----Here is the Memphis report from this past week. I will have my Ratings and Random Thoughts later this week.
Jerry Lawler’s Memphis Wrestling – Episode 10
Airing August 7, 2010 in Memphis on PAXtv 50
Brandon Baxter and Lauren Jenkins opened from ringside with a rundown of the upcoming hour. They hyped the rematch between Su Yung and The Ga Ga Girl.
The bumpers throughout the hour showed footage from the San Diego Comic Con with random individuals dressed as their favorite comic book characters.
Stan Lee entered the ring for the opening match. Then 30 seconds of dead air and nothing happening before Lauren welcomed us back to JLMW.
Jenkins was joined at ringside by “big” Tommy Mercer. He snatched the mic out of he hand and said that he had been coming to Memphis for two long months, and he was the baddest man in Memphis wrestling. Jenkins asked if his mom told him that. Mercer said he was to be called “the genetically gifted supernatural”. “This is the body of a champion.” He ordered Jenkins to hold the mic while he showed off. Jenkins said Michael Phelps was better. Mercer said he hadn’t seen one body since he got there that came close, as he stared at Jenkins bare midriff. “Are you hitting on me?” Jenkins said. Mercer asked what her name was. He touched Lauren’s hair and grabbed her hand. He asked if she had ever seen a body that looked that good (Michael Phelps!). Mercer tried to make Lauren feel his body. She was repulsed by this and Baxter intervened. “Good luck, Tom-Tom,” Lauren said mockingly.
(1) Stan Lee beat Tommy Mercer in 5:49. Jenkins asked for some hand sanitizer. Mercer was the prototypical cocky musclehead. Mercer offered a test of strength and raised his hand out of Lee’s reach. Lee stomped Mercer’s foot and reeled off a barrage of kicks, capped by a missile dropkick. Mercer rolled out of the ring to regroup and he looked pissed. Mercer necked Lee on the top rope and took over. He employed an aggressive brawling style, mixing in elbow and knee strikes. The highlight was an awesome decapitation lariat from hell with Lee taking a great spin bump. A missed elbow drop set up Lee’s comeback. Mercer caught one of Lee’s kicks and went for a clothesline, Lee ducked and hit a high crossbody for a one count, then a running shooting star press for a near fall. Mercer pounded Lee in the corner, but paused to play to the crowd before charging back in. Lee dropkicked Mercer’s knee to put him down and went up top for a split legged moonsault. Mercer rolled a shoulder just before the three count. Downtown Bruno’s hand hit the mat but he signaled two count only. Lee went for springboard crossbody. Mercer dropped him, then picked him for the Mercy Kill, but Lee reversed it with a DDT. Lee crawled for the cover. Bruno counted the pin but Mercer appeared to roll a shoulder just before the three.
Pat Patterson was this week’s guest on the Tax Solutions Superstars Hotline. In the clip, Patterson made Lawler the butt of some really lame jokes. Patterson found them funny.
This week’s WWE footage showed Lawler at the San Diego Comic Con. We learned that Lawler did the cover of new issue of the WWE Heroes comic book. Neal Adams was there. Adams was a top guy in comic book art back in the day, and Lawler is a big fan of his work. Adams said Lawler was “one of the youngest, best artists he ever met. Oh, he wrestles too.” He must have met Lawler in the 70s.
Lawler accompanied Yung to ringside. She looked like a school girl in her sailor outfit. Yung said she was excited about getting her hands on Ga Ga. Lauren’s ring introductions showed massive favoritism towards Yung.
Ga Ga was accompanied by White, who stopped to have words with Baxter. “I was starting to get a kind heart towards you by what you was saying, but you keep going back to you know what, a lie that was told,” he said. White was also displeased by Guy Coffey’s ruling that he would be suspended for 90 days if he punched Yung. This White is not a happy guy. Baxter said White didn’t have the right to put his hands on a woman. White said he had to right to do whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted to do it. “Matter of fact, 90 days doesn’t sound too bad. It might be worth knocking her teeth down her throat and just taking my 90 days.” White said he didn’t need to do it, though, because Ga Ga was going to spread Yung’s teeth equally across the ring.
(2) Su Yung (with Jerry Lawler) beat Ga Ga Girl (with Kevin White) via DQ in 4:43. “Hollywood” Jimmy Blaylock joined Baxter at the desk. He brought up Tom Savini again purposely mispronouncing the name. Ga Ga used mauling tactics in the early going. Yung took Ga Ga down and controlled her on the mat, until she was distracted by White. That gave Ga Ga time to club Yung from behind. White then choked Yung over the ropes. Ga Ga mounted Yung for more mauling. Ga Ga used a wrestling move – a suplex. Ga Ga made a taunting cover. White dug at Yung’s eyes. Yung fired up. White threw Lawler into the post and hit the ring. White had Yung by the hair threatening to slug her. The ref blocked the punch. White decked the ref and grabbed Yung again, but Lawler punched White before he could do the deed.
Baxter’s mission to educate Lauren on the history of Memphis wrestling continued with classic footage: Dutch Mantell vs. Jesse Barr (with Jim Cornette). This was from the fall of 1982 shortly after Cornette made his debut. Mantell refused to sign a contract with Cornette, so he signed Barr instead. The deal here was Barr had challenged Mantell to match in which rule breaking would mean an automatic loss, because he didn’t think Mantell could do it. Barr was the one that ended up cocking his fist in frustration and spitting in Mantell’s face to provoke him. Mantell punched Barr. Match over. They started brawling and Eddie Marlin had to call out the troops (including Terry Taylor) to pull them apart.
Ben Roethlisberger yet again saying Grandmaster Sexay was his favorite.
Brian C and Wolfie D strutted their way to ringside. The fans started a “boring” chant. Christopher said that just showed how stupid they were, because last week, Matt Boyce and “the Hawaiian kid” had one of those most boring matches he had ever seen. “It was so boring both of my feet fell asleep and I had to join ‘em.” Brian C said he and Wolfie would now be known as Too Cool. “Bring out the BORING wrestlers and watch us beat them from pillar to post and remain undefeated.”
Lauren introduced Boyce and Lani Kialoha. Boyce said he didn’t know Kialoha until last week but he had his respect, because it was one of the best matches of his career. They cut to Brian C pretending to take a nap in the ring. Boyce said Too Cool disrespected him by chanting “boring” during his match last week, so he was going to teach them respect. Kialoha said Too Cool’s name should be alphabet soup.
(3) Too Cool (Brian C & Wolfie D) beat Matt Boyce & Lani Kialoha in 5:48. Bert Prentice joined Baxter at the table. Baxter got under Bert’s skin if he had ever been turned down the way Boyce and Kialoha did. Prentice said that for somebody that had been around wrestling since he was 11 years old, “Brandy” was incredibly inept, and challenged Baxter to call the action for one minute, instead of talking about irrelevant people. Prentice (“not to be a name dropper”) mentioned that he managed Tully Blanchard and Baxter knew the year (1983). The babyfaces were a step ahead of Too Cool, until D stepped aside to avoid Kialoha’s charge, and C clotheslined him from the apron. C entered with a slice ‘n dice flying leg drop on Kialoha. Kialoha DDTed C and reached for the tag, but C bit his hand. Moments later, Kialoha broke up a double lariat by diving across Too Cool’s locked arms. They collided. The tag was made. Boyce cleaned house. C dumped Kialoha out of the ring. The camera cut to Prentice lying across Kialoha’s legs as referee Jerry Calhoun admonished him. Boyce went for the frogsplash, but Wolfie used his hubcap as a shield. 1-2-3.
Afterwards, Prentice danced with Too Cool.
Baxter and Jenkins closed out the hour. Baxter said he didn’t like the way the last match went and called for a rematch.
Afterthoughts: Lee and Mercer had the most action-packed singles match so far on JLMW. Impressive showing by Lee. It was a shame that it got flattened out by the mucked up finish. Based on the prematch interview, it certainly appeared to be match Mercer was destined to win. The interaction between Mercer and Jenkins was hilarious. Jenkins’ unbridled spontaneity and lack of professionalism make each of her segments an adventure in broadcasting. The clip of the comic convention droned on far too long – like 5 minutes. The classic footage was interesting in several respects. Seeing a skinny Jim Cornette with the helmet of hair was fun, and the wrestling between Mantell and Barr was smoother than any of the current matches. Good angle, too. Ga Ga and Yung had a much better match than their first time around. Not that it was good. It was an exceedingly low bar. But the match did have heat. For whatever reason, the angle with Savini has been put on the back burner in favor of potential man on woman violence between White and Yung. That storyline shows no signs of going away. White’s mic work is one of the high points of every episode lately. The tag match was decent. I was wrong about Too Cool’s boring chant backfiring. The crowd was still behind Boyce. Christopher’s revolting personality makes him impossible to like, and the fans love to get a rise out of him.
