The Undertaker: I Got My First Booking In WCCW Because Fritz Von Erich Thought I Looked Like His Son
The Undertaker talks about how a resemblance to David Von Erich got him his first break.
It wasn’t easy to come by bookings when Mark Calaway broke into the wrestling industry in the 1980s. However, he persistently drove to the Dallas Sportatorium in hopes of getting noticed. Often, the long drive proved to be fruitless, until a chance encounter with the head of the Dallas territory, Fritz Von Erich.
In his latest A&E Biography, Undertaker explains how looking like David Von Erich in the eyes of David’s father got him his first booking in WCW.
“I didn’t have any kind of legacy, I didn’t really know anybody. So I was kind of left to my own creativity on trying to figure out how I was going to get someone’s attention,” said ‘Taker. “So at the Sportatorium, in Dallas, that’s where a lot of the wrestlers would come in, they would pick their checks up. So every Wednesday for nearly eight months, I would go up there and I said, ‘Well, if someone doesn’t speak to me or acknowledge me, in some positive sense, I’m gonna, you know, I’m gonna have to stop coming,’ because I couldn’t afford the gas to drive out there. Lo and behold, who walks in the office is Fritz Von Erich.
“He’s kind of standing right in front of me and he’s just looking at me,” ‘Taker continued. “He goes, ‘Who’s that kid out there?’ The next thing I heard was probably what changed everything for me. He goes, ‘Let’s book him Friday night. He looks like David.’ David being one of his sons that he had just lost in Japan, that I happened to resemble, and that’s what it took. Next thing you know that Friday, I’m working in the Sportatorium on their TV show.”
Of course, Undertaker parlayed that first run into a WWE Hall of Fame-worthy career. During his speech, he kept the door open for one last match with the phrase “Never say never.” Learn more here.
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