The Retirement of the Undertaker - The Retirement of a fan.

[Headlesspete]

I dunno if this is a blog...a statement, a bunch of words just scrambled together trying to say what it is I'm feeling. Some of you may get it, some of you will probably not, but I'll start typing and see where we end up.

Around 8 years ago, i watched what i still consider to be the greatest match of all time in Shawn Michaels vs The Undertaker at WrestleMania 25. In recent years the match has become the source of debate for many, was it a spotfest with no psychology, or was it a work of art performed by wrestling's standerd bearers in WWE. I remember thinking when the show was over and i discussed it with my fellow wrestling companion, could WWE ever top this? As fans from the 90s who's fondest memory's of WWE were of the superstars from that era now nostalgia acts in this era, as a fan could i ever be more satisfied than i was right now? But then i remembered, there's always one constant in WWE who will always be around to make me tune in.

A year later, Shawn Michaels retired. I remember thinking again that same familiar thought..."this is my favorite wrestler of all time, hanging it up", and again i wondered if maybe as a fan it was time to also hang it up. But then that one constant remained, and so did I.

A year further, and Edge retires. Another one of those wrestlers from yesteryear whom i would class as my favorites. That thought now becomes even bigger, and i start to wonder what I'm still watching for. I see wrestlers coming in who i like, but i just don't enjoy seeing them as much as i do those legends who one by one are leaving this sport. But again, that one constant remains.

S
Last year myself and a buddy traveled all the way to America to watch WrestleMania 32 live, to finally see our superheros up close and witness them in person. We even got to see the Hall of Fame where Sting, another in the class of "Personal Legends" retired on stage. It was gutting, because i knew again my time and era of WWE was closing But the constant as always was present, and with it so was my fandom. The question arose again, when was it time to stop watching, and the answer was the same as years previous. If he's there, so am I.

Well, last night finally arrived. It was a date we all knew was coming, and for better or worse the Undertaker lay down his hat and gloves and the constant was no more. This isn't a debate for whether he should have retired years earlier or if his last match was a deserving send off, this is a question about realizing the thing you've loved since you were a child, is no longer the same thing you love now. Its understanding that while everything changed over the past 20 years, from Rated 15 to PG to hardcore based to wrestling, there was always a constant that you clung onto as a fan, and if that constant is no more, what are you still watching for? Wrestling is a funny thing, and if you explained these thoughts to a non wrestling fan they may think you more of a freak than just a "wrestling geek", but wrestling is a unique community. Once you reach a point where accepting grown men in underwear hitting each other with steel chairs to win titles is a legitimate TV show, you become engrossed and enslaved to everything else that comes with it.

You watch a character on a TV show get killed off after 2 seasons, and it hurts a little, because you spent 20+ episodes watching them. You watch a character leave a show after 10 years+, tears can flow as you genuinely feel you know this character so well, its painful and sad. So what happens when characters you've watched for 20+ years, characters you've seen inside and outside the ring, who you've seen on your screen thousands of times, finally decide to walk away? Its an impact i experienced with others, but the Undertaker is the constant, the last of his kind, and feasibly the most iconic.

Tonight I'll watch Raw as usual, and for the most part it'll feel like any other Raw after Mania. But somethings changed for me in how i see things. The spark is just a little less brighter, it feels just a little less engaging, and i dare say while the Undertaker retired from WWE last night, myself and a fair few others watched the last remnants of their childhood, and so too their fandom, retire with him.

[The Legend]

I understand a lot of what you are talking about and totally respect it. Maybe because I feel like I'm probably a little bit older than you I come at it from a slightly different perspective. Also, being a sports fan changes things for me too. I've been watching wrestling for more than 25 years. There's nothing like when you first discover something, especially when you view it through the eyes of a child. My childhood wrestling heroes retired from meaningful, consistent competition a long time ago. Hulk Hogan, Roddy Piper, Macho Man, Ultimate Warrior, Bret Hart have all been off WWE TV for nearly 20 years (was always mostly loyal to WWE, even through the Attitude Era) and nothing would ever be like them for me. However, I have also found that if I open myself up to them there's always guys to fill that void and I have found that while different I can find just as much enjoyment in the different styles of entertainment I've seen throughout the years as well.

[Kreashko]

Man, I feel the same way. Last night watching Taker lower down from the stage in a cloud of smoke, a piece of my childhood too went up in that same smoke. A little piece of me died watching Taker lower from the ramp and I seriously won't be the same again.