The Undertaker On Looking For The Perfect End To His Career, Getting The Chance To Wrestle AJ Styles

As seen above, TV Guide has released a sneak peek at "The Last Ride" docuseries on The Undertaker, which will premiere this Sunday after WWE Money In the Bank. This clip is from Chapter 1. The other four chapters will premiere over the next several weeks.

This clip shows Taker putting the finishing details on his WrestleMania 33 entrance. The WrestleMania 33 main event saw Taker lose a No Holds Barred match to Roman Reigns.

Taker has stayed away from the behind-the-scenes cameras for the most part over the yeas, but he told TV Guide that documenting what could be the final moments of his in-ring career was an important opportunity he couldn't pass up.

"I knew when we started this that I was getting close to the end and I wanted people to get a little glimpse of what they've been asking for," Taker told TV Guide. "But also, I wanted them to see what it took on a day-to-day basis for me to get out and be the Undertaker."

The 55 year old Dead Man admitted that allowing access to the man behind the gimmick didn't come easy. It took some time before Taker was comfortable because he still believes in the old school ways of the pro wrestling business.

"It was not a natural thing for me. It took a little bit of time before I was comfortable because I am, to a fault, I'm a dinosaur and I still firmly believe in the old ways of our business," Taker said. "I've moved along as our business has progressed but I carry a lot of the values of the old school. Opening this character up and then seeing the person behind the character, it really went against everything that I've done my whole career. But I just felt like it was time and I felt like I would regret it if I didn't because once the thing's over, I'm not going to have a second chance to do it."

Chapter 1 on Sunday will focus on Taker's WrestleMania losses – the WrestleMania 33 loss to Reigns, and the WrestleMania 30 loss to Brock Lesnar, the end of The Streak. It was noted that Taker is still searching for the perfect way to end his Hall of Fame career, but how does one say goodbye to a character they've played for more than half of their live? Taker said not even he knows the answer to that question right now. Taker said he never saw his character delivering a retirement speech, but he is looking for an "exclamation point" on his career that would serve as a fitting end cap.

"I never saw the character getting in the ring and having a retirement speech," he said. "I've been looking for that one match that I can say, 'Yeah, that's it. That's the exclamation point on a career. Boom. I can walk away.' And so, I'm struggling. I know what my limitations are, physically, and I'm having to weigh that against the long-term effects of continuing to wrestle. So all these things are intertwined, and they get in the way of each other. You start thinking one way, and then this other part of you thinks, 'Maybe there's a little bit more gas than you think.' And then you go out and you do it and something goes awful and it's like, 'Oh man, what am I doing?' So it's this constant struggle of when to say, 'When.'"

Taker said he continues to perform because it's the love of what he does, not because of the money or the fame.

"It's easy to sit on the outside and [say], 'Is he greedy? Does he want the money? Does he want the fame?' But those things are the farthest thing from my interests. I've never enjoyed being a celebrity. It's the love of what I do," he explained.

It was noted that back in 2019 when Taker was left off the WrestleMania card for the first time in 19 years, it seemed like he was finally ready to hang up his boots for good, but then AJ Styles happened. Taker said he was pretty content, but then he had the chance to work with AJ, who he respects as an in-ring performer and a human being.

"At that point, I was pretty content," Taker said. "I'd already kind of come to grips with the fact that my days, especially with WrestleMania, it was time to move on. And then, the match with A.J. presents itself. We've both been in the business for a while and our paths had never crossed. That's very unusual to never have a match with [someone of that stature] and I really hold him in very high regard as an in-ring performer and as a human being."

That led to Taker defeating AJ in the first-ever Boneyard Match at WrestleMania 36 last month. Some fans believed that the ending to the match, with Taker riding off after burying Styles, was his last ride, but that remains to be seen.

"I just don't know," Taker said. "I want people to watch [The Last Ride] and kind of come away with their own conclusions of where I'm at. But I have to go into each and every match looking at it that way at this point."