Undertaker talks coming to terms with retirement

[Chris]

Despite being retired for four years, The Undertaker is still coming to grips with no longer being a pro wrestler.

The Undertaker (Mark Calaway) wrestled for the final time when he faced AJ Styles in a cinematic Boneyard Match at WrestleMania 36 in 2020. During a new Patreon Q&A for his Six Feet Under podcast, Undertaker was asked how he's handled the transition into retirement. Undertaker said he knew it was time for him to step away from the ring, but retiring is something that leaves a void in you.

I knew my time had come, but I wasn't ready for it to come. I just knew that my body couldn't deliver on what my mind and my heart wanted to give the fans. So it was kind of difficult. You have to remember that, for over half of my life, being in the ring is what I did. And then it's not there anymore. And it does -- it leaves a huge void in you. Because you're trying to fill that void, which was a passion, and you're trying to find out what that next passion is and what it is that you're going to sink your teeth into. There just may not be something that will ever refill that void.

Undertaker said there are a lot of times that, when he's at a WWE show, he has to leave because there's something inside of him that tells him he should be getting ready to wrestle.

I hope it goes away at some point. As of now, it hasn't.

Before Elimination Chamber last month, Undertaker performed a one-man show in Australia. After getting home from the trip, Undertaker told his wife Michelle McCool that he was going to make an in-ring comeback. But Undertaker said he's already talked himself out of that.

It’s still tough for me. I’m still coming to grips with it. And I may or may not have said to my wife recently that I was going to make a comeback. Fortunately, I think I’ve talked myself out of that.

When his co-host told him not to start any rumors, Undertaker confirmed that there won't be one more match.

No, there’s not one more match. It was just like -- I just got back from Australia, I was tired, and I knew I had a lot of stuff coming up. And that was me just feeling comfortable saying it... Don’t expect it. There’s not one more match. Don’t even start.

Undertaker joked that maybe there would have been one more match if Sting hadn't retired.

https://www.f4wonline.com/news/wwe/undertaker-says-he-recently-talked-himself-out-of-wwe-comeback

 

[Dale]

Unless it's the crowd, the spectacle and all that energy specifically he's missing then they have a whole ass performance center he could be a huge addition to while also scratching his itch.

 

[Jacob Fox]

I feel bad for him, especially if he hopes it will eventually go away. It seems that it rarely does go away for those who retire. I have known a few indie wrestlers (no one significant than anyone would know) and they have all talked about how difficult it is when they stop wrestling. They say it's addicting and hard to stay away from.

I am guessing the crowd has a lot to do with it. I used to act and I loved the applause at the end of the play and wrestlers get those reactions constantly throughout matches.

But also, those who have done it for as long as Taker and who have made so many memorable matches and moments, I can't imagine how it feels to not do it anymore. I can see it driving someone batty.

 

[Dale]

Looks like WrestleMania cameo brought him some closure.​