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Cornette opened up with some amazing stats on Russell's career noting 300 million people chose to watch him over and over spanning 30 years. Lance did his old Memphis wrestling opening.
Russell said he was lucky the Memphis tapes went to Louisville because it allowed him to see Jim Cornette in his prime. Cornette questioned he ever had a prime. Russell told a story of a young Cornette chasing wrestlers down for photos.
Cornette said Lance made a career of talking good about people. Cornette said he was also responsible for hiring Dave Brown, the only Memphis TV personality to rival Lance's popularity.
They opened the floor for questions.
The first fan said Memphis wrestling was chaos but Lance held it all together. He said Lance acted as if he believed it and asked how he put so much believability to the product. Cornette said you weren't smartened up right away but once they knew they could trust him they let him in. Russell would turn down going to meetings where they would discuss the plans for the show. He saw it as a race and didn't want to know who would win. He said it was the best decision he could have made. Cornette said he knew the flavor but didn't need to know the specifics.
Cornette said when you see old footage and hear Lance Russell, that is the soundtrack of the promotion. Russell said when they entered an empty arena and it's so silent, it's hard to believe how hard it is to call a match without the crowd reaction and feedback. Cornette said the Empty Arena match showed how hard it is to do wrestling without the passion of the fans.
They told a story of Lance calling a TV show live after a bomb threat was called in to the Memphis TV studio. It was a tough situation as they ride to get by without letting the viewers knowing they were clearing the building. They went to commercial, got everyone out and came back to a 20 minute Lance and Jerry Lawler promo as the cops searched the building. They couldn't announce it because it would lead to someone doing that every week.
Lance was asked about Jos LeDuc cutting his own arm on TV for a blood oath. Lance said no one was more shocked than he was. Lance said when he did it. It was a scary thing and he didn't know. He also didn't know when Bill Dundee and Gorgeous George Jr. did the promo when George called him Dundee a chickenshit on TV. Lance took the mic out of his hands and stuck it in his jacket.
Cornette asked him about the show where Eddie Gilbert tried to run over Jerry Lawler win a car. Lance said he was inside and didn't know they had two idiots working for them. Cornette said Lawler said he used to do this in High School but apparently they had different cars then. Lawler went over the hood, the windshield and the roof and Doug Gilbert thought Eddie had killed him. People flooded the switchboards and the police. Lawler had to go back in TV to show everyone he was OK and stop the calls.
Lance was asked if he had any good stories of ribs being pulled on him. He told a story of The Road Warriors grabbed him and carried him to the ring then told him to put his arms out and slide. He asked how he could slide with this nose.
Cornette talked about the banana nose nickname. He's linked with Lawler and asked Lance who were the other guys he enjoyed working with. Lance said at 98 his mind isn't as quick as Corny's but he loved working with Cornette. Cornette said don't just say it because it's true. Cornette brought up Sputnick Monroe. Lance said he was savvy guy and was as a safe as working with a loaded gun verbally. He said Monroe gets credit for breaking down color barriers and he would make all sort of remarks to the ladies...all in good taste he joked. Jackie Fargo really taught everyone by setting the stage with his way of speaking.
They were asked about the angle where Lawler was found drunk and despondent after losing the Southern title to Bill Dundee. Lance said he was called to Lawler's house and found him sitting outside his house a complete mess. That began the rehab of Lawler to get him back to form.
They discussed how Memphis was ahead of the curve with on location videos and music videos. Lance said when he went to WCW, a lot of guys knew about Memphis TV but weren't too happy about it. Memphis had serious drama and sadness but they also had lighthearted moments and others in the business felt it was making fun of the business.
Lance told a story of working with Honkytonk Man on his first promos. He also told a story of going into a locker room and seeing how beat up Lawler was and he was shocked. Lawler said to go see the other guy, who was Bill Dundee. Dundee was beat up even worse. The fans loved it and Cornette said Dundee joked that even they believed their feud.
A fan said one if the great thing was the unpredictability and asked Lance about the most outrageous moments. Lance said he was being honest with everyone. He said sometimes he doesn't remember everything and wishes he could remember everything. He told the story of Jimmy Hart and himself running the entire show because everyone was late because of weather come from Nashville. Hart decided to dump a huge bag of flour over Lance without telling him. Lance ran back to a shower during a break and when the water hit the flour, he ended up with glue. Hart left Memphis that day.
Cornette said Lance didn't do physical angles because the belief was he announcer had to keep us credibility and not be seen as one of the boys. Russell said the guys were doing some dynamite stuff. He said Cornette was so serious with that tennis racquet that fans believed the character and some made the mistake of finding out that tennis was a 'contact sport.'
Cornette told the story of Dream Machine grabbing Lance so hard they fell. When fans would ask him if he was scared, Lance said the wrestlers were told not to touch Lance because he had to be back the next week. Cornette said that when Dream Machine grabbed Lance, it was seen as an assassination attempt.
They were asked about Austin Idol. Russell said he remembers him well. They talked about the angle where Tommy Rich was under the ring when Lawler wrestled Idol. They sent a Rich to the ring before the crowd was let in and gave him a case of beer. He was there for hours and attacked Lawler and it was a real memorable deal. Idol could be counted on for intensity but trying to get Idol, Rich and Paul Heyman out the ring was so hard. Cornette said that was the first time Heyman got a taste of Memphis Heat and could see what Cornette went through.
Lance said Andy Kaufman also got a ton of heat. He told the story of Lawler hurting Kaufman with a piledriver and Andy refusing to leave until they called an ambulance. They had to call him one and Lawler grabbed the mic and said to call him a Taxi. Cornette said Andy portrayed himself to be a lot of things but he loved what the wrestlers did and saw it as a performance art. Russell said Andy grew up loving it and it was part of who he was. Andy would fly himself in and wrestled for free. When he asked to be paid, he never cashed the check and framed it.
They were asked about the Tupelo Concession Stand Brawl. They were told they could do anything but don't touch the popcorn machine. Russell said they would go to Tupelo which was 80 miles away and film material then bring it back and air it as a B show for that market. The venue was a former auto body shop and wasn't attractive for TV. Lance actually said "damn" on TV and he said it was a legitimate reaction to that brawl. Lance said mustard was everywhere. Cornette said that line was repeated in high schools all over the area that week. The brawl was outrageous to the point they played it again the following week by popular demand because there were no VCRs. It was in the middle of switching bookers and with half the crew they had, the attention this received brought all the business up within a month. They tried to repeat it a year later and it didn't work as well. Russell said other promotions tried to do it but it didn't work as well.
Lance was asked about leaving Nick Gulas for Jerry Jarrett. lance said it was hard because he was leaving a station where he had worked to get in line to become station manager one day. Cornette said that when the show went on the air and there was no Dave Brown and Lance Russell, everyone got on the phone with each other wondering where Lance was. Six weeks, they were back with Lawler and Jarrett. Lance said the replacements didn't even know wrestling.
Lance was asked about the reaction when he decided to leave Memphis for WCW. Lance said Jerry Jarrett and Jerry Lawler were really angry about it. Cornette said it was the end of the territories. Lance was offered a ton money and made the decision he should go. Cornette said Memphis business was still remarkable for the time but you could see where things were going. Lance said it was a tough decision because he loved all those people in the Memphis and surrounding markets. He said the interaction with the people he loved and it was a difficult decision. He said it was a practical decision but it was hard.
Cornette said Lance will see the 60th anniversary of calling his first match. Everyone applauded. He saluted Lance. Lance thanked everyone for their support.
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