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[1990-03-03-USWA-Memphis TV] Jerry Lawler and Chris Champion


Loss

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  • 4 weeks later...

Chris Champion is out in a neckbrace, and says he's never been beaten up like Lawler beat him up last week. He says he could have handled himself in a fight, but Lawler attacked him from behind. He'd love to get Lawler in the ring and get even, but his doctor told him one wrong landing will kill him. But when he's healthy again, he's going to get Lawler, no matter where it happens to be. Lawler comes out and tells him he has to have a brain to have a concussion, so no way does he have a concussion. Lawler tells him he's safe, because he doesn't want the death of Chris Champion on his hands. So he's not going to hit him on the head, but he has no problem smacking him in the face. He smacks Champion around for a while and ends up attacking him with a chair. He goes for a piledriver on a chair, and Marlin tells him if he does that piledriver, he's done in Memphis for good. Lawler stops at that point and decides to just punch him in the face and then hit him with a chair again. Lawler finally stops and the locker room clears to take Champion out, and Lawler throws a stool at him on the way out for good measure!

 

Such an incredible angle. But the one thing that's disappointing about this is that there was no knight in shining armor standing by and waiting to defend all of the people who had been wronged. Lawler is good enough in this run that a fresh babyface coming into the territory who could have kept up with him could have been a difference maker, but such a guy didn't exist. One of those times when wrestling suffers because the talent pool is more shallow than it was a few years prior.

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Lawler warns Champion about showing up, even injured, to a wrestling program, where an accident might befall him. He illustrates this point by accidentally slapping Champion, then accidentally slugs him a few times, accidentally clobbers him with a chair, and is about to accidentally piledrive him on a chair when Eddie Marlin and Jerry Calhoun threaten him with a firing if he doesn't stop. Lawler then walks over Champion a few times as they're trying to help him out, and then throws a stool at him as they're carrying him out of the studio!

 

Lawler is fucking incredible here as he was last week, just this constant lurking terror that hijacks an entire program if anything doesn't go his way, whether it's losing the Unified title or having water thrown on him.

 

Champion's New Breed promos were pretty great...in their own way, I guess. So it's a disappointment to see how stilted and wooden he is in his role here.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Great angle. One thing you have to commend Champion on is he really stayed in for the slap that he knew was coming. Lawler is a great terror at this point of time and its refreshing to see someone that has been in the territory that long have such a great reaction. I always love Eddie mixing it up and this is no exception.

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  • 1 month later...

Poor Chris Champion.

 

In all seriousness, while this is definitely a good angle, the problem that Loss talks about is that there is no babyface savior on the horizon. Sure, Jimmy Valiant wins the Unified title, but everybody in the territory knows Lawler is getting that back before long. I have to think the long-term idea was for Jeff Jarrett to win the Unified title, but they wound up going back to Lawler as a babyface before that happens. In the interim, it's making every babyface in the territory look weak when Lawler is able to destroy them all. There are momentary victories for the face side here and there but it's mostly Lawler dominating as a heel, and while he's really good as a heel promo, that's not a lot of fun.

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  • 1 year later...

Another great segment here, and only now is the King full-fledged 100% heel to everyone in the studio. Kudos to Champion for taking another brutal beating. I was honestly surprised that Lawler didn't attack and piledrive Eddie Marlin in the mood he was in, but you kind of knew that wouldn't happen since they'd been promoting Lawler/Valiant at MSC throughout the program. Dave has finally reached his limit too, as he's gone from perpetually exasperated to indignant to just plain mad.

 

It says something that the only thing that can save Memphis from heel Jerry Lawler is........babyface Jerry Lawler, whom we're apparently getting back before too much longer. It'll be interesting to see how they get there from here.

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  • 1 year later...
  • 11 months later...

Chris Champion comes out and he’s wearing a neck brace as the doctors have said that he’s got a couple of compressed vertebrae and a concussion. He says that he’s not going to come out here and cry as he’s been beaten up before, but never to the extent that Jerry Lawler tried to beat him up last week. He tried to kill him! He want to wrestle but the doctors won’t release him, as if he takes a blow to the head he could be killed. He tells Lawler that when the doctors do release him he’s going to get him and it doesn’t matter if it’s in a mall or in a 7-11, he’s going to get him as it’s gone beyond wrestling, it’s personal.

 

Lawler joins them on set and Dave Brown explains what Chris has been saying and tells ‘The King’ to leave him alone. Lawler thinks that Champion should change doctors because you have to have a brain to have a concussion so that can’t be right!! He then says how the doctors have said if he gets hit on the head it could be fatal? Lawler tells him that he’s safe as he doesn’t want the death of Chris Champion on his hands, but he really shouldn’t come to a wrestling program where people are going to be hitting each other as he may get hit by accident. Lawler then open hand slaps him across the face, beats on him and nails him in the back several times with a chair. He tears off Champion’s neck brace, rolls him into the ring and is about to piledrive him on a chair. Jerry Calhoun gets there just in time to stop him and Eddie Marlin tells Lawler that if he does piledrive him, he’ll never wrestle in that ring again. Lawler refuses to leave the ring and steps on Champion a couple of times while Marlin is trying to get him out of there. Marlin gets hold of a chair and Lawler only finally leaves when the dressing room empties and bunch of guys from the back come out to help Eddie. Finally as they are carrying Champion to the back, ‘The King’ gets in one last lick, throwing one of the stools at them.

 

Tremendous stuff from Lawler here who is in full on heel mode. There are some very small subtle touches such as the stepping on Champion in the ring and claiming it to be accidental, and the throwing of the stool at the end is the coup de grace. I didn’t have any problem with Champion here and thought he was fine on his promo and then in the role of punch bag for ‘The King’. These first few months of Lawler as a heel in the studio has been a revelation.

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  • 1 month later...

Champion kind of lives up to the brainless comment by sticking around long enough for Lawler to hit him. Lawler is on a tear the last 2 weeks! So good too, but I agree with Loss that he needed a babyface who could keep up with him. Preferably one Lawler could have made jump through hoops for a while before the showdown.

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  • GSR changed the title to [1990-03-03-USWA-Memphis TV] Jerry Lawler and Chris Champion
  • 2 months later...

Lawler's reigns of terror over Memphis after a defeat continue to be a joy to watch. Champion took that slap like a...champ and Lawler throwing the stool at him for good measure is an absolutely perfect asshole move. As mentioned, this all needs a white knight to come in and save the day but it doesn't take away from just how impeccable Jerry Lawler really was.

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