Wacky (and AWESOME) Memphis Wrasslin

[BruiserBrody]

I was just catching up with an April 88 Between the Sheets pod and was not prepared for New AWA tag champs Badd Company to cut a babyface promo on Memphis TV vs the heel Midnight Rockers. I knew the Rockers were heel, as the Apters widely covered the Midnight Rockers vs RnR Express Memphis stuff, but if I knew Badd Company played face at that time, I've forgotten.

 

[BruiserBrody]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1654935340224847873

SID! thread cross over!

 

[SuperMachine#1]

I remember watching a promo video for a guy named Ta-Gar Lord Of The Volcano and it was a green screened backdrop with videos of volcanos erupting, the dude is in tights with a pull over skeleton mask and had an Ole Anderson like voice box and when he first appeared on tv he looked really stiff and slow and the gimmick sucked and fought Jerry Lawler for the Unified Title,the gimmick was dropped and never found out who the guy was under the hood either.

 

[BruiserBrody]

I remember watching a promo video for a guy named Ta-Gar Lord Of The Volcano and it was a green screened backdrop with videos of volcanos erupting, the dude is in tights with a pull over skeleton mask and had an Ole Anderson like voice box and when he first appeared on tv he looked really stiff and slow and the gimmick sucked and fought Jerry Lawler for the Unified Title,the gimmick was dropped and never found out who the guy was under the hood either.

Behind the mask Ta-Gar was apparently a small-time wrestler named "Gentleman" Jim Corbett. Very little has ever been heard of him, he apparently worked a bit in Memphis and a few smaller promotions under several names, maybe even did a small stint in the WWF as a jobber, before leaving wrestling for good.

I do appreciate Lawler's love of monster movie and comic book gimmicks. Even when Kaufman was around in 83, Andy was buddying up with guys in bad rubber masks.

 

[BruiserBrody]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1664454779752284161

Here's another thing I have zero recollection of.

Alternative timeline or the horrors of old age?

 

[BruiserBrody]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1664832041060376578

I love Joe LeDuc!

 

[BruiserBrody]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1666161153473486848

The poor people who are in charge at the Liberty Bowl are getting their inboxes filled by ever increasingly frantic Bix emails.

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1676306484529885193

Look if Conrad produced a reprint of this cheesecake poster or a soaking wet Jeff I am not NOT going to buy it.

 

[BruiserBrody]

November Blast​

November 15, 1993 in Memphis, TN
Mid-South Coliseum drawing 1,250 ($8,600)

1. Jeff Gaylord & Mike Anthony beat PG-13.
   
   
2. The Warlock (David Heath) beat Del Rios.
   
   
3. Midget D beat Little Eagle. As a result, Eagle unmasked.
   
   
4. The American Eagles drew Phi Delta Slam.
   
   
5. Downtown Bruno beat Richard Lee in a "loser leaves town" match.
   
   
6. The Dirty White Girl beat Toni Adams via DQ.
   
   
7. Tony Anthony & Doug Gilbert beat Moondogs Spike & Cujo via DQ.
   
   
8. Jerry Lawler & Brian Christopher beat Rex Hargrove & Koko B. Ware via countout.
   
   
9. Crush pinned Jeff Jarrett to win the USWA Title. However, the title was later returned to Jarrett due to outside interference.

----
One of heel Crush's 1st matches was in Memphis. Apparently they built it up as a special show. Crush helped bring in an extra 250 fans from the week before. Undertaker came in to work Crush that same week for the USWA.

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1680001553980178434

Tfw someone makes a joke about you picking up your girlfriend at the high school one too many times.

 

[BruiserBrody]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1710928192821706997

Murdoch steps away from the WCW/NWA for a bit before his Hardliners run the next year. I wonder if he and Ole had heat or something? Dicky fits the cagey vet mold that Ole filled the mid card with in 90.

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

Brody can recap hospice era Memphis now that he is done with hospice era AWA.

 

[BruiserBrody]

Brody can recap hospice era Memphis now that he is done with hospice era AWA.

Asterisk as they basically reopened as Power Pro or whatever they called it {The Big One Expo!) and just moved along after Lawler screwed that guy out of $$$$ to buy the USWA.

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

The Big One Expo (Flea Market) hosted later USWA too. Some of the ECW Vs USWA shows were there.

It looks the Mid South Coliseum kicked USWA out in June of 1996. So they were at the Big One for over a year.

USWA « Events Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database

Internet Wrestling Database

www.cagematch.net

People putting body hair on the line needed to happen more.

Also the former Kato must have been wondering what the hell in his career went wrong, working opening matches in death rattle Memphis at the height of the Monday Night War.

 

[BruiserBrody]

Makes you wonder what Lawler told the dude who bought it. 350 fans. To put that into perspective, Corny says in his Memphis 83 deep dive that a certain town drawing 2000 "was an absolute disaster".
6,000 sounds like the very bottom for that era Memphis with Bockwinkel coming in for AWA title matches vs Lawler meant 8,000 and above as a minimum.

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

Wrestling marriages you didn't know existed. Bill Dundee mentions offhand that Bobby Eaton was working for WWF at the time. I forgot Eaton's run as a player/coach in developmental after WCW went under. It's too bad they didn't work out for him long term.

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

Log into Facebook

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[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

Honestly, @BruiserBrody , 1997 USWA’s roster might be worse than ‘89-‘90 AWA.

Billy Joe Travis being the USWA Champion feels like the Memphis equivalent of Jeff Jarrett winning the WCW World Championship.

 

[BruiserBrody]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1740246232424206444

$$$ or teen pussy

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

I can imagine the resigned voice JR used to sell his favorite protege on working in Memphis under a weird looking hood.

 

[BruiserBrody]

I can imagine the resigned voice JR used to sell his favorite protege on working in Memphis under a weird looking hood.

I'd assume he was under his WWF dates yet, so option B was to stop getting checks in the mail.

I always liked the story when Dr Death opened his WWF check and it was so huge he realized he accidentally got the other Steve Williams' payoffs.

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

In which, Tracy Smothers plays the Nation of Domination’s Shaquille Ali.

Should have made WWF TV.

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

A @BruiserBrody dream match.

 

[BruiserBrody]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1746897524185612739

What's great is when I first saw this tweet I assumed it was just a goofy Memphis storyline about Lawler/Gotch, but while moving to share it hear I realize that Allen is making a funny.

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

Brod, did you know Macho Man and Sherri had a Memphis only reunion in 1993!?

 

[BruiserBrody]

Brod, did you know Macho Man and Sherri had a Memphis only reunion in 1993!?

I think we've covered it on here.

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

 

[BruiserBrody]

Dr. Tom was doing some heavy Dick Slater mannerisms there. I guess that means he's copying Terry Funk by proxy.

Giant Silva as the new King of Memphis. That feels right up with the WWF comedy style gimmick. Ernie Ladd wore a crown gimmick for a while, so Silva isn't the first giant King.

Lawler runs in with his street clothes on. How can he Hulk up if he has no strap to lower?

God bless Memphis busting out a Moondog in 97. I didn't watch long enough to see if it was Spot or one of the other shindy versions. (Splat, etc)

The cost of running the helicopter for an hour was probably more than the total payoffs

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

More hospice era USWA.

Featuring graffiti tagger and gang member PJ Walker. Basically a rough draft of Justin Credible in Blood In, Blood Out wardrobe (but still wearing his Aldo Montoya boots. Also the rough draft for Kane, Doomsday (Glenn Jacobs in Demolition/S&M gear).

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

Nice to know Lawler didn't take @tekcop 's favorite customer calling him a rapist on live TV personally and has been able to work with him a bunch of times since.