The Undertaker Disrespected This Tragic Legend in His First Match

Few professional wrestlers have had a career as long and storied as the Undertaker‘s. For 30 years in WWE, Mark Calaway competed as the Deadman, creating arguably the greatest character in sports entertainment history. He won and competed for countless titles along the way, but not everything went so smoothly. Before he was telling his opponents to rest in peace, the Undertaker struggled, whether it be as Mean Mark Callous in WCW, or going back even further to his earliest and most awkward days. During his first ever match, the Undertaker made a grave mistake with a legend that he’d soon regret.

The Undertaker’s First Match Was in WCCW Against Bruiser Brody

• The Undertaker went by the masked Texas Red in his first match.
• Percy Pringle, later to be known as Paul Bearer, was his manager.
• Bruiser Brody won in a quick three-minute squash.

Three years before the birth of the Undertaker, Mark Calaway was just a green wrestler trying to make it in the business. With his height, the former college basketball player had the size to get noticed and get in the ring only a year after he started training. In 1987, he made his debut, wearing a mask and going by the name of Texas Red. In his corner was a soon-to-be very familiar face, a blonde-headed manager going by Percy Pringle. A few years later, he’d stand beside the Undertaker as Paul Bearer.

The Undertaker had his hands full in his match, which happened at the Dallas Sportsotorium for Fritz Von Erich’s World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW). He wasn’t facing any old wrestler either. Instead, he’d be working with a legend in Bruiser Brody. The match was quick, with Brody dominating with stiff shots and a chair to the back. Three minutes later, after a boot to the face, it was all over, with Brody getting an easy victory in a squash.

The Undertaker Tried To Control the Match and Tell Brody What To Do

• The Undertaker accidentally caught Brody under the chin during a tie up.
• Taker tried to call the match and instead took a boot to the chin.
• Brody took Taker to the outside of the ring and hit him with a chair across the back.

On the surface, Texas Red vs. Bruiser Brody doesn’t seem like anything special outside of the historical significance of being Mark Calaway’s first time in the ring. Under the surface, however, more was going on. In an extra for “Stone Cold” Steve Austin’s Broken Skull Sessions podcast that he used to do on the WWE Network, the Undertaker recalled his first match and the mistakes he made.

“As soon as we tie up, I’m pushing, right. He’s like, ‘All right, kid. Lighten up, kid.’ So I’m gonna give him kind of the push off and back off, right. Well, when I do kind of push off, and I kind of, I clip him in the chin a little bit, right.”

Bruiser Brody didn’t like that. But then Calaway went for a standing arm bar without telling Brody he was going to do it. Worse, Calaway decided to control the match himself by calling for a clothesline. This led to Brody choosing to give him a boot to the chin instead, knocking the future Undertaker down and rolling his eyes back in his head.

“He says, ‘Come on, we’re going for a walk.’ And man, he throws me out, right, and he threw me out… So he takes me, and he slams me on that table and told me, ‘Don’t move,’ right. So I can hear the chair getting folded up, man, and he comes back full force with that chair right across my shoulder blades. And when I tell you that the wood snapped, that is not an exaggeration… I felt every bit of it. I thought it went through me.”

Bruiser Brody Was Murdered the Next Year

• The Undertaker learned to not disrespect a veteran wrestler.
• Taker later became Mean Mark Callous during a short run in WCW.
• Brusier Brody was murdered backstage at a wrestling show in 1988.

The Undertaker quickly learned his lesson that night in Dallas in 1987. A rookie is never to disrespect a legend with unapproved moves and trying to call the match himself. Bruiser Brody taught Taker with a boot to the face and a chair to the back. It’s safe to say Mark Calaway was transformed that night, even if he learned the hard way. A few years later, after working his way up and making it through the humiliation of being unwanted by WCW, Calaway made it to WWE with a gimmick which would change his life and professional wrestling forever.

Bruiser Brody’s life took a different, tragic path. By 1987, he’d been around for over a decade, competing against the biggest names and working in promotions like WCCW, WWWF (the precursor to WWE), All Japan Wrestling, the NWA, and New Japan Pro Wrestling. He won a plethora of gold during this time, but only one year after his match with the future Undertaker, it was all over at the age of 42. Brody didn’t retire. He was murdered on July 17, 1988 in a backstage shower area at a show in Puerto Rico. Following a fight, wrestler Jose Huertas Gonzalzez stabbed Brody to death, claiming it was in self-defense. He was later found not guilty after a trial.

The Undertaker and Bruiser Brody met at different paths in their lives. One was just beginning, while the other sadly didn’t know his was nearly over. They’ll live forever, thankfully, thanks to a seemingly meaningless match which ended up meaning so very much.