It is believed that The Undertaker retired from active wrestling earlier this month after his WrestleMania 33 loss to Roman Reigns where afterward he took off his iconic ring gear and left it in the middle of the ring.

Being the company's longest tenured in-ring performer and one of the greatest wrestlers of all-time, The Phenom career with the WWE began at Survivor Series in 1990 and span over three decades, picking up several accolades along the way, including The Streak.

However, the famous career of The Undertaker that we all know and love almost never happened.

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As pointed out by Reddit user musicman3321, Bruce Prichard once told the story of how The Deadman was acquired by the WWE on an episode of his podcast in November last year.

The former WWE producer, now currently signed with Impact Wrestling, said on his Something To Wrestle with Bruce Prichard podcast that Paul Heyman (who managed Taker in WCW) called him up and asked if WWE were interested in The Deadman once his contract with WCW was up.

When questioning Vince McMahon about it, the WWE Chairman said he was not interested. Prichard tried to change his mind by encouraging him to watch Undertaker's last match in WCW vs Lex Luger.

Vince, however, was unimpressed by the match and canceled the meeting Bruce had set up for him and Taker. Prichard was able to convince Mr. McMahon to finally meet The Phenom when WWE had a house show in New Jersey where the legendary superstar was living at the time.

The meeting was successful as McMahon fell in love with The Undertaker, and the rest, as they say, is history. It's strange to think however that if Vince was never convinced by Prichard to meet with The Deadman that the WWE might not be where it is today because of the major role he played in the company's storylines over the years.

From feuding with Stone Cold Steve Austin, Mankind, Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Kane, Brock Lesnar and many more superstars, The Undertaker was a major player in the WWE for several years and the company wouldn't be where it is without.

So when you rewatch The Undertaker's goodbye from WrestleMania 33, remember to say thank you to Bruce Prichard as well, as The Deadman's career may have never reached the heights which it did without him.