Arts Entertainments

Jerry Lawler’s Greatest Opponent: Bill “Superstar” Dundee

Jerry Lawler recently told me that the late Jack Brisco was one of the three best fighters he has ever faced in Memphis, placing the former two-time NWA world champion in the same class as Nick Bockwinkel and Dory Funk Jr. But most of longtime Memphis fans would agree that no one had better chemistry with the King than Bill Dundee, who came to Memphis with his partner George Barnes in the mid-70s. I never saw the Australians’ first run in Memphis, but I remember their feud in 1987 when George returned to the area for a few months. Your August party. 11 of 1987 was part of a big card with Lawler working with Curt Hennig for the first time for the AWA title in the main event. Also working below were Jeff Jarrett and Billy Travis vs. Pat Tanaka and Paul Diamond, that quartet had had some incredible matches around the horn. They may be past their prime, but I’ll be damned if Dundee and Barnes didn’t steal the whole damn show. Just one hell of a bloody Memphis fight. If the chemistry they had working with each other as opponents was similar to what they had as a team, especially when they were 12 years younger, they must have been something together.

Bill was the perfect underdog opponent for Lawler. And no one could sell like Dundee in his prime – the realistic way he endured punishment reminded me of a boxer. Ricky Steamboat is rumored to have watched a movie of boxers to study how they reacted to blows, and incorporated it into his brilliant work in the ring. If I didn’t know better, I’d say that Steamboat studied Dundee filmmaking. The tough little Australian (as Lance would call him) would be on the ropes, but he just wouldn’t quit. Then just when you had it pretty much numbered, out of nowhere, the Superstar would catch his enemy with a sunset pull or a flying bodypress from the middle / turnbuckle ropes for victory, and the crowd would explode.

People always put Lawler’s promotional skills above, and it’s true, the King was a master. But Dundee was not far behind. A highly underrated talent in that regard. And man, could it work. In addition to his matches with Lawler, Dundee’s matches with Tony Charles, Bockwinkel, and Billy Robinson were some of my favorites.

Still, the first Jerry Lawler vs. Bill Dundee’s series with all the wild stipulations in 1977, is the first fight that really captured my imagination as a kid. Lawler and Jerry Jarrett used to remind each other that “personal problems attract money” when Memphis territory is reserved. That philosophy was evident in Lawler v. Dundee Series, an extensive program with heated promotions and a series of stipulations during the summer of 1977 that captured the imagination of fans. For weeks the promo featured the same fight at the top, constantly making money.

July 11: Lawler’s Cadillac on the line vs. $ 4,000 of Dundee money; Attn: 8,044

July 25: Lawler’s southern title at stake vs. Cadillac of Dundee: Attn: 7,681

Aug. 1: Lawler’s hair against Dundee and Cadillac’s southern belt; Attn: Sell-Out 11,300

Aug. 8: Lawler and Cadillac vs. Southern Title Dundee: Attn: 11,100

Aug. 15: Mickey Poole’s hair (Lawler’s manager) vs. Cadillac of Dundee: Attn: 8,397

Aug 22: Poole’s Hair vs. Dundee Hair: 7,143

Aug. 29: Lawler’s Hair vs. Dundee and Cadillac Title: 7,420

September 5: Lawler’s Hair vs. Dundee Hair: 10,129

September 13: Lawler’s hair and title vs. Beverly Dundee’s hair (Bill’s wife): 9,000

The personal tricks kept the showdown fresh and interesting, with fans constantly enthralled from week to week. I remember Dundee managed to save her hair on August 1. On 22/77 after “NWA officer” Guy Coffee initially stopped the fight because Dundee had received too much punishment. (By the way, the idea of ​​Mr. Coffee being a high-ranking representative of the NWA is quite amusing.) Desperately, Dundee begged him to continue and of course came back to win the fight and shave Lawler’s manager Mickey Poole’s head. instead of. I was only 6 years old, but I remember all the games with the hair and the Cadillacs at stake, especially when Dundee and his wife, Beverly, shaved their heads in consecutive weeks as the summer of ’77 came to an end. Those games, the launch of Star Wars, and the death of Elvis Presley are pretty much the only memories I vividly remember from that year of my youth.

My mother had a friend who managed to get me an autographed photo of Dundee at the time, and I thought that was for the best. It was my first autograph of any kind. When I first entered the business, Dundee was not overly friendly with me. I tried to break the ice by explaining how much it meant to me in my childhood. I was disappointed when he took it the wrong way, saying something like, “Jesus, kid, do you know how many times a week I have people telling me how they grew up looking at me?”

Nobody fought longer, or better, than Bill Dundee and Jerry Lawler.

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