King is Going to Dance at a Bar, He's Going to Fight on the Floor

Jerry Lawler vs. Michael Sane NEW 4/19/08 - EPIC

ER: Cage match blow off to their match the month before. I don't actually remember seeing too many Lawler cage matches before (I know I've seen a Savage one and an Austin Idol one, and I think clips of a Dundee one in a music video. I'm sure there have been others), and definitely haven't seen him in a cage post '87 or '88. So this is a real treat just seeing how he adapts his modern indy style to a cage match, and he really makes sure to fly into the cage in nasty ways and get his face smashed and rubbed into it a bunch. I loved the psychology of Lawler being the one to demand a cage match, and it immediately backfiring on him as he gets tossed all around and smashed into the cage. Lawler is somebody with good enough body language to put over that kind of regret. I thought this was really good and had some cool stuff like Lawler going for the kill with a top rope fist drop only to get caught in a chokeslam, and Lawler using an awesome Jean Claude Van Damme uppercut to the taint that I've never seen him do before. Seeing Lawler punch somebody in the balls kinda ruins it for everybody else, as I can imagine other guys backstage going "He already makes our haymakers, jabs, corner punches and punches from the mount look business-exposing. Couldn't he have at least left us ball punches?"

PAS: Sane was really good in this too, he doesn't have too many fancy moves, but does a nice job working a super generic indy psychopath. His facial expressions and fits of rage aren't too hokey and his offense is really violent looking. Classic slow starter Lawler as he gets violently beaten early before he could come back. I loved the nut shot as it did come off as a truly desperate attempt to escape a hellacious beating. Lawler unloaded all of his great punches, including a knuckle out straight right that might have been trying to split an eyebrow. Very good, nifty little mini feud. Would have liked to see more match ups between the two.

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The King will Steal a Car and Bring it Down

Jerry Lawler v. Michael Sane, NEW 3/15/08 - EPIC

PAS: Great out of nowhere wild brawl. The kind of thing a deep dive project like this is great for. Way more intensity then you normally see out of a 2000's Lawler touring indy match as he goes right at Sane from the beginning, and they have a classic Lawler v. Monster heel brawl. We get Lawler hurling a chair Moondogs style at Sane's head, Sane touring the whole ringsized smashing Lawler into each ringpost and some great punch exchange. Never seen Sane before but he looked like he belonged here. I imagine this is what the best Lawler v. Leatherface matches felt like. They did a really nice job of setting up the cage match as the ref gets between an awesome tee off punch exchange between them and they both waylay him. Crowd was super into the restart tease which I have no problem believing, as I was really into it too.

ER: This really was intense for a random Lawler vs. indy guy fight. Lawler throws a chair nastier than Necro and finds a few neat ways to get slammed into a post without resorting to Nigel idiocy. I had never seen Sane before but I really dug his throat thrusts. Lawler puts over his stuff well by doing little things that you never see, such as rubbing his hand over the back of his head and checking his hand afterwards after taking a few bodyslams. That's a level of detail you normally only get in somebody like Finlay, and it's pretty stunning to see on a random indy show. The crazy brawling over the final two minutes until the match is thrown out stand up with any crazy Lawler brawling you've seen.

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