It's the Lapsed Fan Wrestling podcast special report. The Lapsed Fan presents the Complete Hull Cogan, a real American story brought to you by Garage Pierre Boss.
We're walking in Memphis on the Last Fan Most Than Podcast.
Are we not? I think we have a nice a nice gallant stride.
Its gallant stride and Terry Bulay, along with his good friend Ed Boulder at Leslie, I have now landed in the Continental Wrestling Association run by Jerry Jarrett. The year is nineteen seventy nine on the Complete Hull Cogan. The year has been nineteen seventy nine for like four months.
I'll tell you you know, I mean you said it. You said it the moment we hit nineteen seventy nine. I cannot believe. I cannot believe how much happened to him in this one year.
Yeah, because if we're going to do the Complete Hulkog in the right way, the way listeners of the Labs Fan Wrestling podcast expect us to, we need to screech to a halt, not stop until every stone available to us is unturned. And even though we touched on Alabama in recent weeks and his run through the Gulf Coast
Territory in Southeastern wrestling. There was some overlap, as we talked about back then and as we'll talk about this week with his Memphis run, where from the very beginning he's involved with territory head honcho and top superstar Jerry the King, Lawler, Hulk Hogan Boss, Terry Buley meets everyone who's going to make a material difference to his wrestling career in his first year in the business after coming back to it, I.
Really it's it.
It.
I don't know what the real term that I wanted to use is because it's almost like kind of like a letdown in a way, because it's like nothing special.
Yeah, it's all we thought it was, right, he met all these people under banal circumstances. They didn't just land in his life at a magical time. He knew everybody that you think he made magic with later in the AWABF before.
Right exactly. And it's like there's it just it's a reminder that nothing that there's nothing original, right, there's nothing original in the rest, well in anything really, I mean everything's been done a million times, and certainly in wrestling has been done a trillion times, and I think even here in Memphis, we're going to see things redone from Ron Fuller Southeastern Territory, where Terry Bully first re entered the business after that aborted stint in seventy seven in Florida,
followed by the year nineteen seventy eight working at a bar in Cocoa Beach and running a gym, and then coming back with Ed Leslie the future Brutus Beefcake to Memphis. We spent a lot of time last week in the first episode of the year talking about all of the different origin stories as to how Terry and Ed came to Memphis, who reached out too, who was involved with you? And it turns out that people we thought were working at cross purposes, like Louis Tulay, had his hands in
every single basket he was. Oh, of course, of course, come on, he was just.
As much working for the Fuller welches that had to do with Memphis as he was the ones that had to do it seems with Gulf Co Southeastern. It's just truly hilarious. Louis t Lay truly sits at the center of it. But to what degree he was just kind of a proxy or a Patsy, Let's say yes, yes. The power brokers in the business such as they were, You're Ready Graham's, You're Jerry jarrett's're, Ron Fuller's, Jim Barnett,
and so many others. All of these power players in the seventies in the NWA all have a hand in guiding Terry Boley's inaugural quest through the business as Terry Boulder. Of course, he's coming here first. In May of nineteen
seventy nine, from Alabama to Memphis. We talked about over several episodes of the Alabama part of our leg of our journey about how Ron Fuller was accustomed to sharing a lot of talent from his territory with Memphis and vice versa, because his brother Robert Fuller was booking for territory owner Jerry Jarrett, and as we talked about last week, Jerry Lawler himself by this point also a percentage owner of the Memphis territory, which of course explained why he
stayed in Memphis all of that time while the wrestling business became a national phenomenon and spread its wings way beyond the typical territorial boundaries. But that's what you did back then. Boss, when you wanted to keep your top star local and homesteaded, you cut him in on the territory.
Yeah, I guess that makes sense to me.
Way to make a whole lot more money in a justified way than the rest of the boys on the card. And to hear Terry Bully tell it in his second book, that's why he came here because he started comparing what Jerry Jarrett was offering him to come up to Memphis compared to what he was making as a what behind the years but still main eventing and NBA world title challenging.
I again, just something that's just not not able to really be be processed now. It's just it's it's crazy. I know, it really feels like it feels like a fantasy or like a tall tale that we were told about. Yes how you know, wrestled Andre the Giant before he was three months old in the business as Terry the
Holpe Boulder headlining sold out stadiums in Dothan, Alabama. We got so much color and texture around of time that essentially no videotape exists of and as we talked about last week, that's not so much the case in Memphis though, scant tape seems to remain of his run. There, there's a lot more, and importantly, there's tape of his unveiling, which is what's critically missing from what we have from Southeastern. You know, the arm Giant arm wrestling angle and the
outlaw match. Those things kind of happen in media res. They happened after he's already established himself and the commentators that are used to referring to him as somebody that's already been established with the audience. But here, thank god, we have the vignette that we talked so much about last week, recorded after I think six whoppers was it or fifteen whoppers something like that. I think it was seven eight whoppers, And I'm sure that's just what he ate.
Those are just the whoppers that he ate, little one, the whoppers that he told.
Absolute onslaught of aio art of Hulk whoppers and Christine Jarrett's fucking kitchen or whatever or Jerry Jart's wife's kitchen with Christine there in the background, is just it's all about whoppers. It's all about fast food. Terry Bulea is a fast food fat kid from Tampa.
That's what it is. Yes, listen, that's just it exactly, you know, I mean, come on, you know it's funny how they not. I don't know Florida has, but you know, you think about California, you know, and you think about how you know, you think about movie stars and all you think about how healthy you have, all the everyone you know, you think of California, you think of health. Okay, but you know how many fucking fast food chains are out there. They're all out there. The only one that's
missing is water Burger, all right. But the same thing with Florida, just loaded with fast food chains. Yeah.
Yeah.
What California did is it wrapped its hands around the throat of America's idea of what health looks like and converted it into the look of a bodybuilder, which is right. You know, since time immemorial has been enhanced with synthetic hormones and other kinds of bullshit, to say nothing of synthetic tans and just the complete falsity of the kind of tan you can get when you just loaf around
all day in California. Like that's a like, that's a standard of health that people can can strive to when they can't lay around the Beach all day and yeah, Hogan was, so he talked about it, even though, as you know, careful examination proves that he was being referred to as being from Tampa as Terry the Hulk Boulder, not from California as time when he kind of got the hint that, man, I come to some of these small towns, I tell people, I'm from California, I'm from
Venice Beach, I'm from where Arnold is and pumping iron or all the great bodybuilders over the years have been associated with. They think a fucking a god among men has arrived in their humble little town, in their humble little corner of the country. And I don't know exactly when it's going to start, but our ears are going to be perked up for where Terry Boulder starts referring
to himself as a Californian. And it's not unlike you know, Superstar Graham kind of did that, and as he continues to borrow from the Superstar gram playbook, of course, Graham was actually from Arizona, so an actual West Coaster but still definitely a little bit of a hint there as to how it'd be framed up. But I can't wait to get into this Memphis thing. We watched the vignette the Hall and he's coming here.
Well, I'm webinar at advertising him coming to someplace else, because that would kind of be weird.
Right, and it would only make so much it would make too much sense. Rather, if we've learned anything from the complete Hull Cogan and the way territories were constituted back then and how decisions were made, it would make too much sense for that vignette to be the first thing that WMCTV Channel five Memphis viewers saw of Hulls No, of course, three months before that vignette air, three months before he was advertised as coming to the rescue of
his brother Ed Boulder. He was in the ring in Memphis. He was tag teaming with Jerry Lawler at the Mid South Coliseum. He was being referred to on Memphis television as an active wrestler who's out there at a high level competing. So I just can't imagine, you know. We talk about how weird it would be for fans to see holk Hegan go to WWF in the eighties and
become this national phenomenon. To have seen him in Dothan when well, the only people who cared about him were in a tri city area in Alabama, and just like that guy. I mean, but what if you're a week to week wrestling fan in Memphis in nineteen seventy nine, and in the spring around May you see Terry the Hope Boulder being featured on television teaming with Jerry Lawler,
this massive guy making an impact. You read about him in the papers and such, and then he disappears, and then come the summer, they're introducing this vignette like you've never seen him before and like he's coming here for the first time.
Yeah, I mean that of course, why wouldn't they do that?
Best as I can tell, that was essentially the way you would have received it, because there's a difference between the first run, where Boulder comes here for a couple of weeks as so many did who are working for Ron Fuller down in Alabama, and the second run, which, as we've talked about, represents a clean break from Alabama after having the Harley Race match and then making it up to Memphis for what you consider more of a
full time, proper stint in the territory. So we're going to figure out how both bites of the Apple looked and felt to fans of really one of the most zany, creative, well remembered territories in the history of wrestling territories, Memphis,
particularly under the Jerry Jarrett and Jerry Lawler's auspices. And we're gonna have a lot of fun doing it because there's been a lot of great material and tape, a mast and some key stuff survives that we're going to take the measure of this week, Boss on the Complete Hulk Hogan. Yes, and of course it is all made possible by our friends, first and foremost at Garage Beer. Yes, Garage Beer is the fastest growing beer brand in the
United States. It's crisp, it's crushable, it's brewed for good times. Super Bowl's coming up, Boss, and if I'm not mistaken, there's a TLF approved way to get your SuDS in.
I mean, listen, all right, I The only beer I'm gonna be drinking during the Super Bowl is going to be that Garage Beer. I don't mind if I have to spend the entire Super Bowl in my garage to drink Garage Beer properly, I'm going to do it. And I'm okay with that, and I think you should do. I mean, do you think it costs nothing to pull together the resources we have to pull together to set down the definitive audio history of Hulkogan never to be
challenged again. No, how is it made possible because folks like garage Beer out there and they're like, you know what, this is some worthy shit that's going on here. This is the real American story. So let's put a real American beer into the CoA chairman's hands and into the hands of lapsed fan solar system. So not fucking around continues into twenty twenty six. Friends, Garage Beer No Nonsense, four percent ABV logger, ninety five calories, three grams of carbs,
two crowd favorite varieties, classic in lime. Get your ass to drink garage Beer dot com find their beer locator. It's all over the map and it's expanding rapidly, and it should be in your fucking gullet this winter season.
It should be drowning yourself in it. Say nothing of we're going to need it to get through the rumble and Saudi because who knows what opere We're going to be a recording on that live call. Oh God, I saw an ad during the fucking divisional playoffs on ABC slash ESPN Royal Rumble coming up two pm in Saudi Arabia. I just can't imagine normal people sitting home watching football thinking he said, what the Royal rumbles win? Yep, exactly, it's international rumble. Ah two pm, two pm.
Nope, not acceptable, completely unacceptable.
So you know by now Patreon dot com slash the lapsed fan we watch modern WW so you don't have to. We're gonna do our best, folks, as they really fuck with us by pushing WrestleMania deep in April and putting you know, huge tent pole Top four Big four shows on in the fucking afternoon on a Saturday. Yes, but it'll it'll be there. It'll be there when it's there, and we know you're gonna be locked in with us, can't miss the rumble. But goddamn it, are they tempting us this year?
Boss? Ah, it's just brutal.
About Mania and Saudi A next year it's gonna happen. Is it happened, then it's absolutely locked in. It's happening. Yes, they've announced the.
Wow.
I didn't know that. I didn't know that we go in. That's how fucking yeah, I'm gonna go. Yeah, let's go, let's do it. Let's let's let's let's let's do it. See how see how quickly we can get the complete hull. Cogan is also brought to you by our friends at livit. As we flip the calendar to twenty twenty six, we know a lot of members of the Solar system are trying to whip themselves into shape in the gym, and Livid as the TLF approved way to get that done.
It's built on a simple idea, but the most proven performance ingredients in one system at the right doses, so you don't need a shell full of supplements to train at a high level instead of piecing together all these pre workouts creating electrolytes amino acids. Can we put protein in anything else? Boss?
I mean, can I walk into any fucking store now, or any fast food place or any dwarf storefront in this country and not be assaulted with the message that we've added protein for no particular reason to everything you eat? Well, I mean, you know, it's like there's a part of me that appreciates the sentiment, because then it's like, oh, then you know, then what I'm eating maybe you know, may actually have some sort of health whatever to it,
but some benefits. But at the same time, it's like most of the time they're just throwing it in there and they haven't yet just developed a way to make it taste good.
No, so it's a fail. It's a fail.
I just think, OK, I just think it's better to just stay honest with yourself, and if you're going to lean into this kind of stuff, do it with folks that specialize in it, like live it. You know, you don't trick yourself into thinking you can get protein in your you know, thirty dollars quick service restaurant order, you know, or in your.
Cereal or in your fruit loops.
Right, protein is that what you want? You motherfuckers? You you will go betaking motherfuckers who need who are like, oh shit, I need protein? Yeah, I need protein. So if you're wondering why proteins everywhere, listen, listen, I understand the protein need. By the same time, you know, absolutely, just fucking you know, I'll tell you what I don't need. I don't need a place that's been the same ingredients, protein, milk in my coffee or whatever the fuck they're doing now it Starbucks.
It's all there.
It's everywhere, slinging the same ingredients they've been slinging for twenty five years, but just arranging them in such a way where now it's protein packed.
Yep.
It's like if you have nothing, there's nothing new here but live livi it doesn't have that problem. Okay, No, because we're talking about pre workouts creating electrolytes, amino acids from different brands. You don't have to worry about piecing all those together because livit brings together the ingredients with the strongest research behind them for building muscle and proving endurance, supporting hydration, maintaining energy, and supporting the Lapsed Fan Wrestling podcast.
Yes there.
Activate sets the tone before training with clinically supported ingredients for focused blood flow, endurance, and sustained energy. Their recovery deliver what your body relies on afterward, essential amino acids, creating electrolytes and carbohydrates so you can rebuild muscles, stay hydrated, and actually benefit from the work you put in. It's a complete, clean system designed by doctors and former wrestlers
who wanted formulas based on real evidence, not trends. If you're looking for performance, recovery and value in one place, that's that's a big double thumbs up from your coach chairs in twenty six Live. It gives you all of it in one system. So what you need to do to get that lapsed exclusive discount is visit livitnation dot com, l I v T nation dot com, use the promo code lapsed, and you get five percent off your order. Tell them the co chair sent you in twenty six
Fuck this, that's right. The real American story continues, Real American pain. How about real American cinemat? How about the unveiling this past week. Oh yes, atreon dot com slash the lap s fan for members of our executive producer tire and above under the cinemat boss man rocking the mic with equal passion and fervor for the cinema industry as we put on display on this side of the house for the wrestling industry.
Boss. There's a new journey we must assemble. There is a new journey, and we are assembling for the Marvel Carnee universe. That big MC comes up, the Big MCU. All right, we're doing what I'm the Marvel Krney Universe, the Infinity Saga. Okay, we are going through from Iron Man,
which we just did, through Avengers Endgame. That is going to be our journey for this and every single movie qualifies, the twenty two feature films in that saga qualify, and it is going to be a rip roaring adventure as we I mean, listen, I mean, if you haven't listened to it, if you're not over there now, I'll tell you one thing you're missing out on. You're missing out on us talking about Robert Downey Junior for three and a half hours, right.
Which is just about ten percent of what we could do exactly. I mean that fascinating guy Fasting brings reality home. Yes he does, Yes he does, and makes it's amazing to when you again you think about the idea that here was a guy who had already had a career, his whole career was kind of there, and he was literally on the verge of death potentially, and he makes the most ultimate comeback to the point where he is now.
He is now a megastar, just an absolute probably the most I think at one point the highest paid actor in the world. I'm sure he is going to be again this year. So that's just the beginning, just the beginning. We just fucking scratched the surface. We've got a long long way to go, so many connections for all these films as well to the rest of the businesses, as is the necessary reconditioned for Under the Cinemat qualificse exactly.
And we we we we we're gonna do like we already did this week. We already dove into a wrestler that probably not unless you're unless you're a fan of women of wrestling, you probably didn't really know too much about Lana Star. And there are many, as we have, as we've discovered on Under the Cinemat, many many wrestlers who either have been lost to time or just forgotten about and or didn't even or had just such a small little dance under the spotlight that that you we
don't really we don't hear much about. And that's for me, that is that's most of the fun of Under the Cinemat is is finding these people and putting their stories together so we uh, we get some familiar faces that we're going to see along this journey, wrestlers that we've already rediscovered. But it's gonna be it's gonna be great, It's gonna be it's gonna be a lot of fun, and correct me if I'm wrong. Boss.
We currently have hit them with the longest Cinemat episode ever.
I believe so, I believe. I believe it is. I believe we're ten hours and seven minutes, and I do believe that is the longest Cinemat episode, despite the fact that we have done three and a half hour movies. It is, I believe, the longest episode, and if not the longest, and certainly one of the longest. I don't think we've hit the double digits in terms of the hours yet on Cinemat.
What a treat it is to see. On Patreon, members of the Solar System express sentiments similar to mine, which is, you know, I always kind of wanted to watch all the Marvel Universe things. I know that it's generation defining, but hard to find a reason to devote that kind of time.
This is it? Yeah, unless you're a fan, I mean it is, it's hard, you know. I part of that, that's always part of the fun. Much like with with
the wrestling shows that we've done on the Labs. Fan it's like there's it's hard to find a reason to watch a lot of the movies that we've we've done, But to be able to make a reason for it and make a reason that's going to benefit us other people, it's it's it makes it a whole different experience and it makes you really, I mean, it makes me look at all the movies we've done in a whole different light, a whole different light.
Yeah.
Virtuous circle continues as the what is It Carney's Universe Marvel Carney's Carney's Universe MCU journey gets underway. Available to you now for your executive producer Tier Dollar and above at Patreon dot com. Slash the Labs Fan of Course live calls coming strong as we head in a WrestleMania Rumble season. Another way you can support the show is cameo dot com. Slash the Lapse got a fun birthday
request in just recently via Cameo. So put the lapsed characters to work for your friends, for your family, for the lapsed fan in your life. It makes for a one of a kind keepsake and if you want a truly weird on your sleeve. Pro Wrestling Teas dot com, Slash the Lapsed fan. We want to see those shirts in force on some of the big wrestling shows to come, and there's no shortage Hulk Cogan adjacent stuff as we continue our mission to put everything to the side until we understand Terry bolea.
I need to see an Alan Rules shirt or or a Kenny Mania one. Yeah, those are two deep cuts at at at a at a show. That'd be money.
Everyone's paid tribute to Hulk Hogan. Let's let's get on with the business of paying tribute to his brothers, including the one who he barely ever talked to. After all, he didn't pay him back five grand I started to think hulk second book should be the people who Never paid Me Back.
I bet that was his third one that he was riding before he died.
I think Hulk was the kind of guy who didn't want you to pay him back so he could hold that over your head. Yes, yes, that would I pissed Kenny paid back. I think it would have. I think he I think it gives him a reason. It gives him it's another thing to give him a reason to, like, you know, have this just to scare people, to be scared of people. Yeah, right, right, a reason besides annoy
at a sight for keeping your distance right right one. Really, it's just you don't want people around who get too close to you, or a reason to incite his paranoia. Well you want some of that ship. Let's fucking get into Memphis. Okay, there we go. Let's uh. Let's let's get in that beat up van that ed Leslie and Terry Boulay drove from Cocoa Beach to Dothan, Alabama, and let's take it up whatever highway it would be to Memphis, and let's let's camp out there. Let's see what's going now.
If you're gonna go up there, who's gonna train you to get a little better at wrestling? I bet you're never gonna guess who.
It was.
The tutelage that Hulk Hogan and ed Leslie sought out in Memphis. He learned so much from Ron Fuller in Alabama and others. He learned a lot from Brian Blair and others in Florida. Who do you think it's gonna be in Memphis? I'll give you five guesses. I don't think I guess, Jeff Jarrett, we have like what like five at this point. Jeff Jarrett right, true, Yeah, he's not even.
Uh uh well, I mean it would be too easy if it was lawlor Well. I don't know. I don't know who was out in Memphis at this point. I'm I'm I'm no good here, Coco, No the the funk out of here? Where this.
Shooting with our video about Hulk and Ed coming to Memphis back when he was there as Cocoa.
Were Titlematchnetwork dot Com? What about all your initial impressions about Hulk Oagan Hunk was.
Another guy that I have.
I have hugging out a lot when he when he when he was down in Tennessee, he didn't know anything. He went his turrar boater and there was Beefcake as an any bowlder.
You know.
Hunk didn't know anything. And he would just come out of the Mike Graham school, you know, playing basic guitar of some rock and roll band down Florida with Mike Graham and all those guys. Yeah, they didn't really want to show him anything. So and and Terry was so big then he didn't he could walk down every people just stop, you know, man, he was he was he was three hundred pounds and he looked great. I mean and uh so, but he didn't know anything about wrestling.
So and I told him one time, I said, in Memphis, Tennessee. Because I remember the time he wrestled in Memphis, Tennessee. They had him for uh. Promoter had him go out and slam Terry. All of what you do pick the guy up and barrohog him and drop him, shoot him in and barrohog him and drop him. He must have did that fifteen times in the ring and won the match. Beefcake, all of what you do is slam the guy, drop elbows, slam the guy drop elbow. But Terry wanted to do
something else. He want to do more. He wanted to do. He want actually he wanted to drop kick and everything.
What but h I said, no, no.
So he had a big old green Lincoln town, big town car Lincoln. They love to go to the grocery stores by big sacks of groceries. Man go up down highways and drink his cobs and stuff like that. Uh,
the wops apples and oranges and things. And and we would and road trip was like four hundred miles one way, you know, And then we would drive four hundred miles back and go run straight to the gym and we come really close, and uh, nobody was showing nothing in mephis you know, because they didn't they I think that was that's when Jared Lawler beat him. You know, he beat Hogan there, right, and yeah, that's why he hates Laller today.
I guess he still hates my hope not.
But anyway, Uh, but all he did beat beat fact Lawler, beat Andrea Giant, remember, yeah, and Vince Senior like I had a cow and when he heard about it, you.
Know, the mission beating my giants, oh my god.
And so so when the Hogan Terry wanted they wanted to learn how. So I took him to back up where my little old training camp then Dysburg, Tennessee. We went in there and I showed terrys and moves. I showed him how to clothes line somebody, and I show him how to.
Hit the rope.
I said, you do big man stuff, you roll around the ring and stuff.
And I said, but it'll.
Come natural to you.
I want to drop kick, and I said, you don't need to do that. Let Beefcake do the drop at the time. Eddie let him do the drop kicks and stuff and he left the area and he went to Minneapolis for burn. So I never did see him until nineteen eighty six when he went to We was in WWL, and that's when he was hot as a pistol when I went up there. But you know what, he never forgot kocobe.
Ware so a lot there, I mean so so now. So now he's saying that Hulk didn't know how to wrestle by the timing Huan to Memphis, right, even though he was wrestling quite a bit and had at least had enough promise to fucking wrestle Holly Race under the Giant all that stuff, But it was Kocoby warehole ox Biker.
I'm not saying these guys are awesome workers. I'm just saying he worked with people that had been you know, headline wrestlers for.
Years, right right exactly. But apparently as kokob Ware, who's the one who actually trained Hulk Hogan to be the legend that he is, just add him to the running tab of people kids didn't but didn't show. It's too much these fucking people.
Like one of the things that I think is in there, which I didn't really bother to pull out because it's hard to do if you could even do it. Is Hulk comes back in eighty one, which is when he has the Jerry Lawler match that he's talking about.
Is it the one that's on the tape.
That's the one that's on the tape. Yeah, that's post singlet. He's now wearing black trunks, right, he looks a little bit more like just an outfit the Hull Cogan we come to know. And that's the year that he's kind of going back and forth between you know, smattering of territories Japan and the Awa where he's first starting to
make his in roads there. So I think what a lot of people talk about Terry Boleya in Memphis, they congeal this time period several months in nineteen seventy nine that he was first there and his return in eighty one, after he had already gone to work for WWWF and wrestled under the Giant Shay Stadium and done a ton of other stuff in the business, first went to Japan. So he's a much different wrestle. But it's even more hilarious for cocobe where to claim that that Hull Cogan didn't.
Know how to wrestle.
So I put my chips on. He's rememory him in seventy nine because he talks about him an equal measure with Ed Leslie, you know, as if they were both kind of joined the hip, which wouldn't have really so much been the case in eighty one as far as I can tell. But we'll get into a little bit
of that. We'll stretch the timeline a little bit in the spirit of saying as much as needs to be said for cohesion about the eighty one Memphis matches here in seventy nine as well, because as we get into the eighties, man, it just gets ridiculous for this guy. I mean, you have no choice but to go chronologically at that point because there is just so much going on across the globe. Yeah, exactly, But here let us enjoy a little bit of the timeline flexibility that comes
with grouping nineteen seventy nine. It even occurred to me afterwards, it said, you know, because we spent so much time in the Alabama episodes talking about the Ron Fuller Territorial War for Knoxville with a Bob Rupen company, that we should probably put Terry's matches at the end of seventy nine including losing to Bob Armstrong on Christmas Night in Knoxville in the Alabama section, because that was the territory that Ron Fuller was spending all of his energy focusing
on winning the war war when Terry Boulder was doing so well for him. But it really probably belongs with Georgia Championship Wrestling owned by Jim Barnett, because it's only after Barnett buys Knoxville from Ron Fuller, when he throws his hands up on the whole thing, that Terry Bulla actually goes to Knoxville. So it's not like he go which isn't in Alabama of course, which is also inconvenient, So it's not like he goes to work for Ron
Fuller in Knoxville. By the time he goes to Knoxville, it's, I would argue, more part of Georgia Championship Wrestling than it is a part of Southeastern But you know that, such as life, we're going to navigate through this as we go and right and just you know, make corrections as we go. We're going to have the backing of the solar system, which continues to amaze me. I mean, I have to do a controlled release of the stuff we're getting. But if you only knew the stuff that arrives in our in box.
Oh, I know, it's crazy. It really is crazy.
From people out there, from all walks of life, all ages, all stripes, all geographies, who are like I need to contribute. I need to make sure that if we're all in this together telling the complete story of Hull Coke, and that this is in there somewhere, that this little thing I found gets mentioned, that this little thing gets recast in a way that might, you know, not be completely
apparent to the casual observer. So we're gonna be swelling with pride as the weeks and weeks and weeks unfold of the complete hul Coke and some of the things that we're gonna be able to bring to you.
And I just I'm giddy.
I feel like I just feel like saying it all right now, but I simply can't because I know we need cohesion here, yep, the degree possible. So for the first time in our Memphis leg of the journey, we're going to turn to some tape beyond just the the Hulk vignette that introduced him, and we're going to go before that to when he very first came into the territory. And again, huge shout out to the Intrepid Solar System member Matt for compiling a lot of this stuff in
concert with us. And we're going to start with the very first file you'll see their boss. It's from May fourteenth, nineteen seventy nine, and it's a newspaper clipping that ran in the Memphis Press, skim Tar, Skimitar. I believe this is how you pronounce the name of the newspaper, Simitar, Smitar May eleventh, nineteen seventy nine. As well as that May eleventh is a print ad for the upcoming wrestling
from Jarrett Wrestling Company at the Mid South Colisseum. And then we're also going to have a snippet here from the May fifteenth edition of that newspaper in nineteen seventy nine, where there's actual coverage of what happens.
But this is it.
This is going to be Terry Boley's very first, very first appearance in Memphis in May of seventy nine. Okay, all right, So I'll do the print ad and then he can do.
The news piece.
So it's got a picture of Jerry Lawler looking his idiot. I mean, I can't why why is an idiot? He just has hair and a goatee, and.
I mean, I just I he's like he just always looks smug, smug all the time. I just I can't his his shit eating grin, like in his stupid haircut.
I'm not saying he's not. But the thing that bothers me about Lawler's visage at this point in time is he he he has the look in his face of someone who thinks he's attractive to w Yes, that's exactly what it is. And I'm not saying he wasn't. I'm not saying he didn't crush. He probably puts so many girls through the mattress in.
Memphis it doesn't matter, I mean, because but the thing is this, if he wasn't Jerry Lawler, and he wasn't, the rest just looks like he could just be another tubby little bit. And he looked like that walking around the supermarket, like right, I mean, maybe I'm just because don't forget, it's not like he was cut either. That's the right. He wasn't cut. He was just a little a little rotund, little fuckhead. And well, I mean that's
that's what you need about wrestling. Man, like he drew so much money, and it's like, yeah, exactly, I mean, that's that's what you know. He's he's the equivalent of of It's the equivalent of of of the nerdy kid who fucking All of a sudden you find out he plays guitar and it's like, oh, you want to fuck him? You know, that's what it is, like. He hasn't nothing like that. There's something about like what he does that
makes you want to fuck him. And it's got nothing to do with how he looks, because he's just he's just an idiot.
Well, I think, as you've said before, he's allowed to exist in a creepy way, and I.
Yeah, that's exactly.
A huge, you know issue, you know that needs to be tabled every time he comes up.
Frankly, because it's funny too, because I also feel like he's someone who doesn't who never really understood that people probably just wanted to fuck him so they could brag it work that they fucked Jerry Lawler. Oh the same to him, right, But I feel like he yeah, I don't, I don't. I also feel like he's someone who who probably like wanted to be loved and whatever. It's like, yeah, yeah, but the problem is nobody did, and nobody does, and they just want to use him for what he for what he has.
So now we get that out of the way. There's his floating head, as was typical of seventies print ads for wrestling, you just have one guy's floating head. And it's a Monday, May fourteenth, a PM, Mid South Coliseum. It's going to be a double main event in the loser Leaves Town match.
Is that saying the last main event? And yeah, the last last meeting between these two, the last main event ever, there's never going to be another main event.
Yes, this is Jerry Jarrett's copywriting skills being put to work here, no time limit, notice qualification. It's going to be Jerry Lawler versus Jimmy Golden, the future bunk House Buck. So that'll be a little bit of a connective tissue there, as Jimmy Golden, someone that Ron Fuller would talk a lot about and use back then in the territory. I think they were cousins. I don't even know everyone's cousins
and Southern Heavyweight title. This is the this is the subject of our focus underneath the Jerry Lawler main event, which helps you know frame for you what was going on at the top of the card back then. It's the Mongolian stomper Archie Goldie, who was I don't know, we can't get into him now, but he was a huge territorial heel to the seventies Prickly not Mills, Alan Stewarts, Alan Stewart, No, Nope, huge heel, particularly in Calgary where he feuded with with Stu and the boys for years.
Presented that is to say, managed was the stomper by gorgeous George Junior, who we've talked about before. We're going to get a look at here in just a little bit so you can know who asked himself off as kind to George Junior in the territory and boss what what is the what does the ad say there? Who is to oppose them on Lillian number? The mystery wrestler?
That's all. It's mysterio, isn't Ray mysterio? The mystery wrestler.
He's the king of mystery. I guess this doesn't say anything about him being royalty.
That's true.
Presented by Jerry law Presented by Jerry Lawler, so from the very beginning spoiler alert, the mystery wrestler they're referring to here is to be Terry the Hulk Boulder was presented from day one in the territory, in fact, before even day one in the papers as someone brought to you by Jerry the King Lawler. So the idea, which is too didn't cross paths to Lady one or have anything to do with each other to Lady one.
Well, it's funny too, because like, it's what what I consider to be again, sorry Coco, but if if, if, if, if Hogan was as green as exactly everyone's saying, then why the fuck is Jerry Lawler a atching himself to him immediately? Right?
If he is Harley is Andrea is Fuller is ox Baker is Uh, maybe green doesn't mean what we think it does, because apparently it doesn't mean anything to be green if you can walk in to a territory and headline with like six months under your belt of real wrestling experience.
Because he's like, because because Coco is making it seem like that that Hogan needed to be fucking groomed here before he could before he could be anything of worth, And it's like certainly not.
I am mad that he didn't teach him the drop kick, though, because I would have loved to see Hogan dropkicks.
Yeah. We've never seen him dropkick, have we.
I've seen inzaguris in Japan, but I have not seen dropkick.
Yes, yep. And and segury yep. And yeah that's that's that's interesting. Thank you.
Imagine Hogan dropkicking, that's insane. That would have been such a great thing. Like if he pulled that out against Warrior, like when it was getting desperate.
You know, oh, or against one of the fatties, you know, that would have been great too. Yeah, that would have been what it would be most useful is against one of the fatties. I mean, I'll consider it throwing down the gauntlet to the Solar system.
Find it. Find me an instance. I'm sure he did in Japan once or something like, show me video of hulkg and throwing a dropkick, and you'll get a special shout out here on the complete Hull Coke because that's kind of something I realized when Coco was talking there. That's kind of something I realize I need. It's so funnycause we talked about how limited the moves were for Hogan and everything, and through paying off the Pacific, we
kind of laid that out. It's like, not necessarily the case if you watch just different matches he's had, and different opponents he's come up against, and different sets of expectations from the audience. If he's working fucking eight days a week in New York and flying three times across the country in a week, yes he's going to take it easy, so to speak. But and I'm not saying he was a great worker.
He was not.
But one thing that is a function of the fact that he had such a limited move set is just like it becomes fucking fascinating and the subject of myth and aura to the highest when he fucking does a drop toe hold exactly all right, tell me that's not good working.
One extra thing. People talk about it for thirty years. If Hogan fucking actually you know, starts wrestling for real, it's like, oh, where the fuck did this come from? Real?
Well, we know he's been doing it since. You know, his high school football coach challenged from in the locker room.
I got a fucking he knows how to chicken wing, and coming from Tampa, we know very well, he knows all about chicken wings.
And he's about to get a surplus of such in Memphis. Out of the family where. Let's put it this way, waistline was not a concern. Okay, you could be Harry Lawler is your fucking main event, exactly. You could be the cock of the walk. You could be every lady's regret, and you could eat ample barbecue. It's right, ample maked mac and cheese. I mean, there's no waistline because nothing goes to waste. I mean, just Jerry Jarrett alone, like God bless him. But that guy was like a teenage
heart throb, brooxide blonde babyface. That was the nature of the territory then. I think they had it. They had it figured out. They didn't have to fucking hit their body up with so many things that their heart failed prematurely. You know, not to say there weren't heart attacks back then, but it wasn't because of synthetic hormones and testosterone and all this fools. So yeah, Mongolian stompers just synthetic juices.
They injected their chicken wax. You know, wrestling was better when the only thing that was synthetic were the matches.
Uh the lap band.
Wrestling podcast He's a lapsed fan wrestling podcast with Jack and.
Car and j Pro also on the card. The Southern tag titles were on the line, as Bill Dundee, who of course was a staple of the Memphis territory under Jerry Jarrett and Jerry Lawler, teaming with Rob Fuller the booker as well against Professor Tanaka and mister Fuji. We talked no, no, no, Professor Teeka. Great spelling there t e n e k A Tanika. So it wasn't just Southeastern that had that issue spelling names. Well, and tell me what the fuck the the what's the van tournament? I
can only guess the winner wins a van. I can in a Gulf coast. Fuller would do tournaments for a boat, a big fancy boat.
Oh I guess, I guess. I guess it's an upgrade for PLOWBOYD Fraser. You know who that is? Who is it?
That's the future, Uncle Elmer, Get the fuck out of here. Absolutely it is. They got here in Memphis. They got they got Hillbilly Jim from Memphis. He was called Harley Davidson in Memphis. We saw last time they got Kamala from Memphis, and only they got the guy. They got the gimmick they didn't get. However, Apocalypse.
One of the most just unfortunate things ever. I can't handle that.
Yeah, that is the Van Tournament matches Tony Charles versus Plowdboy Fraser, Kevin Sullivan. That's right, that Kevin Sullivan versus Dick Slater Dirty Dick and Tommy Gilbert versus Rick Connors. I'm sorry, is that the AWA logo down there? Yes, long story and I don't know all of the details, but they were Memphis was just as much an a w A territory as it was an NWA territory, if
that makes any sense. In terms of Nick Bockwinkle would go down there as a w A champion and be recognized as like professional Wrestling's World champion, and it was like it was a more frequent I mean, they.
Knew that they did have it. I knew they did have a relationship, but later on I didn't realize it was that early. Yeah, yeah, it was.
Which I think we'll explain a little bit of how Hulk we'll get the door open to him, or at least how Minneapolis would become aware of him. You know, Hulk always has a story where he goes out on a limb and jumps somewhere. But when you look at the background, it's like, no, those territories were all kissing cousins. You know, they were all fucking, you know, incestuous with each other, and they knew, they knew who was catching on before you even knew whose phone number to call
to jump ship to another part of the country. Yeah, Wringside teas were five dollars back then, four dollars for what does that say? Rye Risers and the loss four I think as well watch wrestling on WMC TV channel five, the Paul Risers four dollars. So yeah, Toro to Knock and Fuji. We know he was going back and forth to Southeastern as well. He came up quite a bit and in fact, Hogan exchanged the Southern heavyweight title. I think it was with a Toro to there.
Wow.
Towards the end of seventy nine, remember we were charting that. We were like, all of a sudden, Hogan's got this belt down there and we can't tell who he lost it to. But it's just like one week they're referring to someone else as the champion after he beat it
was crazy. I think Austin Idel beat him for it, and then he had it back and then Tore Tanaka was the champ, and there was no explanation as to how Hulk Hogan lost it that we could find the newspapers and that exists in the you know, the typical sort of Bible title history lists that have been out there for so many years. So yeah, come to find
out this mystery wrestler. And I can't help Boss but think honestly, because if it's the way Hulk described it, where he kind of surreptitiously slipped off to Memphis to see what it was like without really getting all the go ahead, and aok from Ron Fuller that perhaps they would have wanted and Louis to let if it was a little bit of subterfuge, like ed Leslie talked about where they were sort of this agreement on the front end for Jerry Jarrett that they were just going to
Alabama to like fine tune themselves and come back and make you know, the Paola was going to be in Memphis. They were the territory that was going to benefit from bringing these guys into the business. It would be surprise me if you know advertising that Hulk Cogan was coming to Memphis by putting his name in this print ad before he came to the Mid South Coliseum, and would kind of be bad for him because it would be
like the ghosts. Yeah, much better for him to just show up under auspices and then establish himself with that and without having to ask for permission and forgiveness instead. But if that was indeed the design by May fifteenth has mentioned the gig was up.
Let's read it.
Boss the Hulk stops Stomper.
Indeed, keep in mind that that Hogan gets the headline over Jerry Lawler's main event, last main event of all times. It's a great point. Terry the Hulk Boulder defeated the Stomper but failed to claim the Stomper's Southern Heavyweight belt since the decision was by his qualification in the main event of last night's wrestling show before fifty three hundred at the Mid South Coloseum, so they're calling it the
main event. Wild Another bouts Professor to Naka and Food Mister Fuji won the Southern Tag title, but defeating Bill Dundee and Robert Fuller. Jerry Lawler defeated Jimmy Golden, Tommy Gilbert topped, not tapped, but topped Danny Davis, Dick Dick Slater stopped Kevin Sullivan and Kevin Sullivant. Okay, so Dick Slater topped, stopped Kevin Sullivan, but Kevin Sullivan also beat Plowboy Fraser. Yes, different spelling than in the UH the
week before. Also, given that plowboy Fraser faced Tony Charles not Kevin Sullivan, it reads f R A Y s e R in the print out, Yeah right. And also plowboy is two words p l O W space b o Y Fraser, and then in the in the next week in the same fucking newspaper p l o U g H b O I b o y one word fraser, like you know you normally do so. Also, it looks like they're they're about to spell dough boy Frasers well
a little more accurate. I was gonna say his real nickname in this territory was poe Boy, worshiper boy, destroyer, poe Boy consumer. But yeah, there it is. While the print ad I guess it cump on closer listing it. It does a double main event Jerrylaller, Jimmy Goolden and mcgolan Stomper. I guess yes, double main event.
That.
Yeah, that that newspaper clipping is absolutely like we think this guy's a big deal and we don't care who knows it, you know, like we're not trying to ease Hulk Hogan into the territory or Terry Boulder. But by the way, Terry the Hulk Boulder. Okay, they're not just calling him the Hulk. They're not just calling him Terry Boulder. They're certainly not calling him Sterling Golden. These kind of things are important to keep track of. But yeah, I
mean right there, it's like the Hulk stops Stomper. They want I think they want some of that action that Ron Fuller is enjoying down there. That this the Hulk guy who had already wrestled Andre the Giant and done a massive crowd at the Houston County Farm Center in Dothan, massive relative to the expectations for that marketplace before his arrival. Now words out, and just two months later, or maybe a month later, here he is in Memphis doing the
damn thing. Actually bothers me. The remember precisely when Hulkogan Andrea first match.
One was that at Houston County Farm Center. Let's see.
I believe it was March, late March. That's what my memory is telling me. Let's see a seventy nine, I see me, So maybe it was the same month.
That would be kind of crazy, that would be great.
They met again in August when he had the Southern Heavyweight title. Later on, Yeah, it was right around the same time. It was March or April, so right before he came to Memphis, he is wrestling Andre the Giant and headlining and selling out and the words getting around. We charted all that already, So here he is, and what we were going to do is we don't have, you know,
necessarily clean footage of the entire match. But like so many territories, what they would do, if you can jump ahead one fileboss to nineteen seventy nine oh five nineteen, this is from Memphis TV, and so of course what they would do is they would show footage from the big you know, you gotta pay tickets to see it card that was filmed, usually with just one camera, and
they would show it in studio. So that the people involved could commentate for the television audience over what was happening, kind of narrate and kind of make sure that what the fans were watching served their agenda if they were heels, for instance, or if they were babyfaces, explaining what was happening in the ring and how they were wronged, and get storylines over based on showing this kind of primitively shot footage.
And we have it.
We have what Terry Boulder looked like in this very first appearance in Memphis because Archie Gouldie, who you see in the center of that's crazy, yes, And after the right is gorgeous George Junior dressed like a mechanic for some reason. No, like you do, like truly looking like gorgeous George.
Uh.
With the voice of Memphis Wrestling and WMC Channel five, Lance Russell, about to speak to them about what happened with this new Terry the Hohope Boulder, And I remember this is before the vignette of him being the Hull. That's so crazy, it's very strange. It's hard to keep straight in your head, but it is the case. So we're going to hit play here in three to one.
Play here now. This was at the Mid South Colisseum in Memphis, Tennessee.
Ready, Boss of Hulk in action in the Mid South.
Because it's looking, Oh.
What do you see? Where I see the stars loosing legs? This is what he looked like up in Alabama. Wow pounds, he stands six seven. Get the moment wailing on.
Him right now, the eighth Wonders in hog Heaven.
The eighth Wonder in hog Heaven. Big went big back out. I'm sorry because it just gets You'm mad?
What are they mad?
And he wants to care people apart?
And what's Coco talking about? What's anybody talking about?
Jerry Lawler he has, He's.
Moving around the ring like he's on fire.
Everybody's back for so long.
Redkneads, black boots. Wow, just a towering motherfucker.
He looks huge.
He just left out of here.
What was his idol? Idol?
How could I look at him?
Look at him?
Hammer away Christ out of him?
He couldn't take care of that. Caden shelf Bull claimed individual.
Self proclaimed individuals.
You bet you.
He was trying to get on the apron and Terry grabs the ropes and knees the ship out of him. Till he falls down.
Well, let's take happens.
Okay, yeah, let's listen to break of the eyes. Break of the eyes. There yet face first in the buckling, goes Terry. Oh god, I don't even know, not even in a pad there. Look at that?
How much trying to break up the stommer because he pounds his head on the turn back out.
You could hulk Hogan in there. It's unbling hands.
Stomp programming boats are repeatedly into the corner, not throwing right, go holp go. They're chanting already already.
He's gonna hooked up Stomper nineteen seventy nine.
Listen to them go as he fights back already babyface irish wat back elbow puts you down. Here we go get ready?
Oh no, no, no, no, no. That on the belly. You've never seen that before.
On the concrete floor.
It's like he should have dropped the left leg, but he dropped the right across the chest, like he had to turn us so weird. As the stomper hits the floor, nursing his wounds, referee laying in the.
Counter right down in front of the timer's table, climbing up an unusual position for him. Rarely have you ever seen him down on the floor like that.
That's big, So they're putting him over big as someone that's taking a fight to this menace has this huge opponent he has. Indeed, Ferry Boulder, are the rights? Look at him gone kicking his ass.
Whip big boot in seventy nine boot.
If he was setting up for a leg. Yeah, Stomper moved to the corner. Look at these knees. Look at him, drop those fucking knees. That says the greatest wrestling in the world. It's just so much more than you're you're told to expect from him at the stage, drop.
Big back body drop Stomper a huge elbow to the elbow. He's wiping the mat with Archie the Stomper Goldie who comes up and breaks the eyes out of desperation.
Stomper goes for the eyes.
Strawberg goes three eyes.
Ah, got some jump cuts in here, jump ahead.
Oh he was putting the block onto the corner. Oh a reverse. The commentary is just second or.
None, nothing but sheer power there.
It is.
Take a shot back breaker and I'll drop.
It's as much scientific wrestling as Jerry Lawler had in his matches back then, exactly that breaker across the knee Irish whip in hault bear.
Hug, bear hug goes what a bear hug crowd going nape ship. It comes gorge to George Junior and he can throw up the bospears.
Fine, that is a situation. We wanted to see the entire thing. I saw you up there.
He turned and grass, Okay, yeah, I tell you what.
He was trying to name my ape wonder.
He was trying to break his legs.
He's a maniac.
He's insane.
He needs to be in another institution.
Hulk Hogan need to be in the ning po Cogan's insane. Dad here hurting people. He's just hurting people.
You have crazy. I have to settle myself down. They wanted to grab me the other day. And he says, settle down, gorgeous.
He says, take.
I'll hurt him bad.
That's what needs to be doing.
He says, settle down, gorgeous.
Scoodius wearing him out with his boot. He's taking his boot off. You know what this proccult to a.
Knee jack it on him.
They need their head.
Here comes Lawler for the safe Wow, look at Lawler for the save Duck King. Jerry Lawler doesn't even main event to worry about.
He's trying to hurt me, Well, hurt him. He's wonder, that's your crush, that skull, that beating brains bumped.
Hurt that fool.
And I'll tell you what.
Nobody got the.
Job done before when they tried to hurt the no boy, nobody got a gun.
But I'm gonna get a done to, Okay, So I can't fucking now I assume there was no real relation between this gorgon, gorgous George and they're.
Okay, So I mean, what did we see there? Let's let's let let's chop it up.
I mean that was that was the this This is the hul Cogan. You understand why he got over as he did. Why is that because you see this big, towering guy and he's just fun and wailing, and he's fast and he's exciting and he's you know, there's there's no holding back. It's not the whole Coogan that we would see where his you know, his roundhouse rights were like took about an hour to cross somebody's face. You know,
these were these were crazy fast moves and stuff. It's amazing. Honestly, it's like it's kind of funny because you look at him and you see a guy like that, and and I would say, yeah, he's going to be a great worker.
He's gonna understand what he did. You know, he's going to be a great brawler for what was asked pro wrestlers in nineteen seventy nine. Absolutely, I mean, you know, and.
And yeah, I just I just don't understand where everyone's fucking you know, the way that we hear people talking about him. I guess that's that's where it is. The way you hear people talking about him to be this kind of You expect him to be like he was in that footage that that training footage from Florida.
You expect him to be like Zeus was when he came in. Yes, just this guy who's standing there like a fucking totem pole iff bitch right, who's like hesitant in his movements and making the match look super fake. This guy is going is wailing on the archi goal the clip wailing on him. Yep, NonStop drillium with knees. And I'm so happy that this early in the complete Hull cogin journey, we know that we can already establish that he's using the boot.
And the leg.
Yeah, way from the very very very very beginning. I mean certainly the bear hug was his finisher in Southeastern if you hear Ron Fuller put it, this is just two months under that run. And if he's doing it in Memphis, he's got to be doing it down in Alabama as well.
And the leg drop.
He would also import this kind of clumsy leg drop to WWF in his early days as well. Sure, it's almost like it's it's hard to kind of explain, but you know, if your head's on canvas and he's gonna lift, he's gonna he should lift the leg that's on the inside of his body, not the outside.
Right right, But instead he does this weird leg drop where he like goes diagonally on your on your torso right. It's very weird.
Yeah, Like he lands the same way like like Melina would do the split on top of her opponent, you know, yep, yep, that kind of thing, like to display that you can
do a split. And he's getting height and the boot is there and the main streak is there, he's got the blue singlet like the powder blue singlet on still, So I think what I like about this too is I think what we're seeing is pretty much what he would look like wrestling in Alabama as well, and these matches that we can only picture in her mind's eye, that's pretty much what that seems to be what Jerry Lawler and company imported into the Mid South colisseum here
on this this famous night. So yes, as far as I can tell, that's absolutely the match where Jerry Lawler presented Hulk as the mystery Man against the Stomper Wild and Stomper.
I believe it.
It is truly amazing, and it is not to be slept on in terms of historical significance. So we're getting a taste, we're getting better texture. We forward ahead here just to get an idea of how intertwined he was with Lawler in this first go around. Look At that image of them in the ring together as a tag team, Jerry Lawler and Terry Boulder, who is now going with kind of like a black singlet and black knee pads. Just amazing from the very beginning, and though looks crazy.
See that picture there above the news article of the entrance at the Mid South Colisseum. Lawler on the foreground, straps down and pointing behind him, just like he would point on his way down the aisle at the height of hul Camania. Can't believe some of these some of these images. There he is cranking a headlock in the ring.
So yeah.
In addition to video, there's also stills that have survived. Here's a clipping from an ad that ran in the aforementioned Memphis Press Scimitar on May eighteenth of nineteen and seventy nine, Jarret Wrestling Company Percents Wrestling Monday. Of course, that was the big night for Mid South Coliseum matches. I always thought that might be the forebeart of Monday Night Raw then thinking of Monday as a huge night. I mean certainly Madison Square Garden shows were on Monday
nights too. I believe those were the live MSG broadcasts in that short lived period when they're actually on HBO if you can believe it, WWW from Madison Square Guards Monday Night as well, eight pm main event cage match notice qualification. It's Jerry Lawler and the Hulk versus the Stomper and gorgeous George Junior. So they came back from that match where Lawler brings in Hulk is the mystery man.
He beats the shit out of Stomper until George jumps in and Lawler made the save is mentioned, and they come back with a cage match in the rematch. So this is all happening within Hulk's first weeks in Memphis. He's tag teaming in a cage match with Jerry Lawler in the main event. So don't tell me that this guy had a long way to go and blub No. Everybody wanted to make money off this guy from the second he showed up from Cocoa Beach, Gas out of
his fucking mind. Okay, people fucking knew. And if you were going too, If you're gonna throw a pity party when Vince pushes bodies in the eighties, you need to do some self reflection and realize just how quickly you guys bent over when you saw a body like that too in seventy nine and you had the exactly so
shut the fuck up. Okay, you were as much of a mark for bodies as Vince was, and the fact that he had the money to collect them all doesn't mean that you were locked into some higher minded way of doing pro wrestling. That's just that's total bullshit because immediately you tried to profit off bodies when people started taking it the extra mile from a chemical perspective. Same thing in Georgia, where they would, you know, well, wrestle and wrestl and fuck it, road Warriors, Nakita cole Off.
Anybody who showed any kind of musculature like that got pushed to the moon immediately, So come off it, please, Tony Atlas.
Give me a break.
So the cage matches mentioned also in the card, they would turned Southern Tag team title matches Robert Fuller and build on detake on mister Fuji and Professor Tanaka more Van Tournament matches, Boss big them up for those the fucking Van Tournament Thunderbilt Patterson versus s put mc monroe, Junior, Tony Charles versus Wayne Ferris, the future honky Tonk Man. So again, Hulk immediately swimming in the same lane as
the honky Tonk Man. And that's going to make some sense when not only does honky Tonk have a great position with WWF when Terry's there, but even in WCW, when Hulk first comes in in summer of ninety four. Honky Tonk Bischoff still decries it to this day that he had to hire that guy because he was part of Hulk's crew. You know, from the beginning, Boris Malenko, who's probably just coming off taping the Plan B videos, is wrestling Tommy Gilbert in the Mid South Coliseum and
Larry Latham is facing Jerry Bryant Boss. This one from the Commercial Appeal, the main newspaper in Memphis. A little blurb here May twenty second, seventy nine. Hit the people with it. What happened?
That's the one there there underneath the picture right right out of the picture of Lawler and hok are Lawler Hulk team for win. Jerry Lawler and the Hulk beat the Stomper in gorgeous George Junior last night before a crowd of forty three hundred and ninety two in the featured wrestling match at the Mid South Colisseum. Another matches Van Tournament Matches, fifth week of six weeks competition. Tommy
Gilbert beat Larry cheat him or Larry cheat him. I mean I would imagine that he's uh that he you know, he's not someone that hulkgo bobbiy around because he's gonna be cheating them all. Tony Charles beat Wayne Ferris, Thunderbolt Patterson beat sput Nick Monroe Junior. In a Southern Tag title match between Mister Fuji and Tou Tanaka Toro Torou Tanaka retained championship. Retained championship on his qualification over Robert Fuller and Bill Dundee.
Gotta love those athletic sock stripes at the top of Terry socks that he's pulling his boots. Yep, Wow, that's very seventies.
But yeah, just yes, it is.
It's just amazing to see him and there it is that he's just named in this article in the commercial appeal as the Hulk. No Terry Boulder, nothing, They're going the Hulk. And this is big because I think we established when you watch that vignette that Jerry Jarrett produced, like I think you would agree with me, like there is now no denying that they're just trying to rip off what Lufriggno's doing. Yes, TV, Yes, one hundred percent.
I mean the music, the presentation, it's so similar. And now they're just calling him the Hulk in the newspapers including here, I free fast forward a bit here May twenty second. This is from I believe the Commercial Appeal as well the Indiana Editions. There's going to be wrestling at the Louisville Gardens on Tuesday May twenty second, nineteen seventy nine, with an eight pm bell time. Jerry Jarrett presents professional wrestling.
This time. You see their boss. It's the NWA insignia.
So I guess when they ran certain I think when they ran the pockets that Jerry Jarrett used to promote before buying the whole territory. They call it the NWA. But when he promotes the Mid South Colisseum, having taken it from Nick Gulas, that's under the AWA's auspices. I guess man event notice qualification the Stomper and Gorgeous George
Junior with manager Joe La Duke in the corner. Joela Duke is someone that Terry would also talk for years about coming into the Imperial Room and the other clubs that he would pay play in his rock and roll days against Jerry Lawler and the Hulk No Terry Boulder the Hulk Southern Tag title match, Robert Fuller and Bill do on Da versus Professor Tanaka and mister Fuji Handicap match Live Wrestling Bear. The Bear is coming to Louisville, Boss Larry go and he's taking on Danny Davis and
Larry Cheatham. This would not be the same Danny Davis that we would know as the WWF referee.
Oh really yeah, this would be.
The Danny Davis who ran OVW in Louisville and kind of the wrestling mayor of Louisville in some ways. To just completely coin a phrase there, Tony Charles versus bott Nick Monroe Junior, as well as the Gladiator versus Tommy Gilbert. I believe the Gladiator was Dick Steinborn. Watch Championship Wrestling on wave in that market TV three Saturdays noon till one pm. Would that have been my pleasure?
Oh?
Tickets on sale at the Garden box office. Moving ahead, take a look at these Matt found These. These are copies of checks that Jarrett Welch Enterprises wrote out to Terry fuck Boulder. Wow, four hundred ninety seven dollars and seventy five cents. What's the date here? May twenty six, seventy nine, So that's crazy. These apparently were someone's collection, and they look to be graded and framed, and sort of the fact that he the fact that he fucking
signed a Terry Boulder. Oh my god, his name's written there was Terry Boulder.
It's not his name.
I mean, come on, dude, treasurer, I believe Bob Wright is the signatory to said check for four hundred ninety seven dollars May twenty six, nineteen seventy nine.
What is it? It's a Terry Boulder?
What is it?
Senterneath it says four hundred and ninety seven.
No, no, no, but no no. Under the back end the signs said the back end, can you reading for deposit? Usually you write the name of the bank back there, right, So that yeah, well that says no, that's wrestling. That says Southern Southeastern wrestling for deposit. That's that says Southeastern wrestling for deposit.
Interesting Southeastern. Yeah, Southeastern was the name of the the Alabama office, right.
Interesting? What's going on here? Get a little uncomfortable, brother, the old nurse where I wrote to we're all writing, brother.
But who knew that his checks from this run like survived.
I can't believe that. I mean it's an incredible condition too. Yeah, it's in plastic.
So I mean Terry Boulder Southeastern Wrestling for deposit only, Yeah.
Positive deposit only. Wow? So what that probably the worst handwriting everybody? Oh yeah, it's like just the absolute worst. And it stamped First American Bank, Pensacola, Florida, So that's where he went to deposit and he was living in Pensacola at the time, if you remember. With that with that less so, I think that's interesting that, you know they would mention Southeastern Wrestling on the check. It was almost like Jarrett keeping track of like where I wonder
why why would he? Why would But that's that's Hogan writing that. Why would Hogan write that? Now? Eh, maybe it is him signing the check because that's you know, that's him. That makes the same it's like the same handwriting just looks like Terry Boulder is is signed, but not underneath that looks like the same handwriting as the check itself.
Maybe yeah, but that's just his name is not Terry Boulder? Like did he have a bank account? Is it Terry Boulder?
Like? In what kind of shenanigans did that allow?
For?
Apparently he did. I mean, at least it's going to say pay to the order of the Hulk.
Jarrett Welch Wrestling Company one ten the Landings, Hendersonville, Tennessee. That's the only reason I know Hendersonville is because of the Jarretts. So there it is, and it says off to the left corner on the front of the check w Slash E five twenty four, that must maybe that's the event he's being paid for.
Mmmm, yeah, wrestling event five twenty four. Yeah, maybe that's it. Just fascinating little things that have survived. Going ahead, here a print ad from May twenty ninth in Louisville. Jerry Jarret presents Professional Wrestling Louisville Gardens Tuesday, May twenty ninth, nineteen seventy nine, eight PM. Main event, cage match Lawler and the Hulk versus the Stumprin Gorgeous George. I think we already we can cover all this return tig title
match for the Southern Tag titles. It's Robert Fuller and Bilden d versus Tanaka and Fuji Special Challenge two out of three falls. It's Tommy Gilbert and Tommy Gilbert Junior versus Larry Latham and Wayne, Punk Rock Ferris, the future hulk Man, hunk Rock Ferris when he was a punk Man, not a Elvis Man. Tony Charles and Ken Wayne versus Ron Bass and Rick Oliver in the cart as well.
So Hogan here making acquaintance with Ron Bass, the future Foil to Brutus, Beefcake, and the WWF the whole crew man. They all travel together, whole fucking crew and Hulk sets up. He calls in everybody who was helpful to him along the way in WWF. And that's another rewarding part of marching through his territorial days because we can start to pick out the people that he's going to make room for later when he's got full control over who's hired.
Basically at WWF watch Champions to Wrestling on Wave once again is mentioned. Tickets back then are five dollars ringside, four fifty reserved and four dollars general admission, two dollars for children under five. Promoter, by the way, reserves the right to make necessary changes in the scheduled matches. Don't you forget that it's right? So we go ahead to make Wednesday, May thirtieth of that year at the coliseum.
Here this is in Evansville, Indiana, which was a territory that Jerry had opened up before getting full control of Memphis. He was sort of allowed by Nick Gulas and Company and Roy Welch to go out there and prospect these new territories and did quite well. Realized he could promote on his own, and thus history was set in motion.
On this card, the Southern Heavyweight title match, we'll see the Hulk with Jerry Lawler in his corner taking on the Stomper with Gorgeous George Junior Boss the Hulk going for the championship here. That's crazy too.
Special six man tag Robert Fuller, Building d and Jerry Lawler versus Professor tanaka mister Fuji in Gorgeous George Junior. Also on the card, Punk Rock, Wayne Ferris versus Tony Charles Ron Bass versus The Grappler and Larry Lathan versus Rick Oliver Ringside. Five bucks general admission for children under ten three dollars. Let's see what it says tickets sold? What does it say there? Can you read that fine print?
Ticket sold by five? Tickets sold from from five pm on Wednesday and through match time at the Coliseum box office tick and information reservation call four two two one six five after five pm on Wednesday only.
AH watch wrestling on wtv W Channel seven Saturday, June second, three to four pm only on June second.
So fun buying tickets in the territorial dolls, like going to all these outlets in town and my, exactly my, did.
You get the tickets?
MA?
Shut up?
MA to get the fucking tickets?
Well, maybe if you didn't want it as a shut up, you wouldn't scream my like that. I mean, we had to pump the brakes on this one. This exists in Wrestling Data, which has all the wrestling records, you know, career records. Apparently in Chattanooga, Tennessee, on June sixteenth, nineteen seventy nine, Hull Cogan wrestles Terry Gordy. Now, that to me is a whole other level of what the fire?
I can't I can't handle that.
Did he just make a little because there's cocoa wear on the card? Michael Hayes is on the card. Did he make a little side trip to Chattanooga, which I'm not even sure. Chatton was hardo of the circuit of the Jarrett circuit Whends. I mean the two terries absolutely, tale of two a tale of two terries right there. I mean Terry Gordy and Hullko and wrestling in seventy nine is just a reality that I wasn't prepared to deal with. Speaking of which I mean, it's it's a
new territory, boss. And when we come to a new territory and the complete Hull Cogan or really anything in the history of the lapsed fan, we have to scour the local pay for a piece that every city can't resist assigning a sportswriter to or a lifestyle writer or a human interest writer. You know what It's like, why do these people go to wrestling?
Can you?
Why don't you go to the Mid South Colosseum and talk to these people and ask them, you know, what are they doing?
Please? And we needn't understand what the fuck is going on here with these people, because I don't get it, and I'm trying to save them from themselves. But here they are. They fucking just do this all the time. They waste their own fucking money. Well, they're in the crosshairs. And here's the Memphis version. This is from June seventeenth, of nineteen seventy nine and the Memphis commercial appeal headline,
wonderful world of Wrestling has its fans. The blood on Jerry Leler's face splattered across the media table and onto the floor. Jimmy Golden mocked the fallen wrestler from Memphis, and fifty three hundred fans at the Mid South colisseum let loose with a tidal wave of emotion that rose to a primal crescendo. One man sitting at the table is asked. One man is sitting at the table asked, is that real blood? Well? He was told it could be real blood, or it might be a blood pill
or a capsule. It might be red dye, might be anything, might be barbecue sauce. I don't know what they ate beforehand. It could be might be a bottle of catchup. But it didn't make any difference in these how to this howling crowd because it looked like blood. I can't it. So they're basically determining that it is not blood, but there it is something that looks like blood.
These guys go through all the trouble of actually slicing their foreheads open with surreptitiously hidden razor blades so that it's it's bonafide blood for the people and they can't question it only for the newspaper just wantonly speculate that the blood capsule and can't possibly be real blood. Why bother blading if like everyone's going to assume it's fake blood?
I know exactly. Umm, that was good enough. Nobody seemed to want to stop and take time for a lab test. What they wanted was for Golden to get what was coming to him, and thanks to the wonderful world of professional wrestling, he would get it. But then something happened that brought wrestling announcer Lance Russell, director of telecommunications for Jarrett and Welch Wrestling Wrestling Company, and the wrestlers a
little closer to the genuine article than they desired. After the match, about one hundred and fifty fanatics surrounded the ring, a few of them pounding their palms against the canvas. Others gestured toward Golden with their middle fingers and suggested that his heritage was not of the finest stock. Suddenly, the suddenly, the play violence was over. Let's fucking go, the play violence was over. Russell yielded security officials get them back over here a security the security hair and
Russell shook his head. I don't understand. He yells for them to fucking get and he shakes his head.
I can see that. I can see it's Russell doing that.
Yeah, there's no business like show business, they say, And the wrestling business is getting better all the time. Some promoters claim it is the biggest spectator sport in the country. But why yes, yeah, Now, finally the reporter reveals what he's doing. Why do people spend their hard earned money on something that is generally generally regarded to be show business rather than sport? Okay, He's like, okay, okay, I'm
gonna again. Why do people spend their hard earned money on something that is generally regarded to be show business rather than sport? Then why do people go to the movie? Why do people spend their harder money on show business? Why do the people spend their harder money on anything that isn't sport? Exactly? Okay, exactly what is the thrill of seeing an act carried out? They could not get They could not get past it, even in Memphis, where
it was like died in the wool. Highest TV ratings in the market every weekend, the market you would think has the best shot at like seeing you know, something more in wrestling than just these like existential questions.
They can't get over it. At the commercial appeal.
What is the thrill of seeing an act carried out that purports gotta be real blood and guts. Let's go, Let's go. The answers lie in the psyche of the fans. In many cases, the fans themselves aren't sure why they do it, but give credit to Russell and the wrestling promoters for capitalizing on modern man's and women's aggression. The bottom line, and some fans will admit it and some won't,
is that professional wrestling is selling violence. You may not be able to haul off and hit your boss or your spouse, there are your business associates.
That's a lot earlier than I would expect to hear that one. Yeah, me too, I thought that was an attitude era innovation. But you can yell for Lawler to beat Golden with his chain. In fact, that's what they want you to do. There's been much loose talk about violence being as American as apple pie in a societal sense. Perhaps it's true violence is an outlet for many people, but for the majority of people, violence isn't out of the ordinary occurrence. Most of the time, we have to
suppress violent urges. Not so at the coliseum on Monday nights. Vicariously, wrestling fans can live through Lawler and the Hulk as they tear into the Mongolian stomper.
I like violence. A fan at the Colosseum who could identify herself only as Sam Okay, this person exists. I'm in the karate in boxing. How much of it is fake? Ninety nine three quarter percent. But there's a woman who sits right here next to me who thinks it's a real wrestlings. Like everything else, there's gimmicks to get the fans in. I know it's fake, but I like it. She said. She hated Lawler and I hope he loses leaves Town. Wrestling fan Liz Adams said, it's the excitement.
People want to see other people get beat up. Things happen here that they wouldn't do it home, can't do it, can't do it home. If that's their frustrations out about one third of people here except that it's entertainment. She's glad she's done the time to measure it. She's taking the time I should sit and measure it. Another third, Now it's not real.
Awesome.
This is so two thirds except that it's entertainment. Are you telling me? Yeah? Exactly? What's the difference between accepting its entertainment and knowing it's not real? No, it's not real? Oh I guess, I guess. She answers that. Actually, but don't want to believe it. Wait? So another third, No, it's not real, but don't want to believe it, Oh, my god, is not isn't not believing it thinking it's fake? Oh? She means not believing thinking it's fake? Okay, great, but
they know? But but how can you know if something is not real? But then don't want to believe that it's not real? Sure this isn't a Scott Steiner quote. Another third are into it? Well, it sounds like three thirds are into.
It because you were just saying the ones who know it's not real but don't want to believe it. That would mean they're into it.
If you tell oh, I see, if you tell them it's not real, they get mad. Some ringside fans suggested that those who believe wholeheartedly and pro wrestling began following it as youngsters. They got hooked on it and have never let go. Many old time wrestling fans get a charge out of seeing their favorite stars, but a growing percentage are young fans. They come out, they come, they come in T shirts that have the names of rock groups and singers, Bad Company, Whalen, not Mercy and Van Halen. Well,
you know, it's more entertained. It's more entertainment than sports. This is definitely what all this from is Jerry Jerrett, Yes, said Huxley, King of Memphis. Ninety percent of the people root for the good guys, but I ch here for the bad guys. What's it all about? Aggression? You let go of your inhibitions. You can come out here and watch somebody get their head dusted off. It's a show. It's not like watching a football game where you don't know who's going to win. But it doesn't take away
from me. But you don't know who's gonna win either. It's the same thing. You don't know who's going to win. Someone to do someone one does, but you don't. But it doesn't take away from the enjoyment. People don't think about it. For a lot of them. They know it's staged, but they don't want to believe it. This is one of the greatest This is this is one of the greatest articles. They just getting these people's faces and just ye, don't take no for an answer, to make them like
this is tremendous. This is absolutely beautiful. Austin Cunningham is a security guard at Channel five w mc TV for the wrestling matches on Saturday mornings. He has seen many bizarre many a bizarre sight in eight years. Hey, your biggest problem we haven't. He's the girls trying to go down and go go ahead, go ahead to say what you're gonna say. The girl's trying to go down on the wrestlers in the dressing room. That's what it looks like.
I know if you read that really quickly, it says the biggest problem we have is the girls trying to go down in the wrestlers in the dressing.
Down the wrestlers in the dressing room, go down into the wrestler's dressing rooms. They want, they would if we let them. I wonder why they want to do that. Yeah, I think they want to go down on the wrestlers. Maybe suck a cock, can you print that that they want to suck cocks.
It's definitely the era where you know your your wander around backstage and you take a corner and underneath the bleachers like Tracy Smothers is getting.
Sucked off or something. Oh, get out of here, I'm getting blown. Well, I mean they get out of here. Makes it seem like you want to keep it secret. Screaming I'm getting blown. Copy your lung about the fucking cop. I don't know that's how he sounded. I don't know. Oh, it's like, sir, sir, are you coming or did you just spill your lunch all over the ground like you're using the same noise. Ah, then call her darling, push her hair behind her ear, and send her on her way.
Cuttingham has seen two or three heart attacks during matches.
Oh.
I thought they weren't even tagging yet.
I thought it was all fake. What's going on here? Rest in peace for the first holtstir in heaven.
That kid uh, that kid Kirk in the in the Alabama papers who died of a seizure at sixteen at a Terry lam.
Uh, you know, during matches and helps save the life of one stricken woman and he once saw a wrestler knock a woman off the front and bench after she spin on him. I enjoyed it, even if I know it's all ok. The security guard can't even help himself. I enjoy it even if I know it's not all real. But we but see that guy in the cap. You know he believes it's real and we want to whoop you. If you say it's not not my back of great, but you know, I swear it goes this guy in
the cap. Everyone knows to not fuck with that guy in the cap. I tell you it's one guy. You don't want to say nothing's fake, that guy in the cap, because he will whoop you. I've seen him do it a couple of times. He'll whoop you and you're gonna, you know, feel it next four weekends, Travan, you feel that whooping. It's fucking aussy cunning him of this guy has it coming? Oh god, assy Uh. Fans want to well.
Fans wait as long as four months on a waiting list to get in to see the Saturday morning matches. He said, you know, sometimes the fans are funnier than the wrestlers. I think often the fans are funnier than the rest the way. As the matches start, a young man in a black leather jacket up up front yells, break is like torture room. Then he smiles another yells.
You're a freak with no physique.
At golden steep cut. That's right. The wrestlers carry out the show with enthusiasm. In the case of the Mongolian Stomper, he hobbles all the way back to the dressing room clutching an injured rib after a match, and handed a few other ribs on the way back with the fans. But one Japanese wrestler smiles for a moment as he stands in the hallway before a match. Spare rib, boy, boy boy, you're gonna see some viciousness today. He said it to a guard. He's gotta be my boy, You're
gonna see the vegetaes today. Ah from who again? You're what? From my angle? His shoulder is tattooed Japan brother? What Japanese? What do you well from Japan?
Brother?
From Japan? I talked about this tattoo? Dude, Why you sing atatoo from jama From Japan? He says, you're Japan. I thought your name is mister Fuji brother in Japan, Dude, mister Japan or mister Fuji.
Brother.
You couldn't sign dude, I don't know where you are from. Brother. I want you from Fuji feed from Japan, mister Fiji. It's not being more confused. The two Japanese wrestlers, Professor Tanaka and mister Fuji, seem to enjoy riling up the crowd at the coliseum. The fans arrive early and talk about the upcoming matches. David Abernathy and Bob Westover of Memphis said they show up every time there's a Colisseum
wrestling show. It's show business, Vostover said. And most of the people here lie, you know, know they put it up. Oh shit, all right, that's a quote. Most of the people here know they've put it up, put it up, but some are too thick headed to be believed to believe it. We'll wait a minute. I know a lot of people get worked up trying to tell the referee that someone who's coming up behind him what what? And
so it begins right. Sometimes, but not as often as one might suspect, a fan becomes so involved that he or she throws something in the ring, and there are many people who try to get into the ring, Liz Adams said, although one time a fancy something at a wrestler and it went out over the ring and hit my boyfriend. Sometimes people say this is getting on, this is going on, and I'm gonna go and I'm gonna
do something. People get involved. Literally. Sharon and Tommy Davis of be Hollia by Hollia by Holly, Mississippi, had ringside seats to the waller and go loser leave towns, loser leaves town match. A lot of people, a lot of older people and younger kids believe in wrestling. Tommy said, a lot don't believe it too, but they come to see what's going on. Ready, we saw the Hulk on television. Wanted to come see if he was as big because he looks something came. Some come because it's a big
grudge match. I come here and to get to get out of the house and off the streets. Oh my god, Tommy Davis, what the fuck man? What do you do? Aha? Come here to get out of the house and off the streets. What a strange thing to say, what a far thing to say.
I do love the idea that Hulk makes such an impact early in Memphis that people buy tickets just to see if he's as big as they say is that's an interesting part of his appeal. I never thought about it, obviously, the fact he's huge is a thing. But the idea that this might be the biggest guy you've ever seen in your life, like in your market of the world, you know, yes, that you could ever see in person. Ever,
I think that's a major major draw. David said he had been to the Bad Company concert a few days before the wrestling match. He said he didn't I think the concert crowd and the wrestling crowd were that terribly different. I've seen a couple of bloody matches here here which were not chicken blood pills, he said, Okay, God, they weren't chicken blood pills. Lily Baker, seventy three, has been going to wrestling matches since they were held outdoors on
Main Street. She stayed with the matches when they moved to a building on Jefferson and then to Ellis Auditorium.
And we need some good referees, Lily, she said, these matches are getting too dirty. No, no, no, it isn't. Faith fucking girl it's Jeff that they used to just wrestle, but it ain't no sport now. I wish they'd just let it be right. I don't like to see nobody get hurt. During the matches. Baker shouted at gorgeous George Junior and quote bad guy unquote wrestlers when they acted up. She wore a cap that read Jerry Lawler the King. After the mattress, he approached a promoter of the event
to complain about the refereeing. Glenn Ham watched his first wrestling match and said he considered it pretty much entertainment. He can just about figure what's gonna happen. Pretty much entertainment.
Doesn't that sound like something would flash across the screen after a sit down?
Oh, this what you just saw was pretty much entertainment or.
Like it's like a like a production house, you know, pretty much entertainment.
Oh, he can just about figure out what's gonna happen. Announced. That's that's such a fucking like. Oh yeah, I knew that was gonna happen. You can tell right now the whole damn thing. Oh my god, Like, look, look I know that they're gonna do this. They're gonna do. Now, let me guess the bad guy is gonna come in the ring and look, there's no way. Look, you're not gonna win. This is when the referee gets I know, the old god fake look I've seen Look have you
seen one match? Just seeing them all? A bunch of fucking pussy working here. Announcer Russell has been around the wrestling business for almost twenty seven years. He has seen the fans cry when a wrestler is hurt, as he said, and so if they're part of the family. Wrestling is an emotional thing as opposed to football or basketball. It's the good guy, bad guy thing. What the fuck is he talking about? Football and basketball are definitely emotional. It's
a good guy, bad guy thing. What the people do is leave their inhibitions at home. They really associate with the wrestlers on a personal level. Is violence one of wrestling's main selling points. The fans have more proximity to the ring than another sports, Russell said, of course, the people can't see the incredible violence of football. They can't see the face and identify with it. I guess it is part of the appeal. People don't go to see cars go around and around the track of Indy. They
want to see an accident in wrestling. They're assured of seeing the accident. That's part of the appeal. It's the vicarious thrill of a disaster. The fans love the contest of the good and bad. They supply that part of it, and a lot of them figure out that figure that for the money. It's as good entertainment as you can get. A lot of people come down, so as aloof observers, and before the evening is over, they're yelling break his arm. My enjoyment is different from that of the average fan.
I like to see good, scientific wrestling, and I'm not into the chair and chain bit. But what the hell if that's their bag, it's okay. Fans comments during the matches range from the typical exclamations to the referra to the referees, to the cryptic isn't he sweet? And oh, this must be talent, not somebody banged the gong on
that one. Get the clown out of the ram. The crowd's angriest response came during the Golden Lawler match, when Golden taunted them while hurting Lawler, but after Lawler got up and produced a chain, the crowd was on its feet and reacting as one. Whenever Lawler landed a punch, there was a deep low ooh that ran through the crowd. Lawler one, but he's still got a whipping king, a bad guy. Ruter said. We need better, we need better refs. One woman said, as the crowd filed out after Lawler
beat Golden. They're blind and don't say anything. It's the same old stuff every week. It's too dirty, unbelievable. Oh, that is one of the fucking greatest ever.
That's the world that Terry Boulders walking into down in Memphis. That's the constitute of the fans. That's how they look at it, how they think about it. And we need uh, we need better refs. I mean, I don't know why no one ever heeds that call, but she's exactly, It's very true.
He's a La Fan Wrestling podcast Lapsed Fan Wrestling Podcast with Jack and Carno and jpro So Boss.
I think it's time. I think it's time for the angle to be shot that will lead to a more permanent appearance of Terry Boulder down in Memphis and set the groundwork for the vignette that we've already watched and kind of play that whole thing up. So we got
a little tantalized taste of the Hulk in Memphis. But as we talked about in the Alabama series, that's just about two or three appearances in May, and then it goes back to Alabama where he has more matches with the likes of the Fullers, and of course the Harley Race match is coming up as well, and Austin Idol is starting to get into the mix and even being mentioned as you heard there from Gorgeous George Junior. Still Austin Idl on Memphis Television. So the talent exchange dynamic very clear.
We move ahead.
This is July seventh, nineteen seventy nine, according to his best we can tell Memphis Television and Eddie Boulder, the future Buddhist the Barber Beefcake is now on television as a professional wrestler and he's facing the same guy who is going to assault him with a spur in nineteen eighty eight in WWF, Oh My God and cause the Switcheroo where Ultimate Warrior shows up and beats Honky Tonk Man at summerslamin at eighty eight, remember the angle, so
add this to the list, the growing list of precursors that we're going to encounter and Hultkogn's early these days in the business. Yes, time going to run this one for the first time. This is the angle where outlaw Ron Bass attacks Eddie Boulder on Memphis Television Boy on the WMC Channel five set, and the announcers begin talking about and Eddie Boulders are about to see. He begins talking about who is going to come to the rescue
for him and who will avenge him? So let's hit play in three two one.
Play and Dallas Montgomery starts inauspiciously. Dave's bass has jumped Boulder right away?
Is that right? There is Eddie Boulder? Look? How long is blonde hairy? Oh my god, I can't handle it.
When a black singlet just like Terry Wood Black and Black.
Bootstgommery out of the ring on his back as.
Bass As is pummeling him in.
The head, really busted open.
Ron Bass busting open brutus Beefcake. It's nineteen eighty eight over.
Again the introductions. The referee said let's do it, and Bowler turned around. He slammed, got slammed from behind with Ron Bass Bass.
Studio wrestling. I know you because I don't even have a ring skirt. Just see under the under.
The ring a chance. He didn't even get started before bath.
Eddie Boulder takes the slam.
Wow ah, Eddie a miss? Come on he.
Lance has started called the sting.
Yeah, trying to come in the bell did ring day.
Steve Brown and they called a Lance Russell after turn around.
Get up, it's.
Dallas Montgomery, Ron Dass versus. I think it's Pete Austin. That's Dandy Davis right there.
In the the hard hat and the Vietnam fatigues. Eddie Boulder never had a.
Chance older just getting cumbled on his back, busted open, getting stomped and punched and beat his ship, murdering.
Murdering him.
Lance Russell's sun stick, stop this thing.
Et Austin, Ron Bass just taking.
That's Pete Austin and the Blue Trucks never.
Even got started in there. They jumped him beforehand. I don't know why Jerry didn't go ahead and just stop the thing. He sends Dallas Montgomery back out and he's just continuing to let this go on and on. As as Ron Bass and Pete Austin are just hammering Eddie Boulder blood everywhere and continuing to do so. Want a mess Fast continuing, Yeah, I was he gonna wrestle it. Never even got a chance to start wrestling is Fast jumped him from behind, busted him wide open. Jerry, He's true.
Why don't you stop the thing?
What's going on for almost two and a half on the bloody defeated? He pulls him off the heel.
Why don't you stop it?
That's enough one, Hey, come on, how much indignation from the fans on hand in the studio they're just kinda set out their hands. Yeah, I feel like a lot of sympathy venerally care any Boulder's partner getting a ship beat out of him.
This Dallas Montomray character, Come on, hey, that might be the guy under the hood. Is the outlaw that Terry Bear hugged in Alabama.
First time championship wrestling for Boulder is the.
Lands Russell making it clear this is the first time that any Boulder was on the television show.
Montgomery knocked out of the ring.
If you're wondering what the bell sounded like in the seventies, oh my god, Quang Lang.
Look at body beautiful.
I want you to look at body beautiful. Man made a mistake.
He pushed a Southern have a wit tad.
You're out there, that Russell, you setting up playing the price.
I want you to look at it, Russell, I know, Okay, get him out.
Alan's Russell taking a seat. That's to Dave Brown or ten Boulder. So playing it very serious, you know, very kind of doobm and gloom.
And the next week, July fourteenth, nineteen seventy nine, Independence Day vibes in the air, just summertime, and sit home watching their Memphis Wrestling with some leftovers in the fridge. Potato salad, no question, chicken salad. Potato salad, Oh my god, definitely chicken salad. And Jerry Jarrett's fridge. We know that, yes, Eddie Boulder with the long blowing locks. Can we just take a second, like, we know what Beefcake looked like, we know what looks like? What are you singing here?
What does ed Boulder look like? I mean, just looking at it, I just kept the head. He I mean, he doesn't even look anything like him. He looks nothing like Bruti speak Kake. He looks like I mean he kind of was like magnum Ta a little bit, but with straight hair. He's got like that dark part up the middle of his head and the rock eide locks flowing on both sides of the shoulder.
I mean that's kind of feathered out hair. Yeah, it's wild.
He's got a mustache too, something of a handlebar mustache even. And the idea, as we've talked about, you know, they decided in Koco Beach we brothers together as brothers in the business that they couldn't be taken advantage of in the same way.
Yep.
And so we're starting to see this is Bolder Brother's concept come true. Fruition Here. This is the July fourteenth, nineteen seventy nine Memphis television show, the week after we saw Ron Bass and Pete Austin absolutely yea stomp poor Eddie Boulder, bloody and helpless in his debut match. And this is where Eddie Boulder steps to the set, steps to Lance Russell and the microphone and lets us know that backup is on the way. Three two one play.
Eddie is in here with us today. Eddie, we want to welcome you to the entire area. Can't thank you. Thrank you very much, saying that it really is a pleasure to hear you here. I have you here. I know that what happened on your initial appearance here was something that is not you don't necessarily always want to remember it, but we had some take of it because it was It was really a very embarrassing situation for
us on your first visit here. And if you stand with usaid he would like to roll the tape right now and take a look and see and let the folks in the team and Gummery and Boulder and coming out the opposite.
Beautiful.
Why aren't you boys come off Danny beautiful?
But you get him on up at her like, what what's the man?
Good Russell?
Can't you get them in the post force?
Just one look at the.
Big He came in here to wrestle. My calls. So if you can get in there and beat would you go on in the ring? Come on rone him.
On the beautiful boy, Hey, come on, let's go Look at Terry.
Look at a Boulder.
This is I can't try to put down Eddie Boulder.
They're going.
Our championship wrestling with young Dallas Montgomery as his partner. I have no envy for that team going.
He's got the locks flowing in the middle part off and he's got like that the bangs are touching his eyebrows.
We can get the introduction almost time women match Part four, Park Flor.
Partner and w Ricky Ricky Ricky Morton.
Against him and a total weight of five hundred seventy.
Five says so much like campas.
Ron Bass were there for Boston, Massachusetts, Pete Austin, they have Danny Davis, their manager over there.
Pete Austin from Boston Austin is picking it and Eddie Bowlder in there. He is using some of that psychron maass saying he's going, and Bass jumps in from behind before I get started. Pete Austin and referee Jerry Calhoun says, let's get it started, and Dallas Montgomery starts in off as they did jump on mass has jumped for right away and has hammered away on him.
When Eddie was in the studio, they spelled his name on the CHIV graphics Eddie b O L D E R. So it's not that they're boulders like rocks, they're just they're bold.
They're bold, they're bold individuals old flavors. You know, they're showing Eddie Boulder in a corner of the screen watching this back over with the bandage.
On his hand and kind of a pensive look on his face.
I believe that Eddie is supposed to be reacting here, but he's just watching in silence.
He never had a chance. Boulder never had a chance.
It's kind of weird how.
We saw Terry in the ring with the singlet. He does kind of resemble it in the singlet, like yeah, because they have similar length bodies, they're not you know, Eddie Boulder obviously isn't as big as Terry, but he's got a similar length.
Yes, Torso is looks very similar in some of that.
It looks like he's dressed like sid and w W. Yeah, you're right, Yeah, definitely is Who's that? It's Danny Davis.
Back are slaughtering, manager of Ron Bass and Peter Austin, Many Hills in the Territory in future, founder and owner of Ohio Valley Wrestling.
Area and the developmental ter attorney.
We're still running.
Let's stop this thing that is ridiculous in Austin turns on a guy that never even got scarted in there.
They jumped him before, and hello, why Jerry didn't go ahead and just stopped the thing? He sends out again.
The studio promo Eddie Boulders warn of a black T shirt for a gym in Tampa. It's called stands Nature right Jim and not much as known about the gym, But I was able to find an obituary from twenty twenty two of a god by the name of doctor Staniel William Murray I never even got who died at the age of seventy eight in two.
He was born in New York and moved to.
Tampa in fifty five and was the proud owner, it says, of Stan's Jim and Temple Terrace, where he successfully mentored many bodybuilders and other athletes. Wow, I've been down in the gym. Down in the comments, you know the memorial you kind of leave. Someone named Brian writes Stan was an amazing guy. He definitely helped me reach my bodybuilding the potential. I remember Stan saying, I reminded thinking of
the young boyer co. I also remember tipping over the cable crossover machine at his gym on fifty sixth Street. Stan said, Hulk Hogan was the only other guy to do that.
What It's definitely the gym, but apparently they switched to after having to close Whitey's Olympic Gym that he co founded with Whitey Bridges in Cocoa Beach.
Advertised their workout spot in the hometown as well. Revisit the footage now we're back in studio.
And the thing that it didn't occur to me because we didn't have a chance to meet prior to uh to that direction and last week's thing. And I don't know why I didn't put it together. And I guess it's because we affectionately called Terry Boulder the Hulk. I never put it together that the Hulk was your brother.
Well, a lot of people don't know me because I'm relatively new to the business. I've just come into the scene, you know, recently. So and I also brought a little piece of tape along with me here. We got it up there, introduce my brother to all these people out here and let.
Him well, I know when they see this guy that they won't forget that Terry Boulder is the Hulk.
Let's take a look at it, right, This man is not a television illusion.
He is. He can watch this all day.
And artist conception. He is not a figment of the imagination.
He is real. He stands in a meet.
Using six foot seven inches tall. He weighs an incredible three hundred and twenty four pounds.
He is the Hawk.
The Hawk, without a doubt, is the most awesome figure in professional wrestling today. His measurements are almost unbelievable. His neck measures twenty four and three quarter inches, his chest expands to an incredible fifty nine inches, his biceps are twenty six inches, and at the end of these powerful arms are two to twelve inch fists. This magnificent upper body tapers off to only a thirty four inch waist. The Hawk is supported by treelike legs that can leg
press over nineteen hundred pounds. Combine these amazing measurements with more broote strength than you can imagine, and you have the Hall.
And the Hulk is coming here.
Boy my god.
Uh no, we won't forget that. The Hulk is Terry Boulder.
I'm sure that people out there can all see that, Uh, the Hulk is coming, you know, and they there will be no problems once the Hulk gets here, you know. Uh, what happened out there, They back jumped me. You know, I'm I'm relatively new to the business, and uh, I wasn't aware that. Uh it's Pete Austin and uh it's Ron Bass where that type of men to jump somebody from behind. But I know now, and uh and the Hulk he knows too. He's been following my career very closely.
Uh see, we're we're very very close. We're closer than most brothers. You know, We're we're very tight. And when he learned of this incident, when I called him and he insisted that he immediately come into the picture here and I told him that, you know, everything was okay, but but he's coming in and uh, Monday night, Monday night, He's coming in and we're going to take care of this whole situation.
Listen, Eddie.
Job at a past brother. Uh the camera.
How about when you all had trouble as youngsters.
Well as even as youngsters. You know, whenever one was in trouble, someone was to attack one or back jump one a fight or anything, Terry was always there or I was always there to help Terry. You know, we were always very close and we're always together. There when when either one was in need, we were always there to back each other up. And uh, you know, it's never it's never been any different that, and I don't believe it's ever going to be any different that.
I'll tell you what great to have you here, Eddie. Next time it'll be a lot different. We'll be looking for you to have a chance in that ring on it. We appreciate very much of coming out. Good luck to you and your amazing brother Terry Bowlder the halt. We're going to be back in just a moment.
I love it, so uh yeah, good luck to you indeed, and prescient words there for Eddie Boulder. It'll never be it will never be different between us. Yeah, well that's how long you want to wait. That's true. But it's true the fact that these people were watching this television show in the summer of seventy nine and it's the future Hulk Hogan that they're talking about and about to see. Yep, yeah them, it's just, you know, maybe the fifth most interesting thing on the show that week.
Oh it's insane, Eddie.
You should have shown some more fire like you should have been a little pissed off about being taken advantage of like that, and you should be getting people fired up at the prospect that your brother's coming here to even the score Monday at the Mid South Coliseum. But that's as uh day one nervous as you'll ever see in a wrestling promo right there.
I mean, that's about as ed leslie as you can fucking get.
So the listless ed Boulder promises us that Terry's coming. I would love to know, like why they couldn't have just shown up on the same week. I guess the angle was that Eddie has to show up first and is.
Well think about it, though, this is the same fucking angle, yes, that he's done. I love I would do in the future. This is this is the setup to WrestleMania nin Yes, it's the same fucking thing.
It so is, And I'm so glad you said that too, because it's also what he did in Alabama. Remember when Ron Fuller was describing how he came out to rescue Ron Fuller. He's got no original ideas except that about your hero. Paul Cogan has no original idea enough about the TNH series laid that one abundantly clear. Yeah, and abyss was the version of it then right, try to run it again. He tries to run it over and
over again. And it all started here when he comes to the rescue of his brother Eddie Boulder on Memphis Wrestling Television. Click forward a bit July sixteenth, nineteen seventy nine. Here we are at the pages of the Memphis Press Scimitar again, this one July thirteenth, seventy nine. Actually, because wrestling Monday Night, July sixteenth, eight pm at the Mid South Colisseum will have a main event for the Southern Tag team Titless Wayne Ferris and Larry lathamis champions defend
against Jerry Lawler and Bill Dundee. And then read underneath there it is boss the match promoted there off the angle run bass in Pete Austin will team to face Eddie Boulder, still spelled Bolder and yes, the Hulk Allay, not Terry the Hulk Boulder, but just the Hulk. And you think you think we established clearly that in Southeastern he was being presented as kind of like a not so subtle ripoff of the Hulk of television fame, of
Lufurigno fame. Wait to see how far they take it in Memphis especially when the famous artist illustrator Jerry Lawler gets his hands on you know something, Oh boy, some renderings for some promotional material down there. I mean, Jerry just straight rips off Marvel, rips off the type face and the font that they would use in the incredible hult com Oh shits wow, there's nothing left to question there. They are just straight up trying to use Marvel ip
to sell tickets to wrestling shows. Also on the card, no time limit, notice qualification, no referee in the ring as Tommy Gilbert faces Buddy Wayne Steve what's that?
How do you win? No no time limit, notice qualification, no referee, how do you win? Just beat the guys senseless and just leave the ring? I guess Steve Regal not that one, but uh, mister incredible Steve Regal, who will talk about more as we go, takes on the Hangman and Randy Tyler and Eddy Gilbert facingn S. So we got we got, we got the Lord Stephen Rigal versus Adam Hangman Adam not that Steve Regal, not that Hangman.
Well whatever, Randy Tyler and Eddie Gilbert, who's skinning into the business there, Young Eddie Gilbert will be a failby a factor and a player for years to come versus Hans Schroeder and the Gestapo. That's right, and Ken Wayne versus Rick Morton as well. There we go the card.
So hit us with what hits the Memphis Press scimitar the week after this ad run, so the day after the Monday night matches. This is the coverage the next day in the paper.
Ferris Latham hold on to tag title. Wayne Ferris and Larry Latham are still the Southern Tag Team Champions. The pair retained their belts last night by opinion by winning on his qualification over Bill Dundee and Jerry Lawler on the main event of the Weekly Professional Wrestling card at the Mint South Coliseum. Another matches before the six fifty one, the team of Randy Tyler and Eddie Gilbert won over Hans Schroeder and the Gestapo. Ken Wayne and Ricky Morton
battled to a draw. Steve Regal beat the Hangman, Buddy Wayne pinned Tommy Gilbert, and the Hulk combined with Eddie Boulder spelled correctly to defeat Ron Bass and Pete Austin.
Even though Eddie Boulders called Eddie Boulder they're still not calling the Hulk Timmy Boulder.
In the paper. In the commercial appeal, Ferris Latham retained belts Wayne Ferris and Larry Lathing to retain their Southern Tag Team belts and in winning by this qualification over Bill Dundee and Jerry Lawler before six and sixty one, ten more than apparently than the Scimitar had reported. There's
a discrepancy here, folks. It's right. In the main event last night's wrestling action at the mid South the Coliseum and other matches, Ken Wayne and Rick Morton fought to a draw, while Randy Tyler and Eddie Gilbert defeated Hans Schrozer and the Gestapo. Steve Riegal won over the Hangman. Buddy Wayne up ended Tommy Gilbert and the Hulk team with Eddie Boulder to beat Ron Bass and Pete Austin.
Indeed, so we have the arrival of Eddie Boulder's brother in the territory and they succeed, But it's definitely not the main event. It's definitely not the co main event. Now we're kind of pushing it a bit further on the page on the print ad it's second from the top, but in this coverage, it seems like the opener honestly the right position it. And if you doubted what I said, click forward and look at how they use the Hulk.
Lettering. Look at that. Let me see. Wow, I mean that's not even Jesus Christ. They're not even fucking They're not hiding it, not even trying to hide it. So it's like, how do you describe it? Like, Hulk looks like like bricks, right, it was like bricks that are broken and stuff.
And that's that's what. This is a picture of the program that you're at. Welch Wrestling Company presents Action ringside wrestling program that you could pick up, I guess for fifty cents at the arena. This is a copy of one that apparently gets point back then. It was signed
by Hulk Hogan's Terry Boulder Hulk. And there he is flexing, you know, doing the I don't know what you would call that where you like puts his traps out and flexes his two fists together in the front, kind of like the concluding part of his pose in WWF.
Yeah, I mean, I don't know, it's like the the I don't know, I just saw that's the Hulk Cogan post post is good enough.
Yeah and yeah, and there he is with Hulk above his head, and it's just like this is the Marvel guy after the right. Here you see what does eight ball have in common with Danny Davis. If you said that Davis spends most of his life behind the eight ball, you're only half right. But the real answer is that Sergeant Danny Davis is now ball. That's a billiard ball. That gleam you see in Davis's eye in the picture is probably gone now because of an unexpected haircut courtesy
of Bill Dunde. So apparently build Unde had taken the hair off of the head of Danny Davis, the manager of Pete Austin. And then underneath another picture of Terry Boulder, this time with the most seventies black sideburns peeking out from gold hair with the seventies bomber shades on, and even it looks like the mustache is even black, and he's got his head towering over the head of Ron Bass. It says, the Hulk is coming for you, so clearly promoting to the fans buying the programs back then that
Hulk is here to get Revenge on Ron Bass. Click ahead and you see another example of the same program with the same typeface, this one from the Evansville Coliseum matches and Wednesday, July eighteenth, and you see there the Hulk versus the Hangman listed as among the matches underneath a six man tag made event of Lawler, Dundee and Jerry jarreted against Wayne Ferris, Larry Latham and Pete Austen. So the Hulk is here and we're about to hear
from him haar for the first time. I think, yes, this is the first time words are going to come out of Terry Bollay's mouth.
Wow.
In footage that we have watched in the complete hul Cochin this is it. This is the first time he stepped to a mic and we've gotten to hear his voice. So what did he sound like in the earliest of days? You see Ad Boulder there off to the left of Lance Russell on the WMC TV studio set in Memphis, and off to the right and the tightest black V neck T shirt he could find with the shades on indoors black pants. Nw O Hogan right there, n w O Hogan, are you ready to hear what his voice
sounded like in the earliest days. I am ready free two one play.
Talk about mister Bass for a minute.
One of the most tragic events in his life is just about to take place this Monday, when I get my hands on him. There's just been a little bit of a problem where we come from. There's a bad junkyard dog in Port Tampa, you know, and he was always beating on all the little dogs and biting on their ears and everything. And all of a sudden, a
little bit bigger dogs came along. And last Monday in Memphis, my brother dropped so many eyes, I mean so many elbows on mister Bass's head, and his eyes kind of looked like goofy grape.
You know. Well, now missus Bass is running scared.
Because the big dogs got on. Well, there's just a little bit bigger dogs after you, brother, and that's me and this Monday night in Memphis, Daddy, when I get a hold of you, mister Bass, I'm gonna take you.
And that's sucking accident, a little bit of.
A wrestling lesson, a little respect for these good people around here. I'm gonna put the super Southern squeeze on you, Daddy, and when I get done with you, brother, I'm gonna squeeze all that meanness out of you and all those bad ways you have, and I'm gonna turn you over these people in Memphis and let them whip on you a little bit after you down and out.
That's a promise. I'm gonna make everybody here, and I'm gonna have my running shoes on.
So if you plan on run and one more time from me, I'm coming after you. And if I catch in the dressing room and drag you all the way back out to the ring.
And a lot of folks that I don't want mad at me, but this is the one that I for sure don't put Matt at me. The Hult and his brother Eddie Bowler will be right there Monday night. Good luck to you down there, you guys, and we'll be looking for it, okay, Terry and Eddie and we've got more wrestling action coming up.
Here and shake between the brothers by Lance Trust's back. Edler saying, absolutely nothing standing there like a fucking scarecrow. Goofy grape I'm seeing here was a popular character like a cartoon on a great flavored powdered drink that was out back then, so and he had kind of funny looking eyes. So I guess Hulk had just had a swig or two before hitting this set goofy grape on the mind. I mean, yeah, we do have to talk about it. I mean, the voice that.
That accent is is, I've never heard that before. Hear him with that much of an accent. Ever, it's it's it's, I don't know what it is. It's a nerving, a nerving. Sure, yeah it's uncomfortable, but I mean he doesn't sound too far off, but it's just a little bit.
A little off. Yeah, it's got like this almost like this velvety kind of tone to it where he's like really relaxed. It's almost like, you know, someone who used to have an accent, they get rid of it, but then they get drunk and it comes back, right, I imagine you know that Port Tampa. Whatever he's trying to say comes out when he used to get a little sauced.
I'm not say he's sauced here, but he has yet to be in front of enough cameras that he's like shaking the accent out of his voice, you know, right, this is what I imagine he sounded like. It's one of the questions we wrestled with when we did his earliest days in Tampa as part of the complete hul Cochin, Like, what does this guy sound like before he becomes accustomed to being a television star, before he starts to put on I think this is probably as close as we're
going to get. It wouldn't be surprised if it sounded much different than this. And again, I can never forget Gary Bearris, his childhood friend, telling us this guy would go on and on about being from Port Tampa his whole life because he thought it made him cool to be from Port Tampa, because Port Tampa apparently meant something to people who grew up in that city. But he wasn't from Port Tampa. We didn't throw up in Port Tampa. That was another area.
But there he is.
As soon as he gets on television, he can't help but conveying to people that he's from this rough and tumble area called Port Tampa. Bizarre, but yeah, Terry boulders here and it's a pretty good promo. I mean he you know, yeah, considered as good. Yeah, that's what a baby face should be saying. In seventy nine, like, I'm gonna throw you around, I'm gonna beat your ass for these people. Yep, I'm even gonna let them have it, have a crack at you. I think we should do
it one more time. Okay, so we're gonna watch it again, just because it's too historic, it's too important, it's too seminal, it's too foundational.
So in three to one, talk about mister Bass for a minute.
Uh, one of the most tragic events in his life is just about to take place this money when I get my hands on him. There's just been a little bit of a problem where we come from. There's a bad junkyard dog in Port Tampa, you know, and he was always beating on all the little dogs and biting on their ears and everything.
And all of a sudden, a little.
Bit bigger dog came along, bigger dog.
Last Monday in Memphis, my brother dropped so many eyes, I mean so many elbows on mister Bass's head and his eyes kind of like goofy grape. You know.
Well, now mister Bass is running scared.
Because the big dog's good on him. Well, there's just a little bit your dog is after you, brother, and that's me and this Monday night in Memphis, Daddy. When I get a hold of you, mister Bass, I'm gonna take you and bury your head right than mat brother, I'm gonna teach you a little bit of a wrestling lesson, a little respect for these good people around here.
I'm gonna put the.
Super Southern squeeze on you, daddy, And when I get done with you, brother, I'm gonna squeeze all that mean this side of you and all those bad ways you have, and I'm gonna turn you over to these people in Memphis and let them whip on you a little bit after you're down and out.
That's a promise.
I'm gonna make everybody here and i'm gonna have my running shoes on, So if you plan on run and one more time for me, I'm coming after you. And if I catch in the dress room and drag you all the way back out to the ring and.
A lot of folks that I don't want mad at me, but this is the one that I for sure don't want mad at me. The Hault and his brother Eddie Bowler will be right there Monday night. Good luck to you down there, you guys, and we'll be looking for it okay, Terry and Eddie, and we've got more wrestling action coming up.
Terry and Eddie man Buddy Buddy Cop movie in the making, Oh seriously, and he's got a I also noticed too that Terry has the flowing yoga pants on that he had on in the under the Giant Arm wrestling angle, where he's got the fucking sandals on. Yep, so he's he's he's playing at real loose. I mean, you couldn't wear regular sized pants when you Roy did as hard as he did and worked out as hard as he did and weightlifted as much because you're just you know,
That's why the zubas were so popular too. Your fucking thighs get so big that you can't your legs can't fit in any conventional pants. You have to wear like a dress basically, or something that's flowing with big air availability to it. So there he is. Terry Boulder is in Memphis for a bona fide run and he's here to come to the aid of his brother Eddie. And we flick forward a bit. Here's some more print ads, this one from the Jackson Sun, Jackson, Tennessee, which was
part of the circuit as well at the Coliseum. It'll be Saturday night, July twenty first, nineteen seventy nine, eight pm, four dollars ring side, four dollars loads, general mission, three bucks, children twelve and under a buck in the Loews in general admission, Section made. Event is going to be Terry the Hulk, Boulder b O L A d e R, Eddie Boulder Bo L.
D E R.
And Jerry the King Lawler. There's a trio for you, Terry, He's Wacky Eddie and Jerry versus Ron Bass, Pete Austin and Danny Davis. Also on the card, Wayne Ferris and Larry Latham take on Steve Regal and Rick Wharton, Hans Schroeder wrestles, Randy Tyler and the Gestapo faces Coco Whare. So again there's the confirmation as far as I'm concerned of him showing them the ropes in seventy nine, because of course he's on the same cards apparently.
Yeah, as we know he he taught him everything that they know.
Yes, indeed, there's another readout for the card that looks to be a little different. Oh no, no, that's a that's a six manages. I thought it was three different matches Terry bouldervers Ron Bass and Eddie Boulderver's Pete Austin. It's it's the same thing. So that's what they did after having them at South Coloseum match. They went around the horn, apparently involving Jerry Lawler as well. And here is a match from Jackson, Tennessee. I believe it is the match if we fast forward a clip and get
some even some more visuals. Here a visual feast of terryness here thanks to the Memphis run. And what this is just eight millimeters footage. I don't know how and why this survives. Must be the personal collection of a fan who used to film the matches back then.
Wow.
So it's not like the prior things we've seen where it's clipped off television and you hear Lance Russell's voice and you can hear the sound of the mat you hear promos or people in studio doing commentary. You're just going to hear the sound of a film. But this is what it looked like when Terry the Hope Boulder came into Memphis to avenge his brother Eddie and get in there and start to kick some tail with none other than Jerry the King Lawler on their side as well.
So if you're ready, boss, we hit play three two one play get ready for ufim de Yes. Wow, here they come. Wow Lawler and Hogan on the march. Terry Boley and the Blue Singlett steps up Very Boulder and it starts running after people just like you. WWF. Hits the ring and runs him off, conking his fist. The two blonde bombers Terry and Ned Boulder share in the ring. Eddie in a black sink let Jerry with no uh straps up, just black trunks. See the introductions being made here.
I don't have to worry about talking over any announcers here. Terry and the Blue Singing Blue Patsy, what are you seeing? Let the people know?
I mean, he just just he looks incredible shape. He's not completely Hulk Hogan massive, but he's still pretty fucking big.
Does have the mushroom cloud shaped into his chest here by now I saw that, yep, which he did not have in his first Memphis appearance. So here's Pete Austin swinging at Jerry Lawler, who ducks out of the heel corner and Pete Austin kind of a bruiser brody looking motherfucker besides him.
Like a love child of Brody and Andree.
Cogan waiting patiently on the apron as Jerry and Pete offs in exchange right hand Sam Bass. Now as we flash forward, Lawler grabs a side headlock. What's say he made a tag to Terry Bowler?
Oh nope, a.
Couple of tags attempted but not consummated. His Lawler content to exchange with the outlaw. Just great stuff to be a fan back.
Oh yeah, ah, nothing like it. Nothing like it.
So far has just been Terry and Eddie on the ring apron really, After hitting the ring like a house on fire and running the bad guys off, the Lawler finally turns top. Look at that counseling a bit with the future Hulk Hogan. Ah, Terry hits the ring, cocks the fist, and you can he's doing his light thing, his brock lesnar thing where he hops in place, yes, yes, other walking up with Pete Austin. Now is Terry Boulder snatches aside headlock, cranking it crank of Ruski rank Erusky
in Memphis. Little nervous Lawler looks, I know, Pete Austin cranked till he hits the matt. Terry tags out to Eddie, grabs a headlock of his own.
It's good.
Look at Eddie Boulder, who's doing the same thing. That's all he could do, just crank a headlock.
How long he does this?
Lollard legal now going to the gut of Pete Austin and snatching Danny Davis as well on the side headlock. Terry Boulder back in action. Here's the hole Star grabs another headlock. They've been told to just crank headlocks, apparently rank the fucking headlock Jesus, which is funny because if they're telling themselves all they can do, we already saw that he can do more than that. We already saw it in the territory, So don't tell me from the headlock.
Boulder crotchlam lifts and dumps Dandy Davis with a big slam and a.
Light drop by Terry Boulder. Eddie did it the right way, but it's not the finish. He picked in Davis up off the canvas. Eddy, who goes to another headlock. Oh, Eddie's doing is cranking that thing. He's doing nothing else, but there it is a backsou play not an atomic drop to break the headlock. Hy Eddie Boulder, who brings Danny Davis to the corner. Lawler in there now peppering Danny Davis with right hands on basses enter the fray, offering a handshake to Jerry the King Lawler this direction.
Lawler two keen, though, got out of the way on a charging bass and drops him with the with the right Here comes Terry Boulder. Lawler charges the corner and this massive backup for Jerry Lawler must have seem so cool. Back then, how to go out? The cavalry arriving Pete Austin runs right in to Terry Boulder and takes the bump. He's a wall of a man, boss, clubbing forearm in the corner. Boulder applies to full Nelson, holding Pete Austin
open for a right hand by Lawler. That funny because this Pete Austin is not a small guy.
Oh he's huge. I know.
Eddie boulders back in. I'll give you one guess what he's doing. Headlock and they fall on the ground in the headlock position. Is Eddie Boulder. The first attempt at our long speculated headlock finished guy. Now it looks like it's broken down. Everyone's all over the place. Terry boulders in lifting and slamming Pete Austin to the gas. Eddie Boulder comes in and covers. I think you just got
a two pe. D Austin reins down a double axe handle on Eddie Boulder and slams Eddie Boulder, who barely gets over for the slam.
Not a very.
Polished bump there from the future, Brutus Beefcake pranking on the chin. Eddie's building up like Kulkwood from the submission. So yeah, this is what came of those promos. We were watching as Ron Bass floors Eddie, Pete Austen chokes Eddie behind the refs back in the corner, Rams Midt of the buckle, Any Davis getting some cheap shots in there as well. Run hoodlocked by a Bass trying to control Boulder was trying to inches way to the corner
and make the tag, doesn't get it posited. Back on his seat in the heel corner is Eddie Boulder pulling his hair. He's doing nothing nothing, You think it's such a bitch, just selling his ass off, flailing all over the place. He tracked in the sleeper of.
Peter as Terry Boulder reaching Terry Lawler clapping, trying to rally Eddie Boulder, but he's being kept pretty snuggly in the middle of the ring by the headlock of Pete Austin.
Here comes Danny Davis, now taking the fight to Boulder. I'll tell you he brought Terry in to save him from these kind of beatdowns. Terry gets here, he's just watching.
Yeah. Well, in his defense, he says, you know, he can only come in when he's tagged in. Gotta respect the rules. Who else fucking wild right hands to the bread basket and now Terry's been tagged. Here comes the hot tag we all know, elbows, elbows and rights from Terry Boulder going off boom Pete Austin and Danny Davis. Dandy Davis is in the bear hug Ron Bassett to
bring to break it up, clubbing Boulder from behind. Boulder drops Davis and turns to him and hulks up makes the big form of the big traps pose.
Oh.
Davis is trying to use the military helmet on Boulder. Lawler rolls up Davis for the one tooth Throttler gets the pin. Francus continues at ringside. Referee raises the hands of the Bolder brothers and Jerry the King Lawler and they all exchange who's given who the rub here? Because it looks like Lawler wants anything you can with the Hulk think so yeah, not something he would ever admit to later.
I can tell you that for sure. As the film runs out with the little hair on it or whatever you.
Call it, yep, yep, hair and dirt yep, I mean, that's good stuff. That's wild, what a find, what a reality, what a need.
But it's funny because years later they would ask Jerry Lawler about I don't know about his memories of involving involving Hulk Hogan and stuff in the territory. He was interviewed in twenty sixteen by Inside Pulse and he had this reflection Hulk Hogan, he came right here and started with us. He had been playing bass guitar and a band down in Florida. There it is again, skipping Alabama. Jerry Jarrett and I co signed for his first car
that he ever had. When he was right here, Lawler recalled, he was nowhere near a polished worker yet and the thing that really held him back. I think the reason we kind of had to let him go, Lawler says, because he was bound to determine for us to give this kid that he brought with him. He called him Dizzy Hogan, which I think he may have turned out to be. He's talking about ed Leslie here. He called him Dizzy Hogan, which I think may have turned out
to be. I don't know if it was brutus beefcake and he was horrible, Lawler says of ed Leslie.
Horrible.
Wow, that was the deal. If we used Hulk, we had to use this other kid, his best friend. So definitely not impressed. Then I can see why, having watched that little piece of footage. Yeah, but yeah, that let the beginning of the package deal, right, the beginning of the package deal. You get ed if you hire the Holster. It was true even as far back as nineteen seventy nine, according to Jerry Lawler. That's crazy, which is it is
really nuts. Next is a video clip where we don't have Hulk on screen, but it's a surviving piece of Memphis television from nineteen seventy nine, where Hulk is mentioned as part of a rundown. So this is just sort of like, you know, some atmospherics around what it was like to watch Memphis Wrestling TV back then, and Lance Russell making the announcement of some upcoming Hulk action. So let's hit play in three.
To hold, because you know what I was skipping ahead and I am this is.
The July twenty first, nineteen seventy nine clip. Yep, I'm ready, three two one play.
Okay, let's talk about the entire card as a matter of fact, Monday down at the Coliseum. It'll start at eight o'clock and if you get the afternoon, you can go buy the Colisseum and pick your tickets up until five o'clock today and all day on Monday for advanced ticket sales right down at the Mid South Colosseum. If you're there in time, you will get yourself an opener at eight o'clock that'll have Ken Wayne and the Hangman
going against Rick Morton and Eddie Gilbert. In the next bout, Hans Schroeder and the Gestapo will be tangling with Big Randy Tyler and Steve Riegle. That should be a good team. A tape fist match. This one you'll like Tommy Gilbert, Buddy Wayne Tape Fist praying that will not be a wrestling match, you can bet on that. And then following that will be a women's world title match when Vivian Saint John will be in challenging the champion, the Fabulous
Mullah right down at the Coliseum Wow. And after that, Jerry Lawler Bill Dundee will be taking on those fabulous free Birds Terry Gordy and Michael z That that is going to be a tag match you don't want to miss, Wayne Ferris, Larry Latham, Sergeant Davis against the Fargos Jackie
and rough House. And then the big main event after all of that, you're gonna see Ron Bass and Pete Austin, two very big ones going against a couple of guys that are just a little bit bigger, Eddie Boulder and the huge hulk Terry Boulder, who will be in there in action against Bass and Austin. That'll be Monday night, eight o'clock action time right at the mid South Coliseum. Open with Us had the opportunity to pick your tickets
up today. We've got more wrestling action coming up in the ring and we're going to be back to it right after we take time out of this.
That's what it is. That's awesome, it's so good.
Get the Raft Fan Wrestling podcast. He's an lapsed fan wrestling podcast with Jack and carn Seo MGP Soro.
So yeah, framed in no uncertain terms, there is the main event like that was like the way he read that and the way they ordered the matches, like people were coming out to see, you know, Eddie Boulder baggage aside to see the Hulk kicks some ass. That was the main drawing thing in July of nineteen seventy nine in the Memphis territory. So just like in Alabama, he comes in and he's right to the main event. Yep, no in doctrination period, no holding him back because he's
not ready. Bullshit plug him right in July twenty third.
Now we fast forward here to the Memphis Press Scimitaur and it's going to be Jarrett Wrestling Company Presents Wrestling Monday May Toorn Monday July twenty third at the eight PM mid South Coloseum made event once again, the Hull Can Eddie Boulder Bolder versus Ron Bass and Pete Austin and the other matches that were just outlined by Lance Russell in studio they spelled Mula right here on Lake on television where they spelled at Moola here the age
is present, Tommy Gilbert, Buddy Wayne. There's also Han Schroeder and the Gestapo versus Steve Regal and Randy Tyler, and Rick Morton and Eddie Gilbert, the Future Ricky Morton at the Rock and Roll Express taking Don, Ken Wayne and the Hangman hit the commercial Appeal results Boss for our listeners. Tuesday, July twenty.
Four, Boulders take victory The Hulk, Terry Boulder and Eddie Boulder defeated Ron Bass and Pete Austin. And last night's main wrestling event at the Mid South Coliseum before six two Fans and other matches, Rick Morton and Eddie Gilbert beat Ken Wayne and The Hangman, Steve Riegeld, Randy Tyler beat Hans Schroeder and the Gestapo, Buddy Wayne beat Tommy Gilbert. The Fabulous Mula retained her title when her about with Vivian Saint John was stopped for fighting outside the ring
in a woman's title match. Jerry Lawler and Bill Dundee beat Terry Gordy and Michael Hayes and in the handicapped match Jackie and Roughhouse Fargo stopped Wayne Ferris, Larry.
Wayne Ferris, Larry the fuck tremendous stuff.
Wayne Ferris, Larry. Yes.
He talked about Steve Regal mister incredible and before his recent passing he sat with Hannibal for a shoot interview where they touched quite a bit on Steve Ridle's early interactions with an early career Terry Bolea.
I was with him when he started in seventy nine. He came through Memphis and he and I were partners for a while. So I was the guy that went out and sold like hell and gave him the big comeback. And he learned real quick, and he learned. And then I send him to Berne. I said, Terry, you need to call Vernon up in Awa. You can make some money. He'll you love you.
And he did.
And then I went back up to burn a couple of years later, and uncle was there and stupid vern God bless him, rest his soul. Furn was I say stupid. He was just not business oriented. He let her go to Vince instead of keeping him there. You know what I mean and it wouldn't have taken that much to keep him in Minneapolis. But Vince, you know, Vince gave him the world and that's where he made his money.
And I think he probably would have made as much with Verne, but Verne would have wanted too much of everything that he made and where Vince was a fair on that stuff. But that's all history. But uncle, you know I was with him through his starting his reign, his reign of popularity. He was a great guy, too good to travel with. Fun guy.
I love him your death.
What was Hulk like in those days? You mentioned it was fun? But did you could you tell he was going to be a big superstar or was he just to you another big guy that might make it.
No, I could. I could tell. You could see not only was he big, but he was hungry. He wanted to learn, you know what I mean. He'd ask me stuff and I tell him and Jimmy Valley, you handsome Jimmy guy was in the territory at that time, and he asked Jimmy all kinds of stuff. He wanted to be a superstar and he knew he had to get big, and he was when he first started in Memphis man. He was like three seventy five, three eighty.
He was big.
He was huge.
He cut it all later, you know, from where he was on the road. They're getting out a little more and not have to carry so much weight. But he was huge, and he caught on so quickly. He really caught onto the business. And it's a timing thing. It's like dancing with a stranger. And he caught onto that so quickly. And that's what you need because there's guys. Trust me, there's guys out there that are bigger than me. I can run faster, dodge faster, whatever you say, but
they can't get it. They don't get it in the progressing ring. When you're in front of twenty thousand people and you can do something in a ring and make them lift their finger or boo or cheer, then you got it. If you don't have that, get your ass out because you're going to go broke.
Good stuff there from Steve Regal. Yeah, I'll say you can add to the list of people who want credit for sending Hulk to Vern Yep, yep. Somehow he comes off more credible. Yeah, yeah, I I I don't listen. I at this point I have a hard time believing anybody anybody, But if the common DNA we established earlier between the Jarrett Memphis office and the AWA with that
watermark on the print ads was any indication. Yeah, so it wasn't quite a quite a huge stretch to have a guy migrate from Memphis or people he impressed upon in Memphis to recommend him to verne Ghanya. And that's coming here pretty soon as well. Another huge connection that is kind of bubbling beneath the surface. I guess you could say, Terry Bulay at this point in time is Jimmy Hart. Where does Jimmy come from?
Boss?
Uh?
Memphis, Memphis guy. And he got start in the wrestling business on the same Memphis television show that we've been watching. Okay, all started in nineteen seventy eight when Jimmy Hart involved. Of course, much like Kull Cocain used to be in a rock and roll band that was called the Gentries. Yeah, yeah, that's only we all know. That's about Jimmy Hart. They were playing keep on Dancing like they always did in a Monday night in seventy eight, and apparently the Mid
South Coliseum was the venue. A lot of people in the audience and there was a guy they had that night sitting in to sing harmony, and it was Jerry the King Lawler, the guitar buster, the person that apparently
was Yeah. They basically worked out a deal where during the course of the Gentries concert there would be a Jerry Lawler angle with handsome Jimmy Valliant, who we know very well from sure you know the Star k Memorial tour and some other samplings we've done mostly of mid Atlantic, but in seventy eight he was one of the big
heels in Memphis, huge heel and babyface as well. And so during the course of this Gentries concert in Memphis at the Mid South Coliseum, the mecca of Memphis wrestling, Jerry stands in because he fancied himself as a bit of a musician. Jerry Lawler thought he was gonna have a music career at one point. Yeah, right, he did have an album. And during the course of this angle, while sitting in for harmony for the Gentries, Jimmy Valliant comes out and smashes a guitar over Jerry Lawler's head.
So it's a big angle, and basically hard had met Lawler while touring in music and Lawler trying to get involved in music, and eventually it's like, hey, why don't why don't you try being in wrestling. You can help us promote, you know, how to promote Rocky Wall shows. It's it's a very typical kind of kind of thing. But of course, by the mid seventies, Boss, you know, while Jerry Lawler was wrestling, who is the real King of Memphis? We ask you who is the real king
in that in that storied city in wrest No, in reality? Oh, in reality, I don't know who was Elvis. Oh he's dead though, Yes, but that did not stop oh Hulk Cokin from claiming years later, Oh no, that during this run in Memphis, what did he do among the spectators?
No, Jimmy.
No twenty seventeen, Yeah, who knew on the red carpet for the Andrea the Giant documentary?
Come on, I probably would say Elvis Presley.
Yea.
They asked him who his favorite, who his fantasy tag team partner would be if he were to do a celebrity tag team, So he says, Elvis.
You ready, I probably would say Elvis Presley because when I first started wrestling, I started going to Memphis. He used to come in like the semi main main event, right of Harley with a helmet sitting lay up at the top of the Mid South Colisseum. I didn't know who the hell he was back in those days, you know,
And I have been the one guy looking back. If I would have been aware or no I would have known who Elvis Presley was when I was first you or how popular it was, that would be the one guy loved you had in the ring with me.
Elvis died in seventy seven, So I'm just saying obviously that the historians are wrong and he died. He didn't. He died in like nineteen eighty. I'm glad to clarified. That's what I thought you were going to say. God damn it, I say, I say, I almost caught you there. Can you imagine this guy, I mean, I like the the the person interviewing him like.
I.
They must be going insane when some kind of bullshit story like this comes out, because it's such it's so bad. It is so bad.
Why do you think he needs to lie about Elvis seeing his matches? I just don't understand it at all. It's not like he's at an Elvis premiere. You know, it's like he brought up Elvis of one hundred thousand people he could bring up, right, what does that do for him?
I don't.
Nothing.
I bring it up here because Jimmy Hart wrote in his book what Elvis was to music, Jerry the King Lawler was to wrestling. He was the main event, the headliner in the biggest box office office attraction in the territory, and he also aspired to be a singer, as I found out one day at Sun's studios, Jimmy Hart recalls in his book, a guy there came up to me and said, Jimmy, Jerry Lawler, the wrestler is going to be coming in here. I was excited. I said, oh, man,
I love wrestling. I've seen him on TV. He'd also seen Jerry apparently in high school, but he was a couple of years behind Jerry Lawler. And no, Jimmy Hart was a couple of years ahead of Jerry Lawler in high school, which is which is interesting. Jimmy had always loved wrestling, but you know, didn't really ever have a chance or an occasion to meet Jerry Lawler and convey
that to him. Up until this point in time. But they came to a record studio called Arden, which is a famous Memphis studio where a lot of big name groups recorded, and they cut a record together, and it was there that Jimmy Hart was able to impress upon Jerry Lawlard that not only was he interested in cooperating with him on his music career, but that he was a big wrestling fan in his own right and it
was kind of a thrill to meet him. We were hanging out at Arden, and the musicians, Jimmy Hart writes, being typically musicians at the seventies, started passing around a bottle of wine. When it came to me, I said, I'm sorry, I don't drink. Jerry was sitting next to me, so the bottle went to him next, and he said, I don't drink either.
Boss. It's a match made in heaven, don't you know. Yep, there it is.
They also realized they don't smoke, both of them, and they talked about playing I realized they don't tell the truth and softball. So that's how Jimmy Hart writes, Lawler and I made our connection, first in the studio with music, then by the fact that neither of us drank or smoked pot. That led to weekend softball games with Lawler and his buddies. So the Gentries kind of give up
touring on the road. Memphis is running weekly and on the way into town once they drive by the Ramata Inn the wrestlers, Jimmy Hart recalls, and that was where the Gentries were playing, still playing at the time, and eventually those wrestlers started coming in to see the Gentries play, and Lawler would lead the pack, building d would comploud, Boy Fraser, Jimmy Valliant. It's just exactly like Hogan described meeting all these wrestlers because he was playing these clubs
in Tampa. And this is how Lawler, pardon me, Jimmy Hart gets to meet Lawler. One day, he says, Lawler came to me and said, Jimmy man, you're out here wasting away doing this music. It's great and it's fun and all that, but you need to make some real cash. I need to get you in professional wrestling. Bells went off in my head, so I asked, what have you got in mind? What are you doing on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays?
Not much?
Well, we're having some trouble promoting summer our towns. Yeah, what he'd be about to see. We're having some trouble promoting some of our towns. How would you like to do some stuff with us? You can still do what you're doing at the Ramata, but you can work for us the rest of the time, putting up posters and doing prom promotion. I'd love to have you. People know who you are. I'd like you to come down to the matches on Monday night and sit at ringside. I
think the people would love to see you. So that's that and the connection is made before he ever meets Halkogan. Jimmy Hart was in extremely tight boss with Jerry the King Lawler.
There you go, Jesus. Actually they did a.
Jerry Lawler Jimmy Valiant loser leaves Town match. Jerry lost the match, said he was going to retire on television and kind of put them in a tough spot with that stipulation. He's told people that Jerry Lawler couldn't carry a tune if it had handles, but he really did have a pretty good voice. As he tries to pursue
a music career after the lousure Leaves Town match. His image, Jimmy Hart writes, was the real obstacle to any singing success he might have truly hoped for, because as far as wrestling fans were concerned, he was still the king of Memphis wrestling. He and his partner in the Memphis territory, Jerry Jarrett, had simply painted themselves into a corner with the loser Leave town angle and wrestling. There are allway
two sides to every coin. When you boil everything down to its essence, you've got a bad guy and a good guy, a heel in a baby face. People want to see the baby face beat the crap out of the heel. It's as simple as that. But you've got to have that combination. I don't care if you're all leave. You've got somebody the people want to see get their butt kicked, and they're not going to give you their hard earned money. Nobody's going to come to see you.
When Lawler first got into the business, he was part of the bad guy tag team, so he's basically saying that Memphis had trouble making money without Jerry Lawler in there to straighten out the bad guys. So as time goes, they figure out a way to work everything back in because the longer the king was out of action, the
greater the economic damage the territory was experiencing. So Jerry Lawler learns and Jerry Jarrett learns that Lawler cannot take hiatuses from this operation without tickets taking a nose dive. So apparently it comes down to Jimmy Hart kind of saying what he'd like to do is start going around the country playing music with the Gentries, and they would build it up and let the people know on television that they're on tour and basically tell the wrestling audience
that Jerry Lawler is touring with the Gentries. He's not just sitting at home doing nothing. He's pursuing a music career.
Okay.
So to get that over, Jimmy Hart has to appear on Memphis television. He goes down a Channel five for the weekly live wrestling show. Lance Russell says, coming out. Now you know him from the Gentries. He's had some big, big records around town here, Jimmy Hart.
So Jimmy comes out hand.
He says, I know you're out here to make a special announcement. Jimmy, I said, yes, I am whether you're like Jerry Lawler or whether you hate him. This coming Monday at the Mid South Coliseum, you're going to see the King in concert with the Gentries. So you go to Mid South Colosseum. Jerry Lawler's back in the coliseum, but not to wrestle. That's how they get around it.
He lost a loser release town match. He has to leave as a wrestler, but he can sure his hell come back to the building as a musician, boss, right, I mean, I guess, so, I guess he can. He can move some tickets that way. And so they're doing Keep On Dancing the hit song, and that's when Jimmy Valiant approaches him from the back and knocks his guitar player down, picks up one and bust it over laws head. And so that is the angle that brings him back
in Wow. So we have Jimmy Hart getting involved in Memphis wrestling the year before Terry Bullia gets there, and not only involved, but involved in the top program with Jerry Lawler. Of course, Lawler got involved in wrestling because of Jackie Fargo, who you heard mentioned on one of those card reads by Lance Russell. Jackie Fargo was the biggest star in Memphis wrestling before Jerry Lawler, and discovered
Lawler when they were working together at a radio station. Well, well, Lawler was working at a radio station and he noticed that Lawler restoring caricatures of the wrestlers and encouraged Lawler to get in the business. Lawler went on Memphis television to display his artwork and that was kind of the first introduction. So the Memphis wrestling fans really got to see Jerry Lawler grow up as a kid as kind of one of them as a wrestling fan sure mentally
takes s the endorsement of Jackie Fargo. Lawler, just like Hogan, goes to Alabama.
First.
People forget this. He was in the Alabama Territory, which he just started up in Montgomery and was run by
Bill Golden Roy Walsh, son in law. This is around seventy two and as time goes, Jerry Jarrett takes over calls Jimmy Hart one day and says, Jimmy, I love your music and the music he did for Lawler, can you cut a video for us on Jimmy Valiant And it was it was set to it was called Son of a Gypsy and it was a very famous video, and then it kind of set the whole personality for Jimmy Valliant, I believe, before he came to the territory, and it led to a lot of anticipation in ticket
sales to see him wrestle in Memphis. And so the formula was taking shape for Jerry Jarrett where he would use music videos or the vignettes like we've seen to introduce a guy before he came in and realize greater returns. As Jimmy Hart writes in his book, if it weren't for that video, I probably wouldn't be in wrestling today.
And there's back and forth between Jimmy and between Jerry Jarrett and Jerry Lawler where Jimmy kind of ends up in the middle of some of it, and the video and the fact that he had it turned out to be some key points of leverage to keep him involved. But as time goes, Uh, Hulk Cogan comes in and because Jerry would pardon me, because Jimmy Hart would absolutely, you know, assign all of his fortunes to hul Cogan, Yeah, and truly attach himself to that gravy train.
By the time I think admit that I fucking but your mind, brother, your mind, own your ass, dude.
Absolutely, absolutely that's the case. So he he's going on and on about Hulk Cogan now because he's got a book out and he doesn't really care about Jerry Lawler anymore.
He's framing.
He's the I choose to say that Jimmy Hart's telling the truth about how Jerry Lawler really felt about Hulk. I think Jerry fits in the same category as Mike and Eddie Graham, as Jerry Brisco, as Rupe and anybody else who didn't push Terry Boulder immediately in seventy seven.
Dusty Rhodes.
He can't put run Fuller in this category because you know, he was the guy to just say, you know, I need stars, Let's put this guy over all our top guys. He can wrestle Andreo, It's get him out there, right.
But Lawler, I think, despite the fact that as we just saw, was sharing the ring with Hulk in the earliest days as a tag team partner, definitely didn't see the Hulk Hogan biggest superstar of all time in the history of the business when he had him right under his thumb, and Jimmy Hart as the allegiance he shook out over the decades, was able to call a spade
a spade in that regard. In his book, So Boss, I've furnished you Now after having gone through the sort of origin story of Jimmy Hart getting into the business in Memphis, here he is commenting on the dynamic of Terry Boulder coming to Memphis and what he saw.
VI's Iffy. Jerry Lawler I first met and managed Hulk Hogan back in Memphis. Terry Lawler and I were in the middle of one of our big feuds, and I was bringing in whomever I could get my hands on to knock Lawler off his pedestal and generally make his life miserable. It was all part of a running storyline where every week Lawler would beat one of my guys and then say, next week, Hart, I'm going to get my hands on you. But of course I'd bring in
another unstoppable object. Yeah, yes, I love those unstoppable objects to protect myself. The following Saturday, usually and imposing heel who wrestled for another promotion. Back then, the Monday Night Extravaganza in the Mid South Colisseum was our big show. Most of the smaller promotions were quiet on that day, so Jared or Lawler could pick up the phone and call Florida or even New York because all the territories were small then and work out a deal to share talent.
It was a good arrangement for everyone. We had access to a lot of wrestlers, and because they wanted to make the extra payoff, they'd happily come to us on off nights. So I'd bring in Terry Funk and Lawler would beat him. Next out unveil Dori Funk and Lawler would beat him too. Nick Bockwinkle, Ken Peterra, Jack brisco Jerry I cannot imagine and that he beat all these people. Yeah, I don't know, at least not in a real way.
Maybe by his qualification or something, but not in real way, right, Ken PETERA, Jack Briscoe, Jerry Brisco, King Kong Bunny, Jessie the Body Ventura. One after they, one after the other, they'd come and the result was pretty much the same. Lawler would somehow get the better of my guys and me. This went on for years and we drew great crowds. Hul Cogan was working for Verne Gagnese Minneapolis based. Aw what okay, I mean this is later?
Yeah he's talking about Yes he's okay, Yes he is. He's talking about like.
Eighty okay, because this is like I was. I was getting all fucking like, what the fuck? Hul Cogan was working for Verne Gagney's Minneapolis based a w A at the time, and he was also doing some work as a heel for the w WE. And yes, Hulk was one of those people we brought in to fight Lawler. I was in his corner. But I knew about Hulk even before he was brought into Face the King, before there ever was a Hulk Hogan, and before I'd really
gotten into wrestling. I was still doing music with the Gentries, but I had met and struck up a friendship with Lawler, so I was still pretty much coming to the Mid South Colisseum as a fan. Lawler had given me carte blanche, though, and I could hang around backstage and watch and learn. At the time, the Gentries had just finished a Dick Clark tour and I went down to the coliseum on a Monday night to unwind. In those days, there were two doors that the wrestlers would make their ring entrances.
From I would stand on the baby face side. There was a big mesh screen that you could look through that could be opened up to bring chairs or props through. It was from there that I saw a guy named Terry Boulet enter the ring for the first time. I think he was called Terry Boulder then, because he and ed Leslie later known as Brudus the Barbara Beefcake were tacking up as the Bolder brothers.
So we have air of the setup. So while later, while you know, being a heel wrestling manager and recruiting people to fight Jerry Lawler, he would see Hulkogan in his involvement with verne Gania. It goes back to seventy nine here where Terry's coming in with Eddie. But at that time Jimmy Hart isn't really in the wrestling business. He had met Jerry Lawler, he had made appearances in the mid South colisseum on wrestling cards as a musician, and he was probably already starting to help with some
promotion of some towns at Jerry Lawler's urging. But he for purposes of the kind of matches we're watching this time, it is just in the crowd as a fan.
Yeah, Ed was on the card that night too, but they were fighting as singles. Anyway, Lawler and I were standing there behind the mesh screen watching a match when Lawler said, what do you think of that big, old blonde guy in the ring there? I said, Oh my god, he's great. Look how big he is. He's unbelievable. To that, listen to the fans pop. Coming from a musical background and maybe being more entertainment wise, I wasn't just thinking
about how accomplished a guy was in the ring. I was reacting viscerally to who got the biggest pop, the best crowd response, and to who looked the most impressive, who people really talked about. Even back then, you could see Hulk was going to be a major star. Well, Jerry shook his head and said, that big guy he asked me to manage him. I have a chance to sign him to a contract. I said, man, gosh, I hope you take him up on it. He's going to be a superstar. After all, he was three d three
hundred pounds and stood six foot six. Are you crazy? Lawler said, that guy will never draw you a diamond professional wrestling. He doesn't have what it takes lock. Yeah, to this day, every time I see Lawler, I say, you should have listened to me in Siginholt cocumat every time, every time he sees him doesn't get annoying.
Yo.
Can you imagine like every fucking time, I'd want to kill Jimmy Hart. He denies the conversation ever took place, but I know the truth. Say it again, he denies the conversation never took place, but I know the truth.
If you are, if your list, if your name is on the list of people who said about Terry Boley, he'll never draw a dime in wrestling, especially when you saw the crowds he did with Andre and Harley in Alabama and presumably brought him in for that reason. Maybe not the Harley crowd yet, but still, I mean, you're just your credibility is someone that knows how to spot a star in pro wrestling goes to the bottom of
the bucket, in my opinion. And it's not even it's it's so two faced because in saying that, yet look at the way he was.
Featured, right, I mean, this is the thing, like, it's so bizarre that anyone says anything like this, because Lawler clearly knew what he was doing with Hulkgan. It's it's obvious.
Sitting there doodling and trying to draw, you know, marketable caricatures of the guy in the programs.
If he didn't believe in him, he wouldn't have fucking he wouldn't have managed him, he wouldn't been wrestling with him, he would have been seen with him. You don't do that unless you know the guy's gonna be fucking money. I mean, honestly, the only reason I like. Honestly, my first reaction when seeing Lawler kind of get all buddy buddy with this with Hogan is holy shit, he's Dusty rhoadesing this guy. Yes, he realizes that Hogan's a bigger star than he'll ever be.
And I think we're starting to get to the thesis when someone in the business in his early years says he'll never draw a dime in wrestling, what they mean is I am horrified that he will draw a dime in wrestling, because it's one thing to bring him in and get a little bit of more rub and a little bit of a you know, excitement around me because I'm associating myself with this huge guy that you know brings
people in. But once I realize that his appeal actually runs deeper than just come see this big, hulking monster, that he actually has some innate charisma that can carry you to the top and pro wrestling regardless of your ring ability. Once they realize he's got that extra component to his game, all of a sudden, he ain't shit, he's not ready. All of a sudden, he doesn't deserve to be at the Ford Homer Hesterly, Baby.
I mean you look, he just he You know, if he couldn't draw a dime, then I don't know what the fuck could because you watch him and he looked spectacular.
And he already drew you a dime at the South Colosseum. He just read the clippings and what did you do after he came in? And may you brought him back with a super push teaming with Jerry Lawler and six man tag main events. I can get if you weren't into Eddie Boulder from that limited clip. We just saw the limitations were real and he looked rather foolish in the ring. But yep, I'm sorry if you if you work yourself into letting Hulk Hogan slip through your fingers
without making millions of dollars off the guy. I know who to blame it, It's not Terry Boleya, Yep, exactly. How does Heart continue his thoughts here? Why did Lawler feel that the way he did about Hulk Hogan. You'd assume, being as successful as as he's been through the years, he would have been the first to see hulks potential. But Lawler was the king of Memphis then, and Terry Boleya was the man from nowhere. Every territory had its king in those days. Du't Se Rhodes was a superstar
in Floorida. The Funks reigned supreme in Texas. But the big old blonde boy, Bleego blonde guy was just getting into the business and had yet to build a strong base. He was working out of Pensacola, Florida, and was still learning his craft. I don't think any of wrestling's veteran stars really knew what the future held. Lawler couldn't see how Big Hulk was going to be, But with my pop savvy perspective and objectivity, I just knew.
So. So Jimmy Hart's the reason hul Cogan's the fucking superstar he is. Of course, that makes sense.
Everybody saw a star in Hulk before anybody else.
Yes, yep, everybody who whenever you read somebody's book, they're the one who knew hul Cogan was going to be the fucking guy, but everybody else didn't. Then when you read one of those guys books, they're the one who fucking knew that Hulk Hogan was gonna be the guy and everybody else didn't.
Well, we can say that Hulk definitely poached the mind of Jimmy Hart from the Memphis Circle. Memphis would not be the beneficiary for much longer of Jimmy Hart's unique genius. It would end up inuring to the benefit of Hulk Hogan as he brings in you know, once Hulk gets in at WWF, Jimmy comes right after him. He puts the call out basically, you know, and Jimmy's got a spot. It's yeah, all the whole crew. We're starting to realize
how all those connections are being made. In the earliest of days.
Hulk hadn't developed his character back then, and he'd yet to become entirely comfortable on the mic. He was able to talk some, but he was still green, still learning the subtleties of the business. He hadn't really even begun to work the crowd yet, but then again, he didn't really have to. When the fans saw him, they just reacted. He was just so big and he had that look, all that natural charisma. Sometimes you can watch a horse out in the field and just know whether or not
it can win the Kentucky Derby. I knew Hulk Hogan was definitely a thoroughbread.
A thoroughbread he was. We'll stop that rare put a pin in that one as complete. Hulk Cogan continues to unfold. A Thoroughbread has been identified by none other than Jimmy Hart. We're about to get to the point where Hogan and Lawler have their match in eighty one that ends up on the famous Wrestling Gold Tape. But before we get to that part of the leg of the journey, which will be the focus of our next episode, let's return here quickly to some of the clippings if we can,
and ride this one out. July twenty fourth, seventy nine Pro Wrestling, Louisville Gardens. This is July twenty fourth, six Man tag Wayne Ferris, Larry Latham and Sergeant Davis versus Jerry Lawler, Building and Jackie Fargo, The Hulk and Eddie Boulder and the Semi Maine against Ron Bass and Pete Austen. Also Terry Gordy and Michael Hayes on the card against Steve Rigal and Dick Morton. Forward ahead, and there it
is again. This time apparently Lawler has taken his pen to the Hulk logo with a bit of a different architecture. It's definitely more of like a stone wall type, look like a stonehenge, stacked stone instead of a cracked thing. It says, beware the Hulk. And there is Terry with the mushroom cloud shaved into his chest, the bomber shades the black sun sideburns putting out a big bicep pose.
Terry Boulder Hulk signed by the way that's outside signed, I would signed, Yes, this is Terry Boulder Hulk. Another Evansville program from Wednesday, July twenty fifth, where the Hulk, h Ulk and All Caps and Eddie Boulder is listed, is taking on Ron Bass and Pete Austin. Here's the commercial appeal Memphis Sunday July twenty ninth, seventy nine is
the Summer of the Boulders continues. This time it's Jarrett Wrestling Company presenting wrestling Monday, July thirtieth at the colissee him and as mentioned before Boss there he is main event AWA World Champion Nick bockwin Wild coming through, so you can start to see where some of that connective tissue to Verne might come from. Nick Bockwinkle comes in to wrestle Bill Dundee and right on the under card for the Southern Heavyweight title, which is the belt that
he had since gone back. I think to Alabama to win or what Ron Bass was the champion. Either way, it's Hulk vers Ron Bass, the Hulk vers Ron Bass. So I consider this like the first the first encounter between the AWA office and Terry Bolea. Here is sure Bawkwinkle comes in to defend hit him with what the commercial Appeal had to say. In July thirty first Champ
Champs hold on to titles. Nick Bockwinkle retained his AWA World Heavyweight title by defeating Bill Dundee before a crowd of seven, six and eighteen in last night's main wrestling event in the mid South Colisseum. In another title bout Ron Bass held his AWA title, winning over the Hulk Terry Boulders.
But Bass getting the win there, I don't know the print, Dad says Southern Heavyweight title, and I don't think the AWA had a Southern heavy.
No, I don't think so. I don't think so at all. Wrestling champs win. The defending champs came out on top at the Colisseum last night before a crowd of eighteen, so two hundred more than the commercial appeal acclaimed National Heavyweight Wrestling Champ. National Heavyweight Wrestling Champ Nick Bockwinkle retained his aw a crown beating Bill Superstar Dundee and Southern jamp Ron Bass held his title. Kept this title in a match with Terry the Hulk Boulder.
There it is We move ahead to Lexi, Kentucky, August second, seventy nine as the summer continues to unfold. Here's professional wrestling at the Rap Arena in Lexican, Kentucky, Thursday, August second, with an eight pm bell time. And there he is off to the right in his black singlet with the double bicep bows. The Hulk off to the left. Look at him Jerry Jarrett, the precocious young baby face fresh
Face ready to go. The main event that night was six man tag as Jerry Lawler team with Bildende and Jerry Jarrett to take on the team of Wayne Ferris, Larry Latham and Sergeant Davis and the kofeatured his Ron bass In, Pete Austin versus The Hulk and Eddie Boulder, with the Freebirds in action as well. Moving ahead from the Rupp Arena, we go to Blitheville, Arkansas. Newspaper on
August third, seventy nine lists world's Greatest Professional Wrestling. It's going to be Friday, August third and American Legion Hall. That's a big promise. Three dollars general admission tickets Man Dirt cheap to see the main event of The Hulk and Randy Taylor versus Ron Bass and Pete Austin.
Slighty Bowlder's already out of the fucking picture.
Yes, so Coco Ware also in the card. This one brought to you by the American Legion, the Hulk, not Terry Boulder. The Hulk being advertised. Here's a clipping from Wrestling Data where apparently there was a two on one Haiticap match where Hulgan is listed as not as Terry the Hulk Boulder, not as the Hulk, but as the Magnificent Hulk. Okay, I'm not sure if maybe for a period of time he went by the Magnificent Hulk, but that's another Chattanooga match that survives in the listings. Here's
the commercial appeal from August fifth, seventy nine. Jarrett Wrestling Company presents Wrestling Monday, August sixth, mid South Colosseum eight PM. Main event for the Southern tag titles is Wayne Ferris and Larry Latham with Sergeant Davis in their corner take on Bildun d and Jerry Lawler. Co feature Ron Bass and Sonny King, this time teaming together instead of Pete Austin taking on the Hulk and Jackie Fargo.
Think about that.
Wow, The Hulk teaming with the original Memphis Legend the Freebirds Gordy and Hayes against Steve Rigalan Dallas Montgomery on the card. Further down, Eddie Bowlder in singles action now so sort of cleaved off from the Hulk taking on Pete Austen one on one. The commercial appeal, as always has our coverage Boss on Tuesday morning, August seventh, What did the People wake up to? His first the matches last.
Night, Wayne Ferris and Lara laithe and retained their Southern tag team title by defeating Rick Morton and Bill Dundee before a crowd of forty nine. In last night's wrestling action at the Mid South Coliseum and other bouts, Tommy and Eddie Gilbert won over bub Smith and Bo Taylor, Dallas Montgomery Up and Ken Wayne. Eddie Bowler was victorious
over Pete Austin. The Hulk and Jackie Fargo teamed to beat Ron Bass and Sonny King, and Terry Gordy and Michael Hayes won by this qualification over Steve Riegal and Handsome Jimmy Valiant.
Connection there bildun d who would be back front office at w CW, and Hogan came in ninety four as Sir William the Butler to ah, yes, that's so another future connection being established here. Flash forward It's seventh, seventy nine Pro Wrestling to the Louisville Gardens seven Southern Heavyweight title in the main event, the Hulk versus Ron Bass.
So Hulk getting title shots now in the Territory Southern Tag title under that with Jerry Jarrett and Jackie Fargo teaming up as challengers against the champs, Wayne Ferris and Larry Latham, plus a back alley brawl between Buddy Wayne and Tommy Gilbert, Handsome Jimmy Valian versus Pete Austin, and yes,
Eddie Boulder again in singles action versus Ken Wayne. Moving ahead to pro Wrestling in Evansville on Wednesday, August eighth of seventy nine, the main event was again the Southern Heavyweight Championship, Ron Bass versus The Hulk, the free Birds in Action, and Eddie Boulder versus Pete Austin. And this is the most infringing one I could find, or anyone could find. August ninth, seventy nine, Tupelow, Mississippi. Look at that illustration.
Oh my god. I mean it's okay, So it's Hogan, okay, and he's but he's got the ripped off knees. And then I mean, they don't they don't even look at it. It says the Incredible Hulk is coming.
It says the Incredible Hulk is coming in the exact font that they would use in the Marvel comics right above his head.
And you've got Hogan and and he's got the torn he's got no shirt and the torn pants and bare feet like the Hulk would be.
Yeah, this is the most over the top one. This is the one where I saw it and I'm like, okay, Like this is why he didn't want to talk too much about this time period, because they went way over the top, using Marvel to sell tickets, and yeah, to put him in jeans that are ripped off at the knees like he hulked up like Lufa Rigno did.
Like rip barefoot. I mean, he looks just like the comic.
It really is ripped off the picture of the comic and put Terry Bulay's head on. It is what exactly they did here, and this is advertising Tomorrow night and every Friday wrestling in Tupelow. Tomorrow Night's card was to be run bass In Pete Austin versus The Hulk and Eddie Boulder in the main event, as well as Hans Schroeder and the Gestapo versus Jerry Jarrett and Eddie Marlin and Randy Tyler versus the Hangman. So that was out in the Tupelo part of the circle. But that's it
right there that I don't know who drew that. It had to be Jerry Lawler yep, way over the top. Commerciala Peel has coverage of some results here. Boss August fourteenth, seventy nine.
Ron Bass retained his Southern Heavyweight Championship at the Mid South Colisseum last night when he titled bout with Terry the Hulk Boulder was stopped and declared no contest before a crowd of five nine seven and other bouts on
the card. Pete Austin beat Jerry Bryant, Bill Dundee and Rick Morton, m R. T I N one over Hans Schroeder and the Gestapo Rick Motrin, Yeah right, Wayne Ferris, Larry Latham downed, Tommy and Eddie Gilbert retain their seventh and tag team crown and Handsome Jimmy Valliant beat Terry Gordy and Michael Hayes. Yes so he beat them both apparently himself. Great coverage, Great coverage and the Scimitar who he doesn't like this headline not at all. Hulk misses
on title shot. Terry the Hulk Boulder missed his try for the Southern Heavyweight Wrestling title last night at the Coliseum. When the match went with champ Ron Bass was stopped and declared no contest. Tommy and De Gil but also failed in their effort against the Southern Tag Team champions
Wayne Ferris and Larry Latham. In another feature match, Handsome Jimmy Valiant, back after an absence of several months, beat Terry Gordy and Michael Hayes, Bill Dundee and Rick Morton McGain same spelling beat Hans Schroeder and the Gestapo, while Pete Austin pinned Jerry Bryant. A crowd of five thousand, nine hundred and seven watched the action. They agree on the on the crowd for the first time. Yep, we've
seen so flash forward. Here's how some of the television promotion would have sounded for this Hult cog and Ron Bass title swing hitting the circuit three to one.
Old that turned out to be no contest. It seems the referee was rendered unconscious about halfway through it and they'll probably try again some other week.
So that was coverage in Action Sports five, So if you watch your six o'clock news WMCTV Sports five, they would result. They would report out the wrestling results.
That's crazy.
They were legit things, so there was no footage of the match. It just it was a graphic that' said the Hulk versus on Bass. But they're a little bit more color as to how the Hulk Bass matches were playing out with the referee was dinged in, thus the whole thing thrown out as a no contest. Flash forward another bid. Here's some more promotional ephemera that had been autographed over the years. Terry Boulder kind of a glamour shot there, and that we're left from the Arrival Gardens programs.
Flash forward from there, here's an ad of wrestling Friday Night, August seventeenth of seventy nine at the Sports Arena at the corner of the Clark Broadway tup below Misissippi main event Ron Bass and Sunny King versus Terry and Eddie Boulder. And there it is Hulk's picture with Hulk and the Marvel font right above his head continuing shapelessly. Yep, we're
don't have to read that. We can flash forward from here to some more posters and such the action programs, and there's one if Terry Boulder autographed Hulk as well, with him with the shades on, pointing almost like Uncle Sam. At the uh yeah yep caption reads as much, does the Hulk remind you with the old I want you Uncle Sam posters? He should because he wants something too. He wants the championship belt now worn by Ron Bass,
and what Hulk wants he gets. So it's interesting he's going after the Southern title in Alabama with Austin Idol and switching that around the fall of seventy nine, but before that, in the summer of seventy nine, he's going back and forth with Ron Bass for the championship, the
Southern Championship in Memphis. So it's it seems like Memphis was the first territory to give him kind of a title shot, and that is something Ron Fuller said in his podcast about why Terry Boulder kind of soured a bed, and Fuller kind of blames Louis Tillette for not nipping this in the butt earlier that Terry really wanted, I guess, the vote of confidence from the Office of Wearing the championship and wasn't getting that and felt like that was kind of a ding on him and kind of an
indication that his upside was capped over there if they weren't willing to put the belt on him or put him in title matches. So apparently he goes to Memphis in the summer and starts having matches with Ron Bash for the championship, and then soon enough is coming back to Alabama and challenging Austin Idel as well. Here is the August twenty fifth, nineteen seventy nine Memphis television show Dave Brown here in studio. This is another brief bit of promotion for the time that Terry Bolla was in
the soup down there. We can hit play in three to one?
Does get to win? All right? I want to take a look at some action which occurred at the Memphis mids Off Coliseum last week Sonny King, last week Kerry Terry Boulder the big Hulk at six seven three twenty pounds.
Terry Boulder, the big Hulk. Right now, big leg, drop leg, drop blue singlet a Hulk is resting Sunny King and strutting around that rain. Yeah, he's warming up the fist for the crowd in the nuts yep, and he lands in the Who's like Dusty.
Sonny hits the deck again.
Look at him commanding the rain. Brother the elbow, but down Brother.
Ray Paul Martin.
There's a body slam the front back, but.
That's precursor to the bear hug cover though Boulder got a wand too.
That's all.
King kicked out. Due can kick him out.
No, it's not that bad, and he's like conducting himself is fine. Oh, Sonny King bounces off the canvas like he's a grasshopper with a head button.
Holder.
Slow to build back to his feet, but he gets there. Sonny King does as well, and the red hands flying from Sonny King.
Right hand shot from sonnyhead.
Butt clucks down Boulder.
Yep, coco butt. Oh there it is, of course a slam the way it goes up for a clean slam with delay. And now Eddie, Eddie Bowler the Haulk's brother.
I missed it somewhere, he's telling her.
Distracted by Eddie. Danny Davis drops a knee, but I think he landed on King by mistake.
He did. Eddie gets in, takes care of Davis, Hulk covers stunning King and gets the wind.
Wow, Davis nailed King with a helmet.
The Hawk bakes a pen. His brother Eddie was trying to tell the referee that Sonny had gone to his tights absolutely jumped off the ropes. The hawk was out of the way.
Hit Sonny King with a helmet Ben.
Eight minutes, fifty eight seconds. The winner is going to be Terry Bowler.
Yeah, Hall where.
And that's it Edny.
Oh, that's it there and the win we're going to be the whole gets the win.
Boy, you're right here, just the moment, stay with.
It, Y'll be able. We're gonna be right back with more wrestling action here. Yeah, we're gonna be back here, more wrestling action here. We get that Terry Boulder with the win there links to his brother and a bunch of bullshit action going on there.
And then August twenty fifth, it continues the Hulk and Tommy Gilbert versus Pete Austin and Buddy Wayne commented in studio by Dave Brown. And I'm trying to remember who joins him here. We'll get that in just a second play.
Okay, we got more wrestling action coming up right now. As a matter of fact, let's uh get the bell wrong and get it underway. See one of the teams taking their appearance. Okay, thanks Eddie, that's.
A Eddie Marlin. The promotional party. Jerry Judges up in the ring right now, Howard.
Studio instead of the Mid South Colosseum.
Question too.
I want to tell you an in studio appearance, and Holt's gonna look even bigger.
Here officially with the introduction at a total weight of five hundred thirty.
One pounds, it's time in the long red.
Juts beat Austin.
All it says is the Holt see.
Buddy Wayne going against him and on the five hundred and forty four pounds from Lexington, Tennessee Tommy Gillep and from Tampa, Florida, the.
Halt California League one fall.
A twenty minute time limit. The referee is Tommy Marlin.
Look at the blood in the ring. Oh yeah, it's a mess.
Referee Tommy Marlin. Beat Austin fired.
So these are the long pants.
He would wear a Georgia, a stertled and golden. So he's making it's going to be Austin's subtle shifts.
The appearance here Tommy Gilbert.
Oh yeah, yeah, for sure.
Should be a fine tag team match, got good size on both sides. Of the ring, but the size advantage is almost always going to go to the team that has the hult terry bowler. Yes, Yea gets six seven. He weighs three to twenty all by himself. He's in the corner right now, watching his part.
Is not even wrestling, and the top all man down to the mat. Oh brittenvers that amateur style. A lot of switches, a lot of front headlocks, a lot of series going on. Hogan barking for the referee to take closer attention from the apron, round and.
Round the ring, each trying to gain the advantage advantage to Austin. Briefly, then Tommy Gilbert comes back with the right four arms. One minute gone.
In this one, the stalemate between Jaibert and Austin is terry. The whole Boulder waits patiently on the infant and he's waiting for that hot tag.
Uncles Tommy up on the bottle Brop battles back. He's out of the corner now.
Gilbert's used to be so simple, changing words.
Yep, Buddy Wayne over in the Austin's corner. Austin, no little guy himself. He'll worry about two eighty five something like that wrapped up Tommy Gilbert's arm.
Look at Tommy, Tommy, tom.
Before Austin is able to really set up on the hole and bear down on him. Minute forty five gone, Tommy Gilbert, Pete Austin. They started it. They've been in there all the way almost.
It's just kind of changing what side of the APRONI stands. I'm not doing much else.
Two minutes going right now, Pete Austin down on the mat, Tommy Gilbert right there with him.
About now, they're not even they're done making reference to Eddie Boulder at all. It sounds like, I know it's what it seems like.
Down the man goes Austin shoulders down.
That's a move the whole caused to use that the abdominal stretch into the lateral guillotine like pinning combination.
There.
Yeah, a chanssion saw Tommy Gilbert put it on. So apparently Hult taking notes could in tower so much darker in.
Tan and so much holler done. Of course, he just makes anyone a spot.
Respect He wasn't able to make it stick. Pete Austin is still in there. It's Gilbert against Pete Austin.
I knew.
Eventually on the lapstan were treated to the stylings of Tommy Gilbert and Pete Austin. I just didn't be during our tribute to Hulk Hogan.
The extreme. He's waiting for this for since day one.
A lot of pulling going on, pushing him, pulling. Gilbert scrambles beneath the legs of Austin and lands a big drop kick the Hulk, offering some applause from the liprit first partner, Tommy Gilpair.
Now a little conversation with Buddy Wayne. Do they make a tag? No, Pete Austin stays in there. Tommy back to the corner, says something to the Hulk.
I think what he said was Brother.
Gilbert rammed into the turnbuckles by Pete Austin. Tommy trying to work his way back to the center of the ring. He does not want to get trapped in that corner with Buddy Wayne and Pete Austin and both work on him.
Beat down continues. I guess you're dead on when he said he's waiting for the hot tag. That just seems to be where we're at.
Yolberts round behind Pete Austin.
He hits a bit of four arms.
Hag it.
Here there comes Terry. There you go.
Here it comes Buddy Wayne.
Throw an elbow anything that moves, that's it. The elbows on Buddy Wayne.
He puts Pete Austin into the ropes. Buddy Wayne's still there. He's thrown out onto the apron by the hawk, not over the top rope. He was thrown through the ropes. The Hulk back to work on Pete Austin.
There it is some of the squeeze, thinks bear hug on Pete Austin.
Let's see possible submission where.
It is guy's ringing the bell.
That is it.
The Hulk gets a pin.
Wait the referee rang the bell and then get the pine two three? Didn't he truly bizarre? That's that's that's whole Cogan right there.
Brother.
I want to beat him twice, dude.
Yeah, that was just straight hot tag, like you know, just as they're describing.
Yep.
Just get him in there and go through the motions until you can set it up and the whole victorious there in the studio. That's August twenty fifth. Here's just a quick read next here for an upcoming show in Jonesborough. And Oxford, Misissippi. I think as they promote an upcoming Hulk appearance.
Okay, tonight also wrestling in Oxford, Mississippi. Here's that card. Oh yeah, I think Oxford would had to be built a battle of the giants, have the Hulk, Hated Boulder, Ron Bass and Big Pete Alston to be there. I don't have some big guys, no doubt about it.
That was Rob Fuller actually sounded just like Ron.
Je Yes.
Jared Welch Present Wrestling Monday, August twenty seventh, Mid South Coliseum, Lawler and Bockwinkle. Interesting spelling there in Winkle w I n c l E. For the ABA World titles, Jerry lull are challenging for the a Toba Belt in seventy nine. That that's a tried and true formula, and the Southern Heavyweight title, and the co features Ron Bass versus Bill Nundee, Gordian Hayes versus Regal and Morton. And for the Southern
tag titles. Now going for the tag belts, it's the Hulk tea Tommy Gilbert who we just saw there in studio. They formed a team to go for the gold against Wayne Ferris and Larry Latham pushing ahead. There's another program feature where Ron Bass is trapped in the super Southern squeeze of Terry the hulp Bolter. That's what he would call the Bear Hug. He apparently faced Sonny King on this Louisville wrestling card August twenty eighth of that year.
Here's some more television promotion for a show that's upcoming, I think on August thirtieth, three to two one play.
Thursday Night for At City, Arkansas.
A big fourteen man Royal. Gordian Hayes, the Hulls.
Yeah, na, the big names and they'll be in Forest City.
A fourteen man Royal, A fourteen man it was one. Remember that early clip we found where gene Oakerland calls it the Rumble Royal from eighty eight. Yes, Bread new to the concept.
Oh, Thursday Night Forrest City, Arkansas, A big fourteen man Royal.
Yeah, oh yeah, Guidon hame I love me of fourteen man royal, Love me a good old fashioned.
Royal, Crown Royal if you will. Jerry Laller involved and yeah you heard him called Hulk there. Hayes, the Hulk Haul.
He names the big names and they'll be in Forest.
City Wrestling Friday Night, August thirty first of that year at the tub Blo of Misissippi Sports Arena. It's Sonny King versus or Sonny Ing. Yeah fucking bad, God, I don't care versus the Hulk Terry Boulder, And there he is with the Uncle Sampo's. There he is again in the Uncle Sampo's for the Labor Day weekend card at the American Legion Arena September first, it is Jerry Lawler, Wayne Ferris and Larry Latham versus Eddie Martl and Tommy Gilbert Nadi Gilbert in a six man tag team main event.
Underneath them Terry Gordy and Michael Hayes versus The Hulk and Steve Rigal. You heard it, folks, The Free Birds versus Hulk Hogan in seventy nine. I cannot handle no, No, I cannot handle Hulk Hogan taking on the Freebirds at all.
In Jonesborough, no less. Never thought their paths crossed this early.
But in fact, ever, when where did they ever fucking wrestle the Freebird? You're right?
Ever, Like if I was to guess if their paths ever crossed, I guess My point is it would not have been this early. That is just that's just truly insane. And we can skip this one and we will say it. We'll put a pin in that one. There's a program photo of Terry really getting up in the air from September. Look at that, Wow Lake drop it look me makes him look like he's flying thirty feet the air. As it say, they fly through the air, but not always
with the greatest of ease. For what we mean, look inside, just a picture there of the single out wearing Terry Boulder dropping a big leg apparently on this card in Louisville, September fourth of nineteen seventy nine, it was the hulkon Tommy Gilbert versus Wayne Ferris and Larry Latham for the Southern Tag Team Championships. Underneath the match, yeah, between Bill Dundee and Jerry Lawler. So that feud very much underway.
We see it repeated here Wednesday, September fifth of seventy nine at the Coliseum Lawler and Dundee and it's the Free Birds versus Regal and Morton and Wayne Ferris and Larry Latham versus the Hulk and Tommy Gilbert for the Southern Tag belts, so no sign of Eddie Boulder anymore. By September. Oh, He's like god, not even on the cards. Rap Arena Thursday, September sixth of seventy nine Southern Heavyweight title The Hulk versus Ron Bass underneath Jerry Lawler and
Bill Dundee. In the main event, Jerry Jarrett teams with Jackie Fargo to take on Wayne Fairy and Larry Latham for the Southern tag titles. So not winning the belts. There is the Hulk.
Next up.
Phyllis County Fairgrounds has in Marvel, Arkansas on September seventh, has Ron Bass versus the Hulk as well Buddy Wayne and Pete Austin versus Eddie Boulder. There he is in mer Goware Coca War teaming with Eddie Boulder, just helping him, but teaming with him. Sunny King versus Dallas Montgomery as well.
There's a couple of polaroids there of Hulk wearing the aforementioned Tampa Jim T shirt, Eddie Boulder looking as seventies as you can look, some stills that survive of them and sing lets as well, and there is I think one final snap this This comes from Facebook and an account where it says Terry Boulder Hulk taken in the seventies at the Evansville Coliseum. I've never seen another Hogan signed as Terry Boulder Hulk. Yeah, this is this is
kind of coveted. Is his autographs that he would sign before he was Hulk Hogan and he yeah, for sure as Terry Boulder. This piece comes from the Ellen Nora collection. This Facebook post says this is from a collector of Facebook page. Honora was the president of the Jerry the King Lawler fan Club. Heye, and to punctuate it, to punctuate that here on this edition of the Complete Hulk Hogan, I asked you to click ahead one take a look at that drawing. There is another one.
Wow, Jesus Christ Almighty.
Autographed by King Jerry Lawler and signed apparently in a future life by Hulk Hogan himself.
Off to the right.
It's an illustration sketch and it could be right out of a press kit for The Incredible Hulk starring Louf Forrigno. Yep Helpe seriously could and Terry Boulder Jerry Lawler at
Hulk Hogan. Obviously their fates very much intertwined from the very beginning, as we've now established, all the way from nineteen seventy nine in Memphis, and on the next installment of the Complete hul Cogan, we'll dig a little bit more into where some of those tensions between the King and the Hulkster came from that Jimmy Hard and others have made reference to, and we'll take a good solid look at Hulk's return to Memphis in nineteen eighty one
after making his star in New York and elsewhere, tangling with Jerry Lawler in a highly disputed outcome that would lead to the infamous match you've referenced and so many others remember on the Wrestling Gold Tape, and the highly controversial idea, particularly as Hulk Cogan hit it big nationally that a tape exists of Jerry Lawler beating him before he was famous. That's next time, as we further our examination of Memphis and Hulk cogin on the Complete hul cokindimouncement.
As a t. J.
DeSantis production, its contents is intended for private use only.