performing cards, but chose to highlight these 11 cards.
1. June 03, 1974 vs. Ricky Gibson: 11,332
2. June 10, 1974 vs. Ricky Gibson: 11,629
3. June 17, 1974 vs. Jackie Fargo: 11, 542
4. June 24, 1974 vs. Jackie Fargo: 11,783
5. July 01, 1974 vs. Jackie Fargo: 11,407
6. July 08, 1974 vs. Jackie Fargo: 10,535
7. July 15, 1974 vs. The Sheik: 11,700
8. July 22, 1974 vs. Bobo Brazil : 10,600
9. Aug 05, 1974 vs. Bobo Brazil : 10,750
10. Aug 12, 1974 vs. Dick the Bruiser: 11,599
11. Aug 27, 1974 vs. Rufus R. Jones: 10,776
For these 11 cards, total attendance was 123,653. For those who don’t know, these attendance numbers were huge. Seven of them were considered sellouts; five of the sellouts were 5 weeks in a row.
Lawler had been getting his push the first half of the year. He went from a feud with Jackie Fargo to one with Tommy Gilbert & Eddie Marlin (after Fargo had an injury). Over this time frame, the weekly numbers were 6,000 one week and the next week 9,000, etc.
Lawler's feud with Rick Gibson started innocently enough. Jerry Jarrett explained that Jackie Fargo was still out with an injury and the feud with Gilbert & Marlin was over. The King needed a new opponent. Lawler and Jarrett were at the Sat morning show and as they were watching Ricky Gibson (in a TV match). Lawler asked Jarrett if he thought they could draw together, (Lawler & Gibson). Jarrett said he didn’t know, and told Lawler to go out there and “kick Gibson's ass”, so they could find out. The Lawler-Gibson feud started with good attendance in May 1974 (5,000, 9,000, 6,000 & 9,000), but what really ignited the attendance numbers was the addition of Jackie Fargo to the mix.
Jackie Fargo had by now healed up from his injury and was ready to go. Jerry Jarrett, not wanting to ruin a good thing, felt the Lawler-Gibson feud was still capable of drawing big numbers. He knew there was a future payoff of a renewed Lawler-Fargo feud to look forward to, so there was no need to rush Lawler’s feud with Ricky Gibson. The fans had been told that Jackie Fargo’s injury was at the hands of Jerry Lawler, so when Jarrett named Jackie Fargo as the special referee in the Lawler-Gibson match (June 03, 74), the fans went crazy. The buildup for this match caused a huge sellout.
Eventually, the Lawler-Gibson feud ran it’s course, Fargo was brought back in and Gibson was moved out. As the numbers show, the Lawler-Fargo feud was hugely successful and they picked up right where they had left off a few months earlier.
Arguably, the most successful run im Memphis wrestling history started on June 03, 1974, thirty-four years ago this week.
----Mark James is the author of “Memphis Wrestling History – Cards, Matches, Results, Newspaper Clippings” Vol 1 and "Vol 2: The Programs 1972 - 1976" James also is the webmaster to the BEST Memphis Wrestling site in the area – www.memphiswrestlinghistory.com - Click on his site and order his books!!
