A friend of mine recently posted this card clipping (December 27, 1982), on the Wrestling Classics message board. I was reading it and it made me think of the days of kayfabe, wrestling fans, wrestling belts, etc. This card is a great example of the way wrestling used to be.
This main event featured Jerry Lawler challenging AWA world champion, Nick Bockwinkel. Nick had been defending the AWA title in Memphis since the promotion had left the NWA in the summer of 1978. The finish had Lawler pinning Bockwinkel, but the champ’s leg was over the bottom rope. The ref missed the leg and awarded the AWA world title to Jerry Lawler. The fans went nuts, yelling and cheering. Even though the AWA later reversed the decision (they held up the title and had a rematch which Nick won), the local promotion handled it like Lawler had actually won the world title that night. All the wrestlers in back ran to the ring and congratulated the King. When Lawler left the ring, it was with the AWA world title in his hands. As the fans left the arena that night, they knew Jerry Lawler was the new, AWA world heavyweight champion.
Please take into consideration this card happened 26 years ago. Looking back on it, I was 15 yrs old and kayfabe was still alive and well in Memphis, TN, (as well as the rest of the country.) When the world champion came to Memphis, the fans still cared. We wanted to see Lawler walk away with the belt. The belt stood for something. Whether it was the Southern heavyweight title or the World title, we wanted it on our guy. It’s hard to describe what it was like back then if you didn’t live thru it. The big thing to realize is it wasn’t sports entertainment yet, it was still real. There was no internet to look up the angles or where the champ was wrestling the next night, etc. For the most part, all we had in Memphis was the matches themselves, the Sat morning show and the short results in the Tuesday morning paper. Cable had only started getting some wrestling on it. The Atlanta Superstation had Georgia Championship Wrestling on it, and WOR out of New York had some WWF stuff, but to be honest the were self-contained. Atlanta talked only about Atlanta, the WWF only talked about WWF. Just like Memphis talked only about Memphis. Even though it was very close to changing and being seen as national, wrestling was still extremely localized.
As I continued remembering, other things came to mind. Recently, because of my website and book, I’ve had some people ask me why I like the old belts, why I bought a replica of the Southern title, etc. I never really could explain why I’m a “belt mark”, other than I just wanted one. I really think it ties in with the fact I grew up with kayfabe. We bought in to the illusion, the show and the angles. The promotions wanted us to believe in it, to care and to buy tickets. I guess that’s ultimately why the belt always meant something to us. Now, when I look at my belt, all of those wonderful memories come back and run through my mind.
At times, I know it’s hard to understand us “old-timers”. We’re always talking about the good old days, lol. The truth is, it was just a different time and I feel very lucky to have been able to experience all those cool angles in Memphis wrestling. Times change, they always do and I accept that. I guess it’s like when you where a child and you loved your grandmother’s homemade cookies (or pies, cakes, etc.) One day you grow up, your grandmother is gone and all that’s left of those cookies are memories. Don’t get me wrong, there’s tons of great cookies, recipes and bakeries out there, but none can ever compare or measure up to your memories of your grandmother’s cookies.
----Mark James is the author of “Memphis Wrestling History – Cards, Matches, Results, Newspaper Clippings” Vol 1. He is currently finishing up Vol 2 and we will have full details on it here when it becomes available. James also is the webmaster to the BEST Memphis Wrestling site in the area – www.memphiswrestlinghistory.com Take a look at the site!!!
VOICE YOUR OPINION ON THE KAYFABE BOARD - WAS IT BETTER WHEN KAYFABE WAS ALIVE??
