5. If WrestleMania XXX Is The Deadman's Final Match, Taker Deserves To Go On Last
The Undertaker has amassed an untouchable legacy in the WWE, in large part due to his incredible exploits at WrestleMania. 2014 would mark the record 22nd "Granddaddy of 'em all" of The Phenom's career. Yet, as the two and half "Decades of Destruction" label suggests, Taker is getting old. Every year, he comes back for a match or few and follows it up with a major surgery. He has become an orthopedic surgeon's favorite patient, consistently visiting the operating table. From the humanistic point of view, one would have to think that the end is near for the Taker. He has been married more than once, so as he attempts to make his nuptials to Michelle McCool genuine, he knows that he has to put a little bit more effort into his relationship. Let's put it this way...wrestling is a young man's game and Taker's not anything close to young anymore. Father time has caught up with him and he has a life to live without spending half of the year recovering from one match. WrestleMania XXX could easily be the site of his final bout. If it is, we should all celebrate it. Legendary figures like Undertaker deserve to go out on top with the most incredible match possible. In the last seven years, he has provided one of the two most memorable performances at each and every WrestleMania, adding a "Streak within 'The Streak'" at which the entire world can marvel. If Shawn Michaels can be given the main-event spot at WrestleMania XXVI to end his illustrious career based on his incredible track record of critically acclaimed matches, then surely The Deadman deserves the honor, as well. Taker has made it a yearly habit of producing 4-5 star matches at Mania, amassing a "greatest of" on the grandest stage that knows no rivals, in terms of consistency. As great as was the Heartbreak Kid, seven consecutive candidates for Match of the Year produce, he did not. Taker vs. Cena surely would add an eighth. What could possibly follow it? It would have to be the main-event.
Chad Matthews
Contributor
"The Doc" Chad Matthews has written wrestling columns for over a decade. A physician by trade, Matthews began writing about wrestling as a hobby, but it became a passion. After 30 years as a wrestling fan, "The Doc" gives an unmatched analytical perspective on pro wrestling in the modern era. He is a long-time columnist for Lordsofpain.net and hosts a weekly podcast on the LOP Radio Network called "The Doc Says." His first book - The WrestleMania Era: The Book of Sports Entertainment - ranks the Top 90 wrestlers from 1983 to present day, was originally published in December 2013, and is now in its third edition.
Matthews lives in North Carolina with his wife, two kids, and two dogs.
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