The Undertaker says the missed dive that resulted in him legitimately being out on his feet at WrestleMania 25 during his iconic match with Shawn Michaels, actually helped the story that evening.
The Undertaker and his matches with Shawn Michaels breathed new life into the character that had existed at that point for nearly 20 years. With those matches, Undertaker and Shawn Michaels set a new bar for what Wrestlemania matches should be and allow Shawn Michaels to find the peace that he needed to ultimately walk away from the ring for good.
In their first match at WrestleMania 25 in Houston, Texas, The Undertaker went for his signature over-the-ropes suicide dive and Shawn Michaels pulled a cameraman, played by Sim Snuka aka Deuce of Deuce and Domino, into the line of fire and The Undertaker ended up crashing to the floor. It was later revealed that the Undertaker was legitimately out on his feet following this moment because of the impact.
Speaking on ESPN SportsNation, The Undertaker reveals that he feels that the scary moment in real life actually added to the story of the match and allowed for more drama to unfold. Undertaker would also say that he considered that match to be a perfect work of art where everything just flowed the way it was supposed to.
“I've always been pessimistic with my matches. I would never watch my matches back with anybody else I'd have to sit by myself so I can pick them apart and say, ‘Wow. I should have done this, not that.’ That night, other than missing the cameraman on the dive over to the top which added to the story because it was such a nasty bump that I took, but even that ended up turning something bad into something good. Just everything was the way it was supposed to be and there was so much ad-lib in that match and that is something that you can do when you have guys that you trust and have that kind of ring acumen. All I had to worry about that night was being The Undertaker. I didn't have to worry about Shawn and what Shawn was going to do because I knew he was going to be right there. Those are those kinds of special nights that you don't have to thank for your opponent you don't have to come up with something you know he's on the same wavelength as you are and it was the perfect storm I couldn't have been more happy with how that turned out”
This year’s WrestleMania was the first WrestleMania to not feature either Triple H, Shawn Michaels, or the Undertaker since 1988.
In this same interview, Undertaker, who retired officially at the 2020 Survivor Series event, opened up about the anxiety that he would feel as WrestleMania 37 went on the air without the iconic character. You can read his comment at this link.
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