On the first night of WrestleMania 36, the Undertaker main evented what could prove to be his final WrestleMania against AJ Styles. Their boneyard match was highly-touted after the fact, but a complete mystery going in. Its build that left many confused beforehand and revolved around AJ bringing up Mark Calaways's broken down body, marriage to Michelle McCool, and gave people a look behind the curtain at his life in a way that WWE's own documentaries never did - until now.
WWE has hyped up "The Last Ride of the Undertaker" since the beginning of the year, and now chapter one of the docu-series has been told. It focuses on his WrestleMania 33 match with Roman Reigns that closed out the show and left many feeling conflicted. On one hand, the match showed that Taker was willing to do all his body could to deliver a main event match and you could see his passion in the work. On the other, you could see that his body just couldn't do what he wanted it to anymore. At 52 years of age and three years past what some would have wanted as his final match at WrestleMania 30, he seemed like a shot fighter.
Chapter one shows him moving around a great deal and none of it is positive. Those who saw Chick Liddell vs. Tito Ortiz III in 2018 will vividly recall Chuck's hips being gone and him having no movement speed. While the Undertaker on-stage didn't quite move that badly, Mark Calaway the man was struggling with half-steps and had a gait that showed his hips were shot. During a scene in the trainer's room, he gets what is presumed to be a cortisone shot to help his joints out and it seemingly helps. He's able to move them pretty well after that point, but his evasive answer to the doctor's next question tells the true story.
He's asked if his hip's good and he looks away and offers a non-committal "yeah" in such a way that you know he's lying to himself. In this instance, it would prove to be his downfall. Right after being shown leaving the room, his knees are shown moving better - but he still can't move his hip. Dress rehearsal is shown and he's still slow and then in the match itself, he struggles. It's a match that as we see in the closing moments via a preview of the next show, that Taker can't stand to rewatch. In trying to prove a point to himself, he fell and old adage of pride coming before a fall rang true.
Throughout chapter one, we see bits and pieces of what led to the match itself. Not so much the on-air build - but the reason that Mark Calaway kept going after WrestleMania 30. He had no memory of that match and as of the time he was recorded for the content here, still didn't. He didn't want to go out like that and didn't have any confidence in himself - but couldn't let a match he couldn't remember be his last. He went out for WrestleMania 31 against Bray Wyatt and regained his confidence - and with good reason.
Beyond his own battle with father time, Bray Wyatt injured his ankle earlier in the day - and that's something they didn't touch on in the doc, but should have. It makes the match they managed to have that much better because you know each man is doing all they physically can to have a good match, and they did. He stated that his late 2015 series with Brock was another part of his redemption, but it came with the expected cost of more wear and tear. His Summerslam 2015 and Hell in a Cell 2015 matches are briefly shown, but upon a rewatch, it's clear that he was feeling a bit better in them than he had since at least the CM Punk match in 2013.
One constant throughout the doc is how much everyone in the company respects Mark Calaway the man and the work he has put into making The Undertaker an iconic part of WWE. Mick Foley talks about Taker being banged up in the late '90s and going into their legendary Hell in a Cell match with a broken foot and while Foley was worse for wear than Taker after the match, Taker was in rougher shape going in. Vince, Shawn Michaels, and HHH all pay homage to Calaway as do younger stars like The Miz and non-performer employees are shown greeting him with reverence before WM 33.
Chapter one of the docu-series lays the foundation for the rest of the story. It introduces the cast of characters that have helped mold him into who he is now, like his wife Michelle and has him talk about what drives him. It concludes with grisly footage of a hip resurfacing operation done to help his mobility at some point after WM 33 - and that fits in with another tale told throughout the chapter that after a big match, he'd take time off and have whatever operations were needed to keep him going. The first outing for The Last Ride was compelling from start to finish and is something that everyone should check out. It's brutally honest in ways that WWE's documentaries rarely are.
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