The Undertaker Explains Why WrestleMania 40 Mattered So Much To Him
The Undertaker had a massive cameo appearance at WrestleMania 40 and the Deadman has spoken about how it gave him closure.
During the WrestleMania 40 main event between Roman Reigns and the new WWE Champion Cody Rhodes, it was a Bloodline Rules match featuring a lot of interference. Reigns had help in the match from Jimmy Uso, Solo Sikoa & The Rock, but they were all taken out by Jey Uso, John Cena & The Undertaker.
After The Rock hit John Cena with a Rock Bottom, the lights went out at Lincoln Financial Field and when they came back on, The Undertaker was in the ring with The Rock. That led to the WWE Hall of Famer Undertaker hitting Rock with a massive Chokeslam. That took out The Rock, so The Undertaker left and Cody would go on to beat Reigns to become WWE Champion for the first time in his career.
The Undertaker’s last official match in WWE was the memorable Boneyard Match with AJ Styles that main evented WrestleMania 36 Saturday. While the match was praised heavily, it was a Cinematic Match that was shot at a makeshift graveyard at a time when no fans could attend WWE shows due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
While speaking on his Six Feet Under podcast, Taker spoke about how having one more WrestleMania moment in the ring in front of fans meant a lot to him.
“Something happened this weekend. I had been struggling with it since I retired, but this weekend gave me closure. It really did. It was fun, obviously, it was fun. Doing this as long as I have, being involved in that and how important that storyline was, and is. But when it was over and I am running out of the building I’m like, I’m good now.”
“I don’t know if I needed [a crowd], because my last match was in The Boneyard, there was nobody there, [it was] cinematic. It was like a moment of clarity that I had like I’m ok now. I’m not saying that I wouldn’t do something like that in the future, but I don’t have that feeling in my chest like I had since I retired. I hadn’t come to peace with it.”
As he continued, The Undertaker spoke about how he was able to “close the book” on his career after having that moment with The Rock at WrestleMania.
“I knew, just like I knew when it was over in The Boneyard match at 4 in the morning. I’m good. I had no clue, but I knew once it was done, you’re good man. It’s time to flip the page and go to the next chapter. It was such a cool weekend all the way around. And then to finish off, have closure to the wrestling part of my career, it was so cool. It was a great feeling and it’s amazing. It really is an amazing feeling as I don’t have that pressure now.”
“It’s been difficult the last couple of years, especially at Mania. Even going to a regular PLE, I’ve told you this, I would leave before the matches because I get to that point where I am like I need to be out there. I was out there and my goodness, what a moment to have in a great storyline. But yeah, it was like I can close this book.”
Was The Undertaker Originally Planned For WrestleMania Spot With The Rock?
While The Undertaker’s surprise appearance at WrestleMania 40 certainly popped the Philadelphia crowd, it was reported that “Stone Cold” Steve Austin was WWE’s original choice for the spot. However, it was reported by Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer that WWE “couldn’t reach a financial agreement” with Austin, so The Undertaker was used in the spot instead.