wrestling / Video Reviews
Memphis Wrestling (10.15.1983) Review
Image Credit: Memphis Wrestling
Loading...-This one’s missing more than last week.
-Originally aired October 15, 1983.
-Your hosts are Lance Russell & Dave Brown. Stan Hansen and the Moondogs are all suspended, Pork Chop Cash is injured, and Dream Machine has an eye injury. So needless to say, Jimmy Hart is absolutely miserable right now, and to illustrate that point, we go to a post-match interview in the locker room after the Bruise Brothers got mangled, and Jimmy Hart is freaking out. Jimmy promises revenge on pretty much the entire babyface half of the roster.
-We head to Mid-South Coliseum, with Austin Idol battling Stan Hansen. Hansen uses a rope to strangle Idol and won’t let go, and Hansen is so fed up with being forced to obey the stinking rules that he takes the rope and ties the referee to the corner so he can’t get in the way for the rest of the match. That’s supposed to be heelish, but the great thing is, that’s such a rare, clever spot that the fans pop for him doing it. Hansen gets out a tire iron, and after the year 2000, he would use it by holding both ends of the iron and making contact with his hand clearly covering the end that’s connecting with the face. But unfortunately for Idol, it’s 1983, which means Stan actually intends to use it like a real weapon, so Eddie Marlin runs to the ring to stop this craziness, but Hansen knocks him out with a lariat. Referee by this point has untied himself and tries to rescue the boss, but Hansen boots him out to the floor, and after all these distractions, Austin Idol has recovered and he uses the tire iron to clear Hansen out of the ring.
-Marlin has just had enough and calls this match off, and then gets on the PA to announce that Stan Hansen is suspended, and Hansen throws a fit with a garbage can and a microphone.
-Later in the night, Jerry Lawler and Jesse Ventura are battling it out in their no-DQ clash, with Jimmy Hart wearing the chicken outfit at ringside like the all-time great that he is. Referee gets bumped and Jimmy Hart tries to interfere, but Jerry Lawler takes him out. Lawler looks all set to finish off Jesse, but now he has to deal with interference from…JIMMY HART! Oh, damn, Jimmy’s not the one in the chicken costume! So Jerry goes after Jimmy, and Jesse produces a weapon, knocks out the King, and wins back the Southern Heavyweight Title.
-Jerry Lawler is here in the studio. Yes, he lost the Southern Heavyweight Title, but he got some satisfaction because he and Bill Dundee have injured the Bruise Brothers. That got Lawler to thinking about how to deal with the First Family, and he’s decided to do something about it…Jerry Lawler announces that he’s going to assemble his own stable of wrestlers and call them the King Family. Oh shit, Jerry Lawler’s going to produce a mediocre Christmas special! Run!
-Jerry is challenging the First Family to a hospital elimination 6-on-6 match. No pinfalls, no submissions. The only way to get eliminated is to bleed. Jerry introduces the King Family: The Fabulous Ones, Jimmy Valiant, Austin Idol, and Roughhouse Fargo.
-Jimmy Hart is out here with the First Family. He’s tired of being asked why he kicked Bobby Eaton out of the First Family, so to make a point about what a weak link Bobby was, he and Jim Cornette will team up to face Bobby in a handicap match, and Jimmy will throw $1000 into the crowd if Bobby wins.
-Dennis Condrey wants us to let him tell us something and it’s kind of hard to understand after that. The rest of the First Family pledges their allegiance to Jimmy, and they’re ready for the hospital elimination match.
-We get pre-recorded words from Jimmy Hart and Jesse Ventura. They’re actually a really natural pair together and if Jesse’s health had held up, I think they would have had something in the WWF.
-Jimmy Valiant has mailed in a promo from the Mid-Atlantic blue wall, and he wants a piece of Jesse Ventura. I have to imagine that Jimmy Valiant vs. Jesse Ventura had some real potential for making Dave Meltzer’s face do that Raiders of the Lost Ark stuff.
-We go to Mid-South Coliseum for a montage set to “Let’s Get Physical.” Last week, Tommy Rogers & Koko Ware pledged their friendship ahead of a big match, promising a good, clean, scientific fight, but things fell apart and it turned into an all-out brawl.
-In the studio, Lance has Tommy Rogers and Koko Ware again. Koko is now the Jr. Heavyweight Champion, and Tommy is gracious and babyfacely in defeat, but he’s also noticeably dressed like a 1950s greaser now. He asks for a rematch quite politely, but it feels like there’s trouble brewing as Koko accepts the challenge.
