Has The Undertaker wrestled his final match?

[HatchetMan84]

I feel at this point Taker is done because they planned the finish to his match 6 days before the event. It was originally incorrectly reported that Taker argued with Vince wanting to end the streak, as Taker wanted to go on, but the truth was Vince thought the streak should end because he believed WM30 was going to be Taker's last match and Taker agreed.

I think in the course of the match, and how messed up Taker got plays a large part on if he comes back or not. The reports say his shoulder is basically completely gone, he was wrestling on what was believed was a blown hip, plus he got a serious concussion. I wonder if he can heal from all of that well enough to have a decent match against Sting (or whoever) IF he decides to come back

 

[BillAlfonsos_Whistle]

Undertaker should go out in the bottom of a Casket.


Who puts him there depends on if he wants to use his legend to push a new guy or not.
If so...Bray Wyatt. Duh.
If not...Sting seems fine to me.

 

[Attitude_Era_Guy]

Hopefully. That performance at WrestleMania 30 was terrible.
_______________________________________________________________
RVD, CM Punk, and Chris Jericho.

 

[HBKistheHOF]

While I agree The Undertaker deserves a much better ending to his career, The Streak is officially over & so is The Undertaker character as far as I'm concerned.

I was okay with Taker wrestling one match a year at Wrestlemania when he was coming back to have 5 star caliber matches & to defend the almighty streak. Now the attraction of The Streak is completely gone (dare I even say tarnished after Lesnar ended it?) & it's evident now after WM XXX that Taker may be too old to perform at the level that he once used to. I would have been a lot more okay with the outcome if the match was atleast up to Taker's Mania standards & was the usual show stealer that it once was, but it wasn't. Not to mention Taker getting hurt almost every time he performs now, his awful bald head & goatee look, the sort of weak Mania entrance this year, etc. Also at this point I think the only match people are still clamoring for from Taker is him vs. Sting & that seems like a dream match that the WWE missed the boat on at this point.

So as much as I'm a fan & have enjoyed Taker's work throughout the years, he's been slowly losing his allure for the last few years now IMO (especially since his matches with HBK, HHH & the whole "End of an Era" thing) & now that the streak has finally come to an end, I think it's time for The Undertaker to "Rest In Peace".

 

[Eddie Menuek]

On Sunday night I thought for certain that we'd seen the end of The Undertaker. With The Streak finished, what reason would there be to go on? After Monday night I'm certain that he'll get dragged back in for at least one more program. If he was done I'd have expected to see, if not an explicit retirement segment featuring the man himself, then at least a 'Thank You Taker' video package to imply that it was over. Nothing except for a merciless burial from Paul Heyman struck me as an odd way to treat Undertaker's retirement, which is why I don't think he's had his retirement.

The more I think about it, the more I think that everybody involved probably realised that the idea of somebody battling against the supernatural force of The Streak was becoming a somewhat generic and tired storyline, and match, to have. I think that they'll try to build another match or two with something other than The Streak as the central driving force behind the story, and hopefully get people invested in a way that they probably haven't been invested since Hell In A Cell/'End Of An Era' versus Triple H. The removal of The Streak (as much as it devastated me) closes one door, but opens up new ones if Undertaker is in it for one or two more matches. It's not like an Undertaker return is a difficult scenario to book effectively.

I'd agree with the sentiment that, based on the quality of the match versus Lesnar, I wouldn't be disappointed to never see him work again. With that being said, and rumours that he suffered a concussion during the match, I wouldn't write off any future match as a failure before it's even happened. I'm sure Undertaker would want to step into the ring one more time to 'redeem' himself, so to speak, and to go out on a higher note.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

What? I mean...what?

Undertaker had a concussion. Ultimate Warrior had a heart attack. Undertaker wrestled a physically grueling 25 match. Ultimate Warrior was walking in a parking lot. The two have nothing to do with each other.

Why would they have to ramp up their medical screening on cardiac issue because a guy who wasn't wrestling, a guy who wasn't physically capable of wrestling, died of a heart attack? Why would that lead to questions about everyone, or anyone? What questions would that even lead to? And how would that have anything to do with clearing Undertaker, since his problem was a concussion, which obviously has nothing to do with his heart? Why would a doctor even consider Warrior's heart attack and death when clearing Undertaker from his concussion?

What risks is it going to minimize? Ultimate Warrior didn't wrestle, and he was never going to wrestle.. He didn't even run to the ring. So it's not like what he did had anything to do with his death, and they need to change something to stop it from happening again - he would have died even if he was never at the HOF, WM, or Raw. Not to mention, he was clearly at a much higher risk than anybody wrestling for them currently, so there's no risks they need to minimize for anybody else.

As for Undertaker, he had a concussion. Obviously that had nothing to do with his heart, so he was never in any danger of having a heart attack and dying like Warrior did. He had also wrestled a grueling 25 minute match, so it's to be expect that he wouldn't look very good the next day. I bet a lot of wrestlers looked pretty crappy when they were coming out of their hotel on Monday. I bet Undertaker has looked like that after his last five Mania matches, at the very least. Obviously WWE already takes concussions seriously, and they will continue to do so, but concussions have nothing to do with a guy's age so that doesn't change anything for older wrestlers either.

I'm not sure I've ever been this genuinely confused after reading a post. Just extremely weird all around.

As for the OP's question, I think it's clear that Undertaker is done. While you might not like his last match being against Lesnar, obviously Undertaker chose Lesnar to end the streak, just like Flair chose HBK and HBK chose Undertaker, so I don't know why he wouldn't choose him to end his career as well. Especially when you consider the fact that he would've retired at least four years ago if not for the streak. Why would he continue now that the streak is over? You might not want him to go out this way, but clearly that's the way he wanted to go out.

I guess anything is possible, but I'd be very surprised if we saw him again before he gets inducted into the HOF, probably next year.

Then it can't be hard to confuse you...

This is about risk and being on camera... Guys with known concussion issues are a major risk and will be taken off TV, guys who have failed the "action" test like Warrior are a risk and won't be allowed ANY physical or onscreen role, guys who look ill are a risk and older guys are a risk... as it is VERY likely that they partook in some kind of substance in the 80's/90's pre-drugs testing that could have damaged them.

WWE could have had 2 talents collapse in the ring this week, one would have been bad - two catastrophic... add this to Lawler's heart attack and the only option they have as a corporate entity is to minimise risk. Which mean much more stringent testing and physicals extended to ALL who go on camera. From WWE's perspective they are grateful that Taker got backstage before keeling over and Warrior was out of the arena... either situation happening in front of the fans would have opened up a terrible can of worms and destroyed their share price.

Warrior WAS planned to wrestle, he WAS planned originally to be in the Battle Royal and lose to Sheamus... that's why so much of the build was on Sheamus, then when Warrior failed his test, they shifted the focus onto Big Show... with hindsight, as bad as he looked they shouldn't have even let him shake the ropes.

Age IS an issue... most sports have active participation ending in the early 40's at the latest. Taker is 50+ (he is at least 2 years older than billed) and Sting would be 55-56 by the time he wrestles. Even Triple H is now in his mid 40's. One way to reduce the risks is to cap the age of match participation to 45 or perhaps 46... However than means a lot of talent is gonna disappear quickly and needs to be replaced by younger...oh wait, how many coming up from NXT in their twenties? See the plan?

 

[HatchetMan84]

Rob is right - they could take steps to cap the age of the performers (45 or 46), but as he said lots of talent will disappear over night.

Also - i don't think it is fair to categorize every "Older" wrestler as being a risk. The big difference is that nobody knew how bad of shape Warrior was in until he failed the "action test". The rumors i heard was that basically it was an 11th hour deal, as they tried so hard to get Warrior in the battle royal. I think the WWE is probably lucky that Warrior didn't get in. I don't know if he would have suffered and in-ring death, but the fact the man could not talk or even walk without getting out of breath, i will never know how in his mind he believed he could wrestle...

So please tell me - i've asked before about the extent of medical testing in WWE. What is the "Action" test you mention? When Warrior failed it, would it have been a big deal, meaning they could have suggested Warrior needed to see a doctor? Or was it just like, "oh, you're too old to wrestle"....

 

[THTRobtaylor]

That's the thing, at the moment it would be a test covering aspects of know injuries, cardio and a general "physical" along with some drug testing. WWE are pretty secretive as to their "criteria" but we know both Warrior and Hogan failed the test...

It's likely to include a reduced form of the "old school" style warmups they use with rookies, a treadmill test and strength and impact (not concussion but bump) testing, and blood work as we know McGuinness and Devon Nicholson failed on those two points (arm weakness and Hep). In the case of Warrior and it being a battle royale appearance, they may not have been AS stringent, but what they found may not have been good... for example a cardio test seeing him blowing up in seconds with light activity.

Now... it could be radically made tougher and standardised.. covering general health, that if you can't do 10 minutes hard cardio minimum once a week you can't even go to the ring, that if you have any health issue/complaint that could cause a problem onscreen your role on camera is removed or drastically reduced. Lawler for example sits at a desk 99% of the time, his days of even getting in the ring for an interview are fewer than ever. Same for Flair, he's not even allowed to do the "elbow drop" on his coat... he shows up, says Woooo and goes... I can see a 3 strike rule for Concussion... you get 3 you're gone or at least out for a year, then have to pass a hard ass IMPACT test to come back.

In Warrior's case "no one knew" but everyone "noticed" I am sure whatever came up in the medical process for WWE was so sensitive that only the doctor, Vince, Trips and Warrior himself knew but the genie was clearly out the bottle in terms of the problems he was facing day to day.

It all sounds quite horrid but it's perhaps sensible as although other TV shows don't do this, major sports teams do... and we know WWE is always seemingly held to a higher standard and higher scrutiny in the media. They lose SOME talents, but in reality Kane, Henry, Trips and the like are winding down anyway...someone like Big Show and Khali will be their "watch guys"... Even with both having had their surgery (Show young, Khali only 3 years ago) they are still at high risk cos of their size... so they start phasing them down even more, both guys are near Andre's age of death and even Nash had a heart attack in his mid 40's...

 

[Dagger Dias]

The Undertaker's most likely done. Without the streak there is nothing else left for him. He's a multi time World Heavyweight Champion, former Royal Rumble winner, former Hardcore Champion, and former Tag Team Champion. I don't see him ever going for another run with any belt and he was working pretty much only Wrestlemania the last few years. As much as I disagreed with what happened at Wrestlemania 30, this is a perfect time to end his career. He's earned it. I can see him getting inducted at next year's Hall of Fame (probably by Kane followed by a sendoff by all of the streak victims) before retiring completely. There's really nothing to come back for now.

 

[Dilligaf]

Im thinking he will get something worked out, no matter what it is.

When I was watching his entrance at WMXXX, he did look a little frail & since last year's WM, he looked like he had aged a lot in one year.

But dont forget wasnt it last year or just after WM28 he had replacement hip surgery, but at the end of the day Taker & his doctors have a year to examine his health & options for maybe one more match next year.

It sucks for us fans to see Taker retire, but as Murtaugh said to Riggs in Lethal Weapon 4 "You cant beat the clock"

As for the Taker vs. Sting situation, who the hell knows? Maybe 10-15 years ago, but not now.

 

[kadroan]

Yes, I think so. He's an older wrestler and unlike younger wrestlers like Dolph and Fandango, getting injuries at his age is much worse.

For the sake of his health and family, it would be best to hang up the boots

 

[The Man]

I believe so, unfortunately. Mark Calaway is almost 49 years old and has a laundry list of injuries.