Hi Scott,
Like your stuff and the blog. Here's a possible question for you and the blog: How did Jerry Lawler stay on top of the Memphis Wrestling scene for 20+ years without the fans getting so incredibly sick of him? I know the business wasn't good near the end, but he was doing legit good business for at least 15 of those years main eventing the Mid-South Coliseum in front of 5000-9000 week in and week out. From what I've seen on line, he was a good brawler, but a little guy (in comparison to a typical wrestler), pretty good on the mic and had some charisma, but his talent didn't seem to match the incredible run he had.
And were there other examples of a guy dominating a region for this length of time? Was Harley Race this big in St. Louis or Buddy Rose in Portland or someone I've never heard of in a place I've never been?
Lawler had a specific formula that worked perfectly, and he was a local legend who was beloved by fans. It was a great combination. Plus Memphis would typically cycle guys in as challengers, Lawler would work a month or so with them as the top program, and then they'd lose out and go somewhere else. Things weren't allowed to get stale on top and there was never the feeling that Lawler was an indestructible superman. He almost always got his ass kicked by the incoming monster heel and lost the title, but then figured out their weakness (usually a fireball to the face did the trick) and then rallied back to win. That's called TELLING A STORY, MAGGLE.
Plus Memphis was just balls out awesome for about two decades, so there's that, too.