WrestleMania 39 will mark 3 years since The Undertaker competed in his final WWE match.
The Deadman’s final contest would take place in 2020 during the COVID 19 pandemic, meaning no fans were allowed to be in attendance. WWE would improvise by presenting Undertaker’s final match as The Boneyard match against AJ Styles, with The Phenom being victorious in his final ever outing.
The Undertaker Has Been Touring The World With His One Deadman Show Since Retiring From WWE
The decision for The Undertaker to hang up the black hat and coat for good came due over 3 decades of wrestling matches, resulting in injuries and wear and tear on the body.
Speaking on the Hawk vs. Wolf podcast, The Deadman would say that if physical limitations were not a factor, he would continue having matches beyond WrestleMania 36:
“Absolutely. If I was physically able to do it, I would be out there right now. There is a huge amount of our fanbase that will grade you on a curve. They understand that you’re getting long in the tooth, you have a lot of miles on you, but they just want you out there. Then there is one part of that fanbase, ‘Ah man, he’s old, he shouldn’t be out there, he shouldn’t be doing this.’ Without any hesitation at all, if I felt like I could go and deliver, and deliver a performance that people expect when they see my name on the card, I would do it, but I know I can’t.”
The WWE Hall of Famer would continue to describe the transition to retirement, with The Undertaker stating that nothing excites him the same as stepping inside the ring:
“It’s been a horrible transition. I don’t know that I’ll ever find a passion like I did for actually being in the ring. I’m doing the one man show, and I’m enjoying that and it’s new to me, so I can pour myself into it again, but I don’t know if I’ll ever have that passion that wrestling gave to me. I watch the product and I’m like, ‘damn, I would have done that differently.”
The former WWE Champion’s last appearance on WWE TV was during the Raw XXX celebration episode. Undertaker came to the aide of Bray Wyatt, mysteriously whispering something into the ear of The Eater of Worlds.
H/t to Fightful for the use of transcriptions.