A few days ago I mentioned watching some 1996 USWA in the Match Review thread. Maybe I'll move all the other USWA stuff I've written on PW over to this thread eventually. But for now I want to focus on attendance figures....

I've spent the past few days combing through USWA results with a focus on their "big" weekly Mid South Coliseum shows because I clearly have the most boring hobbies in the world. At some point I decided to find out what the best and worst drawing USWA shows were. Here is my source....

www.prowrestlinghistory.com/memphis/index.html

Results incoming.

But first, a few notes....



*The USWA started at some point in 1989. Before that, the Memphis promotion was known as CWA. So I decided to ignore all pre-1989 shows....for now.

**Not all Mid South Coliseum shows have attendance figures listed. Most of the earlier USWA shows do not. Some shows have a gate number. Most do not.

***The average show with attendance listed drew in the low 1000s.

****You may remember my post in the "Unpopular Opinions" thread where I mentioned thinking USWA was far bigger than it actually was when I started reading about it in the Apter Mags in late 95-96. Turns out that is the exact moment their attendance figures bottomed out

Highest Drawing USWA Mid South Coliseum Shows (1989-1996)

1. "Memphis Memories" 3/17/94- 8,377 ($32,000)
-This was a special nostalgia show headlined by Lawler winning a 10 man Elimination Match. They were back to drawing their usual 1400 the following week.

2. October 8, 1990- 5,000 ($24,600)
-This was a big 19 match(!) one night tournament for the vacant USWA Unified Championship culminating with Lawler beating Austin Idol for the belt.

3. "Memphis Memories II" 6/10/95- 3,850 ($24,000)
-Exactly what it says on the tin. Nostalgia was their biggest draw by this point. 2010s WWE, anyone? The Fabulous Ones won the "Best of Memphis Tag Team Tournament" which the show revolved around.

4. August 23, 1993- 3,567 ($24,000)
Main Event: "Made In The USA" Lex Luger defeated Yokozuna.
-Lex DRAWING THOSE DIMES! You guys know I am never going to shut up about this, right? Penultimate match was Lawler vs. Paul Neighbors w/ Vince McMahon in Neighbors corner. Pretty sure Neighbors was a manager.

5. August 13, 1990- 3,500 ($19,000)
Main Event: Tony Anthony, Eddie & Doug Gilbert beat Jerry Lawler, Bill Dundee, & Austin Idol in a Steel Cage Match
-Doesn't look all that impressive on paper beyond that babyface Memphis dream team, but this program drew well all summer. As seen here...

5. August 6, 1990: 3,500
Main Event: Eddie Gilbert, Tony Anthony, & John Tatum beat Bill Dundee, Jerry Lawler, & Austin Idol in a Stretcher Match
-I'm guessing this is around the time Eddie Gilbert infamously hit Jerry Lawler with a car?




5. December 28, 1992: 3,500 ($15,000)
USWA Unified World Champion Jerry Lawler pinned The Christmas Creature(!) in a Title vs. Mask Match.
Main Event: Moondog Spike won a "Moondog Battle Royal."

8. March 12, 1990: 3,312 ($14,000)
Main Event: Jerry Lawler beat Jimmy Valiant to win the USWA Unified World Title
-The appeal of Jimmy Valiant was lost on me. He's low key one of my least favorite wrestlers of the 80s. But he was over in Memphis....and everywhere else.

9. October 17, 1994: 3,103 ($16,645)
Main Event: Undertaker beat USWA Unified World Champ Sid Vicious by DQ
-Skyscrapers explode! The Wrestlemania XIII main event was a draw in Memphis 3 years earlier. First show on the list without Jerry Lawler. And I'm guessing the last. Would be even higher if I was going by gate rather than butts in seats....which I honestly should have. But I'm too lazy to start over now.

10. August 7, 1995: 3,000 ($17,000)
Main Event: Jerry Lawler, Bill Dundee, PG-13, Tommy Rich, Doug Gilbert, & Billy Jack Haynes beat Tracy Smothers, Robert Gibson, Gorgeous George III, Buddy Landel, Pat Tanaka, & The Heavenly Bodies (Pritchard & Del Rey) in a Rage In The Cage Match.
-Guessing this was part of the USWA vs. SMW "Civil War," which got a lot of Apter Mag hype.

10. March 1, 1993: 3,000
Main Event: Jeff Jarrett, Jerry Lawler, & Giant Gonzales beat Brian Christopher, Ron & Don Harris 
-Looks like Memphis was no different than any other part of the country when it came to the big boys being a draw.

12. August 2, 1993: 2,800 ($17,000)
Main Event: Jerry Lawler wrestled Bret Hart to a double disqualification
-"Made In The USA" Lex Luger- 3,567. Bret Hart- 2,800. I'm just saying....

*There were a bunch of others shows that drew in the 2,400-2,750 range.

Lowest Drawing USWA Mid South Coliseum Shows (1989-1996)

1. January 24, 1996: 410 ($2,900)
Main Event: PG-13, Brian Christopher, & Kimala beat Doug Gilbert, Robert Gibson, Tracy Smothers, & Jesse James Armstrong (30:00) in an Ironman Match. This was a Wednesday show with no Jerry Lawler rather than their usual Monday night show. 

2. December 4, 1995: 420 ($3,400)
Main Event: USWA Tag Champs Jesse James Armstrong & Tracy Smothers beat PG-13 via DQ. No Lawler again. 

3. October 16, 1995: 425 
Main Event: Brian Christopher, Billy Jack Haynes, & Doug Gilbert beat Bob, Steve, & Jesse James Armstrong. No Lawler yet again.

4. December 11, 1995: 450
Main Event: USWA Unified World Champ Ahmed Johnson beat Jesse James Armstrong via DQ. No Lawler. Jesse James Armstrong (Road Dogg) is looking like the worst main event draw in USWA history.

5. May 2, 1994: 500
Main Event: USWA Unified World Champ Jerry Lawler beat Dream Machine in a Taped Fist Match.
-This is an oddity in that it features The King and took place about 17 months before the bottom fell out. Dream Machine is best known as Lawler's opponent in his "Return of the King" match in '80 when he came back from a broken leg. He had been retired for years until the big 1994 "Memphis Memories" show that took place two months before this one.

6. November 27, 1995: 520 ($4,120)
Main Event: Jeff Jarrett beat Jesse James Armstrong
-Lawler WAS on this show. Roadie strikes again! But I'm a little disappointed in Memphis this time. How could they NOT be into the big JJ/Roadie blow off??

7. March 25, 1996: 530 ($3,900)
Main Event: Men on Mission beat Jerry Lawler & Brian Christopher

8. November 6, 1995: 550 ($4,300)
Main Event: Ahmed Johnson pinned Jerry Lawler to win the USWA Unified World Title
-Surprised to see Ahmed, who was in the early stages of his red hot WWF push, show up for the second time.

9. December 13, 1993: 575 
Main Event: Eddie & Doug Gilbert beat Brian Christopher & Jerry Lawler
-Wonder what happened here? Bad weather? Weird Memphis quirk? Beating Gilberts vs. Lawler into the ground? I only mention this because the Gilberts vs. Lawler feud headlined two Top 10 drawing shows just four months earlier. Weird.

10. December 9, 1991: 600 
Main Event: USWA Tag Champs The Moondogs beat Jeff Jarrett & Robert Fuller

10. October 9, 1995: 600 ($4,400)
Main Event: Brian Christopher won a Battle Royal

10. April 1, 1996: 600 ($4,400)
Main Event: Cyberpunk Fire (Wolfie D) defeated Bill Dundee by DQ

*The last USWA show held at the Mid South Coliseum took place on 6/17/96. They spent another 16 months or so running their "big" weekly shows at a Flea Market where I'm sure they drew lower numbers than they ever did at the Mid South Coliseum. 

Highest Drawing CWA Shows: 1977-1979

-Lawler & Jerry Jarrett broke off from old school Memphis promoter, Nick Gulas, to form their own promotion in 1977. It was technically called CWA, but most everybody just refers to it as "Memphis Wrestling." Let's take a look at the best and worst attendance figures from their first few years. You'll see just how far they had fallen by the time USWA came around in 88-89....

1. 8/1/77: 11,300 (sellout)
Main Event: Jerry Lawler beat Bill Dundee (20:01) to win Southern Title in a Hair vs. Car Match

2. 8/8/77: 11,103
Main Event: Bill Dundee defeated Jerry Lawler
-No surprise the most famous rivalry in Memphis Wrestling (and Basement Wrestling) history is already setting attendance records.

3. 2/28/78: 11,000
Main Event: Southern Champ Jerry Lawler defeated Jimmy Valiant
-This was a Tuesday show as opposed to their usual Monday night offering.

3. 8/21/78: 11,000
Main Event: Jerry Lawler defeated AWA World Champion Nick Bockwinkel by DQ.
-You'll be seeing a lot more of this matchup as the project progresses. I've also seen enough to know August was historically their best month.

5. 12/11/77: 10,800
Main Event: NWA World Champion Harley Race wrestles Jerry Lawler to a 60 Minute Draw.
-This is a famous match among old school/Memphis wrestling aficionados. It was also a rare Sunday show rather than Monday.

6. 6/12/78: 10,270
Main Event: Jerry Lawler beat Jos LeDuc in a No DQ, No Time Limit Match.
-Perhaps set up by Lawler taking what had to be the biggest bump of the 70s?



7. 1/2/78: 10,151
Main Event: Jimmy Valiant beat Jerry Lawler

8. 9/5/77: 10,129
Main Event: Jerry Lawler beat Bill Dundee in a Hair vs. Hair Match

9. 8/27/79: 10,000
Main Event: AWA World Champion Nick Bockwinkel wrestles Jerry Lawler to a 60 Minute Draw.

10. 7/10/78: 9,867
Main Event: Southern Champ Jerry Lawler beat Sonny King. Lawler would have left town if he lost.

Lowest Drawing CWA Shows: 1977-1979

1. 1/8/79: 2,500
Main Event: Southern Champ Austin Idol wrestles Jerry Lawler to a No Contest
-It's worth pointing out the lowest attended 70s CWA show would have made the Top 20 for highest drawing USWA shows.

2. 10/3/77: 2,600
Main Event: Southern Tag Champs The Samoans: Tio & Tapu beat Dick The Bruiser & Bill Dundee

3. 10/16/78: 3,400
Main Event: Southern Champ Jerry Lawler defeats Nelson Royal

4. 11/26/79: 3,743
Main Event: Dick the Bruiser beat Jerry Lawler via reverse decision in a No DQ Match. The results was later reversed so that Lawler was the winner.
-That sure is confusing. Did Russo have a stint booking Memphis in 1979? Dick The Bruiser is looking like an anti-draw in Memphis.

5. 2/26/79: 3,750
Main Event: Jerry Lawler defeats Southern Champ Toru Tanaka by DQ.

6. Seven way tie at 4,000. Don't feel like chronicling all of them right now. Maybe I'll edit them in later.
================
*80s tomorrow.

Highest Drawing CWA Shows: 1980-1988

The Sellouts

8/2/82: 11,300
Jerry Lawler pinned JJ Dillon in a No DQ Match
Main Event: Jerry Lawler & Bill Dundee beat Kimala & JJ Dillon
-Guessing this was a double main event deal with one match leading into the next, Paul E-style. Kimala took the territory by storm as a monster heel.

8/9/82: 11,300
Main Event: Jerry Lawler pinned Kimala in a No DQ Hair vs. Title Match to win the Southern Title
-See above.

6/6/83: 11,300
Main Event: Jerry Lawler beat Bill Dundee to win the Southern Title in a No DQ Loser Leaves Town Match
-GOAT Memphis match imo

12/30/85: 11,300
Main Event: Bill Dundee pinned Jerry Lawler in a No DQ Hair vs. Loser Leaves Town Match to win the Southern Title. Dundee and his wife’s hair were at stake
-This was the "Hogan's joins the NWO" of Memphis wrestling. Lawler LOST a Loser Leaves Town Match   For me, it's always been marred a bit by Tony Falk(!) interfering to cost Lawler the match. As much as 🤯 and I love the Pride of Paducah nowadays, this was like if Hardcore Holly had interfered in the main event of Wrestlemania 17.

3/3/86: 11,300
Main Event: Jerry Lawler & Dutch Mantel beat Bill Dundee & Buddy Landel via referee stoppage
-This was Lawler's return from the Loser Leaves Town Match above. Bill & Buddy had taken over Memphis wrestling in Lawler's absence, not unlike the NWO would take WCW over a decade later. This feud drew big money, with this particular match main eventing 5 straight weeks, which has to be a Memphis record.

Sellouts?

12/29/80: 11,069
Main Event(s): Jerry Lawler pinned The Dream Machine. As a result, Lawler received a match with Jimmy Hart.

Jerry Lawler beat Jimmy Hart via DQ
-Lawler broke his leg in January. Business largely tanked without "The King." This was his big return match. Every other source I've seen lists this as a sellout. A sellout at the MSC was 11,300. Another source lists the attendance at 11,600. But I'm going by the numbers from this primary source....  www.prowrestlinghistory.com/memphis/index.html

Anyway, want to see an entrance? Want to hear a pop? Watch this....



8/3/81: 11,600?
Jerry Lawler & Jimmy Valiant went to a no contest with Dream Machine & Bugsy McGraw
Main Event: The Nightmares beat Bill Dundee & Steve Keirn via DQ.
-I have doubts about the veracity of that number. For starters, 11,300 is a MSC sellout. This is 300 above that figure. Plus neither pairing on top  is famous feud or match I've heard about. The only things that make me think it might possibly be accurate is August historically being their best month, and the popular “Boogie Woogie Man" returning from a 5 month absence. But I'm still leaning towards shenanigans on this one.

3/24/86: ??
Main Event: Jerry Lawler & Dutch Mantel beat Bill Dundee & Buddy Landel (48:57) in 26 falls of a Texas Death Match
-No attendance number listed, but I've always heard this was their last genuine sellout. 

Other Shows Drawing 10,000+

2/24/81: 10,180
Main Event: Jerry Lawler & Jackie Fargo beat Austin Idol & Dutch Mantel via DQ
-Fargo was the king before The King. Definitely not my cup of tea, but the people of Memphis loved him. CWA would trot him out every so often as a popular nostalgia act.

6/29/81: 10,129
Main Event: Jerry Lawler beat Jimmy Hart via submission in a No DQ Lumberjack Match. This was Lawler's dream match.
-Lawler vs. Jimmy Hart was a huge feud which basically carried Memphis in the early 80s. This must have been one of the high points.

8/16/82: 10,411
Main Event: Jerry Lawler & Bill Dundee beat Kimala & Kendo Nagasaki
-3rd straight week the Lawler/Kimala feud drew over 10,000. This time each man brings a partner to the dance. Lawler with his greatest frenemy, Bill Dundee, and Kimala with fellow monster heel, Kendo Nagasaki.

12/27/82: 10,086
Main Event: Jerry Lawler pinned AWA World Champ Nick Bockwinkel. As a result of this match, the title was held-up (only recognized in Memphis)
-The way Memphis worked, Lawler (or whoever) held the regional Southern Championship. From time to time a "World Champion" would come to town to face the Southern Champ, who was the de facto #1 contender. It seems kind of counterproductive on paper to make your local championship a "lesser" belt. But it worked. The overarching Memphis storyline for 14 glorious years was Lawler's quest to win a right, proper World Championship. 

6/25/84: 10,032
Main Event: Jerry Lawler & Austin Idol beat National Tag Champs The Road Warriors via DQ
-Road Warriors prove their drawing power in a rare Memphis appearance

3/18/85: 10,000
Main Event: Randy Savage beat Jerry Lawler to win the Southern Title
-Lawler vs. Savage had been a hot on and off feud for well over a year at this point

3/10/86: 10,200
Main Event: Jerry Lawler & Dutch Mantell beat Bill Dundee & Buddy Landel when the matched was stopped due to Landel's excessive bleeding.
-The Last Sellout draws well once again

*I wouldn't be surprised if a few more shows drew 10,000+. But these were the only ones I found. Many shows have no attendance records.

Other Notable Shows

2/16/87: 9,000
Jerry Lawler & Nick Bockwinkel beat Austin Idol & Tommy Rich via DQ
Main Event: The Fabulous Ones & Paul Diamond beat The Sheepherders & Jonathon Boyd in a Barbed Wire Match when Lane pinned Butch.
-Lawler vs. Rich & Idol w/ Paul E. Dangerly was a red hot feud. Here you have the novelty of The King teaming with his longtime rival, Bock. Fabs vs. Sheepherders was the renewal of a legendary Memphis feud from 1983. Tied for highest drawing show of 1987.

5/4/87: 9,000
Nick Bockwinkel beat Jeff Jarrett
Main Event: Bill Dundee & Rocky Johnson beat Tommy Rich & Austin Idol via DQ
-This was one week after the infamous Memphis screwjob where Idol beat Lawler with the help of Rich in front of 8,500 people in a Hair vs. Hair Cage Match. This was probably the last time the territory as a whole was red hot. Memphis held out longer than most, but the Power of Hulkamania was just too strong, brother. I included the penultimate Bock/JJ match because I'm fairly certain this is where Double J became a made man in Memphis. Main Event saw good guys, The Superstar and Rocky Sr., attempt to avenge The King. Tied for highest drawing show of '87.

5/9/88: 8,000 ($52,000)
Main Event: Jerry Lawler beat Curt Hennig to win the AWA World Title
-This is it. The big one. The culmination of Lawler's 14 year quest to win a World Championship. This was the biggest "Wrestlemania moment" in Memphis wrestling history. The whole build is worth watching. They went all out with the hoopla basically telling you Lawler was going to win without coming right out and saying it. A retrospective on Lawler's career aired that weekend. A bunch of local celebrities showed up to endorse The King. The mayor gave Lawler the key to the city while proclaiming May 9th "Jerry Lawler Day." Jerry Jarrett allegedly made bank with a carny phone scam based around Memphis fans calling in to vote for their referee (Jackie Fargo) rather than one of those evil Minnesota refs. Highest drawing show of 1988 and it would be 6 years before that attendance number would be topped in Memphis, while the $52,000 gate would again never be surpassed by CWA or USWA. Speaking of gates....

9/30/85: 9,496 ($100,000)
Main Event: NWA World Champ Ric Flair beat Jerry Lawler via DQ

-Not a sellout, but this joint NWA/Memphis show drew the highest gate in Mid South Coliseum history due to higher than usual ticket prices. That gate record would last until WCW finally topped it with an episode of Nitro in 1997.

Fwiw the most WCW ever drew to the MSC was 8,978 for the 12/3/98 edition of Thunder, while WWF topped out at 7,500 for a February '96 house show featuring Bret/Lawler. A WWF house show in May 1987 drew a paltry 700 fans! WWF did draw well in the late 90s, but that was at the new major Memphis arena, The Pyramid, rather than the MSC.

Lowest Drawing CWA Show: 1980-1988

11/9/87: 1,200 ($5,800)
Main Event: Southern Champ Bobby Jaggers beat Jerry Lawler in a Taped Fist Match
-At least this is the lowest drawing show I could find records for. Jaggers was a journeyman Southern brawler most "famous" for his "Kansas Jayhawks" team with Dutch Mantell in 1987ish NWA despite Dutch famously hailing from the fictional burgh of Oil Trough, Texas. 

Superstars and Other Notable Shows

Hulk Hogan

Had two Memphis runs. The first as "Terry Boulder" in 1979 where it looks like he was booked as a babyface. He headlined two MSC shows in tag matches.....

5/21/79: 4,392
Jerry Lawler & Terry Boulder beat The Mongolian Stomper & Gorgeous George Jr.

7/23/79: 6,982
Terry & Eddie Boulder beat Ron Bass & Pete Austin when Eddie pinned Austin. This was a stacked show with Lawler & Dundee vs. the young Fabulous Freebirds, part timers the Fargo Brothers coming out of semi-retirement to beat up some hated heels, including a young, bleach blonde Honkytonk Man, and even a Fabulous Moolah showcase match. Not sure why the Hogan tag headlined. I've never even heard of Pete Austin! Oh, and Eddie Boulder=Brutus Beefcake. 

Hogan came back for a week in 1981 to headline the Mid South Coliseum using his more famous "Hulk Hogan" name. I always thought it was a more extended run with multiple matches against "The King." Wrong!

2/9/81: 9,007
Jerry Lawler beat Hulk Hogan via DQ.

Memphis got a TON of mileage out of this. Lawler beating Hogan here is one of the things that made "The King" such a cult favorite to wannabe "insiders" like myself and Shootist . Memphis (or somebody?) would even put out a commercial tape with this match being the big draw. The GOAT video store, West Coast Video, had it. Fwiw other matches on the tape were Lawler beating Savage and the Rock & Roll Express vs. Poffos "piledriver through a table" match.
===================
1/29/79: 6,874
Jerry Lawler & Jackie Fargo defeated Austin Idol & "Mil Mascaras?"
This is a controversial match to the dozen or so people who still care about this sort of thing. Mil Mascaras was a big name due to Apter Mag buzz. He was rumored to have been Bill Apter's favorite wrestler. This made him the most well known Luchador of his day. He was infinitely more famous than El Santo in the US.

Anyway, Mascaras was notorious for his refusal to do jobs. Yet here he allegedly got pinned AND did a stretcher job. As this match became more well known, most people called bullshit, assuming it was just some dude in a mask playing Mascaras for one night. That would be an extremely Memphis thing to do.

But Jerry Jarrett swears it was the real Mil Mascaras. His story being he had a good relationship with the top Lucha promoter, Salvador Lutteroth. Sal had a good relationship with Mascaras. So Mascaras did a favor for Sal who did a favor for Jarrett. 

Mascaras has played it coy, neither confirming or denying it was him. I get the impression he's just sitting back enjoying the drama. 

My Take: It was just some jabroni under a mask. This is Memphis. They're not going to pay the real Mil Mascaras big bucks when they can just slap a mask on some local yokel for next to nothing.
===================
Terry Funk popped in for a few months in 1981. This run was highlighted by the famous Empty Arena Match. It surprised me to discover Funk drew decently, but nothing blowaway great.

3/23/81: 7,101- Southern Champ Jerry Lawler beat Terry Funk via countout in a No DQ Match. Fairly famous match despite the awful on paper finish.
4/6/81: 8,147- Jerry Lawler & Plowboy Frazier beat Terry Funk & Dory Funk Jr. in a Texas Death Match.
5/18/81: 5,718- Terry & Dory Funk Jr. beat Jack Brisco & Jerry Lawler when Dory pinned Lawler

5/25/81: ??- Southern Champ Jerry Lawler pinned Terry Funk
==================
Jerry Lawler & Dutch Mantell had a famous feud in 1982 with Dutch working tweener. In Memphis, it was allegedly 60/40 in favor of Lawler. In Louisville a 50/50 split. But in Nashville it was 80/20 in favor of Dutch. Anyway, they headlined the Mid South Coliseum 4 straight weeks* which is close to a Memphis record. Here are the matches....
3/1/82: 7,262- Jerry Lawler pinned Dutch Mantel in a No DQ Match to win the Southern Title
3/8/82: No show this week. Hence the * above.
3/15/82: 5,050- Southern Champ Jerry Lawler wrestled Dutch Mantel to a no contest in a No DQ Match
3/22/82: ??- Dutch Mantel pinned Jerry Lawler in a No DQ Match to win the Southern Title
3/29/82: The Final Conflict: ??- Jerry Lawler pinned Dutch Mantel in a Barbed Wire Match to win the Southern Title

Wish we had attendance figures for those final two shows. Given the hype surrounding this feud, I'd expect it to be in that 10,000 range. I mean, their last battle even had a show name! Those weren't really a thing yet. Actually, their last TWO battles were titled "The Final Conflict" according to my primary source. But that can't be right. Incredibly, just one week after the Dutch feud, Lawler met.....
===================

Andy Kaufman

Turns out Kaufman's run was far more slow burn than I had realized. Let's take a look at every single Andy Kaufman appearance in the MSC....

10/12/81: 6,000- Andy Kaufman wrestled three women from the audience. He pinned the third

11/23/81: 5,393- Andy Kaufman beat three female fans and drew the fourth when time ran out. One he pinned was Foxey
4/5/82: 8,091- Andy Kaufman beat Jerry Lawler via DQ. This is their famous match. Surprisingly they didn't even come that close to a sellout.
5/2/83: 9,194- Jerry Lawler beat The Colossus of Death & Andy Kaufman  in a Handicap Piledriver Match when he pinned Colossus. This was Kaufman's biggest drawing show.
7/4/83: 8,774- Jimmy Hart & Andy Kaufman beat Jerry Lawler via DQ. Lawler rebounded by winning a Battle Royal for a 1984 Corvette in the main event.
7/11/83: 7,466- Andy Kaufman beat Jimmy Hart via DQ in a Lights Out Match. This actually main evented. Guessing they had heel miscommunication the previous week.
7/18/83: 6,790- Jerry Lawler & Andy Kaufman beat Assassin #1 & Jimmy Hart via DQ. Three straight weeks for the Kauf Man.
11/14/83: 3,800- Andy Kaufman (wearing boxing gloves) & Jimmy Hart beat Jerry Lawler in a Handicap Match when both pinned Lawler. Attendance is way down from Kaufman's previous appearances.
11/21/83: 3,841- Jerry Lawler beat Andy Kaufman in a Wrestling vs. Boxing Match. The Lawler/Kaufman feud has gone cold. This was Andy's last appearance.
===================

The Night A Midget Beat Andre the Giant (and Other Memphis B.S.)

The "Midget beats Giant" thing was an actual Apter Mag headline. The midget in question being Jerry Lawler. Somebody sent Bill Apter pictures of a 1975 Lawler/Andre match in Louisville. Apter thought the pictures looked cool due to the size difference and concocted that controversial headline. Then shit hit the fan. Vince Sr. was furious, thinking it would ruin Andre's drawing power. It would be 8 years before Andre returned to the Memphis territory. But before we get there I'm going to ramble for a bit.....

Bill Apter plays a big role in a lot of these shows. It was Apter who (allegedly) recommended Hulk Hogan for the role of Thunderlips in Rocky III. Apter was also instrumental in getting Kaufman into Memphis wrestling. The story goes Vince Sr. rejected Kaufman's offer to come in. Apter then hooked Andy up with his good friend Jerry Lawler and the rest is history.

Memphis was this weird mix of hyper realism and the carny bullshit. On one hand, they did worked shoots, and talked about backstage politics, long before other promotions. On the other hand, Memphis ran on carny b.s. I mean even more than other territories. I already told the "Mil Mascaras" story. Some sources say Lawler, the "midget," didn't even defeat Andre on that fateful night in Louisville. 

Jerry Lawler first became a star when he feuded with Jackie Fargo. But he became a superstar in 1974. The storyline being Lawler had to go through a bunch of top contenders to earn a shot at NWA Champion Jack Brisco. These were all very famous wrestlers of the day. Lawler did "beat" all of them to earn his shot at Brisco, becoming a superstar in the process. Or that's how they sold it on tv. In reality, they were all b.s. finishes. Lawler even lost a few of those "contenders" matches! But they sold it on tv like he beat all these guys. And that's when he became The King of Memphis. 

Anyway, back to 1983, they drew a disastrous 3,384 for their 3/14 show. A desperate Jerry Jarrett called up Vince Sr. in the hopes of using Andre the following week to pop the house. Vince Sr. obliged. And Andre came back to the Memphis territory for the first time in 8 years.

3/21/83: 6,162- Stagger Lee, Jerry Lawler, & Andre The Giant beat Porkchop Cash, Mad Dog, & Bobby Eaton when Andre pinned Mad Dog. Not a great house, but still nearly double what they did the previous week without Andre.
====================
Next Time: Stan Hansen! Bruiser Brody! The Fabulous Freebirds! Tatsumi Fujinami! Jesse Ventura! And more!

Saw Hogan vs. Lawler via this VHS, which is how I assume most people on the East Coast did. This was some bizarre commercial release that I recall getting at a store that I had never seen wrestling tapes at before (I don't even remember what store it was, one of those gigantic suburban stores that had everything, and your mom would drag you there on a fucking weekend when you were a kid. I somehow convinced her to buy me this, she was much tougher to convince than dad). I call it bizarre because it seems kinda like a bootleg, but it got non-bootleg distribution. It states very clearly WWF/Hogan are not involved, but was any aspect of the Memphis territory involved either? Why is the Bockwinkle/Fernandez vs. Sheik/Lewin match basically just thrown on too? No idea. Anyway, I saw this really young, too young to appreciate it, was just confused Hogan was a bad guy, and fascinated by how much bouncier the Memphis ring seemed compared to the WWF. It was one of those TIME IS WEIRD moments in that it seemed like it was from 25 years ago even though it was like 8? Pre-Hulkamania wrestling was a different world, man. 

I searched high and low trying to find the tape I saw the Hogan/Lawler match on. Alas, I could find no images, but it also appears to have been a Kit Parker Production.

Kilgore remembers the bouncy Memphis ring. My big takeaway from the Lawler/Savage match on the same tape as Lawler/Hogan was how flimsy their chicken wire cage was.

I did find images of the only two wrestling tapes I actually owned as a child. I've mentioned these before. They were honestly bush league tapes my mom must have found in a dollar store. The AWA tape was meh even to kiddie me, but I did get some enjoyment out of the NWA/Crockett tape.

             

It's looking more and more like the "tape" I mentioned yesterday was actually two tapes- the Hogan tape Kilgore mentioned and this Randy Savage tape put out by the same company....



Matches include Lawler vs. Savage- Chickenwire Cage Match, Savage & Poffo vs. Rock & Roll Express featuring an early table spot, and Fabulous Ones vs. PYT (Koko B. Ware & Norvell Austin). I must have forgot about the Sheik/Lewin, Bock/Fernandez, and Fabs/PYT matches on these tapes. 

Here is a pic from the Lawler/Andre magazine article I mentioned yesterday....


===================
Bruiser Brody's only Memphis run came in May-June 1985. He came in to main event the MSC as Lawler's partner for a match with Savage & David Schultz. By the 2nd week The King and The Bruiser are already feuding in a MSC main event. Brody worked 6 MSC shows, main eventing 5 of them. The only one we have attendance for is....

5/20/85: 5,000- Jerry Lawler beat Bruiser Brody via DQ. That had to be a disappointing number. They drew 9000 two weeks later for a Lawler vs. Randy Savage Loser Leaves Town Match.
===================
The Fabulous Freebirds also showed up for 7 weeks in 1985. The first 4 weeks they main evented opposite Lawler and Partner. Only attendance figure we have is....

8/12/85: 7,500- Jerry Lawler & Austin Idol beat The Fabulous Freebirds (Hayes & Gordy) via DQ in a Badstreet Match
===================
Stan Hansen made his only trip to the territory in September-October 1983. He spent 4 weeks battling Austin Idol in upper midcard matches while Lawler/Ventura headlined. Guessing Lawler chose to work with Ventura rather than Hansen because Jesse was the "easier" opponent in terms of stiffness? These 4 shows have very specific attendance figures....

9/12/85: 5,154- Stan Hansen beat Austin Idol via countout to win the CWA International Title.
Jesse Ventura pinned Jerry Lawler to win the Southern Title.
9/19/85: 4,618- Austin Idol beat CWA International Champ Stan Hansen via DQ. Southern Champ Jesse Ventura beat Jerry Lawler.
9/26/85: No show scheduled due to the yearly Mid South Fair being held in the building. This was their yearly "Westminster Dog Show" moment.
10/3/85: 6,619- Austin Idol beat Stan Hansen in a Bullrope Match to win the CWA International Title. Jerry Lawler beat Jesse Ventura in a No DQ Match to win the Southern Title.
10/10/85: 4,324- Jesse Ventura beat Jerry Lawler in a No DQ Match to win the Southern Title.
Austin Idol beat Stan Hansen via countout in a Bunkhouse Match. Neither match headlined. Main event was actually Jerry Lawler doing double duty & Bill Dundee over Dream Machine & Porkchop Cash by DQ.

Looks like neither "The Lariat" nor "The Body" were great draws in Memphis.
===================
Jerry Lawler worked two tours of Japan- All Japan in 1985 and New Japan in 1989. He allegedly bombed both times. No surprise there given the stylistic differences. During the '89 tour he put over IWGP Champion Tatsumi Fujinami. Turns out "The King" was just returning the favor from....

10/17/88: ??- $8,000 gate. Attendance records are sparse by '88, but I'd estimate this show drew between 1,600-2,000 fans.
AWA World Champ Jerry Lawler beat Tatsumi Fujinami via DQ.

Fujinami would return to defeat Tommy Lane in an undercard match on 12/12/88.

Future New Japan legend Shinya Hashimoto worked the now-USWA territory from January-May 1989. He only headlined once in his last MSC show....

5/22/89: 2,200 ($12,000)- Jerry Lawler & Austin Idol beat The Shogun & PY Chu-Hi. PY Chu-Hi was the extremely Tennessee Phil Hickerson doing an "evil Japanese" gimmick. 
===================
In an extremely Memphis moment, Jerry Lawler wrestled Nick Bockwinkel twice in 1985 with Bock being billed as AWA Champion. In reality, Rick Martel was the AWA Champ. It seems the future Model never did work the MSC, though records do exist of him defending the belt against Lawler in other towns throughout the territory. Guessing the original Slick Nick was such a big draw in Memphis that they didn't want to risk ruining a good thing?
===================
For a few months in '88 Memphis turned into AWA South and World Class East with many stars of the dying promotions working MSC shows. Sgt. Slaughter worked two shows in September. Kerry Von Erich was a semi-regular. The Rockers and Others like Ronnie Garvin showed up. Attendance figures are sparse, but here is one I found....

10/3/88: 1,215 ($12,600)- Ronnie Garvin beat AWA World Champ Jerry Lawler via DQ. Scary low attendance, but a decent gate due to higher than usual ticket prices. Guessing they got away with charging more than usual because of Garvin's status as an ex-World Champion?
===================
Lawler didn't like working Flair and Flair didn't like Lawler, period. So we ended up getting this.....

11/18/85: ??- $37,000- It's worth noting a Lawler/Flair match less than 2 months earlier drew a record setting $100,000 gate.
-Jerry Lawler/Dusty Rhodes/Magnum TA beat Tully Blanchard/Ole & Arn Anderson in a Bunkhouse Match. Check out that babyface dream team.
Main Event: NWA World Champ Ric Flair pinned Koko Ware.
===================
I'm not going back that far to chronicle things, but the territory honestly peaked when Nick Gulas was promoting in the mid 70s. I stopped counting after a while, but they topped 10,000 like twenty times in 1974 alone. 

Jul 27, 2020 14:38:59 GMT jTjohncenaGOAT said:

Edit. Did an eBay search and found 7 of them. Two Hulk Hogan (one with bandana, one without), two Savage's (one with his glasses, one without), Andre, King Kong Bundy, a Tag Team Title Wave, and a Rock-N-Roll Rumble with Dibiase/JYD on it.

I got Tag Team Title Wave around that same time too, which was NOT GOOD.

Nearly every big name of the 80s & 90s came through Memphis at some point. Let's take a look at some of them...

The Rock famously started out in USWA as Flex Kavana. He wrestled in the then WWF developmental territory from June 96-August 96.

Steve Austin only wrestled in the Tennessee branch of USWA in January 1990. He spent considerably more time in their Texas branch.

Undertaker wrestled in the USWA as Master of Pain from February 1989 to January 1990, headlining the MSC against Jerry Lawler a few times. 

Sid wrestled in CWA on and off throughout 1987 as Lord Humongous, headlining against Jerry Lawler a few times. He would often return to USWA in later years when in between WWF & WCW stints. Sid claims he only knew two promotions existed when he got into wrestling- WWF and the local Memphis fed.

Cactus Jack was a regular in CWA/USWA from August-October 88. Cactus said Memphis was his least favorite place to work due to lousy payoffs and low locker room morale during an interview on a local wrestling radio show circa 96-97. 

Scott Steiner had a pretty long CWA/USWA stint lasting from February 88-April 89. I didn't even know about this one until a few years ago.

Raven worked CWA as Scotty The Body from February-April 88.

Sandman worked USWA from November 91-January 92. I've even seen it claimed that Sandman was trained by Jerry Lawler!

Sabu & RVD wrestled in USWA from June-August 91. Sabu only made it to one MSC show while Rob Zakowski made none. Interestingly and confusingly, there was a completely different wrestler named Sabu (also known as Cocoa Samoa) who wrestled semi-regularly for CWA throughout the 80s.

Mike Awesome worked USWA from March-May 90, headlining a few shows with Lawler, and sometimes teaming w/ Chris Champion of New Breed fame.

Jerry Lynn worked USWA in January-February 91.

The Eliminators had a USWA run from April-September 94. This is another one I only discovered a few years back.

Tugboat worked CWA as Other Big Bubba for over a year from October 86-November 87. I was yesterday years old when I learned about this one.

The Patriot worked CWA/USWA from December 88-February 89 as Del Wilkes.

Jacques Rougeau(!) worked CWA as Jerry Roberts from October 82-March 83.

One Man Gang worked CWA as Crusher Broomfield from September 82-November 82.

Eaton, Lane, Morton, Gibson, Condrey, Bushwhackers, Kamala, Savage, Poffo, Rich, Idol, Landel & Koko were regulars at various times throughout the 80s (and 90s in some cases). 

Road Dogg, Brian Christopher, Eddie Gilbert, Jeff Jarrett & PG 13 were major players throughout 90s USWA. 

Rick Rude worked CWA from January-December 84. He headlined against Lawler (and Savage) often teaming with....

King Kong Bundy, who worked CWA from May-December 84.
-Too bad Heenan Family members Bundy & Rude never tagged in WWF. Also too bad we never got a Bundy or Rude vs. Savage program in WWF.

An ancient Lou Thesz(!) worked CWA undercards from August-December 78.

Men On A Mission got their first big break in USWA as The Harlem Knights. They worked the territory from March-May 93 and returned after leaving the WWF in 1996.

Kane had a few USWA runs throughout the 90s as The Christmas Creature, Fake Diesel and the proto-Kane character Doomsday.

Mideon had a USWA run as Tex Slazenger from November 95-February 96.

Jacqueline was a longtime USWA regular as Miss Texas. She debuted at the MSC in August 91 and lasted until their demise in 1997.

The Harris Brothers, Brian Lee, Tracy Smothers, Tom Prichard and Dirty White Boy were regulars at various times in the 90s (and 80s in some cases).

Disco Inferno(!) had a USWA run in July-August 93.

While Tom Brandi(!) worked CWA from March-June 88. One of his MSC bouts was a tag match opener against.....

Bob Holly(!) who worked CWA in May-June 88.
-Looks like the entire 1996 WWF low midcard came through Memphis at some point.

Bam Bam Bigelow also had numerous stints throughout the 80s & 90s. In fact, it was his '86 feud with Lawler that first put him on the map.

The Godfather worked USWA from October 89-March 90 as The Soultaker. He would return a few years later as Papa Shango. 

New Jack worked USWA in June-July 93. One of his MSC matches came against Well Dunn. Another show he worked had Scott Taylor on the undercard. 

*And that's just scratching the surface. I got lost in the 90s and barely touched on all the 80s WWF boom stars who came through the territory. Ditto for 90s stars like Hall and the Rockers. Point is basically everybody who was anybody worked Memphis at some point. 

Jul 28, 2020 0:33:06 GMT Baker said:

*And that's just scratching the surface. I got lost in the 90s and barely touched on all the 80s WWF boom stars who came through the territory. Ditto for 90s stars like Hall and the Rockers. Point is basically everybody who was anybody worked Memphis at some point. 

Meh. Might as well go out in a blaze of glory....

Sting & Ultimate Warrior worked CWA as The Blade Runners/Freedom Fighters from November 85-January 86.
They were huge "locker room draws" in that the boys gathered 'round to watch their matches. Forget who was telling the story, but I once watched a shoot interview that went like this... 
Old Timer #2 had just returned to the territory and was discussing the state of affairs with Old Timer #1. The Blade Runners came up in conversation...
Old Timer #1: "You HAVE to see these guys!"
Old Timer #2: "They're that good, huh?"
Old Timer #1:"LOL. No. They're that BAD!" 

The story continues with Old Timer #2 saying he'd seen Lawler & Dundee carry broomsticks to good matches, but the Blade Runners were not good enough to be broomsticks. The match was brutal. Apparently their stuff also looked like crap but hurt like hell. 

Turns out Sting & Warrior got the last laugh.

Scott Hall showed up sporadically throughout 1987 and into January-February 1988. He would occasionally return in the mid 90s as Razor Ramon.

The Rockers had a few mini runs in 87-88 when CWA was working with AWA. Ditto for their rivals Badd Company and also Curt Hennig.

Nasty Boys also had a 1987 run, this one lasting from July-December. I've noticed a lot of guys finish up in December. Makes sense.

Hillbilly Jim had a run as Harley Davidson from February-May 1984 and wrestled Bill Dundee at the Coliseum in December '83 as Jim Morris.

Brutus Beefcake hung on Hogan's coattails as Eddie Boulder & Eddie Hogan during the Hulkster's runs in the summer of '79 and February '81.

Junkyard Dog came in on loan from Mid South in May '84, teaming with Lawler one week, and wrestling his MSW rival Butch Reed the next.

Terry Taylor had a long run I never knew about, lasting from July 82-January 84. Then coming back again for a one off in December '84 and another run in the summer of '85.

A young Steve Corino showed up for a stint in the dying days of USWA.

Justin Credible did the same in between his Aldo Montoya & Justin Credible runs. He used the very 1997 name of PG 187 during his brief USWA stint.

The Tazmaniac appeared on one MSC show in October '92. He lost to longtime WWF jobber Reno Riggins. DQ, but still.

The immortal Gambler worked USWA undercards from April-July 95 and came back one more time that September.

Paul Orndorff worked early CWA shows from April-August 77.

The infamous Dr. D David Schultz and Wayne Ferris (Honkytonk Man) were also regulars during the early days of the promotion.

Ron Bass, Kevin Sullivan, and Paul Ellering also had extended CWA runs.

The Fantastics worked CWA from November 85-March 86. Never knew they had an extended Memphis run.

Shin's boy Billy Robinson would show up from time to time during the early days of CWA.

Virgil got his start in Memphis, wrestling as Soul Train Jones from December 86-May 87.

Atsushi Onita & Masa Fuchi had a memorable run from March-October 81 which included the famous "Tupelo Concession Stand Brawl." This match would later inspire Onita to start FMW. 

Wendi Richter & Fabulous Moolah would show up about once a year as a special attraction. Sherri would also be around from time to time as a wrestler/manager.

I thought Jim Neidhart had a Memphis run. Yet I can only find one MSC match for The Anvil- a 1984 loss to some guy I never heard of in a Russoriffic Football Helmet On A Pole Match.

Last but not least, the great Barry Horowitz wrestled as Jack Hart from April-July 87.

Jul 28, 2020 1:50:34 GMT Baker said:

I thought Jim Neidhart had a Memphis run. Yet I can only find one MSC match for The Anvil- a 1984 loss to some guy I never heard of in a Russoriffic Football Helmet On A Pole Match.

Tag Team Title Wave had Keith Eric, Robert Reed, Mad Dog, & Tiger Mask (Wayne) vs. Ox Baker, Rick Rude, The Japanese Assassin, & Jim Niedhart, which I assume was Memphis, but don't remember.

Anyway, I'm still ecstatic that Road Dogg was revealed to be the worst draw of all time, so this thread delivered the goods.

Jul 27, 2021 10:21:12 GMT 🤯 said:

Wait... Memphis didn't just run in Memphis!?!?

Nope. History lesson time with Dean Baker...

"Memphis" was just the generic name for the entire territory. It's like how Meltzer and The Boys would refer to WWF as "New York," or WCW as "Atlanta," etc.

-From the 40s-77 it was promoted by a chap named Nick Gulas under the name of (NWA) Mid-America(n).

-In 1977 Jerry Jarrett broke away from NWA: Mid-America promoter Nick Gulas, splitting the territory in two. That's a story in and of itself. But I'm not in the mood right now. Jarrett ended up with the territory's biggest star, Jerry Lawler, the voice of the territory, Lance Russell, and its most profitable city, Memphis. Meaning it was inevitable that OG JJ would win the Tennessee Rasslin War. And it finally became official when Gulas sold his end of the territory to JJ in 1981.

-From 77-88ish the territory was officially known as CWA. But, for whatever reason, no wrestling fans outside of Memphis ever called it that. 9 out of 10 times this is what people are referring to when they talk about "Memphis Wrestling." 

-From 89-97 it was known as USWA. 

-To make things even more confusing, the Apter Mags referred to CWA as "Mid Southern." Oh, by the way, there was also a Mid South, which was a completely different thing. Aye Aye Aye. This obviously confused a young(ish) Baker Man as I naturally thought Mid South & Mid Southern were the same thing when I first started learning about non-WWF 80s wrestling. Quick rule of thumb: Mid Southern- Lawler. Mid South- JYD, Dibiase, Watts, Duggan, Dr. Death.

Meltzer, other 80s smarks, and The Boys themselves simply referred to it as "Memphis." And that's the name that stuck, though 🤯 has just proven that too can  be confusing. 
====================
Anyway, this was the weekly "Memphis" schedule for decades...

Saturday Morning- live TV show emanating from the Channel 5 studio in Memphis.
-This basically served as a commercial to get people to the house shows as was the style at the time. Think it was 90 minutes long in Memphis and edited down to 60 minutes in the parts of the territory that didn't get Memphis Channel 5. I assume some gopher (probably Randy Hales) drove the tape to the tv stations in these other towns. Fwiw this was the highest rated local wrestling show in the entire US. I've seen claims that it drew a 70 share. Meaning 70% of the people in the Memphis area with their tv sets turned on when Memphis Wrestling aired were watching Memphis Wrestling. That's insane.

Saturday Night- Nashville
-Don't know much about this tbh. There's even a chance they were a week behind "Memphis time" the way WCW Worldwide would always air a week late here in Baltimore.

Monday Night- Memphis- Mid South Coliseum
-This was their big weekly show. They ran this 11,300 seat building nearly every Monday night for decades. It was basically their version of a weekly pay per view. You tell me what is more impressive. Bruno selling out the Garden once a month in NYC with a population of approximately 8 million, or Jerry Lawler drawing many thousands of people (with the occasional sellout) to the same building every single week for two decades in a city with approximately 800,000 people? I'm going with The King every single time.

Tuesday Night- Louisville
-Jim Cornette got his start in the wrestling business by taking photographs for the wrestling magazines at these weekly Louisville Garden shows. 

Wednesday Night- Evansville, IN
-They'd also run shows in smaller towns throughout the week known as "spot shows." I doubt Lawler worked many of these in much the same way you were never going to see Hulk Hogan working a high school gym in, say, Frederick, MD.

*Fun Fact. Since these were still the days of kayfabe they often repeated the same matches with the same finishes night after night in all the towns. Say Lawler lost his Southern Title to Dundee in Memphis on Monday. Lawler would still be introduced as the Champ the next night in Louisville only to lose his title again. Repeat throughout the major cities in the territory until the next week's tv made it official.

The "Memphis" territory included Western Tennessee*, parts of Kentucky, areas of Arkansas, Mississippi, Indiana, and Missouri that were closest to Memphis, and at times Alabama. 
*Western Tennessee only because East Tennessee usually had their own promotion, with SMW being the most notable to PWers. It’s wonder I once considered Tennessee "The Wrestling Capital of the World!"

YES!!! Just found two more vintage Fabulous Ones videos...

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}

lol Just read the Fabs Wikipedia page and realized I copied half of it yesterday without even trying. I swear I didn't even look at it until just now! 

That Fabulous Ones kick lead me down another Memphis montage rabbit hole. Here is one of my longtime favorites...



Spoiler Alert: The Moondogs were #50 on my tag team list.

The Moondog gimmick was used in a bunch of different territories with a bunch of different wrestlers playing the role. A version of the Moondogs even became WWF tag team champions in the early 80s and came back for another, less successful run in the early Hulkamania Era.

But The Moondogs peaked in Memphis. They had a legendary feud with our boys the Fabulous Ones in the 80s and another highly regarded feud with Lawler & Jarrett in the early 90s. The latter actually won 1992 Feud of the Year in both the PWI and Wrestling Observer awards despite taking place in a USWA territory that had already seen better days.

The Moondogs were another "ECW style" team before ECW was even a thing. Frankly, you could make the argument that they made the Nasty Boys look more like the Choir Boys. The Moondogs were just brutal on jobbers. Similar to the Steiners & Vader, there are stories of jobbers just straight up leaving the studio upon finding out they were booked against the Moondogs. Just about every Moondogs vs. Jobbers match registered on the APA vs. Public Enemy scale, with a few getting 10/10 marks for mauling.

But my favorite Moondog story relates to that kickass song in the video. It was sang by the Moondogs manager Richard Lee. The story goes Lee desperately wanted to break into the country music business only to have the door repeatedly slammed in his face. So he came up with a plan to enter in through the backdoor via the wildly popular Memphis Wrestling promotion. Meaning...

JEFF JARRETT'S ORIGINAL WWF GIMMICK WAS A RIB ON RICHARD LEE!

A story like that's gotta be true.

Memphis is my favorite wrestling territory ever. There were bigger angles elsewhere at times but, nowhere else did a better job creating storylines weekly for the entire time they were in business.

Aug 2, 2021 0:32:41 GMT Ed said:

Memphis is my favorite wrestling territory ever. There were bigger angles elsewhere at times but, nowhere else did a better job creating storylines weekly for the entire time they were in business.

I strongly agree with the bolded.

To borrow a Lance Russellism, Memphis was the wildest and wooliest wrestling show in existence until WWF & WCW played their game of one-upmanship during the Monday Night Wars. Now Mid South & Crockett did have the occasional episode that matched Memphis, but nobody could keep up with Memphis week in and week out when it came to STUFF HAPPENING.

My completely unproven theory is Memphis had to be this way because their entire business was predicated on making sure lots of butts were in the seats every Monday night at the Mid South Coliseum. Think about that. They basically ran a PPV level show every single week. Whereas other territories could afford to take it slower just because of their location. They simply had more big towns to run.

For example, WWF could get a month or two out of one angle in the time it took to run all their big towns like NYC, Philly, Boston, Baltimore, DC, etc. Same deal with AWA which had all those heavily populated cities in the Midwest. Then you have Crockett & Mid South which are sort of caught between the two extremes. I'm not really an expert on the other territories, but I don't think their "home arenas" had 11,300 seats to fill. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think WCCW's "home arena" was the Sportatorium, which only sat around 4,500. Pretty sure Portland, Calgary & Florida had even smaller "home arenas." 

What's Wrong With Eddie Gilbert? tired of being overlooked, Hotstuff vents his frustrations.

Jimmy Hart shoots the golden horse.

Lawler didn't know Hart was going to give this promo. He was NOT happy about this, leading to Lawler breaking Hart's jaw. Lawler would eventually come to love the story arc that would last roughly 5 years.

Welcome back to the USWA EVERYBODY! here's the inception of the Bill & Buddy show.

Brian Christopher was at his best in the USWA.

Dutch is very under-rated. He wasn't hugging fans or kissing babies to get over. Mantel was all business.

My biggest takeaway from 70's Memphis Wrestling just from viewing pictures: the CWA World Title is one of the ugliest belts I've ever seen.

USWA is probably higher on my to-watch list. It looks very bush league from the few matches I've watched in the past, but I'm really intrigued to see Brian Christopher's seemingly mythical push; if not just to view a really green Jeff Jarrett in all his glory.

Unpopular opinion: "Flex Kavana" is a significantly cooler name than "The Rock".

Highspots have by far the best complications that last hours.

The great Mark Gullen from the House of Gullen...
 


I'd watch a whole lot more modern pro wrestling if they still had managers who dress and spoke like classic Doctor Who villains raising monsters from the deep with the promise of more monsters on the way. And that's a shoot, brother.

Now I'm tempted to go down an obscure Memphis manager rabbit hole. They had some good ones in Gullen, Richard Lee, Tux Newman, and Tom "Mr. McMahon over a decade early" Renesto. Keep an eye on this thread.

Mid-Southern Wrestling as the magazines had it in the rankings

maybe I over looked it but the Lawler Idol hair vs hair cage match was made out to a huge deal in the Apter magazines in the 80's

I remember JYD Reed taking their to feud Memphis making Mid-South tv with Reed attacking JYD and painting him yellow.

Kind of odd Gilbert and Tatum teaming with their history with Hyatt

Mark Gullen might be my new GOAT, as far as managers go. Imagining him leading a Dungeon of Doom that doesn't suck, just loving the visions in my brain.

Can't have a Memphis thread without the obligatory Orchestra Match post.

The Orchestra Match was Jeff Jarrett wrestling Dutch Mantell (wearing snazzy furry boots) while a percussion orchestra provided background music in lieu of commentary. It aired on PBS. One Youtube commenter claims our guy Mark Gullen was a drummer in the orchestra who set this whole thing up and that is the story I choose to believe. Only in Memphis could something this bizarre exist...