Michinoku Pro Jerry Lawler

Jerry Lawler vs. Taka Michinoku WWF Raw 12/15/97 - GREAT

ER: Since Lawler was an absolute nobody in Japan, we missed out on a ton of potential Lawler in Japan. If Thailand had any kind of wrestling scene I'm sure we'd have a bounty of Thai Lawler matches. When I think of cool matches Lawler could have had with Japanese wrestlers, my mind automatically thinks of heavyweight opponents or ass kicking juniors like Fuchi or Otani. But thinking about Lawler versus the 90s Michinoku Pro roster is something different entirely, and this very cool almost anachronistic 5 minute match shows us what that might have looked like. Lawler bullying his way through the M-Pro roster is the stuff of dreams, taking a cocky and dominant stance as he punches out Masato Yakushiji or gets flustered by Gran Hamada. Think about Lawler vs. Dick Togo! Think about Lawler vs. Super Delfin! Think about Lawler vs. Gran Naniwa!! 

There just aren't many matches where Lawler has to take juniors offense of any kind, and it's a special thing when you can find a Jerry Lawler match - a man with no shortage of taped matches - that gives you something completely different. One thing this does, is remind you how cool it looks when Lawler bullies someone. He lifts and throws Taka to break a headlock like he was Nikita Koloff throwing Tully. When Taka backs him into the corner and throws a knife edge chop, Lawler gives him a 555 Come-On-Now look after a knife edge chop and holds the ropes on an Irish whip, then grins as he shows Taka how to throw a proper knife edge. Since Lawler has at least 8 different elite level punches, it's easy to forget how strong his chops are. He hardly ever uses them. You probably could have guessed that you would get Lawler doing fake karate against Literally Any Asian Opponent (even though that feels like more of a Brian Christopher thing as I type it out) and of course he works a karate exchange as good as any Tracy Smothers routine. He rakes Taka's eyes and does not entirely ridiculous karate poses before hitting a Great Kabuki-like sidekick to the stomach (something he never does), but gets instantly surprised by Taka getting up throwing leg kicks and a spinning heel kick.

Lawler is in his late 40s and is tasked with basing for Taka's springboard plancha, which still looks like one of the most spectacular pieces of pro wrestling flying. I thought Roddy Piper and Ric Flair were still great wrestlers in 1997, but could you imagine either of them catching another man flying at them on a leaping run from the top rope to beyond the ringside mats? I can't. Well, Lawler leans into the whole thing while also making it one of the greatest catches of all time by screaming in terror when he knows he won't be able to avoid it. When Lawler comes back with a running dropkick, Taka hits one of his own - thrown similarly to Lawler's - and when they both hit the ropes and throw them at each other...well, let me tell you just how much I love a mirror dropkick spot in this match, directly after the running plancha no less.  

There's one weird moment where Lawler doesn't really roll out of the way of a moonsault but acts like absorbing it with his back instead of his ribcage is something that would hurt Taka more than it would hurt him. That really doesn't seem like a Lawler thing to do. He's a master at selling offense that hits or misses in a way it's not supposed to, but the only way I could see this spot working is if Lawler visibly sold that it didn't hurt due to Taka's smaller size. I don't think that's a great idea if the idea is to get over your opponent as effective, but I could see that drawing real heat in Japan. Lawler as a guy who just doesn't sell flyer offense but could get flustered by Mochizuki or Hoshikawa. But this is Bully Lawler, so he shows off how easy it is to toss this little guy with a vertical suplex, and for once it's not Lawler, but his opponent, who is being thrown with a backdrop. 

I can't stop thinking about Lawler twisting Gran Naniwa's head with a cravat, introducing the fistdrop to Sasuke's boys. Here he measures up a beauty of a fistdrop into Taka's throat that Taka's sells by holding his head like he's in an Excedrin commercial. He sells the piledriver the exact same way, but it's an appropriate way to sell a piledriver. The finish is far too abrupt and doesn't pay off anything done in the match, as a missed kissed fistdrop off the middle rope leads directly to the Michinoku Driver. Great timing from Brian Cristopher running down to the ring in time to pull Taka off before the 3 count though. Lawler needed to be kept strong for his Kaientai DX run, so this makes sense. Find me another match where Lawler takes a Michinoku Driver. Lie to me and tell me Lawler worked Super Boy. 

COMPLETE AND ACCURATE LAWLER