[1990-06-02-USWA-Memphis TV] Jerry Lawler and The Snowman / Jerry Lawler vs Freezer Thompson

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[PeteF3]

Loud and noticeably mixed reaction for Lawler's entrance. Lawler poo-poohs Snowman's beatdown of him during the match as well as his choice of attire. We get the Magic 101 deejay and his masked bodyguard that we saw earlier again. Then we get some not particularly attractive ladies parading around ringside and this is getting bizarre. "Bundy the Gorilla" is also there and I'm smelling an angle, if Bill Watts hasn't poisoned my brain. Lawler and Snowman then start trading trash talk, and Snowman wearing what is presumably a competing radio station shirt is a really nice touch. Lawler delivers a much more traditional pro wrestling-style promo until Snowman dares him to enter the ring, bringing out Eddie Marlin, who shuts down the idea of having a match on television.

 

For Lawler's match with Freezer Thompson, Downtown Bruno and somebody are shoehorned into things taking notes as Lawler continues to dare Snowman to enter the ring. Lawler still works heel, getting Calhoun to intervene against Snowman so he can drop an elbow into Freezer's groin.

 

Sort of more of the same here with some really weird diversions. A guest referee for Monday night is hyped but his identity is never disclosed that we see.

[Loss]

kick butt *clap* kick butt *clap* kick butt *clap* kick butt *clap*

 

The fans are REALLY into this feud. This is compelling stuff that doubled the attendance at Mid South Coliseum, actually. After the women make their rounds, Lawler cuts a scathing promo on Snowman, and Snowman wants him to get in the ring. As Pete mentioned, Lawler hasn't fully turned yet, but he's not acting as obnoxious as he was.

 

Lawler goes into the ring to face Freezer Thompson, a prelim guy who is likely not just coincidentally black. Downtown Bruno has been recruited to watch Lawler's back, which takes forever to get started because of Lawler's reaction to the rowdy crowd and Snowman's antics at ringside. This has to be one of the most heated studio crowds in history. The squash is prolonged much longer than it would normally be to play off the drama of Snowman at ringside and get over the Lawler/Snowman feud.

 

The most interestingly booked and fresh feeling feud of the year.

[soup23]

3 weeks in and the angle is still going real strong for me. Crowd seems electric and I love the feel of everything that goes on between the interaction of Lawler/Eddie Marlin/Snowman. Lawler also had some even better than usual punches for him in his match with Thompson.

[Kevin Ridge]

Lawler was not impressed with Snowman’s performance in previous match. Van Lane (sp?) needs to iron his jacket. Lots of wrinkles. Some lovely ladies join us. Here comes Snowman. Lawler ain’t scared.

 

Lawler scheduled for a match. Hey Harvey. Lawler getting into it with some fans. Lawler tagging Freezer with some lefts and gets the victory. Marlin trying to calm things down with Snowman. Crowd were good.

[ajtroma]

Of course, Lawler's opponent is black. Maybe Im reading too much into that since Memphis always had a ton of black job guys.

 

I have literally no idea who the shorter Brian Lee looking dude that was sidekicking with Bruno is at all.

 

Why the hell would that DJ WANT a bodyguard to keep those ladies away? Those raven-haired hardbodies in the lingerie (and Im not a big fan of fancy lacey lingeree. It always seems like such a waste of money). were pretty fine. BTW, the era of the DJ getting tons of the poonanny were long gone, even back in 1990 so this was all bull cookies.

[Cox]

Lawler coming out and clarifying that The Snowman did not, in fact, actually beat his brains out reminds me of something jdw might say.

 

These ladies have some serious 80's hair.

 

Good promo by Lawler to keep this hot issue going.

[garretta]

Lawler is gold here, straddling the fence by defending the honor of the promotion in one way (by continuing to give Snowman title shots) while still wrestling as a heel (his beating of Freezer Thompson, which didn't contain one legit wrestling move).

 

The interesting thing about all this continues to be that they have no problem essentially proving Snowman's point; Lawler's being protected from a beating on television and the loss of status that would go with it by an unusually physical Eddie Marlin and the studio security. Eddie has no fear for his own safety whatsoever, consistently poking Snowman forcefully in the chest and sticking a finger inches from his face. Presumably, Snowman doesn't beat him to death for fear of being banned from the USWA, but this makes him look like something far less than the kick-ass invading force he's being talked up as, and allows Lawler to take shot after shot at him on the mic with impunity.

 

It's becoming more and more obvious that they don't want to turn Lawler face, which making Marlin into a sacrificial lamb would undoubtedly do, so it's only a matter of time before this stuff devolves into the same old Lawler heel schtick, The only question is how they're going to get it there. (Yes, I've read some of the other threads, but even if I hadn't, it's been obvious from the start that there's a level to which they're just not going to go that would put it above business as usual. From what I've read, the Moondogs feud from '92, which is in no way a shoot, actually comes off as more chaotic and "real" in a wrestling sense than this stuff ever did. I can't wait to see for myself down the road.)

 

Don't get me wrong, this was still brilliantly booked, and maybe I would have needed to be a Memphian in 1990 to feel the full impact. But as terrific as it is, it's not the game-changer some tout it as. Multiple non-workers (especially Dave Brown) would have needed to do stretcher jobs over a period of several weeks, the show would have had to be actually knocked off the air at least two weeks in a row due to the chaos (not taken off by the suits, but knocked off in the sense of technical difficulties), and some type of quasi-shoot that was even better than the ones we got would have been needed to make it that way.

[drew wardlaw]

The ladies from Night Moves looked bummed. Lawler is so fascinating here, and his tweener role combined with the content of the feud is really something unique. It seems like there's a lot of analysis that cane be done here. Lots to extrapolate.

[GSR]

Back in the studio and Jerry Lawler is out to talk with Dave Brown about what we’ve just seen. He heard the Snowman running his mouth about how he’d beat his brains out, but last time he checked he didn’t know someone could walk and talk without a brain, and he’s out here walking and talking so he obviously still has his brain! Snowman ran his mouth so much about what he was going to do and if you watch that tape he didn’t do diddly squat! Before he talks any more about Snowman he wants to bring out his good friend Van Wayne Bright and his masked bodyguard from Magic 101. The two of them will be at the Mid-South Coliseum on Monday night, and Bright has this bodyguard not to keep the men from getting at him, but to keep the ladies off him! He’s bought some scantily clad ladies from Night Moods with him (they too will be at the Coliseum) and they parade around ringside. After this slightly weird interlude ‘The King’ returns to the matter in hand, The Snowman.

 

Lawler can understand why someone like Van Wayne would need a bodyguard to keep the lovely ladies off him, but as ugly as he is, ain’t no ladies want to be around Snowman, so why does he always have to surround himself with bodyguards? Snowman is on the other side of the ring with some friends, and Lawler says that proves what he just told everyone, that he’s a gutless wonder scared to go anywhere by himself. He always wants to have a couple of goons hanging around in case it gets a little hot in the kitchen! He says that he didn’t back down from him, all his big muscles don’t impress him and he’ll take him on anytime, anywhere, anyway he wants and doesn’t care who the referee is. Eddie Marlin is out again and Lawler tells Snowman that he ran his mouth, he put his fist down it, and that’s exactly what he’s going to do again Monday night. He’s going to shut him up once and for all! Snowman makes his way towards ‘The King’ and he says that they don’t have to wait until Monday and can do it now. Marlin tells Lawler that they won’t be wrestling on TV and he jokes about how now The Snowman has Eddie Marlin protecting him, but he won’t be able to protect him Monday night.

 

Lawler is to wrestle Freezer Thompson on TV. For some reason Downtown Bruno is at ringside taking notes on the match, while Snowman is sat back in the audience with Eddie Marlin in close proximity to stop things from getting out of hand. Of course Lawler is feuding with a black man over the premise of race so the jobber has to be black! The crowd sound like they start a ‘Snowman’ chant at one point during this. There is a great bit where Lawler has Freezer in the corner and he’s peppering him with lefts to the jaw and the stomach. ‘The King’ gets the pin after the fist drop and he and Snowman continue to argue with one another after the match, but Marlin and security are between them to prevent anything physical from happening.

[dawho5]

So you have the WCW botching main event feuds over and over, WWF pushing Warrior on the national level. And in Memphis there is a completely professionally booked promotion probably not making money at all. EXPLAIN!