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Jerry Lawler


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Jerry Lawler versus Owen Hart, Wrestling Challenge, 7/7/93

 

Didn't make yearbook and not that it should have in a pretty loaded 93 year. Still good to see when watching the Lawler versus Harts feud during the year though. Lawler had taken the USWA title back from Owen in Memphis around the same time this match was taped in WWF. There's been chicken heels before like Honky and 80's/early 90's was full of heels walking out for cheap count out and getting disqualified. Lawler takes it to another level though for WWF as he has no shame crawling on his knees and then hiding behind the referee. Complaining about closed fists from Owen seconds after he threw one himself. Stalling early on and of course getting an object out of his tights to use against Owen. The WWF could overdue the pipping in of the crowd but Lawler is getting heat during this match with his antics. Owen loses patience as match goes on and gets more aggressive. But he ends up running himself into the ring post. Lawler hits the piledriver to knock out Owen but still pulls the tights on the three count. I get a kick out of stuff like that in wrestling. Ross mentions on commentary it was the only offensive move Lawler hit. He got a few punches in also but he was masterful in totally outwitting the better athlete in Owen. Match was less than seven minutes but was fun.

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Jerry Lawler, Bill Dundee & Jackie Fargo vs. Blonde Bombers & Pete Austin + Jackie Fargo Promo (7/9/79)

 

Man this is a total blast. It's also the Jackie Fargo show. He pretty much has so much charisma it's scary. He also has an arsenal of spots that mix comedy and brawling and he does it in spades here. All the heels are great at stooging and selling big for Fargo. Lawler is great at setting up Fargo's spots. The match goes 6 minutes and I'm smiling the whole time till the finish. The finish are the heels blind Fargo. Still a great match.

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Jerry Lawler versus Owen Hart, Wrestling Challenge, 7/7/93

 

Didn't make yearbook and not that it should have in a pretty loaded 93 year. Still good to see when watching the Lawler versus Harts feud during the year though. Lawler had taken the USWA title back from Owen in Memphis around the same time this match was taped in WWF. There's been chicken heels before like Honky and 80's/early 90's was full of heels walking out for cheap count out and getting disqualified. Lawler takes it to another level though for WWF as he has no shame crawling on his knees and then hiding behind the referee. Complaining about closed fists from Owen seconds after he threw one himself. Stalling early on and of course getting an object out of his tights to use against Owen. The WWF could overdue the pipping in of the crowd but Lawler is getting heat during this match with his antics. Owen loses patience as match goes on and gets more aggressive. But he ends up running himself into the ring post. Lawler hits the piledriver to knock out Owen but still pulls the tights on the three count. I get a kick out of stuff like that in wrestling. Ross mentions on commentary it was the only offensive move Lawler hit. He got a few punches in also but he was masterful in totally outwitting the better athlete in Owen. Match was less than seven minutes but was fun.

Well said. This incarnation of Lawler wielded two great Rumble spots. 96 where he hid under the ring. And my favourite, 97, when he enters from the booth, gets in the ring, and his immediately hit by a beautiful right by Bret Hart, sold to perfection with an excellent over the top rope bump. Brilliant!

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I'm about 7 discs in on the comp and Lawler is really impressing me. He might have the best timing in the business. His selling is full of drama. Same goes for his matches. He shows much more versatility than his rep gives him credit. He has an hr draw with Race, and a wild brawl with Funk that I both rate in the 4 1/2 * range. Yet they are worked totally different. The headlock work in the Race match is so awesome. I think Backlund would be jealous. As an early heel the hide the object stuff seems fresher as later in his career I thought it hurt him at times. I'm going to revisit that later so don't hold that statement against me later in an argument. Of course his punches are great. His promos are tremendous. Though even as a face theiris an underline of him of kinda being a dick.

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Working on Part 2 and it really is amazing at how many feuds he has had that carried a promotion or at least entertained me to no end...

 

 

Lawler vs. Fargo - 1974

 

Lawler vs. LeDuc - 1978

 

Lawler & Dundee vs. Blonde Bombers - 1979

 

Lawler vs. First Family / Lawler vs. Terry Funk - 1981

 

Lawler vs. Mantel / Lawler vs. Bockwinkel - 1982

 

Lawler vs. Kaufman - 1982-1983

 

Lawler vs. First Family - 1983

 

Lawler vs. Rude & Bundy - 1984

 

Lawler vs. Dundee - 1983-1986

 

Lawler vs. Idol & Rich - 1987

 

Lawler vs. Hennig / Lawler vs. Kerry - 1988

 

Lawler vs. Snowman - 1990

 

Lawler vs. Eddie Gilbert / Lawler vs. Embry - 1991

 

Lawler vs. Moondogs - 1992

 

Lawler vs. WWF - 1993

 

Lawler vs. Bret Hart - 1995

 

Lawler vs. ECW - 1997

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I was just thinking the other day about how Lawler had such memorable feuds in the 90's alone from what we have seen in yearbooks. You really can make the case he had the best feuds with different opponents of 1990, 1992 and 1993. Stuff like that really does boost his case as one of the best in my eyes. The ECW stuff was great in 97 but Harts/Austin/Michaels was bigger for me. I hope to revisit 1995 at some point. Really looking really forward to seeing his stuff from 70's and 80's.

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So I'm through disc 9 on the set. They bust out a great Jerry Lawler vs. Dutch Mantel (3/22/82). i'd call it a 4* match. The week before might have been better. My main complaint about the King here is that he comes across as a dick as a face. Then he does a great promo about the feud and gathers a lot of sympathy. Looking forward to more. There are moments when he's a bully beating up other opponents.

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So I'm through disc 9 on the set. They bust out a great Jerry Lawler vs. Dutch Mantel (3/22/82). i'd call it a 4* match. The week before might have been better. My main complaint about the King here is that he comes across as a dick as a face. Then he does a great promo about the feud and gathers a lot of sympathy. Looking forward to more. There are moments when he's a bully beating up other opponents.

In the 1982 era is there any babyface that doesn't come across as a dick other than the trio of Steamboat, Santana, and Martel?

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So far through the 9 discs Lawler has been tremendous . He has been an amazing promo. His timing might be the best in the business. He throws amazing punches. He has been involved in 2 matches in the 4 1/2 * range with Race, and Funk that are radically different. He has a 4* match with Mantell, the presentation of the empty arena match with Funk is 5* add the match and it's a 4* can't miss affair. He's had 3 3/4 star matches with Brisco,Dundee, and Dory Jr. Brisco worked so much like Steamboat. Obviously he had a big influence on Steamboat. The 2 Fargo matches are in the 3 1/4 * and 3 1/2 * star range. As a heel early in his career the hide the foreign object stuff seems fresh. He had a fun tag with Dundee against Fuchi and Onita, another fun one was against Gordy and Hayes, I also liked his studio bouts with Chic Donovan. They may be Chic's best matches ever. My one complaint of Lawler is as a face sometimes he is a dick. Kinda like the star athlete in high school your supposed to like, but in reality he's an ass hole. Here Lawler is that . He kinda has The Rock persona going in 1981. Though in81 our faces aren't supposed to have that edge to them.Then he cuts this really sympathetic promo in the Mantell feud and I'm ready to see where he takes the character.

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So I'm through disc 9 on the set. They bust out a great Jerry Lawler vs. Dutch Mantel (3/22/82). i'd call it a 4* match. The week before might have been better. My main complaint about the King here is that he comes across as a dick as a face. Then he does a great promo about the feud and gathers a lot of sympathy. Looking forward to more. There are moments when he's a bully beating up other opponents.

In the 1982 era is there any babyface that doesn't come across as a dick other than the trio of Steamboat, Santana, and Martel?

 

 

That's a valid point. Though their are other examples. I'd throw Backlund there,Kerry Von Erich , Pedro Morales Chris Adams..It still seems out of place 4 a face to be a dick. In fact when Lawler 1st one the title from Mantel was a screw job and they booed Lawler.

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Watching 1994 Lawler footage now and the Dream Machine feud is so awesome. Just curious... Troy Graham was all over Memphis TV in the early 1980s. He disappears and then pops up ten years later. Where did he go?

 

Dream Machine lived in Memphis . I was at a bachelor party in a Memphis nightclub around that time. Dream Machine's girl friend was either a waitress or a dancer , he was at the club to watch over her. We all got to meet Troy . Really a nice guy .

 

The rumor was that Dream had substance abuse issues . Jarrett would just stopped booking him. The only runs I remember for the Dream were in the outlaw Jackson , MS territory , the two Memphis runs and a stint in Ron Fuller 's USA Pro Wrestling . I think the Memphis runs were from 1981 to 1985/ 86 and then the final short USWA stint. I am not sure , but I think he worked as a bouncer .

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Watching 1994 Lawler footage now and the Dream Machine feud is so awesome. Just curious... Troy Graham was all over Memphis TV in the early 1980s. He disappears and then pops up ten years later. Where did he go?

 

Dream Machine lived in Memphis . I was at a bachelor party in a Memphis nightclub around that time. Dream Machine's girl friend was either a waitress or a dancer , he was at the club to watch over her. We all got to meet Troy . Really a nice guy .

 

The rumor was that Dream had substance abuse issues . Jarrett would just stopped booking him. The only runs I remember for the Dream were in the outlaw Jackson , MS territory , the two Memphis runs and a stint in Ron Fuller 's USA Pro Wrestling . I think the Memphis runs were from 1981 to 1985/ 86 and then the final short USWA stint. I am not sure , but I think he worked as a bouncer .

 

 

The strip club stuff sounds real familiar.

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Watching 1994 Lawler footage now and the Dream Machine feud is so awesome. Just curious... Troy Graham was all over Memphis TV in the early 1980s. He disappears and then pops up ten years later. Where did he go?

 

Dream Machine lived in Memphis . I was at a bachelor party in a Memphis nightclub around that time. Dream Machine's girl friend was either a waitress or a dancer , he was at the club to watch over her. We all got to meet Troy . Really a nice guy .

 

The rumor was that Dream had substance abuse issues . Jarrett would just stopped booking him. The only runs I remember for the Dream were in the outlaw Jackson , MS territory , the two Memphis runs and a stint in Ron Fuller 's USA Pro Wrestling . I think the Memphis runs were from 1981 to 1985/ 86 and then the final short USWA stint. I am not sure , but I think he worked as a bouncer .

 

Unrelated there is a tv segment in 94 where the Dream Machine uses wheelchair bound Scott Bowden as a human shield Check it out..
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