One Year in Memphis – February 8, 1986
RESULTS FROM SUNDAY NIGHT’S SHOW AT THE MID-SOUTH COLISEUM (courtesy of www.memphiswrestlinghistory.com, where he currently has an interview posted with former AWA world champion Nick Bockwinkel. )
Tommy Rogers/Billy Travis (replacing ill Bobby Fulton) over Bill Dundee/Abdul Gaddafi
Bill Dundee/Dutch Mantell over Dirty Rhodes/Rick Casey
Rick Casey over Dutch Mantell
Dirty Rhodes over Buddy Landel
Larry Hamilton over Tony Falk
Frank Morrell/Billy Travis over Pat Rose/Tom Branch
Tojo Yamamoto over Mr. X
Lance Russell and Dave Brown welcomed us to the show as Brown told us who’d be there that week – Buddy Landel, the Fantastics, Bill Dundee and Dutch Mantell in a team, and Billy Travis and the Spoiler as another team.
After a commercial, we came back to see Landel squaring off against Lionel Green. It didn’t take long for Bill Dundee to make his way out and join the commentators. As Landel took charge of Green, Dundee made himself at home at the commentary table.
Landel continued to dominate Green as Dundee headed to the ring and got into Green’s face. Green failed to get anything going and Landel locked on the figure four at 1:44. After the match, Landel refused to break the hold at first.
Afterward Landel joined Russell at the interview set. Landel brought up the Date with Landel contest and mentioned that he definitely had more than two entries. With a little prodding from Russell, Landel ran down the contest.
After discussing the contest, Russell brought up Landel’s problems with Dirty Rhodes. We headed to a tape from last week that saw Landel hammering the bloodied Rhodes. Landel continued the assault on Rhodes until backups cleared the heels out of the ring.
Landel continued to push the fact that he’d left Rhodes lying in the ring before suddenly clearing out as Dirty Rhodes made his way out just in time for a commercial.
We came back to Russell discussing the card for Wednesday night. He soon brought in Dutch Mantell to discuss his match against Rick Casey. Mantell advised that he didn’t need any stips and then said that Casey couldn’t win the title because he wasn’t the man that Mantell was.
Dundee then joined the segment to discuss his match with Gaddafi against the Fantastics. He brought up his grudge against the Fantastics for running fellow “Down Under†wrestlers the Sheepherders out of town.
We came back to see newcomer Abdul Gaddafi taking on Bobby Fuqua as Dundee reappeared. Gaddafi got things started by hammering Fuqua down before dropping him with a clothesline. Gaddafi started choking Fuqua before dropping an elbow and tossing him around the ring like a rag doll. Gaddafi kept locking on choke holds as Fuqua failed to get any sort of offense going. Gaddafi hit Fuqua with a power slam at 1:34 for the win. The whole match was nothing but a squash to get the “Libyan” Gaddafi over as a beast.
Russell and Brown then introduced a video of a team coming in – JD Costello with Spike and Basher, the MOD Squad. Costello (a Jim Cornette rip-off) explained that he had been ordered by his rich mother to succeed like the rest of his siblings had.
Costello, who was from New Orleans, discovered two hulking brutes who’d just gotten fired from the New Orleans Police Department. Costello closed the video by promising that they were on the way.
Russell then brought up a new tournament – the Battle of the Thunderdome. The idea was that there would be a series of matches leading up to one big match. The wrestlers could wear whatever they wished for the matches. Finally, the two wrestlers with the best records would battle for a large monetary prize.
We came back to hear Russell going over more of the card for Wednesday night.
After the break, we came back to see the Fantastics on their way out to the ring to face the masked Undertakers.
We saw Undertaker 1 and Bobby Fulton starting the match, and Fulton grabbed quick control with a couple of snap mares. That was enough for #1 and he tagged in his partner. #2 backed Fulton across the ring and Tommy Rogers tagged in before locking #2 in an armbar. Rogers tagged out to Fulton and he continued the Fantastics’ domination.
The Fantastics kept making quick tags and the Undertakers found themselves unable to even start making any offensive moves. The only way the Undertakers could even escape holds was to make it to the ropes.
In the end Rogers landed a second rope splash to get the win at 2:52.
That sent us to the commentary table, where Russell introduced the promotional video for the Jerry Lawler video.
After the video we found the Fantastics and Russell at the interview set. Russell brought up the contest for the Fantastics date and mentioned that they’d been deluged with entries. Fulton had just talked about the date a moment when Bill Dundee made an appearance.
Dundee mentioned how Fulton had been stealing his moves – namely “shaking his little booty.†Fulton took offense to that and Dundee slapped Fulton. Fulton leveled Dundee and sent the heavyweight champion crawling backstage.
That brought out Gaddafi (armed with powder) and Dundee (carrying a board) to jump the Fantastics. Fulton fought them off while Russell headed for cover. The segment closed with Fulton and Rogers promising revenge.
We came back to see Dirty Rhodes and Tracy Smothers in the ring to take on Dutch Mantell and Dundee. Rhodes and Mantell started and Mantell took quick control until Rhodes reversed an Irish whip. Mantell tried to gain control by hair pulling but Rhodes refused to back down and continued working Mantell’s arm. This caused the ring to break and the ropes began to sag, causing Russell to voice the fact that all the wrestlers would have to exercise caution.
Both men tagged out and a quick double team following a tag saw Mantell take control of Smothers (with a little help from Dundee, who was pounding on Tracy’s back with Dutch’s whip). After that, Mantell and Dundee kept firm control of Smothers, doing whatever it took.
Things deteriorated further when Smothers was pitched out of the ring and Dundee blasted him in the back with a chair before slamming him into the ring post. Rhodes ran around the ring and tried to protect his fallen partner, but Mantell lured Rhodes back into the ring while Dundee slammed Tracy on the concrete floor of the studio.
Smothers got back in and Dundee and Mantell continued dismantling him as they kept Rhodes neutralized. Tracy frantically tried to fight back only for Mantell to again attack his wounded back and send him back to the mat.
Rhodes kept trying to enter the ring only for the ref to repeatedly send him out. Smothers got pitched again and was sent head-first into the post by Mantell. Dundee pinned Smothers but pulled him up at the one count.
Rhodes finally got into the ring and tagged Dundee with a right hand. Mantell took the opportunity to pitch Smothers over the top rope, got caught, and was disqualified at 6:25.
Dundee cracked Smothers with a chair, rammed him into the post again, and kept raining down chair shots on him as Mantell occupied Rhodes and busted him open. Outside, Dundee piledrivered Smothers into the floor and choked him with a chair before nailing Rhodes with the chair. A disgusted Russell ruled we’d seen enough and we headed to commercial.
We came back to see Russell hyping the Wednesday show. He was joined by Dirty Rhodes and Rick Casey. Rhodes promised to repay Mantell and Dundee for their attack on him during the match. Rhodes promised to take Landel’s Mid-America title and Casey vowed to get the International title.
We came back to see officials trying to stretcher Tracy Smothers out as Dundee and Mantell jeered at them from the ring. Finally they got Smothers up only for Dundee to drop a knee on him from the apron. That started a war and Rhodes and Rick Casey ran off Dundee and Mantell as Eddie Marlin checked on the fallen Smothers.
We headed back to the commentary table where Russell started announcing the next match. Larry “Thunderbolt†Hamilton came over to the commentary table to introduce himself to the fans. Russell welcomed him and Hamilton promised to help out the Fantastics, Casey, or Rhodes if they needed him and also mentioned he had a special reason to be there.
His opponent was David Haskins. Hamilton took control by taking Haskins down into an armbar. Haskins escapes with an Irish whip that saw Hamilton hit a shoulder block. Haskins tried to fight back but Hamilton kept firm control of the match until Haskins slammed Hamilton for a count of one.
That lit a fire under Hamilton and he power slammed Hamilton for the win at 1:22. After the match, Hamilton shook Haskin’s hand before leaving the ring.
We headed back to Russell, who was with the Spoiler and Billy Travis at the interview set. The Spoiler unmasked and introduced himself as Frank Morrell. Morrell brought up how he’d tried to save his old tag team partner Phil Hickerson and then Dundee and team started telling Morrell how stupid he was for helping Hickerson.
Morrell then announced that he was taking Billy Travis under his wing. He said that the first thing they’d done was to clean up Travis’s image by getting him a new suit.
That brought out Tony Falk and Pat Rose. Falk immediately bashed Morrell and Travis by saying that they just wanted to be like him. Rose insulted them as well and the fight was on. Morrell and Travis ran Rose and Falk off in short order and we headed to break.
After the final commercial break we returned to the commentary table for Dave Brown to quickly recap the show. Russell reiterated his disgust at Dundee’s attack on the fallen Smothers and closed the show by promising more great wrestling in weeks to come.
FULL CARD FOR WEDNESDAY NIGHT’S SHOW AT THE MID-SOUTH COLISEUM
Bill Dundee/Dutch Mantell vs. Rick Casey/Dirty Rhodes
Bill Dundee/Abdul Gaddafi vs. the Fantastics
International Championship
No DQ, No Time Limit
Dutch Mantell © vs. Rick Casey
Mid-America championship
Buddy Landel © vs. Dirty Rhodes
Thunderbolt Hamilton vs. Tony Falk
Pat Rose/Tom Branch vs. Frank Morrell/Billy Travis
Tojo Yamamoto vs. Mr. X
