Here at PWP, we strive to do our best to cover the current independent wrestling scene to the best of our abilities. However, it’s tough for us to take a look back at past wrestling shows or era because of the frequency of shows on a weekly basis. Between ROH, CHIKARA, PWG, and DG USA alone, that’s around 100 shows that many of us on the website are trying to watch. But I did have the chance to check out a fantastic documentary which has been catching the attention of a number of people in recent months. Entitled Memphis Heat, it is a look back at a simpler time in professional wrestling, when one city was seemingly at the center of the wrestling world.
In the last 10-15 years, the rate and frequency of documentaries in general has exploded. Going back to the popularity of Michael Moore’s Bowling for Columbine (politics aside), the documentary has had new life breathed into it because of accessibility and so many incredible real-life stories to tell. For the filmmaker, he or she no longer has to spend ridiculous amounts of money on camera or equipment in order to produce a film. While Hollywood continues releasing bloated studio pictures, the documentarians are able to tell their compelling stories for comparatively cheaper budgets. I have to believe that this is how a film like Memphis Heat gets made.
As produced by Over the Top Rope Productions, this is the story of Memphis wrestling in the 1970s and early 1980s. As great as it is for those fans who may have never seen what the wrestling was all about, I couldn’t help but wonder if the documentary would have benefitted from focusing even more on one angle or individual. Sputnik Monroe by himself could have sustained a documentary by himself. Ditto for Jerry Lawler (who really needs to get his own three disk DVD like so many other guys in WWE have) or even Jerry Jarrett.
As the film begins, Bill Dundee immediately talks about wrestlers not knowing what heat is. This segues into various wrestlers talking about being stabbed and having various items thrown at them. Over the next 90 minutes, the journey of Memphis wrestling is seen through the eyes of the wrestlers, promoters, and even a fan. The history goes all the way back to the carnival days. Hearing all these carnie stories fascinate me. What must it have been like to be in a tent and have a random mark from the audience try and wrestle with a shooter?
It was also fascinating to hear about midgets and female wrestlers as special attractions meant to draw an audience. It’s weird to think how in WWE, the women are simply trotted out as part of the show. There used to be a sense of purpose for their presence. Maybe in the modern era, some of the aspects that used to make wrestling unique, variety, have been lost. Speaking of characters and variety, I couldn’t review this documentary without talking about my new favorite old-time wrestler, Sputnik Monroe.
There were a number of wide-ranging viewpoints on him as a person, but the more positive aspects are what struck me. He did come off like a progressive thinking person who wanted to move away from bigotry and racism into a modern society that embraced everyone as a human being. Buddy Wayne talks about some African-Americans having three pictures in their homes: Jesus, Martin Luther King Jr. and Sputnik Monroe. Even if this is hyperbole, it makes for a great story. And that’s really what make these wrestling documentaries great. The stories told by the guys are a lot of fun to listen to because of the unique position the guys are put in. They don’t fly around on first class flights or private jets. These are men and women who drove thousands of miles in a week. For me, as someone who lives in a big city, it’s incredible to see these guys drive around to Podunk towns for wrestling. It's even more incredible, and the documen
tary points this out, that more people didn't meet a tragic end.
As Memphis Heat continues, we get a chance to hear about the various villains and heroes who made the territory. We hear about why guys were sometimes under masks: because they couldn’t talk or didn’t have charisma. We hear about the sometimes not-so-honest promoters like Nick Gulas and Roy Welch. Of course, there’s also Jackie Fargo and his strut. Even in brief clips, his confidence and abilities as a personality shined brightly. It’s so easy to see how Fargo was able to be a main eventer in Memphis. And then there’s Jerry Lawler.
Lawler has to be considered the biggest star in Memphis history, both because of his ability to draw for so many years and his talent in the ring. We get to hear about his legendary feud with Bill Dundee and how despite the fact they legitimately disliked each other, they were still able to be professional with each other and work in every sort of match over the years. My personal favorite Lawler angle covered in the doc was the story of how broke his ankle and it turned into a running angle with Jimmy Hart for years. As devastating of an injury as it was, Jerry Jarrett was able to turn it into an angle. The promo with Jimmy Hart portraying Lawler as a horse who needed to be shot because he could no longer was so dastardly but great at the same time. Some might be disappointed with how little pub the Lawler/Kaufman feud gets, but I feel that story has been done to death in other media. The 5-10 minutes it got on this documentary felt appropriate relative to everything else on the DVD.
I’m not sure the director was necessarily intending to have a message about the current state of the business, but a number of somewhat obvious points were made about the way things were done back then that could still work today. The idea of suspension of disbelief and taking wrestling seriously can still be applied to today’s booking. A guy like Lance Russell was able to maintain his credibility as an announcer in subtle ways, but he never had to resort to burying the product or the wrestlers. While they were talking about Lance Russell, I tried to picture this man burying Lawler or the goofy Kaufman angle. Is there any possible way he does it? And if he did, how quickly would he have been fired?
There really is a lot to this documentary, more than I would want to give away in this review. Needless to say, this is well worth checking out. For any wrestler or even someone only involved in the business, this is a must see documentary. When looking for quality wrestling DVDs for the holiday season, you can’t go wrong with Memphis Heat.
As much as I did enjoy the documentary, there was a noticeable flaw. The fact that this was only 90 minutes made me feel like I was missing out on certain parts of the story. But thankfully, there are OVER FOUR HOURS OF BONUS FEATURES… which I’ll talk about in great detail tomorrow. Needless to say, I’d still give this my highest recommendation.
For more information on the film,check out their website. To buy the DVD, poster, and book it was based on, BUY HERE!
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