Before he was the Undertaker, and the effects of his career rippled throughout the sports world, he was Mark Calaway. He was a giant in Texas waiting outside the Dallas Sportatorium, hoping to be noticed. After the patriarch of the Von Erich family, Fritz, booked Calaway, his professional wrestling career was only just starting. It was the coming run in the USWA and the feud with Jerry Lawler that would give him his first professional championship and the push he needed before signing his first major contract.
Mark Calaway's Arrival In Mid-South And The USWA
After jobbing for Bruiser Brody as the masked “Texas Red,” Calaway began developing a draw in Texas. Shortly thereafter, Jerry Lawler and Mid-South Wrestling came calling. This would be Calaway’s first opportunity to main event a territory, and he was going against the “King” himself, Jerry Lawler.
When originally called to work in Memphis, Mark Calaway was young and green but eager to learn. This was the opportunity to work against one of the absolute best in the business at the time and showcase his abilities against Jerry Lawler. This was also a chance for Lawler to run a program against a giant, playing the underdog for the Memphis crowd. These were the kinds of stories Lawler loved to book. A giant comes in and runs through the territory, taking the title, and in return Lawler has to fight uphill to retake the title. This was a match made in heaven.
In 1988, Calaway joined the Memphis territory wrestling as the “Master of Pain,” and he was managed by a legendary brawler in Dutch Mantel. He was an inmate recently released from prison after serving multiple years locked away in solitary confinement. It was a few months after his arrival that the Master of Pain made his presence felt in the USWA. On February 2, 1989, Calaway stayed in the ring after his match and called Jerry Lawler out for a match. The Master of Pain made easy work of Lawler and Mantel made it clear that Calaway wanted a shot at the unified USWA World Heavyweight Championship. Jerry Lawler accepted, and the match was set for April 1, 1989.
The Build To The Title And Jerry Lawler Toppling Mark Calaway
The story built over the next two months as Dutch and the Master of Pain tormented Jerry Lawler at every turn. Lawler fought through the adversity though, including sometimes using Calaway’s own tricks against him, costing Calaway a match at one point due to disqualification. The program came to the climax as the two opponents finally locked up in a no disqualification match at the historic Mid-South Coliseum.
The match started with Lawler demanding that Dutch leave the arena before the fight can even start. Once the two men were in the ring, it started in traditional Mid-South wrestling style with a brawl. The men went at each other before taking it out on the floor. At this point you saw a veteran’s experience as Lawler used the ringside area as an obstacle course, using the speed advantage over the larger Calaway.
At one point during the match, Dutch Mantel would make his way back out to the ring. Alongside him came every heel from the locker room it seemed, all fighting their way to the ring to get to Lawler. In true baby face form, Lawler fought through the crowd, and was left face to face with Calaway. It was not his greatest match of all time, but it was one that would leave a mark on his resume as being Mark Calaway's first professional title win, as he secured the victory that night over Jerry “The King” Lawler.
Lawler would use the loss as the starting point to build another story. This time it only took him about three weeks to come back and overtake the giant. During this time, the Master of Pain would dominate through Mid-South Wrestling, impressing many executives inside the wrestling world. One those was working for WCW, and with an injury to Sid Vicious, Southern booker and promoter Jim Cornette was looking for a replacement big man, and Lawler’s newest rival was just the guy he was looking for.
The Master of Pain and the Undertaker are not the same person. Yes, they are both Mark Calway, but they are that man at very different points in his life. Without one, we wouldn’t have the other. If the tall giant outside the Sportatorium hadn’t been booked by Fritz, and that same guy hadn't then become the Master of Pain, then we would have never gotten the Undertaker.
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