The conventional history has it that the WWF’s resurgence into the Attitude era began with the events of 1997 and 1998 as the “Stone Cold” and “Mr McMahon” characters developed and ultimately clashed. In fact the events of that period can be traced back to another time — five years earlier — and another place: Memphis, Tennessee.
After debuting in 1970, Jerry Lawler became crowned the “King” of Memphis wrestling in 1974 after defeating the man who previously boasted that nickname, his trainer Jackie Fargo. Unlike most headliners in the era, Lawler was virtually a one-territory man during the first two decades of his career, the vast majority of which he spent as a babyface and local hero.
By 1992, Memphis was effectively the last remaining local territory still running a weekly schedule taking in Memphis; Nashville, Tennessee; Louisville, Kentucky; and Evansville, Indiana, along with one-off appearances in a couple of smaller towns each week. However, the territory was long past its peak of drawing as many as 9,000 fans on a regular basis at the Mid-South Coliseum in Memphis and having 20 percent of the local population watching the Saturday morning show. By now the emphasis was much less on maximising revenue and more about keeping costs low with notoriously low payoffs that left a young Steve Austin living on tinned tuna and raw potatoes during a 1989 Memphis run.
Memphis wrestling had remained fiercely independent however. It had a reputation in the business for hokey, credibility-killing gimmicks and ring style: comedian Andy Kaufman had only wrestled there after being turned down by Vince McMahon Senior’s WWWF as simply not a believable competitor. But to the local fans Memphis was where the real wrestling happened.
In some cases this was merely through conventional wrestling trickery: with most top stars having passed through Memphis at some point, the TV show regularly aired clips of Lawler beating the likes of Andre the Giant, Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair in their earlier days, albeit sometimes taking liberties such as cutting away at a two-count to imply a pinfall victory. Lawler even issued open challenges to Hogan and Flair when they held the WWF and WCW titles respectively, challenges he could be certain would go unanswered.
In other cases it involved more than a little gall. In February 1989, Vince McMahon Junior “revealed” that wrestling matches were predetermined in an attempt to escape athletic commission regulation and taxes in New Jersey. Memphis fans were soon informed that this was proof the WWF’s bouts were phony, unlike the real competition in their territory.
The strength of the Memphis promotion meant it was one of the few places where the WWF’s territory-busting national expansion initially struggled. In fact the scheduled closed-circuit broadcast of the first WrestleMania was cancelled in Memphis after reportedly selling just 12 tickets in advance. The dispute between Memphis and the WWF even turned legal when Lawler sued the company over Harley Race’s use of the “King” gimmick, forceing WWF to drop the name when they visited Memphis and Nashville.
It was a genuine shock then in 1992 when Memphis grappler Jeff Jarrett jumped the guard rail at a WWF house show in Memphis and challenged Intercontinental champion Bret Hart to a match at the promotion’s next event in the building. The match never took place as Hart lost the title in the meantime, but the fact that he accepted the challenge proved the unthinkable had happened: McMahon and Memphis were doing business.
McMahon had apparently decided that having killed off most of the territories, he now needed somewhere for young prospects to gain experience. To make this happen he offered co-owners Jerry Jarrett and Jerry Lawler roles as a booking advisor and a commentator/occasional wrestler respectively, making a rare exception to the WWF hiring policy by allowing them to continue working in Memphis, now known as the USWA.
At first the partnership was fairly low-key with the WWF sending a few underutilised roster members such as the Big Bossman, Koko B Ware, Sgt Slaughter and the Bushwhackers down to Memphis, while assigning up and comers such as the Harlem Knights (later Men on a Mission) to the territory.
The most spectacular part of the early exchange actually came backstage at one of Lawler’s earliest WWF TV taping appearances where he returned after a match to discover his crown was the victim of what can politely be called a dirty protest. With so many wrestlers having passed through the promotion and remembering the pitiful payoffs, the line of suspects was long.
As Bret Hart recalls elsewhere in this issue, things really kicked off when Lawler attacked him during the coronation ceremony at the end of the WWF’s King Of The Ring pay-per-view, a move that Lawler explained on television as a justifiable move given that he had not been invited to compete in the tournament despite being the true King of wrestling. That prompted a series of bouts in Memphis between Lawler and Owen Hart, leading up to an inconclusive Lawler vs Bret match in the city which drew 2,800 fans, more than double the usual crowd in the venue.
That was followed in turn by a tag match in which the Harts beat Lawler and Jarrett. Writing in his autobiography Hitman, Bret recalled that “Owen and I made faces, cussed and wiggled our asses as we wound up our punches like Dusty Rhodes. By the end the fans were fixing to fetch ropes to string us up… Those two Memphis shows would end up being some of the most fun that Owen and I ever had in the ring together”
The Harts victory came thanks to a poor refereeing decision by Paul Neighbours, an official who had been increasingly off the mark in recent weeks. It led to a challenge setting up a bout the following week between Lawler and Neighbours, with Lawler vowing that if he couldn’t send his opponent out on a stretcher, he would refund the fans their ticket money.
This was an old Memphis tactic, most famously used in 1987 when Austin Idol promised a refund if he didn’t beat Lawler in a hair vs hair cage match. Fans flocked to the Coliseum believing it was impossible Lawler would have his head shaved and they would thus get a free show. Instead they were shocked to see Lawler fall to defeat after Idol’s partner Tommy Rich — who had hid under the ring for several hours — emerged to join the attack.
As an added bonus, Neighbours announced he would have none other than Vince McMahon in his corner. TV viewers then saw a special edition of the King’s Court interview segment recorded at a WWF TV taping to promote the match. Although both men used their normal characters before the WWF crowd, Lawler reverted to babyface mode in the Memphis studio and promised McMahon that “this Burger King is going to give you a whopper” while shaking his fist.
Whether it was the stipulation, the McMahon appearance, or a Lex Luger-Yokozuna main event, the show drew 3,567 fans and the largest gate in five years. McMahon came to ringside accompanied by Patterson and cut his first public heel promo, noting that “It’s no secret I don’t like Jerry Lawler. It’s no secret I don’t like people who like Jerry Lawler.”
As the bout got underway, Lawler chased Neighbours around ringside only for a seated McMahon to casually trip him up whilst looking innocent. When Lawler went after McMahon, Patterson attacked him from behind and held him so that McMahon could lay him out with a punch. Thankfully for the box office takings Lawler regained his bearings and sent Neighbours out on his back, but McMahon was clearly established as a heel.
Ironically the possibility of a Lawler-McMahon feud wasn’t the WWF boss’s main reason for being at the Coliseum that night. Instead he had made the journey to get a first-hand look at Luger and Yokozuna having a dry run of their upcoming SummerSlam main event. The short contest not only failed to impress, but saw many fans walking out before the finish, a reaction that may have been the last straw for McMahon who decided that Luger would fail to capture the title at the pay-per-view despite his summer-long push — a decision that would eventually lead to Bret Hart taking top spot again.
The following week’s Memphis TV saw McMahon send in the first of a series of taped promos, speaking in a calm but compelling manner filled with arrogance and bile, notable for just how much it varied from his traditional babyface delivery over the past 20 years.
Shocking as it was for TV viewers to see McMahon adopt the villainous persona, his clear passion for the role didn’t surprise wrestling insiders. It was well known in the industry that McMahon grew up almost obsessed with cocky heel Dr Jerry Graham and that McMahon himself had always wanted to wrestle as a rulebreaker but had been banned from stepping in the ring by his father.
Wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer, who had appeared alongside McMahon on the panel of a television show during the WWF drug and sex scandals the previous year, noted that the delivery appeared to be tapping into the way the real Vince responded when feeling under attack: “McMahon’s heel interviews are so eerie they’re incredible. It’s the exact same McMahon, same voice pattern, same inflections as on Donahue, Larry King, etc.”
The promo, in which McMahon claimed Lawler had halitosis that mirrored the smell of the Mid South Coliseum, set up a final Memphis clash between Lawler and Hart, this time inside a steel cage. That match ended with Lawler winning after interference by Owen Hart and Giant Gonzalez backfired.
What should have been a long term program with Lawler and Gonzalez ended after just one Memphis bout when Gonzalez handed in his notice almost immediately upon arriving in the territory. Instead Lawler took the victory after throwing fire at the giant and moved over to a feud with Tatanka, their first bout being promoted as an “end of the trail” contest pitting Lawler’s USWA Unified title against Tatanka’s undefeated streak.
Promoting that clash, Lawler attempted to explain why he and McMahon were able to carry out commentary together in the WWF despite their rivalry. According to Lawler it was the only way he could get into the promotion and attempt to get his hands on Hart. He also claimed that while doing the voiceover work in the studio, McMahon would sit 10 feet away from Lawler and was accompanied by “three body guards and two policemen.” Lawler made sure to note that “everyone in the WWF looks down their noses at Memphis people and calls them local yokels.”
The result of the first Tatanka match was revealed on television not by a commentator announcement, but in a clip in which a smug looking McMahon stood in one of his familiar powder blue three-piece suits and slowly unbuttoned the jacket to reveal he was wearing what used to be Lawler’s belt.
It was certainly a more effective promo than that given by Tatanka live in the studio. As a career babyface his cocky delivery was certainly a revelation, perhaps best compared to that of Shane Douglas during his ECW heyday, but the verbiage was sorely lacking and he screwed up names across the board. Fortunately Lawler came out to save the day, effectively performing Tatanka’s promo for him, preceding each line with phrases such as “So what you’re telling me is…”
Between the pair of them they managed to build up an eight-man elimination tag match featuring all the USWA’s title holders, the outcome of which was Lawler regaining the title thanks to a pre-match stipulation.
At this point McMahon broke out the big guns and sent in Randy Savage to challenge for the title. Savage and Lawler had once had a lengthy real life rivalry when Savage’s father Angelo Poffo ran an outlaw opposition territory in Kentucky. Savage and his colleagues would frequently reveal Memphis wrestlers’ real names and other personal information as well as issuing grandstand challenges, one of which was literally on Lawler’s doorstep. At times the dispute became so heated that wrestlers would fight for real in car parks and even began carrying guns. Eventually the two sides agreed to work together and ran a successful invasion angle with Savage debuting by storming the Memphis TV studios during a live broadcast.
The 1993 bout was now built up by three masters of the promo, albeit in very different styles. Lawler promised to “set McMahon’s foolish looking face ablaze” while Savage ranted and raved about how he would be sure to win “the UWF title” which he explained stood for “United Wrestling Championship.” McMahon meanwhile opted for the calm, literary approach, explaining that “You don’t believe in the tooth fairy, you don’t believe what politicians say, and you shouldn’t believe what Jerry Lawler says all of the time… or anything Jerry Lawler says any of the time,” before explaining that most politician or retailer guarantees were worthless and that “there are only three guarantees in life: death, taxes and Randy Savage.”
Crowds had fallen dramatically since Hart was replaced as chief invader by Gonzalez and Tatanka, and it turned out that Savage couldn’t turn the tide: his initial appearance drew just 1,200, similar to what the promotion had been doing without WWF performers. The match ended up in controversy with Lawler throwing fire after a referee bump, Savage taking the win with a chain-boosted punch, and then the referee reversing the decision after Jeff Jarrett pointed out the use of the weapon.
TV saw the announcement that the title had been held up by USWA officials, a move blamed on pressure put in place by McMahon’s lawyers. The inevitable rematch would feature McMahon making a second appearance at the Mid-South Coliseum, with Lawler accompanied by local runt manager Downtown Bruno, better known in the WWF as Harvey Whippleman. Just in case anyone had failed to grasp the localist tone of the angle, Bruno explained that, in his experience, “the further North you go, the dumber people are” before promising to hit McMahon “with so many rights you’ll be begging for a left” and trotting out the old gag that “it’ll be a two hit fight: my fist hitting your jaw and then you hitting the ground.”
Despite an impassioned final promo by McMahon in which he claimed Jarrett had planted the offending chain on Savage as part of a conspiracy, the bout failed to score at the box office: in fact, McMahon’s second appearance drew just 850 paying fans, the lowest gate in months. Despite this, it was clear the idea was to extend the feud: McMahon repeatedly tripped and held on to Lawler from ringside, before passing a chair to Savage. Eventually McMahon punched Lawler, leaving him prey for a Savage elbow for the win. The next step in the feud was not to be however.
Savage never returned to defend his title, the Vince promos ended, and save for an elimination bout featuring the unlikely team of Doink the Clown, Shawn Michaels and Koko B Ware, the WWF appearances fizzled out. The abrupt ending of the feud appeared to be explained a few weeks later when Lawler was charged with a series of alleges offenses involving sexual activity with a 13-year old girl from Louisville. It also mean an immediate end to his WWF appearances, with Shawn Michaels taking his place in a team match against the Hart family at the Survivor Series.
Although the charges were dismissed (with the exception of Lawler pleading guilty to witness harrassment) and Lawler returned to his WWF announcing position the following year, the interpromotional feud was soon forgotten. That’s not to say there were no lasting effects however. In 1994 Owen Hart became a heel for the first time (in WWF rings at least), followed by Tatanka a year later, both drawing on their Memphis experiences.
The “farm system” set-up returned and in 1996, a young grappler named Dwayne Johnson was assigned to the Memphis territory en route to becoming the Rock. The following year Bret Hart and his extended family feuded with Steve Austin and company in a rivalry where the babyface and heel divisions depended on whether the shows took place in the US or Canada, a set-up that required the same plausible ambiguity used in the Memphis-WWF feud. And most famously, the year after that saw McMahon bring his heel character to the WWF and unleash villainous promos that helped the company achieve its hottest ever period at the box office.
