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Old School Wrestling Celebrated At Oklamania

Posted: Jul 27th 2016 By: CMBurnham

The IWR recently put on the biggest celebration of wrestling in Oklahoma with the first wrestling convention to be held in the state, Oklacon, and the 2-day wrestling extravaganza known as Oklamania! During the weekend of July 16th and 17th, current IWR stars got to mingle with current ROH and TNA stars, current indy stars and many stars from the past, most of whom had legendary careers in Oklahoma under either Bill Watts or Leroy McGuirk.

On Sunday night, the second night of Oklamania saw that old-school feeling really come alive as Jim Ross returned to the ring to announce a very special match. Out first came Global Force Wrestling owner Jeff Jarrett, along with his wife Karen. After that arrived the former broadcast partner of Ross, Jerry Lawler. Lawler and Jarrett were no strangers to each other as it was the father of Jarrett who gave Lawler his first big break in the business. In FACT, Jarrett said to Lawler that he had great memories of Lawler from being a kid.

But the mutual respect quickly dissolved into some pointed and vile comments and both Jarretts made it clear that they believed the time for Lawler to be in the ring was over and done with. Jeff ran down the age of Lawler, his physical condition and talked how wrestling had passed Lawler by. Lawler, in typical fashion, retorted with some witty one-liners in the direction of the Jarretts and also took time to admire Karen in a physical respect while making it clear he had no appreciation for her personality.

When the match finally bean, it was Jarrett dominating for the vast majority. It was by no means a fast-paced match as every time Jarret and Lawler locked up, Jarrett would execute a successful move on Lawler. Lawler would then ponder what just happened and prepare to lock up again. All the while, the Jarretts became more and more confident, perhaps even crossing the line into arrogance.

After what can only be considered a one-sided match, Jarrett grabbed the microphone and asked Lawler if he had anything to say to the fans. With Jarrett having backed him into a corner, and towering over him, Lawler took the microphone and and said that he only had one thing to say: "Now, its my turn!" With that, all the punishment that Lawler had absorbed fueled his rage as he beat back Jarrett. Then, in that symbolic moment that so many fans of Memphis wrestling know only too well, Lawler pulled the strap of his singlet down and Jarrett knew there was not much more to withstand. True to history, a few short moments later, Jarrett was prone on the mat and Lawler marked another win in the column that has been amassing for over 40 years.

Lawler and Ross, once the voices of wrestling to so many fans, left the ring together to the cheers of the fans. And for just a brief moment, the glory days of thousands of fans turnin out on Monday nights to the Fairgrounds Arena in Tulsa or the Stockyard Colosseum in Oklahoma City was brought back to life. Wrestling will continue long after all these stars have said their farewells But for many, it will never be as glorious as the memories this one match brought back.