Vince McMahon did not give The Undertaker complete creative control over his final address as The Deadman.
30 years on from his debut at the 1990 Survivor Series, Taker made the decision to call time on his career at the same event in 2020. Taking place in the main event of the show, multiple legendary friends and foes made the trip to The ThunderDome to witness the Hall of Famer announce he would no longer be appearing on TV.
Appreciating The Deadman’s loyalty to WWE for over 3 decades and having the utmost respect for what he has done for the company, McMahon introduced Undertaker to the virtual crowd to allow him to give the retirement speech. However, he was not allowed to explicitly state that he would be retiring.
Speaking on the Six Feet Under podcast, Undertaker revealed that he and McMahon clashed over whether or not Taker would announce his retirement, with the belief being that McMahon did not believe that The Deadman was actually calling time on his in-ring career:
“In November, that was one of those times where Vince and I butted heads. My retirement. He wouldn’t let me say retirement. ‘It’s time for the Undertaker to rest in peace.’ In full character. I have these guys, all in the ring, but I’m going to be in my full character. It was like, yuck.’ It was a way, it was still during COVID, it was not good. I honestly don’t think he was completely convinced at that point that I was done. I don’t think anybody was, really. There are still people out there that think I have one more,”
Following The Final Farewell at Survivor Series, the former World Champion has made 3 subsequent appearances on WWE TV. Beginning with his induction into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2022, Undertaker would later make cameo appearances on the 30th-anniversary special episode of Raw and one more appearance on the episode of NXT that went head-to-head with AEW Dynamite on October 10th.
Vince McMahon Improves Working Conditions
Following years in the office and behind the commentary table, McMahon would have his first of 57 matches in 1998. The earlier rings were described as “glorified boxing rings” by Undertaker in a previous episode of Six Feet Under, getting softer once McMahon started to take bumps inside the squared circle. The Undertaker would recall how Vince McMahon starting to wrestle created the catalyst for this change that was kinder on wrestlers’ bodies.
H/t to Fightful.