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Sunday (June 14) saw the premiere of the fourth episode of WWE Network’s Undertaker: The Last Ride.
Maybe it’s because my expectations were too high, but I found “The Battle Within” to be a let down. Not much new light was shed on Taker’s debacle in the desert against Goldberg, and the novelty of seeing Mark Calaway behind-the-scenes has largely worn off at this point. The themes of “why can’t he say no to Vince?” and “will he ever be able to walk away?” are still interesting, but the series is pretty much just repeating itself over footage of more possible last matches at this point.
Nevertheless, it’s an easy to watch 50 minutes of pro wrestling product. And WWE is still promoting the heck out of, including with the free Post-Mortem after-show. This week’s guest was Shane McMahon, and Taker’s WrestleMania 32 opponent gave us the big juicy pull quote of the weekend.
Shane O’Mac was one of the men in the ring for the match “The Battle Within” presents as The Dead Man’s last, Taker & Roman Reigns vs. McMahon & Drew Galloway at Extreme Rules 2019. Calaway tells the cameras he thinks that’s it before shooing them off so he can speak privately with AJ Styles... cliffhanger!
If that had been it, McMahon was just happy to be a part of the legend’s send-off. He also said knowing Calaway was looking to atone for Super ShowDown and deliver something that could be a worthy capstone to his career was something he, Reigns and McIntyre felt:
“It definitely added to the pressure. You got Drew and Roman in the mix who also have an unbelievable respect for The Undertaker as everyone should. He’s one of the guys that truly paved the way. Everyone [in the match] wanted Undertaker to have that sensation, so we all worked really hard to get it there. It’s extra pressure, but it’s pressure where it’s like, ‘All right, if he wants to go out on this one, he’s going out on a high note. No problem.”
But since it wasn’t the end - Taker worked with Styles in Saudi Arabia in February and, of course, for WrestleMania 36’s Boneyard Match - well, Shane has an idea:
“Personally, now that he’s got a little taste of it, I don’t think [he’s done]. I know I got one. I’m ready. I’ll challenge him out. I know I got one more, one big one, and I want a rematch. Hell In A Cell 2.”
Are you down if the Dead Man is?