[1998-09-05-MPPW-TV] Jerry Lawler vs Billy Joe Travis

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

Randy Hales explains the stips of this match first - if Lawler wins, Hales is in a cage at ringside for the duration of the show while if Travis wins, Stacy is the one in the cage. I'm enjoying all of these Lawler-Travis matches and this was another fun one, but I'm waiting for at least one to go to the next level. Travis gets a win after a ref distraction and chain shot, but the decision is reversed when the referee finds the chain on Travis's person. As a result, Hales has to spend the entire television show in a cage at ringside. Hales tries to bail and is stopped by a big chunk of his roster, who drag him in. This isn't really particularly demeaning on its own, but it gets over because Hales puts it over as humiliating. Again, I admire Hales showing so much ass to try to get this feud with Lawler over. Austin-McMahon has been a little quiet for a while so this no longer feels like a straight copycat feud at all. Five months in and still totally fresh.

[soup23]

I wish this would have had a bit more time but the action was again good punch/kick type stuff. The stipulation does sound a little dull but it is something they can build a show around and Hales sells it well. This has honestly propelled itself into one of the top 3-4 feuds of the year from an inauspicious start but i do wish Hales' side would have won here as it does seem like Lawler has the upper hand for the vast majority of it. (*3/4)

[PeteF3]

Yeah, you kind of wish Hales had another heel threat on his side who was capable of standing up to Lawler. I like Travis but he's played out in that regard and it's hard to buy him as a true main eventer the way you could with Dundee or Idol. Hales continues to get more and more comfortable in this role, and while it may be a bit of an ego trip to book yourself as lead heel, you can't accuse him of booking himself to be overly dominant either.