One Year in Memphis – September 20, 1986

Reviews, Shows, TV Shows

RESULTS FROM LAST WEEK’S SHOW AT THE MID-SOUTH COLISEUM (courtesy of www.memphiswrestlinghistory.com)

Jerry Lawler/Bam Bam Bigelow over Man Mountain Link/Larry Sharpe

Giant Hillbilly/Cousin Junior/Tommy Rich over Fire/Flame/Torch

Gentleman Ben the Wrestling Bear over Tojo Yamamoto/JD Costello

Jeff Jarrett/Pat Tanaka over Akio Sato/Tarzan Goto by DQ

Tracy Smothers/Paul Diamond over the MOD Squad

The Killer over Jerry Bryant

Big Lou Winston over Nick Adams

Lance Russell and Dave Brown welcomed us to the show. Brown told us that today we’d be seeing Fire and Flame defending the Southern Tag Team titles against Jeff Jarrett and Pat Tanaka. We’d also see Jerry Lawler, the Hillbillies (Giant Hillbilly and Cousin Junior), Tracy Smothers, Paul Diamond, Akio Sato, and Tarzan Goto.

We came back from commercial to see Jerry Lawler on his way to the ring to face Keith Roberson. Roberson and Lawler locked up with Lawler getting backed into a corner before Roberson landed a right hand. Lawler popped Roberson with one of his own and covered for the three count at :28.

Roberson attacked Lawler from behind and peppered him until Lawler dropped the strap and put Roberson down with a piledriver. Referee Jerry Calhoun sent Lawler to the back before he checked on Roberson.

We came back to find Lance Russell backstage to tell us about Wednesday night’s show in Evansville. Fire, Flame, and the Torch joined Russell to share their thoughts. Fire claimed that they’d demanded that Eddie Marlin put Lawler against them. Fire then reminded Diamond of another Canadian that they’d run out of town before promising to light up Lawler’s life.

We returned to the studio to commentary where Russell brought up that a lot of people may not know what the Monster Factory was. He explained that the Factory was Larry Sharpe’s school before bringing up Man Mountain Link.

We then went to a video of Link facing Lawler. Link had the bloody Lawler in the corner and began gnawing on his forehead before bumping him down and digging a finger into the cut. Link pulled Lawler up and starting hitting tomahawk chops before staggering him with a punch.

We returned to the studio where Russell reminded the fans of how Link used to eat a raw chicken on the way to the ring.

The bell rang and out came Eddie Winters to face the Killer. Kenny D headed to commentary to talk up the Killer. Killer threw in a chair and Kenny grabbed it up before cracking the Killer with four chair shots. The Killer then hit himself with the chair before we were ready to start the match.

Winters tried to fight back but the Killer took him down almost immediately with a punch. Killer overpowered Winters and put him down with a power slam. He caught him with a running clothesline and covered for the win at :41.

Up next we had the Hillbillies on their way out to face the masked Red Demons. Junior started against Demon #1. The two locked up and Junior immediately punched down the Demon. He whipped the Demon and back body dropped him before hitting a body slam. He followed that up with an arm drag. The two locked up again and Junior caught the Demon with a shoulder block before hitting a mule kick.

The Hillbilly and Demon 2 tagged in and the Hillbilly overpowered #2 easily. The Hillbilly whipped the Demon into the corner and splashed him before tagging Junior back in. Junior sat down on the Demon and got the win at 1:43. Demon 1 checked on his partner as the Hillbilly and Junior danced for the fans.

We came back to Russell backstage to run down the Wednesday night show again.

We headed back to the studio for Brown to introduce footage from the week before where the MOD Squad had attacked the partially-blinded Tracy Smothers until he was rescued by Paul Diamond. We then went into a music video which saw clips of Smothers battling the Great Kabuki. Diamond then battled Gypsy Joe. We saw footage of Smothers and Diamond battling foes like Juicy Johnny and Rough and Ready before we returned to the ring.

Rough and Ready were on their way in, closely followed by Paul Diamond and Tracy Smothers. Smothers started against Rough and took him down with a waistlock. Rough cleared out to break the hold and Smothers took Rough back down into an armbar before tagging Diamond in.

Diamond caught Rough with a knee lift and started cranking on his arm. Smothers tagged back in and came off the second rope to drop an elbow on the extended arm before cranking on it himself.

Diamond came back in and splashed Rough before returning his attention to the arm. Diamond then monkey flipped Rough out of the corner, and tagged Smothers who dropkicked Rough down. Smothers then monkey flipped Rough out and tagged Diamond back in. Diamond waited and caught Rough with a clothesline before hitting a body slam. Diamond dropped a leg and brought Smothers back in.

Smothers and Diamond hit a double back drop and Rough raked Smothers’s eyes. Diamond tagged in and they put Rough down with a double drop kick. Diamond pulled Rough up and rammed his head into the corner while tagging in Smothers, who whipped Rough and tagged Diamond. Diamond came off the second rope with a dropkick and got the pin at 3:30.

After a break, Sato and Goto came out to face Van Van Horn and Bear Thompson. Van Horn and Goto started with Goto chopping Van Horn down to the mat. He rammed Van Horn into the turnbuckle and tagged in Sato, who slammed Van Horn and followed with a punch. A reverse neck breaker put Van Horn down for a two count.

Goto tagged in and head butted Van Horn down. A chop sent Van Horn into the ropes, where he tagged Thompson in. Goto chopped Thompson down and slammed the massive Thompson. Goto dropped a knee and Sato came back in.

Sato chopped Thompson and whipped Thompson into the ropes, where Tojo caught him with his kendo stick.

Goto tagged in and chopped Thompson down for another two. Goto hit a back elbow and whipped Thompson. Thompson caught Goto with a knee and Van Horn tagged in. Van Horn hit a dropkick and then Goto turned the tide with a side kick.

Sato came in and slammed Van Horn. Tojo distracted the referee and Sato hit a knee drop from the second rope while Goto elevated Van Horn for the win at 3:25.

We came back to hear Russell talking about Wednesday night again. He was soon joined by Lawler and Diamond. Diamond brought up that Fire and Flame didn’t like him stopping a beat down by them the week before and then promised he’d do all he could to see them win the belts. Lawler talked about how easy it was to verbally attack him, but it was something else when they were in the ring face to face. Lawler also mentioned that the identically-dressed Fire, Flame, and Torch wouldn’t be switching places in the ring.

We then went to a video set to “Danger Zone” which chronicled Jeff Jarrett and Pat Tanaka’s war against Sato and Goto. The video focused and Jarrett and Tanaka’s attacks with kendo sticks and boards.

We then headed back to live action as Jarrett and Tanaka headed out to face Fire and Flame for the Southern Tag Team titles. Fire headed to commentary to promise that they’d be keeping the belts.

Fire and Jarrett started the match by dropkicking Fire down and out of the ring. Flame slipped into the ring in the confusion and Jarrett explained what had happened to the ref. Jarrett and Flame locked up and Jarrett whipped Flame into the corner before slamming him. Tanaka caught Flame with a shot as Fire slipped back into the ring.

Calhoun ordered Torch to sit down as Fire hip tossed Jarrett over. Jarrett returned the favor and the three of them slipped out. Torch slipped into the ring and Fire took a seat.

Torch and Jarrett locked up and Jarrett slammed the Torch down. Jarrett whipped Torch across the ring and put him down with a dropkick. Torch left the ring and switched places with Fire.

Fire muscled Jarrett into the corner and charged, only for Jarrett to dodge the knee strike that sent Flame to the floor. Fire took Jarrett down and locked in an armbar. Flame tagged in and Jarrett caught him with an arm wringer. Tanaka tagged in and Torch slipped in. Suddenly Sato, Goto, and Tojo appeared with Sato and Goto carrying boards. Sato and Goto wasted no time in returning the assault from the week before while Tojo joined in with his kendo stick. Cousin Junior and the Giant Hillbilly came out, sending Fire, Flame, Torch, Sato, Goto, and Tojo running to the back.

Jarrett seized Russell’s mic and demanded Tojo come back out and fight them. When Tojo didn’t show, he promised that it wasn’t over and returned the microphone.

We returned to the studio to find a standoff with Jarrett, Tanaka, Hillbilly, and Junior in the ring while the others circled the ring. Jarrett went after Tojo with a board, and that was all for the Japanese team as Russell announced they were going to try and get a second fall in the title match.

Hillbilly and Junior circled the ring to clear Fire, Flame, and the Torch out – leaving Jarrett and Tanaka in the ring while Tojo, Sato, and Goto stared them down.

Finally Flame returned to the ring as the referee ordered the Hillbilly and Junior to the back. Fall 2 started with Flame and Tanaka in the match. Flame overpowered Tanaka and tagged in Torch. Torch slammed Tanaka down and nailed Tanaka with elbow strikes to the head. Fire tagged in and the two got a quick double team. Fire slammed Tanaka and got a two.

Torch tagged in as Tanaka fell out of the ring. Flame slammed Tanaka into the commentary table and hit a knee lift as Jarrett came over to help his partner. Torch whipped Tanaka across the ring and caught him with a clothesline before starting to choke him.

Fire tagged in and locked in a sleeper. Tanaka fought his way across the ring. Torch entered the ring to distract the ref from Tanaka tagging Jarrett as Sato and Goto returned to the studio.

Flame tagged in as Tanaka fought back with everything he had before tagging Jarrett. Jarrett hit a dropkick and back dropped Flame. Jarrett peppered Flame with punches before Fire tagged in. He slammed Jarrett down and dropped a leg for a two count. Fire suplexed Jarrett for another two.

The two headed to the floor and Jarrett found himself fighting both Flame and Torch as Goto tried to slip to the ring. As the referee ran Goto out, Flame and Torch continued to attack Tanaka on the outside. Fire caught Tanaka with a head butt as Sato and Goto tried to slip in again, distracting the ref as they did. That brought Cousin Junior out to the door to watch and try to even the odds.

Flame caught Tanaka with a back elbow and covered for a two. Tanaka started fighting back only for Torch to tag in. Torch put Tanaka down with a clothesline and got another two count. Torch tagged Flame back in and he continued manhandling Tanaka. Tanaka suddenly rolled Flame up out of nowhere and got a one count.

Fire tagged in and helped Flame backdrop Tanaka down. Fire stomped away and tagged Flame in. Flame put Tanaka on the mat with elbow strikes and tagged Fire back in. Fire stomped Tanaka and slammed him, then dropped a knee for a two count.

Flame entered the ring as time ran out and Jarrett hit the ring to rescue his partner as Russell noted that Fire and Flame had retained the belts. Fire, Flame, and Torch headed to the back with their belts.

Russell and Brown discussed the war at the end of the first fall of the main event. Brown gave a rundown of the day’s events before Russell said goodbye for another week.

FULL CARD FOR WEDNESDAY NIGHT’S SHOW AT THE EVANSVILLE COLISEUM

AWA Southern Tag Team titles
Fire and Flame © vs. Jerry Lawler/Paul Diamond

International Tag Team titles
No referee in the ring
Akio Sato/Tarzan Goto © vs. Jeff Jarrett/Pat Tanaka

Mid-America title
Tracy Smothers © vs. Jet Star

Giant Hillbilly vs. Man Mountain Link

Cousin Junior vs. Torch