Jerry Lawler recently told me that the late Jack Brisco was one of the top three wrestlers he ever faced in Memphis, which puts the former two-time NWA World Champion in the same class as Nick Bockwinkel and Dory Funk Jr. But most Memphis fans would agree that no one had better chemistry with the King than Bill Dundee, who came to Memphis with partner George Barnes in the mid-’70s. the Australians’ first race in Memphis, but I was reminded of their feud in 1987 when George returned to the area for a few months. The party of him on August 2. November 11, 1987, was part of a big card with Lawler working Curt Hennig for the first time for the AWA title in the main event. They also worked under Jeff Jarrett and Billy Travis vs. Pat Tanaka and Paul Diamond, that foursome had been having some amazing horn tips. They may be past their prime, but I’m damned if Dundee and Barnes didn’t steal the whole damn show. Just a tremendous bloody fight from Memphis. If the chemistry they had working together as opponents was similar to what they had as a team, especially when they were 12 years younger, they must have been something together.
Bill was the perfect underdog opponent for Lawler. And no one could sell like Dundee in his prime: the down-to-earth way he took punishment reminded me of a boxer. Rumor has it that Ricky Steamboat watched videos of boxers to study how they reacted to punches and incorporated it into his brilliant work in the ring. If he didn’t know better, he’d say Steamboat studied Dundee movies. The scrappy little Aussie (as Lance would call him) would be on the ropes, but he just wouldn’t give up. Then, just when you had him pretty much ruled out, out of nowhere, the superstar would pin his foe with a sunset somersault or a flying bodypress off the middle ropes/turnbuckle for the win, and the crowd would explode.
People always put Lawler’s promotional skills first, and it’s true, the King was a master. But Dundee was not far behind. A very underrated talent in that regard. And man, could he work. Besides his fights with Lawler, the Dundee fights with Tony Charles, Bockwinkel and Billy Robinson were some of my favorites.
Still, the first Jerry Lawler vs. Bill Dundee’s series with all the wild stipulations in 1977, is the first fight that really captured my imagination as a kid. Lawler and Jerry Jarrett used to remind each other that “personal problems bring money” when they co-booked the Memphis territory. That philosophy was evident in the initial Lawler v. Dundee series, a long program with heated promotions and a series of stipulations during the summer of 1977 that captured the imagination of fans. For weeks the promotion featured the same fight at the top, constantly drawing money.
July 11: Lawler’s Cadillac up for grabs vs. $4,000 of Dundee’s money; Attention: 8,044
July 25: Lawler’s Southern title on the line vs. Dundee Cadillac: Attention: 7,681
Aug. 1: Lawler’s hair against the southern belt of Dundee and Cadillac; Attention: Sold Out 11,300
Aug. 8: Lawler and Cadillac Southern title vs. Dundee: Attention: 11,100
Aug. 15: Mickey Poole’s (Lawler’s manager) hair vs. Dundee Cadillac: Attention: 8,397
Aug. 22: Poole’s hair vs. Dundee Hair: 7,143
Aug. 29: Lawler’s hair vs. Dundee and Cadillac title: 7,420
September 5: Lawler’s hair vs. Dundee Hair: 10,129
September 13: Hair and title of Lawler vs. Beverly Dundee (Bill’s Wife) Hair: 9,000
The personal tips kept the matchup fresh and interesting, with fans consistently wowed week after week. I remember Dundee managed to save the hair from him on August 2nd. 22 ’77 after “NWA official” Guy Coffee initially stopped the fight because Dundee had taken too much punishment. (By the way, the idea of Mr. Coffee being a high-ranking representative of the NWA is pretty hilarious.) Desperately, Dundee begged to continue and of course came back to win the fight and shave the head of Lawler’s manager, Mickey Poole. He was only 6 years old, but I remember all the games with the hair and the Cadillacs on the line, especially when Dundee and his wife, Beverly, shaved their heads in back-to-back weeks as the summer of ’77 drew to a close. Those games, the release of Star Wars, and the death of Elvis Presley are pretty much the only memories I vividly recall from that year from my youth.
My mum had a friend who managed to get me an autographed photo of Dundee at the time, and I thought that was for the best. It was my first autograph of any kind. When I first got into the business, Dundee was not very nice to me. I tried to break the ice by explaining to him how much he meant to me in my childhood. He disappointed me when he took it the wrong way, saying something like, “Jesus kid, do you know how many times a week I have people tell me how they grew up looking at me?”
Nobody fought longer, or better, than Bill Dundee and Jerry Lawler.