[1991-02-02-USWA-Memphis TV] Jerry Lawler & Jeff Jarrett vs Fabulous Ones / Interview: Jerry Lawler

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

Last few minutes of the big MSC match. Cornette tries to sneak Lane powder and Jackie Fargo sees it and kicks powder in his face. Lane is about to attack Fargo with the racket, Keirn stops him, they bump heads and Lawler and Jarrett regain the titles. Great finish! Cornette tries to hit Fargo with the racket after the match, and Fargo catches him and chases him away. This leads to Eddie Gilbert storming the ring and attacking Lawler. He tries a piledriver, but Lawler pulls the strap down and Gilbert ain't doin' shit. This was a really impressive collection of talent, and I hate to see so many empty seats for something built up so well. Total chaos, as they brawl up into the stands of Mid South Coliseum and Gilbert throws fire at Lawler.

 

Lawler makes sense of the angle afterwards, as I was wondering why Gilbert and the Fabs were co-existing. The explanation: Gilbert feigned being sidelined by the Fabs and Cornette. They'd all work together to take out Lawler, and then they could split $25,000 between the four of them. That's actually genius! Gilbert barges into Lawler's dressing room while he's explaining all of this, and Gilbert is quite upset at these accusations. Eddie Marlin tries to calm him down, and he says the hell with you!

 

We wrap up with Lawler being interviewed in a studio, looking dapper. He compares Gilbert to a chihuahua at a friend's house that nips at your heels, then runs away every time you turn around. He doesn't get much more out than that before Gilbert completely blindsides him (seriously, I jumped and totally did not expect that) and they have a HELL of a brawl. The locker room clears to pull them apart.

 

All of this was amazing. It doesn't get much better than this, folks. Gilbert/Lawler has been going on since summer of 1990 and I still don't want it to end.

[shoe]

Another wrinkle in the fabric of the Lawler/Gilbert feud.

[PeteF3]

Perfect use of Fargo and a perfect payoff to the Saturday angle--Jackie prevents cheating, Keirn prevents Lane from clobbering Jackie with the racket, and it all backfires on the Fabs and Lawler & Jarrett are the new tag team champions. EDDIE GILBERT makes a shock return to Memphis afterward. Lawler absorbs two piledrivers, yanks the strap down, and takes Gilbert almost to the locker room, but after the Fabs lay out Jarrett & Dundee they make their way to the back as well, and hold Lawler for a Gilbert fireball.

 

We get cool bootleg-style locker room footage of a post-scene Lawler interview. He explains that Gilbert, Cornette, and the Fabs all split the bounty money that Funk laid on Hot Stuff and are planning to do the same with the bounties on Lawler & Jarrett. That's borderline clairvoyance on Lawler's part, but hey, it works for me. This is all interrupted by Gilbert trying to barge into the locker room, but he's headed off by Eddie Marlin. Gilbert gets time to cut a psychotic promo before Marlin tells him to take off or get arrested.

 

Lawler's out in the studio and is just getting warmed up when Gilbert flies into view and one of the greatest pull-aparts I've ever seen erupts. Just as awesome as Lawler/Snowman and Gilbert/Jarrett. This feud is just getting started--they watered this down with the presence of the Memphis Mafia and the Gilbert/Jarrett sidetrack feud, but now it seems like we're going to get Lawler vs. Gilbert for real. Let's do this!

 

("Watered down" is not pejorative here...it was pretty genius, in fact, and the Gilbert/Jarrett feud obviously speaks for itself.)

[Kevin Ridge]

Fargo letting the guys wrestle and not be too involved until he catches Lane with powder in his hands. Fargo knocks it into Lane’s face. Stan is not happy and goes to try hit Fargo with the racket but Keirn stops him. Good guys win in the end. Seems really quick to already have the Fabulous Ones at each other like this. Gilbert runs in so he’s back again. Ones are back on the same page by the end. Fireball into Lawler’s face! Well this makes the previous USWA-TX make more sense when Lawler was showing the effects of fireball.

 

So the story now is this was all a conspiracy with Cornette, Fabs and Gilbert to collect the bounty from Funk and make it seem like Gilbert was kicked out of the territory. Where is Terry by the way?

 

Lawler is a suit! Jerry gets a few words in before Gilbert shows. They brawl and knock over Dave Brown’s desk. Bunch of wrestlers separate them.

[soup23]

I really loved the mSC stuff and agree with Loss that it saddened me to see so many empty seats. Lawler taking the fireball in the shoulder was well done with him having a scar in the previous tag and him rubbing lotion in the back stage segment here. The pull apart between him and Gilbert is very intense and its amazing how they kept this feud fresh.

[ajtroma]

Eddie's back after a quick trip to Canada (at least thats where the Apter mags said he went. The CNWA? Something like that) and Lawler and the crew pull a pretty convincing little story out of their collective ass to tie this whole Lawler-Fabs-Funk bounty-Gilbert mess together. Thats the split-second thinking-on-your-feet creativity I love from Memphis wrestling.

 

Amidst the brawl, Lawler rips Eddie's very new looking, super trendy Guess t-shirt, which were NOT cheap. I bet there was mild heat there for that one.

 

In the dozen or so folks that came to break this up was Eli the Eliminator. I'd forgotten his little two-week run here.

 

Jerry Lynn had some serious hair back then.

[garretta]

This kind of stuff would have packed the MSC just five years before. Now, they're not even making enough money to keep the Fabs around long enough to give their part of the angle a proper wrapup. How sad is that?

 

The backstage promos are the best part of this, especially Gilbert's. He completely loses his cool at the very idea of Lawler and the fans knowing about where he's been and what he's been doing, although Lawler's explanation definitely makes the most sense.

 

Somehow Marlin escapes getting laid out for poking his finger in a wrestler's chest once too often; I always thought that authority figures, at least in this era, had to keep their hands off the wrestlers because touching them in an aggressive manner makes them acceptable targets. If that's the case, one or more Memphis heels should have put the old man in his grave a long time ago.

 

Did Max Andrews ever appear on WMC? I know he made at least a few cameos in Dallas. Not that it matters, because everyone knew who really ran Memphis anyway.

 

I almost forgot to add that Fargo's three-count had to be one of the fastest in wrestling history, even from a biased referee. No wonder Corny waffled him with the racquet. I wonder how it would have gone if the Fabs had stayed in Memphis. My guess is that it would have ended up Keirn (with Fargo as his advisor) against Lane (with Corny). Stan may not have wanted to beat Fargo up prior to this match, but he sure didn't seem like he wanted to turn his back on Corny either.

 

The pull-apart was really wild. Lawler wearing a suit made it even crazier, because he looked like he wasn't ready for it. Lawler's comparison of Eddie to a Chihuahua is right on target, as Eddie makes sure never to take him on face-to-face. They may need another redesign of the set after the announce podium got knocked over.

[dawho5]

Great stuff all-around, capped by a wild in-studio brawl. I will miss the Fabs, but Eddie being back and at Lawler's throat makes up for it.