Jump to content
Pro Wrestling Only

[1993-02-06-USWA-TV] Jerry Lawler, Downtown Bruno and Howard Finkel


Loss

Recommended Posts

  • 4 weeks later...

Lawler has had enough of Doink and Brian Christopher, and the WWF for that matter! He says the reason he's not treated as a "good guy" in the WWF is because people up North have their nose in the air and hate Southerners, but he's PROUD to be from Tennessee. "I wouldn't live in New York City if they gave me a penthouse in Trump Plaza."

 

Lawler says Downtown Bruno is also upset with the WWF and asks Bruno to come out and they start tearing into Howard Finkel. They show a clip from WWF TV of Bruno tearing into Finkel, and of Finkel doing a stretcher job after a Kamala splash. Not sure how this makes Bruno look like a babyface, but whatever.

 

But if that didn't, Howard Finkel's promo does! This is seriously amazing and surreal. Finkel does an outstanding heel promo!

 

"Give Downtown Bruno a road map. He wouldn't know the difference between uptown and downtown. That's how dumb he is."

 

Then he pulls out a "big apple" and starts doing a mock Southern accent, which is just awesome.

 

Bruno responds by calling Finkel yankee white trash!

 

WWF vs USWA I knew was coming, but it's still crazy to see.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 months later...
  • 1 month later...
  • 1 year later...

Doink is making the Memphis studio more dangerous than ever. Dave Brown compares it to the Exxon Valdez spill. Lawler running down Doink and the WWF. Jerry, you will need Doink come Summerslam. Be nice. Lawler trying to explain that he ain’t a good guy in WWF because how he is treated in New York city. Downtown Bruno and Lawler talking about Howard Finkel. Just great.

 

And it leads right into a Howard Finkel/Harvey Whippleman segment in WWF. Nice editing! Howard does a stretcher job and gets dumped on his head in the process and I’m just losing it. This must be the equivalent of the hair clippers not working on hair being shaved.

 

Howard cuts a great heel promo on Downtown Bruno. This stuff was amazingly entertaining.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 months later...

Lawler takes out his longtime frustrations with the WWF on the mic, and explains how he went to the WWF just to prove his points. This is a pretty brilliant way of explaining away his heelishness on WWF television--it's because he's from the South! Out comes, not Harvey Wippleman, but DOWNTOWN BRUNO to a tremendous studio audience reaction. BrunoMania runnin' wild! Apparently Howard Finkle thinks he's the greatest thing since sliced bread, but is in fact the biggest nothing since the invention of the zero. Lawler outs Finkle as one of Vince's main stooges who tries to boss around talent.

 

Highlights from a WWF TV taping follow--Bruno doesn't need some "retarded lookin' geek" to conduct an interview. Yeah, this was definitely not taped for air on WWF TV. Finkle has enough of his browbeating but eats a Kamala chop and splash when he makes the mistake of confronting Harvey. A stretcher job for Finkle! This would have been so wild if they'd aired this on Superstars. And they DROP him. That part had to be a rib. And now Finkle gets to cut a green screen promo--"Downtown Bruno, my goodness...that has to be the STUPIDEST name I ever heard!" Holy shit, this lives up to the hype and then some. In some ways this is every bit as glorious of an interpromotional feud as WAR/New Japan. Finkle and McMahon had to have been dreaming for years of getting to cut loose as heels. Finkle is such a patronizing ass, it's fantastic. Bruno the redneck is going to show that Yankee white trash what's what, and we get a crowd singalong with the Bruno catchphrase. Bruno may not have pythons, but he's got a pair of earthworms! The last guy who came down talking like Finkle was Andy Kaufman--and Lawler says we all know what happened to him! Holy mother of God. This whole thing just kept getting better and better.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 months later...

Lawler says Doink's from WWF and Memphis wrestling is better than WWF/WCW. He brings out Downtown Bruno who's had issues with Howard Finkel, and we get Clips of Fink with Whippleman & Kamala in WWF and then laying Fink out. Fink then delivers an *awesome* heel promo -- making fun of the South, Mid South Coliseum. Now this was just great. Would've been fun to see him get a run on the mic like this in the WWF, even a brief one to see how effective he'd be.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 10 months later...

Lawler points out all off Doink's hijinks so far and says he is sick of it.

 

Bruno comes out and we get honestly maybe the promo of the year so far from Fink of all people. He was amazing here being dirsrespectful to southern people and putting Bruno over in the eyes of the fans. I am loving all of this.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 7 months later...
  • 9 months later...

I'm not really that surprised by Howard's prowess on the mic or his ability to be a heel. He looks like he could be one of those pompous little windbags who's only important to himself, and that's exactly what he came across as here. And yet, he somehow maintained his dignity, which is amazing. Bruno couldn't compete with that, but with Lawler behind him, he didn't have to. I was amazed by how over he was, especially considering that he's such an odious little worm as Wippleman, with no sense of humor at all and one of wrestling's most annoying voices.

 

Did Hogan know about Bruno's attempt to portray him? If he did, it's a wonder he didn't arrange for Jimmy Hart to come back to the MSC and challenge Bruno on his behalf.

 

Am I the only one who finds it strange that for most of his career in Memphis, Bruno played the exact same kind of Yankee whom he now claims to hate and denied his own hometown? Pittsburgh isn't in Mississippi, you know. But now he's a conquering hero because someone from the WWF did the exact same thing he used to do. Only in professional wrestling!

 

Lawler's depiction of the WWF's attitude toward Southerners is right on the money. from what I've heard and read. I wonder if Vince enjoyed being called out on it, or having Finkel exposed as someone from the front office for that matter.

 

All the film clip was missing was Vince's horrified commentary. Maybe they should have picked a segment where Finkel gets the better of Bruno; I seem to recall a few during this feud. It would have been better if Finkel had been the one to attack Bruno, but there was no way they could have explained Howard cheapshotting someone or ordering a wrestler to do so without exposing the business.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • GSR changed the title to [1993-02-06-USWA-TV] Jerry Lawler, Downtown Bruno and Howard Finkel

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...