The Undertaker has spoken out about Vince McMahon and the real man behind the money that the general public never get to see.
The relationship between Mark ‘Undertaker’ Calaway and Vincent Kennedy McMahon has been well documented throughout the years and was even the spotlight of an episode of the recent WWE Network documentary, The Last Ride.
More father and son than employer and employee, both men may have had their differences over the thirty years they’ve been in business together, but at the end of the day, there’s nothing but love, respect and loyalty between them.
Now, The Undertaker has spoken to The New York Post ahead of his ‘Final Farewell’ at WWE Survivor Series on November 22 about his aspirations in the future, the real Vince McMahon and how in his opinion doing another cinematic match would be plain cheating.
When questioned about his boss of thirty years, The Undertaker was keen to stress that the billionaire wasn’t the ruthless businessman that he’d been painted as in the media and how he trusted him for thirty years to know whether his character still had another match left:
“He’s a caring human being, not the monster that people think that he is. I’ve never taken for granted the special opportunity he gave me. If Vince feels like there’s still something there, I have a place on the roster, then I had no problem doing it. That’s where the internet and all that stuff kind of show up, ‘Just let him retire, just let him do this, let him do that.’ I’m a grown man. I can walk away anytime I want.”
When he was quizzed about whether November 22 is really the end for him or whether there’s one last WrestleMania outing to be had, ‘The Deadman’ shot down any possibility of another bout citing that his body is no longer capable of what he would consider an Undertaker-worthy WrestleMania clash:
“I realise I have taken every physical gift, tool that I have and have used it up. There’s no water left in the sponge, if I can use that analogy. I’ve rung everything I could get out of that sponge.”
Ruling out one last match in front of a live audience – when they are able to return in their masses – The Undertaker also put pay to a cinematic farewell the likes of which we saw him prevail in at WrestleMania 36:
“It really doesn’t appeal to me because basically what it is, is working around my limitations. It’s capitalizing on some of my ability and some of my creative ability to tell a story but basically it’s trying to mask some of the lack of my physical abilities at this point.”
So with that said, it seems like Survivor Series really is the end for one of, if not the greatest character WWE have ever created, thirty years to day since he was first led to the ring by Brother Love.
It’s hard to fathom that this really could be goodbye, but for ‘The Man From the Darkside’ it’s been a career he never imagined he could have:
“Guys will have their run and then they’ll go somewhere else, they’ll go to Japan, they’ll go wherever or just take some time off. Because you get burned out and obviously our fan base, sometimes there’s a flavor of the week. Once something new comes in the old kind of gets set aside. If you had told me, ‘yeah you’re gonna have a 30-year straight run with one company,’ I would have been like, ‘yea OK. If you say so.'”
The wrestling world will stand as one on November 22 to say a tearful farewell to a man we’ve grown up with from childhood to adulthood. Though no plans have been revealed for his farewell, he has truly earned his right to rest in peace.
Inside the Ropes will have live coverage of WWE Survivor Series.
Credit for the interview: The New York Post
h/t for the transcription: Wrestling Inc.