Undertaker Was Set to Retire Twice Before

Third time’s the charm. The big story coming out of “Wrestlemania XXXIII” was of course the Undertaker’s retirement. While it was never officially stated, the events at the end of the show made it pretty clear that he was done for good. What you might not know is that this is the third time it was going to be attempted.

According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Undertaker had previously intended to retire twice before. The loss to Brock Lesnar at “Wrestlemania XXX” was booked with the intent to send Undertaker off into the sunset. Two years later, Undertaker left his gloves in the ring after defeating Shane McMahon at “Wrestlemania XXXII” in what was meant to be his retirement as well.

“The biggest is that it appeared to be the final match of The Undertaker, who took off his gloves, his jacket and his hat. He placed them in the ring at the conclusion of the show. Undertaker had quietly retired last year after WrestleMania, leaving his gloves in the ring but that was not a public thing. The year before, in his loss to Brock Lesnar, Vince McMahon booked that finish with the idea it would be Undertaker’s last match and he needed to get the equity of the streak to build a star for the future. But this year, with the ceremony, it appears to be the real deal.”

Opinion: I could understand the Lesnar loss but I’m really glad the Shane match didn’t finish his career. After all those years, having the last match be against Shane in something that wasn’t very good would feel really anti-climactic. The loss to Reigns wasn’t great but it allowed Undertaker to have his much deserved big moment.