Memphis Wrestling – November 25, 2006: What’s Lawler Doing?

Memphis Wrestling
Date: November 25, 2006
Location: WLMT Studio, Memphis, Tennessee
Commentator: Corey Maclin

So this is another promotion from Memphis which is probably trying to recreate the glory days of the territory. This is likely going to feature a bunch of local guys and maybe some people you have heard of, though I have no idea what to expect coming in. These shows can be a lot of fun or really bad and I’m not sure what to expect here. Let’s get to it.

This is an old VCR recording so yes, the local commercials are included.

Derrick King vs. Matt Foley

King (who I’ve heard of/maybe seen before) has an unidentified title but his manager Reggie B. Fine says Foley isn’t getting any closer to be champion, making me think this is non-title. King hammers away to start as the unnamed commentator’s southern accent is getting old fast. Foley gets two off a suplex but gets sent outside in a heap. Back in and King hammers away before finishing with a superkick at 2:37. Pretty much a squash.

Post match the beatdown stays on but someone runs in for the save with a chair. Apparently King is the Junior Heavyweight Champion.

Fire And Flame/Bobo/Giggles/Wild Bill/??? vs. Picture Perfect/The Posse

Fire And Flame are two large guys in masks, Bobo and Giggles are clowns and Wild Bill/??? are evil cowboys. Picture Perfect seem to be the pretty boy team and one of the members of the Posse made the save after the first match. Bobo and Chris Michael (of Picture Perfect, with partner Chris O’Neal) start things off but it’s off to O’Neal, who has to kick Fire in the head.

One of the Posse (looking to be ICP knockoffs) comes in for a suplex and a backdrop on Giggles. Michael comes back in to crank on the arm before it’s Flame coming in to hammer on Michael. The villains take turns beating on Michael, including Fire punching away in the corner. Michael manages an enziguri to Bobo and everything breaks down, with the referee throwing it out at 4:51.

Rating: C-. I really wish promotions would learn the power of telling us the wrestlers’ names. It also doesn’t help that Maclin has that thick accent that makes it even harder to understand him. This was the idea of getting in as many people as possible and I’m still not sure who all was even involved, so you can only get so much out of it.

Post match the brawl is on until the good guys clear the ring.

Drew Donovan/Hillbilly Jethro

Jethro is the Hillbilly Assassin and shrugs off an early dropkick to hammer away in the corner. A big elbow gives Jethro two and a sidewalk slam is good for the same. Jethro chokes him for two and we hit the chinlock with a knee in Donovan’s back. A whip into the corner drops Donovan and Jethro has to pull up on a charge. Jethro’s manager distracts the referee so a chain shot can finish Donovan at 4:26, despite it being a total squash.

Rating: C-. What exactly can you get out of a match with a big hillbilly monster wrecking people? It was fine enough for some destruction, though the ending was weird as there was no need for the cheating. Jethro wasn’t exactly an interesting monster, but maybe this plays better in a rather southern area.

Post match someone comes in to shove Jethro’s manager down and then runs away from Jethro himself.

Lance Russell, in Florida, introduces us to a classic match from Jerry Lawler (complete with some childhood photos of Lawler), but first we get an old interview with Lawler talking about how he got into the business. Lawler drew some sketches of the matches and sent them in, with Russell showing them on the air when they didn’t have footage of the Mid-South Coliseum matches. That’s actually rather cool and seemed to work well.

The match in question is from March 23, 1981 against Terry Funk, a No DQ match which was one of the first five star matches (as rated by Jim Cornette, who can be seen as a photographer at ringside). Unfortunately we’re joined in the middle of Lawler’s comeback, which is one of the best I’ve ever seen and something I’ll throw on from time to time just for a nice smile. Lawler would ultimately win by countout.

We also get a Lawler highlight package, set to Boulevard Of Broken Dreams by Green Day (I’m guessing that’s not the original song).

Flash Flanagan/Too Cool 2 vs. Jerry Lawler/Dustin Starr/Kevin White

Too Cool 2 are Flex/Tim Grind, while Flash was a fairly big deal in OVW. White and Starr are the new Tag Team Champions. Flex and White start things off with Flex complaining about a rollup for two. Starr comes in but gets poked in the eye, meaning it’s off to Grind instead. Starr works on the arm and hands it off to Lawler for more of the same. Lawler gets taken into the wrong corner but comes out swinging because he isn’t about to get beaten up by Too Cool 2.

Flash comes in and snaps off some right hands in the corner, which just wake Lawler up enough to punch him down. It’s back to White vs. Grind, with White getting taken into the wrong corner. White (who has stars on his gear, as opposed to his partner named STARR) gets a boot up to stop a charge and hits a running clothesline for a breather and the hot tag brings in Lawler as everything breaks down. Somewhere in there Grind hits White with a foreign object but there’s no referee, allowing Lawler to roll Flanagan up for the pin at 6:27.

Rating: C. Perfectly fine match here, which was little more than a way to get Lawler on the show. Lawler is still the biggest thing ever around here so putting him in the main event, especially for an out of nowhere pin, is a good move. Flash showed his usual talent but the other four might as well have been anyone else. Nothing to see here otherwise, but as usual, Lawler was the only thing that mattered.

Post match the brawl stays on with the villains getting the better of things.

Maclin recaps the show and wraps things up.

Overall Rating: C-. I’m not exactly surprised that this didn’t work, as there was only so much notable talent involved. I could see how this show could get better if I watched it week after week, but it really doesn’t hold up that well as a one off. The Memphis style takes some getting used to, but it doesn’t work so well with such a basic roster that is mainly built around how they can fit Lawler in.

 

 

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