(03-11-2017 12:19 PM)EarthBoundMisfit Wrote: I used to work as the shift manager of Pizza Hut at the Coliseum.
We had to make 10,000 pan pizzas for River King hockey games, and about 5000 for Monday night wrestling.
The wrestlers all sat in the upper deck watching the matches. Got a chance to speak with them as I delivered pizzas to the different booths in the Coliseum.
Reggie B Fine always had his nose in a book. He was a pretty smart guy.
Met Lawler a few times. First time when I was a security guard for Wackenhut Security...and one of my fellow guards didn't know who he was...and wouldn't let him in the Fairgrounds. Lawler asked me "Hey, do you know who I am?"
I was like "Hell yeah, you're Jerry the King Lawler."
He told me to convince my fellow guard to let him in...he had to sign autographs at the Toyota tent. I did, and he gave me a signed poster as thanks.
Met him again the year Dallas won their 2nd Super Bowl under Jimmy Johnson.
Dallas had just signed Bernie Kosar to be their backup QB.
I was working at Panchos on Summer Avenue...and Jerry and his then wife Paula came and sat in my section. We talked a little football...and he said Dallas was going to win their 2nd SB after they signed Kosar.
Funny note.....at that Panchos a Memphis broadcasting legend, Dick Holly used to come in. He'd ask for a dish with FRESH avacados.
Well, Panchos didn't HAVE fresh avacados...so this one time...wanting to be helpful...I ran around the back to the supermarket behind Panchos (Big Star) and bought fresh avacados for $6.
He was very grateful....and generously tipped me $2.
From that point on...I was his waiter. Whenever he and his girlfriend came by...they always asked for me. I BEGGED the managers not to give him to me anymore....I was losing money in that deal.....cuz I had to go buy him fresh avacados....for which I would lose $4. Every. Single. Time.
LOL
No good deed goes unpunished.
Yeah, it was funny seeing the wrestlers up there sitting next to each other that were supposedly about to kill each other in the ring later that night. Part of the reason they kept the top section dark.
Two of my friends and I would go down on Mondays and cheer for the bad guys... basically to annoy everyone else and make it a better experience. But, I remember when a tag team I think they called themselves, New Kids On The Block, or something stupid, but it was Brian Christopher and (I forget who his tag partner was), but we gave them all kinds of grief. The guy sitting behind me finally said, y'all really don't like them. I joked, not really, we're just being heels. He asked if I knew who they were, that Brian was really Lawler's son. I said yes. He asked if I knew who the other one was... I said No. To which he replied, MY son!!!
We weren't as loud for the rest of the match.
Tony Williams Had huge thighs that looked too big for his frame
any "wrestling" show is hard to watch.....for anybody with a brain the size of an amoeba
(03-11-2017 12:19 PM)EarthBoundMisfit Wrote: I used to work as the shift manager of Pizza Hut at the Coliseum.
We had to make 10,000 pan pizzas for River King hockey games, and about 5000 for Monday night wrestling.
The wrestlers all sat in the upper deck watching the matches. Got a chance to speak with them as I delivered pizzas to the different booths in the Coliseum.
Reggie B Fine always had his nose in a book. He was a pretty smart guy.
Met Lawler a few times. First time when I was a security guard for Wackenhut Security...and one of my fellow guards didn't know who he was...and wouldn't let him in the Fairgrounds. Lawler asked me "Hey, do you know who I am?"
I was like "Hell yeah, you're Jerry the King Lawler."
He told me to convince my fellow guard to let him in...he had to sign autographs at the Toyota tent. I did, and he gave me a signed poster as thanks.
Met him again the year Dallas won their 2nd Super Bowl under Jimmy Johnson.
Dallas had just signed Bernie Kosar to be their backup QB.
I was working at Panchos on Summer Avenue...and Jerry and his then wife Paula came and sat in my section. We talked a little football...and he said Dallas was going to win their 2nd SB after they signed Kosar.
Funny note.....at that Panchos a Memphis broadcasting legend, Dick Holly used to come in. He'd ask for a dish with FRESH avacados.
Well, Panchos didn't HAVE fresh avacados...so this one time...wanting to be helpful...I ran around the back to the supermarket behind Panchos (Big Star) and bought fresh avacados for $6.
He was very grateful....and generously tipped me $2.
From that point on...I was his waiter. Whenever he and his girlfriend came by...they always asked for me. I BEGGED the managers not to give him to me anymore....I was losing money in that deal.....cuz I had to go buy him fresh avacados....for which I would lose $4. Every. Single. Time.
LOL
No good deed goes unpunished.
Yeah, it was funny seeing the wrestlers up there sitting next to each other that were supposedly about to kill each other in the ring later that night. Part of the reason they kept the top section dark.
Two of my friends and I would go down on Mondays and cheer for the bad guys... basically to annoy everyone else and make it a better experience. But, I remember when a tag team I think they called themselves, New Kids On The Block, or something stupid, but it was Brian Christopher and (I forget who his tag partner was), but we gave them all kinds of grief. The guy sitting behind me finally said, y'all really don't like them. I joked, not really, we're just being heels. He asked if I knew who they were, that Brian was really Lawler's son. I said yes. He asked if I knew who the other one was... I said No. To which he replied, MY son!!!
We weren't as loud for the rest of the match.
Tony Williams Had huge thighs that looked too big for his frame
any "wrestling" show is hard to watch.....for anybody with a brain the size of an amoeba
No different from attending a movie or a play. There is a reason they now call it sports ENTERTAINMENT. Sadly though for some reason ESPN covers it.
some of them Memphis wrestling matches were hard to watch. Sometimes the timing was just off...
Like the natch that eric showed with Bam Bam Bigelow helping Lawler. He supposedly did a falling down headbutt to Tommy Rich?
Didn't land anywhere near him really.
Up until the Lawler/Kaufmann matches....I was a fervent believer. I watched every Saturday as a teenager...and my dad ruined it for me.
He said..."you know that's fake right? Just watch...they don't really hit or kick each other."
Its only when you WATCH for what's going on that you lose that magic.
After that...it wasn't fun for me for awhile. I got up and turned off the tv.
Took a few months to draw me back.
(03-15-2017 09:14 PM)EarthBoundMisfit Wrote: some of them Memphis wrestling matches were hard to watch. Sometimes the timing was just off...
Like the natch that eric showed with Bam Bam Bigelow helping Lawler. He supposedly did a falling down headbutt to Tommy Rich?
Didn't land anywhere near him really.
Up until the Lawler/Kaufmann matches....I was a fervent believer. I watched every Saturday as a teenager...and my dad ruined it for me.
He said..."you know that's fake right? Just watch...they don't really hit or kick each other."
Its only when you WATCH for what's going on that you lose that magic.
After that...it wasn't fun for me for awhile. I got up and turned off the tv.
Took a few months to draw me back.
A group of us decided to go one night and sat on the floor(do not do this if your kids are actually believers). Was the night Don Bass got his head shaved.
Some of the jobbers were terrible and could not throw or take a punch to save their lives. But worst part is when a security guard tells another one "now be alert they are going to leave the ring and fight down the isle"
Watching some of the other fans is more entertaining than the matches at times.
Back in the '80's we watched from the floor and it was obvious it was fake. With every punch they would pound their foot into the ring to make noise.
They had matches in Jackson, TN often at a smaller version of the coliseum. We went in, the ring was set up and we climbed in. The ropes were a garden hose with a wire going through it and the turnbuckacles were soft.
(03-11-2017 12:19 PM)EarthBoundMisfit Wrote: I used to work as the shift manager of Pizza Hut at the Coliseum.
We had to make 10,000 pan pizzas for River King hockey games, and about 5000 for Monday night wrestling.
The wrestlers all sat in the upper deck watching the matches. Got a chance to speak with them as I delivered pizzas to the different booths in the Coliseum.
Reggie B Fine always had his nose in a book. He was a pretty smart guy.
Met Lawler a few times. First time when I was a security guard for Wackenhut Security...and one of my fellow guards didn't know who he was...and wouldn't let him in the Fairgrounds. Lawler asked me "Hey, do you know who I am?"
I was like "Hell yeah, you're Jerry the King Lawler."
He told me to convince my fellow guard to let him in...he had to sign autographs at the Toyota tent. I did, and he gave me a signed poster as thanks.
Met him again the year Dallas won their 2nd Super Bowl under Jimmy Johnson.
Dallas had just signed Bernie Kosar to be their backup QB.
I was working at Panchos on Summer Avenue...and Jerry and his then wife Paula came and sat in my section. We talked a little football...and he said Dallas was going to win their 2nd SB after they signed Kosar.
Funny note.....at that Panchos a Memphis broadcasting legend, Dick Holly used to come in. He'd ask for a dish with FRESH avacados.
Well, Panchos didn't HAVE fresh avacados...so this one time...wanting to be helpful...I ran around the back to the supermarket behind Panchos (Big Star) and bought fresh avacados for $6.
He was very grateful....and generously tipped me $2.
From that point on...I was his waiter. Whenever he and his girlfriend came by...they always asked for me. I BEGGED the managers not to give him to me anymore....I was losing money in that deal.....cuz I had to go buy him fresh avacados....for which I would lose $4. Every. Single. Time.
LOL
No good deed goes unpunished.
Yeah, it was funny seeing the wrestlers up there sitting next to each other that were supposedly about to kill each other in the ring later that night. Part of the reason they kept the top section dark.
Two of my friends and I would go down on Mondays and cheer for the bad guys... basically to annoy everyone else and make it a better experience. But, I remember when a tag team I think they called themselves, New Kids On The Block, or something stupid, but it was Brian Christopher and (I forget who his tag partner was), but we gave them all kinds of grief. The guy sitting behind me finally said, y'all really don't like them. I joked, not really, we're just being heels. He asked if I knew who they were, that Brian was really Lawler's son. I said yes. He asked if I knew who the other one was... I said No. To which he replied, MY son!!!
We weren't as loud for the rest of the match.
Tony Williams Had huge thighs that looked too big for his frame
any "wrestling" show is hard to watch.....for anybody with a brain the size of an amoeba
I guess that's why you have a hard time watching it!?!!
(03-11-2017 12:19 PM)EarthBoundMisfit Wrote: I used to work as the shift manager of Pizza Hut at the Coliseum.
We had to make 10,000 pan pizzas for River King hockey games, and about 5000 for Monday night wrestling.
The wrestlers all sat in the upper deck watching the matches. Got a chance to speak with them as I delivered pizzas to the different booths in the Coliseum.
Reggie B Fine always had his nose in a book. He was a pretty smart guy.
Met Lawler a few times. First time when I was a security guard for Wackenhut Security...and one of my fellow guards didn't know who he was...and wouldn't let him in the Fairgrounds. Lawler asked me "Hey, do you know who I am?"
I was like "Hell yeah, you're Jerry the King Lawler."
He told me to convince my fellow guard to let him in...he had to sign autographs at the Toyota tent. I did, and he gave me a signed poster as thanks.
Met him again the year Dallas won their 2nd Super Bowl under Jimmy Johnson.
Dallas had just signed Bernie Kosar to be their backup QB.
I was working at Panchos on Summer Avenue...and Jerry and his then wife Paula came and sat in my section. We talked a little football...and he said Dallas was going to win their 2nd SB after they signed Kosar.
Funny note.....at that Panchos a Memphis broadcasting legend, Dick Holly used to come in. He'd ask for a dish with FRESH avacados.
Well, Panchos didn't HAVE fresh avacados...so this one time...wanting to be helpful...I ran around the back to the supermarket behind Panchos (Big Star) and bought fresh avacados for $6.
He was very grateful....and generously tipped me $2.
From that point on...I was his waiter. Whenever he and his girlfriend came by...they always asked for me. I BEGGED the managers not to give him to me anymore....I was losing money in that deal.....cuz I had to go buy him fresh avacados....for which I would lose $4. Every. Single. Time.
LOL
No good deed goes unpunished.
Yeah, it was funny seeing the wrestlers up there sitting next to each other that were supposedly about to kill each other in the ring later that night. Part of the reason they kept the top section dark.
Two of my friends and I would go down on Mondays and cheer for the bad guys... basically to annoy everyone else and make it a better experience. But, I remember when a tag team I think they called themselves, New Kids On The Block, or something stupid, but it was Brian Christopher and (I forget who his tag partner was), but we gave them all kinds of grief. The guy sitting behind me finally said, y'all really don't like them. I joked, not really, we're just being heels. He asked if I knew who they were, that Brian was really Lawler's son. I said yes. He asked if I knew who the other one was... I said No. To which he replied, MY son!!!
We weren't as loud for the rest of the match.
Tony Williams Had huge thighs that looked too big for his frame
any "wrestling" show is hard to watch.....for anybody with a brain the size of an amoeba
I guess that's why you have a hard time watching it!?!!
(03-19-2017 09:42 PM)ncrdbl1 Wrote: Ole Banana Nose Turned 91 this past Saturday(yesterday)
I know him well. Good man.
Didn't know he was still around. Wow.
Has lived in G-town for a long time.
He may have a house there, but he lives in Gulf Breeze Florida. Either that, or my friend that claims to live across the street from him has been lying to me for years.
(03-19-2017 09:42 PM)ncrdbl1 Wrote: Ole Banana Nose Turned 91 this past Saturday(yesterday)
I know him well. Good man.
Didn't know he was still around. Wow.
Has lived in G-town for a long time.
He may have a house there, but he lives in Gulf Breeze Florida. Either that, or my friend that claims to live across the street from him has been lying to me for years.
I believe the Florida claim is correct.
I saw him at a show at Minglewood in 2014.
(This post was last modified: 03-22-2017 06:32 AM by Latilleon.)
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The last great run of Memphis wrestling
![[Image: brown-bearcat-08.jpg]](http://www.gccwhistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/brown-bearcat-08.jpg)
