Where Wrestling's Regional History Lives!
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Where Wrestling's Regional History Lives! |
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- Charles Laffere MEMORIES…
OR MEMOREX? Nothing like the trademark
VinceKM ellipsis for an opening… “Nuclear
arms in the Middle East “The
Envoy,” by Warren Zevon. Warren, I wish that was the solution. Hello
everyone, and welcome back to the spring edition of my Kayfabe Memories of
the Universal Wrestling Federation. I am still Charles Laffere, and it is
great to be back here with all of you who kindly take the time to read. Last
time, we were entering the mid-card of the promotion’s Superdome
Extravaganza on November 27, 1986. I had planned to continue recapping the
night’s action, but a couple of things happened in the interim to make me
change the plan. First, a
friend of mine and fellow Mid-South/UWF aficionado was generous enough to
grace me with a UWF compilation tape. Wow. I’m getting a Sally Field vibe
here. I mean, you like me. You, really, REALLY like me… “Step
right up, be a man Keep
your head to the sky “Keep
Your Head to the Sky,” by Earth, Wind & Fire The
second thing that piqued my interest for our column today was, well, my lack
of interest in the current wrestling product, i.e. WWE.
Today’s wrestling angles have a shelf life at maximum of 30 days or
the next pay per view, whichever comes first.
The argument can be made that this is necessitated by the structure
of the business, but the quick resolutions to feuds and storylines leaves me
with a kind of fast food feel—they might fill you up for awhile, but
they’re usually not very good and easily forgettable.
There’s no opportunity—or is there? —within the current system
for classic feuds such as the one between Jose Lothario and Gino Hernandez
in Houston. Those two waged a war of words and deeds for several months
before they ever hooked up in the ring in one-on-one competition. It was
human drama, provoking genuine emotional reactions for fans, that wasn’t
some neo-Pavlovian tripe concocted by Grade D screenwriters or the boss’s
daughter. But I’m digressing here…
“All
you slingers and fiends “Fight
Like a Brave,” by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. So what does all this have to do with Bill Watts and his wrestling promotion? By the time of the name change and national move in 1986, the UWF was best promotion in the United States. Watts moved the territorial “home” from Mid South’s “mothership,” the Irish McNeill Boy’s Club in Shreveport, Louisiana to the more expansive Fairgrounds in Tulsa, Oklahoma and Billy Bob’s in Fort Worth, Texas. As the illustrious Scott “loaded glove” Williams has recently stated on the UWF KM Message Board, the move of the television base was necessary to project the image of a “big-time feel” to correspond with the promotion’s direct effort to compete the Vince McMahon and the World Wrestling Federation… More...
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