1982

Recap and Preview

Jerry Lawler’s return to ring action in 1981 boosted crowds around the circuit. A slew of top names passed through the area during the year trying to put the King out of action for manager Jimmy Hart. Dutch Mantell returned and proved to be extremely successful as he began the year as Southern champion and Mid-America champion. It seemed inevitable that Mantell and Lawler would cross paths in the new year over the Southern title. 1982 would also bring an interesting mix of faces to the forefront of the area including a cocky blonde world champion, a budding wrestling journalist turned manager wanna-be, a skinny comedian and an area legend and his two hand-picked cohorts whose careers would be reinvigorated by their mentor’s presence. Meanwhile, Jerry Jarrett’s promotion continued to face opposition in Kentucky from the ICW. Things would turn nasty during the year ahead between the two groups. In a much larger sense cable television was changing the way wrestling fans watched their choice of entertainment. Its growing impact was shaking the foundations of the business and 1982 would see more changes within the business. Meantime while all this was going on the Jerry Lawler-Jimmy Hart feud remained on the burner, ready to ignite at any moment.

It’s The Greatest Day of Jimmy Hart’s Life… Again

Jerry Lawler’s return to wrestling in 1981 was very successful for the territory. A portion of that success can be attributed to Lawler’s personality, which connected with the fans who in turn were eager to see their favorite again. Some of the success should also go to the promotion work led by Jerry Jarrett who did enough of the right things with an injured Lawler to whet the appetite of the fans enough that they were ready for his return. A large part of the success though must go to Lawler’s foe in virtually every scenario he faced from week to week in his return. That foe was Jimmy Hart.