Now that Undertaker is 48-years-old, 49 in March of next year, there are two questions that come up for discussion when his name is brought up: 1) Is he going to retire soon, and 2) Is he going to allow his WrestleMania streak to end when he does decide to retire?
Question two is one we won't get an answer for until it actually happens, but "The Deadman" did give a rare interview to the Houston Chronicle (subscription required) in which he discussed why he's still going despite suffering through a myriad of injuries after such a long and successful career (via PWTorch.com):
"Honestly, I love it, that's why," Calaway said. "I've got 26 years in the business and all these injuries, but WrestleMania has become so huge, it's just hard to walk away from it. I want the audience leaving the stadium going 'Wow!' It's a responsibility I have being a top dog in this business. The crowd will let me know when it's time to leave. They haven't yet."
Calaway also said that "if I didn't perform at WrestleMania, in some strange weird way, I'd feel like I was letting Vince McMahon down."
On top of that, he said he spends most of his off time "healing up to be the Undertaker again."
His dedication to the industry is admirable, and his loyalty to an employer who has been so loyal to him is also worthy of praise. One can't help but wonder how many years he has left to thrill us at "The Showcase of the Immortals," but from the sounds of it, he's not thinking too heavily about retirement just yet.
At the very least, this makes it sound like a match at WrestleMania 30 is a lock. Now we get to speculate for the next seven or eight months or so on who the opponent should be.