[1997-05-26-WWF-Raw] Jerry Lawler promo / Jerry Lawler vs Goldust

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Phil Schneider]

We start with Lawler spitting hot fire in a backstage promo. He calls Goldust a flaming fag, Marlena the biggest Goldigger in GA and says they should have named their daughter Target because everyone in Atlanta took a shot. Goldust jumps him at the bell and they go toe to to at a breakneck pace. The rights and lefts are as good as you would hope a Dustin v. Lawler punch exchange would be. The show was in Evansville IN, so Lawler get a huge crowd reaction even as a heel, including a Lawler chant as he was choking Dustin. Lawler gets bumped to the floor and bitch slapped by Marlena but he steals a quick pin with his feet on the ropes. Post match was great too, with them brawling to the stage and Lawler taking a huge rolling bump all the way down the ramp. Total bell to bell brawl in which every moment was great. Really makes me want to seek out more Goldust matches here, as this was brawling at the level of his best stuff with Buck and Funk.

[Loss]

They are in Evansville, so Lawler is over big. Times have changed, and thankfully so. I really like the tone of this promo and enjoyed it for the most part but the gay slurs are pretty harsh. I liked how much Jim Ross had the ability to talk about anything and everything, such as the USWA existence and meeting Dustin Rhodes as a 16-year-old in Jim Crockett's office. Vince even mentioned Lawler once suing the WWF over his moniker! I didn't like this as much as Phil, mainly because the piledriver from Lawler was pretty much no-sold when Goldust popped back up. Lawler ate a piledriver too, and he sold it but was right back on offense within a minute or two. After they got that out of their system, this was a pretty fun brawl. Lawler ended up getting a pin with his feet on the ropes, which I think totally worked as a finish. Goldust isn't happy with that result and they brawl when it's all over. Check out Goldust doing all the Dusty spots and Lawler rolling all the way down the arena ramp!

[ajtroma]

Just for the sake of noting, the term "flaming fag" got a babyface pop live in the building.

[Zenjo]

Even for the attitude era it's amazing they aired that infamous promo. I hadn't seen the match before, which was decent because of the crowd reactions.

[flyonthewall2983]

Just for the sake of noting, the term "flaming fag" got a babyface pop live in the building.

Southern Indiana for you. But to be fair it would have gotten the same reaction in Fort Wayne, too.

[ajtroma]

To be fair, half the audience was probably from Kentucky. But yeah, I was rather ashamed.

[flyonthewall2983]

Evansville practically is Kentucky.

[Kevin Ridge]

Lawler gets a pop from the crowd when shown on the Titantron. This promo floored me at the time with Lawler using the language he did about Goldust. Something you would not get away with these days. Quarterfinal match up on Raw. They are starting this the year before with 96 King of the Ring. Announcers acknowledge Lawler’s local fan base. He is getting huge crowd chants during this. Lawler scores the win with his feet on the ropes to advance to semifinals and does a great exaggerated roll down the stage after taking a shot from Goldust. Crowd were still cheering him.

[soup23]

Opening promo was definitely extreme and full of "attitude". I did dig the target line a lot. This match was a ton of fun with Lawler getting an Edge in Canada throughout it. The brawling elements were done well and Lawler is able to sneak out a cheap victory much to the delight of the audience. Post match with him rolling down the ramp felt very Memphis.

[PeteF3]

Dig how Ross and McMahon (who are both awesome here) are more offended at Lawler's comments about Marlena and Dakota than they are about using a slur to describe Goldust. I was ambivalent on the Goldust unmasked interviews before, but the fact is they actually got him surprisingly over for a few weeks...until they threw him in the ring with Jerry Lawler in Evansville. Not the last time in 1997 that the WWF would book a prospective babyface in a city where he'd predictably be shat on. You have to respect Lawler's commitment to staying heel as best he can. Pretty spirited match--the kind of solid mid-card bout that was rapidly disappearing from the thinning WWF roster. Goldust actually throws better punches here than Lawler does, but the King ends up stealing a pretty big upset victory.

[Exposer]

Lawler's promo is unreal. He's never been short of controversial insults. Good lord. The match itself is fine. Fun for what it is. Evansville loves Lawler of course which doesn't bode well for Goldust. The baby face push just isn't working. In this case, it's silly to run this match in this town, but the guy can't catch a break. Lawler wins with his feet on the ropes but is chased up the ramp by Goldust. Goldust does his Rhodes version of Dusty strikes & sends Lawler rolling down the ramp in a fun spot. Marlena steps on Lawler with her high heel as she joins Goldust on the ramp. Fun segment altogether. Lawler is always a blast.