The Undertaker recently sat down with Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated. The discussion quickly turned to WrestleMania 37, which was the first since Taker’s retirement in November of 2020. Taker admitted that it was a tough one, even if he’s ultimately at peace with the decision.
“I was fine all the way until that first ballyhoo of fireworks,” Undertaker said. “Fortunately, I was home, which made it a little easier, but going through the show and watching, I kept thinking to myself, ‘You should be there.’
“I had to work through that. It’s a little difficult once WrestleMania starts. I started second-guessing myself. So much of my history revolves around WrestleMania. There was a bit of an emotional tug of the heartstrings watching this year, but it’s time for me to step aside and let this next generation have the reins and go where they’re going to go.”
So when did Undertaker know he was winding down his career for good? According to him, it was midway during his last ever match with AJ Styles at WrestleMania 36.
“About halfway through that night with AJ, I knew that was it for me,” Undertaker said. “It became really obvious throughout the course of that night that I could no longer physically do things the way I want to do them, and I refuse to ever shortcut our fans.”
When Taker didn’t start training for Mania later in the year as he normally did, he knew it was the right decision.
“Usually around October, I start getting my body ready for WrestleMania. I didn’t train a lot this year, purposely building in a safety net that way. So I was at peace with everything.”
