[1990-01-20-USWA-Memphis TV] Interview: Jerry Lawler / Interview: Junkyard Dog

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

JYD does an empty arena promo in Dallas hyping his return to Memphis. He sets his sights on Lawler. This is a good way to present him. Lawler responds. By the way, Lawler responds from "outside the studio", likely taped earlier in the week, as Lawler worked the Dallas taping that morning. The guy can do a lot of things, but being in two places at one time is a skill I didn't know he had.

[PeteF3]

"Elvis P. Presley"?? Surprised JYD didn't cite who made the "We shall overcome" speech, Martin S. King. Strong promo, though.

 

"Needing to be outside for cell phone reception" has to be one of the lamer reasons to justify Lawler not being live on the WMC program. Lawler promises to send JYD back to the junkyard and more or less baits black fans into showing up to support the Dog, then throws in a shoeshining reference to add some class to the promo.

[soup23]

Nothing too memorable but an effective job of hyping up their upcoming match together and good reintroduction of JYD to the territory.

[Kevin Ridge]

Well if it was taped earlier in the week it seems to get to Lawler as he messes up on the day of when their match was. Lawler is more serious here compared to other segments so far. He’s even calling out Dave Brown.

[Cox]

"Needing to be outside for cell phone reception" has to be one of the lamer reasons to justify Lawler not being live on the WMC program.

Have you seen that phone? He probably wouldn't get more than two bars if he was a block away from the cell phone tower.

 

Good promos, and a smart way to work around Lawler not being there, I thought.

[JerryvonKramer]

Good promo from JYD. He is immensely likable, you can understand why he was so over.

 

I didn't like Lawler's promo as much with the "dog" theme. The casual racism does make him pretty heelish though. "And all the rest of your kind" ...

[Laney]

Nothing too special with the promos here. Some racism from Lawler, but overall I feel like this didn't do as good of a job building interest in the match as the other promos we've seen from USWA on this set.

[bradhindsight]

Combined my thoughts in the other thread for the first part of this segment on the disc. JYD cuts an ok promo. Shame we didn't get more of a match between the two.

[Bix]

Lawler goes on WAY too long and I'm already worried about his instincts as a heel. JYD promo is solid, definitely a lot better and more serious than his WWF work but probably nowhere near how he was in Md-South.

[garretta]

I wonder what JYD meant by "going through the shadows of darkness" or whatever it was that he was trying to say. It almost seems like he had to wrestle another match before he could face Lawler, but if that's true, we don't know who his opponent is.

 

Someone should have caught "Elvis P. Presley", especially in Memphis.

 

As for Lawler, it's a simple case of trying too hard to be a heel in a place that he knows doesn't want to boo him anymore. I understand wanting fresh opponents, and there really isn't a way to turn JYD heel in a place like Memphis, but I'd have rather seen Lawler fight lesser heel opponents than resort to obvious racism to try to turn the people who still loved him against him (and failing miserably, I might add).

[Johnny Guitar]

Lawler comes across as desperate in trying to remain a heel. JYD comes across as likeable.

[drew wardlaw]

Lawler's back on his phone, talking to Christie Brinkley no doubt. I got excited thinking Lawler was going to bury monster trucks, but he went another way with it. Lost something there for me.

[GSR]

We first get an interview from the JYD taped at the Dallas Sportatorium. He's got the opportunity to come to Memphis, TN, the home of Elvis P. Presley! Every dog needs a bone to chew on and he's coming to Memphis to find himself a bone, and that bone is the World Heavyweight title belt.

 

Back to Jerry Lawler who is still outside somewhere. He knows that Dave Brown is upset because he's got this video tape but he better not think that he's going to control things, he doesn't run the show round here and can be replaced. The people are already starting to tape the programme to sell to insomniacs as a cure! Next week he'll be back in the studio to put a little more life into the show, but he has an important phone call he's waiting on and needs the reception to be nice and clear. While he's waiting he wants to talk about the Junkyard Dog. He's going to crush him in the middle of the ring, just like those monster trucks crush those regular cars, and then he'll then be able to live up to the name Junk Yard Dog. The dog part is right, because the last time he saw something that looked like him he threw it a bone! He's going to be throwing him more than a bone though. He's going to be throwing him some lefts, some rights, and he'll be feeding them to him all afternoon until he gets down on his hand and knees, like he made his brother King Cobra do, and admit that Jerry Lawler is the one and only true World Heavyweight champion!

 

A couple of good promos from the both building their upcoming match, although more racism again from Lawler. First of all by referring to 'your kind' when talking about the Junkyard Dog, and then saying that he should be shining his shoes.

[Stiva]

Solid promo from JYD that sets him up nicely for the program with Lawler. I like Lawler's promo but agree that it goes a bit long and the casual racism comes off as a bit more desperate when faced with JYD. People are going to cheer the Dog in this program, maybe he didn't need to tread that line. But still, the joke with the phone continues to make me laugh.