The Undertaker has admitted that he paid the price for repeatedly executing a particular manoeuvre.
Having competed inside the squared circle for more than 3 decades, Undertaker has a considerable amount of wear and tear on his body due to the physical nature of professional wrestling. As such, The Deadman has required multiple surgeries to deal with many injuries such as knee and hip replacements. Looking back to his final matches, the Hall of Famer has cited a routine move as the most damaging.
With his opponent lying half inside the ring and half on the outside, Taker would hit a Leg Drop from the apron onto his foe. Speaking on a Q and A for Six Feet Under, The Phenom admitted that repeated landings on the apron took their toll towards the end:
“The one that really at the end, and nothing really bothered me as far as my move set until the end of my career. But that Guillotine Leg Drop on the apron, by the end of my career it was sending shivers right up my spine like I was getting like electrical, like somebody was hitting me with a cattle prod every time that I would drop that leg on the apron.
Because there’s no give at all to the apron. That’s where everything is tied in and it’s pretty solid there. I would get pretty good height on that thing. I think that’s probably what took out my right hip, is dropping that that Guillotine Leg Drop. It was probably the hardest thing.
And the tombstone just at the very end kind of started to bother me because my knees were getting kind of chewed up. But for the most part of my career, it was nothing really. It just kind of snuck up on me one day.”
With the power of hindsight, Undertaker also admitted that he should have used the Guillotine Leg Drop more sparingly:
“When you’re young and you’re healthy and you got that S on your chest. You’re like, you’ll live forever. Nothing’s ever gonna bother you. Then one day you wake up and you can barely walk.
It’s like, ‘Wow, maybe, I should have used that a little more judiciously. Maybe I should’ve used Hells Gate a little more. But yeah, that Guillotine Leg Drop, that was pretty stiff.”
In recent news, The Undertaker has reflected on if the WWE Over The Edge PPV in 1999 should have continued after Owen Hart’s tragic passing.
In a recent interview, a WWE Star revealed scrapped plans for The Undertaker at WrestleMania 32.
The Undertaker Praises Top WWE Star
Although no longer an active competitor, Undertaker still keeps up with the product and has given his thoughts on a current champion within the company. During a recent episode of his Six Feet Under podcast, The Undertaker named a WWE star who he believes has unlimited potential.
The Undertaker would also give his thoughts on a recent acknowledgement on WWE Raw.
H/t to SEScoops.