Tonight’s Survivor Series ended as only it could: with the Final Farewell of perhaps the greatest wrestling persona of all time, The Undertaker. As much as I’ve loved the three-hour Pay-Per-Views in the era of Pandemia, this is as good of a reason as any to run long. Stick with me now, this is going to be a lot.
Shane McMahon is first out to pay homage to Undertaker. The two had an odd feud in the build to WrestleMania 32, where they clashed in a Hell in a Cell Match. Next out is The Big Show, with whom Taker held the WWF Tag Team Championship in the summer of 1999. Show and A-Train were also victims of The Streak at WrestleMania XIX. Following him is John “Bradshaw” Layfield, who feuded with Undertaker for the WWE Championship in the summer and fall of 2004, culminating in the first-ever Last Ride Match at that year’s No Mercy. Then came Jeff Hardy, the second part of one of the greatest Ladder Matches in WWE history, contested for the WWE Undisputed Championship.
Out next is Mick Foley, with whom Undertaker made countless iconic moments, including the Boiler Room Brawl at SummerSlam 1996 and that Hell in a Cell at King of the Ring 1998. Following him is Charles “The Godfather” Wright, another Hall of Famer who goes way back with The Deadman, especially as part of the lauded Bone Street Krew backstage group. Next out were The Godwins, former WWF Tag Team Champions who also ran with Taker. In a big shock was the appearance of Los Boricuas’ Savio Vega, another BSK member. Out next was the legendary Rikishi, the victim of that chokeslam from Armageddon 2000’s Hell in a Cell match, sending him into the back of a truck filled with sawdust.
After him is Kevin Nash, also known as Diesel, who was Streak victim number six at WrestleMania XII. Next out is Booker T, the six-time World Champion who feuded with Undertaker during the Invasion storyline in 2001. After him is “The Heartbreak Kid” Shawn Michaels, who had so many moments with Undertaker that I’ve covered several in previous listicles. Out next is “Nature Boy” Ric Flair, who had one of the most underrated matches of The Streak at WrestleMania X8 in a No Disqualification Match. Of course, we can’t have a nostalgia segment with Triple H, who faced Undertaker three separate times at WrestleMania, including the End of an Era Hell in a Cell Match. And you can’t have an Undertaker sendoff without his storyline brother and Knox County, TN mayor Glenn “Kane” Jacobs, in full gear, no less.
WWE’s production is top-notch, and their promo packages are unparalleled. Metallica’s “Now That We’re Dead,” which played Undertaker in and out of his final Boneyard Match at this year’s WrestleMania, plays under a massive collection of legendary moments. With thirty years of clips, you know there’s a hell of a lot of ground to cover. Following the package, WWE CEO and Chairman of the Board Vince McMahon is out to address the Thunderdome. To hear Vince speak from the heart and not a script is frankly surprising, but if there were any moment to do so, it’s this one.
The gong sounds, and the Thunderdome goes dark. Pyro everywhere, electricity coursing through Tesla coils as they play the melody of “Rest in Peace,” the Deadman’s longest-used entrance music, that iconic funeral dirge we all know by heart. The gong goes off again before his recorded music starts in proper. It is at this point that the piped-in crowd noise goes silent, as it damn well should for a moment like this, even if not having a live crowd makes it feel more ominous than ever. When the figure of The Undertaker is visible through the smoke and the fog, the crowd noise comes back in, as he makes one final walk down the aisle.
Undertaker keeps it brief, saying that he’s laid souls to rest for thirty years, and that now it is his time to let The Undertaker rest… in… peace. It is a goddamn crying shame that this couldn’t happen in front of a live crowd, but the fact that we’re getting a proper retirement from any wrestler, much less one as celebrated as Undertaker, is something worth celebrating. After his pose on one knee and a Paul Bearer hologram, a blue spotlight focuses on Undertaker, still kneeling from his pose. The gong tolls thirty times for thirty years of The Deadman, and he rises back to his feet.
WWE Survivor Series is available to stream on-demand on the WWE Network.
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