Back to Memphis here after that 9 straight PPV marathon I did. Lawler is the world champion again, having beaten Funk in the Mid-South Coliseum on Monday. That being said, he’s taking some time off due to injuries. The world title wasn’t as important in the USWA as it was something you would only see defended once in awhile. Lawler being gone though is a problem as he’s the center of the program by far. Let’s get to it.

After the opening sequence we’re ready to go.

Before we go to the opening match, here are Eric Embry and Tom Pritchard. Pritchard yells about injustice in the world title match. The refereeing cost Funk the title because Jackie Fargo wouldn’t pay attention. Pritchard insists that we see a clip from the match. This looks to be a pretty wild match with Funk throwing any weapon he can find at Lawler. Fargo is indeed pretty biased in his refereeing. It was a fast count at the end if nothing else. Fargo and Lawler cleared the ring of Funk, Embry and Pritchard.

Back in the arena and Tojo Yamamoto (old heel tag wrestler) is here too. Lawler comes out with his new title and says what you see is what you get, so I’m the champ. The Texas guys jump him until Eddie Gilbert makes the save. They get in the ring but the Texas Hangmen come in and beat down the Tennessee guys. Jarrett comes out with a stepladder for the real save.

Danny Davis/Brian Collins vs. Texas Hangmen

One of the Hangmen is named Killer and the other is Psycho, but their names are only on their ring jackets so during the match I have no idea who is who. Let’s say Psycho jumps Collins to start and it’s off to Killer quickly for some pounding. Powerslam kills Collins and it’s back to Psycho. The Hangmen double team Collins and hit a DDT followed by a neckbreker. A double ax/neckbreaker combo gets no cover and the beating continues. Killer hits a belly to belly but pulls Collins up at one. A double powerbomb results in the same. A double headbutt finally ends this.

Rating: D. The only thing I can say here is that of all the squashes I’ve ever seen, this was one of them. What else do you want me to say here at all?

The Hangmen say they’re taking over.

We hear about the show on Monday which has to be moved because of the NIT Basketball Tournament. The announcers explain the details of the show and we run down the card. The main event is a big eight man tag with the main event heels vs. the main event faces. Fargo and Funk are in it and I think you can figure out the other three on each team.

Funk says Lawler and Fargo ripped him off and he was robbed of his world title. He goes on a great rant about how Lawler and Fargo were in on it together and how this brings wrestling down into the sewer but he’s going into the sewer to battle for Texas. To really make it great, he forgets the name of one of his partners. The eight man tag is in a cage it seems. He wants the fans in the Coliseum (where the show won’t be held) to oink like the pigs they are.

Scorpion/Steve Austin vs. Eddie Gilbert/Jeff Jarrett

Jarrett and Austin get us going and Jeff speeds away to frustrate Austin. Austin complaining about a hair pull is amusing. Jeff controls with some armdrags and it’s off to Gilbert for a wristlock. Scorpion, a big fat guy with a black mask, comes in and things slow down. Gilbert takes him down as well as this is a very slow match so far. He chokes away a bit but the fans are ok with it. Off to Jarrett sans tag but the fans are ok with the cheating here.

Gilbert goes for the mask to mess with Scorpion’s mind. After a trip to the floor to get it fixed it’s off to Jarrett again. The “good” guys keep cheating and the fans keep being totally ok with it. With the referee not looking, Gilbert hits the illegal piledriver and Jarrett’s missile dropkick gives them the pin. Austin and manager JC Ice left in the middle of the match it seems.

Rating: D. This was more about character development than a match which is ok, but it’s still pretty boring at the same time. This arm work stuff is really getting old and it makes the matches a lot less interesting than the storyline stuff. Jarrett would get better and a lot more entertaining, but it was long after he left Memphis.

Here are Lawler, Jarrett and Gilbert for a chat. Lawler talks about three appearances he’s doing today, one at a bowling alley for charity and two at hardware stores. He talks about how Eric Embry’s wife is so ugly that Embry took his wife to the dog races in West Memphis and 15 people tried to beg on her. Lawler talks about all the gold he and Jarrett have, which is almost every title in the company. Jarrett doesn’t say much and Gilbert blames the Texas guys for him not having a title.

Jackie Fargo says he’s done more in the Mid-South Coliseum than anyone and he’s coming back to prove that Tennessee is a lot tougher than Texas.

Chris Frazier/Billy Joe Travis vs. Eric Embry/Tom Pritchard

Pritchard and Travis get us going. This is strange as Travis was a heel in Texas and Embry was nearly a folk hero. Embry comes in as does Frazier and Texas takes over. Pritchard keeps running over to the commentary table to yell about how great Texas is. Pritchard hits a slingshot suplex and a top rope headbutt from Embry gets the pin. Total and complete squash.

House show ads.

We get a clip from a cage match between Embry and Gilbert where Gilbert was handcuffed to the cage. Eddie’s brother Doug came in but got beaten down as well. Doug took two spike piledrivers on the floor so he’s pretty much dead. The beating continues until Jackie Fargo comes in for the save, allowing Jarrett to get back up.

Embry and Pritchard aren’t worried about the match Monday. I’m not sure if it’s in a cage or not, despite what Funk said.

Monday show ad.

We get a clip from a show in Dallas where Danny Davis lost the Light Heavyweight Title to El Grande Pistolero. Pistolero cheated a lot and we’re told that he won. Ok then.

Sgt. O’Reilly vs. Bill Dundee

The announcers admit that this is going to be one sided. Dundee works on the arm after taking it to the mat with ease. Sleeper ends this quick.

Post match, Austin and JC Ice (Dundee’s son) come out and beat down Bill, with JC yelling about how his dad doesn’t have any friends. After the evil ones leave, a busted open Dundee yells about how he’s going to beat up Austin if that’s what it takes to get his son back, because he’s used to being the little guy fighting the bully.

Overall Rating: C+. This was decent enough but the Texas stuff could get old fast. Still though, it’s cool to have a big story like this. Lawler vs. Funk is fine and transitioning from that over to some other feuds with Lawler should work well. Pritchard and Embry leave a bit to be desired and Texas will need to actually win something if this is going to go long term, but it’s just started so there’s a lot of time. Decent but not great show this week.

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We had to skip ahead about a month here but it shouldn’t be a big problem. As far as I know there haven’t been any major changes, although at some point before the 15th, Jarrett’s Southern Title was held up after a match with Steve Austin so there’s no champion. Other than that everything seems to be the same. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.

Night Train Jackson vs. Sgt. O’Reilly

The show is starting a little early so some fans aren’t there yet. Jackson throws him around and dances a bit. He hits something like Old School and no sells a headbutt. See Jackson is black and in wrestling that means he has a hard head. Dropkick and a fisherman’s suplex get the pin. Squash.

The announcers talk about the Open Door Policy, which means if you want a match, talk to the promoter and they’ll try to get you one. That leads us to a video on the Texas Hangmen who are apparently violent. They shout a lot and no one, including the announcers, can understand it.

We talk about last week where Jeff Gaylord surprisingly joined up with JC Ice and we get a clip of Gaylord jumping Superstar Bill Dundee. Gaylord bailed on Downtown Bruno in the process.

Ronnie Leach vs. Jeff Gaylord

Gaylord is a power guy so he picks Leach up in a bearhug position and rams him into two corners. Backbreaker hits and he throws Ronnie to the floor. Apparently Ice has stolen all of Bruno’s talent, which means Bruno is heading to the WWF I believe. A modified powerbomb, the Dehumanizer, kills Leach and eventually a pumphandle slam gets the pin. Squash #2.

Dundee jumps Gaylord before Gaylord can go for an interview. Dundee rams him into the post to get rid of him. He talks about how he’s fighting to get his son Jamie (JC Ice) back. I forgot about that. Dundee says he’ll do whatever it takes to get him back and that includes beating up everyone that Jamie brings in.

Jerry Lawler will be at some hardware stores next week.

House show ads.

We hear about how Terry Funk won’t show up and defend the world title. We get a clip of him winning the title off Lawler in November. Eddie Gilbert tried to interfere and wound up costing Lawler the title. We also hear about the bounties that Funk put out over the last few months.

We finally hear from Funk for the first time in the nearly three months I’ve been watching this show. He’s being forced to come back to face Lawler in a rematch which will be two days after this show. Thinking of Memphis makes him spit and the people are even worse. Lawler is the worst of all of them but isn’t man enough to take the title from Funk. Apparently Jackie Fargo is going to be the referee again and Funk thinks he’s an old pervert. The match should be in Amarillo, Texas where men are men. Funk is only 46 here and he’s as evil as ever. Maybe he’ll stomp Fargo so Fargo’s heart will stop. That could be awesome.

Video on the career of Jerry Lawler. We get clips of him fighting probably 25 legends in a very impressive package. Pretty much every big name from the era (other than Flair, who I’ve seen Lawler face in Memphis when Flair was NWA Champion) is shown with Lawler beating them up, including both Funks, Hogan, Race, Savage, Rude, Hennig, and about twenty others. It’s really cool stuff. We also get a look at his work outside of the ring with kids. We also see clips from the Jerry Lawler Show, which is exactly what it sounds like and was a real talk/variety show that aired in Memphis. The whole thing runs almost nine minutes.

Mid-South show ad, including the Lawler vs. Funk match.

Lawler comes out and talks about the match coming up. It’s taken forever to get here but he’s ready. He’s not really fired up for it but is more calm and cautious. Win, lose or draw it’ll be his last match for awhile to heal from some injuries.

We get highlights from El Gran Pistolero vs. Danny Davis for the Light Heavyweight Title. Are there any matches on this show? The match is thrown out.

Davis says he was expecting a match and got a fight, and that’s not cool. He’ll fight Pistolero anytime.

Curtis Thompson/Brad Collins vs. Eric Embry/Tom Pritchard

Pritchard and Collins get things going. Tom and Eric are Texas guys so they keep explaining how awesome their home state is. It’s off to Embry who gets in some shots and then back to Pritchard. Both heels keep jumping between the apron and commentary. Pritchard tries a slingshot suplex that goes so badly it would make Tully Blanchard shoot himself so he could roll over in his grave. Embry hits a top rope headbutt for the pin. Thompson was never in the match.

The Texans make fun of Lawler and Tennessee.

Southern Heavyweight Title: Jeff Jarrett vs. Steve Austin

The title is vacant coming in. Austin takes over quickly and stomps him down into the corner. JC Ice has the referee and Jeff’s small package is missed. Austin hooks a chinlock which only lasts a few seconds. Jeff tries to speed things up but walks into a knee to the stomach. Austin rolls him up in the corner and puts his feet on the ropes for two. A foreign object shot gets the same. Jeff hooks a quick sunset flip and gets the title back.

Rating: D+. Not the worst match ever but it was only a few minutes long and neither guy was all that great yet. This was more about pushing the Monday matches forward because of the post match stuff. Not much to see here and Jeff has the title back that he never really lost in the first place.

Jarrett gets beaten down by Austin and the other Texas guys but Eddie Gilbert makes the save. Jarrett says it ends Monday. Gilbert says bring on the blood.

Overall Rating: C+. This was much more like a go home show rather than a regular show which is an interesting change. The Lawler video is awesome and could easily be a HOF/retirement video all on its own. The matches were short here but it set up Funk vs. Lawler on Monday which is the whole point here. Good stuff but it could have been great with some better wrestling.

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This is the last USWA show that I have at the moment but hopefully that’ll change in the near future. These shows have been really entertaining and there are some people coming in that I’d really like to see. Lawler and Jarrett won the tag titles on Monday over the Fabulous Ones so I’m sure we’ll talk about that a lot today. Let’s get to it.

Eric Embry is here today as is Eddie Gilbert. I haven’t seen them in awhile.

Tom Pritchard vs. Jerry Lynn

Jamie Dundee is refereeing and he pulls Pritchard’s arm to prevent him from throwing a punch. Pritchard is a doctor because he’s a psychologist in the ring. It’s about time they explained that name. Pritchard controls to start with some very basic stuff, getting two off a suplex. Sunset flip and small package get two each for Lynn. The referee gets knocked down but wakes up quickly enough to count a pin by Pritchard while his feet are on the ropes. I smell shenanigans. Too short to rate but this was fine.

We see the tag title match from Monday which was a total brawl. Cornette had powder but Fargo knocked it back into his face. Lane was going to hit him with the racket but Keirn made the save, allowing Jarrett to hit a dropkick for the titles. Post match Eddie Gilbert returned and beat down the new champions to try to collect the bounty. Lawler got up and beat up Gilbert. They went into the crowd and Gilbert threw a fireball at Lawler.

We get a clip from the dressing room with Lawler being interviewed about Gilbert. Lawler says that Eddie Gilbert and the Fabulous Ones were in it together all along and split Funk’s bounty money. There’s nothing Gilbert can do to get rid of Lawler no matter how much he tries. Eddie shows up but a suit says if Gilbert doesn’t leave he’ll be arrested. Gilbert yells into the camera that no one knows where he’s been and this is his town now.

Eric Embry vs. Cody Michaels

I thought we got rid of Embry. Embry takes him to the mat with ease but gets backdropped. They go to the mat and Eric punches him into the corner. They collide and Eric drops a headbutt for a pin even though Michaels was in the ropes. Dundee was the referee again.

Here’s Jerry in a suit and tie. Now there’s something you don’t see every day. He talks about going to someone’s house that you don’t know that well and they have a small dog. The dog might nip at your heels when your back is to them but when you look at them, they run and hide. The fire only burned his shoulder apparently. Here’s Gilbert and it’s on. They turn over the desk and Lawler loses his suit jacket. The locker room empties out to tear them apart.

Mid-South ad. Jeff Jarrett is defending against a guy whose name I won’t say because he’ll be here later in the show.

Actually that challenger is here now. He’s been named Rookie of the Year by PWI and says that things are going well for him and his girl. Here’s his match.

Danny Davis vs. Steve Austin

His girl is named Jeannie, who is more famous as Lady Blossom, whose chest is probably bigger than Trish Stratus’. Jamie Dundee is refereeing again and doesn’t see a quick sunset flip by Davis. Austin works the arm and pulls Davis’ hair but denies it to the referee. Davis backslides him but Jamie is over with Jeannie again. Into the ropes and Austin hits the Stun Gun (not named yet) but Davis has his feet on the ropes.

It’s so weird seeing Austin with shoulder length blonde hair and flower shorts. Small package has the same result for Davis as the other two. Austin charges into the post and Davis hits the neckbreaker, but Dundee turns away to talk to Jeannie. Eddie Marlon, the boss, comes out and stops the match with no winner declared.

Rating: C. This was way more about the angle with Dundee than the match, but it’s always cool to see a future legend out here when he’s first starting out. Austin had the fire in him and was ok in the ring, but he was far from the awesome level that he would become. It’s amazing to think that in four months he would be WCW TV Champion. They had some good scouts in that company.

Marlon and Dundee argue a lot and Dundee says that Max Andrews, I think the owner of the place, hired him so Marlon can’t fire him. No he can’t, but he can take him off the job. Bill Dundee (Jamie’s dad) comes out and says that Jamie is going to quit rather than be fired. Bill yells at him and Jamie says he’s not quitting. Jamie says that he doesn’t live with his dad anymore so it’s not his rules. That’s why Jamie’s mom left too: Bill had to have it his way. Bill pulls the belt off Eddie and whips his son with it. That’s awesome.

Here’s Gilbert for an interview where he says that he doesn’t care about what anyone says: he wants Lawler to look him in the eye and get out of his way so that he can have his time in the spotlight. Here’s Lawler and they’re at it again. It’s broken up just as quick.

New Kids/Bill Dundee vs. Uptown Connection

That’s the Lee/Doug Gilbert/White Boy team’s name now. Eddie Marlon is refereeing because Dundee got fired. Tom Pritchard comes out to ask when he gets an interview and is mad when he finds out he’s not on the schedule. The New Kids dropkick down everyone so White Boy brings in a chair. He drops it on the floor as the announcers try to throw Pritchard out.

Christopher and Gilbert start but it’s quickly off to Anthony and then back to Lee. Lee drops Christopher across the top rope and it’s off to Gilbert. More pounding follows and it’s White Boy in. He gets rolled up for two and it’s back to Lee. The Uptown guys tag in and out very fast, which is a recurring idea in the USWA. Everything breaks down and Marlon goes down, so the locker room all comes in for the DQ.

Rating: D. The match was nothing of note here and the referee didn’t mean a thing until the very end. The post match stuff which we’ll get to in a moment was a lot more interesting, which is the usual case in this company. The Uptown Connection just wasn’t that interesting, but they served well as the heel team.

Bruno chokes Marlon while Jamie comes out and whips his dad with a belt. The US Males and some other guys come in for the save.

Mid-South stuff.

We get a clip from Monday with Chris Walker (who has a small chance at being Renegade from WCW. His last name was Walker and they look almost identical) vs. Pritchard. Walker was throwing him around when Gilbert and Anthony came in for the DQ, only to be saved by US Male.

The US Males come out and say exactly what you would expect them to say about Gilbert and Anthony.

Jarrett comes up and talks about his upcoming title match with Austin. He’s still REALLY bad at talking. Here he seems to advocate domestic violence against Jeannie, who used to be married to Chris Adams. Cue Jeannie who says Jeff wouldn’t know a lady if one was standing in front of him. She slaps Jeff so Jeff takes his jacket off and grabs her wrist as she tries another slap. Cue Austin for the required brawl. They go into the ring and Austin clotheslines him down but Jeff punches him to the floor.

Sgt. O’Reilly/Keith Eric/Eli The Eliminator vs. US Males/Jeff Jarrett

Marlon is refereeing again. Walker vs. Eric to start us off but it’s quickly off to the other Male. Jarrett in now as the quick tagging continues here. Eli comes in and pounds on Jeff, including one of the weakest slams I can remember in a long time. Legdrop gets two. Sarge comes in and just like every other time he’s been in the ring, things go badly for him. Back to Thompson (the other Male whose name I couldn’t remember earlier) who gets two as Eric has to make the save. Jarrett works the arm and it’s back to Walker again. Things break down and it finally ends with a top rope Jarrett cross body to Sarge.

Rating: D. This was really boring as it was in essence a squash. It only ran four and a half minutes but it felt about three times that, which is never a good sign. Jeff had it in the ring but he really didn’t click in full for a few more years. Granted being Simply Irresistible didn’t help him that much.

The announcers wrap it up.

Overall Rating: D+. I really didn’t like this show that well. That being said, there was a huge angle going here with Gilbert vs. Lawler and the Austin match is exciting, but it just wasn’t that interesting overall. The six man tags were pretty boring but maybe it’s because you see the same guys every week. In essence, the big stuff is good but the lower stuff is weak.

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After Monday’s show, the tag titles are vacant. There was some kind of a controversial finish in the Fabs vs. Lawler/Jarrett and we’ll have a rematch two days after this show. Gee, I wonder if they’ll have Lawler talk a lot about it here. I’ve been enjoying these shows as they fly by pretty fast and Lawler is awesome at this point. Let’s get to it.

New Kids vs. Fabulous Ones

Tony dropkicks Stan down to start as Cornette is running his mouth on commentary. Miller is kicked down by Stan Lane the Karate Master so it’s off to Christopher. Brian superkicks Keirn down for two and Cornette is losing it. He goes to manage as Keirn can’t figure Christopher out. A backdrop finally puts him down so it’s off to Lane who gets caught in a quick sunset flip for two. Off to Tony who is slammed down with ease.

Jim is back on commentary to make the match that much better. The New Kids keep trying for a fast win because they can’t go man to man vs. the Fabs. Keirn slams Tony’s head into a chair on the floor and it’s back inside. Tony gets between Stan’s legs and makes the tag to Christopher. The Fabs double team him again and it’s back to the outside. Keirn is illegal and piledrives Miller for the DQ. It was a DQ at times and at times it wasn’t so it’s hard to keep up with.

Rating: C-. Not much of a match but this is how you give someone a rub. The New Kids weren’t proven yet so having them hang in there with a famous team like the Fabulous Ones and even pick up a win here is a great way to make the New Kids look a lot better. The Fabs couldn’t pin them which is a major key. Not a great match, but a good rub.

Lawler makes the save post match.

After a break Lawler says he’ll be at a sporting goods store today so come see him and get some free stuff. We get a clip from the tag title match on Monday where the Fabulous Ones cheated to hit three piledrivers on Jarrett. Lawler finally got the hot tag and cleaned house. The referee went down and Lane took a piledriver. Jamie Dundee, future wrestler but current referee, comes in to call for the DQ as the regular referee was waking up to count the fall.

Lawler says the titles are being held up and Dundee will be in their corner for the rematch on Monday. Also the special guest referee will be Jackie Fargo. That’s a huge deal. Lawler talks about the history with Fargo who mentored all three of them (Lawler and Fabs) and how the Fabs are nothing to be proud of now that they’re with Cornette. Solid promo here from Lawler.

Video on Jackie Fargo and his influence on the Fabs. This includes a clip from 1982 with Fargo saying if the Fabs ever changed their attitudes, he’d leave them.

Cornette talks about how the deck is stacked up against them because there’s no other way for Lawler to beat them. He says that after they get the titles, they’ll take out Fargo. That’s crossing the line to the Fabs and Keirn rips into him. They leave and Cornette is panicking.

Mid-South show ad.

US Male Curtis Thompson (a mailman) says he doesn’t want to be with Robert Fuller anymore. Neither does his new partner, who is named Chris Walker.

US Males vs. Bill Rush/Sgt. O’Reilly

So one of the guys is named US Male and the team is the US Males? So Walker doesn’t mean much at all here does he? Walker and the Sarge start and it’s off to the mailman quickly. Thompson slams him a few times so it’s time for Rush. A gorilla press gets about 10 reps and a suplex/cross body combination gets the quick pin.

Uptown Bruno’s boys run their mouths for a bit.

Brian Lee/Doug Gilbert/Dirty White Boy vs. Freezer Thompson/TD Steel/Night Train Jackson

White Boy and Thompson start us off and all of the heels get slammed. The first thirty seconds of this has Bruno saying one LONG sentence. Jackson has a pretty awesome name. Freezer gets taken down and it’s finally off to Steel. Jackson comes in and is immediately triple teamed and pinned. Squash here.

House show ads.

Lawler introduces some guys from the sporting goods store that he’ll be at later today.

We meet a new team called the Eliminators. One is in a mask and the other isn’t Kronus. The guy in the mask talks and that’s not Saturn so these are different Eliminators.

Eliminators vs. Keith Eric/Chris Frazier

The Eliminators go crazy and it’s a wild beating before the bell. We start with the masked one vs. Frazier with the latter being quickly thrown to the outside. Frazier gets thrown into the corner and a double team sets up a kind of top rope cross body/shoulder block for the pin. Total squash.

Mid-South show ads.

Cornette brings out the Fabs again and it’s the same thing again: Keirn will not jump Fargo, period. Since the last time they were here, a kid asked him to do anything but hurt Jackie. Keirn says he won’t fight Jackie no matter what and leaves. Cornette is freaking out and says they’ll win anyway because they’re awesome.

Tom Pritchard and Terry Garvin are here with Uptown Bruno and say they’re awesome, but they don’t want to be in Memphis. They support Funk, not Lawler and Dundee. Pritchard wants Jarrett’s Southern Heavyweight Title. Garvin says he’s a barber and is going to cut hair starting today. He says Danny Davis gets his blonde hair from peroxide, not his mama’s side or his daddy’s side.

Tom Pritchard/Terry Garvin vs. Danny Davis/Jerry Lynn

Pritchard and Davis start things off and that goes nowhere. Double tag to Lynn and Garvin and they run the ropes. Garvin hurts his knee on a leapfrog but he’s goldbricking. Lynn hits a king of tilt-a-whirl to take him back down and it’s back to Davis. His neckbreaker gets two and everything breaks down. Bruno sprays something on a towel and runs in to smother Davis with it, drawing a quick DQ.

Both guys are knocked out by the ether rag and Davis almost gets a haircut but the save is made.

Overall Rating: C+. This was a much better show as the stuff about Jackie was really interesting and a nice touch to add to the story. It makes this feel like a much bigger match rather than just another match where the tag titles are up for grabs. That’s really been missing from the shows so it’s nice to see them add it in. Good stuff.

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Back to Memphis and the continuing saga of Lawler vs. an old tag team. I’ve got three episodes in a row of this which I’m going to run through before moving on to something else. At the moment that’s all I’ve got but I’m pretty sure more will be coming later on. Things have been going well with this show so far so maybe it’ll stay that way. Let’s get to it.

After the opening video, Brown runs down the card.

Downtown Bruno is now Uptown Bruno and wearing a tuxedo and a top hat. He and Terry Garvin say it’s a new time now when Lawler comes out and rolls his eyes. He gets in a few wise cracks and we’re ready to go.

Jerry Lawler vs. Terry Garvin

Uptown Bruno runs his mouth for awhile on commentary as the stalling is going on. We’re a minute in and there hasn’t been any contact. Ok there’s a lockup so we’re really going now. A right hand puts Garvin on the floor and he yells at the fans a bit. Garvin wants to box and Lawler is fine with it, so Garvin runs again. Back in Garvin charges into a boot in the corner. They’re averaging a strike a minute so far.

Bruno slips Garvin a chain and a pair of shots with it puts Lawler down. Piledriver further kills the King and Bruno chokes a bit. A third chain shot puts him down but Lawler pulls the strap down. He punches Garvin into the ropes and calls for something. Someone throws a pair of scissors in and the chase is on. Garvin runs out for the countout.

Rating: C-. Pretty boring match here as the majority of it was brawling. That’s Memphis 101 though: they’ve very much into a simpler style but it works pretty well as far as a crowd reaction. Stuff like trying to cut someone’s hair is an act of war and a non-existent chain is all you need to send the crowd into a frenzy. It’s the polar opposite of Raw and to an extent it really works.

We see the clip from a few weeks ago where the Fabs turned on Lawler.

We get a clip from the Mid-South Coliseum of the first big match between Lawler/Dundee vs. the Fabulous Ones. Jarrett came in to take out Cornette but it let Keirn hit Lawler with the racket for two. Dundee went off on everyone with the racket for the DQ but the Fabs got it and it was a big beatdown. Jarrett finally got back up and saved them.

Dundee says that the Fabs are Cornette’s puppets and that he’s injured. He’ll be back despite the injuries he got in the tag match we just saw.

Cornette and the Fabs say they’re not here tonight and they’re mad because they didn’t get a dime off Funk (the world champion who hasn’t been on TV in a month, which is normal) for Dundee but if Lawler/Jarrett want to come after the titles, bring it on.

Lawler says Cornette and the Fabs have to win matches with something other than their mouths. He says that everyone from Hogan to Savage to Funk has tried to put him out but he’s still here. Jarrett and Lawler are taking the belts on Monday.

Mid-South show ad, which is going to include a Rumble Royal, which is exactly what it sounds like.

Jarrett says that the Fabs used to be awesome when Fabulous Jackie Fargo groomed them but now they’re controlled by a leech named Jim Cornette. Apparently Lane had a big hand in training Jarrett. Jeff is REALLY bad on the mic here. Lawler was groomed by Fargo as well but he actually did what Fargo said and he’s still around. That’s one of the big points of this match.

Rumble Royal ad.

Freezer Thompson/TD Steel vs. Jeff Gaylord/Brian Lee

Gaylord and Steel start us off. Gaylord is a muscle guy and his team is managed by Bruno. Steel looks to be a karate guy but he gets clotheslined down pretty quickly. Off to Lee who beats up Steel and then beats up Thompson. There isn’t much to talk about here other than how fat Thompson is. The idea here is that Thompson is fat but the heel team can pick him up a lot. Interesting no? Back to Steel and Gaylord sets him for a Sharpshooter but instead of turning him over, Gaylord leans forward for a pin. That’s a new one.

House show ads. Lawler plugs his stretcher match in Arkansas with Garvin.

Cody Michaels/Jerry Lynn vs. Sgt. O’Reilly/Bill Rush

A backdrop pins Rush in 17 seconds. There was even a tag in there too.

The winners go for an interview when Bruno interrupts them. It’s a distraction so that Doug Gilbert and the Dirty White Boy can come in for the double beatdown. They hammer on Lynn/Michaels for a bit until Lawler and the New Kids make the save.

Video of Jarrett.

Mid-South show ad. Gaylord and Lee say they’re looking forward to the Rumble Royal.

Danny Davis talks about Sadaam Hussein and the Patriot Missiles. Oh and he’ll beat up Brian Lee in Arkansas.

Danny Davis vs. Ronnie Leech

How would you like to grow up with the name Ronnie Leech? Davis controls the arm but gets rammed into the corner by some shoulders. Floatover suplex gets two for Danny. Neckbreaker ends this quick.

Sgt. O’Reilly/Doug Gilbert/Dirty White Boy vs. New Kids/Ben Jordan

The Sarge is replacing Downtown Bruno who was supposed to be in there. Bruno says Downtown Bruno is gone because Uptown Bruno is here. Cheap but acceptable I guess. Brian Christopher takes both guys down with dropkicks and the heels have a huddle outside. We get Anthony vs. Tony of the New Kids and the ring is cleared again. Back to Christopher and then off to Jordan vs. Gilbert. A blind tag to Anthony (Tony Anthony is Dirty White Boy) allows the double teaming to begin on Tony Michaels. After a few more minutes of the beating, Lynn and Cody Michaels run in for the DQ.

Rating: D+. Pretty boring match but at least they paid off the angle from earlier in the night. Christopher would turn heel later in the year and finally get to the successful part of his career. Other than that though, there wasn’t much to see here, other than the Dirty White Boy whose name is always worth a chuckle.

A brawl ends the show.

Overall Rating: C-. It wasn’t a great show by any stretch of the imagination, but they set up a major show on Monday night which is the main idea of their TV show. The wrestling left a lot to be desired but there was a lot of action and a lot of angles were advanced, which is really all you can ask for on a show like this. Decent but nothing great.

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