WWE crammed an awful lot into an hour on episode 4 of The Undertaker: Last Ride.
The first third of episode four deep dives into the character of the Undertaker, and Mark Calaway's unmatched dedication to it. From the man dressing in black, to being referred to as "Taker" backstage, to not divulging information about his personal life, Calaway is complimented heavily for his dedication to protecting the role in which he perfected. That particular segment was complimented in its own right by accompanying outtake footage and behind the scenes looks at his early vignettes.
When Undertaker let up on that dedication may have been one of the first times he had issues with longtime boss Vince McMahon. Calaway worked with a social media company in order to increase his digital profile and gain endorsements and appearances. One of the appearances was Starrcast II, ran in conjunction with All Elite Wrestling's Double or Nothing 2019 show. AEW was never mentioned by name, and Starrcast was only mentioned in graphics, but Undertaker admitted that it caused issues between he and Vince. Calaway had noted, however, that he didn't know Starrcast was in conjunction with AEW and had no intent on going anywhere outside of WWE. Since then, the relationship between Vince and Taker was "smooth sailing," as highlighted by their joking around both physically and verbally later on when Vince McMahon said he was going to book Undertaker against Giant Gonzalez's son.
That joke was quipped after Undertaker missed WrestleMania for the first time in more than a decade. Well, he didn't miss it -- he was there -- he just wasn't booked to compete. However, he was given the opportunity to appear the next night on Raw, and actually had to fly all the way home as he'd left his gear behind. Originally, Undertaker was only visiting and taking in Axxess with his daughter and wife, but was booked at the last minute. This, just months after he was ready to retire after the Crown Jewel mess.
Things didn't get much better in Saudi Arabia for Undertaker, as the disastrous Goldberg match was covered. This was a low point in the series for me. As as bad as they admitted it was, it didn't approach the level of criticism it deserved for something as irresponsibly as Goldberg bashing his head into steel objects backstage before one of the biggest matches of his career. Undertaker left that match with an injury he feared was serious. Fortunately for him, he was able to get back into the ring the following month, and redeemed himself with an awesome tag team performance with Roman Reigns against Drew McIntyre and Shane McMahon. It was clear that Calaway knew the match was the home run that everyone watching it did as well.
Undertaker thought he was done --- AGAIN! Change the record. He's not retiring.
The look ahead shows us that next week's episode talks about his return and WrestleMania Boneyard match with AJ Styles. A fitting close to this series.
The Undertaker: Last Ride episode 4 streams this Sunday on the WWE Network.
