wrestlingnewscenter: Jerry Lawler's Classic Memphis Wrestling Report-May 11, 2019

Video of Jeff Jarrett opened the show with Jeff saying, "Hey! You don't wanna miss today's episode of Jerry Lawler's Classic Memphis Wrestling! You know why? Because it's all about me, Double J, Jeff Jarrett!"

Jerry "The King" Lawler is at the Fitzgerald's Casino in Tunica, Mississippi again this week to spotlight the career of Jeff Jarrett. First, we get to look back at Jeff Jarrett's start in pro wrestling as a referee on Memphis tv. "Superstar" Bill Dundee and "Nature Boy" Buddy Landel were not fans of the young Jeff Jarrett.

Lawler said, "Certainly not a very good way to start your professional wrestling career. But you know what? When Jeff didn't quit, at that point, we knew that he had what it took to be a star one day. And so we sent the cameras up to his house and this was the first time that he had ever sat in front of a camera. And trust me, sitting down in front of a camera by yourself can sometimes be a little more scary than going in the ring with somebody like Bill Dundee and Buddy Landel. But, here's what happened the first time Jeff Jarrett had an answer to Dundee and Landel."

Later in 1986, Jeff Jarrett went on to face Tony Falk in his debut match.

Lawler mentioned that "Jeff was the son of Jerry Jarrett, who was Lawler's business partner in Memphis Wrestling for twenty years. From 1977 when they started Memphis Wrestling all the way up until 1997. Of course, Jeff went on from Memphis Wrestling to be a big star in WWE and is still wrestling out there today just like The King."

Lawler sends it to his good friend, Tom Nunnery, who performs "World's Greatest Wrestler" with The Memphis All-Stars on the stage at Fitzgerald's Casino.

Fast forward to 2019 when Lawler caught up with Jeff Jarrett last week to ask him, "What did Memphis Wrestling mean to you?" Jeff answered by saying, "Wow! You know, Jerry, that's hard to put into just two words. What does Memphis Wrestling mean to me? You know, my earliest childhood memories were watching it at my house in Nashville, Tennessee. We got it a week late, but man! The Fabulous Ones, Rock 'n' Roll Express, gosh Rick Rude, I can remember him coming on. Obviously, you know you and Dundee and Dutch and I mean I can go on and on. Handsome Jimmy Valiant was one of my favorites. Heck, I can talk forever on before I got into the business, but then you know getting into my car, going down I-40 and showing up on 1960 Union Avenue. There's nothing quite like Saturday morning and a lot of people ask me now, Tell me about your early days? And the thing that probably jumps off the page the most is getting up and going in and doing live tv. I mean live television for ninety minutes. There was nothing like it. And you know, you leave in the car and you either go over to Jonesboro, Arkansas or whatever it may be. Then, of course, the big Monday nights. And that's something that definitely made me who I am today. Not just watching you or being in the ring with you, but everything that went with Memphis Wrestling. It was you know literally it's known worldwide. I have traveled all over the world and the people in Scotland, Glasgow, Scotland. I just was over there about two months ago and they went into this, they told me things that I forgotten about Robert Fuller breaking my arm and The Moondogs. Heck, I could go on and on Jerry, but Memphis Wrestling, it is definitely the cornerstone, it is the foundation of what made me and so many others. Man, being at Mania the other night, How many Hall of Famers really cut their teeth in Memphis, Tennessee? That's a good trivia question to find out, but I can't say enough about Memphis Wrestling, because it is what made me the performer I am today."

In 1986, a young Jarrett teamed with Pat Tanaka to take on the trio of Fire, Flame and Torch. Match begins at 30:46.

After the video, Lawler said there was something about Jeff that rubbed Tojo Yamamoto the wrong way. One day, Jeff thought he was going to turn the tables and get the best of Tojo Yamamoto, but the tables got turned back again. Jerry mentioned that Tojo was one of his all-time favorites and he thought was one of everyone's all-time favorites that watched Memphis Wrestling.

Jeff Jarrett proved to everybody that he could take a licking and keep on ticking. He kept on coming back. Moving on, we take at February of 1988, when a young Jeff Jarrett thought he was ready to challenge "The King" for the CWA Championship.

Lawler noted that later on in May of 1988, he captured the AWA World Heavyweight Championship by defeating Curt Hennig, right there at the Mid-South Coliseum in Memphis.

Tom Nunnery and The Memphis All-Stars took us to commercial by playing, "Memphis, Tennessee" on stage at the Fitzgerald's Casino.

Next, was a wild and crazy tag match pitting the team of Jeff Jarrett and Jerry Lawler versus The Moondogs from Kennett, Missouri.

Lawler added that pretty soon we are going to have an entire episode featuring The Moondogs.

Next, we watch Jeff Jarrett face off against one of the greatest World Heavyweight Champions of all-time, Nick Bockwinkel. Lawler noted how he had so many matches with Bockwinkel trying to win that AWA title.

Following the match, Jerry Lawler said, "That's another edition of King Jerry Lawler's Classic Memphis Wrestling and we are here every single week with more of the great stuff that you remember as a kid growing up. You remember from back in the day. The great Memphis wrestlers that came to the Mid-South Coliseum and Memphis tv every Saturday morning. That's where we are, right here, every Saturday morning. And we want you here with us next week for another edition of King Jerry Lawler's Classic Memphis Wrestling."

Back on stage, Tom Nunnery and The Memphis All-Stars played Chuck Berry's hit, "Johnny B. Goode" closing the show.

Throughout the episode, they aired commercials from Jerry Lawler's Classic Memphis Wrestling Sponsors: