The last few Sundays have featured one tall, charismatic athlete considered a GOAT, the greatest of all time in his chosen field. This weekend, another takes the stage, and this guy could probably dunk, too, but instead pile-drives foes to hell.
On the heels of "The Last Dance," ESPN’s wildly popular documentary series on Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls, the WWE rolls out the five-episode series “Undertaker: The Last Ride" streaming Sunday on WWE Network (10 EDT/7 PDT) that focuses on the past three years – in and out of the ring – for iconic wrestler The Undertaker, the 6-foot-10 supernatural persona played by Mark Calaway since 1990.
There’s one big difference between the programs, which are both fascinating from the standpoint of watching talented stars come to grips about living up to their legendary status. We know Jordan's story, for the most part, over many NBA championships; this new one just has a few more insights and f-bombs. On the other hand, wrestling fans are finally just starting to get to know the man beneath the Undertaker’s black hat and duster coat.
Back in the 1980s when Calaway, 55, was starting out, wrestling promoters still kept the magic of the athletic soap opera secret. For example, good guys and bad guys had to change in different locker rooms and couldn’t be seen traveling together.
Now, everybody knows it’s all scripted, but as wrestling has (literally) shown people what it’s like behind the curtain, Calaway is finally letting fans get to know him as a quiet, passionate and pretty funny dude.
For the first time, Calaway allowed WWE cameras to film interviews with him and his wife, former WWE star Michelle McCool, at length, and follow him through workouts, medical procedures, car rides and candid discussions with co-workers.
The first episode focuses on the lead-up to his match with Roman Reigns at WrestleMania in 2017, an event that most figured would be his last hurrah.
Subsequent episodes deal with the aftermath, and how he kept going. In his later years, he’s wrestled in a limited schedule that usually includes WrestleMania, WWE’s premiere annual event. And Calaway describes battling a crisis of confidence right before one, while he doesn’t even remember another because of a severe concussion.
“Last Ride” doesn’t gloss over the punishment Calaway has put himself through: McCool tells one story about how his coat caught fire on the way to the ring, and how he wrestled through second-degree burns. He’s seen limping his way through rehearsals, and being visibly uncomfortable and nervous right before his match. Over the years, as a larger-than-life minister of darkness, tattooed biker or something in between, Undertaker ruled as a stoic, two-fisted immortal warrior. But Calaway is a very human guy and, honestly, you come away liking him more because of that vulnerability.
He’s a guy who obviously loves the business that he’s given up his body for, and those around him treat him with ultimate respect. “Last Ride” features interviews with a slew of fellow wrestlers, from Dave Bautista to former Olympic gold medalist Kurt Angle, who sing his praises. Younger grapplers make the time to come say hello when he arrives at a venue. And Calaway enjoys their company. He gives Reigns, his WrestleMania “foe,” a hard time when they’re at the hotel desk at the same time, and later jokes to him that seeing Reigns’ kids sparked his wife’s “baby radar.”
Calaway continues to go pretty strong: At last month’s WrestleMania, he wrestled in a “Boneyard Match,” threw a guy off a roof and “buried” his opponent in dirt using a bulldozer. (This is a man who’s wrestled casket matches, so it fits a certain theme.)
But in the documentary, he’s honest about his own wrestling mortality.
“One of my biggest fears is becoming a parody of myself,” Calaway says. “It would kill me to know some dad who watched me when he was young has to turn to his son and go, ‘Yeah, he’’s moving kind of slow now, but you should have sen him 10 or 15 years ago.”
One day, Undertaker will have his deserved rest, hopefully in peace, but “Last Ride” reminds us that it’s nice to know the “Deadman” is still walking.
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May 09, 2020 at 02:37AM
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'Undertaker: The Last Ride' is WWE's version of 'The Last Dance,' with its own GOAT - USA TODAY
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