The Undertaker retired from Sports Entertainment at the recently concluded Survivor Series. For years, there were rumors about how and when he might retire. He chose this year as he felt his body is not permitting him to wrestle anymore.
In a recent interview, The Undertaker weighed in on the various injuries he suffered throughout his thirty-year career. Three decades is an unusually long career for any athlete, especially in a physically demanding sport like wrestling.
“There’s not a day I wake up something doesn’t hurt,” said ‘The Deadman.’ “I’ve already got metal in my hips; I’ll walk with a limp forever; the range of motion of my head is not what it was.”
He was in some of the most physically demanding matches (like the Hell in a Cell match) in WWE history. Being tossed around and enduring maneuvers was hard, even for the ‘Phenom.’
“The human body isn’t made to take what we do on a nightly basis.”
He also revealed some details about delivering the Tombstone Piledriver, “I pick someone up, and with all their weight and my jump down straight on to my knees.”
Undertaker revealed how both his knees will need replacement. He has already had 17 surgeries.
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However, he is happy with his career. “I chose my path and wouldn’t change it, even with all the metal I have in my body today.
Thirty years in a sport is a huge benchmark for any athlete, especially when it…
Undertaker said, “Regardless of how I felt physically, when the lights went out, and the music came on, and I started my entrance, just for a couple of moments, my fans made all the pain go away. You feel their appreciation; it gives you that little bit …”
The Undertaker was passionate about wrestling from the very beginning
The Undertaker was initially known as ‘Mean Mark’ in WCW. He was a basketball player before he turned his attention to wrestling.
Guys back then were “plodders,” according to The Undertaker.
“They’d walk around and knock the crap out of you; pick you up and throw you. I could do that while moving around nimbly, too. Once I started training, I was like: ‘God, this is what I want to do.’ It was in my blood.”
Back then, fans were so intensely involved with wrestling that they often got offended if someone said wrestling was ‘fake.’ However, with time, Taker, as a fan, had made his peace with it.
“As I’ve matured, I’ve learned I don’t need to [get upset]. Today, everyone knows what wrestling is.
He further explains, “You get a bit of every genre of entertainment: drama, comedy, incredible athleticism. We’ve come out: we’re sports entertainment. The product has evolved into a global juggernaut,” – WWE airs in more than 800m households across 180 countries – “and not by chance.”
Now that Undertaker is done with in-ring wrestling, he is looking forward to some private and family time. After his thirty years on the road, the ‘Deadman’ can finally rest in peace. (Essentially Sports)
