The Undertaker has been involved in some of WWE’s greatest moments in history, with an almost unrivalled legacy.
However, the decorated legend almost died in the middle of the ring during one of the wrestling world’s most disastrous matches against fellow Hall of Famer Goldberg.
Back in 2019, the two WWE icons faced off in the searing Saudi Arabia heat in the main event of Super ShowDown in a bout which fans, and the stars themselves, would rather forget.
Goldberg collided with the steel corner early on and appeared to suffer a concussion, and almost dropped Undertaker on his head when he hoisted him up for his signature Jackhammer move.
‘I was two inches away from making my wife a widow, and my kids fatherless,’ Undertaker revealed in 2020’s The Last Ride documentary.
Fans watching were incredibly nervous, and referee Mike Chioda had a huge call to make at the massive stadium show.
‘I almost had to call an audible [to end the match],’ he exclusively told Metro in 2021. ‘It went downhill after Goldberg got gashed open in the turnbuckle, got concussed.
‘He was badly concussed and he got through the match, but barely. That’s when I was kinda worried.’
He recalled seeing both superstars ‘almost break their necks’ with the Jackhammer attempt, and veteran referee Chioda was waiting to see if there were any instructions to end the bout in his earpiece.
He added: ‘I was waiting to hear back from somebody to say, “should I call this match or not because he’s not doing good at all?” ‘
A few months after the bout, in October 2019, Goldberg – who will be in action for his retirement match against World Heavyweight Champion GUNTHER on July 12 – defended his performance in light of the injury.
‘When I know the whole deal and everything, it’s like, come on guys. Give me a break – I knocked myself out, dude,’ he told Metro during an event in Los Angeles.
‘Now let me see you walk down the street – let alone pick up a 320lbs dude – when you’re knocked out.’
Goldberg has said in the past that Chioda repeatedly checked on him, while the former WWE official noted that Undertaker had the final say about whether to continue or not.
‘I would definitely listen to Undertaker. If he told me to do something, it’d be done, and then we’d have to take back there. It would be done,’ he said, while pointing out the money at stake.
As well as WWE being paid huge sums for the Saudi Arabia events, it’s been reported that both men received seven figure paydays for the match.
‘You ain’t stopping a match like that unless you’re told to,’ Chioda laughed during another conversation with Metro in January this year.
Things could have been very different, with former WWE superstar Elias – who know works for TNA Wrestling as Elijah – originally planned as Undertaker’s opponent for the show.
He exclusively told Metro in 2024: ‘I can remember Vince [McMahon] said, “Hey, you’re gonna be working with Taker”. Taker pulled me aside, he’s like, “Hey, man, we’re gonna go do some business at Saudi, we’re gonna have some fun.” ‘
Plans changed, with Goldberg drafted in for what Elias referred to as an ‘infamous match’.
‘My personal opinion is, it would have went way better with me and [Undertaker] and a lot safer, probably,’ he added. ‘But, you know, that’s how history goes sometimes.’
The match went the way it did, finishing in just under 10 minutes with both men managing to walk away relatively unscathed, but both with a point to prove.
‘It was very important to nobody but me,’ Goldberg said of the wanting to rebuild his reputation. ‘People were very critical of me, and I’ll be honest, I never really respond to it.’
A few weeks later, he faced off with Dolph Ziggler, now known as Nic Nemeth in TNA, in a dominant bout with the aim of getting back some ‘self-confidence’.
How The Undertaker and Goldberg saved their legacies after Super ShowDown
Metro’s WWE expert Alistair McGeorge reflects on the match and its fallout…
Even going into the match, Goldberg and The Undertaker had their work cut out for them, with the Dead Man being honest about his own physical limitations at the time, while his opponent was never known for five star matches.
It was evident things had gone south quickly when Goldberg hit his head in the corner, and I can still remember panicking as he struggled to get ‘Taker up for the Jackhammer.
The vitriol online was predictable but intense, and it’s safe to say the bout is remembered for all the wrong reasons.
Thankfully, both men were able to atone for the match, with Goldberg looking more like his intense old self when he beat Ziggler a couple of months later at SummerSlam.
His output since then has been mixed, but a final match next month against GUNTHER at Saturday Night’s Main Event is the perfect way for him to go out.
For Undertaker, he ended his career a year after the Goldberg match, beating AJ Styles in the cinematic Boneyard Match – a tonne of fun to watch as a fan, and a befitting end to his legendary career.
‘Not for anyone else,’ he pointed out. ‘But I just needed to go out there and go through the motions, and know just ’cause you stumble once, [it] doesn’t define you.’
He added: ‘It’s a blessing and it’s a curse. I’m never happy, but I’m always striving to be better than anybody else… [The Ziggler match] helped me out a lot.’
Similarly, Undertaker didn’t want to retire after the Goldberg match, and it wasn’t until his cinematic horror movie-esque Boneyard Match with AJ Styles at WrestleMania in April 2020 that he found his closure.
‘I was very proud of the match and what we were able to do,’ he exclusively told Metro in May 2023.
‘I wasn’t mentally ready to retire, but I knew my body was getting to the point that I needed to,’ he recalled.
Around 10 months after the Goldberg match, Undertaker realised in a ‘moment of clarity’ he would have to call time on his career.
‘It was about 4 in the morning and we were between one fight scene and another. My back is completely locked up, I’ve got pain shooting down my legs. That’s when I knew I was done, I was for sure, 100% done,’ he said.
‘It was physical, we did some really big stunts, but I shouldn’t have felt, at that point, the way that I did. It was just that moment of clarity…
‘”Let’s finish it, enjoy what you’re gonna do here because this is it.” I’m really proud of what we did in that match, but yeah, that was the moment that I knew it was all over.’
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