Today’s commentary is different as Dave Brown and Corey Maclin are in the booth and they are in the WMC-TV 5 studio in Memphis, Tennessee.
Brown announces that Tommy Rich attacked a referee and promoter Randy Hales, so he is fined and suspended. That appears to put an end to Rich’s feud with PG-13. Razor Ramon is also announced as the new USWA Unified World Champion and Brian Lee is announced as the new USWA Southern Heavyweight Champion.
Brown interviews Jerry Lawler, who is angry at Bill Dundee for losing the Unified title to a WWF superstar.
Downtown Bruno, better known as Harvey Wippleman in the WWF, comes by the announce table and wants to take Maclin’s job. Brown politely tells him to get lost.
Opening Non-Title Contest: PG-13 (USWA Tag Team Champions) (12-6-1) defeat Crusher Bones & Chris Kanyon (w/Diamond Mike) when J.C. Ice pins Kanyon after a double bulldog at 2:42:
No explanation is given for why Kanyon is teaming with one of Mike’s guys, but Bones has moved into jobber status since joining the promotion in February. Fans are given more explanation about Kanyon’s gimmick, as it is revealed he is a former New York Rangers player who quit the team after the National Hockey League (NHL) went on strike. J.C. Ice’s neck has healed in record time, so he is back to a full-time schedule. Kanyon and Bones work well as a team, scoring several near-falls on Wolfie D. However, Kanyon puts his head down too early, eats a DDT, and is finished with a double bulldog.
PG-13 cut a pre-recorded promo about how they are not worried about who Gorgeous George III brings to Memphis as a mystery partner to face them at the Mid-South Coliseum.
Brown interviews George, who announces that his mystery partner is Mabel. This makes sense because the USWA is light on top heels and Mabel had recently turned heel on WWF television. Mabel tells fans that he does not like how he is being treated by the USWA and that he and George are going to be the new Harlem Knights. The original Harlem Knights was the name for Men on a Mission’s tag team before they were signed by the WWF in 1993. Mabel makes fun of PG-13’s size and promises a massacre at the Coliseum.
Gorgeous George III & Mabel beat Edric Hines & Chris Frasier when Mabel pins Frasier after a belly-to-belly suplex at 3:18:
Frasier was a Memphis-based wrestler who was always on call to do jobs for the USWA dating back to 1989. As George and Mabel dismantle their opponents, Downtown Bruno reappears and makes fun of Maclin’s announcing. The squash goes too long since the jobbers mount no offense, with Mabel finishing Frasier with his belly-to-belly suplex.
After a replay of the Miss Texas music video to Roxette’s “Dangerous,” Brown interviews her. Bruno interrupts this segment too. Texas reminds Bruno that she beat him in the past and can do it again. They insult each other’s looks until Bruno closes by promising that his wife could beat Texas. This was a five-minute segment that could have been done in two minutes. The USWA also seems to have a problem booking a women’s interview segment around something other than looks.
The weekly Coliseum card will feature the following matches: Scott Studd vs. David Haskins, Reggie B. Fine vs. the Spellbinder, the Moondogs (w/Miss Texas) vs. Crusher Bones & Chris Kanyon, Marcus Dupree vs. Jack Hammer in a football challenge match, USWA Tag Team Champions PG-13 vs. Gorgeous George III & Mabel, USWA Southern Heavyweight Champion Brian Lee vs. Brian Christopher, and Jerry Lawler vs. Bill Dundee in a match where the winner will face Razor Ramon at a later date for the USWA Unified World title.
Maclin interviews Dundee, who says that the Unified World title belongs to the USWA and not Jerry Lawler. Lawler interrupts and tells Dundee that it is stupid that he has to face Dundee so that he can earn the right to face Ramon because Dundee has already shown that he cannot defend the former WWF Intercontinental Champion. The segment has good heat and furthers the Lawler-Dundee feud that has been going on since January.
Tommy Rich cuts a promo by a lake. Even though he is suspended, he bought some television time. Rich recaps his career and says his suspension is because of a conspiracy by USWA hire ups. He promises that no one can run him out of town.
Jerry Lawler (4-2) beats Jack Hammer (w/Diamond Mike) (4-3-1) after heel miscommunication at 3:44:
A sloppy match unfolds where Lawler keeps distracted by Mike and beaten down. The referee gets bumped when Hammer whips Lawler into him but when Mike tries to interfere with a chain, heel miscommunication occurs, and Lawler prevails. Rating: ¼*
Maclin hypes the USWA house show schedule.
Maclin interviews Sweet Georgia Brown, who takes her time to once again threaten Miss Texas. This feud really needs to end.
Brown interviews PG-13. Wolfie D says that Mabel betrayed them and vows not to lose the tag team titles on Monday night. J.C. Ice argues that Mabel’s bigger size will be a disadvantage the longer the match goes. Maintaining a theme on this show, Mabel interrupts and forces the champions to back down after he threatens to squash them.
Brown interviews USWA Southern Heavyweight Champion Brian Lee and Jimmy Harris. Lee is being billed as “Primetime Brian Lee.” Lee brags about defeating Brian Christopher for the title at the last Memphis show and promises to re-arrange his face Monday night.
Non-Title Match: Brian Lee (USWA Southern Heavyweight Champion w/Jimmy Harris) (1-0) pins T.D. Steel after a knee drop off the second rope at 2:23:
Lee started his career in Memphis, working for the old Continental Wrestling Association (CWA) in 1988 and then briefly worked for WCW and had some unsuccessful tryouts with the WWF. He became the first Smoky Mountain Heavyweight Champion in 1992 and went on to unbilled success as the fake Undertaker in the WWF, headlining SummerSlam ’94. When that angle fizzled out, though, the WWF had no plans for him, so he went back to the independents to rebuild himself. Steel catches Lee off guard with a body press off the ropes but gets distracted by Harris. That mistake allows Lee to jump him and finish shortly thereafter. After the match, Lee nails Steel with a billy club.
Brown interviews Downtown Bruno, who calls out Miss Texas. Texas comes out and Bruno says that if she does not apologize for the mean things, she said about him earlier he is going to bring out his wife. When she refuses, he introduces his wife, who is Scottish, and she slaps Texas around as Bruno holds Texas in place. After Bruno and his wife leave, Texas gets up and says that she wants to face Bruno’s wife one-on-one.
Maclin interviews David Haskins and Marcus Dupree. Dupree says that he is not intimidated by Jack Hammer while Haskins hypes their tag team for some house shows in Mississippi.
Brown announces that Miss Texas vs. Downtown Bruno’s wife has been added for the Mid-South Coliseum show.
Brown interviews Brian Christopher. Christopher says he wants the USWA Southern Heavyweight title back and he will use a chain if he has to in order to get back from Brian Lee.
Brian Christopher (16-7-1) pins the Human Torch after a Tennessee Jam at 2:38:
The Torch looks very much like a masked Edric Hines. Christopher messes up a slingshot suplex but the Torch one ups that by botching a leapfrog. A superkick and Tennessee Jam get the win right before the television time limit expires.
The Last Word: This show had way too much Downtown Bruno as he appeared in four segments. At least his angle with Miss Texas paves the way for a new female talent. The Tommy Rich and Bill Dundee-Jerry Lawler promos were good, but the other segments went too long or the interviews devolved into rambling messes. The PG-13-Doug Gilbert & Tommy Rich feud, which did good business, had to end but the promotion has no hot angle to replace it.
Here were the results of the April 10 card at the Mid-South Coliseum. According to prowrestlinghistory.com, the show drew 1,100 fans, the same as the previous week:
-Scott Studd (13-4-1) wrestled David Haskins (3-0) to a draw
-The Spellbinder (7-6) beat Reggie B. Fine (0-9)
-Moondog Rex & Moondog Spot (7-1-2) beat Crusher Bones & Chris Kanyon (0-1)
-Marcus Dupree (1-0) pinned Jack Hammer (4-4-1) in a football challenge match
-Mabel & Gorgeous George III (1-0) beat USWA Tag Team Champions PG-13 (13-6-1) via disqualification.
-USWA Southern Heavyweight Champion Brian Lee (2-0) wrestled Brian Christopher (17-7-1) to a no contest. The title was held up after the match.
-Jerry Lawler (5-2) pinned Bill Dundee (11-5) at 12:58 to become the number one contender to the USWA Unified World title.
Backstage News*: Business is cooling in Nashville. 1,000 fans turned out for an April 1 show as the PG-13-Doug Gilbert & Tommy Rich feud reached its climax but only 600 fans turned out to see Jerry Lawler work against Bill Dundee.
*The reason Harvey Wippleman and Mabel are in the USWA is that they on a break from the WWF. In Wippleman’s case he has little to do now that Well Dunn are being released.
*Backstage news is provided courtesy of Dave Meltzer’s Wrestling Observer for April 17.
Up Next: USWA Championship Wrestling for April 15!
