Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Saturday Morning's Greatest Hits: Wimpbusters (1984)

Long before he signed with the WWE as mostly a commentator than a wrestler, Jerry Lawler was a legend in his hometown of Memphis. Oh, sure, he's turned his back on the homies a few times over the years, but would always smooth things over in due course.

WWE fans have Lawler to thank for sending singer-turned-wrestling manager Jimmy Hart into Vince McMahon's employ in the mid-80's. Hart's feud with Lawler had peaked when Hart seconded the late actor-comedian Andy Kaufman in matches vs. "The King", a good chunk of the feud having been documented in the movie, "I'm From Hollywood". In 1984, Lawler ratcheted things up by sending up a certain movie blockbuster of the period, characterizing the former Gentrys vocalist as a wimp, hence, "Wimpbusters", which uses the actual instrumental from the theme to "Ghostbusters", but with new lyrics by Lawler, a former radio personality before turning to the mat game. Lawler succeeded in running Hart out of Memphis and sending him up north, but isn't it a little convienent that by the time Lawler went north himself nearly a decade later, Hart had long since left WWE?

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