Pro Wrestling Chronicle

Match # 20: Jerry Lawler vs. Dutch Mantell (No DQ) (3/22/82)

A few weeks before this match Dutch Mantell turned heel on The King Jerry Lawler. Seems from the response at the Mid South Coliseum, the fans are hot for this feud and backing The King. Before the match, in the ring, Lance Russell announces to the crowd that Mantell is NOT the Southern Champion. Mantell carried the belt out and looks pissed to be stripped. It seems that this match will now determine the champion. Danny Davis, previously seen as a heel manager, joins the broadcast as Lawler’s manager. Not sure how that came about.

I loved the first few minutes of this match. Classic booking of Lawler and Dutch is a perfect foil both in personality and in his work. Lawler controls the ring both in terms of where the fight goes and who is winning: him. Great lockups, punches, and kicks. A Lawler insugeri is a high spot here. Lawler outsmarts and frustrates Mantell, and every move means something. I also loved that Mantell spends a lot of time running, but not necessarily in a cowering way. Mantell even offers a shake and gets slapped.

These guys work so well together. A sunset flip into a pin looks fluid as Lucha and a punch right after is sold like a gun shot. Being no DQ, Lawler’s knee gets hit perfectly with a thrown chair and Mantell takes over with knee submissions like the spinning toe hold.

Lawler won’t be stopped. He punches Mantell’s knee and starts dominating the heel again. Special praise to Russell for setting the stage and Jerry Calhoun for being an awesomely invisible ref.

Mantell takes back over on the knee and Lawler now bails. Mantell uses the knee as a perfect starting point to logically get into the heat. Lawler is a good seller of damage. He’s constantly beaten down but kicks out at the ring time, or better, just gets his foot on the rope. A really good first ten minutes.
Mantell puts Lawler into the steel post on the outside about 5 times and Lawler’s right eye is busted open. Great use of the No DQ so far. He’s really working him over and the crowd has grown very quiet. I mean that in the best way possible. There do seem to be pockets of heel Mantell fans out there.
Neat touch: Mantell throws in a nice suplex for a near fall. The odd wrestling move to show he’ll try to beat him any way possible is good, and the suplex was high impact enough for this match.

Mantell gets frustrated and brings in a chair. Big chair shot to Lawler. He sells it like death. 1-2- Lawler’s foot is on the rope. No big pop. What the heck!? Big knee off the second rope. Lawler kicks out. 15 minutes gone by. Piledriver by Mantell hits. Lawler gets his foot on the rope. Great stuff but not a hot crowd. Splash from the top and a big kick out at 2. Here comes the Lawler comeback. He hulks up and the crowd comes alive. The famed Lawler punches run wild. He beats Dutch to the outside and Dutch tastes the ring post. Revenge is Lawler’s!

They really got over Dutch having thrown everything at Lawler and not being able to win. Dutch does cut off the Lawler comeback here and there, so you get a sense of the rollercoaster ride and it makes sense.

Great finish. Lawler comes back again. He’s punching Mantell with measured shots that have the crowd going “ohh” with each shot. Mantell takes 4-5 big punches, but kicks Lawler in the gut from the apron, slingshots into the ring, and sunset flips Lawler for the three count.

This and the Lawler vs Funk no DQ matches are my working number ones thus far, and I’m really not sure which is going over the other at any given moment. I think both should be upgraded in score so both will have the following. 4 stars and 8/10.

Match Discussion Here