The Undertaker’s career looks to be over after taking on Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 33 and many fans still haven’t really gotten the loss. Facing The Deadman at a pay-per-view event is a massive honor and many feel that a larger star should have gotten his last match.
The part-time performer had been a staple of events like WrestleMania in the past and now it will be up to a younger generation of stars like The Big Dog to step into the void that he created with his departure from the country after such a long tenure.
It’s hard to believe now, but Taker was once a newer face on the block himself in the early 1990s as he strived to make a name for himself. His efforts to impress Vince McMahon have been spoken about at length as he had to work his way up from the bottom.
Raven shared an interesting story about a younger version of The Deadman trying to balance getting that push with understanding why Vince made the decisions he did. These are the kinds of stories that keep trickling out now.
He said: “He was the locker room leader. I was loud, I was obnoxious, so I wasn’t his cup of tea, but we got along. There was no enmity. He was every bit the locker room leader everybody says, he was the authority. If he were six inches shorter, he would have been the perennial world champion.
“But at 6-foot-10, he was relegated to the monster, “Creature Feature” matches. It wasn’t until near the end of his career when he finally started being able to show that he could actually work, but, by then, he wasn’t anywhere near the worker he was ten years before that. He was amazing.”
That is high praise from someone who saw the Deadman literally every day in the locker room and backstage during events. He knows better than anyone that the legend of the Undertaker is not just some story, but a legacy of greatness.
His admissions here shouldn’t be the least bit surprising when thinking about how Vince McMahon has positioned other large superstars over the years. Although, Taker’s success likely helped pave the way for bigger bodies to have larger roles inside the ring.
In the end, it just confirms something that fans already took to be true, that the Undertaker is one of the most influential superstars ever and he will be greatly missed on WWE programming going forward.
The second episode of GiveMeSport’s WWE podcast is here! Check out the inside info from our coverage in Orlando. https://soundcloud.com/user-818579649/givemesport-inside-wrestlemania-33