Paid Members garynysmon Posted November 23, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted November 23, 2020 (edited) 1 hour ago, BomberPat said: They can't really do that, though, because they've done it so many times before. If The Undertaker's buried or shoved in a coffin or whatever, that's a signal that he's coming back at the Royal Rumble, not that he's gone forever. I blame the Ric Flair retirement being the first high profile retirement of this "era", and having all his mates come out and pay tribute. People think that's what a retirement has to look like, so they had to do the exact same thing for Undertaker. I'm not suggesting he should have gone out like Hogan, wrestling a Dudley Boy on a Manchester house show, but the idea that everyone gets this huge send-off is a bit of a modern invention. I don't necessarily think its a bad thing either, and is certainly better than my childhood when wrestlers just disappeared off the face of the earth overnight. I'm convinced I spent the whole of 1993 wondering why the fuck the Big Bossman wasn't on WWF Superstars anymore (and those WWF Magazine bastards lying that he'd be back soon). Flair's retirement was pretty unique but just because it worked for him (only for Flair to be still standing on turnbuckles having his tights pulled down by Doug Williams and showing his saggy arse on TNA house shows 18 months later), it needn't be the case for every longstanding wrestler. But hey, they'll milk any moment now and wring out any genuine emotion until it ends up being the overproduced mishmash it is. The perfect sendoff for the Undertaker was that Wrestlemania when he left his gear in the ring after he lost. It fit his character to a tee. If he wanted to continue after that then the real moment to say goodbye was gone tbh. Edited November 23, 2020 by garynysmon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Cutting Edge Posted November 23, 2020 Share Posted November 23, 2020 (edited) For Takers send off I'd have done it pretty much the same as it was. But Taker takes off hat and jacket and put it on that pedestal at ringside, then have Metallica play, the other guys come back in and Mark has a beer with the boys and call it a day. That way Undertaker is given respect, then Mark the real guy gets his too. I think this is his last match but I see no issue with him coming out at a Mania or Summerslam to chokeslam a mouthy midcard heel, said it before but keep the bike and ride down, chokeslam, pose....done He can be a ghost rider/conscience type deal. Edited November 23, 2020 by The Cutting Edge Added thoughts Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Factotum Posted November 23, 2020 Share Posted November 23, 2020 The problem is they've had ample opportunities for the great send off and then haven't done it as he's rolling around with Goldberg a few months later. Anything was going to be anti-climatic. The Boneyard match was for me the end, and it was great. Unless you're going to have Taker infront of a Garden crowd or something it was pointless. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Supremo Posted November 23, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted November 23, 2020 (edited) I dread to think what these farewells are going to be like in five or ten years time. Ever since the Flair one they’ve felt more and more hollow and empty. Everyone just doing the thing you do now. Flying in loads of people to just sort of be there. I tried to think of different things they could’ve done to set it apart but the problem is that he’s already done most of it. Going out on his shield. Passing the torch. Floating to heaven. Leaving his gear in the ring. Riding off into the night. In that sense, it was the perfect addendum to the documentary. Even when he found his perfect ending he still couldn’t let it go and came back again. Fucker will probably be RAW GM this time next year. Edited November 23, 2020 by Supremo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Jazzy G Posted November 23, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted November 23, 2020 Should have left it after the Lesnar match at Mania really. The streak is done, leave the hat, gloves and jacketin the ring, and off into the sunset you go, having out somebody over on your way out. I wonder whether Cena will get anything similar, or is he happy to bow out on the firefly funhouse match? It felt like it could have been something special with everybody out there. Have Taker come down while they're all there, then Sting comes down with a blazer to welcome Mark aboard the team at Fowler, McManaman & Borden leasing. Great segment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RIDDUM_N_STYLE Posted November 23, 2020 Share Posted November 23, 2020 3 hours ago, Kfogg1991 said: And to think they actually sold this PPV on box office over here as takers last ever match.......good god that was a disappointment They never actually said once that Taker was wrestling, it was always built as him saying goodbye which is what we got Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WyattSheepMask Posted November 23, 2020 Share Posted November 23, 2020 Who the hell still orders the PPVs on Box Office? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members BomberPat Posted November 23, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted November 23, 2020 1 hour ago, The Cutting Edge said: That way Undertaker is given respect, then Mark the real guy gets his too. Thing is, why do the fans need to see "Mark the real guy" get his send-off? We don't know him, we know The Undertaker. They can have their hugs and beers after the show. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Supremo Posted November 23, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted November 23, 2020 Exactly. I grew up with and followed the career of the mad, spooky, undead wizard. I wanted him to go out in a way that befit that ridiculous, over the top character. I don’t give a fuck about his backstage mates having a reunion or seeing the man behind the character getting his legit respect. Keep that for podcasts or Network specials. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Awards Moderator HarmonicGenerator Posted November 23, 2020 Awards Moderator Share Posted November 23, 2020 Mark the Real Guy made it onto the homepage of The Guardian today, though... https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2020/nov/23/wwe-the-undertaker-the-human-body-isnt-made-to-take-what-we-do Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pork Pie Posted November 23, 2020 Share Posted November 23, 2020 I stopped watching wrestling over 10 years ago and just watch the odd bit of footage every so often, but I did watch WM33 live and thought it was the ideal way for Undertaker to bow out. The match wasn't great but the ending was the most anything wrestling related had made me feel in years. The image of him going down into the stage while his hat and gloves were in the ring was perfect. Since then he's just looked a bit of a joke. The match with AJ this year at Wrestlemania was very good but he really should have ended it at WM33 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperBacon Posted November 23, 2020 Share Posted November 23, 2020 1 hour ago, WyattSheepMask said: Who the hell still orders the PPVs on Box Office? I think someone in this thread DEFINITELY did. Probably because they thought it featured his last ever match. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Cutting Edge Posted November 23, 2020 Share Posted November 23, 2020 1 hour ago, BomberPat said: Thing is, why do the fans need to see "Mark the real guy" get his send-off? We don't know him, we know The Undertaker. They can have their hugs and beers after the show. Yeah that's true. But fans got an Undertaker sendoff and most fans aren't happy with it, I know simple answer is "don't book it" but without fans it wasn't gonna be what people wanted or expected, if he chokeslammed a heel it would always leave the door open when people would moan about. Other than what he did I dunno what could've been done and wwe weren't gonna let 30year celebration pass without something. He's been "Mark" all this year so makes sense they'd thank him too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Supremo Posted November 23, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted November 23, 2020 (edited) Having now seen it, I have to echo the praise for Roman vs. Drew. What a little gem of a match. For years it's felt like everything in WWE was an exercise in frustration, where ridiculously talented guys were forever handicapped by bad casting, terrible characters, overbooking and wanky melodrama. This was the complete opposite. Everything clicked. Two guys perfectly cast, arguably babyface and heel of the year respectively, looking the business, doing some of their best character work ever, having an absolute banger. In front of a proper crowd, these two could easily headline Wrestlemania and I would fucking love it. Edited November 23, 2020 by Supremo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Jazzy G Posted November 23, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted November 23, 2020 Somebody on Facebook had a go at me for nitpicking because I said it was decent, but could have been better with a live crowd. Left me alone when I said it was the best they could manage in the current circumstances. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.