Reported by Adam Martin of WrestleView.com
On Tuesday, September 13, 2005 at 3:02 PM EST

The following was transcribed by Ian Hamilton:

WrestleTalkRadio.com: WTR Sunday Night featuring Jerry “The King” Lawler and Brandon Oliver
September 11, 2005; Hosted by Tim Stein and Jason Clevett in Calgary and JJ Sexay in Oklahoma City
Report by Ian Hamilton
Listen to the full show here.

It was a night of returns for WTR Sunday Night, as Jason Clevett returned to the show after a several-week absence, while William “WWEStunner” Ingram was also back, after having been caught up in Hurricane Katrina.

The show’s first guest was River City Wrestling’s Brandon Oliver. He talked about how he trained with Shawn Michaels’ Texas Wrestling Academy, and how he decided to move from being a referee into becoming a promoter after realizing how poorly shows were being promoted around Texas. He talked about a short-lived partnership, and some of the Japanese stars be brought to RCW , and some of the more recognizable US stars.

Brandon talked about the coverage he’d helped get for River City Wrestling, and went over some of the future booking plans for the company, before going onto the monopoly that WWE has, and the opportunities that it’s opening up for some regional bookers.

Brandon talked about some of the crowds that his company had drawn, and the importance he places on his in-ring product. He again talked about some of the international stars who have come to River City, and how that’s acted as a catalyst for guys to seek pastures news to try and break out of the Texas area, while also advancing themselves, before announcing that the company would be returning to TV in the San Antonio area every Sunday on Time Warner channel 20. At the conclusion, Brandon announced that River City Wresling's tv show will hit the internet on WrestleTalkRadio.com in the very, very near future!

At the top of the second hour, WTR welcomed some royalty to the show, as Memphis legend and current WWE commentator Jerry “The King” Lawler joined WTR Sunday Night.

Jerry opened up by plugging next Sunday’s Unforgiven PPV in Oklahoma City, mentioning that Jim Ross was really looking forward to the show, joking that he’s used more than his fair share of complimentary tickets for the show. They talked about the struggling Oklahoma Sooners, and the sports teams that Jerry follows – before Jerry told us just why he likes the Cleveland Browns and the like. Listen to the full show here.

JJ brought up an article in the current issue of Raw magazine about Jerry’s artwork. Jerry said that they rarely covered him in the company’s magazine, before recognizing that if it weren’t for his artistic ability, he wouldn’t be in the wrestling business today, noting how his artwork was what got his break in this business.

Jason talked about Jerry’s feud with Bret Hart in the WWF in the mid 90s, with Jerry saying how he got endless milage from jokes about Stu and Helen Hart, especially on the Kings Court segments on early episodes of Raw. He said that the “Kiss My Foot” match with Bret drew him his biggest payoff in his career.

Jason then asked which legendary wrestler Jerry enjoyed working with the most. Jerry noted that he was starting his career as some of the legends from the past were finishing their careers, like Lou Thesz, Dick The Bruiser, Bobo Brazil and the original Sheik, before talking about the Memphis wrestling promotion he is still involved with to this day. Jerry brought up how Glen Jacobs entered the WWF as Isaac Yankem – the dentist who let his teeth rot so badly so that he could show kids how badly your teeth would get if you didn’t look after them.

JJ brought up the gimmick where Jerry did commentary of his own matches, something which Jerry said that Vince McMahon loved. Jerry brought up a feud with Jake Roberts, which came at a time where the WWF were starting to “push the envelope” as far as content went. Jerry talked about how he nearly got killed in Mark Henry’s debut match, because he didn’t know how strong he was, as Henry “swatted” him out of the ring through the ropes and into the guard rails.

Jason moved the conversation onto Memphis, which Jerry said still does a one-hour show every week (which is shown every morning in Memphis, and also in the UK as well), but doesn’t run as many house shows as he’d like. He said they tried doing shows in the Memphis Coliseum, but it was tough as all of the name guys who draw tickets work for the WWE these days. Jerry said that the promotion has tried running “Legends” shows, and some of the legends they’d brought back had been getting the biggest pops of the night, before going over a feud, which saw the crowd go nuts over two 70 year old men who refused to shake hands and bury the hatchet, but Jerry said that Memphis had the sort of history that allowed them to do that sort of thing.

Jason talked about some of the legendary wrestlers who could still go out and do long matches, despite their age. Jerry put it down to the fact that he’d largely been injury free during his career, before saying that it was the charisma of the older guys that’d helped their longevity in the ring and during matches. Jason linked this to two of the matches on next week’s Unforgiven, with the new vs old formula being used in the Chris Masters vs Shawn Michaels and Carlito vs Ric Flair bouts. Jerry said that Chris Masters has the talent, and he’ll be learning from the best in Shawn Michaels while also getting the rub, but the younger guys – like John Cena and Batista – still need to learn their trade. Listen to the full show here.

They talked about some of the more legendary young vs old matches, with JJ bringing up the reaction that Hulk Hogan got at WrestleMania 18 against the Rock. Jerry put over the Rock for “rolling with it” on that night, rather than trying to take the limelight back from Hogan.

Jason talked about WrestleMania, and asked Jerry what the show meant to him. Jerry agreed with Jason, saying that almost anyone is in awe of Madison Square Garden, whether you’re wrestling there, doing commentary, or even watching a show in the arena. He added that he’s never actually wrestled at a WrestleMania, but he hopes to do it in the future.

They then asked some questions from the chat room, first asking Jerry how he sees himself in the WWE in ten years time. Jerry said that he’d like to still be employed in ten years time, before hinting that he might take up an off-screen role alongside many other ex-wrestlers as a road agent, although if Mae Young and Moolah can still be on TV, then maybe he can too.

Talk moved onto more attractive women, as Jason talked about some of the current day Divas, before losing his train of thought. Jerry saved the day, and said that he couldn’t pick an “era” of Divas as being the best, but said that there was a time where Sunny seemingly had the world at her feet, before a string of what he termed as “bad decisions” brought it all crashing down. He made the same comparisons with Chyna, who’d disappeared from the face of the earth after leaving the WWF.

Jason brought up how relationships in the public eye – especially in wrestling – tended to fail, mentioning (amongst others), Jerry’s marriage to the former Kat, Stacy Carter. Jerry said that it was difficult being in the public eye, but it was a part of society nowadays, that it’s hard to maintain a relationship.

JJ talked about this week’s Raw, which Jerry noted was in a place which was quicker for him to drive to than it was to fly to, in Little Rock. Jerry said that they have good fans in Little Rock, but WWE doesn’t seem to go there much, before JJ said that this’d be the first time Raw would have come from that city.

JJ asked if JR would be getting beaten up at Unforgiven in Oklahoma next Sunday. Lawler said that it’d been asked about in WWE, and he was just hoping that JR could just “slide through” without anything bad happening to him. They talked about the addition of Jonathan Coachman to the announce team, with Lawler saying that he knew little about it, although he has the theory that they did it to keep Coachman on the air after Heat gets cancelled next month.

They talked about the new TV deal with USA Network, and Lawler said that while losing Heat wasn’t ideal, he said that USA gets more exposure on more cable networks and hotels (although they reach about the same number of homes – Ian), before having to apologise as he made an early exit.

Elsewhere in the show, there was naturally talk about Unbreakable, as well as 9/11, NWA Universal, legal action, Day of Reckoning 2, being the Incredible Hulk, Kane’s book and more. Click here to listen to the full show. Listen to the full show here.

Don’t forget to tune in next week, when WTR returns to Calgary’s own Bottoms Up Sports Pub for coverage of WWE’s Unforgiven PPV.