Report: Undertaker Hospitalized

[Jack-Hammer]

As a few others mentioned, Taker's arm did come up but, according to reports, the ending of the match wasn't affected or botched as the plan was for Taker to lose. I'm thinking that it was more to do with the concussion, it probably made him more than a little loopy. Earlier reports from today state that it was Taker's decision to end the streak. According to the latest bit on Taker's health, PWTorch.com states that, according to WWE, Taker suffered a "severe concussion" last night and was taken away in an ambulance. There was said to be so much concern over it that Vince himself rode in the back of the ambulance with Taker and missed the triple threat main event.

There isn't any word on whether or not Taker suffered any other injuries, but he definitely wasn't in top form last night physically. He tried his best, I respect him for that, and some writers say that he was moving gingerly about and favoring one of his hips. He definitely looked like he'd lost several steps during last night's match with Lesnar, he was much slower and he just didn't seem to have that much energy. It's very well possible that age, much like the wear & tear of the business has in the 5 or 6 years, has caught up to him vengefully.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I thought he looked a little bit off last night early on,but in no way did i think he was hurt.. Looking back though on the match,through the network of course he did have sort of a far away look in his eyes.. Undertaker from what i have read not only suffered a bad concussion but some sort of neck injury as well.. Overall though,against Lesnar i thought Brock did a great job taking care of him in the ring..

Brock works a very stiff style,and considering takers condition i thought he did the best he could..

Looking back on things and the replay, you can tell that something's off. Lesnar definitely held back a great deal. He hesitated on several different occasions and it made me think that MAYBE Taker was too slow to respond to some planned spots during the match. So, Lesnar had to improvise on the spot, so he went with the safest option, namely simple and low impact on the spot, which is why he stuck with the basic stomps & kicks. I have to admit that I was wrong about Lesnar in this situation and he carried Taker well, possibly keeping a bad situation from becoming an even worse one.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

He had to make the "show" of it being a "close" count, hence the arm moving... there's no sinister plot here... he wasn't "out light a light" he had to at least come close to getting the arm up...

I said it last year that Taker had gone too far at 21-0 he didn't look good, he looked very out of shape, and this year only proved it for me...once he got to the ring, even if he looked better up until that point...

The injury perhaps played a major part but I heard it's more a neck problem than concussion... it could even be a stinger (irony if you like that sort of thing) and he lost some feeling throughout the match.

So rather than the heroic defeat it could have been it seemed as Heyman had ironically said in the package, somewhat "pathetic" to see Taker in defeat. That's not a knock on him, but the look I saw in his eyes was a guy who knew he had gone one too many and this was gonna cost him healthwise and he was probably better off ending it at 20 or 21... The other perhaps cruel part is the one fan you can hear on the feed... saying "You Suck"... Taker heard that and you could tell it got to him.

That Vince rode the ambulance and left the show is telling, perhaps lending more creedance to the theory that they had to change it on the fly or that it's more a stinger type injury... For Vince to leave the biggest show of his life means he either had to calm Taker down or he knew it was bad and Taker had just been the ultimate pro...Vince has never ridden an ambulance with an injured talent, not even Owen or Droz...

Brock was always a risk, I am amazed people thought Taker was ever going to win this... the writing was on the wall the moment Trips coined the "Reality Era" phrase... in Reality...a former UFC champion and beast like that will destroy a 50 year old... I agree he was protecting Taker all the way through the match, and they were certainly talking far more than Taker has ever had to... some would say that's cos Brock needs it, but it seems to me Taker was coaching Brock through it and how to deal with the situation.

Perhaps if this was planned all along it is part of why Punk walked, perhaps he felt he should have ended it last year?

 

[MoxleyCrue]

Perhaps if this was planned all along it is part of why Punk walked, perhaps he felt he should have ended it last year?

I've heard Punk say in interviews that the Streak shoudn't end, so I doubt that is why.

You could see that something wasn't right when Undertaker was on his knees, back against the ropes and Brock was kneeing him in the chest. Taker was talking to Brock quite audibly and seemed to be slurring words, the concussion was probably a bad one, especially if Vince rode in the ambulance with him. Classy move by VKM.

Someone said earlier in this thread that Taker went out the old school way, on his back. I completely agree, the fact that Vince left WM for the ambulance ride shows the level of respect he has for Taker, Taker was probably completely in creative charge of his Streak matches, and I did read somewhere that Taker had handpicked Lesnar to end the Streak in 2010, which is probably why the whole Taker/Lesnar "confrontation" at that UFC event happened.

I'm sad the Streak ended, but in another [weird] way I'm happy for Taker. That was the worst match he's put on at WM that I've personally seen, even though he was injured, so I'm just happy he's not one of these guys that is willing to stretch it out to the point where it hurts his legacy and people around him i.e. he keeps winning horrible matches for the next 5 years that he has no right to win.

 

[sTyLnK]

After seeing that video of him leaving the hospital, he looks in rough shape. But he just had his match last night, so of course he's not going to be in the best shape after leaving. Give him time to relax and rest though and he'll be alright, I'm sure.

 

[HatchetMan84]

I just saw the video of taker leaving the hotel. Might be the saddest thing i've ever seen. Taker can barely walk, looks out of it and his wife/girlfriend is helping him climb on the bus because he can barely move. I'm sure some of it is from the match but as others have pointed out, it's clear he is suffering from a serious concussion. How he was able to wrestle last night i'll never know.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say Taker's ultimate future will be determined in the coming days. I forget which wrestler it was that said it, I think it might have been Chris Nowinski, but it was said that when dealing with Brain injury, usually the first few days are the most telling. When you recover from a bad concussion, usually the most improvement occurs in the first couple of days.

Not wrestling related but when Michael Vick got that concussion in 2012 - there was belief that he had suffered some form of brain damage because even after two months he still couldn't drive a car because of terrible head pain / lights giving him sickness, etc...

Get Well Soon Taker. Wrestle again only if you make a 100% recovery, which i don't know if that's possible because as others have pointed out, he's almost 50, with a severely damaged shoulder, probably will need a hip replacement, and the whole issue of the concussion...

 

[Dragonslayer]

Yeah well, the way this looks, this might also be the reason why the match at WM didn't nearly live up to the expecations. Maybe Taker told Brock that something was wrong and to "go easy", and they still finished it more or less as planned... but never going all out.

Man, I just hope that Taker recovers from that concussion (if it indeed was one), can have surgery if needed... and if - IF - he can make it, return for WM 31 for one last match, where everyone knows it, and no Streak's on the line anymore... but just to have a decent match one last time, and be sent off into the sunset the way he deserves it; because this Mania's match was definitely NOT the sendoff a guy like Undertaker deserved.

Give the streak to Brock, that's fine in my book - not happy with the decision to end it at all, but if Brock was Taker's decision, so be it... but all I would like for Taker is to have a deserving sendoff.

If he can't do it because he's still too banged up by the time WM 31 rolls around, then just give him the HOF induction and it'll be fine as well... but as a huge Taker fan, I would definitely love to see Taker leave on a higher note than this.

 

[Bythedockofthebay]

If you watch after the match, you can see all the tell tale signs of a concussion, and it doesn't look fake at all. The way he rolls over and closes his eyes for a second tells a story. Also, when he's getting up he falls and not in the way he did after Triple H 2. He's also trying to gather himself quite a bit. It's harsh to watch, it really is. Not to mention when he gets up it looks like he's about to get sick, even opens his mouth a couple times like he's dry heaving (I might be reading into this too much but I've been there) Honestly, I know I might be second guessing the WWE here but they should've cut and got him some help.

That said I can see why they didn't, wanted him to have that moment. It's also being said by some people/ dirtsheet reporters that Brock and Taker switch the script and even if it did, It was still takers choice, but I'm not believing that until Taker, Brock or Vince says it publicly. That said I think they did fine, and Brock was so careful with Taker I almost think, he might have tried to be too careful and that could've been an issue.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

I just saw the video of taker leaving the hotel. Might be the saddest thing i've ever seen. Taker can barely walk, looks out of it and his wife/girlfriend is helping him climb on the bus because he can barely move. I'm sure some of it is from the match but as others have pointed out, it's clear he is suffering from a serious concussion. How he was able to wrestle last night i'll never know.

I've seen the clip, its painful seeing the Undertaker struggling to walk on his own, he really looks in poor shape and I am pleased the WWE didn't ask him to go out and talk to the crowd on Raw, even though it was confirmed he was backstage last night.

In my opinion 'Taker should call it a day now the streak is over. He has nothing to prove and doesn't owe anybody a damn thing. It was obvious that he wasn't in a good way for a lot of the match and credit to him, he did the best he could at his age and physical shape, plus having the concussion.

I have so much damn respect for Undertaker, as we all do. I don't want to see him having terrible matches and further wrecking his body just for the sake of it. He doesn't need to. He's given us all so many memories and we should be grateful, and respect his wishes if he decides to retire.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

I know how the man feels... I had my 2nd major concussion nearly 6 years ago and it took 5 years before I could work full time... In the weeks and months after even the most basic stuff like remembering the word for Sink or Fridge was beyond me and even now I am permanently impaired... that's one beating up when I was 17 and one accident.... Imagine the concussions Taker has gone through over the years when people weren't looking for them, the damage done over time...

That was WWE's "Bret Hart/Goldberg" moment... The irony of course is that it was so nearly Brock at Mania 20 with his botched Shooting Star Press but we saw not only a career end, but quite possibly the chance of Mark Calloway walking away from the biz unscathed... that video was tragic to watch, more tragic was him in the ring literally trying to get his senses to walk out of there, which he barely managed to by the sounds of it.