After nearly 30 years in the ring, pro-wrestler The Undertaker has retired. Or, at least, that’s what fans believe, after he laid down his iconic hat and overcoat at Wrestlemania 33 last weekend.
ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:
This weekend, an impressive athletic entertainment career may have come to an end. For almost three decades, the pro wrestling icon The Undertaker has been a dominant presence with his 6-foot-10 frame and spooky, macabre character.
KELLY MCEVERS, HOST:
The undertaker once won at 21 WrestleManias in a row, and this year’s WrestleMania was going to be no different.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
THE UNDERTAKER: At WrestleMania, you will rest in peace.
MCEVERS: But that’s not what happened.
SIEGEL: The Undertaker’s opponent, Roman Reigns, hit the ‘Taker with multiple Superman punches, speared him through a table and pinned him for the three count.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED ANNOUNCER: Spear into the heart of The Undertaker, and Roman Reigns…
SIEGEL: The Undertaker was defeated.
MCEVERS: This was no ordinary defeat, though. A stunned crowd watched as The ‘Taker removed his duster coat, flat-brimmed hat and signature gloves, folded them neatly and left them in the center of the ring.
SIEGEL: The wrestling universe has taken all that to mean that after a storied career, Mark William Calaway, aka The Undertaker or Mean Mark, the Master of Pain, the Punisher or Texas Red is retiring.
GRAHAM SPEKTOR: That was all the confirmation that we really needed that, oh, this was 100 percent it.
MCEVERS: Graham Spektor is a brewer at a wrestling-themed brewery in Massachusetts. He was at WrestleMania in Florida this weekend, and he said the scene was emotional.
SPEKTOR: There was a person behind me crying, a grown man. There were people visibly emotionally upset. You know, he debuted in 1990. I was 4 years old. I’m a 31-year-old man now seeing someone that I grew up with kind of walk off into the sunset. There were definitely people rattled by that.
SIEGEL: Three decades is a long time to be active in any sport. In the bruising world of professional wrestling, it’s an eternity.
MCEVERS: Fans continue to talk about his retirement on social media, tweeting with the hashtag #ThankYouTaker, honoring the more-than-quarter-century career. Though, we should say professional wrestling is a little like a soap opera. Anyone who is, quote, “gone forever” could come back at any time for a little extra drama.
SIEGEL: We’ve reached out to The Undertaker for comment and have not heard back. Undertaker, if you’re listening, we challenge you to come into NPR’s ring to talk about your 27-year career. Congratulations.
(SOUNDBITE OF MF DOOM SONG, “COFFIN NAILS”)
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