The Undertaker is opening up about the physical and mental toll that came during the final stretch of his WWE career.
While speaking on the Six Feet Under podcast, The Deadman discussed how injuries changed the way he approached matches later in life. He recalled suffering a major concussion at WrestleMania and admitted he could not point to one exact moment that caused it: “The problem was when I stood up, and there were three of you… I was like, I’m just gonna go for the one in the middle, and hopefully I can catch you.”
Undertaker said the concussion created a level of self-doubt that followed him for the rest of his career. Since he was wrestling fewer matches each year, he constantly questioned whether his body was ready and whether he had enough left to perform at the level fans expected.
“At the end, especially because I worked so few times a year… I would go into matches like, did I train hard enough? Did I get my conditioning good enough? Do I have enough in the tank?”
He admitted the WrestleMania concussion was especially difficult because his body was no longer used to that kind of trauma. That doubt carried into his later matches, including his bout with Bray Wyatt, where he said he felt nervous despite decades of experience.
“After the big concussion that I got at WrestleMania, man, it was so difficult… I think it was just my body wasn’t used to the trauma. Once the self doubt gets in there, then it becomes… man. I remember I was wound tight the next year when I worked with Bray. It was like I was a rookie.”
Triple H tried to remind him who he was, but Undertaker said he could not fully accept it at the time. Even with his legendary career, he kept judging himself by his most recent performance instead of everything he had already accomplished.
“Triple H… was like, ‘Dude, you’re the FN Undertaker.’ I couldn’t hear it… it took me a while and I don’t know that it ever really went away for the rest of my career. It was always in the back of my brain… people are like, dude, you had this incredible career, but it’s still, what did I do last? That was always the thought.”
Undertaker also explained that wrestlers hold themselves to brutal standards, even when their bodies can no longer move like they did in their prime. He admitted he struggled to give himself grace during that period.
“We have such high expectations and high standards for ourselves as performers… you don’t give yourself grace. I should be that same guy that I was when I was 28, 30. I couldn’t do it. I can do it now, but I couldn’t then.”
The WWE Hall of Famer also revealed that he had both hips worked on while he was still active in the ring. He clarified that they were not full hip replacements, but Birmingham resurfacing procedures that allowed him to continue wrestling.
“I had both hips done while I was still working. I don’t have full hip replacements. I have what they call Birmingham Resurfaces… they took the head of my femur… cleaned it all off… then they put a titanium cap over the bone. That’s why I was able to continue to keep working.”
Undertaker said one hip was done in 2010, with the other coming a few years later. After more than a decade of chronic pain, the relief after surgery was immediate. He also admitted his hips and knees were in terrible shape. Undertaker believes his bad hips affected the way he walked, which then caused more problems with his knees.
“I had one done in 2010. And then a few years later I had the other one done. For being in chronic pain for over a decade, to waking up and it’s like it’s all gone. They were bad. They were awful. Both of them are really, really, really bad. And I think my knees were direct from my hips because the way I would walk… it kind of threw everything off.”
Undertaker said both knees were long overdue for treatment, but he waited until after retirement because he did not think he could keep wrestling after knee surgery.
“Both of them were way, way overdue. I went years being in pain. With the knees though, I had to wait till I was done because I don’t think I could have worked with my knees.”
Undertaker’s comments show just how much pain and doubt he pushed through during the final years of his WWE run. Even with one of the greatest careers in wrestling history, he still struggled with the pressure of living up to the version of himself fans remembered.
What do you think about The Undertaker admitting he battled self-doubt and chronic pain late in his career? Let us know your thoughts and feedback in the comments below.
Please credit Ringside News if you use the above transcript in your publication.