The Undertaker has finally revealed why the one dream match that fans wanted for decades never happened.
Despite Undertaker having legendary rivalries with the top stars of WWE including Shawn Michaels, Mick Foley and Steve Austin, there was a fellow Hall of Famer who never stood across the ring from The Deadman in WWE, Sting.
Both praised for their work ethic, in-ring work and longevity, the two loyalists to WWE and WCW facing off was a dream match for many fans who grew up idolising The Phenom and The Icon. Additionally, many drew similarities to each wrestler’s darker and more mysterious persona.
Sting chose to not sign with WWE following the closure of WCW in 2001 and eventually joined TNA a couple of years later, seemingly putting an end to the possibility of the two legends facing off. However, at Survivor Series 2014, Sting made his long-awaited WWE debut, giving hope to fans that the match may finally happen.
Sadly, Sting only had a handful of matches with the company before announcing his retirement while being inducted into the 2016 Hall of Fame class. With Undertaker being an active performer during The Icon’s brief WWE run, why was the match never booked?
Speaking on the Six Feet Under podcast, Undertaker admitted that he is constantly asked the question. Finally admitting the real reason, Taker stated that Vince McMahon had no desire to make the match:
“Everywhere I go on any given day I get the question. I always call it the question. Like when I do the 1 deadMAN Show. I just wait and I’m like, when’s it coming? Because I know it’s gonna come. It’s always, Why didn’t you and Sting ever have a match? Or why didn’t this happen or that happen? Man, that would have been huge box office, it just didn’t work out.
He had a short run in WWE and Vince didn’t want it for whatever reason, I don’t know what it was. He just didn’t feel it. And everybody else was like, people have clamouring for this match for quite a few years. And I mean, I don’t know, a year or two into his turn or that character change, people were sending me artwork with the billboard of the poster. So, yeah, it just never worked out.”
When discussing how the match would have played out in 2015, the Hall of Famer admitted that while it would have been good, he was nowhere near the peak level he was at in the mid-2000s:
“The match would have been good. But I don’t think it would have lived up to the expectations that people have for it. People always think about things in a certain sense. I think they thought in their mind of Undertaker 2007 2008 versus Sting. It was later on than that. I can say I was way on the backside of what I was going to do when he got there.”
Undertaker would go on to credit Sting for being booked in a way that he was not exposed and that his limitations were covered due to his increased age, such as being used strictly in tag team matches with Darby Allin in AEW.
The Undertaker Discusses Possible In-Ring Return
In 2020, the Hall of Famer competed in his final match at WrestleMania 36. Unlike his match against Roman Reigns 3 years prior, this retirement looked to be permanent and was capped off with a Final Farewell at Survivor Series. During a Q and A section of his podcast, The Undertaker admitted that he has considered making a comeback.
Also during the podcast, The Undertaker admitted that attending WWE events can be a struggle.
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