Is Undertaker Really Retiring?

[stingray11214]

Taker was not 'good looking' enough to have 5 ex wives is what you meant to say. And if Flair was Taker he could afford to have made very bad financial decisions. Taker is NOT done and I seriously wonder about commenters like you. Does WWE pay staff to infiltrate these boards to redirect us from the fact that there was nothing NOTHING on RAW that decisively proved that the Undertaker is finished? As for the bad hip, I'm sure it's not great but it hasn't been great for years. What's one more year? And really...that hip has been hyped pretty hard by online writers..whose job it is to misdirect the smarks..

1) Undertaker is "Old school". He does NOT break character in a WWE setting. Period
2) He took off his gear IN the ring. That is traditional in amateur wrestling where one leaves his boots in the ring to signify retirement.
3) Yeah, he acknowledged his wife, which is NEVER done while "in character" as long as said character does not call for it
4) Do you think VKM and the Titan Towers gang give a bird fornication what this board, or any other board, has to say?.

So, in regards to 1-3, you do not need big speeches, big announcements, or big press releases to declare an action or activity. Sometimes, ACTION is like a picture: It is worth a thousand words. Taker did not need words to say he is retired. He did not need pomp and circumstance on RAW to declare his retirement. He did it on HIS terms. Quietly. Silently. And let his ACTIONS after his match with Roman Reigns speak for him.

In the unspoken English, The Undertaker is retired. And, he told you so.

 

[Loganity]

As others have pointed out, Taker's not the typical wrestler. He almost never breaks character when he's in a WWE sponsored setting. When the Cleveland Cavs were presented with their custom WWE Championship for winning the NBA Championship last year, Taker was there on hand dressed in his gear. Nobody else does stuff like that. On the "Raw is Owen" episode paying tribute to Owen Hart the night after his tragic death, the Undertaker was one of the very, very few on the roster who didn't wrestle, share memories of Owen or even make an appearance. Why? Because he'd have had to break character as the Undertaker character, a macabre supernatural figure grimly associated with death, wouldn't exactly have been appropriate. When Ric Flair gave his retirement speech on the post WrestleMania Raw after losing his retirement match to HBK, Taker paid tribute to Flair, said goodbye to him, hugged him in the middle of the ring but all this took place after Raw went off the air that night. Why? Because Taker's character isn't the touchy feely, sentimental type.

Taker kissing his wife is something he's NEVER done in any WrestleMania match because, again, Taker's character isn't someone who has the typical lifestyle of mortal men which includes a wife and family. Taker breaking kayfabe on a WWE broadcast while the broadcast is still taking place is a major anomaly and when you factor that in with his wife's tweets, the leaving of his hat & coat in the center of the ring and the fact that WWE acknowledged that it looks as though Taker may have had his last match several times on Raw last night add up to about a 99.99% chance that the Undertaker, Mark Calaway, has wrestled his last professional match.

As for the arguments regarding Taker's age, age is always a factor. Ric Flair kept wrestling because he's pissed away fortune after fortune on one failed marriage after another, some of which were to women roughly half his age, and simple piss poor money management. Flair lived the "Nature Boy" gimmick and the result was financial ruin.

What exactly do make of the fact that Cole/WWE stressed "If it was his last match?" And referring to Taker's retirement as "speculation" WWE's official site has his retirement as a question mark. I was sure he was done but after RAW the door feels open (a crack) how could anyone not feel that way when WWE refused to confirm his retirement?

 

[Loganity]

I feel like the Undertaker is like Shawn Michaels in this regard. Retired MEANS retired. End of story. And for a character like the Undertaker, I honestly hope it stays that way.

That is not to say I don't wish Taker was still here. I mean I cried like a bitch on Sunday night, but it was absolutely perfect. Everything about the final segment was so special and beautiful. I wouldn't want them to ruin the awe of the moment for the sake of a so-so match because the reality is that Taker is battered and bruised to the extreme. And that's because of the 27 years he has put in to the WWE. Let him be I say.

The Undertaker character was meant to disappear one day and never return again. That's the way I see it. He came, he conquered, and he left town. That's really how I believe Taker will see it as well. It's an old school kind of approach, but he is old school.

The only thing that makes me question all of this is the way WWE have point-blank refused to say he IS retired. It's all question marks for now. But honestly, if he does come back, as relieved as I will be to see him again, it ruins the end of WrestleMania 33 for me. That's perhaps selfish, but when Taker retired (because obviously one day he had too!) I wanted it to be definitive and perfect, just like his character. .

After Raw I'm no longer positive that WM33 was his last match. The way they kept stressing "If it was his last match" And referring to his retirement as "speculation" I'm holding out hope he'll wrestle again at WM34 and get a win where the streak ended. Would Vince really want him to walk away without the match with Cena that would no doubt be a money maker? I'm afraid we won't have a definitive answer until 2018

 

[Glacier]

He may come back and take on Mick Foley in a titanium hip-on-a-pole
match at next years Wrestlemania.

 

[Navi]

Well for what it's worth WWEshop.com has two new "Thank you Taker" shirts out. I don't know but do they do that for current active roster members? That's a question, I really don't know.

He hasn't been moved to the Alumni section yet, but maybe they are waiting for him to officially announce his retirement.

 

[Snugglebites]

I think his retirement will be 100% confirmed when he finally appears on the SCSA podcast. How long ago was that announced?