| 00:00 | A lot of people think that the WWE doesn't hurt, that what we do maybe is somewhat smoke and mirrors, and I whish that were true. |
| 00:15 | but anyone in that locker room, anyone who has ever stepped foot in here, laced up a pair of boots, they know that's not the case. |
| 00:23 | Which brings me to what I'm about to tell you. Eight years ago I broke my neck. |
| 00:30 | I had spinal fusion surgery, which means they move your throat over, put a plate in there and screws. Its really in depth surgery. But because of that surgery I knew that I was wrestling on borrowed time from that point on. |
| 00:48 | So fast forward in the last little while I've been in a lot of pain. I've been losing feeling in my arms. |
| 01:03 | So I passed a strength test and I made it through WrestleMania, but the WWE wanted me to take more tests, and thankfully I did because the MRI shows that I have to retire. |
| 01:31 | I mean trust me, it's not my choice, the doctors have told me that I've got no choice. |
| 01:39 | Uhh... and thankfully they found out because I'm not going to end up in a wheelchair now. |
| 02:18 | This is a little bit tougher than I thought it was going to be. |
| 02:24 | So, you know, and thank you guys, |
| 02:45 | but I tell ya, this has been an emotional roller coaster of a week for me, and I'm not gonna lie: I felt sorry for myself, until I talked to Christian, |
| 03:01 | and for those of you who don't know, Christian has been my best friend for 27 years. |
| 03:10 | I was angry with myself, I was angry with my body because I felt like there are a lot of people in this company who depend on me, I felt like I was letting them down, |
| 03:23 | I felt like I was letting you guys down, uh, but then, I was upset too because I didn't feel like I was ending this on my terms, but he reminded me that I've competed my whole career on my terms. |
| 03:47 | I'm still like all of you, I am a huge fan of the WWE. |
| 03:58 | Every month, Christian and I would go to Maple Leaf Gardens and we'd watch our favorites, we'd watch the Legion of Doom, we'd watch Demolition, we'd watch Hulk Hogan, we'd watch all of them and just be enthralled, |
| 04:12 | and then I went to WrestleMania VI and I watched Hulk Hogan vs. The Ultimate Warrior and I said 'I'm doing this one day'. |
| 04:19 | And you know what? Fast forward a whole bunch of years and I'm main eventing Wrestlemania against The Undertaker. |
| 04:27 | There's no way I ever would've dreamed of that. There's no way if you told me when I was eleven years old, that I would win more championships than anyone in the history of this company, |
| 04:38 | no way I would've believed it. |
| 04:46 | And if you had told me that my last match would be at WrestleMania in one of the main events defending the World Heavyweight Championship and that I'd be retiring |
| 04:55 | as World Heavyweight Champion. Man, I couldn't dream of a better way to go out, I really couldn't. |
| 05:09 | You know, I, uh, I started in the WWE when I was 23, I've been doing this for 19 years, 14 of them in WWE, my first match was May 10th, 1996 in Hamilton's Copps Colliseum. |
| 05:26 | I was 23 years old and I feel like I've grown up in front of all of you. |
| 05:32 | I feel like uh I've made a lot of mistakes in front of you, I've learned from them and I've become a man in front of you. |
| 05:45 | I've gone from being the silent guy running around the streets of New York in a trenchcoat that was too small for him to a pseudo-vampire in The Brood |
| 06:01 | to one of the funny, goofy guys along with Christian posing for the benefit those with flash photography, |
| 06:10 | I became one of the most despised guys in the history of the WWE, as a matter of fact I got thrown in the Long Island Sound, |
| 06:21 | I had a live sex celebration thankfully with Lita and not Vickie Guerrero, |
| 06:33 | and I would hope that through it all I've earned the respect of everyone in that locker room and I hope that I've earned all of your respect. |
| 06:51 | Because no matter what I came out here and I tried to give you guys as much as I had every single night. |
| 07:03 | And in turn, you guys gave it right back to me. |
| 07:11 | So I'm going to miss all of this. I'm going to miss that reaction when I hear my music and I come out on the ramp. |
| 07:21 | It's like a shot of adrenaline straight to the heart from you guys and it's amazing, I can't describe it. |
| 07:28 | That being said, I don't have to wear tights tomorrow and I am going to eat a whole lot of ice cream tonight. |
| 07:38 | But if you asked me if I would do this all again, all the way back from getting hired by JR, |
| 07:47 | if you asked if I would travel all the roads, log all the miles, hopping all the flights, all the sleepless nights, all the surgeries, the injuries, the metal rods in my teeth, |
| 08:01 | if you asked me if I'd do it all again, in a heartbeat. So thank you. Thank you very much. |
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