Lance Russell and Dave Brown are doing commentary from the WMC-TV5 studio in Memphis, Tennessee.
Russell interviews Tommy Rich. Rich says that he is going to drop a bomb on the USWA.
PG-13 cut a pre-taped promo, promising that the Gambler and Brickhouse Brown are going to pay for beating them on last week’s show and winning the tag team titles.
Opening Contest: PG-13 (14-8-1) beat Tommy Rich & Gorgeous George III (1-2) when Wolfie D pins George with a schoolboy roll up at 4:27:
Rich complains that he wants to face Bill Dundee and Brian Chistopher but those complaints go unheeded. Both teams work well together since George had to substitute for Doug Gilbert earlier in the year when PG-13 was feuding with Gilbert and Rich. Wolfie D gets the hot tag and tries to monkey flip Rich out of the corner, but Rich blocks it and does a Flair pin, only to have the referee catch onto what he is doing. The referee refuses to count the fall, so Rich walks out and when George wonders where his partner is going, he gets rolled up. Rating: **
Brown interviews Jimmy Harris, who does his usual shtick of hyping USWA Southern Heavyweight Champion Brian Lee. Lee comes out and says he will defend his title against who wins the elimination match at the Mid-South Coliseum this week. Lee does not have the promo skills suited for this gimmick and needs a better manager than Harris to make it work.
Non-Title Match: Brian Lee (USWA Southern Heavyweight Champion w/Jimmy Harris) (4-0-1) pins Cory Williams after a flying knee drop at 1:46:
Williams sells well in this squash, doing the Marty Jannetty-360 degree bit after Lee hits him with a clothesline. Harris gets in a few shots on the outside for fun and Lee lands a knee drop to prevail. After the match, Lee hits Williams with a billy club.
Russell interviews Miss Texas. Texas hypes a back-alley street fight for Memphis where Downtown Bruno will be banned from ringside. Bruno interrupts the segment, so Texas rips his shirt off and pounds away until Uptown Karen runs out and stops it.
Brown interviews a new tag team to the area: Chad Fortune and Erik Watts. The two would later get some fame in 1995 in the WWF as Tekno Team 2000. At this point, though, they are just on a developmental deal from the WWF. The two men sport University of Louisville jackets and put over their football credentials. The USWA appears to be positioning them as heels to face David Haskins and Marcus Dupree. The interview is poor since it goes in circles.
Kenny Kendall & Scott Studd defeat Chad Fortune & Erik Watts when Kendall pins Fortune after an O’Connor roll at 4:12:
Fortune was a former tight end at the University of Louisville, playing there from 1986-1989. After doing a few years in the NFL on various practice and preseason squads he broke into wrestling in 1994 as part of the WCW Power Plant. His partner was more experienced as Watts’ father was famous promoter Bill Watts. After playing quarterback at the University of Louisville, Erik joined WCW in 1992 and wrestled there for two years, spending a lot of time in the television title division and getting a push when his father was the booker. Fortune’s inexperience shows in this match as he ends up in the wrong position to feed into Kendall’s offense. The football guys also lack cohesive offense, relying a lot on punches. After four agonizing minutes, Kendall rolls up Fortune. Rating: ¼*
After the bell, Fortune and Watts beat up Kendall and Studd to emphasize that they are sore losers. One could also say they were getting their heat back, but they had no heat to begin with.
Russell interviews Tommy Rich, who repeats his desire to beat up Bill Dundee and Brian Christopher. Dundee comes out and brawls with Rich in the ring and when Christopher tries to do the same, Doug Gilbert intercepts him and throws powder in his eyes. Rich and Gilbert work over Dundee and Christopher until PG-13 make the save.
David Haskins (4-0-1) pins the Yellow Jacket after rolling through a sunset flip at 2:19:
The Yellow Jacket was a masked Memphis jobber gimmick played by Jerry Lawler’s son Kevin Christian. The Jacket gets in a lot of offense but the high-risk moves do not go as well, as Haskins dropkicks Jacket when he tries a double axe handle off the top and then rolls through a sunset flip from the apron. This is the best match on the show so far, but it is less than three minutes and does not have enough action to garner a rating.
Brian Christopher is interviewed by Russell. Christopher says Wolfie D will team with him to face Brickhouse Brow and the Gambler for the USWA Tag Team Championship since Bill Dundee is hurt.
USWA Tag Team Championship Match: Brian Christopher & Wolfie D defeat the Gambler & Brickhouse Brown (Champions) (1-1) via disqualification when Doug Gilbert and Tommy Rich interfere at 3:41:
It is nice of Wolfie D to step up to be Christopher’s tag team partner because otherwise Christopher would end up with someone like Edric Hines. This is a rushed match where the babyfaces get most of the offense. When it appears they are headed for the titles after Christopher superkicks the champions, Gilbert and Rich run-in to cause a disqualification. Rating: *
After the bell, J.C. Ice and Bill Dundee run out and make the save.
The Last Word: It appears that the Bill Dundee-Tommy Rich feud is going to branch off to Bill Dundee & Brian Christopher vs. Doug Gilbert & Tommy Rich, which could be seen as a way for Memphis’ top acts to try to leech heat off a successful heel team. The recent influx of talent in the last few weeks has freshened up the promotion, although Chad Fortune and Erik Watts did little to improve their stock on today’s show.
Here were the results of the April 24 card at the Memphis Coliseum, courtesy of prowrestlinghistory.com:
-Scott Studd (13-6-2) beat Crusher Bones (2-5)
-Kenny Kendall (2-0) defeated Chris Kanyon (1-6) at 6:10
-Miss Texas (6-3) beat USWA Women’s Champion Uptown Karen (1-0) in a street fight to win the title.
-Chad Fortune & Erik Watts (0-1) beat Kenny Kendall & David Haskins when Fortune pinned Kendall at 10:27
-USWA Tag Team Champions the Gambler & Brickhouse Brown (1-2) beat PG-13 (15-8-1) when Brown pinned J.C. Ice at 15:38
-Scott Studd won an elimination match to earn a shot at the USWA Southern Heavyweight title. The order of elimination was: Chris Kanyon, David Haskins, the Gambler, Crusher Bones, Chad Fortune, Erik Watts, Kenny Kendall, Brickhouse Brown, Wolfie D, Gorgeous George III, and J.C. Ice.
-USWA Southern Heavyweight Champion Brian Lee (5-0-1) pinned Scott Studd (14-6-2) at 3:37
-Brian Christopher & Bill Dundee beat Tommy Rich & Bob Backlund when Christopher pinned Rich at 24:37
Backstage News*: Kenny Kendall is taking Marcus Dupree’s role in the feud against Chad Fortune and Erik Watts because Dupree is done wrestling due to his Arena Football League commitments to the Memphis Pharaohs.
*In talent relations news, Tommy Rich has given notice that he is leaving the territory to wrestle for Ozark Mountain Wrestling, a promotion based in Northeastern Arkansas and close to the USWA’s territory. That could be a blow to the heel side of the promotion. The Moondogs, the Spellbinder, and Crusher Bones are also leaving the area. Finally, there are whispers that Brian Christopher might leave for the WWF.
*Backstage news provided courtesy of Dave Meltzer’s Wrestling Observer for May 1.
Up Next: USWA Championship Wrestling for April 29!
