[1998-04-18-MPPW-TV] Jerry Lawler vs Bill Dundee

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Tim Cooke]

I was disappointed in their 1995 and 1996 USWA Studio matches, mostly out of ridiculously high expectations. But with low expectations coming into this match, I was pleasantly surprised. This is the digest version of their big spots and everything looks great. The punching, especially from Lawler, is super tight. Lawler hits a great bulldog and Dundee hits his football chop tackles, which Lawler bumps big for. Austin Idol is also really good on commentary, coming off as a stuck up mid-40’s bachelor who is trying to egg both Lawler and Dundee into a fight with him.

[Loss]

Dundee interrupts Lawler's personal appearance plug to get the match started. Oh no he didn't! The story here is that Dundee is taking this match seriously as a chance to prove himself again while Lawler is distracted and more focused on the celebratory atmosphere. Lawler shouts, "I wanna show you something Steve Austin taught me!" and hits a stunner to a big studio pop. This is a bit overbooked with two ref bumps. Austin Idol cracks Dundee with a chair at ringside and Dundee is counted out of the ring, giving Lawler the win. This was hyped as the "final confrontation", but we know there will be more matches between the two in the future. Fun match.

 

Dundee vows revenge on Austin Idol after the commercial break and signs a contract to face Idol in the near future.

[soup23]

Match only goes about 6 minutes but was a ton of fun featuring some great punches and telling a good story of how both men are treating the same match so differently. When I first saw/heard Idol I rolled my eyes at them bringing back everyone from the 80's in 1998 but he won me over with this sleazy character reviving the glory days like they are the present. He ends up costing Dundee the match by hitting him with a chair. (**1/2)

[Migs]

Simple but effective - dug the story of the match and the angle. Not sure how exciting a Dundee-Idol match in 1998 would be, though.

[shoe]

It was a good segment. I loved Dundee knocking Lawler off his thrown to start the match. I always love Dundee's clips. Having Idol interfere makes it feel like old times. Fun stuff.

[PeteF3]

Lawler and Dundee could probably fall out of bed tomorrow and put on a good match--that's how good their fundamentals and chemistry are. Fall out of bed 18 years ago and the match will be even better. This is a really fun TV bout from the word go with Dundee upending the crown and interrupting Lawler's church bulletin promo, with some great punches and good offense and a few new wrinkles like the Stunner. Austin Idol decides he's going to determine the winner and brains Dundee with a chair to give Lawler the countout victory.

[TravJ1979]

Loved the start of the match, the end of the match and the promo/angle after the match. The match itself was so depressing. Watching them punch each other for 5 minutes I really can't complain, but the aesthetics of it and the lack of heat killed it.