Jerrett & Lawler
By Scott Keith on 1 January 2021
I am very unfamiliar with Lawler and Jeff Jerrett in USWA and Memphis wrestling in general, and maybe you can help me on if I’m overstating their respective values outside those territories. Once hogan was out and the “new generation era” started, did wwf underutilize the heat that these two could draw in certain areas? Should more In Your Houses and/or raws been run in the south and mid-south with them featured? As a kid they didn’t give off that “get off my tv heat” heat. I wanted feuds and every face to kick their ass in that era. I just feel like I didn’t get enough mileage out of them or am I way off with what the crowds wanted at the time?
The problem with Jeff Jarrett is that his value in the southern states was as a babyface for years and years, and WWE exclusively used him as an annoying heel. Ditto for Jerry Lawler, where WWE didn't seem to grasp his value as a beloved hero until years after he retired and couldn't deliver in the ring the same way any longer. So yeah, definitely underused, but their feeling was always that those states didn't matter anyways and it was only what drew in the Northeast that had any bearing on the future of the company, so really it wouldn't have mattered to Vince if they could juice Memphis or not.