Lance Russell and Dave Brown welcomed us to the show as Brown told us we’d be seeing the Memphis Vice would face the Beach Boys in today’s opener. We’d also see the Giant Hillbilly, the debuting Diesel Dan Styles, Jos LeDuc, Rip Rogers, the MOD Squad, Fire and Flame, and also the returning Nightmares. Russell advised that Fire and Flame were part of JD Costello’s Dynasty before we headed to commercial.
We came back to see the Memphis Vice on their way over to commentary. Bryant and Winston promised to take the Beach Boys apart before they headed to the ring. “I Get Around†started playing to usher out their opponents – John Stewart and Van Van Horn.
Van Horn and Bryant started off, with Bryant backing Van Horn into the corner. A quick tag brought Winston in for an attempted double team that a Van Horn dropkick stopped.
Winston came back in and muscled Van Horn down as Brown pointed out that something had apparently snapped on the ring to loosen the top rope.
Bryant tagged back in and he backed Van Horn into the ropes where Winston held Van Horn for Bryant. Van Horn dodged and Bryant knocked his partner to the floor, then a drop kick sent Bryant out as well.
Bryant whipped Van Horn across the ropes and slammed Van Horn down before dropping him with a clothesline. Winston came in and started pounding away on Van Horn. Winston dropped an elbow on his fallen opponent and brought Bryant back in. Bryant put Van Horn down with a power slam and pulled him up before putting him back down with a right hand and a suplex.
Bryant brought Winston back in and stopped Van Horn with a big boot. Winston hit a running leg drop and brought Bryant back in. The Vice got in some quick double team action before Bryant slammed him down. A missed clothesline let Van Horn hit a dropkick and tag his partner in.
Stewart fought off both Vice members before covering Bryant, which brought Winston in. All four men began to brawl and Bryant accidentally cracked the referee, drawing a DQ for the Vice at 5:05.
Russell headed to the interview set where he was going to talk with Paul Diamond. Diamond talked about the haircut that LeDuc had given him before he said that he wasn’t afraid of LeDuc.
We came back from commercial to find Russell backstage to talk about Wednesday night’s show. He was quickly joined by Mid-America champion Rip Rogers, who promised he’d be taking Mantell’s hair at the show. JD Costello and the MOD Squad then came in to claim that straitjackets were only for the insane, and not geniuses like himself. Bill Dundee and Rogers then joined the fun to discuss Dundee‘s match for the held-up Southern title. Dundee promised that the bald-headed Dutch Mantell wouldn’t wait long to be waving the flag. Rogers also promised that he’d never wave Dundee’s flag.
We returned to the studio to find Abdul Gadaffi and Keith Erich ready to face the Giant Hillbilly and Diesel Dan Styles. Styles and Gadaffi started while Russell told us about Styles’s past as a truck driver who’d decided to become a wrestler.
In the ring Styles had control of Gadaffi as he slammed him down and then took him over with an arm drag before locking in an armbar while the crowd chanted USA. Styles kept working Gadaffi’s arm and only a hair pull let Gadaffi escape. Styles regained control and dropped an elbow for a one count before Erich hit the ring to break up the pin.
Styles kept kicking on Gadaffi before slamming him and covering again. This time he got a two count before Erich broke up the fall.
Gadaffi raked Styles’s eyes to gain control of the match. Gadaffi planted Styles with a back elbow and dropped an elbow, only for Styles to roll out of the way.
Erich tagged in and Styles began slamming him. Styles put Erich down with a clothesline and then the Hillbilly tagged in to drop a leg and get the win.. Gadaffi tried to get in to break things up, but Styles intercepted him. As Gadaffi left, Jos LeDuc came out and made his way to the interview set.
LeDuc berated the Hillbilly as Russell started the interview by saying that Diamond wasn’t scared of him. LeDuc said all he’d done last week was what he’d promised. He said that while Diamond was claiming to be a man, LeDuc himself had been putting men down for eighteen years. LeDuc agreed to a lumberjack match with Diamond and Russell mentioned it was a lumberjack strap match. LeDuc said he wasn’t scared and promised to show Diamond what it meant to be a man.
LeDuc then headed to the ring for a handicap match against Jim Jameson and Mike Murphy. LeDuc demanded that both men be in the ring at the same time and he immediately began taking both men apart. He pitched Jameson out of the ring and put Murphy down before dragging Jameson back into the ring and putting him down with a clothesline. He chopped Murphy back down and returned to Jameson, clothes lining him down again. He caught Murphy with another clothesline, hit Jameson again, and pinned both men at the same time.
That brought Diamond out, who cracked LeDuc on the head with a trash can before attacking him. That brought out the MOD Squad and they held Diamond while LeDuc attacked Diamond. Other wrestlers swarmed the ring to run off LeDuc, Costello, and the Squad.
LeDuc grabbed Russell’s mic and reminded Diamond that he wasn’t finished with him yet. Others helped the bloodied Diamond to the back as Russell sent us to commercial.
We came back to Russell backstage to talk about the show on Wednesday night again.
We then headed to the studio to see Rip Rogers and Bill Dundee set to take on David Haskins and Tracy Smothers. Rogers and Smothers started with Rogers breaking out of a tie-up. A second one saw Smothers take Rogers down. Rogers and Smothers traded armbars before Haskins tagged in.
Rogers pulled Haskins’s hair to take him down and Dundee tagged in. Dundee began dominating Haskins, then threw him into his corner so Smothers could tag in. Dundee took him down and locked in a quick toe hold before tagging Rogers back in.
Rogers ended a tie-up with a knee to Smothers’s midsection, then tagged Dundee back in. Smothers fought back as best he could, but Dundee’s experience kept the advantage. Rogers tagged in and suplexed Smothers down before starting to choke him. He brought Dundee back in and Dundee head butted Smothers in the midsection.
Smothers was fighting back when Rogers pulled him back to the ropes. Smothers dragged himself across the ring and Haskins came in. Haskins started off strong but the doubleteaming soon took its toll. As the ref ushered Smothers out of the ring, Rogers and Dundee hit a highly-illegal spike piledriver for the win.
Rogers then grabbed Smothers in preparation to attack and that brought out Landel and Mantell. Dundee saw them and took off with Rogers close behind.
Landel and Mantell then headed to the interview set where Russell was waiting. Landel called himself the champion after the referee had handed him the title after their last match. Landel said that the belt was only held up because of Dundee’s shenanigans. Landel brought up that he and Mantell had their problems in the past, but they both wanted to take Dundee apart. Mantell promised that he wouldn’t be waving the flag, and he also promised that Landel would be taking Dundee down.
We came back from commercials to find Ken Wayne and Danny Davis heading to the interview set for a word with Russell. Davis promised that the Nightmares would be making some noise in the territory and Wayne said that their goal was to defeat everyone put in front of them.
We then headed to the ring for the Nightmares to face Jerry Garman and Benny Traylor. Wayne and Garman started and Wayne grabbed a quick advantage while Russell and Brown discussed the unique colors in the Nightmares’ hair.
Wayne took Garman down and tagged in Davis, who put Garman down with a backbreaker and followed it up with a knee drop and a body slam. Ken Wayne tagged back in and suplexed Garman before bringing Davis back in.
Davis back dropped Garman and raked his eyes to break up a flurry of offense from Garman. Still, Traylor tagged in and Davis and Wayne soon took him down as well. Wayne locked in a chinlock and tagged Davis back in.
Davis cinched in a facelock and Traylor refused to submit. He almost fought free until a hair pull ended that. Wayne came in and kept pressing his team’s advantage. Davis tagged back in and locked in a nerve hold. Traylor fought free and Wayne hit the ring to help his partner. Davis slammed Traylor and rammed Traylor’s head into Wayne’s knee before bringing him back in.
Wayne locked in another facelock and this time Garman came in to break it up. Wayne pitched Traylor and brought Davis in. Davis put Traylor down and brought in Wayne as Garman managed to tag back in.
Davis tagged in and the Nightmares doubleteamed Garman before Davis put him down with a dropkick. The Nightmares kept making quick tags before Wayne distracted the ref so Davis could piledrive Garman and Wayne could leg drop him from the top rope for the win at 6:46.
We returned from commercial so Russell could run down Wednesday’s show one more time. This time Mantell came in where he promised he’d do whatever it took to win the title. Jerry Lawler and the Giant Hillbilly then came in. Lawler pointed out that Costello’s only purpose was to make sure that the MOD Squad won. Lawler said that they’d have Costello nullified and he and the Hillbilly would take care of the Squad. The Hillbilly promised to take Costello out after they finished with the Squad.
We came back to the studio for our main event – the MOD Squad and Fire and Flame vs. Jeff Jarrett, Pat Tanaka, Tojo Yamamoto, and Tracy Smothers. Jarrett and Flame started, with Jarrett able to evade the larger Fire and Flame. Flame tagged Basher in as Costello put his new team over at commentary. Jarrett tagged in Smothers, who began taking Basher apart. Spike came in and Smothers cranked his arm before bringing in Tanaka.
Tanaka finally managed to backdrop Spike and tagged in Yamamoto. Tojo started chopping away at Spike while backing him into his own corner. Tanaka tagged in and a hair pull gave Spike the opening he needed to bring in Fire. Basher quickly tagged in and he and Spike began taking Tanaka apart.
Basher tagged in Fire, who kept up the assault before tagging Basher back in. Basher climbed to the second rope and dropped an elbow before bringing Spike in. Spike dropped a leg and tagged in Fire.
Tanaka finally managed to land some chops that allowed him to tag in Smothers. At that point the match fell apart as all eight men started brawling. Flame threw a fireball into Smothers’s face while Costello crowed on commentary. Tojo, Jarrett, and Tanaka helped Smothers to the back.
Russell replayed the fireball as he and Brown denounced the assault.
We came back from our final commercial break for Brown to give a quick recap of the day’s events before Russell said goodbye for another week.
FULL CARD FOR WEDNESDAY NIGHT’S SHOW AT THE EVANSVILLE COLISEUM
Southern Heavyweight title
Coward Waves the Flag
Bill Dundee w/Rip Rogers vs. Buddy Landel w/Dutch Mantell
Southern Tag Team title match
JD Costello will be at ringside in a straitjacket.
MOD Squad (c) vs. Jerry Lawler/Giant Hillbilly
Lumberjack Strap match
Jos LeDuc vs. Paul Diamond
Mid-America title match
No time limit, no DQ
Title vs. Hair
Rip Rogers © vs. Dutch Mantell
Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Tracy Smothers
Jeff Jarrett/Pat Tanaka vs. the Nightmares
Diesel Dan Styles vs. Strong Machine
