Memphis Mark

The answer is George Gulas . Everyone else is just wrestling for second place.

I can tell what I know from watching Savage work in the South .Randy did not start in his father promotion , that came later . The Poffo's worked for the The Sheik in Michigan . I also recall them working the under card in Crockett during the mid 1970's. Savage got his first run as main eventer with Nick Gulas . Gulas had lost his entire locker roon to Jerry Jarrett . Jarrett also reaffirmed his position as the promoter in Memphis and Louisville . Jarrett was backed by Eddie Graham and Jim Barnett, they just destroyed Gulas. Anyway , Gulas need a new crew. Nick had his son George , Tojo Yammatto , George Weingeroff and Gyspy Joe. He bought in Randy Savage , Lanny Poffo , Angelo Poffo , Ken Lucas , Pez Whatley and Dutch Mantell . Gulas also gave newcomers Bobby Eaton , Rick Morton , Rip Rogers , Jacques Rogeau , Michael Hayes and Terry Gordy . Thay worked Nashvlle , Middle TN and Northern Alabama . Randy Savage was the NWA Mid-America champion . He feuded with Dutch Mantell , Ken Lucas , Bobby Eaton and Lanny Poffo . Lanny was billed as Leaping Lanny , they did acknowledge that they were Angelo 's sons. Angelo worked under a mask the Carperbagger . The Gulas promotion is were Savage / Eaton matches took place. Eaton was ahead of his time , he was a coming off the top rope to the floor and mat all of the time. This is where Randy Savage developed a lot of his offense during his work with Bobby Eaton and also Lanny Poffo. This was 1977 /78 , unheard in Southern wrestling. There is no known footage in existense . The Poffo's , Rip Rogers, George Weingeroff and Pez Whatley broke away from Gulas and form an outlaw promotion , ICW . They wer joined by Bob Roop , Bob Orton , JR and Ronnie Garvin . Guys like Doug Vines , Jeff Sword , Tony Falk , Buddy Landell and Crusher Broomfield a.k.a One Man Gang broke in with the Poffo's. After they went out of Business Randy and Angelo went to Memphis /.Lanny was working for Watts and came to Memphis a few months later. THis is where Randy had the famous matches with Jerry Lawler , Dutch Mantell , Austin Idol , Adrian Street , Nick Bockwinkle and Ric Rude . Randy and Lanny teamed up as PoffoMania with Angelo in their corner. Thay had a short but infamous feud with the Rock N Express Express . Savge was a face for a brief time and teamed with Lawler against Rude/ King Kong Bundy. Then Randy moved up North and I stopping following his carreer . Just my recollection .

Yes they came back and worked with the Poffo's for 2 or 3 weeks. I don't recall any 1985 matches. They did come back around 1987 foe a few weeks to feud with the Midnight Rockers , this was during the time they had a falling out with JCP .. Morton came back in the early 90's for a couple of months. They never returned for a long run , just a few shots here and there/ I always feel that Jarrett missed the boat on Morton . Ricky could have been a big draw as a single in Memphis.

The Rock n Roll were underguys in Memphis. Lawler created them to run spot shows for the company. For example The Fabs would work Nashville on Saturday night , while Morton/ Gibson Saturdays were spend working small towns in Eastern Arkansas . Jarrett send them to Watts because he did not want them. In memory serves me right Morton/ Gibson went to Watts , while Keirn/Lane went to the AWA. Jarrett tried to push Tommy Rich & Eddie Gilbert as the New Fabs. Man did that bomb at the box office. Of course Rich and Gilbert broke up and had their famous feud in an effort to salvage things . Anyway , Bill Dundee 's booking and getting out of the Keirn/ Lane shadow.allowed Morton to become a money draw in Mid- South . Robert Gibson happen to be in Memphis when a secondary team was needed by the office. Gibson could have easily been replaced by Terry Taylor , Bobby Fulton , Tommy Rogers , etc. Morton's selling was the key . Morton had really honed his craft. He worked in teams with Ken Lucas and Sonny King before paired with Gibson. Robert had basically filled the same role while teaming with his brother , Ricky . It always amazed me that Jarrett sent Ricky Morton and Bobby Eaton to Watts . He never got them back. I was also shocked that the R n R Express had more sucess than The Fabs on the national level. I guess the Jackie Fargo angle made the Fabs in Memphis . Anywhere else they were just another good team .

I just read Jerry's book. Jarrett stated that he was hired by JIm Barnett to book Atlanta . Jarrett asked Tim Woods tp return to Atlanta to work as Mr. Wrestling. Woods refused to work with Jarrett . Jarrett just created his own Mr. Wrestling . Johnny Walker had worked in Memphis with Jarrett , so he put the mask on Walker and called him Mr. Wrestling II . That was the account Jarrett gave in his book.

I would only book ROH talent. I would book Bryan Danielson , Tyler Black , Claudio Castagnoli , Kevin Steen , El Generico , Samoa Joe , Austin Aries , Davey Richards , Eddie Edwards , Low Ki , Homicide , TJ Perkins and Kenny King . I would toss Sami Callihan and Jon Moxley into the mix. Sorry I don't know all the WWE names, so I go with what I know. Danielson vs. Samoa Joe Tyler Black vs. Austin Aries Steen/ Generico vs. Richards/ Edwards Claudio Castagnoli vs. Low Ki Jon Moxley vs. Kenny King Sami Callihan vs. TJ Perkin Willie Mack vs. Homicide Then a get peace warrants that would keep any member of TNA or WWE management at leat 100 yards from the building. I would have Christopher Daniels run the show. That would work.

How was Barry's run in CWF ? I have not seen much of Florida. Windham feuded with Don Muraco and worked as The Yellow Dog against Ron Bass . I have not seen the matches , can anyone enligfhted me ? Thanks.

Jerry Jarrett has stated that Kamala was the worst wrestler he had ever seen in his life. That really covers a lot of territory . He only allowed Kamala to use chops , a running splash and just raw power.. I an sure most of you know the history , but I will recount it anyway . The back story of Kamala was that he had been working and England and his gear was lost in transit . Harris/ Kamala had worked with Troy Graham a.k.a The Dream Machine in the outlaw Jackson , Mississippi promotion . Dream made gear , so Harris came to the MSC looking for hin one Monday nite. Kamala lived in Holly Springs, MS , about 50 miles south of Memphis. Jarrett and Lawler saw him and they had him drive up to Jarrett's place in Nashville. Lawler had already created the Kamala gimmick , he just needed a human host. They shot the famous Kamala intro video in Jarrett's backyard. Kamala was a savage from Uganda , who could not wrestle . He used super human brute force to over power foes. Kamala was bought in as part of the Memphis vs. Florida storyline. James J. Dillion was the King of Florida wrestling . He had decided to expand his empire in the Memphis territory. Kamala was the center of J.J. Florida army . It shold be noted that Jarrett had a close relationship with Eddie Graham and actually owned part of CWF for a short time. Kamala did big business at the box office. The savage started in the main event . He destroyed Lawler in his first title match . James J. Dillion and his Florida army had control othe the AWA Southern Heavyweight Chamionship.. In the early eighties , Jarrett had developed a locker room that rivaled MACW or CWF . This was a first for the territory , Jarrett is really never give credit for upgrading the overall. talent level . Anyway Kamala was presented witha new challenger every week .. Talent like Bill Dundee, Stan Lane , Steve Keirn and more went after Kamala belt. All defeated by the savage. During the course of events, Dillion 's Florida army had started a war with Jimmy Hart and the First Family . Lawler and Hart joined forces to defeat Kamala and sent J.J. and company back to Florida. Of course Hart turned on Lawler after J.J. was sent packing to the swamps. Hart bought Kamala contract and the savage joined the First Family .Soon Kamala had a partner named Kamala 2 a.k.a. as Plowboy Frazier . This comedy act destroyed Kamala drawing power in Memphis . Kamala gave notice and hit the road. The rest is history .

Coming back to the Inter-Gender wrestling topic. Candrice Larae won her opening round BOLA match . She also teamed with Ryan to defended the tag titles on the first nite. The tag match was a 3 way with Rich Swann /Ricochet and Bad Influence . Swann had to put her over twice. Yes , Ryan and Larue are the PWG champs. This is the same company books the Young Bucks , Bad Influence and ReDragon Do you think Super Dragon will book her to reach the BOLA finals or win the whole thing ? Apparrently she is super over with the 250 people that attend PWG shows and Super Dragon seemed to be committed to having her at the top of a all male roster.. It will be interesting to see the results of the finals.

I read he died of cancer , I stand corrected . Whatever he died of it was a shame for someone to go that young . I had never heard of Stewart before now , guy was talented announcer.

It is the chase for the World Title that generates more big time matches . Jerry Lawler has always chasing the NWA or AWA belt. Lawler would have top contenders such as the Funks, Bobo Brazil , The Sheik , Mr. Wrestling II and many others bought in to stop him from moving up the contenders ranks. The chase for the title also saw feuds develop over who get the title shot. Lawler vs. Bill Dundee , vs. Dutch Mantell and vs. Austin Idol/ Tommy Rich. This matches drew as much or more money than the actual World Title match. Jerry Jarrett said he knew that no one would allow Lawler to be a World Champion , but the chase for the Championship made a lot of money for the promotion. Fans want to be emotional invested in a wrestling program, more so than just watching one world title match after another with no back story . In today's market , I think that still that still rings true. Look at ROH , Michael Elgin has just been having good title matches , however last night they move his match to the middle of the card . The fans are not emotional invested in the Elgin title reign . So he went on right before intermission and worked with Tommasso Ciampa. Word has they torn down the house. Even though Elgin is the champion , he cannot go on after the likes of the Young Bucks , Briscoes or Red Dragon . Elgin is just not on their level. No knock on Elgin as a wrestler , he just is not over like those guys The drama occuring with Elgin 's main challengers is more interesting than Elgin's title reign . The likes of Jay Brisco , Adam Cole ,Tommasso Ciampa and Silas Young are fighting and clawing to their way to the title, which is were all of the action really is for the fans.

The ex WWE/WCW took a check to work , not rest . . A days work for a days pay. If a person takes a job they should give their company 100%

The high point was the series of matches between Aj Styles and Christopher Daniels in 2005 . Which led to the 3 way at Unbreakable that continue the Samoa Joe push .Samoa Joe. Also the 2 cage matches between AMW and Triple X were great. The AJ - Low Ki - Jerry Lynn feud was good. Also TNA gave talent wrestlers like Styles , Daniels , Chris Sabin , Samoa Joe , Low Ki , Homicide , Jay Lethal and Alex Shelly a national platform to showcase their talent . All positive. The bad was the insanity of Vince Russo . Also over the hill Jeff Jarrett forcing himself on the audience as the champion. HIs gutiar gimmick was insulting to the fans. Double J is and remains out of touch with today's wrestling fan .Also every WWE outcast looking for a easy pay check and offering nothing in return . Booker T . Rob Van Dam , Jeff Hardy , Hogan , Uncle Eric , Kevin Nash , Scott Hall , the Nasty Boys , Matt Hardy , Shannon Moore and their like were are parasites . The lowest point is when TNA pull their talent fron ROH . Hardcore fans were cheated out of seeing their favorites in classic matches and the talent lost bookings. . The worse case was the CM Punk / Christopher Daniels feud that was never finished . If my memory serves me correct TNA also started charging booking fees for their talent to indy promotions. This was reason TNA talent lost dates with PWG and other indies. Also TNA made their talent sign contracts with no downside guarantee . They starved Jay Lethal and the Young Bucks. TNA had really shady business practices. More bad than good when it comes to TNA .

AJ Styles is the best champion . The jury is still on on Elgin . let's see if he draws is well as Adam Cole. I don't really carry for John Cena's work , he appears to be really limited in the ring. To be fair I only seen Cena work a few times , the WWE product is hard for me to watch . I am prefer a more traditional wrestling product.. The others are really far behind AJ Styles. AJ should be wrestller of the year. Jus t my take.

Thanks.Really enjoying SECW . I really like Charlie Platt and the late Rick Stewart. Platt was a local Dothan talk show host. Charlie was very much a down home Alabama country boy. But Charlie knew the business and did a good job selling the angles. I researched Rick Stewart and found out he past away from cancer in 88. That is a shame, Rick Stewart was like a super fan. He knew all the and the history behind the talent. He would have been a big star . Charlie and Rick worked very hard to get the product over. The same can not be said for Gordon Solie . Solie just showed up and called the matches. On his first show he did not know the names of the talent or who the chanpions were . The wrestlers would have to correct Gordon on the air.

I agree . When Gail Kim came to TNA , she was the valet for AMW. Of course she interfered in the matches . I recall AJ Styles having to sell her offense. Kim would hit a flying head scissors on AJ.. Styles would fly across the riing like he was shot out of a cannon. I guess that Gail Kim barely weights over a 100 pounds. She could not move AJ one inch . Styles has a low center of gravity and is built like a tank . He is not moving unless he wants to move . It was so unbelieveable , that only hard core fans could turn a blind eye .The whole thing was bad for the business. The inter - gender matches only appeal to a few fans. This stuff will drive existing fans away and turn off potential new fans. That is my take

I sure Sinclair paid the fee for her work visa. I imagine they wiil pay for Ethan Page and Josh Alexander too. How much can the visa fee be , A few hundred bucks ? Nothing to Sinclair.

Just some random comments. 1. I wionder why Mr. Olympia never when to JCP ? Working a Mr. Oiympia , Stubbs would have been a big draw . The guy seemed to take it to a whole new level when the put on the hood. 2. I did not know that the Mongolian Stomper worked under a mask in the early 80's. He was the Masked Stallion . Hiding Archie's age ? 3. I did not know that the Midnight Stallion and Man Mountain Harris a.k.a. Black Bart were both in the Midnight Express , INC. They join Dennis Condrey , Randy Rose , Norvell Austin , Ron Starr and Wayne Farris. Quite a group. 4. Arn Anderson worked under a mask in SECW . He was Super Olympia . Watched a great tv match between Super Olympia and the late Ted Allen . Allen was Double A 's trainer. Lot of chain wrestling , just great. I really enjoy the SECW studio program . I feel like the promotion lost something when they moved to Boutwell. The crowd energy was just not the same.

I realy don't watch indy wrestling. I do follow ROH and NJPW , however I don't consider them to be indy promotions. I do read the results from indy shows and I notice there are a lot of inter -gender matches. Is this a new craze ? I don't understand the appeal of women wrestling men. . Does anyone watch the inter- gender matches ? If you do what is the appeal of these matches ? Also do you feel the inter- gender matches are good or bad for the business ? I am just curious .

I just saw this comment. the Midnight Express timeline is hard to follow. I think I have it fiqure out. I Dennis Condrey and Randy Rose became teaming in 1981 . They won the Southeastern tag title. At first they were just Rose and Condrey , later someone created the Midnight Express gimmick . I guess the first Midnight Express was booked by one of the Fuller brothers . I really don't know. Norvell Austin feuded with Condrey & Rose . Austin teamed with the Armstrongs , Paul Orndorff and Jerry Stubbs against the MX . Norvell turn on his partner , I think it was Stubbs , and joined the MX. The three MX members work under Freebird rules , all three men were champions ,and ruled Southeastern Wrestling. Later they moved to Memphis. In Memphis the MX feuded with Steve Keirn , Bill Dundee . Ricky Morton and the Gilberts. At this time Randy Rose returned to SECW . Norvell Austin and Dennis Condrey remained in the Jarrett promotion . In Memphis the MX concept was dropped by Jarrett . Austin and Condrey joined Jimmy Hart's First Family. Back in SECW , Randy Rose started the Midnight Express , INC . The MX Inc. consisted of Rose , Ron Starr and Wayne Farris.. At this point I believe Norvell Austin was in Memphis. Austin may have made some SECW shots , but he had a long Memphis run. Condrey , Bobby Eaton and Jim Cornette were sent to Bill Watts by Jarrett as part of the famous trade. I always assumed Condrey bought the MX concept to the new Mid South booker , Bill Dundee. I really don't know , maybe Dundee bought the MX name back. Norvell Austin stayed behind in Memphis Austin and Koko Ware formed the PYT Express. They were managed by Tux Newman a.k.a. Jeff Walton . Walton was from the defunct LA promotion I always thought that the MX , Inc. was operating in SECW while the new MX was starting in Midsouth. I could be wrong about the timeline , I am only using my memory. Anyone have anytime to add.

I voted for Lance Russell . My second pick would be Frank Bonnema . If I had a third pick it would be Les Thatcher .

Randy Rose was average. However he worked well with Dennis Condrey , it just seemed to work . I think Dennis is better in the ring than all 3 of the Freebirds . Norvel Austin is underrated , he really could get heat . Norvell was very respected by the fans im the Memphis and Mobile regions. Gordy has a great talent . I always though Hayes ring work was lacking, he main skill was his mic work/ getting heat . . Is Hayes any better than Rose ? Roberts was a solid vet but just past his prime during the Freebird run . So , I think the first Midnight Express trio was superor to the Freebirds. Sure Gordy and Roberts are better than Randy Rose , but I was looking at the entire unit. This is just my POV .

I pick the Original Midnight Express . The first team of Dennis Condrey , Norvell Austin and Randy Rose gets my vote. Much better all around wrestlers than the Freebirds.

Overated is tough. I hate to knock anybody . Underrated is easy . Dr. Tom Pritchard is my first pick . He could work face , heel or be a tweener. Solid ring work , great story telling and great promos. One of the last guys to come thur the territory and give the proper time to develop his craft Others from the territory are Rip Rogers, Jerry Stubbs , Eric Emery , Ken Lucas , Tony Anthony , Phil Hickerson , Wendell Cooley , and Adrian Street. I would throw Buddy Landal , Dutch Mantell and Tracy Smothers in the mix , but I think they get their due.

The Night The Line Was Crossed . Terry Funk vs. Sabu vs. Shane Douglas. It went on for 60 minutes . It felt like 60 hours.