The Undertaker: Now what?

[SteveJRogers]

I would have wished a grand surnatural post-match ceremony for Taker after his last match, instead we got a bad match in which he looked toasted and a very human-like walk up the ramp a-là Shawn Michaels. I would guess he's done, yeah. Very underwhelming way to go, but this looked like the one match too many, so in hindsight and kayfabe it kinda make sense that he lost.

 

I have no idea why anyone would want a Taker vs Sting match anyway. It was a dream match in 1997. 17 years ago.

 

Much better match, but it reminded me of Austin's swan song. No one, except for probably The Rock and JR and Vince of course, knew it at the time, but Austin ended up looking at the lights and getting the walk back up the ramp with his music blaring and his in-ring career finished.

[SteveJRogers]

Other than that, someone like Roman Reigns could really get a lot of mileage out of being the one to retire Undertaker.

 

 

See, that's the thing though. Its been hard enough building ANYONE other than Cena up as the next mainstream star, and even in the days of Hogan, Rock and Austin it was hard to build someone up.

 

So, as great of a thing as that would have been, thinking about it now, would it make sense giving someone that "rub" whom could just as well be a dojo trainer or a strip club bouncer three years later as opposed to someone whom is even causally known and promoted as a mainstream pop culture (think D-List, or wherever Cena actually is) star on the roster.

 

So thinking about it that way, it makes sense to give it to a younger version of what Undertaker has become in recent years. That special "attraction" that you trot out every big event.

[shakla]

I wonder how Taker can be inducted in the HoF with the supernatural elements of his character still somewhat intact. I think there is a possibility that Taker may say "Thanks, but no thanks" to an induction. Him appearing at the HoF this weekend doesn't really clear things up, he was still in full character, didn't say anything. I know others have been inducted who were not eloquent speakers (in gimmick) like George Steele and Abdullah, but they were still human, albeit bizarre. Taker is a "zombie", hearing him talk about being trained and his pre-WWE days would seem odd. Don't know, we'll see.

[flyonthewall2983]

I think he'd have no problem accepting the honors as Mark, plus

 

I liked that Undertaker quietly stumbled up the ramp after the match. The loss and that image humanized him.

 

This.

[sporadic]

Oh wow. First post in forever....

 

Taker looked beat up two years ago against Bangs in their HIAC. Last year against Punk was pretty hard to watch.

 

I think he made the decision a long time ago to take his loss and ride off into the sunset but was waiting for the moment to pull the trigger. After Punk "leaving" Vince gave him Brock and he finally decided it was time. Their first interaction you could tell the wear and tear on his body. He looked old, he looked beat up, he looked weak, and he looked like he was ready to move on. I still thought he'd go over Brock but when he didn't I wasn't shocked either.

 

Actually this was the best way he could've gone out. He lost to a legitimate threat. It will only add to the eventual Brock/Brian match and Taker goes out "doing the right thing" like I'm sure he's been dreaming about since 28.

[Matt D]

I wonder how Taker can be inducted in the HoF with the supernatural elements of his character still somewhat intact. I think there is a possibility that Taker may say "Thanks, but no thanks" to an induction. Him appearing at the HoF this weekend doesn't really clear things up, he was still in full character, didn't say anything. I know others have been inducted who were not eloquent speakers (in gimmick) like George Steele and Abdullah, but they were still human, albeit bizarre. Taker is a "zombie", hearing him talk about being trained and his pre-WWE days would seem odd. Don't know, we'll see.

 

They just put RAZOR RAMON in the HOF.

[Loss]

Magical Razor Ramon!

[SteveJRogers]

 

 

I wonder how Taker can be inducted in the HoF with the supernatural elements of his character still somewhat intact. I think there is a possibility that Taker may say "Thanks, but no thanks" to an induction. Him appearing at the HoF this weekend doesn't really clear things up, he was still in full character, didn't say anything. I know others have been inducted who were not eloquent speakers (in gimmick) like George Steele and Abdullah, but they were still human, albeit bizarre. Taker is a "zombie", hearing him talk about being trained and his pre-WWE days would seem odd. Don't know, we'll see.

 

 

They just put RAZOR RAMON in the HOF.

Hell, Glenn Jacobs has been less in character in recent years, and especially with William Moody's HOF induction.

[shakla]

Magical Razor Ramon!

 

Ha. Those toothpicks always had a good launch tho. I'm not saying Taker shouldn't or won't be inducted, they need to transition him and humanize him a little more before the day comes. Have they ever referenced his "Mean" Mark Callous days or anything before that? Would they?

[Loss]

I think it's possible Undertaker will do a promo to humanize himself tonight. I think he could really blame himself and apologize to everyone hardcore for letting them down and get unreal sympathy. I haven't seen that psychology from a babyface in a long time.

[Cross Face Chicken Wing]

Undertaker should stay in character tonight, blame the loss on the fact that Paul Bearer is dead and can no longer hold up the urn to re-charge Taker's super powers, and wrestle another 10 years as a chickenshit heel who needs to cheat to compensate for the loss of his urn powers.

[The Chief]

I always saw Taker as being above those teary-eyed Flair HBK retirement speeches. I can't believe I'm gonna channel JR here, but he needs to ride off into the sunset John Wayne style after losing his last fight. It really is a perfect end to his character, we're just missing the great match as a catalyst to that.

[Eduardo]

I think it's possible Undertaker will do a promo to humanize himself tonight. I think he could really blame himself and apologize to everyone hardcore for letting them down and get unreal sympathy. I haven't seen that psychology from a babyface in a long time.

 

I wish he would do a promo like this -

 

Was just sad to see him last night. It reminded me of seeing a totally shot fighter or boxer, who had just stuck around way too long.

 

I hope he retires. I'm glad I got to see him at two house shows these past few years. I was surprised because at one of the house shows I went to a few years ago, he took a superplex.

[Lust Hogan]

I didn't watch the full match but I caught the ending on YouTube. Taker does look shot and probably won't be back.

 

 

IF he were to come back I could see him maybe getting Brock again. In my head I'm thinking Brock and Bryan collide at SummerSlam with Brock coming out on top and going on a massive run beating lots of guys but also slowly becoming unhinged and harder to control. Maybe a rejuvinated Taker wins the Rumble and challenges Brock? Personally if Taker were to come back I would like to see him somewhat mirror Shawn Michaels and be forced to put his career on the line vs. Brock, who would be obsessed with believing he's invincible. In a Mania match Taker could eke out a win but have some previous callbacks flipped like Taker being on his knees looking up at Brock and Brock slashing his throat or something. If Taker won have him lie motionless, totally spent and play up the "Taker gave his life to save WWE" bit and have some surreal Druid-filled closing bit to retire Taker......

 

.....or have him come out the next night, put Brock over huge on the mic, say that he realizes after last night he only has 1 match left in him and either call out Cena or leave it open ended with a year build as to who gets to face Taker in his final match.

 

 

I believe he's gone and I'm not articulating everything as well as I would like due to time constraints but I think Taker deserves a better sendoff than last night. I hope he didn't get a diagnosis like Edge did or something. I'll flesh out my full thoughts later.....

[El-P]

Please, no tearjerker promo from Taker.

[goc]

Lawler should be glad he's a fan of the Browns and not any other team, that's not the first time I've seen him cut a promo after a loss and compare his fans' disappointment to his disappointment as a Browns fan.

[ohtani's jacket]

Undertaker losing made it seem like anything could happen in the main event and helped those near falls at the end have a bit more scare to them. It helped the show a lot more than an Undertaker victory would have. It was a clever bit of booking even if the match was dead.

[El-P]

Undertaker losing made it seem like anything could happen in the main event and helped those near falls at the end have a bit more scare to them. It helped the show a lot more than an Undertaker victory would have. It was a clever bit of booking even if the match was dead.

 

Totally disagree. Once Taker lost, there was no way in hell Bryan wasn't winning. No way there were sending people home after watching both Taker and Bryan lose.

[ohtani's jacket]

That's the same kind of logic that says UT was never gonna lose in the first place.

[jdw]

So the Undertaker's Wrestlemania streak is over. Now what should they do with him?

 

 

He should retire.

 

In hindsight, he and Vince should have put their heads together back in November to make this the Retirement Match. Not as a stipulation, but simply in the sense of Taker saying he has one match left in him, he wants Brock, and he's either going out with The Streak intact or Brock will beat him. It would have been a strong selling point to Mania 30: the last chance to see Taker, and the last shot at The Streak.

 

Well... since Cena didn't have a feud that moved the dial, *if* Vince wanted Taker to go out a winner, and Taker was willing to, then they should have run Taker vs Cena with Taker going over. That would have drawn more than Taker-Brock.

 

If Taker was adamant about doing a job on the way out to end The Streak, then flat out let Taker pick who he wanted to put over. Whoever Taker wanted to put over, book it and write a storyline.

 

If not, let him beat Cena on the way out. I get that it doesn't make sense to have him beat the Top Guy while retiring, but it's not going to kill Cena. In fact, Cena probably would be honored, and the fans wouldn't hold it against him going down.

 

John

[Slasher]

I was wondering this during and after last night- if you were a superstar (I mean tha in the traditional definition and not in WWE speak) selected to take part in an Undertaker Wrestlemania match with the Streak on the line, would you personally prefer to be the 1 loss for Undertaker or would you prefer being just another of Taker's victims? I can see the positives and negatives for both.

 

Me? I lay down for the guy,

[jdw]

For me, it would have been Taker's call. If he said he wanted me to end The Streak, I would be honored, but would try to talk him out of it at this point feeling he should just take it into retirement. I would rather job to him. But if he were adamant, it would in the end be his call and I would bust my ass trying to work with him to lay out as good of a send off as possible.

 

On the flip side, if it were Shawn or Trip in a similar thing, I'd be in Hogan Mode:

 

"Eh eh, Brother... ain't jobbing to you pricks."

 

[DMJ]

That is a really good point I hadn't read anywhere, John.

 

I know the build for this match wasn't everyone's cup of tea, but in hindsight, it really was underwhelming and, most surprisingly maybe, not promoted AT ALL like it could've/should've been considering that it was most likely the last match of the Undertaker's career.

 

For example, Flair's retirement at WM24 made a ton of sense and was basically 100% guaranteed going into the event. The match was basically a formality (and one I enjoyed thoroughly) as it really was promoted as the last time you'll ever see Ric Flair wrestle.

 

Had they promoted Taker's last match in a similar fashion, you would have had a HUGE selling point for the casual/Attitude Era fans and it really is surprising that they decided to keep it a secret. Kudos to them, though, because I honestly don't think I've ever been so shocked as a fan and I've been watching WWE & WCW for 20+ years.

[El-P]

That's the same kind of logic that says UT was never gonna lose in the first place.

 

Well, no one believed he could lose and the match was a failure for that reason (among others). It will be memorable because of the result, but him losing that way after that match and that finish was just a big time fail. Of course people were shocked. But it fell flat and seemed anticlimatic. Anyway, no, after such a shock, there was no way in hell Bryan was not winning. Lightning just doesn't strike twice that way.

[jdw]

He's a mess:

 

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