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My Top 10 Memphis Wrestlers
Posted by Joel on March 7, 2008
One of the storylines for this years Wrestlemania is the Big Show v. Floyd Mayweather “match”. It has been hyped that Floyd Mayweather will be getting $20 million for the “match”, but anyone with half a brain should know that’s as fake a number as the whole event itself. But MoonDog and Zigzag got my juices flowing from a comment thread on Losers With Socks so I decided to put together my Top 10 wrestlers from the Memphis Wrestling territory. Honestly, I could go all day, but there is only so much space available. Plus, Thomas is probably gonna revoke my blogging rights for doing this. For the greater good, I am willing to take that chance.
10. The Christmas Creature. The guy in this gimmick is now known in the wrestling business as Kane, and the reason he is in my Top 10 is because horrible gimmicks was representative of other bad gimmicks, such as Freddy Krueger, Jason, Cowabunga the Ninja Turtle, and Lord Humongous. But we loved them anyway while we laughed.
9. “Handsome” Jimmy Valiant. The “Boogie Woogie” Man himself, Valiant was full of charisma, charm, and a mean punch. He had more game than Parker Brothers and still makes some wrestling appearances throughout the country, even though he’s probably 100 years old.
8. Kamala. This is a pic with manager Kim Chee (no that’s not a typo). Kamala dominated opponents and truly was a beast “from the darkest jungle in Africa” (really he was a Mississippi native). He would make appearances in the then-WWF and also WCW.
7. Plowboy Frazier. Yes I know the caption says Uncle Elmer on the pic, but Google only pulled up 2 pics. This is from his days in the WWF as part of the Hillbillies. For him to be a big man he could sure move around, at least in his younger days.
6. Jos LeDuc. I wil never forget the day when this lumberjack from Canada cut a promo about making a “blood oath” to kill Jerry Lawler. He took that axe head and actually cut himself in the arm, leaving a nice long scar. I know wrestling is fake, but this was one of the times that belief was suspended, which is the artform that separates ok wrestling from great wrestling.
5. The Moondogs. I am not sure this is where our favorite MoonDog blogger derived his name, but these guys were the definition of badass. They would bark, howl, bite, and mash guys in the face with huge rawhide bones. I like this pic in particular because it has “The Mouth of the Heart” Jimmy Hart.
4. “Hot Stuff” Eddie Gilbert. Macho. Arrogant. Mean. Tough. One of the common themes with all of these guys is charisma, and Gilbert had it. I still remember when he ran over Jerry Lawler in the parking lot with his Grand Prix. Channel 5 was flooded with phone calls that day. My granddad even called to make sure Lawler would show up Monday night.
3. Austin Idol. The Ladies Pet, and The Men’s Regret. Oh wow, the classic matches against Jerry Lawler. I can still hear the golden voice of Lance Russell as Idol and Rich jumped Lawler and split his legs between the turnbuckle. I don’t know why, but the more I think about it, Idol was always kicking Lawler’s ass. Remember the hair v. hair match???
2. “Superstar” Bill Dundee. Again, Dundee vs. Lawler was always a classic match. This tough guy from the land of Australia was 3ft tall if he was standing on phone books, but was as entertaining and tough as they came. Almost tough enough to make the #1 on my personal list. However, that slot belongs to one man…
1. Jerry Lawler. He has been doing commentary on Raw for several years now, and it’s a shame that the entire country could not get the joy of watching Lawler. But for those of us from Memphis and the Mid-South area would come to know him as the “King” and the Roundhouse was his castle. We were loyal subjects as he would hold court on Monday nights. I could probably go on for days on end telling stories. Too bad he didn’t win the mayoral election in Memphis. Hell, I voted for him.
I could go on forever, but space and a crying baby won’t permit me to. I will say a special thanks to Jerry Lawler’s and Lance Russell’s websites for the pics. For your viewing pleasure, here are a couple of YouTube clips. Enjoy and please share any memories of Memphis Wrestling that you might have…
March 7, 2008 at 6:24 am
The King rules. I remember watching wrestling before it was a monopoly of Vince McMahon. Even though he is a genius when it comes to business and marketing.
March 7, 2008 at 10:52 am
LOL!! Oh man, what a walk down memory lane. I’d have to throw the Iranian Stomper in the mix, and maybe Don & Al Green. Jackie Fargo might get a mention too.
I remember when Lawler and Jerry White were a tag team and Sam Bass was their manager. They came out there talking to Lance and Dave wearing pink tights. They blathered on about kicking Don and Al Greens’ asses on Monday night. Don and Al came out a while later and Don said “Jerry Lawler, I’m going to kill you, I’m going to kill you dead.”
I laughed so hard I nearly peed. I was a kid - maybe 12 at the time. It was must see TV on Saturday mornings.
Thanks for posting this. I’ll write a quick blurb and post it on my site so others can check this out.
March 7, 2008 at 3:12 pm
Blame Moondog ————he sent me here.
As I stated on his blog I remember (just barely) how my step dad was really into wrastlin’. Every (well it seemed like every) saturday him and his buds would take over the tv.
I remember some of these “characters!”
March 7, 2008 at 7:50 pm
@3 Thanks for stopping by. This post is a little bit atypical of what we normally do here. Feel free to browse the archives…
March 9, 2008 at 12:31 am
Man I’m not that old(34) but I do remember Mid-South wrestling. I remember some of these cats you talk about as well. My Grandfather and uncles got me into it when I was around 4-5 yrs old. I continue to watch this day (WWE) but there was nothing like the old-school stuff. Thx for the trip back down to a time I almost forgot. you have a cool site here and will be back. I’m a friend of old Moondogs from fox blogsite. An SEC homer just like him, except I’m an LSU tiger fan but we are all family.
March 9, 2008 at 8:47 am
@5 Here’s a question for you. Has the real scoop of why Pokey Chatman left ever surfaced??? Just wondering…
March 9, 2008 at 9:45 pm
It’s stunning that Lawler, at 59, is still at it.
March 11, 2008 at 8:23 am
I love the KING as well. I know he is in his late 50’s but I wish he would make a run at some kind of WWE title and let the fans see what a great brawler he once was. If Flair can still win matches, why can’t the King?
Eddie Gilbert was one of the greatest heels of all time (so was Lawler who was a better heel than face)
I never liked Dundee that much.
March 28, 2008 at 2:26 pm
Enjoyed the post. Check out my web site - I cover all the local Memphis stuff!!
March 28, 2008 at 2:27 pm
The site is http://www.rronews.com - I think I might have screwed up above!!
June 17, 2008 at 1:56 am
I remember Sweet Brown Sugar aka Stagger Lee. His feuds with Bobby Eaton and The King. Then he formed that Michael Jackson Tag Team known as PYT that fueded with The Fabulous Ones. So many good memories of those days.
June 17, 2008 at 2:33 am
Speaking of Eaton I still think “The Midnight Express” is the best damn tag-team ever.