Undertaker couldn't outrun the hands of time

The first time WWE used the song "In Time" for an Undertaker match, it was back at WrestleMania 27 for his second showdown (though they tried to convince you it was the first) with Triple H. At the time, it seemed like just another slick production type song that sounded haunting enough with just the right lyrics to set the mood for the story they were telling.

Still, that story ended with Undertaker winning and preserving his streak. He lived once more.

The song returned in the lead-up to his match with Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 30 on Sun., April 6, 2014, at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. It seemed a curious decision before the match.

Then, history.

The song, a catchy tune written by Mark Collie, debuted on the soundtrack for the 2004 hit film, The Punisher. In it, Collie plays a man named Harry Heck, an assassin sent to kill the main character of the movie. Before attempting to do so, he walks into a diner and strikes the chord, revealing his plan to play it at The Punisher's funeral.

He never got the chance, of course, but that's neither here nor there.

The song, accompanied by the lyrics:

I can hear what you're thinking,
All your doubts and fears,
And if you look in my eyes, in time you'll find,
The reason I'm here.

And in time all things shall pass away,
In time, you may come back someday.
To live once more, or die once more,
But in time, your time will be no more.

You know your days are numbered,
Count them one by one,
Like notches in the handle of an outlaw's gun.
You can outrun the devil, if you try,
But you will never outrun the hands of time.

In time there surely, come a day
In time all things shall pass away,
In time you may come back some say.
To live once more, or die once more,
But in time, your time will be no more.

The song's meaning is clear: You can outrun whatever demons may be chasing you at any given moment except one.

Time.

That's what felled Undertaker at WrestleMania 30. Brock Lesnar was just the living embodiment of Father Time. It was always going to catch up one day and when it did, its form was that of an unstoppable beast.

It was time for Undertaker's time to be no more.