More Unbeatable: Jerry Lawler in Memphis or Kerry Von Erich in Dallas?

[It's...Baylariat!]

Simple question really.

Jerry Lawler's known by newer wrestling fans as the commentator on Monday Night Raw, but Lawler had a stellar career as a wrestler, famously feuding with Andy Kaufman in Memphis. That feud launched Lawler into the national spotlight as Kaufman was on TV with Taxi and other comedy specials. Lawler was nearly unbeatable in Memphis at the Mid-South Coliseum. Lawler wrestled folks like Ric Flair, Terry Funk, Harley Race, Nick Bockwinkel, and countless others and was rarely pinned clean.

On the the other hand, Kerry Von Erich was a star as well. Kerry was part of the Von Erich wrestling family with his brothers and father, Fritz Von Erich. They wrestled out of Dallas, Texas at the Sportatorium and were one of the first wrestling territories to have TV tapings for their shows. Kerry went on to have success as a former NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion by defeating Ric Flair, and also had a run in the WWE as the Texas Tornado, winning the Intercontinental title. However, in Dallas, the Von Erich's were rarely beaten clean, especially the top star Kerry. His brothers were always a team and always did things together and were normally in 6 or 8 man tags and famously feuded with the Freebirds.

Who was more unbeatable? Jerry Lawler in Memphis or Kerry Von Erich in Dallas?

 

[justtxyank]

I don't have data to back this up, but I think it's Kerry Von Erich. Lawler never had a problem jobbing in Memphis and dropped the USWA title seemingly every other week to someone. World Class was BUILT around the Von Erichs.

 

[ryankayy506]

In my opinion Kerry Von Erich was more unbeatable. Lawler didn't become someone with around 100 different title reigns to his name by being unbeatable. I think a lot of the booking philosophy of Memphis was to have Lawler lose just to come back and win in the end. To do this he still had to lose in the beginning to make fans come to the arena to see Lawler's revenge.

 

[JohngysBeat.com]

Both were also booking. I have to go with Lawler, based mostly on longevity. Kerry sadly died way too young.

 

[Coldstream]

Tough to say without checking stats...although back in that era top faces almost never lost clean.

 

[Perryman]

Having had a chance to see both live during their time in the spotlight, I will say it was Lawler. It was said that Lawler never had a problem dropping the belt or losing in any circumstances if needed to make the business grow. This is the reason he was more dominant. Had he wanted to be the Southern Heavyweight Champion for 10 years running, he could have been. Both were over in their respective territories and Godlike there as well, but Kerry was known to not be able to be trusted for long periods of time (see the commentary on Rise/Fall of WCCW, when Jerry talks about the prematch situation of Kerry slicing himself open).

They both went on to become successes in their own way in WWF/E but Jerry had the longevity to stay there, while Kerry was released after a couple of years and went back to Texas.

 

[MrMojoRisin]

Kerry Von Erich was more unbeatable in Texas. No question about it.

He was protected very well by Fritz and his gimmick didn't lend for him to be defeated either easily, or regularly.

Lawler on the other hand, would actually lose on a fairly regular basis. Of course, he'd always win the war and come out on top in the end, but to make those wars as epic as they were, he'd always lose several battles along the way. Who even knows how many times he was Southern Champ? I wouldn't be surprised if it's triple digits.

 

[Poop Master Flex]

From what I remember I would definitely go with Lawler for a few reasons not even mentioning Superclash III.

1) World Class was built around the Von Erichs but they weren't always the champs and were often chasing the belts. World Class had a number of great heels such as Jimmy Garvin, Gino Hernandez, Freebirds, ect. Kerry lost to ALL those guys more than once, not necessarily clean but it did happen.

2) Across the nation Lawler was more well known for the simple fact he had his feud with Andy Kaufman. Kerry was a big star no doubt but Lawler had the mainstream attention Kerry didn't.

3) Kerry had brothers that he had to share the spotlight with. Kerry became the biggest of them all but David got a lot of the spotlight, Kevin got a lot of the spotlight, Jerry got almost the entire spotlight in Memphis.

4) Kerry often had injuries such as losing his left foot. Often Kerry's injuries cost WCCW a lot of business but the simple fact he isn't there doesn't help his cause. Long story short, Kerry went through a lot of shit both physically and mentally.

5) Kerry wasn't the reliable hand Jerry was. Sure, Kerry was popular as all shit and a big deal but it wasn't unlike Kerry to no show or show up late. In the 80's pulling stunts like that could cost you a loss or 2 or even a title reign for simply pissing off the booker. Remember that others like Ken Mantell and Gary Hart were often booking not Fritz.

6) WCCW did a number of questionable "head scratching" moments. Doing stuff like that can cost your talent especially if they are caught doing dumb shit. Not saying Memphis didn't but WCCW had a lot of WTF moments.

All in all both were near god like in their territories but certain circumstances (some of them not Kerry's fault) give the edge to Lawler being more unbeatable in Memphis.

 

[HBsam31]

Lawler had no real probelm putting people over and he was a muti time champ in Memphis leading me to believe he lost his fair share of matches. From what I have read and saw Von Erich just didn't lose in Texas. He put World Class on the map, and based on my limited knowledge I would say he was the more unbeatable in his territory. His dad, like others have said, protected him very well, and was the top guy so for that reason I voted Von Erich.

 

[boozinjedi]

Both were also booking. I have to go with Lawler, based mostly on longevity. Kerry sadly died way too young.

Same could be said about most of the Von Erich family.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

If you're talking about who was genuinely more "unbeatable" as in who lost less, it has to be Von Erich. Lawler was a massive star in Memphis and was ALWAYS in the middle of a title feud with someone, whether it was a tag team or singles feud. Lawler also seemed to win & lose a title every other week it seemed.

The title that Lawler was most famous for holding, aside from his run as AWA World Heavyweight Champion, was the AWA Southern Heavyweight Championship. Prior to that, it existed as the Memphis territorial version of the NWA Southern Heavyweight Championship. It still exists today, or at least it did a few years ago. At any rate, Lawler has held the thing more than 70 times. In Von Erich's entire career, he captured a total of about 43 championships. So all of his runs with every title he ever won is only somewhat more than half the runs Lawler had with just that one title.

It's hard for me to view a guy as "unbeatable" with that many title runs. He may have had a headlock on the main event title picture in Memphis for decades, but it's hard for me to be impressed.

 

[FlairFan2003]

I would go with Lawler based on longevity...by 1987 World Class barely existed and Kerry was already on his way to WWE. From 1982-85 Kerry was extremely popular in World Class, and could have benefited from the national exposure of Jim Crockett Promotions and his NWA programming on TBS if WCCW hadnt ceased working with them around 85-86.

In Kerry's defense, there is a story that when he won the World Title in Texas Stadium vs Ric Flair it was known ahead of time he would have lose it back quickly because Crockett & Company felt he was too unreliable due to his drug use and behavior. At Fritz request, the title loss was not booked in Texas, or even in the US in a major NWA city like St Louis or Atlanta. The re match took place in Japan, and although regular NWA programs showed the match highlights (it was a clean win for Flair) WCCW showed edited highlights and portrayed it as Kerry didnt lose clean.

 

[16timestheman]

I say not only Kerry but all the Von Erichs in Texas. I have heard some shoot interviews about near riots and people being scared for their lives after a Von Erich was done wrong down there. They had a real cult following in Texas.