The Undertaker : The Last Ride – Chapter 1: The Greatest Fear

By
Marc Madison (Editor in Chief)

The Undertaker The Last Ride Chapter 1 titled The Greatest Fear recaps the Deadman’s journey over the last few years. From the beginning, they recap not only from The Undertaker but from other wrestling stars that have stood across the ring from him. He addresses how he is going to go out and end his career. However, he shares that he is concerned with how he is perceived.

The last few years have been a struggle and the last thing I want to do is become a parody of myself. – The Undertaker

The Undertaker: The Last Ride

Chronicles of 2017

This chapter takes place in 2017 a few days before his WrestleMania 33 match with Roman Reigns. It chronicles the last few years of The Undertaker’s career. From his movements to his look to the nature of him as a performer has left doubt in his mind. He addresses all these things. He arrives 3 days before WrestleMania allowing camera crews to document his journey. The Undertaker calls into question ‘what happened to you, you use to be a tough son of a b**ch?’. He is visibility moving slowly. Mark Calloway shares that his body doesn’t allow him to work a full schedule anymore.

From his debut on November 22, 1990, at Survivor Series it was argued to likely be the greatest character ever. Bruce Pritchard said that Calloway envisioned what the Undertaker would be. Calloway shared with when the eye roll first began to his character’s progression. It took place during a match against Greg ‘The Hammer’ Valentine.

He’s 300 lbs and such a big son of a gun. He moves in a way big guys shouldn’t move – Shawn Michaels.

They relieve his win in 1997 when he captured the WWE Championship. The applause that he received from the crowd after capturing the championship. His streak became as imperative as it was his character. Each match carried with it a story that made it special each time out. When Undertaker began to defend the streak it rationalized his competing once a year. He points out that over the course of roughly five years where he would prepare for Mania. The process included having surgery to recover, then into rehab and then train for the next Mania’. Triple H comes in and points out how difficult it equally was for him as well.

‘Ring rust and timing is real. The nervous system and nerves all play into that‘. -Stone Cold Steve Austin

The Undertaker: The Last Ride

His On-going Pain

His wife Michelle McCool shares how much he is constantly suffering. We then see Undertaker traveling and speaking the byproduct of him competing so infrequently also leads to other challenges for him.

..train effectively and get the maximum result of what I can from what I am working with – Undertaker

We then see the Undertaker training and he shares the fear of injuring himself before WrestleMania. His focus and determination are apparent. He then shares about the pain he was under during his matches with Shawn Michaels and Triple H in those WrestleMania matches. Undertaker shared how he spent so many days in the hotel room recuperating from his last match with Triple H.

We then hear him share his thoughts on his WrestleMania XXX match with Brock Lesnar and how he doesn’t remember that match.

‘I am not sure when I got concussed and I don’t know how that match happened. I have no recollection of any of that. My last memory of that day was at about 3:30 in the afternoon’. – Mark Calloway aka The Undertaker

We then see a panning of all the looks on the faces of the fans of the streak ending. The Undertaker walks back but Vince McMahon then calls for medical help.

“Vince comes to the curtain and says medical get in here. And this is the first time we had any indication that there was something wrong. And he was sitting in the walkway outside of gorilla (position) and he had the happy gaze on his face that he had no idea of where he was at. He looked at me and he smiled and said ‘Hey’ and I said oh, boy something went wrong here”. – WWE Head Trainer Larry Heck

The Undertaker: The Last Ride

He’s not alone

The Undertaker is taken to the Emergency room and the car behind them is an SUV. The first two people that were there were Vince and Brock and he looks up at us and he shares how to make light of it. McCool shares that he asked her for his name and didn’t know who he was until 4 AM, the next morning. Calloway shares that a lot of what happened was tied to his infrequency of competition. He said that it wrecked his confidence. Triple H comes over to me and says to him ‘Show him who the f*** you are!’ prior to his match with Bray Wyatt. It was hard for him to get him through that match. This did a bit to restore his confidence.

He is beginning to get his confidence back, but the wear on his body is impacting his overall performance. McCool shares that he won’t make excuses for himself. Calloway then shares that he felt that shouldn’t have been him in the Royal Rumble where he went face to face with Roman Reigns. Undertaker is quite poignant in saying that he knows he is in a match that could have potentially be occupied by someone else. He doesn’t want to cheapen his legacy or his overall significance. Calloway understands that he is moving slower now.

However, he still wanted to be seen as something of value.

We then see him at the WWE Hall of Fame induction and his exchanges with Kurt Angle. The stories and backstage instances between them are well documented and truly showcases a real leadership quality about him. Calloway shared how to do something and then would proceed to back it up. We hear stories from JBL, Mark Henry, and Scott Hall about Undertaker’s value. To see him moving around slowly is a reality. What was pleasant to see is the relationship with others. Christian, Chris Jericho, and Shawn Michaels were all exchanging laughs with him.

The Undertaker: The Last Ride

Roman’s Yard Now?

Roman Reigns shares how he would connect with Undertaker. Reigns shared how awestruck he was in sharing the ring with The Undertaker. It was an honor and a responsibility to Reigns in facing him.

In order to be that successful in your career, you have to take every day like its a WrestleMania. And that’s the hardest part. He is that guy and the ultimate respect – Roman Reigns talking about how Undertaker approaches each match

There is pressure in the difference between being good, great, and being a legend – Undertaker.

We then see the preparation of The Undertaker and the process of getting ready for his match against Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 33. As the days approach he then shares how he is trying to get his confidence going. He doesn’t want this fight to be the one where he shows that ‘he has grown old’.

Chris Jericho is shown talking to Undertaker. They discuss how the rampway is 80 yards away from the ring. Jericho pauses and then realizes he just said it was 80 yards. Undertaker shares that he isn’t fine with simply coming out and doing what he is known for and leaving. A great deal of doubt and questions continue to flood his mind. Typically his confidence isn’t at stake, but it continues to creep into his mind.

The Undertaker: The Last Ride

His Mental and Physical Toughness

We then hear stories of how he wrestled with a severe temperature and after catching on fire on his way to an Elimination Chamber match. Michelle McCool then shares how he spent his time in the chamber pouring water over himself while suffering second-degree burns. In an interesting tale, we hear a story from Mick Foley of how Undertaker was actually wrestling on a broken foot during their epic Hell in a Cell match against one another. Undertaker had been told not to embarrass himself, the company, or Vince. He shares how the process to get ready to compete has become greater each time out. The Undertaker shares how his body was at the limit as we see the video of him receiving needles to ease the pain he was under.

The doubts continue to cloud The Undertaker’s mind, but the show has begun. The music of an old gunslinger begins to play right before his entrance. When the match is replayed we see both men fighting one another. Since the match was no holds barred we saw chairs, tombstones, spears, and chokeslams. We then see mistakes between the two men in the match. These were mistakes that weren’t characteristic of The Undertaker in the past. When he speaks of embarrassment and disappointment with himself it was these instances The Undertaker was referring to.

The Undertaker: The Last Ride

After the Final Bell

After the final bell sounds, The Undertaker lays in the ring. We then hear a piano version of his entrance theme. The version of the theme music was symbolic. It was evident that the guard of the Undertaker time in the ring had come to an end. He then put his hat, gloves, and cloak on as he stood in the middle of the ring. Undertaker then lays his hat, gloves, and coat in the middle of the ring. Calloway walks to his wife at ringside gives her a kiss and then proceeds to walk to the back up the aisleway. There were tears from those in attendance. This was the end.

‘That’s a hell of a run’, says Triple H.

The wounds of the match that just took place are apparent on his back.

After the match, we then see him recovering. Vince shares how Mark Calloway told him that if there is ever a time when you think I’m not there tell me. Undertaker was trying but he just wasn’t there…

On the Next Chapter – Calloway shared how disappointed he was with his performance

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