RESULTS FROM LAST WEEK’S SHOW AT THE MID-SOUTH COLISEUM (courtesy of www.memphiswrestlinghistory.com)
Southern Tag Team titles
Jerry Lawler/Giant Hillbilly over MOD Squad – new champions
Fire/Flame over Austin Idol/Buddy Landel by DQ
Bill Dundee over Dutch Mantell by DQ
Jos LeDuc over Paul Diamond
NWA Women’s title
Debbie Combs retained over Despina Montagas
Handicap match
Bam Bam Bigelow over Tracy Smothers/David Haskins
International Tag Team titles
Akio Sato/Tarzan Goto retain over Dan Stiles/Pat Tanaka
Danny Fargo over the Hunter
Lance Russell and Dave Brown welcomed us to the show. Brown announced that today we’d be seeing Akio Sato and Tarzan Goto, Bam Bam Bigelow, the Beach Boys, an 8-man match, a 6-man match, the MOD Squad , JD Costello, Fire and Flame, the Nightmares, Dutch Mantell, and Paul Diamond.
As Russell sent us to commercial, Larry Sharpe headed to commentary. Sharpe insisted that he was out there to debut the “greatest wrestler ever†– the Beast from the East – Bam Bam Bigelow. As Sharpe took a seat at commentary, we finally headed to commercial.
When we came back, Russell announced that Sato and Goto were the International tag team champions before he sent us to tape of Mr. Liberty and Pat Tanaka facing the champions. Sato hit Liberty with a super kick for the win.
We came back to the arena to see Sato and Goto joining Russell at the interview set. Russell complimented Sato on the super kick and Sato said that was only one of their finishers. Sato then added that they’d heard about the tough tag teams in the area and they would become the top team in the area.
Sato and Goto then headed to the ring to face David Haskins and Tracy Smothers. Smothers and Sato started the match with Sato taking quick control of Smothers. He put Smothers on the mat with a chop and tagged Goto. Goto backed Smothers into the corner and chopped him down to his knees.
Goto rammed him into Sato’s boot and flipped him over before dropping a knee. Sato came back in and Smothers started trying to fight back. Sato sent Smothers into a corner and slammed him for a two count.
Goto came back in and Smothers put him down with a dropkick but Goto intercepted him before he could tag Haskins. Goto put Smothers down with a back elbow and covered for another two.
Sato came back in and ducked a Smothers dive that sent Smothers crashing into the turnbuckle. Sato bounced Smothers off the turnbuckle again and brought Goto in. Smothers fought out of the enemy corner and brought Haskins in, which cued a four man brawl.
Smothers went out and Goto picked up Haskins for a Sato super kick that earned the win at 3:33.
Russell was back at the interview set with Sharpe. Sharpe reiterated his excitement to debut Bigelow and expressed his confidence that Bigelow would destroy Lawler. When Russell pointed out that others had tried, Sharpe said that since Lawler hadn’t faced Bigelow and Sharpe before, he hadn’t faced the best around.
We came back from commercial to find Russell backstage to talk about Wednesday night’s show. Bill Dundee, Larry Sharpe, and Bam Bam Bigelow soon joined Russell for a word. Dundee said that he was in a tag match because there was nobody who could beat him in a singles match. Sharpe then promised that Bigelow was going to destroy Lawler. Sharpe added that Dundee didn’t care if they got disqualified or not.
Fire and JD Costello then joined the fun. Costello promised that they’d put Lawler out and their only opponent would be Landel.
We headed back to the arena to see Bigelow in a handicap match against Keith Erich and Mike Murphy. Erich and Murphy attacked Bigelow as soon as he stepped through the ropes, to no avail. Bigelow easily flattened both men while the Jaws theme played before throwing Erich out of the ring and slamming Murphy down. Bigelow splashed Murphy from the top rope to earn a DQ. Sharpe then announced that they’d show what a redneck Murphy was as he entered the ring and painted the back of Murphy’s neck with red spray paint.
Jerry Lawler came out and headed to the interview set only for Sharpe to show him the spray paint and threaten to show that Lawler was a redneck as well. Sharpe also said that Dennis Carluzzo wanted Bigelow to take Lawler out.
Russell tried to run Sharpe off only for Sharpe to say that he didn’t care about DQs – only destruction. Sharpe finally left and Russell brought up Bigelow to Lawler. Lawler said that he’d done a little research and discovered exactly who Dennis Carluzzo was.
We went back to video of a reporter on courthouse steps, where the reporter was announcing that a judge had just overruled Bill Dundee’s desires and were allowing the Jerry Lawler video to be sold. He had a quick word with the video’s distributor, who expressed his pleasure at the ruling. Dennis Carluzzo was then introduced as Dundee’s lawyer. Carluzzo said they would appeal and stormed out of the picture.
Lawler explained that Carluzzo was Dundee’s lawyer, and now Carluzzo had contacted Sharpe to bring Bigelow and destroy him. Lawler repeated that a long list of wrestlers had tried to put Lawler out, naming King Kong Bundy, Jesse Ventura, Ken Patera, and Hulk Hogan, and Lawler was still standing.
We came back from commercial to see Russell backstage once more to talk about the card in Evansville.
We headed back to the studio where Russell introduced the tape of a match between Landel and Flame.
Landel dodged a Flame leg drop before hammering away. The two crashed into each other and Flame fell out of the ring, only for Fire to climb back in. Landel rolled up Fire and got the win to become the Southern heavyweight champion. While Fire distracted the ref, Flame threw a fireball at Landel and the two began beating him with the belt. Austin Idol hit the ring to make the save.
We headed back to the interview set where Russell was talking to Costello, Fire, and Flame. Costello crowed about burning Landel and discussed how horrible Landel looked. Costello added that Landel wouldn’t be there because he was in the burn ward. Costello closed by telling all the other wrestlers that their days were numbered.
The MOD Squad, Fire, and Flame then hit the ring to face the Beach Boys, Jerry Garman, and Benny Traylor. Costello sent his men to attack and they quickly threw all four of their opponents out of the ring. Finally we got down to only Garman and Flame. Flame took Garman down before Fire tagged in for a quick double team. Fire hit a knee lift and brought in Spike as Costello hit commentary to put his team over.
Basher tagged in and the Dynasty’s domination continued as Van Van Horn came in. Basher brought Flame in and he hit a couple of butterfly suplexes before throwing Van Horn into John Stewart.
Spike tagged in and nearly took Stewart’s head off with a clothesline before slamming him and bringing Basher in. Flame and Fire quickly tagged in as well and Stewart continued getting beaten. Spike got back in and hung Stewart into the tree of woe before tagging Flame in.
Flame staggered Stewart with a shot and Stewart got to his corner, which triggered a brawl between all 8 men. Flame was preparing to throw a fireball at Stewart as Buddy Landel hit the ring to save the Beach Boy. Costello’s men cleared out with the DQ win.
Landel, who was sporting a bandaged chest, headed to the interview set for a word with Russell. Landel pointed out that he’d managed to put away both Fire and Flame before talking about how they’d tried to burn him. Landel admitted that he’d beaten people up but he’d never tried to disfigure anyone. Landel then threatened to set Costello on fire. Russell mentioned what Costello had said before Landel showed off his face and told Costello that they’d missed. He promised to beat all of Costello’s men and said he’d put Costello himself out permanently.
We came back to see Paul Diamond and Dutch Mantell on their way out to face Rough and Ready (the renamed Dirty Black Boys from last week). Diamond and Rough started the match with Rough backing him into a corner. The two locked up again and Diamond took Rough down for a quick two count.
Mantell came in and began working on Rough’s arm. He whipped Rough across the ring and stopped him with a back elbow before bringing Diamond back in.
Diamond slammed Rough and dropped a fist before putting the man down with a dropkick. Mantell came in and snapmared Rough over before starting to work on his mask.
Rough and Ready had a quick meeting on the floor and then Rough quickly tagged Ready in. The two locked up and punches from Mantell put Ready on the floor. Mantell again tried for the mask and Ready bailed out.
Diamond came in and he back dropped Ready before suplexing him down. Diamond went after the mask and Ready fought free. Diamond regained the momentum and bounced Ready off the turnbuckle before bringing Mantell in.
Mantell hit a double axe handle from the second rope, then hit a backbreaker and covered. Rough kicked Mantell to break up the pinfall and Diamond tagged back in for a quick double-team. Diamond put down Ready with a super kick for the win at 4:38.
Diamond then joined Russell at the interview set. Diamond began talking about LeDuc’s saying he’d make Diamond a man. Diamond pointed out how LeDuc always attacked him from behind before talking about the upcoming dog collar match.
Russell and Diamond cleared out as the set flipped over to reveal LeDuc. LeDuc grabbed a mic and told Diamond he didn’t realize what he was in store for. LeDuc said he was a 15-year veteran and pointed out some of the ways he’d been tied to other wrestlers. He promised to hang Diamond over the top rope and Diamond would realize that he was only a boy.
LeDuc pulled his shirt off and teased getting into the ring with Diamond. He spit at Diamond and headed to the back.
We came back from commercial to hear Russell talk about Wednesday night again. He was joined by Lawler and the Hillbilly. Lawler told Sharpe that he wasn’t going to run from Bigelow. Lawler again said that a long list of people had tried to run him out of Memphis and he was there while they were gone. Lawler also pointed out that while Bigelow was big, he wasn’t anywhere nearly as big as the Giant Hillbilly.
Lawler also mentioned that he’d be facing Fire and Flame with Buddy Landel. Lawler reminded them that he knew about throwing fire as well.
We returned to the studio for the main event where Pat Tanaka and Tracy Smothers were facing the Nightmares. Ken Wayne and Tanaka started the match. Wayne stalled to start the match, finally getting Tanaka to start brawling with judo moves. Tanaka won the exchange with a kick to the back of Wayne’s head.
Wayne decided he’d had enough and tagged Davis in. Davis started working Tanaka’s arm only for Tanaka to reverse it and tag Smothers in. Smothers continued working the arm and put Davis down with a dropkick. Davis pulled Smothers’s hair to regain the advantage and brought Wayne in.
Wayne hit a front suplex on Smothers and started throwing shots at Smothers’s stomach before stomping him. Davis tagged in and hit a side kick on Smothers. Davis kept kicking Smothers in the corner before tagging Wayne back in. Smothers flipped over Wayne and got a 1 count.
Davis tagged back in and the Nightmares kept Smothers clear of Tanaka. Davis slammed him and got a two count. With the referee distracted Davis hit a piledriver and Wayne dropped a leg from the top rope for the win.
With the show out of time, Russell and Brown quickly said goodbye to close out the week.
FULL CARD FOR WEDNESDAY NIGHT’S SHOW AT THE EVANSVILLE COLISEUM
Lights Out match
Fire/Flame vs. Buddy Landel/Jerry Lawler
Southern Tag Team title match
Jerry Lawler/Giant Hillbilly © vs. Bill Dundee/Bam Bam Bigelow
Dog Collar match
Jos LeDuc vs. Paul Diamond
MOD Squad vs. the Bruise Brothers
The Nightmares vs. Tojo Yamamoto/Jeff Jarrett
The Hunter vs. Danny Fargo
