Jimmy Hart asks Steve Keirn to break his leg (1981) Classic Memphis Wrestling

Jimmy Hart needs a heavyweight contender for the Southern belt in the First Family and young Steve Keirn fits the bill. To recruit Steve, he has to play an arbitrary trust game that could cause a severe leg injury. Hart, his leg just recently broken, gambles everything to get Keirn in the Family.
Date: 1981
Location: WMC TV5 Studio, Memphis
Interview: Lance Russell
From Playlist: "Memphis Wrestling (1981)"
View Playlist: www.youtube.com...
More info...
Steve Keirn: en.wikipedia.or...
Jimmy Hart: en.wikipedia.or...
Lance Russell: en.wikipedia.or...
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[@wrobinson1702]

"Gordon Solie's gonna take your job, Russell!" -Jimmy Hart to announcer Lance Russell. Terrific stuff

[@carlosriverajr5680]

Steve Keirn, very underrated. What a great wrestler.

[@twright3802]

Steve Keirn was not underrated in Tampa. He was one of our hometown favorites....We loved the wrestlers with the pure collegiate backgrounds because they brought credibility to the sport.

[@davidratcliffe1]

Does anybody remember Steve Keirn putting Pak Song unconscious in a sleeper hold then dragging him to the corner of the ring, putting his leg on the second rope and jumping on it 2 or 3 times? I can't find that match. I never saw Pak Song on TV again.

[@robertdinkins8336]

This is the dumes thing I have ever seen in my life

[@arkansoul]

Memphis Wrestling was NOT a politically correct promotion. I loved it!!!

[@RayNDeere]

Kevin Sullivan said that Eddie Graham tried to talk Vince McMahon Sr. (who had a winter home in Tampa and was Eddie's neighbor) to bring Steve up to New York to work as a top babyface with a chance at a title run. Vince Sr. decided to go with another guy in Florida named Bob Backlund.

[@MatrixUnlockedPlus]

@@RayNDeere Vince Jr. made it right though. Hired Steve as DOINK THE CLOWN.

[@junioralsept9335]

Love Lance Russell as a commentary as well as Gordon Solie and Steve Trangard...

[@markbowman6655]

"No buzzard breath it's not." Jimmy Hart gift of gab.

[@arkansoul]

You are very welcome!!! Vince and destroyed wrestling forever. Wrestling should have never gone in this direction. It is no longer a well kept secret. Memphis tried to never break kayfabe and that Jimmy Hart crying clip was only one of many clips that made Memphis rasslin' awesome. Greedy McMahon has ruined part of our childhood.

[@jfmitch]

I feel old - I remember seeing this on TV; the first time I had watched wrestling on TV.

[@ronaldshank7589]

You're not alone, brother! It's still fun to see this classic stuff, though. Age doesn't matter-the love for wrestling, what Ric Flair used to call "The sport of Kings", is what matters!!!!!

[@scvbtr2]

some of the best times to be a kid!

[@maynardsmoreland]

I grew up in No. California in the territory days of greats like Moon Dog Mayne and Pat Patterson, and missed this gold of the southern territory.

[@ronaldshank7589]

I grew up on the other side of the property, so to speak. (I live in Staunton, Virginia), and it was Mid-Atlantic wrestling for me on Saturday mornings. Ric Flair, Paul Jones, Wahoo McDaniels, "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, Jake "The Snake" Roberts, Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat...and as time went by, other wrestlers were added to the mix. There's so many of 'em, that I can't recall them all. I was never introduced to the then WWF until about 1986-1987 time period. Since then, we've witnessed Vince McMahon gobble up most of the wrestling organizations, and what he couldn't get outright, he'd give 'em the shark treatment. In other words, he'd nibble away at them by buying out their top talent, until there wasn't much left for that organization to work with. People would lose interest in that organization, and it would fold, having fallen victim to "The mighty WWF". Now, there are only a very few Wrestling territories left, that haven't fallen victim to Vince McMahon & his goons. Now, after all these years, a type of justice has befallen WWE. Their ratings are sinking further and further into the financial sandtrap, and anytime that someone comes up w/ a great idea to turn things around, WWE Creative just shoots it down. Case in point:Braun Strowman. He should have won the WWE Universal Title at HIAC. He didn't win, due in a large part to the return of Brock Lesnar. Braun's money in the bank was therefore wasted, and Braun ended up on the short end of the stick...again!!! Totally unfair, that's what it is! Anyway-I, too, love wrestling. It's a big part of my life, & I'll love it forever! As "The Nature Boy" Ric Flair would say:"Wooooooooooo"!!!!!

[@theman4191]

I got so much respect for Jimmy now

[@alvinwine5665]

Steve kiern was a great wrestler

[@josephpizzo1250]

Saturday Mornings at Ft. Campbell KY watching with my fellow soldiers

[@wrobinson1702]

Jimmy Hart was so good. As was Lance.

[@greenlawler]

Jimmy Hart in 1980-84 was the best

[@catyear75]

Cool angle , I miss the territories....

[@arkansoul]

Every Saturday morning was the greatest day of his life....LOL!!!

[@kimberlysanchez7792]

I remember when Jackie Fargo put Steve keirn and Stan lane together as fabulous ones

[@josephpizzo1250]

When I was stationed at Ft Campbell we watched this saturday and went to the Nashville Faigrounds to watch the matches when they came in 81-82

[@bacardilvr]

LOL! "Gordon Solie's gonna take your job!"

[@Nashvillemusicman]

“Buzzard breath”….I love it!

[@HogansDisciple]

Greatest manager of all time in the greatest promotion of all time.

[@c.l.freeman7654]

HogansDisciple Heenan was the best

[@DabsDad]

@@c.l.freeman7654 JJ Dillion was the best

[@robertlee8474]

Outstanding…Jimmy is outstanding

[@rogertemple7313]

"Just like many other wrestlers from the territorial days that went to the WWF/WWE to only be Cartoon Characters /B-List Wrestlers that went no where,but Keirn and many of the others bounced back in the indies and did a lot better."-😎.🛂🗺

[@mikefatwhiteguy3125]

Never get away with this one... But still get that feeling of satisfaction when Steve jumped on Jimmy's leg.

[@bacardilvr]

This was soooooooo good!

[@RollTideRising]

The good old day . Memphis wrestling was my favorite

[@sammys70]

3:28 "I hate freeloaders"..LMAO!

[@daviddavidson8050]

Steve Kiern was real deal Hollyfield. Great wrestler. Great worker.

[@jerfacekilla]

Jimmy Hart was fantastic in Memphis omg 🤣

[@SteveChiverton]

Both utterly wasted and turned into cartoon characters by the WWF. Hart into an outright high pitched comedy turn, Keirn into the ludicrous Skinner.

[@pauloliver6813]

Whatever the feeling now about the "orientals" angle, this took genuine guts and trust on Hart's side, respect for that!

[@sooowatsup100]

LMAO . . . sir, that was hilariousssss and awesome. thanks for sending me to that clip. I, beyond words, wish that nosey journalists of the 70s and 80s and the greed of vince McMahon did not expose the business. stuff like the crying clip is just pure gold and can never happen again since we are smart to the business now. that crying clip is what drew your head into the storyline. thanks for letting me know about it.

[@ElGuapo8]

Cringe non-PC promo but it shows why Hart was a legendary heel and Keirn an all time great babyface. Long live Memphis wrestling!

[@Lovelygal71]

Ouch, huh? Oh well...

[@user-dk3gb5xr8z]

Oreintal is a type of rug ! Tojo was technically an American citizen. He was born in Hawaii.

[@arkansoul]

Did you see the clip here on youtube where Jimmy Hart is actually crying saying he's through with wrestling? It's entitled Jimmy Hart - evil or misunderstood????? We, Memphis fans are fair-weathered.

[@madbrowniac7871]

The term is "Fickle."B.W.

[@nassermj7671]

Still love you Steve. YOU should have replaced the 16 times cheat.

[@seldomseenG]

Blatant bigotry was part of the act, be it real or unreal in those days. And this was the 80's, not the 1950's or 60s

[@Jewish.Redneck.Hybrid]

So what

[@jaymac8496]

Lance Russell wasn’t with the shit😂😂😂😂

[@ministerbarrythomas6603]

LoL.... Tojo Yomatojo

[@sooowatsup100]

i agree that both cornette and hart in the same promotion probably couldn't work. their personalities are too entertaining and big that a promotion would probably have gotten more money by stretching out their hilarity one at a time over a long stretch of time. by the way, did you know that jimmy hart "hates the orientals?" LOLOL

[@godswill5590]

sooowatsup100 Cornette wasn’t NEARLY as good as Hart. You KNOW Cornett managed the Midnight Express. Hart isn’t famous for managing ANYONE. He’s a heat magnet on his OWN 💯

[@ronnelljohnson103]

orientals lol

[@GrandFunker]

So...the heel makes an honest man to man deal with a babyface. The babyface burns the heel. WTF just happened?

[@ronaldshank7589]

What just happened? Only one of the best Wrestling angles that I've ever seen!!!

[@apachewolf1132]

The W W E should have never been allowed to corner the market on wrestling. I wish there could have been a way to where the territories could have refused the almighty dollar. Now, wrestling is just a comic book.

[@sooowatsup100]

LOL . . . "this is the greatest day of my life!"

[@felixchoi7397]

Did Keirn also wrestle under the name Buttface?

[@Rusty3659]

The WWF should've made Steve Kiern a superstar. Instead, he played that disgusting and utterly useless character, Gator.

[@yardlet6]

When McMahon saw Bob Backlund in Florida,Eddie Graham said Keirn would be better.

[@godswill5590]

Skinner

[@DH-ss4kk]

Which led to him leaving wrestling and I didn’t blame him

[@RayNDeere]

Keirn had the better backstory with his dad being a two-time POW (World War II, Vietnam) that would have helped being a top babyface (and Memphis did use Steve's dad as part of a storyline when he was in the Fabs,)

[@RayNDeere]

Steve is still involved in wrestling (in fact he works as a trainer in the WWE's NXT training program)

[@randyznaniecki8380]

Dang

[@StarCityAudits]

"Orientals" LOL, you can't even use that word anymore. But it sounded like Keirn really did not like the Asian's. Wonder how he feels today ?

[@TheCoog73]

Jimmy really hates rugs!!!!

[@thebatt6183]

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@sooowatsup100]

LOL . . . btw did you know that Memphis fans are just cruel . . . especially if you're laid up in a hospital with a broken leg and have kevin Sullivan as your personal nurse LOL

[@ronaldshank7589]

Jimmy had better be glad that Kevin wasn't an enemy of his. He'd of broken it for him again, if he had !

[@robertcrain8299]

I wouldn't trust STEVE KERN for all the gold in California!!!!! And if he jumped down on my legs he would definitely be in a hospital of his choice for 6 months

[@msm1876]

Well, I just saw example #2,342 why the North is superior to the South: The fact that it was perfectly ok for a baby face wrestler and a heel manager agree that they don't like "the orientals." I mean, what the hell, Memphis??? Even in 1981, this was ok? Crap, it probably still would be ok down there.

[@tleatherland]

Lighten up, Francis.

[@ronaldshank7589]

@@msm1876 That, of course, was from the movie Stripes. What was Francis' nickname in that movie? I forgot. Anyway:Sgt. Hulka called his bluff real quick!

[@msm1876]

Ronald Shank I believe it was Psycho!

[@jonhufford6980]

What a promo....

[@2010metsfan]

STFU. It was tv rasslin

[@Votedjt2024]

Steve kerin the greatest championship all time