By Scott Bowden
May 19, 2005
Kentucky Fried E-Mail: Scott Bowden answers your questions about Jackie Fargo, his Uncle Bobby Bowden and the man Vince McMahon called the worst interview in the business.
“He goes for the pin. One, two, three…four!”
I’m so glad you brought this [special ref Jackie Fargo counting to four in the Lawler/Henning title change] up. I bought the commercial video of the title change and saw the clip on the TV show the week after and I wanted to kill Jackie Fargo! Jerry Calhoun would have nailed that count perfectly like he always did. Jerry Calhoun had a dramatic way of counting the fall and it would have had so much more impact. The moment wasn't completely ruined but marred slightly.
In regards to Dusty’s booking, my friend is Dusty’s business agent and I've been privy to a lot of the goings on from Dusty’s point of view. Jerry Jarrett put the screws to Dusty by suggesting to the Carters that they should make every match a cage match. The funny thing is that the PPV really didn't backfire from a performance standpoint as Jarrett would have hoped. So when that didn't work, Scott D’Amore, Jeremy Borash, and Bill Banks were brought into a meeting with Dusty where they told him they were now going to book by committee. Dusty gave up significant income from his booking duties by walking out. He could have just stayed and sat through their b.s and made his money. Now he is just talent and not making as much although it is still good money.
If I had seen Dusty while he was still booking, I was going to tell him to watch out for Jerry as I heard he was going to ask Dixie to bring in Ben the wrestling bear for the next PPV.
You could use this but I don’t want my name attached. Take care and say hi to Uncle Bobby.
Bowden: I agree that Calhoun is a highly underrated referee and would have added to that match. Tommy Young is probably my all-time favorite, along with Calhoun and Pee Wee Anderson, Often, special refs are a mistake as they get in the way and distract from the match—which is exactly what a professional ref is supposed to avoid. Case in point: Gene Kiniski, who nearly marred the otherwise solid cage match between Ric Flair and Harley Race at STARRCADE ’83. Kiniski kept interjecting himself into the action like he thought he was the star. A notable exception might be the recent NWA title change involving AJ Styles, Jeff Jarrett and special ref Tito Oritz from UFC. Ortiz made sense as he brought a little mainstream attention to NWA: TNA, something the organization desperately needs. And apparently they coached him beautifully about what they wanted from him beforehand. TNA was reportedly so pleased with Tito’s performance that they are planning to use him again soon. But getting back to Fargo, it would have been more effective to have the Fabulous One in Lawler’s corner to offset Curt’s dad, Larry. Fargo is like a father to Jerry (in fact, the King sometimes refers to Jackie as “Pop”), so it would have made perfect sense. Instead, they staged a three-week long phone poll to determine the special ref. Fans dialing the 900 number (and paying $1.50) voted for either Fargo or Larry. Of course, they built it up on the TV show that Curt had posted the number in Minneapolis, leading to an early lead for his father. In a tacky move, Lawler actually came out on Memphis TV to beg the fans to vote for Fargo. Luckily, it was that late Memphis “surge” that enabled Jackie to pull ahead of Larry and claim the ref spot. I’m not sure how much money they made off the deal, as only the densest of marks could have believed the whole scenario, but I thought it was a tasteless way to make a buck. (I know, I know, it is pro wrestling we’re talking about here, but still.)
That’s interesting about Dusty, although I still say he was in over his head. I just don’t think the man can book a national promotion nowadays. And for what it’s worth, I’ve always considered Ben to be the best wrestling bear in the world, bar none. Some might argue that Ben might have been a bigger draw than Jeff Jarrett as champion.
Uncle Bobby says “Howdy.”
Uncle Bobby Bowden
Great article on Lawler winning the title in 1988. As a kid in Louisville, I saw quite a bit of old school Memphis/USWA stuff, and in fact around the time you describe Memphis may well have been my favorite wrestling. The WWF was generally considered the best wrestling promotion but at that point I thought they had too many jobber squashes on TV. I watched the NWA sometimes but it seemed like Memphis without the mayhem, it was total old school on the mat action.
It was very hard to keep up with the various bizarre titles and what not in Memphis. As you said there was the CWA title, later the Unified World Title (was that the result of the AWA/World Class unification or a later USWA/Global one, I forget?), but make no mistake, I knew the AWA was a bigger league. I'd seen old clips showing Lawler getting close vs. Flair, Bockwinkel, etc. But he never quite did it. Then finally he beat Hennig in a match that they showed all the time on TV. I still remember those odd turnbuckles or lack thereof, the idiosyncratic 4 count, the celebration after.
I always found it sad that Lawler and later Jeff Jarrett never really got to do their real act in the WWF. Lawler playing a cowardly heel weasel was NOT what an old-school Memphis fan wanted to see, however good at taunting Bret he was. Ditto Jeff Jarrett as a Honky Tonk Man wannabe. It's bizarre that JJ has spent so much of his career as a namby pamby heel since he’s really not believable in the role. I ask you, which JJ do you prefer...the HTM ripoff that hits people with guitars, or the white hot babyface of 1988-92? Lawler was better at being a heel than Jarrett, but I still never wanted to see this. I think the WWF's misuse of some of my Memphis faves in the 1990s was part of what led me to become disinterested in wrestling for a while.
Lastly, I think I recall you being on the USWA some years ago. Scott Bowden, a heel manager who got heat by claiming he was related to Bobby Bowden of FSU. Was that an act or for real?
--Brian Paige
Bowden: I’m not certain Jeff was ever a white-hot babyface. He certainly got over eventually in Memphis, but initially he was dismissed by the fans as the skinny, wimpy promoter’s kid. That “Jeff Jarrett: The Poster” campaign sure didn’t help matters. The turning point came when Robert Fuller’s Stud Stable “broke” Jarrett’s wrist and he wrestled anyway wearing a cast, as it got him over a little better with the guy fans. There’s no way he would have ever gotten strong over as a top babyface in the Fed at that time. They didn’t really know how to make money with him, as Lawler once told me that Vince McMahon said Jeff was just about the worst interview he’d ever seen in the business. (And this coming from a guy who spent years interviewing Bob Backlund.) All things considered, the country-singer gimmick served Jeff just fine for that time period. (I’m a bit perplexed why he carries the guitar to the ring today, though.) I think Jeff’s a great worker; however, I don’t think fans buy him as World champion. I’m actually going to increase my coverage of TNA in the coming months, as I’m interested to see if they’ve really turned a corner with the decision to run with AJ Styles as champion. Getting that proposed Monday night TV deal on WGN wouldn’t hurt either.
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As far as Lawler goes, while I personally don’t like his current routine, he’s to be commended for lasting as a major performer in the industry for so long. Unfortunately, part of that meant dropping his tough-guy Southern image in favor of an over-the-top, excitable, puppy-hungry lout. One of the most annoying parts to me nowadays is his use of the word “great” and the phrase “I can’t wait.” Usually, when promoting a big match (or perhaps more accurately, a lingerie pillow fight), Lawler will exclaim, “I can’t wait. It’s gonna be great!” He uses the word great more than Tony the Tiger. (Yes, Lawler and I read from the same lame joke book.)
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Am I really Bobby Bowden’s nephew? I’ll answer it this way: A Memphis sports radio guy interviewed Bobby and asked him if he had a nephew in town managing professional wrestlers. Bobby said he’d never heard of me. But as I explained on Memphis TV that was only because “Uncle Bobby has a condition just like Lance Russell. He’s got Alzheimer’s Disease and he gets names and faces mixed up all time. Sometimes he doesn’t even know his own name.”
Memphis Memories
I look forward each week (or so) to your column. I'm a geezer and it takes me back to the days when everything would stop on Saturday mornings and my grandparents would settle back for some Memphis Wrestling. Billy Wickes, Sputnik, Spider Galento, et al, would grace that old black-and-white set with the snowy reception. Then if we were lucky the menfolks would go to the legion hut in J'boro for some live action. I remember one guy who came through only one night whose shtick was that he could supposedly change his weight. A strong fellow out of the audience first picked him up. Then he tried again and couldn’t budge him. I still don't know if it was a setup or the performer knew how to stand to prevent the other fellow from picking him up. Those were the days. Later I liked the match when Dundee had to go 10 minutes with some “monster” wrestler, perhaps the Stomper. He used every trick such as sliding out of the ring and staying out till almost counted out and then he would slide out again. It had the fans excited. I would like to see a young cruiser have the same type match with HHH or Batista, Tomko or Big Show. Last thing how can they misuse the Big Show so much? They should play him as unbeatable but he has been beaten by everyone to the point of being too beatable. Sorry to amble but keep up the good work.
--Randy Shopher
Bowden: If they had that match today with Triple H, the former World champ would win with a pedigree in 30 seconds. Glad you enjoy the column. Those names you mentioned bring back memories for me, as my father used to tell me about them. In fact, my dad went so far as to have a piece of his hair bleached just like Sputnik and a lot other teens at the time did. Apparently, it was a really hot trend in the area and caused some problems at high schools.
I seem to remember Dundee doing that keep-away angle in the '70s with a guy named Mike "The Mule" Stark, who years later became the first Lord Humongous and even later, my high-school football coach. I believe Dundee did it again with the Super Destroyer in the early ‘80s. In both bouts, I think the deal was the big man had to pin Dundee twice in 10 minutes and the Superstar would drop one fall and then play keep away the remaining time. Years later, when I was managing Lawler, we had a hair match with Tony Williams under the same rules. The crowd erupted when Tony small packaged Lawler for a three count in five minutes; however, my hair was saved because the rules stated that Lawler had to fail to pin Tony twice in 10 minutes for the upstart to win, i.e., the pin didn’t count. Tony went on to pin Lawler again, but Lawler rallied to score two pinfalls with about 30 seconds left to save my hair.
Shameless Plug: I’ll be appearing this Friday on the GET IN THE RING show with hosts The Phantom and Sir Adam, authors of the soon-to-be released MYSTERIES OF WRESTLING. This is my third appearance on GIR, and it’s more fun each time I do it. Check it out at: http://www.getinthering.tv/.
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