Ox Baker
Clark made his wrestling debut in 1989 under the ring name The Nightstalker and quickly rose to a main event status wrestler. Clark competed in the Minnesota-based American Wrestling Association. He appeared at live AWA house and television events, mainly in the mid-west area of The United States. Some of these matches were broadcast on the ESPN, AWA Championship Wrestling show. (ESPN Classic continues to air re-runs of the show). Wrestling legend Ox Baker began to manage Clark during this time, providing for some classic promotional segments with Baker on the mic. The Nightstalker had a heated feud with The Trooper (Del Wilkes, later to be known as The Patriot). This began as The Nightstalker appeared during a Trooper match versus W.T. Jones on April 13, 1990 at an ESPN televised show in Rochester, Minnesota. Ox Baker began to challenge any and all wrestlers to include Larry Zbyszko, even telling The Trooper that he "couldn't even join the boy scouts". Clark's in ring look included black and white face paint, while gripping an over-sized hatchet.