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Memphis Wrestling (4.11.1981) Review

February 10, 2023 | Posted by Adam Nedeff
Memphis Wrestling Jerry Lawler, WWE Image Credit: Memphis Wrestling
6.1
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Memphis Wrestling (4.11.1981) Review  

-Originally aired April 11, 1981.

-Your hosts are Lance Russell & Dave Brown.

-Jimmy Hart shows up, looking incredibly glum. Jerry Lawler had a series of matches recently where he ran off the last remaining men that Jimmy Hart managed. Jerry Lawler has now defeated every one of Hart’s men, and they’ve all left the territory. There’s no one left. Jimmy is VERY out of character here, and the studio audience goes silent because they’re taken aback by how low-key and serious he is. Jimmy says that wrestling means as much to him as music, and when he got his picture on the cover of a wrestling magazine a few months ago, it was like being on the cover of Rolling Stone; a dream come true. But none of that is worth anything now, and Jimmy officially concedes defeat. The fans love Lawler, Jimmy is miserable, and it’s ruined his home life. And Jimmy takes it to the next level, as he’s CRYING. Not melodramatic wailing. Actual tears are coming out of Jimmy’s eyes as he admits that he failed as a manager and Jerry Lawler is the better man. And with that, he walks off, and the crowd gives him an appreciative round of applause for his honesty. And with that, Jimmy Hart is done as a manager in Memphis.

-With that, we roll the footage from Mid-South Coliseum. Jerry Lawler is in a handicap match against Gypsy Joe and the Angel. The team doesn’t have to make tags, so the whole match is 2-on-1. If Jerry loses, he’s managed by Jimmy Hart forever. If Jerry wins, the heels are finished. The heels get greedy with the no-DQ stip and bring a wood plank into the ring, and Lawler manages to snatch it away and unleash hell on his opponents. Angel loads a glove for a right hand, but accidentally knocks Joe out cold. Lawler manages to swipe the glove and knocks Angel out cold, and Lawler pins both men at the same time and runs them both out of town.

-Back in the studio, Lawler comes out laughing and takes a moment to dance on Jimmy’s grave.

-And then we get ANOTHER LOUISVILLE HOUSE SHOW PROMO THAT SPOILS AN ANGLE LATER IN THE SHOW! I’m not summarizing it, let’s just keep going.

JERRY “The King” LAWLER & KOKO WARE vs. BOUNTY HUNTERS (with Jimmy Kent)

-Lawler starts with David Novak. Right hand stuns David and sends him out to the floor early on. Koko tags in and mows David down with a shoulderblock. Koko takes him to the mat for a nice exhibition. Heels manage to get Koko in the korner and work him over, but Koko lunges and manages to tag the King in. Lawler bonks the Bounty Hunters’ heads together, which Dave Brown calls by observing, “The Bounty Hunters had a meeting of the minds.” With a dry, cool wit like that, he could be an action hero!

-Koko tags in and gets AIR on a dropkick before the Bounty Hunters come roaring back. They trap Koko in the corner again, since it worked before. Lawler protests some interference that the referee missed, and while he’s arguing his case, the Bounty Hunters get a spike piledriver on Koko. That should finish, but they get greedy and just keep beating on Koko until they kick him into his own corner. Lawler comes in and cleans house, and Jimmy Kent tries to do something about it, only for the referee to catch him this time, and it’s a DQ win for Lawler and Koko.

-But now Koko is barely conscious on the floor, so seeing an opening, The Turk and El Toro hit the ring with Jimmy Hart for a surprise attack, and the whole babyface locker room empties to run them off. Lawler took a shot to the head from Jimmy’s cane, and didn’t get a chance to give back, so he wants some revenge now.

-We get a Jerry Lawler vs. Terry Funk video montage, since their stuff was so great. These guys hate each other so much that I can’t help but think they’re on their way to some sort of climactic finale.

MR. ONITA & MASA FUCHI (Southern Tag Team Champions, with Tojo Yamomoto) VS. RON SEXTON & DAVE PRICE
-Well, surprise, surprise, they have belts now. Evil karate and eye rakes by the new champions. Sexton fights back with a backdrop and tags in Price. A big chop gets the three.

-We head to the Mid-South Coliseum to see how they won the belts. Referee gets bumped, Dream Machine gets salt in the eyes, referee wakes up, we have new champions.

EXPIRATION OF TIME: SUPERSTAR BILL DUNDEE & DREAM MACHINE vs. THE TURK & EL TORO (with Jimmy Hart)

-FALL ONE: Faces are pissed off and take it out on Jimmy’s new men. Dundee locks on a sleeper on Turk, but El Toro breaks the hold. Jimmy Hart is back to his old self at ringside and the crowd really can’t stand him now, because his first performance today was so convincing. Dropkick by Dundee gets two. Turk goes for a splash to finish, but Dream breaks it. Dundee comes back with an abdominal stretch and Toro breaks the hold. Dundee gets thrown to the concrete. Jimmy Hart sneaks over and attacks Dundee while he has a chance, but the referee catches him and calls for the DQ.

6.1
The final score: review Average
The 411
Jimmy Hart's stuff was great. Another house show promo screwing up the angle was not.
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Memphis Wrestling, Adam Nedeff