Met Mr. Lawler at a comic con maybe 4 yrs ago. It was late in the afternoon on Sunday and most folks had left and I shot the shit with Mr. Lawler for probably a half hour. Great guy who was personable and didn't big time me in any way. I appreciated that. Met Ric Flair the same day. He was very Ric Flair. Hit on my girlfriend and everything. Two of the greatest if not the two greatest ever!
Not really, this was 1980 so the start of free agency and big money contracts in major sports which is why they referenced Pete Rose so much. It wouldn't make sense in modern times (even back when you made this comment) since teams make Billions now and have no issue throwing money at star players so the "office" would be the villain for not paying the wrestler where as back then the wrestler is the villain for asking for too much money.
@@jasonfrost6448 sort of but contracts are still negotiated/argued over. Wrestling fans would easily suspend disbelief if the people in the angle didn’t have bad promo scripts written for them.
Classic Memphis wrestling moment. God, I loved Saturday mornings as a kid growing up in Southwest Tennessee and Northwest Kentucky. Memphis wrestling. NWA. Then WCW. And the early days of WW(F)E....GLORY DAYS! These guys were great! They said. Made you believe that they meant it. And put it all on the line for you to believe beyond all doubt that 99.9% of it all was real. And in many, many cases it was as we later find out via RU-vid and these shoot interviews and fan-con appearances that a lot of these old guys and gals live and love to do! Lawler was King!
They absoultely brought realism into the prom by bringing up (twice) Pete Rose going from the Reds to the Phillies. Never saw a promo like that and I have been watching Wrestling for nearly 5 decades. Thank you.
Even as a kid, if it took you that long to realize that wrestling was a work, you’re just not that bright. Not too many kids believe that if you drop the leg on another man’s chest that he’s going to lay in a coma and act like he died. 😂 The fact so many of you believed it all makes me feel bad for you. The thing that fascinated me and kept me watching as a kid were the storylines and I was amazed that those guys could call a full 45 minute match in the ring. That still amazes me. There’s no way to remember and rehearse a full wrestling match like that, and I always watched trying to catch them talking to each other and see who was calling the match. Almost never caught them doing it, either.
This angle announcing that Lawler would wrestle 3rd on the card then Lawler saying he would be the main event was all to make sure the Coliseum would be packed all night for Christmas. Only in Memphis, baby...
I worked on Jerry Lawlers car in Memphis and To join Yamamotos car in Nashville Tennessee, all very nice to be around. Tojo was tough. People thought he was fat. All muscle.
Everything that needed to be put over was done in one nest little package. That is an art form that is so lost today. The match, the title, and Ken Lucas.
And during absolutely horrible economic times. I just wonder if there was any truth to this storyline back then. The way they talked, it all sounded very believable. I know its probably not though and I'm just being worked lol.
Even though this is a work, it's still funny to watch one of the cheapest promoters in history claim he would have to raise ticket prices to sign somebody.
@@Jesusislord3334 well the prices back then were $4,$5 and $6. that was the prices for seats at a Monday night show. so $1.25 increase was pretty decent chunk.
1965kdb dude AWESOME point! Brother can YOU EVEN IMAGINE how much $$$ this guy has made let's say for over 20-25 years by low balling and down right fucking the boys on payoffs 7 NIGHTS A WEEK!!! Think about the beginning of like TNA, just if people back then ordered 5,000 PPVs a week for awhile he was cleaning up back then for that little bit. Once him & Lawler went 50/50 they stilled fucked the boys so I CANT IMAGINE how much LAWLER has in his bank account either!
Here were the match results for the Christmas night 1979 show at the Mid-South Coliseum 1. Buddy Wayne beat Jerry Bryant 2. Slim the Hillbilly beat Ken Wayne. 3. Paul Ellering beat The Grappler. 4. Steve Regal beat Jimmy Hart. 5. Ricky & Robert Gibson beat Southern Tag Champs The Assassins via DQ. 6. Ricky Morton & Big Red beat Tojo Yamamoto & Sonny King in a "Texas death" match. 7. Jerry Lawler beat Steve Regal. 8. Jerry Lawler beat Ken Lucas
Buddy Wayne, the father of wrestling prodigy Nick Wayne? Thats how I know Buddy as a Millennial lol. If its indeed the same Buddy Wayne. But yeah, I know Nick's dad had a stellar wrestling career. And a well known trainer, as well.
@@erikstorm8935this buddy wayne was a memphis mainstay. His son is nightmare ken wayne. Unless Nick is Kens real name or he had another son. He was a manager in memphis in the mid 80s to
He is. Sadly Jeff didn't inherited his dad's head for buissness after listening to Jerry talking about what happened to cause him and his son not to speak for five years as well as seeing the mess that was GFW. The short version was after WCW folded Jeff had no where to go as he was still on Vince's shit list and so Jeff talked Jerry into starting up TNA and Jerry left his son to run it the way he saw fit and well between Russo, Jeff's old WCW cast offs buddies, Jeff trusting a crook with part of the buissness and getting ripped off and TNA going broke forcing Jeff to bring in Dixie and her daddy and the additional stress of dealing with those two idiots resulted in Jerry having a heart attack from stress and Jerry being forced to take a potential wrestler and getting him signed with Vince to get away from the mess as Jeff wouldn't let him leave but by Jerry pulling that stunt Bob Carter fired Jerry and bought his stake in TNA and Jeff felt he was stabbed in the back. So they didn't speak for five years.
Making Lawler jerk the curtain...classic. How times have changed...in 1980 people sided with management...by 1996 it was Austin as the common man taking on management and the people sided with Austin
Lawler spilled the beans about how wrestlers were traveling and being paid chicken feed to stay in the business, guys had it tough, I think it built the caracter as a man to take the punishment they did.
Awww the good ole days! I miss sat afternoons watching this show after all the cartoons were done playing we had this great show to look forward to. I remember this interview also....there were a lot of childish shit going on behind the scenes between these 2 then. I do mean childish! All the TRUE fans knows exactly what jerry was doing. Love him but back then he was a mess and actually strtd thinking "in real life" he was the shit...lol He became a spoiled brat kid.
Free agency was a new thing at the time in Baseball and there was a contract dispute with someone that was big news at this time (Nolan Ryan or Pete Rose, I think) and this was Jarrett was riffing on that.
Yes, that's Jeff Jarrett's dad. He also was the one who helped Jeff start TNA which resulted in the two not speaking to each other for years. Basically the stress of watching his son make mistake after mistake like bringing in Russo, WCW cast offs, trusting a crook with advertising and such for the weekly PPVs and such with TNA and then dealing with the Carter's lead him to have a heart attack so he pulled a stunt to get fired from the company as Jeff wouldn't let him leave so he found a guy with a good look and some potential and after Dixie turned the guy down, he took him to Vince which he knew would get Bob Carter pissed off and got fired and Bob bought his stake in TNA and him and Jeff didn't speak for five years.
Wonder how many people knew back then that Lawler was given a part of the promotion to leave Gulas and move with Jarret when they left channel 13 for channel 5.
Jerry Jarrett is the greatest championship all time and Jerry the king Lawler is the greatest championship all time Jerry the king Lawler is my favorite wrestler all time my childhood favorite wrestler all time on memphis wrestling and Jerry the king Lawler and Jimmy hart is closed friends on memphis high school on early years and Jerry the king Lawler is Jimmy hart frist manger on Jimmy hart closed friends on memphis high school buddies friend with Jerry the king Lawler
Growing up in the WWF territory in the early 80's, I wasn't too familiar w/ Memphis & the southern territories. That being said, I truly couldn't tell if this was a work/angle between Jarrett & Lawler, *OR* ....if it was legit, heat!?!!? There was *ZERO* sense of "comedy" or fumbling with lines, etc. Can anyone confirm the "legitimacy" of this spot....???
I grew up watching Bill Watts laying down the law in OUR Mid-South territory (Oklahoma), so when I see Jerry Jarrett feebly trying to do the same thing in Memphis, it's a bit like comparing Wyatt Earp to Barney Fife!
Jarrett should have Donald Trump to come out and say to Jerry Lawler "You're Fired!". From what I know from this, this was all just Kayfab, I think some think he was fired soon after this cause he was out of wrestling for most of 1980 due a to broken leg, though I think he was still with the promotion during that time.
Yep, it happened. It was a pickup football game with some buddies. Hart tells the story that he was a down-and-out musician gigging on the side when he met Lawler and was aiding Lawler with his (shitty) music when Lawler decided to help Hart out by getting him into wrestling. Lawler breaks his leg several months later. Hart figured he was finished. Then Jarrett calls him up and tells him, "we're gonna make you the biggest heel manager in the territory". Jarrett was such a genius. Hart's replacement for Lawler? Paul Ellering
