"The action never stops, and Chett Chetterfield never sleeps here at Southpaw Regional Wrestling."
"In 2017, a video cassette was discovered in the WWE archives that contains the last remaining footage of renegade promotion, Southpaw Regional Wrestling. These are their stories."
— Opening title card in the first episode
Actually, Southpaw Regional Wrestling is a web series that is an Affectionate Parody of early-80s wrestling news segments, interviews, skits, and promos. The various characters are played by actual WWE wrestlers, headed by announcers Lance Catamaran (John Cena), Chett Chetterfield (Fandango), and interviewer Clint Bobski (Chris Jericho), with the rest of the cast including Rusev and Lana, Tyler Breeze, Heath Slater, and Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson. The series is also sponsored by KFC to promote its (Woo!) crispy (Woo!) tangy (Woo!) honey mustard barbecue-flavored Georgia Gold chicken.
Due to the positive response the initial series received, a second season, sponsored by Old Spice, was filmed and uploaded to YouTube on August 18, 2017, featuring appearances from AJ Styles, Seth Rollins, Dolph Ziggler, The Miz, Rhyno, Daniel Bryan, Jason Jordan, Natalya, Xavier Woods, Big E, and Michael "PS" Hayes.
Was given a special DLC pack on February 2020 for WWE 2K20.
On February 29, 2020, ironically enough, a third season was announced to be released in the summer, which would be set in the mid 90s ('94 to be exact). However due to the COVID-19 Pandemic and WWE releasing several stars, many who are key characters to the series,note no other announcement has been made in regards to this series.
This video series contains examples of:
- '80s Hair: Appropriately for the era, Susan (Renee Young) and Debbie Desperado (Natalya) have hairdos that make them look like cast members of GLOW.
- Actor Allusion:
- Tex Ferguson is often seen wearing a jacket from Ribera, a famous wrestling-themed steakhouse in Japan. Luke Gallows, the man portraying him, worked in Japan for the better part of 3 years.
- Lance Catamaran talking about "paying common people to demean him and tell him that he was bad at reading the news" might be a sly little jab at the WWE fans' frequent comments about John Cena's perceived lack of wrestling ability.
- Affectionate Parody: The "Southpaw Shuffle" in the first episode of Season Two is one of the AWA's infamous WrestleRock Rumble.
- The Alcoholic: Chett Chetterfield (Fandango) always has a glass of scotch in front of him, and he is clearly hung over the entire time.
- Alliterative Name: Chett Chetterfield, Debbie Desperado, and John Johnson.
- Amusing Injuries: Tex Ferguson acquires a series of injuries over the course of the first season, including getting blinded in both eyes, a broken leg, and had his arm put in an armbar by Greg Valentine for two and a half hours.
- Bad "Bad Acting": The Miz portrays "Astonishing" Adam Düng, with the joke here being that the Miz, one of the most loudmouth heel talkers in WWE, here plays your usual white-meat babyface in territories, and intentionally acts as if he couldn't talk his way out of a potato sack if he had a rattlesnake in there with him.
- Blatant Lies: "This is definitely not Ric Flair." —The Ric Flair Impersonator
- Bowdlerise: Tex Ferguson is a character portrayed by Luke Gallows on the indy scene, previously named Sex Ferguson. Obviously, the PG rating means he had to cut down on swearing, alcohol and sexual references.
- The Butcher: There's a team called the Butchers, "Dry Rub" Doug (Seth Rollins) and Frantic Frank (Rhyno). They are in fact meat cutters who also wrestle, though they also seem to be crazed, violent heels. They're forced to vacate the tag titles after being linked to an E. Coli outbreak.
- The Cameo:
- Ric Flair is the Ric Flair Paid Impersonator voiceover for the KFC commercials in each episode.
- TJ Perkins is John Johnson, the Southpaw Regional Wrestling champion. Referee John Cone appears as a referee during his segments as well.
- The Ascension appear as the upcoming tag team, Surf Dudes with Attitudes and as Top Guns/Danger Zone in Season 2.
- Luke Harper appears as La Barba Grande. He may be masked, but his physique and nickname give his identity away.
- One that only Latin American fans may notice, but La Barba Grande's announcer who speaks Gratuitous Spanish is voiced by Carlos Cabrera, one of WWE's Spanish commentators.
- Daniel Bryan is the egregiously French René Beret. Complete with baguette, striped shirt taken from a mime, and, well...a beret. And also his Arch-Enemy, Dan Bandanna.
- As of this writing, it is still unclear who THE SEA CREATURE is, and so far guesses range from Cesaro to Baron Corbin to Randy Orton.
- While he doesn't appear, Tex mentions that they will "never be able to compete with Vince" if they don't improve their production values.
- Santino Marella and NXT trainer Adam Pearce make a split-second appearance in the last episode of season 2.
- AJ Styles appears as Malibu Al in season 2.
- Porkchop Jones is played by Jason Jordan.
- The Butchers are played by Seth Rollins and Rhyno.
- Celebration Miscalculation: On its first season, they celebrated the "Lethal Leap Year" event... in 1987. A year without a Leap date.
- The Comically Serious: Lance Catamaran constantly speaks with a serious, deadpan tone, even when everything and everyone around him goes bananas. The fact that he's being played by John Cena makes it even more hilarious.
- Corrupt Corporate Executive: Mr. Mackelroy (Tyler Breeze) has bought out the land under Big Bartholomew's farm, and he challenges Big Bart to wrestle for it... against his creature from the sea, the SEA CREATURE!
- Curse Cut Short: Chett's one line in the first video is "Clint is a piece of-" before being cut to a title card reading 'Technical difficulties, hang on!'
- Death of a Thousand Cuts: To date Tex has lost both eyes, his arm is numb and something's wrong with his leg thanks to all the bad guys Chadd 2 Badd has sent after him.
- Deliberate Values Dissonance: When Season 2 has Southpaw sign on its first female wrestler, Debbie Desperado (Natalya), both Clint and Lance are dismissive of the idea of having a "lady wrestler." Lance in particular has something of a Running Gag of not believing that is a woman who is coming to the promotion, but rather a "tiny man."
- Distracted by the Sexy: Clint Bobski is clearly staring at Debbie Desperado's plunging neckline when he's interviewing her.Debbie: Showdown at the Swamp is everything that I ever dreamed of doing.
Clint: [looking at Debbie's chest] Everything that I ever dreamed... - The Eeyore: Chett Chetterfield is permanently depressed and drunk, likely due to his wife Susan (Renee Young) leaving him for the gardener.
- Elvis Impersonator: The Impressive Pelvis Wesley (Heath Slater), who has a bad wig, a red beard, and is Not Even Bothering with the Accent.
- Expy:
- Lance Catamaran is one to Gordon Solie and Lance Russell.
- Clint Bobski (Chris Jericho) has a little Jim Ross (when he was an interviewer) and Mean Gene Okerlund in him.
Word of God also says he is also based off old Stampede Wrestling announcer Ed "Ring-A-Ding-Dong-Dandy" Whalen. - Tex Ferguson and Chad 2 Badd are based off old characters by Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson; Ferguson on a character Gallows played in the indies, and "Chad 2 Badd" was Anderson's ring name during his short tenure as a jobber in WWE in the mid-2000s, though Badd's personality is more of an homage to Michael "PS" Hayes.
- The Sea Creature is based off The Christmas Creature
, a character played by Kane in the USWA. - The Impressive Pelvis Wesley is based on Honky Tonk Man.
- Mr. Mackelroy is one to Ted DiBiase.
- Big Bartholomew is based on Hillbilly Jim, complete with hat and dungarees. His accent and bad English, however, has a little The Iron Sheik in it.
- "Dry Rub" Doug is based on Randy Savage, speaking in Macho Man's tone and wearing aviator shades.
- Porkchop Jones is one to Stan Hansen, complete with leather vest and bullrope. Also, his name is a tribute to fellow African-American wrestling legend Porkchop Cash.
- Voo and Doo are clearly based on Papa Shango.
- René Beret is very reminiscent of The Rougeau Brothers' heel personas as French-Canadians who claim to love America, except that while the Rougeaus did so in the most patronizing of ways, Beret sounds genuinely sincere.
- Nicci Lee Styxxx, aside from possibly parodying WCW mid-carder "Heavy Metal" Van Hammer, takes his name from Nikki Sixx and Tommy Lee of the band Mötley Crüe.
- "Astonishing" Adam Düng has a resemblance to "Jumpin'" Jeff Farmer during his "Yep!" promo, especially given how... challenged both are at promos.
- Dewey Jackson's outfit in the picture for the "Doing It for Dewey Tournament" is modelled after Bret Hart, with a pink jacket with black lapels and a familiar pair of mirrored sunglasses.
- Evil Laugh: Mr. Mackelroy has one. It keeps dislodging his mustache.
- Foreign Wrestling Heel: Parodied with René Beret, who seems to honestly love America. But try telling that to All-American Face Dan Bandana.
- Foreshadowing: Every promo in season 1 keeps talking about their big upcoming event, Lethal Leap Year, with big captions on the screen. The message at the beginning of the first episode states that the year the cassette was made was 1987, which is not a leap year.
- Get a Hold of Yourself, Man!: Lance whispers this to Chett after the latter breaks down over his separation from his wife.
- The Ghost: Dewey Jackson is a wrestler who has gone missing in season 2, and the Showdown at the Swamp will feature a tournament in his honor. He reappears just before Nicci Lee Styxxx's song dedicated to him, played by Michael "P.S." Hayes.
- Glory Days: Lance Catamaran (John Cena) repeatedly talks about his 6 weeks as a desk anchor in Utica, New York, as the highlight of his entire career.
- Gratuitous Spanish: The introduction of La Barba Grande note (Luke Harper) is just a bunch of stereotypical Mexican phrases, like "¡Lucha!", "¡Mas rapido!", and "¡Ariba!", read by one of WWE's Spanish commentators, Carlos Cabrera.
- Hair Metal: Nicci Lee Styxxx's gimmick.
- Heävy Mëtal Ümlaut: "Astonishing" Adam Düng has one that doesn't get pronounced, leading to his name being rendered as Adam Dung.
- Hollywood Voodoo: The Banker hires two voodoo doctors, Voo and Doo, to put a hex on Adam Düng (who accepted his $10,000 open challenge), complete with a Voodoo Doll.
- Honest John's Dealership: Malibu Al runs a used-car dealership. The "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue of season 2 reveals that he was arrested on federal racketeering conspiracy charges and is currently serving 15 years in the Louisiana State Penitentiary.
- I Can Still Fight!: Despite having both eyes gouged out, a broken arm, and a lame leg, Tex Ferguson is still determined to face his former friend at Lethal Leap Year.
- Inelegant Blubbering:
- Chett Chetterfield devolves into a weeping mess after recalling how he and his ex-wife Susan had a farm, and that she left him for the gardener.
- Later, Tex Ferguson has an extended meltdown that is caught on the microphone and broadcast over the air, which irritates both Lance and Chett.
- Kissing Cousins: Big Bartholomew is apparently in a relationship with his cousin, Christian Joy (Lana).
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: Several of the Old Spice commercials in the second season lampshade the fact that they are anachronistic for something set in 1986, referring to them as being futuristic, or saying that 1986 "is too good to us".
- Lighter and Softer: While the first season isn't exactly dark, Lance and Chett are far happier in the prequel second season, with Lance almost never referencing his six weeks in Utica and seeming to be fine with his job (only being frustrated when people screw up, as opposed to the first season where he would randomly mention Utica), while Chett is actually sober, well groomed, and very happy...until episode four.
- Metal Scream: This seems to be the only way Nicci Lee Styxxx communicates.
- Monster Heel: Literally. Big Bart's opponent is THE SEA CREATURE.
- Mood Whiplash: Lance goes from ranting and raving about how dastardly René Beret isnote to calmly plugging SRW's sponsors.
- Nepotism: Clint Bobski only has a job because his uncle owns the station.
- No Product Safety Standards: The commercial for Southpaw Regional Wrestling T-Shirts in episode one briefly mentions that they may cause ringworm.
- Not Even Bothering with the Accent: Rusev as Big Bart, who is supposed to be a redneck farmer, doesn't even bother to try hiding his Bulgarian accent.
- Not So Stoic: Lance Catamaran ignores numerous mishaps and the unprofessional behavior of his colleagues, but certain things are too much for him:
- The sight of naked Chett makes him yell for a commercial break to start.
- Tex Ferguson's constant crying over the air breaks him. Even Chett is mildly irritated.
- He recovers from the previous example only to be told seconds later that 1987 is not a leap year.Lance: There is no f—king Leap Year?! We have been running television all year for "Lethal. Leap. Year." And NOBODY in the office, NOBODY pushing pencils looked at a calendar to figure out that there is NO LEAP YEAR?! My god, man! We're going to be ruined!
- Most of Pelvis Wesley's appearances cause him to go into Stunned Silence.
- He gets quite angry at the appearance of René Beret.
For some reason. - In the second season, he gets quite annoyed when they realise they only hired one female wrestler, so she has no one to fight.
- Only Sane Man: Lance Catamaran is the only person in the entire show who takes his job seriously, even though he clearly hates it with every fiber of his being.
- Only in It for the Money: Most of the wrestlers were opposed to the "Doing It for Dewey Tournament"... until they were informed that there would be a winner's purse.
- Patriotic Fervor:
- Big Bart will sign the contract, not just for him, but for the USA, and all the southern countries! This prompts Christian Joy to break into a chant of "USA!". Also, Actor Allusion. Clint Bobski takes a moment to note that his opponent Mr. Mackelroy is also from the USA.
- This is also the case with Dan Bandana, who challenges René Beret to a flag match, despite René clearly admiring the United States.
- Prequel: Season 2 takes place a year before the events of season 1 to promote the Showdown in the Swamp pay-per-view in 1986, allowing us to see Chett Chetterfield's relationship with Susan fall apart, as well as the original friendship between Tex Ferguson and Chad 2 Badd, among other storylines.
- Portmanteau Couple Name: A non-shipping example; Tex Ferguson and Chad 2 Badd's tag team name is, simply, Tex2Badd.
- Potty Emergency: Tex falls victim to this shortly after he and Chadd finally make it to Southpaw Regional Wrestling for their tag team championship match.
- The Quiet One: Chett Chetterfield doesn't talk much next to his broadcast partner. Whenever he opens his mouth, it's usually to say something inappropriate.
- He talks significantly more during the first few episodes of season 2, since they are set before his relationship fell apart.
- Retraux: 80s pro wrestling, as done in 2017.
- Screwed by the Lawyers: The "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue at the end of Season 2 states that the Top Guns/Danger Zone's debut was cancelled due to a cease-and-desist from Paramount Pictures. Maybe it was because they were clearly ripping off Top Gun.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Adam Düng does this after the pair of voodoo witch doctors that Mr. Mackelroy hired to face him at Showdown at the Swamp, Voo and Doo, put a hex on him. The "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue states that he was never heard of again.
- "Shaggy Dog" Story: The promotion has been running ads for their biggest annual event, Lethal Leap Year, on February 29th, only to be told nobody checked to see if 1987 was a leap year.
- Skyward Scream: Chett yells Susan's name into the heavens at the end of a broadcast.
- Small Name, Big Ego: Lance clearly thinks this whole wrestling malarkey to be beneath him, as he used to be a desk anchor for six weeks in Utica, New York.
- The Smurfette Principle: In season 2, Natalya portrays Debbie Desperado, the only female wrestler in the Southpaw roster. This is a problem as she has no one to fight.
- Soundtrack Dissonance: A promo of two extremely hammy, bloodthirsty wrestling butchers, one of them channelling the Macho Man, is backed by a rather jaunty accordion tune.
- The Stoic: Lance Catamaran ignores numerous mishaps and the unprofessional behavior of his colleagues to read you the news with his trademark deadpan tone.
- Stylistic Suck: The entire series aims to emulate a crappy 80s independent wrestling promotion film shoot, complete with 80s filter, bad edits, bad costumes, and Leave the Camera Running moments.
- Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Season Two shows this for Chett Chetterfield. Turns out, Lance describing him as effervescent was true before Susan left him
- We Used to Be Friends: Tex Ferguson and Chad 2 Badd used to be partners, but then Chad became jealous of Tex's material possessions.
- What the Hell Is That Accent?: Big Bartholomew, who is supposed to be a stereotypical illiterate redneck farmboy, has this weird... Russian-like accent. Bulgarian, even.
- "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue: Season 2 ends with one.
- World of Ham: Then again, it is wrestling.
- Wrestling Doesn't Pay: Big Bartholomew's a farmer, Mr. Mackelroy's a banker, and the Butchers are literal butchers.
