The Undertaker wasn’t thrilled with the allotted time his match with John Cena got at WrestleMania 34.
The Deadman was a recent guest on INSIGHT with Chris Van Vliet to discuss a wide variety of subjects. When asked about his WrestleMania 33 match against Roman Reigns, The Undertaker spoke about how beat up he was going into that match.
“Yeah, so I was extremely beat up. And, you know, I had toyed with the idea of hanging it up,” The Undertaker admitted. “I knew it that year when I got to the Rumble, I wasn’t going to be ready, I wasn’t gonna be ready for Mania, but I’d already committed to the program.
“Didn’t know what we were going to do yet, I just knew that I was going to work with Roman, and we got there that day, and I was like man, I knew I was in bad shape. And my right hip, which I had surgery right after that, to have a Birmingham hip resurface done after that. You know, it was just the right thing to do. Not knowing if I was going to be able to come back again, and work anymore.
“So, there I was, he was coming up, and he was going to be the face of the company, and it was the right thing to do. And I didn’t, you know, I’d already [lost], the streak had already been beat, so it was the right thing to do business-wise because I didn’t know that I was going to come back again. I mean that. The hat on the coat, all that being placed in the ring was 100% legitimate. At the end of it, I was done, and that was my way of saying goodbye.
“And yeah, it wasn’t a plan or staged thing. And then I get my hip fixed, I get a call, and they want me to work with Cena. I’m like, oh crap, man. So, I trained, I know I’ve given you more than you asked for, but it was like, Okay, this is my chance for redemption. Because if you watched The Last Ride, you know how disappointed I was in my performance, and that I put myself in that situation because I just couldn’t physically get to where I needed to be for Roman, and how important that was.
“And just as hard as I tried, I mean I trained like a like an animal, but I mean my hip just, it just, it held me back, and I’m not making excuses, but that’s, that’s the extent of it. So now I’ve got a new hip, and I’m like, oh man, and it’s Cena, and I was like, oh crap. So, Vince called me and said what do you think? And I was like, I don’t know, I don’t, I haven’t really, I’ve rehabbed my hip, and I’m working out again, but I had no plans of getting back in the ring.
“And so, I said, give me a few weeks. So, I get a ring shipped down here to Texas, and I rent a place, and I put the ring in this building, and I start training, and lo and behold, I can move again. So, probably the hardest that I’ve ever trained, not ever I trained, but the hardest I’ve been able to train in probably 10 years. And I was ready, man. I was, my cardio, I trained for like a 45-minute [match].”
Despite what The Undertaker had prepared for, he had no idea he was walking into WrestleMania 34 to have a five-minute match with John Cena and initially told Vince McMahon he wouldn’t do it.
“I didn’t know it was gonna be short till I got there that day. So, I’ve trained for a 45-minute war, right, and all right, here’s redemption,” The Undertaker said. “I’m gonna, man, I am going to light this place on fire, I felt good. And Vince calls me into his office, and he goes okay, he says it’s just gonna be about five minutes, you’re gonna squash him. I’m like, what?
“And, you know, Vince, he just thought that was the funniest [thing] because he knew how hard I’d been training. I mean, he, and I’m like, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. I said, I’m doing 30, or I’m not going out. And he’s like, Mark, that’s not what we need. And I’m like, no Vince, I was like, Where’s John? Where’s he at? So John comes in he goes, Oh no. He goes I talked mad smack about you, dude.
“Yeah, you need to beat me quick and get this over with. I’m like are you kidding me? It’s like we’ve never worked on pay-per-view are you [serious]? And this is WrestleMania; give me a break here.
“And they both, they ganged up on me. I was finally, I threw my hands up. I was like, I can’t believe [it], and Vince just thought that was the funniest thing because, like I said, I trained like an animal, I was so unbearable at home. I mean, as far as my diet and the training and just all my protocols of recoup, rehab, I was a nightmare. I get there, and yeah, five minutes. And it was like that was it.”
READ MORE: The Undertaker: I’d Still Be Active In WWE If It Were Up To Vince McMahon
What do you make of The Undertaker’s comments? Would you have liked a longer match between The Undertaker and John Cena at WrestleMania 34? Let us know your thoughts by sounding off in the comments section below.
