For the primary time in his 30-year profession, the Phenom is pulling the curtain again on his closely guarded persona. The Undertaker: The Final Journey, a five-part docuseries premiering Sunday, Might 10 on the WWE Network, affords up an intimate have a look at the person behind the legendary character as he battles lingering accidents and psychological roadblocks. It is an unprecedented transfer for a man who’s principally stored the cameras away from his private life. However, based on the Undertaker, whose actual title is Mark Calaway, documenting what could possibly be the ultimate moments of his in-ring profession was an vital alternative he simply could not cross up.
“I knew after we began this that I used to be getting near the top and I needed folks to get somewhat glimpse of what they have been asking for,” Calaway advised TV Information. “But additionally, I needed them to see what it took on a day-to-day foundation for me to get out and be the Undertaker.”
As you will see in The Final Journey, being the Undertaker is rather a lot more durable as of late. As a result of he is not that spry 25-year-old who can leap excessive rope to deal with his opponent to the bottom, residing as much as followers’ expectations in the present day is a tall order that will get more and more tougher as he continues to age and endure extra accidents. Now 55, the Undertaker is offered a unique, extra weak mild within the docuseries, which particulars the bodily and emotional work that goes into getting ready for every match. However for somebody who’s used to upholding the mystique of his iconic character, permitting entry to the person beneath that well-known persona did not come straightforward.
“It was not a pure factor for me. It took somewhat little bit of time earlier than I used to be snug as a result of I’m, to a fault, I am a dinosaur and I nonetheless firmly consider within the previous methods of our enterprise,” Calaway mentioned. “I’ve moved alongside as our enterprise has progressed however I carry quite a lot of the values of the old-fashioned. Opening this character up after which seeing the individual behind the character, it actually went towards every part that I’ve finished my entire profession. However I simply felt prefer it was time and I felt like I might remorse it if I did not as a result of as soon as the factor’s over, I am not going to have a second probability to do it.”
Mark Calaway, The Undertaker: The Final Journey
“Chapter 1” will concentrate on his solely WrestleMania losses to this point: WrestleMania 30, which noticed Brock Lesnar break his 21-year undefeated streak, and WrestleMania 33, during which he confronted Roman Reigns in what was believed to be the ultimate bout of his profession. The latter match felt like a passing of the torch as Reigns walked out victorious and Undertaker took what was imagined to be a last curtain name. Ceremoniously leaving his hat, coat and gloves within the ring, he stopped midway up the ramp to boost his fist one final time –as if signaling that this was it — earlier than disappearing behind the black curtains. However that might not be the top for the Undertaker, who has since competed in quite a few matches and continues to be trying to find the right solution to finish his Corridor of Fame profession. The query is, how does one say goodbye to a personality they’ve performed for greater than half their life? Not even Calaway himself is aware of the reply to that proper now.
“I by no means noticed the character getting within the ring and having a retirement speech,” Calaway mentioned, though he’s in search of an “exclamation level” on his profession that might function a becoming finish cap. “I have been in search of that one match that I can say, ‘Yeah, that is it. That is the exclamation level on a profession. Growth. I can stroll away.’ And so, I am struggling. I do know what my limitations are, bodily, and I am having to weigh that towards the long-term results of continuous to wrestle. So all these items are intertwined, they usually get in the way in which of one another. You begin pondering a method, after which this different a part of you thinks, ‘Perhaps there’s somewhat bit extra gasoline than you assume.’ And you then exit and also you do it and one thing goes terrible and it is like, ‘Oh man, what am I doing?’ So it is this fixed wrestle of when to say, ‘When.'”
By all accounts, the Undertaker has had one of many biggest careers in wrestling historical past. He is held nearly each main title within the firm, is thought to be essentially the most revered man within the enterprise, and is principally a shoo-in for the Corridor of Fame each time he does determine to formally retire. Given every part he is completed and his declining well being, many query why he would proceed to place his physique on the road when there’s nothing left to show.
“It is easy to sit down on the skin and [say], ‘Is he grasping? Does he need the cash? Does he need the celebrity?’ However these issues are the farthest factor from my pursuits. I’ve by no means loved being a star. It is the love of what I do,” Calaway defined.
That stalwart love of the enterprise is what has stored the Undertaker going regardless of the toll it takes on his physique, together with quite a few concussions, hip substitute surgical procedure and the type of ache that might flip your knuckles white. However in 2019, when he was left off the WrestleMania card for the primary time in 19 years, it appeared just like the Undertaker was lastly prepared to hold up his boots for good. After which AJ Types occurred.
“At that time, I used to be fairly content material,” Calaway mentioned. “I would already type of come to grips with the truth that my days, particularly with WrestleMania, it was time to maneuver on. After which, the match with A.J. presents itself. We have each been within the enterprise for some time and our paths had by no means crossed. That is very uncommon to by no means have a match with [someone of that stature] and I actually maintain him in very excessive regard as an in-ring performer and as a human being.”
Their on-air feud culminated at WrestleMania 36 in probably the most distinctive matches so far. Because of the COVID-19 outbreak, which noticed the WWE transfer its reside enviornment reveals to a closed set on the firm’s efficiency heart in Orlando, Florida, the pair’s conventional bout was modified to a Bone Yard match at an undisclosed location. The pre-taped battle took on a cinematic tone because the Undertaker and Types went toe-to-toe round an open grave. Ultimately, the Undertaker “buried” Types alive earlier than hopping on his bike and using off. For a lot of, this might have been a becoming solution to shut the ebook his storied profession. Whether or not or not that was the Undertaker’s final journey, nevertheless, nonetheless stays to be seen.
“I simply do not know,” Calaway mentioned. “I need folks to observe [The Final Journey] and type of come away with their very own conclusions of the place I am at. However I’ve to enter each match taking a look at it that means at this level.”
And whereas we do not but know when or how he’ll truly finish his profession, what’s clear is that Calaway is taking advantage of each alternative he has left.
The Undertaker: The Final Journey premieres Sunday, Might 10 at 10/9c on the WWE Community.
The Undertaker, WrestleMania 33