The Undertaker Turns Back the Clock at WrestleMania 34

The Undertaker is back. The Deadman finally answered the call and returned at WWE WrestleMania 34, where he defeated John Cena. But he not only beat Cena, he dismantled him. The 16-time world champion wanted The Phenom and that’s exactly what he got.

This Undertaker was not the man that faced Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 33. This performer was 10 years younger. Taker looked amazing, as if he indeed turned back the clock. He flew around the ring like he used to, delivering a flying clothesline and an Old School spot off the top rope.

This was more than WWE fans could have hoped for. Taker was back in his element, which is something that likely no one expected. From the moment that Cena first called him out on Monday Night Raw, Undertaker’s return has been debated among the WWE faithful.

Should he come back? He has not looked great in a very long time and he has never really been the same since losing his undefeated streak against Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 30. That was the night when his WWE main event career perhaps came to an end.

When that happened, fans realized that yes; The Undertaker was human after all. For the first time, he looked old. It was a shock to the system and he never fully recovered after that. But his return at WrestleMania 34 has all but erased the past few years. He was in rare form.

But perhaps the biggest development in this match is that Taker not only won; he won convincingly. He didn’t brutalize John and he didn’t heel out in any way. However he did squash Cena, which immediately cause some fans to wonder what the point of this match actually was.

The same fans that typically always criticized Cena for never losing were suddenly upset that he didn’t win. Some even began looking ahead to WrestleMania 35 in 2019, believing the two legends will face off again, this time in a real match.

But fans are missing the point of this match. This was not about making John Cena look good. It wasn’t necessarily about making The Undertaker look good. This was about turning back the clock and reminding fans of just how important The Deadman is to the company.

The past few years have indeed not been kind to Taker. Rather than stay home and rest on his accomplishments, Undertaker came back every time to the company that made him a household name. Critics can believe it’s about money and maybe that’s true to a certain extent. The Deadman surely takes home a very nice paycheck every time he leaves The Grandest Stage of Them All.

Of course it’s about much more than that. His longevity was not predicated on money. Undertaker keeps coming back because this is who he is. This is the life he has lived for so long that to do anything else would undoubtedly feel foreign to him.

He has nothing left to prove and the fans know it. If he never returned after losing to Lesnar in 2014, no one would blame him. Taker put his time in. He did his part and then some. There was no reason why he couldn’t go back home and enjoy the rest of his life outside of a WWE ring.

But to be content is to become complacent. The Undertaker keeps returning because it’s not over for him. Fans can complain about part-time schedules. They can gripe over worn down legends that refuse to give up their spots to the younger generation. Taker did supposedly pass the torch to Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 33, why not just leave well enough alone and let it go?

The truth is that the only one that should decide when The Undertaker retires is The Undertaker himself. It’s his body. It’s his career. The Deadman surely did not carry the banner of WWE for nearly 30 years just so someone else could tell him when to stop. He has earned the right to make his own decision. It’s his call.

Fans wanted The Undertaker back. They made that abundantly clear every time Cena called him out. Maybe it’s because fans wanted to see Cena get his. Or maybe it was purely for nostalgia’s sake. But either way, they wanted The Phenom back between the ropes and that’s exactly what happened at WrestleMania 34.

Cena would have no reason to be upset at how the match went. After all if not for The Undertaker, Cena would never have had his WWE career. It was The Deadman who shook Cena’s hand backstage in 2002. He publicly endorsed Cena on live TV and that had a lot to do with the way Cena was accepted from that point on. Undertaker brought John Cena into this world and he can take him out.

No one suffered from this match. Cena and Taker did not steal the spotlight from anyone else in WWE. This match was exciting because The Undertaker looked like The Undertaker of old. If it was just a one-off to give fans a great final memory of the legendary Deadman, so be it. If all of this was done to set up something more between him and Cena then that’s a good thing as well.

Next: WrestleMania 34 Live Review, Highlights, Grades, and Analysis

In the meantime, fans got what they wanted. They got The Undertaker. He’s doing this his way and he’s calling the shots. He’s earned this and he deserves it. The Undertaker is back and hell has come with him.