The Undertaker Recalls How He Felt At WrestleMania 33

The Undertaker has revealed how he felt at WrestleMania 33 when it appeared as if he was having his last match based on what he did after it was over.

In the main event of WrestleMania 33 in 2017, The Undertaker faced Roman Reigns. It was a match that was set up at the Royal Rumble when Reigns eliminated The Undertaker, which the fans didn’t like at the time.

Going into WrestleMania 33, it wasn’t a sure thing that Reigns-Undertaker would go on last, but it ended up main eventing because some people believed it may be the last match of The Undertaker’s career. While he would wrestle again, this match did have a memorable ending.

After Reigns beat The Undertaker, the Deadman left his black jacket, gloves and hat in the ring. He also kissed his wife Michelle McCool at ringside. A lot of people took that exit and walk up the ramp as the potential last match of The Undertaker’s career.

As it turns out, The Undertaker did that unique exit at WrestleMania 33 because he wasn’t feeling well physically and legitimately had no idea if he could wrestle again. This was covered in The Last Ride documentary that aired on WWE Network a few years ago.

The Undertaker also expressed how felt during a recent interview with Chris Van Vliet on Youtube, the WWE Hall of Famer explained his thoughts on that night of WrestleMania 33 in 2017.

“I was extremely beat up. And, you know, I had toyed with the idea of hanging it up. I knew it that year when I got to the Rumble, I wasn’t going to be ready, I wasn’t gonna be ready for Mania, but I’d already committed to the programme. Didn’t know that, didn’t know what we were going to do yet, I just knew that I was going to work with Roman, and we got there that day, and I was like man, I knew I was in bad shape.”

“And my hip, my right hip, which I had surgery right after that, to have it, a Birmingham hip resurface done after that. You know, it was just the right thing to do. Not knowing if I was going to be able to come back again, and work anymore. So, there I was, he was on the, you know, he was coming up, and he was going to be the face of the company, and it was the right thing to do. And I didn’t, you know, I’d already [lost], the streak had already been beat, so it was the right thing to do business wise, because I didn’t, like I said, I didn’t know that I was going to come back again.”

“I mean that all that hat, the hat on the coat, all that being placed in the ring was 100% legitimate. At the end of it, I was done, and that was my way of saying goodbye. And yeah, it wasn’t, it wasn’t a plan or staged thing.”

As he continued, The Undertaker talked about how he got his fixed hip and he was able to have more matches over the next few years.

“And then I get my hip fixed, I get a call, and they want me to work with Cena. I’m like oh crap, man. So, I trained, I know I’ve given you more than you asked for, but it was like, Okay, this is my chance for redemption. Because I was so just, if you watched The Last Ride, you know how disappointed I was in my performance, and that I put myself in that situation because I just couldn’t physically get to where I needed to be for Roman, and how important that was.”

“And just as hard as I tried, I mean I trained like a like an animal, but I mean my hip just, it just, it held me back and I’m not making excuses, but that’s, that’s the extent of it. So now I’ve got a new hip, and I’m like oh man, and it’s Cena and I was like, oh crap. So, Vince called me and said what do you think? And I was like I don’t know, I don’t, I haven’t really, I’ve rehabbed my hip and I’m working out again, but I had no plans of getting back in the ring. And so, I said, give me, give me a few weeks.”

“So, I get a ring shipped down here to Texas, and I rent a place and I build this, I put the ring in this building, and I start training and lo and behold, I can move again. So, probably the hardest that I’ve ever trained, not ever I trained, but the hardest I’ve been able to train in probably 10 years. And I was ready, man. I was, my cardio, I trained for like a 45 minute [match].”

In the same interview, The Undertaker also expressed his extreme disappointment in the WrestleMania 34 match with John Cena being very short because he wanted a much longer match.