That Time The Undertaker ALMOST Walked Out On WWE

The Undertaker Goldberg
WWE.com

Nobody outside of wrestling cares about wrestling much of the time, for a start. The Undertaker droning on and on about how he can't go anymore didn't make him remotely sympathetic. This wasn't a tale rich in pathos of a special athlete becoming normal, human, à la Beyond The Mat; this was the tale of 'Taker, lumbering through a series of terrible matches in Saudi Arabia for vast sums of blood money, asking you to feel sorry for him. It closed on the cinematic Boneyard match against AJ Styles at an event, WrestleMania 36, that was otherwise difficult to watch on every conceivable level. The Boneyard match was well-received, but AJ Styles being a funny stooge heel and getting pounded in a basic, heavily staged smoke and mirrors brawl was hardly a great, last-ditch "comeback story". Lionel Messi going on to win the World Cup, after being humiliatingly dispossessed in the build up to France's equaliser, this was not.

The critics did not rate or even acknowledge 'Taker's story. In effect, WWE eroded his mystique for no reason. So where does that leave him and his legacy?

Now that he's left to his own devices, mostly ushered away from the prying non-partnered media by Vince McMahon, 'Taker fancies himself an evening speaker and has ventured onto the road with his 1DeadMAN show. That is a torturous attempt at wordplay, and by several accounts is a fitting name for a tedious non-experience of a show lacking in insight, comedy and entertainment. The Undertaker was never a great and engaging speaker, but you can't fleece fans using body language alone, and thus he apparently just rambles on and on with no coherent threads about various stages of his career. 'Taker doesn't have the charisma to engage a crowd, and he isn't being interviewed by somebody with an interest into delving into the man underneath the hat. He goes on stage, talks about playing dominos, says he thought Mick Foley had died that time, and goes home.

Would the Undertaker actually have been interesting in an alternate timeline?

Would people - the people who don't adore him irrespective of what he says, and how monotonously he says it - be kinder to his legacy?

CONT'D...(4 of 5)

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Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!