Tonight is the Survivor Series, one of WWE's biggest events, or at least it used to be! While not much of note will be going on tonight, one specific highlight will be the farewell of he Undertaker, who debuted 30 years ago at the 1990 Survivor Series. In that time, the Undertaker has become one of the most legendary figures in all of wrestling. After many years in the business, it seems that he will finally be retiring from in-ring action. He's not scheduled to wrestle, but there's almost a guarantee that he will get physical, perhaps dishing out a chokeslam or Tombstone to anyone who dares interrupt his farewell. Unfortunately, the fans have never gotten the ultimate dream match of the Undertaker vs. Sting. It may be too late! Or is it?
These two legendary wrestlers did once meet in the ring. However, this was before Mark Calloway became the Undertaker. Back in WCW, Sting wrestled Mean Mark a few times, once even defending the WCW World Title, just mere months before the Undertaker debuted in the WWF at the time. There were a few people in WCW's management that felt the man wouldn't amount to much. Once he saw the writing on the wall and word got to Bruce Prichard, Prichard pitched the future Undertaker to Vince McMahon. The WWF then scouted him and signed him to the company.
Soon, Thanksgiving 1990 was upon us and the WWF's annual tradition came back, the Survivor Series. The "Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase had his team set to face off with Dusty Rhodes' team. Dusty had the Hart Foundation and Koko B. Ware by his side, while DiBiase used his intelligence. Though the team of Rhythm & Blues, the Honky Tonk Man and Greg Valentine, were on his side, he kept his third partner a secret. Just before the match, DiBiase introduced his secret partner. Making his way to the ring with manager Brother Love (Bruce Prichard, himself), came the Undertaker. The fear of the fans' faces was palpable. At the time, I had just turned 11 years old a few weeks before, and was one of many children scared of this new wrestler. The Undertaker was a good 6'10 and 300lb man, as he slowly approached the ring. Who could forget the commentary by Rowdy Roddy Piper, as he said about the Undertaker; "look at the size of that ham hock!" During the match, the Undertaker quickly dismantled Koko with a brutal looking Tombstone, before setting his sights on Dusty Rhodes and company. From there, we all know the history of the Undertaker. Shortly thereafter, the Undertaker began being managed by Paul Bearer.
In the 30 years since his debut, the Undertaker has had many memorable moments in his career. In just one year after his debut, he defeated Hulk Hogan for the WWF Championship at the 1991 Survivor Series. The Undertaker has won several more World Titles, fought a clone of himself, been betrayed by Paul Bearer, defeated Mankind in the infamous "Hell In a Cell," fought against and with his brother Kane, and has had legendary matches. For many years, in fact, he had a long running winning streak at WrestleMania, which finally ended at the hands of Brock Lesnar. Personally, I try to forget that happened, as I believe the Undertaker's streak should have remained in tact. However, I have other blogs about that specific topic, so it's neither here nor there. Despite that, the Undertaker has remained one of the most important wrestlers in history. His farewell tonight at the Survivor Series, 30 years after his debut, has been promoted by WWE. Many of his former allies and opponents will be there to celebrate the legacy of the Undertaker.
As I mentioned earlier, the Undertaker, in that persona, has never wrestled Sting. After WCW was purchased by WWE owner Vince McMahon, Sting did not come to the company, as he opted to sit out his AOL/Time Warner contract from WCW. Though Sting finally did arrive at the 2014 Survivor Series, his and the Undertaker's paths have never crossed. In 2015, he lost his WrestleMania debut match against Triple H and then had to retire due to an injury during a match with Seth Rollins later that year. It seemed that Sting vs. the Undertaker was simply not meant to be. Though the Undertaker had an entertaining feud and match with Bray Wyatt that year, I still believe the match with Sting should have occurred. The following year, Sting was retired from the ring and inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.
I have a theory about tonight's Undertaker farewell ceremony. Many expect some kind of shenanigans to go down, prompting the Undertaker to get physical one last time. Whether it be anyone from past opponents all the way up to Retribution, someone is surely bound to feel the wrath of the Undertaker. However, I have an entirely different theory, as you can imagine based on the topic of this blog. Though the match itself will probably be horrible, the buildup alone to a match between the Undertaker and Sting, would be nothing short of amazing. This past month, WWE has promoted 30 days of the Undertaker on their Network. Many may not have noticed this one little detail in the promo for it, but I have. You could distinctly hear a crow in the background, something clearly connected to Sting. Tonight, after the Undertaker's amazing send off, I believe that Sting will appear. Sting will say to the Undertaker that before he retires, there's still one man left to wrestle, and that's Sting himself. He will then challenge the Undertaker to a match at next year's WrestleMania, which will be a double retirement match.
Though I know it's likely too late, a man can dream, can't he? A match between the two iconic figures during the Attitude Era would have been preferred, even a match at WrestleMania five years ago. Now, in 2020, as the Undertaker's career winds down for good, this will officially be the last time to do the match, most likely too late anyway. However, this is my theory and I'm sticking to it, regardless of how likely it is. Therefore, I boldly predict that Sting will make an appearance tonight and challenge the Undertaker to one last match, at WrestleMania!
