Memphis Mark

I have not read this topic in a while . It seems like some people don't understand why I don;t not like Brian Christopher. They cannot understand I think Brian is a bad wrestler . Well I am not objective about Brian Christopher because I net him once. I found him to be a very rude and unpleasant young man . Unlike his father who is always polite to fans . Brian is over 40 years old. He continues to milk that lame ass Too Cool gimmick for every nickel he can squeeze out of it. Brian is not interested in wrestling. He wants to entertainment the fans. His ideal of entertainment is pandering to the crowd for 20 minutes during the match. The guys throws s a few punchs . runs the ropes and hits a leg drop of the top rope . He goes over , Then he dances . Then dances again . Still more dancing. Brian makes Jimmy Valiant look like Billy Robinson. I have never seen any attempt from this guy to wrestle . No collar/elbow lockups, no hammerlock , no side headlock , no cross ankle pick ups , no suplexs , no spinning toe holds. no fiqure fours , no chin locks , no armbars , no chain wrestling , no uppercuts , well you get the picture . Brian is a sports entertainer , not a wrestler. If you like singing and dancing he is your guy. All the Memphis greaters worked the Memphis style. However Lawler and Dundee could get into the ring with Bockwinle and Briscoe and have a great matches. Brians sings , dances , laughs and entertain the fans. I grew up and Memphis and all of my buddies are wrestling fans. No I know thinks Brian Christopher is a good wrestler. He is a guy that got pushed by his dad. If his dad wasn't the King he would have never been in the business. This guy is not a good worker. Not a fan. Just my opinion .

I am watching Jerry Lawler . It is 1983 and Jerry is battling Bill Dundee , Andy Kaufman , Ken Patera and Jimmy Hart's First Family , . I watch it all as it happen , but it is still great to relive Memphis wrestling. Also I am going to look at some Southeastern footage from 80 - 81. A lot of Armstrongs and Fullers matches, some of my all time favorites . Southeastern/ Continental is really underrated.

That the plan , . They have a limited budget , so they can run in the black. They are slowly growing ROH . WCW and TNA wasted millions trying to compete withe the WWE . See PacMan Jones , Hulk, Sting , Uncle Eric , etc . Sinclair is slowly growing ROH , trying are not chasing the WWE . ROH is really not run like an indie . They tour , have talent on contracts , and full time employees. They do need to improve TV production. They did break down a buy a lighting rig. I don't think you can call any company that has TV , live PPV and runs almost 50 events an indie. Goes back to the brand perception issue . They need to change the image of company.

Chikara hasn't interested me much this year but I agree that they have a strong looking card for the finale. Lots of variety and high-stake matches that have been building all year. On paper at least, the card feels like a fun territorial super card with gimmick/high-stakes matches up and down the card. Also like you, I am a big fan of the Devastation Corporation. While they still have a ways to go, they have improved leaps and bounds over the past year or so. They've developed into a nice big man tag team, which is a rarity on the indies. According the Observer, the first one in June did well and exceeded expectations. Going in, ROH considered 10,000 buys to be a definite success and would make for a profitable show. They reportedly surpassed those numbers. Dave also said that they got a good deal from the PPV companies which makes sense because they are looking for content with WWE killing their PPV business. They are only running a few per year and based off of the first show, there might be enough hardcore wrestling fans out there to make them profitable if they keep expenses down. Sinclair Broadcasting runs ROH on a relatively small budget. It is free programming for them and in some markets ROH TV apparently does quite well at least relative to the alternatives. It is basically free programming for their TV stations. The promotion had a spike in attendance at the start of 2014, thanks in some part to A.J. Styles but even non-Styles shows generally showed a bit of an uptick. They did really well on the New Japan shows in May. With few exceptions, they seem to be doing 400+ at most shows which given the budget they run on is probably "good enough" to keep them going. I doubt that the promotion as a whole is making money, but given the free programming benefit they provide for Sinclair, that balances things out. The TV show is actually okay (relatively speaking) in an NXT sort of way where it is a short, easy to watch, tight one hour wrestling program. The wrestling quality isn't very good in general, the talent feels stale, and the booking is so-so but the TV show is non-offensive. In 2014, that's good enough to classify as a good weekly TV wrestling show I attend the ROH shows in Nashville . They draw a sellout every time. Granted a sellout is 1,000 fans , but it not papered . Tickets run from $ 40 to $ 25 bucks for TV taping , more for PPV .. . ROH draws 800 in San Antonio , 600 in Milwaukee , aroung 800 to 1000 in both Chicago & Canada . They ran in Wheeing , WVA and Lakeland , FL and drew good houses. The 400 fans per shows is really low , it is way off for the bigger markets. I read the the goal is draw 700 to 800 fans per event. ROH is run on a low budget by Sinclair because that is how they a make a profit . The same footage must be used 3 to 5 times in different revenue streams . Live Shows . PPV/ IPPV , TV , House show DVDS and comp dvds bring multiple revenue streams .. They squeeze every last nickel out of every show. I sure Sinclair studied the WCW and TNA failures before they purchased ROH . They using the business model that generate the a profit for their shareholders . People still consider ROH an indie. They are not by any stretch . They have free TV in 60 % of the USA , line PPV and ran 48 dates last year. The key is that ROH was purchased and vertically intergrated in SBS . They do not have to buy TV time and can never be cancelled . The long term goal is to roll ROH out to every non SBC market. They added Atalanta , New Orleans , Cleveland and DC in the last few months.In my book free broadcast TV will attract more viewers in the long run that having programming on premium Pay cable networks. Some wrestling fans don't undertand that Sinclair Broadcasting is a a public traded company that is worth billions ,, The market cap on their stock is in excess of $ 3 billion dollars. To put that in perspective the WWE stock is worth around $ 800 million . ROH should be around as long as Sinclair wants to operate the company or they sell out for a profit.. Now that TNA has lost the Spike deal , stopped touring and face an uncertain live PPV future , I would say that ROH moved past TNA in 20014 . The smart marks and the dirt sheets missed the moment . However NJPW and Jeff Jarrett did not. One thing ROH could do better is make people like Meltzer , Keller and Johnson more aware of their product , company and their long term goals. It appears a lot of people don't know the diffference between Silken and Sinclair.

The upset that springs to my mind is Jimmy Hart defeating " Golden Boy " Chic Donovan for the AWA Southern Heavyweight Championship . It only took Jimmy 5 seconds to upset. It was a great win for the President of the First Family. Over time some people have made claims that Chic took a dive for Jimmy . I have never believe those lies . , The fact that Chic was the Vice President of the First Family did not have any bearing on the outcome. Also the fact that Chic had a broken leg did not aid Jimmy Hart in securing the pin. It was a clean flash pin by Hart . A major upset.

Dave Brown is a very nice man . Bobby Eaton and Jommy Hart are also really good guys. I used to go the same gym as Lance Russell , he was great to everyone he met. . Those the names that come to mind.

Yes Dean Malenko is Jewish .

Sting does not care about his legacy. All he cares about is money. Which does not make him a bad guy , I kinda like money , too. His guy made $ 500, 000 per year with TNA for years . Sting vitually did nothing to help TNA . The guy only worked 2 or 3 days per month . No house shows for the Stinger .When Sting milked Viacom / Panda for every dime he could get , he moved on to Crazy Vince and company. The guy knows how to look out for number one. This won't work long term . Sting is too old and beat up to work. Eventually , Vince will try to force Sting into angles that offend his religious beliefs, and the Stinger will walk. However he will pad his retirement fund some more before the end. I cannnot balme Sting , if people are stupid enough to give a 55 year old man that cannot wrestle anymore millions , he has to take the money .

Jerry Lawler had just returned from his broken leg and began his war with Jimmy Hart.

Reading the reports I am assuming that TNA will become mainly a TV production company . Te touring and PPV events will cease , so the talent will be back on the indies ?

Well I cannot really pick just one. However one of my favorites is Dirty White Boy vs. Tracy Smothers. DWB was managed by the " King of the Hillbillies " Ron Wright . DWB and Wright rejected their Southern hertiage and moved to NYC . They became Yankees fans and moved into a penthouse overlooking Central Park. " The Wild Eyed Southern Boy " Tracy Smothers was determined to take the Smoky Mountain belt from the DWB . After all DWB had rejected the South and sided with the North . All hell broke loose during the feud. DWB attacked Smothers on TV , handcuffed him to ropes and burned Smothers 's Confederate flag. During another contest wheel chair bound Ron Wright was possessed by Holy Spirit,. Thus allowing Wright to rise from his wheel chair lay Smothers's with a chain. DWB and Smothers had their blowoff match at the Bluegrass Brawl . The SM title was on the line in a Tennessee Chain Match . The chain was handed down to the DWB by Wright . The chain was blessed by Wright before the match . Smothers won the belt in the match to many considered to the best match in SMW history . Another gem was the war between Buddy Rose and Roddy Piper. Both men were heels who had a falling out soon after Piper entered the Northwest . Piper defeated bth Sheepherders, Williams and Miller , in hair match. Piper took Rose hair after going thur the Sheepherders. That when Rose wore the wig sewned in a mask of TV . No one could get the mask off . Rose got even by burning Piper's kilt on TV .Piper finally took off the wig/ mask gimmick after Rose's hair grew back. Rose won the loser leave town match . In reality Piper went to MACW , but it wasa great end to the feud.

Yes I have live a privileged life as far as wrestling viewing goes .. Since 1970 I seen a lot of the top talent live. I saw Brian Christopher first match and he has never been good. BC got worse went he went to the WWE. Now he basically dances and panders to the crowd the entire match . .His work is not good. That is just my POV. When I think of wrestling . I think of Nick Bockwinkle , Jack Brisco , Billy Robinson , The Funks, Johnny Walker and Bill Dundee . Not Brian Christopher , Buff and Disco. However if someone enjoy Brian Christopher work that is great, to each their own. To me is one of the worst wrestlers I have ever seen in my life. Barely better than George Gulas .

Moxley was getting buzz for his promos and CZW (I think?) work about six months before he got picked up by the WWE. If I remember the timeline, right. Basically, he never got the Ring of Honor/PWG/etc. run that other people got, because he got plucked just as he was about to replace guys like Rollins who also got picked up by the WWE in the timeframe. Of course, I could be completely off. Word was that Jon Moxley was hired by Adam Pearce for a ROH run . However Pearce got fired some Moxley ended up with Gabe. It all work out for him .

Just thinking of more , the late Johnny Grunge of Public Enemy ?

So you agree on Bagwell ?

Well Disco Inferno lasted a long time. He was awful in the ring and the fans hated him . He could be a contender .After Gulas and Zulu . Marcus Alexander " Buff" Bagwell he right there with Disco , crap in the ring and very unlikable. Local wrestler Brian Christopher is truly awful . Those are a few names.

In all fairness to Jimmy Valiant , the Boggie Woogie Man and Handsome Jimmy were different people . Handsome Jimmy was in a body builder , he was a great shape . Handsome Jimmy cut a great promo , could brawl with the best of them and forge an unbreakable bond with the fans. During his Memphis run Jimmy was lean annd cut up . weight around 225. Then Jimmy went to JCP and became the Boogie Woogie Man . He stopped working out , gained at leats 80 to 100 pounds and became a comedy act. Handsome Jimmy was gone forever. After JCP , he came back to Memphis as the Boogie Woogie Man. The fans were like, what the hell is this crap ? What happen to Handsome ? A real shame.

He falls under the "fell into it" category. Yes, that is true . However he was still a disgrace to to business. A middle finger to every hard working wrestler that paided their dues.

Handsome Jimmy Valiant was a high spot brawler . He cut a great promo , put people in seats and made wrestling fun for the fans. Could not be on anyone worst of all time list . The people in the Memphis territory loved Handsome. If you what to be the worst of all time, you got to have the complete package . Very few talents are worthy of this honor. First you have to have zero wrestling ability . Then you must be box office poison . Gulas mets the qualications . Plus he buried the Gulas promotion . Nick had to take a job in the Davidson County jail . He also help created opening for both Jerry Jarrett and Ron Fuller to become millionaires . Jerry and Ron basically split the old Nick Gulas/ Roy Welch territory . My top ten would start as : 1. George Gulas . 2. Steve McMichael. Don't know would the next 8 would be , yet.

By the way has anyone mention the pride of The Four Horseman , Steve McMichael ?

I agree that the Sandman was a disgrace to the ring. However Paul E. put Sandman programs that got him over. The Sandman did draw some in ticket sales and gimmicks. Can you say someone is the worst of all time if they drew money ?

The Plowboy was okay in the 1970's. Not a wrestler , but was effective as a monster heel. His top moments were when he served as Jerry Lawler's henchman around 76. Plowboy could at least execute a legdrop . When the 80's rolled again he was to broken down by carring all of that weight to do anything in the ring . He did draw some money in Memphis . Once again George Gulas is the Worst of the Worst , Did George Gulas ever draw a dime or have a match that was not a laughing stock ? Did you ever see him team with Bobby Eaton? I read on Wrestling Classics that they were actually a decent tag team, even if it was mostly down to Eaton. Is there any tape of George Gulas? I can't remember seeing any. Yes , I saw George work with Bobby Eaton . Together they were know as The Jet Set . Bobby Eaton did all of the work, and carried George . It was a good way for Nick to protect George . Eaton has commented that people uses to rib him about teaming with George. Bobby sais it all work out in the end because he turned heel on George. I don't think there is any footage of the Jet Set in existence. The Jet Set was apairing of one of the best wrestlers of all time , with the man who many consider to be the worst worker in history . The Eaton/ Gulas team was after the Jarrett/ Gulas split. Before the split Dennis Hall was George tag partner. George worked a lot of tag matches ; some other partners were Rufus R. Jones , Jimmy Golden , Tojo and Jackie Fargo. The only real single match I recall of George was against Jimmy Kent . Kent was a manager who was small but could wrestle. I lived in Memphis so I only saw George went I went to Nashvile once a month . Jarrett kept George off of Memphis TV , fearing that he would destroy the Memphis market. Of course after the split he was on Memphis TV every week for about a year . Nick finally got TV time on a small station .

The Plowboy was okay in the 1970's. Not a wrestler , but was effective as a monster heel. His top moments were when he served as Jerry Lawler's henchman around 76. Plowboy could at least execute a legdrop . When the 80's rolled again he was to broken down by carring all of that weight to do anything in the ring . He did draw some money in Memphis . Once again George Gulas is the Worst of the Worst , Did George Gulas ever draw a dime or have a match that was not a laughing stock ?

Tommy Rich 's mother was gold. How can anyone top Peggy Rich came on Memphis TV to begged Tommy to end his evil ways and got beat down by Handsome Jimmy and Tojo . Tommy feud with Eddie Gilbert needs to be mentioned . Tommy and Eddie had a nice series with Koko Ware and Novrel Austin . Also the Rich cousins feud with The Nightmares stands out in my memory .

Randy Orton is terrible. He must be the mailman's kid . However Randy Orton is no George Gulas . George was so bad he out he put his dad out of business.