the time honoured tradition of losing his final match before quietly retiring with class and dignity. It would be strange for Calaway to want to replicate a Shawn Michaels or Ric Flair retirement with 'retirement' themed shows, and it would be even stranger to see The Undertaker want to enter the ring for one last match, after visually witnessing his in ring limitations at WrestleMania 30. It is perhaps unwelcome news for the vast majority of the WWE Universe that, similar to Austin in 2003, the images of The Undertaker walking from the ring at WrestleMania 30 are perhaps the only images of his retirement from the WWE. While there no doubt will be a future Hall of Fame segment inducting The Undertaker, there is equally little doubt, that in all likelihood The Undertaker's defeat at WrestleMania 30 was a traditional and understated signal that 'The Phenom' has officially entered retirement. Over the next few weeks and months the question of The Undertaker's WWE future might be better answered but for now it would seem that all evidence points to the probability that The Undertaker is presently enjoying his well deserved retirement without the WWE Universe even realising it.
