[1992-01-10-WWA] Bob Backlund vs Jerry Lawler

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

Fun watching Lawler and Backlund do their thing, but that's really all this is -- two guys doing their thing. It never really kicks into second gear and becomes a back and forth match. I love Backlund, and one of my favorite things about him was that in 1992, he was still stuck in his 70s style. Lawler still wrestled a 70s style himself, so you'd think it might work. But it didn't. These two aren't really a good pairing. Lawler heel formula usually has him dominant a large chunk of the match, and usually the early stuff in a Backlund match is the best -- strength spots and weird matwork. Lawler is of course a notoriously slow starter. So chalk it up to a styles clash, but it's still an interesting match to watch.

[Tim Evans]

Lawler was probably my favorite wrestler in 92 watching USWA but this was awful. Most of that is thanks to my dislike for Backlund. Just so boring and had no fire at all. Lawler tried but way too many armlocks and the crowd chanting "boring" didn't help much.

[shoe]

This was bad. I like both guys but they just didn't click.

[Eduardo]

Watching the first five minutes, I thought I was going to like this a lot. But it really dragged for a good portion of the match. I think Loss put it best, it was interesting, that's the best word to use for this match. I did dig some of Lawler's stuff, like how he bumped from Backlund returning the three moves early on and a few other nice touches, but I don't really need to see this match again. Also, this match reminded me that I really hate how Backlund does a piledriver.

[MikeCampbell]

This could have been a real treat. Lawler's bumping and penchant for exaggerated selling and facials seem like a natural match for Bob's deceptive strength spots and his unmatched ability on the mat. But not on this night. Maybe if this happened in 1982 instead of 1992. The fact that both of them would be in the WWF by the end of the year is more interesting than the match itself.

[WingedEagle]

This was a pretty big clash of styles. Lawler and Bob were both doing their own thing, to the point where it feels as though they're taking turns with their schtick and it just never clicked. Fun to see the pairing so I get why it made the set, but not exactly something you'd go back and rewatch.

 

**1/4

[PeteF3]

"U-S-A" chants. But of course.

 

This is interesting to see from a historical standpoint but man is this tough to get through. Two notable things that jump out: Lawler does a mid-match mic spot and actually puts Backlund over, talking about how he came to face against a great technical wrestler only to deal with hair-pulling. And as Lawler and Backlund sat in an armbar and the "BORING" chants started and I was tuning out, Lawler yells out, "It IS pretty boring, he can't get away!" That made me LOL. Still, this is a surprisingly dry scientific match and that is SO not Lawler's forte. There are some okay spots here and the finish is refreshingly clean, if anticlimactic, but this is a far cry from what these two could have done in MSG circa 1980.

[garretta]

If you like armlocks and short-arm scissors for twenty minutes out of twenty-five, this match is for you.

 

I don't blame Bobby for it; he's at his best against an aggressive heel who will beat his brains out if he doesn't use his superior scientific skill to keep him in check. We know Lawler can be exactly that when and if he wants to be, but as is usually the case outside of the Memphis loop, he doesn't. As much as I hate his usual "hide the chain" schtick, it would have been ideal here in moderation. Instead, he's got it in his head that he's going to out-Backlund Backlund, and all he manages to do instead is bore the roof off of the joint. Backlund's much more experienced in working on arms, and although he's not a dynamo, he keeps things at least moderately entertaining. I particularly liked the forearms he threw that landed right under Lawler's armpit. Lawler pulls the strap down eventually, but that means nothing here, and he can't even use the piledriver; Backlund does instead, and it looks devastating, though we go right back to the arm afterward. Lawler does get a few nice punches in right before the finish, but it's too late to save the match. Maybe a little more Lawler mic work would have helped, but I doubt it, especially since it would have been hard to hear on the disc.

 

I'm not sure what they would have been circa 1982 in MSG, but part of me hopes that we see Mr. Backlund in Memphis at some point trying to provide elucidation for the plebeians just to see what the King would do about it.

[soup23]

I like matwork as much as the next person but this just never comes together. Perhaps a commentator could have helped move the action along but it just sat in the first gear with neither man really developing a strategy based on the action that was happening inside the ring. Lawler's pink assemble is also atrocious here and looks really cheesy and low rent. I thought going in this would be a nice look at a 1982 WWF Title defense against Lawler but instead, I think both guys did essentially the bare minimum to get by having a passable match. **1/2

[dawho5]

I also thought it was going good places based on everything up to Lawler's microphone stalling. I even felt like Lawler taunting the crowd in the middle of his "work" on the arm was enough to salvage that portion of the match. Up until Backlund spent longer working over an arm when the crowd needed a fiery babyface comeback. Maybe Lawler's heel schtick and Backlund's babyface style just don't mesh very well. Maybe one or both got lazy at key points. Either way it doesn't work.