Pretty much ever since the Undertaker appeared to very clearly retire in the middle of the ring at WrestleMania 33, there have been fans and contemporaries who are completely convinced that he is not actually retired at all, and that he will probably wrestle at least one more match for WWE before his career is finally over.
Since WrestleMania 33, Undertaker has been spotted here and there, but he hasn’t returned to WWE television since leaving his gear in the middle of the ring. He popped up to hype a George Strait concert, appeared in the Ric Flair 30 for 30 documentary, may have had surgery, and is almost certainly going to be headlining a WWE Hall of Fame class at some point soon.
He has also, reportedly, gotten himself in fantastic shape since his last match. Despite some rumors about an Undertaker return at Survivor Series turning out to be a bunch of bunk and/or hooey, the Dead Man WAS in attendance at the Survivor Series, but only backstage. Jerry Lawler spent some time with Taker at the Series, and he says that in his opinion, there’s no way a guy as in-shape as Undertaker is right now is going to stay retired.
What we do know — which at this point, is not a lot — is that Undertaker is scheduled to return to WWE television on January 22, on the go-home show before the Royal Rumble. That show is also the massive 25th anniversary show for WWE Raw, and Taker will appear alongside Shawn Michaels, Kevin Nash, and many other huge stars and Hall of Famers.
According to WrestlingNews.co, there are rumblings from people in the know that this appearance will be in service of setting up another Undertaker match, either at the Rumble or at WrestleMania (and of course, WrestleMania would be more likely). According to WrestlingNews’ source, “Taker is not going to appear on that show just to wave and say hello. I’ll leave it at that.”
At the present, despite what happened at last year’s Mania, neither Undertaker, WWE, nor anyone close to the Dead Man has ever specifically stated that he is retired. We could be looking at one Last Ride for Undertaker. Perhaps in a career-threatening match?
What would you like to see as Undertaker’s last match or final opponent, if you had a choice? Personally, I’d like to see American Badass Undertaker return and have a war with someone like Kevin Owens or Finn Bálor or Samoa Joe. So let’s get ready for that career vs. career Inferno Match with Kane!
Have you checked out the McMahonsplaining podcast with Brandon Stroud and Bill Hanstock? Subscribe, rate and review.
[protected-iframe id=”c0732cb1c129555c77aefc35c6d265f8-60970621-10222937″ info=”https://omny.fm/shows/mcmahonsplaining/episode-19-chelsea-green/embed?style=artwork” width=”100%” height=”180″ frameborder=”0″]
