The Undertaker retired last November, but his final few years in WWE drew mixed verdicts from fans. It was clear he couldn't compete on the same level he once did, and that led to some not great matches. His main event clash with Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 33 in 2017 was one of them - it was supposed to serve as his final bout - and that wasn't lost on the Deadman.
Talking on the Victory Over Injury Podcast, The Undertaker reflected on the match and admitted that he was "overweight" and "out of shape" heading into his final WrestleMania main event. However, he still felt that passing the baton to The Big Dog was the right thing to do at this stage in his career.
"It was disappointing to me, and I knew in January when I was in the Rumble. You could tell I was overweight, I was out of shape, but I knew what they wanted to do. It was important for me to pass the baton on or do what I could for Roman, who’s the next generation," he explained. "It was just a bad, bad deal. That was probably as honest a moment as you’ll ever see in wrestling."
"Me taking that hat and coat and putting it in the ring, because I knew at that point I was done. I was so disappointed. Anything else I’d ever accomplished, I couldn’t think of that. I couldn’t think of WrestleMania 25, Houston with Shawn Michaels, all those thoughts were gone. It was, 'You just stunk the joint out and you let a lot of people down.'"
It wasn't a very good match, and a disappointing end to his career (or so we thought at the time). The Undertaker is definitely being very hard on himself, though, and it certainly didn't undo his past achievements.
Do you think The Undertaker should have chosen to retire a little sooner than last year?