You're An Idiot And Here's Why 4.19.07: Jerry Lawler & Memphis Wrestling

Posted by Rob Halden on 04.19.2007

Idiocy is back! This time, everyone in the South! Or, just Jerry Lawler & Memphis Wrestling.

This Week's Idiot: Jerry Lawler & Memphis Wrestling

Jerry ‘The King' Lawler, WWE Hall of Famer and arguably the most decorated champion in the history of pro-wrestling, can be a complete freakin' idiot. Case in point, when his third wife, Stacy Carter (possibly the most talent less Divas in a field of many), was released from the WWE in 2001, Lawler asked for her to be reinstated. When the company didn't comply with his request, he quit one of the most high-profile jobs in professional wrestling. Still, girls make you do crazy things, right?

Well then, unless I missed the gender-transplant episode of ‘Hogan Knows Best', Lawler doesn't have any excuse this time round.

April 27th 2007 was scheduled to see the Memphis Wrestling promote perhaps the single biggest independent wrestling event in recent memory. PGM Clash Of Legends, headlined by Hulk Hogan versus Jerry Lawler. Despite Lawler being under WWE contract as an announcer, the E has allowed Lawler to carry on his part-time wrestling schedule on Indy shows up and down the country. This is despite the fact that Lawler is one of the four of five most upfront and visible members of the company. Along with Vince McMahon, Jim Ross and the current WWE Champion, Lawler is at the forefront of each and every Raw and Pay Per View event. His storied wrestling career aside, having a name that closely associated with the #1 wrestling promotion in the world is a boon for any Indy card. This is certainly not something that the WWE is under any obligation to put into Lawler's contract. In fact, why should the WWE allow one of their most recognisable faces/voices help the competition in a way that brings them no profit whatsoever? Maybe, just maybe, the WWE respect and value Jerry Lawler.

Regardless, Jerry Lawler took this concession that he had been allowed not just one step too far, but a whole damn mile too far. Lawler agreed to wrestle the single biggest name in the history of professional wrestling, and didn't think to tell his boss. He didn't think that wrestling Hulk Hogan would be any different than wrestling Brian Christopher or Koko B. Ware. That right there is either mindless stupidity, or Lawler knowing full well the consequences of such actions and not want anyone to find out.

On top of Hulk Hogan being Hulk Hogan, the bad blood between Hogan and the WWE is not only extremely well-known but has become aired in public by Mr. Hogan himself. Hulk Hogan recently aired the WWE's private and confidential information on a live radio broadcast, a breach of trust that any company in the world would find hard to forgive and forget. Jerry Lawler knows this. He knows that Hulk is not only the biggest name in the industry but is on his employer's shit-list for a very public and damaging insult. To proceed to do business with such a person goes beyond idiotic and crashes through into career-insanity.

The timing of such a match is also an interesting note. Memphis Wrestling waited until Jerry Lawler was inducted into the WWE Hall Of Fame before scheduling this match with his fellow Hall Of Fame inductee, waiting for the WWE to spend out on a larger spotlight for Lawler, before swooping in to capitalise.

No company worth their salt would have ever let this match take place, with one of their featured entertainers and an ex-employee who has very publicly humiliated them. It would quite simply be handing money to a competitor and a guy who screwed you on national radio, and every single person involved in the PGM Clash Of Legends should have known that. Especially Jerry Lawler. Now whether or not the NBC/VH1 argument has any basis or not is debateable, but that aside it makes no business sense whatsoever to allow a match of this status to take place, unless you yourself are promoting it.

The WWE conducted themselves in this matter with commendable grace and good will. Upon pulling Jerry Lawler from this event, they offered to refund Memphis Wrestling the full deposit that had already been put down on renting out the FedExForum Arena. The WWE, who have no obligation or commitment (legal or moral) to Memphis Wrestling in this matter, offered to refund them part of their losses if the show had to be cancelled. I think if you ventured outside Vince McMahon and the WWE, another large corporation would have forced the show to cancel, offered nothing in return and patted themselves on the back for a job well done.

You're An Idiot Because: Your boss pays your wage. Don't piss them off with their enemy and the competition.

On a side-note, if TNA had a lick of sense they send Samoa Joe and Kurt Angle down to the Clash Of Legends and convert a boatload of disgruntled fans over to their product.

On a further side-note, I absolutely love Paul Wight in a way that is almost wrong for one man to feel about another. I am immensely pleased that he is fit, healthy and competing once more, and the upcoming match of Wight Vs Hogan will be twice as big as Lawler Vs Hogan.

Feedback

I'm And Idiot And Here's Why
Last time I printed a response from reader Bob Toskey that said the following on the Mick Foley column.
"with the release of many ECW related dvds and books along with WWE 24/7, I'm sure a good chunk of the audience did know who Terry Funk and Tommy Dreamer were. That match was still a heavily promoted match and the show did really well and the match was very good and I don't think it's 100% because of Edge."

When I originally received this message I thought that Bob made a great point about the use of the 24/7 and DVD media and what impact and influence that might have had on the newer WWE fans who weren't around for ECW. Only, instead of saying that, I went for cheap laughs and probably called him a name. Bob called me on it and he was right, he did make a good point and I didn't call attention to that as I had once intended. The problem is, cheap laughs are just so darn tempting. So here it is…Good point Bob, and well made.

Now things were largely positive this week with much love for Cena. Or me. Or both. But before we get to the good stuff, let's see who was PMS'ing this week.

"cena is the worst peice of crap to ever step foot in the ring. he deservs to be injured and go to ecw or something that people won't give a shit. he sucks!"
Brian McDonough

Stuff like this bowls me over. I know the IWC is supposed to be full of hate-filled 16 year olds, but in this day and age, when we've seen the horrendous damage that injuries have inflicted upon some of pro-wrestling's nearest and dearest, to wish injury because you don't like a guy's gimmick is just appalling. And immature. No matter what the level of competition the bottom line is that wrestlers put their health, and in some cases their lives, on the line to entertain us. To make us feel good for a couple of hours. People don't come out of a movie they dislike and wish the actors all got sick or broke their necks or something. Well, I guess adults don't. Maybe Brian here does.

Onto the good stuff!

Jim G
"Something that I thought of yesterday made me realize what might cause part of these Cena-haters. John Cena is in a unique position, one that men like Hogan, Austin, and the Rock never really saw. He is part of the new guard of the WWE, but many of the old guard are still very much present, such as HHH, HBK, and 'Taker. When Hogan appeared on the scene, it was during a shift in the entire wrestling landscape, with a new focus on large scale promotion. Therefore, he didn't have anybody to really compete with, instead, he was the beginning of what we have now, so fans loved him. When WCW snatched up most of the WWF main event, they were forced to create new stars with the men of the Attitude era, like Austin, the Rock, and HHH. These men did not have the majority of the established main event around to be booed against, so they succeeded easily (plus, they were incredibly talented). Now, we see John Cena being moved into the main event, but the previous set of upper level performers is still fairly present, enough for fans to be reluctant to accepting the future. Is Cena any less talented than Hogan, Rock, and Austin? I'd say no, with the potential that he may actually outdo them in some ways by the time he retires."

Great point Jim, one I hadn't thought of at the time. Generally speaking when a new talent is elevated to the top spot, it's because there's a gap that's been left by the main guys exiting (whether we're talking territory days or WWF/WCW).

Shining A Spotlight's Michael Weyer dropped by with some Cena love.
"Hey, good job on the Cena column. I've been one of the few IWC guys defending him the last year and nice to see someone else point out why having him as champ is good for WWE. He's a great seller and improving in the ring and when it comes to big matches (like Umaga and WM) he brings his A-game. And you're dead right, guys like Hogan and Flair would hold the belt for years at a time without as much complaint. Yet people wanted a guy who was overexposed ten years ago and long ridden as self-centered win the belt? That smacks of hypocrisy to me."

Dustin E. Smothers
"I'm a lifelong wrestling fan from Iowa. I'm 23 and I have been watching since I was 4. I can understand where you are coming from with your feelings towards anti-Cena fans. I used to be a huge mark for John Cena, until he came to RAW. However, I feel that the true idiots are the Cena fans who are taking things way to seriously at times. I can name at least five situations where I've been at a live event and have been verbally threatened by Cena fans for booing him. I've had a Coke thrown on me and been called countless names. I believe that everyone has the right to boo and cheer whomever they choose, but recently I have become jaded by the new generation of wrestling fans. I remember hearing people boo Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels and even Hulk Hogan when I was younger – but I can't remember hearing someone verbally harassed or called names because they chose to cheer for someone else. I guess it almost seems like this has become more of a war between marks and smarks. I was at a live event after Wrestlemania 22 and almost caused a riot because I was cheering Triple H when everyone around me was cheering for Cena. I wonder if anyone else has had these experiences? While I have only discussed the negative, there have been positive experiences, I even think I've enhanced some younger wrestling fans experiences at live events. I was booing Cena at another event and had a younger girl sitting in front of me cheering for him, I'd boo louder and she'd cheer louder…and eventually when Super-Cena won the match she came unglued, turning around towards me and making sure I got every bit of her cheering in my face. I can't imagine the young girl had ever been so proud to win a shouting contest with a drunk 23 year old  I agree that the wrestling landscape is changing, I just hope that it doesn't become the war zone in the stands that I see it becoming at times."

I don't want to say that Dustin's getting beat up by the 13 year old girls who love Cena but…I think Dustin's getting beat up by the 13 year old girls who love Cena. Lemme know the next time you're heading to a show bro, I'll send along my little sister to watch you back. Seriously though, I know what you mean. We've all been the older-guy smark in the legion of fans, but I've never known it to get out of hand. Except that time I started up a "Where's My Pizza" chant right next to some charming I-talien gentlemen.

Joshua W
"Just wanted to write in and tell ya I really enjoyed your article on Cena... Ya
honestly made me see the guy in a different light... I mean sure many members of
the IWC hates his guts with a passion, and I don't blame them.
I've never been a fan of Cena at all, at any time. But I agree with ya, in that
he IS indeed a genius. That he will be the next "Hogan, Austin or Rock" and that
a younger generation needs a young, charismatic guy (despite my dislike for him,
I gotta call it as I see it) like Cena for them to mark out for, for the next
many years....
And that's what got me. You're absolutely correct on that point, and I can't
take away from the millions of dollars and financial success Cena's brought to
the WWE, despite his lack of any sorta real wrestling skill. But as you had
mentioned, guys like Hogan, Rock and so on, never could wrestle like Bret Hart,
Benoit, etc."

I like to think of my work here at 411 as changing the world…one mind at a time.

Chris Wingert
"I'm just e-mailing you to tell you that I agree with you column about Cena. I'm not a giant Cena fanboy, but I do find him entertaining and I don't think he deserves the backlash that he's received. The one aspect to Cena that I consider his biggest asset, which I don't think you covered is Cena's work ethic. You can see that he gives it his all, every time he's in the ring, backstage, or on one of the WWE's many promotional tours. I don't think that I've ever seen him, lazy, sloppy, or uninterested, regardless of what his night has in store. There are some wrestlers, like HBK sometimes, that if they are not happy in the outcome of the match ahead, you can see it in their eyes. I've never seen that look on Cena's face. He goes out there every night, and gives it his all. I would much rather have the man get mixed reactions but bust his ass, then have some one half-ass it and get all positive reactions."

100% on the money there Chris. John Cena not only gives it his all every time you see him, but he looks like he loves doing. You can see the passion.

Sean O'Brian
"i agree with your article on cena. he's put over as this generation's hogan, but it is not a good thing. i didn't grow up during the days of hogan in his wwf prime, but i know all about it, and i can say i would not have been a fan of him, but fans in the 80s for the most part were not as smart because fans have evolved. main reason? the internet, and the IWC to be more specific. we know everything about these stars ( or like to think we do.) back in the 80s, appealing to fans was more simpler. the majority of people did not know of backstage politics, or how real wrestlers were in life. they only knew them from their tv, or when they saw them in character. cena being given this push is not good any more, at least from a face standpoint. his push is cartoony, unreal, and staler than hogan's use of brother. he should've been turned a heel months ago, and definitely by mania 23. but wwe and stubborn old vince chose to keep him face for fear of merchandise sales dropping. as its been said before, this is similar to the rock being turned heel, and it really freshened him up. cena has heat bc us anti-cena fans despise his push, and his fakeness (he's not a marine, and he's sure not austin, why doesn't he just stay true and rap lie he used to?) i don't hate cena. i hate his push. they need to use the heat from it and make cena the most hated heel right now. his turn could be bigger than the rock's, and we wouldn't pay to see him as a face get his ass kicked, but as a heel. and it would be o so sweet. wwe has gotten all the heat in a good way, and now its turned sour...listen to the fans vince."

I think it's pretty tough to say you wouldn't have been a Hogan fan back in the day. You're thinking with a modern, post-Hogan mind-set. Back then you would have been a starry-eyed kid like the rest of us, before Attitude, ECW and nWo changed the way we looked at good guys and bad guys. Also, it's almost a moot point to call anything in wrestling "fake" and "unreal". Also, I hear comic books spread lies and mischief!!!

JoeWCO is back! YAAAY! This week Joe writes:
"I'd like to explain why I hate Cena. So here it is, I don't hate Cena. I hate Cena the face. You were partically correct when you touched on comparing Cena to Bret Hart and Hulk Hogan. A small part of the reason I dislike Cena is because he took the belt that Hart and Hogan held with honor, and turned it into a joke. The spinning WWE emblem. To keep with his hip-hop gimmick. The WWE Championship that used to be a "time honored tradition" became a gimmick personalization stepping stone that crushes more deserving individuals like Chris Jericho, Edge, and Christian underneath its weight, and not because Cena wants to be remembered as the best wrestler, the way Bret Hart and Shawn Micheals did, but instead so that Cena could break through to the movies like The Rock and Hulk Hogan did. To me Cena is no-more than a Diva Search contestant who wants to win just so they can get into Playboy Magazine. If you remember the Diva Search (something that seemed ridiculous and pointless) there was actually one woman who wanted to win so that she could become a Female Wrestler. I believe her name was Melena. She lost in favor Layla, who wanted not to wrestle but to get her name known. Now she is a pointless part of ECW, while Melena is trying to break in the hard way, through Ohio Valley Wrestling. That's my analogy. Cena is like Ashley Massaro, Layla El, and Christy Hemme. He like them could care less about WWE or Wrestling, but about getting a CD with the WWE logo on it so it sells, despite the fact that it is complete garbage. Or getting into an equally crappy movie called The Marine so that he can show up on Conan O' Brien with the WWE Championship on his shoulder so that people will go see his movie. Not very subtle is Cena. Meanwhile the more deserving individuals who Melena represents, your Christian Cage's and Edge's, are being held back...but in the end will go down the same way in Wrestling History that Bret Hart has. "The Best there was and the Best there every will be." Cena will go down the way (hopefully on a smaller degree than the Rock and Hogan)...a flash in the pan, someone who cared more about movies and CD's than about wrestling. Its not about heels and faces, its not about wrestling ability (because God knows I love the Foleys and Austins) Its about heart. Something Cena has yet to show me he has."

To say John Cena only wants to be famous is insane. Insane, JoeWCO!! To think that any professional wrestler gets into the brutal, painful and weary world of wrestling on the off-chance they might one day become one of the four or five guys to be able to break out into movies is just crazy. Wrestlers with no love or passion for the business soon expose themselves, like Nathan Jones, Brock Lesnar and Goldberg. No one takes on the schedule and sacrifice of any wrestling career to try and break out into another career. And John Cena has zero control over whether he gets offered albums or movies on the back of what he does for a living. So, y'know, shush.

And finally this week, Rob Rabies (who writes about proper, official sports) offers up the following.
"Conflating Cena with Hogan simply because the "WWE needs another Hogan" and that thereby necessitates the push does a disservice to most men. You're buying into the same line of thought as Vince McMahon, who once made the ludicrous claim that he could have pushed Greg Valentine in Hogan's spot and had been just as successful. You're automatically assuming that Cena, although charismatic, has the charisma of Hogan/Rock (he doesn't approach this), or the resonance that the SCSA character had (which he also lacks). Furthermore, you are mistaking X-Pac heat for controversy. Smarks don't buy PPVs to see Cena get his ass kicked, because they all know he's always going over. He has no bearing on whether or not they consume the product—they will just as they always have.
And one more thing, what exactly does the Hogan push do? It buries everyone in its path. Look at the pushes that Lashley and Cena are in the midst of. Two weeks ago, Lashley defeated Ken Kennedy--Mr. Money in the Bank and Orton—former WHT holder, in a handicap match in what amounted to a glorified squash. Yeah, you can make stars out of the pushees, but if anyone thinks that Edge was made by his feud with Cena they are an imbecile. Edge never cleanly pinned Cena and won two matches through clear chickenshit tactics (brass knucks and multiple distractions) and by being the 6th man to face Cena in one night, a man who could still not put him down with one finisher. Not one fan believes that Edge (who along with Orton is the JTTS for DX and Cena) is a credible threat to Cena, he's just fodder for the push. The true irony of this is that Edge was "made" by your last idiot—Mick Foley. Let's move on though…
The one thing that most wrestling fans currently decry is the lack of main event depth in the current roster. Well, how can you cultivate that depth when no one will buy any of the challengers as legitimate threats to the title? The absolute laziest form of booking is to have an unbeatable champion who destroys anything in his past regardless of circumstances. Anyone can say, "let's take that guy and make him unbeatable", and if you put him over everyone, he will be established, but you pay a high cost in the long run."

Yeah, there's no real argument against that Lashley thing. That was really, really stupid on the E's part. Whilst I don't believe it's always lazy booking to have an unbeatable champion, in fact I think it can lead to some great champions and some great reigns, I do agree that more often than not it can lead to some stale and boring months. If I were to criticise Cena and his reign, it would merely be because I'm tired of having 3 face champions on all 3 brands. Cena being the faciest-face of the bunch, he can attract a lot of flack. At the point in the game I think Cena's over and established enough to drop the title again and give us some interesting hunting stuff and a great heel champ for a while.

Before I go I'd like to say that no matter what your opinion, I appreciate and respect the passion and enthusiasm displayed by anyone who takes the time to write me. Unless you're being a f*cking idiot.