At the 2022 Hall of Fame, Mario Mancini, the first wrestler to face The Undertaker in WWE, did not like a comment his former opponent made. During his acceptance speech, The Undertaker, whose real name is Mark Calaway, mentioned that at the beginning of his career, he actually beat a less well-known opponent. Before he corrected himself and said “enhancement match,” he initially referred to the one-sided contest as a “squash match.”
Wrestlers who lose most of their matches are frequently referred to as “jobbers” and “enhancement talent.” On the Cheap Heat Productions Podcast, Mancini, who prefers the term “jobber,” stated that The Deadman was disrespectful:
He said, “I had a squash match” when he talked about the first night of the WWF/WWE event in Rochester. Oh, enhancement talent, please excuse me.’ As I sit in my recliner, I think to myself, “This guy just had a 10-minute conversation about respect, and he just disrespected jobbers.” He simply contradicted himself completely.'” 1:05:08–1:05:34] The Undertaker claimed that his opponent had “roughed up” him as retribution for mishaps that occurred during the match. When he got back to the backstage area, WWE Executive Chairman Vince McMahon told him that everyone thought he was an “a**hole” for causing another wrestler harm on purpose.
The WWE legend said that he kept reminding himself that his actions mattered both inside and outside the ring from that point on.
Whether or not The Undertaker was referring to him, Mario Mancini clarifies
On November 22, 1990, the seven-time WWE world champion made his televised debut as The Undertaker at Survivor Series. He had filmed Mario Mancini in his first match as the new persona three days earlier at a WWE Superstars taping.
During the Hall of Fame, many people contacted Mancini because they believed The Deadman was talking about their match:
Mancini went on to say, “When he did that, I go, ‘He’s making fun of me.’ ” I’m pretty sure that was meant for me, and did you know how much damage my phone did that night? because he claimed that he had to take the matter to the jobber that night because he had messed up the match and actually beat the kid to death. That person? That person? That person? Are you watching that, hey?'” 1:07:08–1:07:32] Mancini clarified that their match was “normal” and “seamless,” so The Undertaker could not have been referring to him. He thinks the WWE legend must have been referring to another opponent.