Memphis Wrestling: Should the WWE make a DVD about them?

[It's...Baylariat!]

I've thought about this for a while. There have been many promotions over the years that transcended wrestling. WCCW was one of them. ECW and WCW were others. But one stands out for me. Memphis wrestling. Now, Memphis wrestling's undergone many names. USWA, CWA, MCW, and other incarnations, but one constant was there for many, MANY years. Jerry Lawler. This reason alone would be good enough to actually make the DVD.

Some great matches and many superstars actually wrestled or got their start in Memphis. During a period of time, Memphis was used as a development territory for some great wrestlers. One comes to mind right off the bat. Flex Kavana...or as many know him...The Rock. Think about that. The most electrifying man in Sports Entertainment was jobbing to Lawler in his final match in Memphis. Of course, he had to find a way to leave Memphis and move on to the WWE.

So, should the WWE make a DVD chronicling the Best in Memphis Wrestling?

 

[NSL]

I think they should, if only because it would showcase Lawler, and potentially, the feud he had with Kaufman. There's enough there to cover 7 hours at least.

I had no clue "Flex Kavana" wrestled there, and just goes to show some of the things we could learn from a DVD like that. Will it happen? Probably not. Vince is content to have everyone under 18 think that WWE has been the be all, end all, of wrestling for all of history.

 

[larone]

Right behind WWE, WCW, and mabey the original ECW, Memphis Wrestling has been the best brand of wrestling for years. The storylines were some of the best and the number of superstars that got their start or worked in some capacity for that territory is uncountable. Undertaker, Rock, Stone Cold, Flair, Kurt Angle just to name a few. Most people have never seen the wrestling shows from Memphis but it did things that topped even what WWE does today. Lawler was and is the mainstay of the show and was a better superstar than many of the great stars in WWE or TNA has today.

 

[NOLUBEZ]

I don't think WWE have the rights to the Memphis Library I believe Lawler or Jerry Jarrett owns them, but it was good stuff and would make for an excellent DVD in fact I was watching classic Memphis Wrestling the other day on the fight network in Canada, anyway they were showing classic Macho Man teaming with his brother against the R'n'R Express and Savage gave one of them a piledriver through a table now tha was pretty innovative shit for 1984.

 

[Trill Co$by]

WWE hasn't released a Memphis Wrestling DVD for the same reason they haven't released an American Championship Wrestling DVD... the promotion still exists.

Memphis Wrestling, today, is where Brian Christopher is racking up some impressive matches and Jerry Lawler happens to still be wrestling at. I only know this because the MW promoter contacted me a few weeks ago on myspace, lol.

 

[jmt225]

Absolutely they should.

These guys are starting to get old, man, and they need to get this type of shit done while they can get some guys to give us some great interviews. Though, knowing WWE, the whole DVD would be about how Jerry Lawler did, ran, and drew everything in Memphis, but still... there are plenty of guys we should hear from not named Lawler, if the DVD was made. And now's the time to do it, because all those guys are dead and gone.

Memphis wrestling ranks right up there with ECW as my favorite pro wrestling that has ever taken place. It was so damn entertaining. The town fans were nuts for the product and were just some of the greatest wrestling fans ever. And the Memphis territory was really the first, in my opinion, to look outside the box when it came to storylines and new match-types. They weren't scared to try literally anything, and the lengths they would go to get a program or specific wrestler over was incredible and admirable. Other territories at the time were fine with just sticking to the same ol' same ol' bad guy vs. good guy because the bad guy beat up the good guy for no reason, but not the Memphis territory. It's like the people who ran it and the wrestlers themselves wanted to find ways not just to entertain the fans, but themselves as well. They wanted to have a good time out there. It wasn't all about business.

Because of all that, their story and legacy need to be documented, even if it's under WWE's bullshit revision history. The territory, and fans of it, deserve something from WWE when it comes to that absolutely marvelous wrestling circuit. To this day, Memphis is a great city for WWE. Whenever Raw is there or a pay-per-view, the crowds are ALWAYS hot. And just look how they STILL go apeshit for Lawler. That alone shows just how much his days in the territory still mean to the city and its wrestling fans.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I'd enjoy it very much if they did but I'm not entirely sure that they can and still be true to the overall legacy of Memphis Wrestling. If I'm not mistaken, the Jarrett's own a considerable amount of the video library of the old CWA. After the CWA went the way of the dinosaurs in the late 80s, then Jerry Jarrett started the USWA in 1989 before selling it to Jerry Lawler in 1997.

I don't know much about the specifics of the deal but I think Lawler was allowed to have access to any of the material relating to him for future purposes. The rest of it, however, I think still belongs to the Jarretts. TNA put out a Jeff Jarrett DVD over the summer and most of the footage came from the Jarretts themselves.

I think all that the WWE would really be able to do at this point is put out a Jerry Lawler DVD, though that wouldn't be a bad thing as Lawler had some real classics back in his day. It's not likely that they're going to aquire the footage from the Jarretts. Jerry and Jeff Jarrett aren't going to allow the WWE to own virtually their entire wrestling legacy anytime soon.

 

[PEP3]

As someone previously mentioned, the Memphis wrestling promotion made famous by Jerry "The King" Lawler -- or perhaps it was that promotion which made him famous? -- still exists and books shows on a regular basis. To that end, WWE would never consider doing a DVD set showcasing a competitor (even if that competitor is tiny and very, very regional). However, what Vince COULD do if he chose -- and it's certainly warranted -- is produce a "The Best of Jerry 'The King' Lawler" set.

Since Lawler was the cornerstone of the Memphis promotion for years and years, WWE could inadvertently highlight the company by showcasing Lawler's greatest matches. The other key point is that WWE probably already owns the rights to many of these later matches. Around the time Lawler came to WWF about 20 years ago, the company was using the Memphis promotion as a developmental region. Frequently they would send their wrestlers there to face Lawler for the USWA title. A string of WWF talent swapped that belt with him over the years, and I'd almost guarantee the E owns those matches on video.