The Uncrowned World Champion

     The term “uncrowned world champion” has been thrown around for years in pro wrestling, but for one individual it was always kind of ironic as he was The King.

The fans of today know Jerry Lawler as the wise-cracking announcing sidekick of Jim Ross on RAW, but for most of two decades he was considered by the fans of Memphis Wrestling as the uncrowned champion of the world.

Memories of this came flowing back the other night while watch the AWA on ESPN Classic. They were airing the show from 1987 when Jerry Lawler finally won the gold after a journey of nearly 15 years with matches against men named Brisco, Funk, Bockwinel, and Flair. It was the climax of a booking plan that saw Lawler always come oh so close to being the man.

You see in the 1970’s the territory that Lawler reigned over did not receive much respect from the other offices in the United States. Memphis was always the red-headed stepchild when it came to the territory system. That crimson in the hair coming from the color that was drawn just about every night. This was the home of “southern style” which had more of an emphasis on angles and brawls rather than bothering with such pesky things as wristlocks and a gut-wrench suplex. You couldn’t argue with the success of the office as the Memphis TV show drew tremendous ratings which at times saw two-thirds of all the TV’s in the viewing area tuned into wrestling. There was no way in hell that the world strap was going to make this city home.

Oh but he came so close. In 1976 he defeated Terry Funk by DQ and had the famed “10 Pounds Of Gold” strapped around his waist long enough to get a cover photo taken  of City of Memphis magazine. Two nights after Christmas in 1982 he seemed to pin AWA kingpin Bockwinkel for the big belt only to have it held up and losing the rematch to Tricky Nick two weeks later. But these were in the old days when for Lawler to have a strap cows would need to be jumping over moons, Pigs would need to be flying. Hell would need to freeze over

And in 1988 the devil had to invest in some long underwear and fuzzy sweaters. The days of the territories were ending as the WWF continued to gain momentum. Then-AWA world heavyweight champion Curt Hennig had decided to depart for the WWF. Verne Gagne needed a new champion and one was going to make one last attempt to take on the WWF by deciding to work with several of the remaining offices. The story of the ill-fated SuperClash3 is the subject for another time, but these plans began on the doorstep of one of the only “name” wrestlers who wasn’t tied up with Vince McMahon or Jim Crockett.

So on May 9, 1988, in front of the hometown faithful with his mentor Jackie Fargo as the special referee, Jerry Lawler slung Curt Hennig into the ring post and fell on top of him for the 1-2-3. The King was finally crowned as a world’s champion .