The Undertaker's first opponent says the WWE icon was disrespectful during Hall of Fame speech
Mario Mancini, the first person to face The Undertaker in WWE, disliked a comment that his former opponent made at the 2022 Hall of Fame.
The Undertaker, real name Mark Calaway, mentioned during his induction speech that he legitimately beat up a lesser-known opponent at the start of his career. He initially referred to the one-sided contest as a "squash match" before correcting himself to say "enhancement match."
The terms "jobber" and "enhancement talent" are often used to describe wrestlers who lose the majority of their matches. Mancini, who prefers the word "jobber," said on the Cheap Heat Productions Podcast that The Deadman was being disrespectful:
"He talked about the first night in the WWF/WWE in Rochester, and he goes, 'I had a squash match. Oh, excuse me, enhancement talent.' And I'm sitting in my recliner going, 'This guy just had a 10-minute conversation about respect and he just disrespected jobbers. He just totally contradicted himself.'" [1:05:08 – 1:05:34]
The Undertaker said he "roughed up" his opponent as punishment for messing up some spots during the match. Upon returning backstage, WWE Executive Chairman Vince McMahon told him that everyone thought he was an "a**hole" for purposely hurting another wrestler.
From that moment on, the WWE legend said he constantly reminded himself that his actions mattered both inside and outside the ring.
Mario Mancini clarifies whether The Undertaker was referring to him
The seven-time WWE world champion made his televised debut as The Undertaker at Survivor Series on November 22, 1990. Three days earlier, he filmed his first match as the new persona against Mario Mancini at a WWE Superstars taping.
11/19/1990
The Undertaker (in his actual WWF debut) defeated Mario Mancini on Superstars Of Wrestling from the War Memorial in #WWERochester, New York.
#TheUndertaker #Undertaker #ThePhenom #TheDeadMan #LordOfDarkness #ReaperOfSouls #AmericanBadass #DeadManInc #WWE #WWEHistory https://t.co/vyeqfxoWkM
Many people contacted Mancini during the Hall of Fame because they thought The Deadman was talking about their match:
"When he did that, I go, 'He's making fun of me,'" Mancini continued. "I'm convinced that that was for me, and you know how much my phone blew up that night? Because he said he had to take it to the jobber that night because he scr*wed up the match and he actually beat the s**t out of the kid. 'Was that you? Was that you? Was that you? Hey, are you watching that?'" [1:07:08 – 1:07:32]
Mancini clarified that The Undertaker could not have been speaking about him because their match was "normal" and "seamless." He believes the WWE icon must have been referring to someone else he faced.
Do you think the WWE Hall of Famer was being disrespectful? Let us know in the comments section below.
Please credit the Cheap Heat Productions Podcast and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.