WrestleMania 33 looked to be the swansong for The Undertaker. Following his match against Roman Reigns, Undertaker left his hat and coat in the ring, which seemed to signify his retirement.
Reigns was victorious in the bout and the following night on WWE Raw stood in the ring, showered with boos, and declared WWE "his yard now."
"I remember the conversation with Vince. I saw Taker like a week prior, and he almost gave it away, but he did good in covering it up. He could tell I didn't know yet. When Vince explained it to me, I was just in awe. It's something that everybody who gets into the business wants, to get into the ring with The Undertaker. And I remember the first thing I thought was that I wanted to put him over," Reigns told ESPN. "I wanted to lose. Immediately, that was my instinct. Out of respect. I knew he was in pain, but I didn't know he was going in [for hip surgery] soon after that or else I would have crafted that story a little differently. So I knew it was on me to try to help carry it. The movement of the match. Orbit around him. But I thought it would have been a better story if I was on my back at the end. Obviously, it didn't go that way."
Reigns continued, discussing the aftermath of the bout, "When I went through gorilla [position] and he was still in the ring, I was just tucked off from the ramp into this little tiny holding area where people do last-minute [preparations] before a match. I just sat in one of these little chairs and I cried. It was such an emotional overload, for bad reasons and for good reasons too. As a perfectionist, I think Mark can agree that we had such an awesome story. If it had all went perfectly ... aw man, it would have been so fire. But the opportunity to main-event a WrestleMania with Taker, I was so grateful. But the perfectionist in me could not let it go. It ate me up. It still bothers me a little bit. I remember my cousins [The Usos] and I skipped out on the after-party, and I didn't get back to the hotel until like 2 a.m. because we drank all night and talked. I probably shed a few more tears that night too. I had so many hopes and aspirations to take advantage of that man's time and do right by him, and I just felt like I failed that situation. And it just lit a fire under my ass. I don't think I had a bad match since."
Undertaker would not retire following WrestleMania 33. In fact, Taker and Reigns would team up for Extreme Rules 2019 to defeat Shane McMahon and Drew McIntyre.
On the series finale of The Last Ride, Taker once again hinted at retirement, say he has no desire to get back in the ring. You can find his full comments by clicking here.
