USWA Wrestling Challenge
Date: January 27, 1990
Location: Sportatorium, Dallas, Texas
Commentators: Marc Lowrance, Terrance Garvin, Jerry Lawler

Here’s the final show I have for these guys at the moment. We’ve jumped ahead another three weeks so hopefully we get something a little newer here. Also am I missing something or has there been no Lawler in a long time? Anyway this show can’t get much more boring so let’s get to it.

As usual we open with a clip from last week where Adams/Funk beat up Braddock/Chu-Hi but Tojo came in for the DQ. Adams came back with a superkick to take out Chi-Hi and that’s it.

Some chick sings America the Beautiful.

Chris Adams vs. Texas Battleship

No idea who Battleship is but he’s good sized. The fans chant Superkick and they circle each other a lot. Battleship is sent to the floor and Adams hits a suicide dive to take him out. Back in a top rope superkick ends this quick.

Here’s Lawler who is defending against JYD next week. Lowrance wants to know when Kerry gets his title shot as well. Lawler runs down all of Texas and says that he’ll be champion as long as he wants. As for JYD, he may have brought himself up from the gutter but he’s getting homesick. JYD has become a religious man lately since he’s been praying for something to happen to keep him from having to face Lawler. As for Lowrance, the people aren’t clapping for him. They’re slapping their heads to stay awake. Lawler is going to sit in on commentary.

Texas Title: Chris Youngblood vs. Kerry Von Erich

Well Lawler is certainly better than Garvin. Lawler wants to know how Kerry can call himself a Modern Day Warrior when he’s a washed up has been. Kerry is defending of course. He wants Lawler gone for his match but Jerry is allowed to stay. Lawler leaves on his own so he can watch Youngblood take the title. Kerry punches Chris to the floor to start and grabs a quick Claw but Youngblood bails.

We take a break and come back with Youngblood chopping in the corner. There’s a guitar on a pole match coming up. Holy Russo Batman! Youngblood hooks a wristlock but Kerry comes back with a discus punch to tie Youngblood up in the ropes. Chris tries to leave so they fight on the floor with Kerry’s face going into the post. Kerry takes a chair to the back but it’s not a DQ. Kerry tries the discus punch but he hits the post.

Youngblood works over the hand now. He’s a Medicine Man if I didn’t mention that. Back inside and it’s time for an abdominal stretch. You know, after Kerry punched a steel post. Kerry escapes and loads up the Claw but Youngblood blocks it. Kerry settles for the Stomach Claw instead but Youngblood punches out of it and we head back to the floor. Back in the ring the discus punch hits again as does a piledriver. Youngblood is up way too fast so Kerry rolls him up for the pin.

Rating: C-. This match was nothing great but WOW what a breath of fresh air this was to have someone out there that was capable of showing some energy instead of just standing around and moving very slowly. Kerry may have been drugged out of his mind most matches but he could get a crowd going and that’s more than most people lately have been able to say.

We recap Jarrett vs. Travis. Apparently Travis has been dressing up in an Elvis jumpsuit and hitting people with a guitar. The solution: a guitar on a pole match. We also get a quick video on Jarrett.

Billy Joe Travis vs. Jeff Jarrett

Lawler comes back to do commentary. Jarrett jumps Travis as soon as he gets in and they head to the floor. It’s so weird hearing the voice of Raw on here. Back in the ring and Jarrett whacks him with a chair. Billy for the pole but Jarrett gets a great right hand to stop him. After saying the word superplex, Jeff hits one to take Billy down. Jarrett DDTs Travis on the table which doesn’t move an inch. There’s a piledriver on the floor and partially onto a chair. We take a break and come back with Jarrett tombstoning Travis and getting the guitar. That’s what you have to do to win. Ok then.

Rating: C+. This was basically a Jarrett squash. That being said, it was entertaining because the idea was to have Travis be the Honky Tonk Man character, as in the guy that everyone can beat but he keeps eluding them. Once you get someone in there that gets their hands on him and tears him apart, he doesn’t stand a chance. This was part of the blowoff for that and it worked pretty well.

Post match Lawler comes in the ring and beats down Jeff. Out to the floor and Jeff goes into the post. Lawler hits Jarrett with the guitar, breaking it after about three shots. Kerry Von Erich makes the save. Lawler sells his punches incredibly well. The numbers catch up with Kerry and Lawler gets in some shots with the handle of the guitar. Jarrett makes the save with a chair.

Overall Rating: C. See now THIS is more like it. It’s not a great show or anything but there was actual energy in these matches. Jarrett looked like a big deal, Kerry was his usual self with firing up the crowd, Adams was good for getting the people going and Lawler is his usual heat generating machine. I want to see Lawler vs. Von Erich now and I’d assume there’s a tag match coming with those four. If I find any more of these shows I’ll throw them up as this one would have made me keep watching.

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USWA Wrestling Challenge
Date: January 6, 1990
Location: Sportatorium, Dallas, Texas
Commentators: Marc Lowrance, Terrance Garvin

After this one I only have one more so thankfully this one is short. The show last week was a major downturn from what they had been doing back in the fall. Then again that’s very typical of a regional company: have a hot period for awhile and then cool off significantly. Anyway I’d assume we’ll get back to something other than the tag teams this week. Let’s get to it.

We open with a clip of last week on Wrestling Challenge which isn’t last week on Wrestling Challenge. So apparently I can’t read and I did the December 23rd episode last week. Brilliant KB, brilliant.

Ok so last week there was a six man tag where Chris Adams got beaten up really badly by Devastation Inc. Chris’ chick Toni tried to keep Eric Embry from throwing Chris back inside so Eric shoved her down. This triggered a brawl between Adams and Embry which had been brewing for awhile.

The main event tonight: the Stud Stable vs. Jarrett/Borne. Again. GREAT.

Billy Joe Travis vs. Jimmy Jack Funk

This is joined in progress. Funk throws Travis around and Akbar pops in to run his mouth as usual. Garvin yells about rumors a lot while the wrestlers stand around. Funk works on the arm. That must be this place’s religion. Travis takes over and drops a knee for two. A backbreaker gets two for Funk. This is so boring and Garvin isn’t helping. Funk uses an O’Connor Roll but Travis rolls through and pulls the trunks to win.

Rating: D. Another bad match from these Devastation Inc. guys. Their matches just aren’t that good and it’s getting annoying to have to sit through them. Funk was nothing special but he could do more than this Billy Joe Travis guy. Apparently Travis was a guy everyone wanted to beat up so at least he had heat on him.

Sheik Braddock vs. Kevin Von Erich

Von Eric tries the Claw very quickly so Braddock heads to the floor. Garvin wants to see Adams vs. Embry next week. It’s kind of odd to see Von Erich as he doesn’t wear shoes and has white trunks so he looks like he’s in white briefs and that’s it. Braddock goes to the eyes for a brief advantage. Not that it matters as Kevin clotheslines him down and puts on the Claw for the pin. Just a squash.

Gary Young vs. Dustin Rhodes

This is a grudge match for some reason. They immediately head to the floor and into the crowd. Akbar has something to say too. Ok he’s reached the point of annoying instead of evil. Back in and Young hits a knee to the head to take over. Gary pounds on his head as we talk about Dusty for some reason. Dustin comes back with a backdrop and the elbow to the head. Gary responds by KICKING HIM IN THE FACE.

Knee lift gets two. This referee counts slow. Akbar drills Dustin on the floor and we take a break. Back with Young walking around slowly. Young hits another knee lift and it’s off to a chinlock. Now Garvin is whining about the mail and how Lowrance doesn’t read his or whatever. Dustin comes back with some right hands but gets caught by a piledriver. Akbar distracts the referee so Young brings in a chair. Dustin blocks it and that’s a DQ.

Rating: D. These Devastation guys are so boring and they’re killing these shows. Young is the biggest ripoff of Rick Rude that I’ve ever seen but he has no charisma at all. Boring match as Dustin was on offense for all of five seconds. Also they never told us why this is some huge feud which didn’t help.

Dustin clears the ring with the chair post match.

Tag Titles: Brian Lee/Robert Fuller vs. Jeff Jarrett/Matt Borne

Fuller and Lee get in an argument over who starts. Garvin is about to drive me crazy. There’s this whine in his voice which makes him so annoying. Also he keeps calling Jarrett Jeffy. Jarrett armdrags Lee and it’s off to Borne. Belly to belly puts Lee down but Fuller comes in for something that was supposed to be an elbow but he couldn’t even do that right. Lee starts to leave but Fuller stops him.

Lowrance talks about next week’s unexpected main event between Adams and Embry. If it’s unexpected why do you know who’s in it? We take a break and come back with Fuller complaining about being dropkicked to the floor. I’m not sure if this is the same Terry Garvin from WWF or not. That one was from Montreal and this one sounds like he’s from Tennessee. The character similarities are way too similar though.

Borne is in trouble but comes back with a devastating headlock. Lee shoves him into a knee from Fuller though to keep Borne in trouble. Back to Fuller who still can’t do much right. Off to a chinlock and Lee comes in with a middle rope knee drop. Fuller’s piledriver is countered…and here’s P.Y. Chu-Hi to draw a DQ for beating up Borne.

Rating: D+. This slow style is terribly boring. I get that it’s a cultural thing but would it kill them to get someone with some talent in there? Fuller is terribly uninteresting and Borne isn’t much of a maniac. The Stable would hold the titles for awhile longer before losing them the next month. That can’t come soon enough.

Somehow Chu-Hi slamming Borne and dropping a top rope leg on him isn’t a DQ, but rather a no contest. Whatever. Borne is carried out to end the show.

Overall Rating: D. Well it’s a little bit better than last week but that’s not saying much. This company has gone off a cliff lately and nothing is interesting at all anymore. The in ring work is killing it as there’s no emotion or interest at all in it. The angles are barely existent other than Devastation Inc. is bad. One show to go though so maybe it won’t be so bad.

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USWA Wrestling Challenge
Date: December 23, 1989
Location: Sportatorium, Dallas, Texas
Commentators: Marc Lowrance, Terrance Garvin

Since I only have three shows from the USWA from the late 80s/early 90s, I figured I’d go old school marathon style on them and get all of them out of the way in a row. This is from December of 89 and after this we jump ahead to the end of the year. My guess is this is going to focus on Eric Embry. Just a hunch. Let’s get to it.

We open with a clip from last week where Eric Embry and Chris Adams beat up Gary Young and Billy Joe Travis. Eric accidentally hit Adams and Joe got the pin.

I wonder if that’s Terry Garvin, who is known for his little black book of men to sleep with around the country. Well he’s in pink and purple and is very flamboyant so you figure it out. Gorilla once said Garvin would always be behind someone in one of those lines you only get if you know your history.

Apparently it’s tag team title tournament week and we’re in the second round.

Tag Team Title Tournament Second Round: Robert Fuller/Brian Lee vs. Dustin Rhodes/Jimmy Jack Funk

Joined in progress. Dustin is 20 here so he’s very new. Lee you might know as Chainz from the DOA or the Fake Undertaker in 1994. Fuller is Colonel Parker and Funk is Art Barr’s less talented brother. We’re joined in progress with Dustin dropkicking Lee and it’s off to Fuller who is awful. The heels are the Stud Stable and Dustin’s team is the Texas Connection. Fuller and Lee are knocked to the floor as Garvin runs down women.

Dustin controls Lee with a headlock on the mat and Lee looks like he’s trying to remember if he picked up his dry cleaning. Up to their feet and Dustin punches like his daddy. Off to Fuller as we take a break. Back with Lee holding Dustin in a chinlock. The less Fuller I see in the ring the happier I am. Lee gets a knee to the ribs and it’s off to Fuller.

Miss Sylvia, the Stable’s manager, hits Dustin in the head with a cane so Fuller grabs the arm. Back to Lee who collides with Dustin to put both guys down. There’s the tag to Funk and everything breaks down. Funk powerslams Lee but there’s no count. Sylvia slides in the cane and Lee cracks Funk with it to advance to the finals.

Rating: D. Pretty boring match here for the most part with the heels dominating for far too long. Dustin was clearly very green at this point but his time would come soon enough. The Stud Stable was a long running top heel stable in the south so they knew how to be all old school bad. That doesn’t mean it worked, but they had an idea of what they were doing at least.

Tag Team Title Tournament Second Round: Gary Young/Billy Joe Travis vs. Jeff Jarrett/Matt Borne

This is a semi-final match. Young and Travis have the Ryder half trunks/half tights thing going on. Borne and Jarrett are the former champions but they were stripped for some reason. Jeff vs. Travis starts us off. Akbar jumps in on commentary for a few seconds and says exactly what you would expect a heel manager to say. Jarrett and Travis have nothing going on here so it’s off to Young.

Jarrett controls again and it’s off to Borne who hits a German for two. This is really boring so far. Jarrett comes in for some armdrags and we take a break. Back with Borne knocking Travis to the floor. Travis loses the string in his tights somehow which Lowrance finds much funnier than he should. Borne gets double teamed in the corner and it’s Young working him over.

Travis punches Borne and please let this end soon. The finals are later tonight apparently. Borne kicks Travis low and makes the hot tag to Simply Irresistible Jeff Jarrett. He fires off dropkicks all around and everything breaks down. Akbar trips Jarrett so Jeff pounds on him. He chokes Akbar with his own whip and that’s a DQ win for Travis and Young somehow. Dustin comes out and somehow gets the decision reversed, sending Jarrett/Borne to the finals.

Rating: D-. Technically this was fine I guess but OH MY GOODNESS it went on forever. I was hoping for this to end which is never what you want out of a match. Young and Travis are semi-cowardly heels which means a long match is really not what you want out of them. Borne seemed inept but Jarrett looked like a more energetic version of his 1994 self but as a face. Take that for what its worth.

Tag Titles: Matt Borne/Jeff Jarrett vs. Robert Fuller/Brian Lee

This is either at a different show or the company is kind of stupid as Jarrett/Borne have another full entrance. Fuller and Jarrett start us off. Fuller is a lot taller than I thought he was. Jarrett armdrags him a few times and Fuller bails to the floor. Lee comes in and gets his arm worked on as well. Jeff moves around too fast and we get heel miscommunication. Now Lee works on Jeff’s arm as the announcers argue over how tall Lee is.

Off to Borne and WE GET IT. YOU KNOW HOW TO WORK ON AN ARM. We take a break with Jarrett in the enemy corner. Jeff gets thrown to the floor where Sylvia hits him with a stick. Off to Borne and Lee with Borne hitting a side suplex for two. The heels take over on the future Doink the Clown as this is going very slowly. Borne kicks Lee in the ribs and tags Jeff back in. Jeff cleans house with an assortment of punches and everything breaks down. In a really weak ending, Jarrett brings Sylvia in for a spanking, allowing Fuller to kick him in the back of the head for the pin and the titles.

Rating: D. Another boring match here which seems to be a running theme on this show. Jarrett again was the lone bright spot in this, primarily due to everyone else either having not much talent or being brand new at this point. Not much to see here but we get some heel champions which gives us a bunch of teams to want to beat on them.

Lowrance wraps it up.

Overall Rating: D-. Seeing new champions for free is cool but WOW things don’t go well for this company when it’s based on in ring action instead of drama. I was digging the stuff from August and September but this was almost a chore to sit through. When your show is 39 minutes not counting commercials, that’s reaching NXT levels of bad.

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Mid-South Championship Wrestling
Date: January 20, 1984
Location: Irish McNeil Boys Club, Shreveport, Louisiana
Commentators: Boyd Pierce, Bill Watts

No Mercy is downloading so it’s back to Louisiana. I really liked this one last time so hopefully it’ll still be good again here. Last time we saw Duggan and JYD feuding with the Russians while Magnum TA got tarred and feathered. The Midnight Express is running around and being all Midnight Express kinds of evil which is always fun. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence opens us up in a sequential way.

Jim Cornetee is with Watts. Watts says that there have been a lot of managers but Cornette is the first mama’s boy. Cornette asks why he should have to work for anything when he can call his mama (on Planet Funk?) and have her buy it for him. We get a clip of Mr. Wrestling II and Magnum saying they’re awesome. Cornette interrupted them and wanted to know when the Midnight Express would get a title shot. The champs call Cornette a chicken and he leaves.

Back to the live video and Cornette says I told you so, and we get a clip of the tarring and feathering by the Express last week and the champs’ promo after it. Mr. Wrestling II promises some plucking. You know for an hour long show, spending the first ten minutes plus on a recap is probably not the best use of TV time. Cornette: “Why don’t you pluck your partner?” Jim promises more violence if the Express doesn’t get the title match. Mid-South has fined Cornette $5000 but Cornette says that’s just a phone call home to mother.

Krusher Darsow vs. Terry Taylor

This is supposed to be Volkoff but he’s injured. Darsow jumps him to start but Taylor comes back with elbows. He slams Darsow and hooks an abdominal stretch and Volkoff runs in for the quick DQ.

Taylor dropkicks Darsow to the floor but Volkoff puts a rope around Taylor’s throat. He tries to hang Taylor over his back but Taylor flips out of it. Darsow comes back in and they hang him over the top rope. Some wrestlers make the save.

Roger Bond/Mike Jackson vs. Midnight Express

The tag champions are on commentary. Cornette has a bag of feathers which he’s blowing in the direction of Magnum. Cornette runs his mouth a lot to start. Condrey and Jackson start things off. Jackson hits a cross body for two and a dropkick puts Condrey down. It’s off to Eaton who has some better luck. Back to Condrey who beats on Bond for awhile. Eaton slams Bond down and hits a middle rope knee. The Express tags in and out very fast. Wrestling II is giving Eaton pointers which is cool to hear. Condrey hits a powerslam off the middle rope which sets up their double team elbow/drop for the pin. Squash.

The Express destroys both guys post match and set to tar and feather Bond but Magnum runs in for the save. Apparently that costs them $2500.

Buddy Landell vs. Mike Starbuck

Landell is basically famous for looking exactly like Ric Flair and copying everything he did. Landell controls with ease and puts a full nelson on him as Mike’s face is on the mat. A backbreaker and elbow drop gets the pin.

Brian Adidas vs. Mickey Henry

There’s going to be a TV Title tournament coming up. Adidas control to start as we hear about a new team coming called the Rock N Roll Express. Henry grabs a headlock and hits Brian in the ribs. Adidas comes back with a dropkick and botches a leap frog, a victory roll and most of a small package but the last one gets the pin. That was a horrible ending sequence.

Masao Ito vs. Rick Rood

Rood offers a handshake but is turned down. He towers over Ito here. Ito stomps him down and chops a lot. He hooks a choke of some kind which gets Rood a DQ win.

Rood is bleeding from the mouth as Ito won’t let it go.

Here’s a video on the Rock N Roll Express set to I Love Rock And Roll by Joan Jett. It’s a music video which is more 80s than Hulk Hogan, Mr. T and the Karate Kid going Back to the Future to bust ghosts to hair metal.

Watts and Boyd wrap up the show.

Overall Rating: C+. I still really like this show. They’re efficient with their stories and you get a nice mix of squashes to keep the show moving. Cornette is at his best here with being a mama’s boy that you want to punch in the face. Fun show and this is something I’d definitely watch if it aired today.

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He was older than most rookies, he had a distinctive look, he was AWESOME in developmental, he came up about the same time as Orton and Cena and for my money was the best prospect of those three in his first year on WWE TV. He had a horrible gimmick but made it both memorable and pretty entertaining. He is……Rico.

Continental Championship Wrestling
Date: January 4, 1986
Location: Boutwell Auditorium, Birmingham, Alabama
Commentator: Gordon Solie

Back to that Alabama based company since I have more time to kill before No Mercy finishes downloading. I don’t know anything about this company at this time but in previous episodes I’ve seen Yokozuna and Masahiro Chono pop in so who knows what might be here tonight. Let’s get to it.

For those of you confused, this is the CWF before it changed names.

We open with Gordon Solie who brings in Ronnie West, the troubleshooting referee of the NWA. The US Junior Heavyweight Title has been stripped or something. He says if anyone wants to sponsor the show, give him a call. That doesn’t sound good.

Tommy Rich/Johnny Rich vs. Larry Clark/The Inferno

Johnny and Clark start things off. Gordon again tries to pitch the idea of using CCW as a fundraiser. I know a lot of smaller companies do that, but having it lead off the show isn’t a good thing. The Riches hammer down everyone but the Nightmares run in and break things up. They tar and feather Johnny. This was an angle, not a match.

The Nightmares are very happy about what they did.

The Riches say watch your backs Nightmares.

Jason Walker vs. Adrian Street

Adrian Street is from the Adrian Adonis/Rico family of wrestlers if you get my drift. Street is Southeastern Heavyweight Champion, which I think is the top title in this company. Street prances around to play mind games. He takes Walker to the mat and it turns into a technical match. Miss Linda, Adrian’s manager, chokes a bit as Adrian drops elbows. A knee to the ribs and a splash end this.

Rating: D+. Dull match and I’m not sure why they did the finishing sequence twice. Anyway, Street was an interesting kind of character as no one had seen someone like him in a long time. The effeminate character is one that’s almost always going to work because wrestling is such a masculine sport and wrestling fans are kind of scared of anything different.

Post match Walker attacks Street when Norville Austin comes in to beat on him also. Lady Maxine (Mad Maxine from WWF) comes in to cancel out Miss Linda. Austin would win the title two days later.

Austin and Maxine say that’s just the beginning. We get some clips of a match where Street beat up women or something like that. It’s really hard to make out the audio.

Street and Linda talk about an upcoming house show. Austin and Maxine reply by saying they’ll be ready. I think it’s a mixed tag.

Tim Horner will face someone for the Junior Heavyweight Title at Night of Champions.

Tim Horner vs. Paul Brown

Apparently the guy Horner will be facing is named Ken Timbs. Horner takes him to the mat and then grabs a top wristlock to control. Brown comes back with brawling tactics and gets a small package for two. O’Connor Roll gets two for Horner. A victory roll gets him the pin.

Rating: D. How was that a six and a half minute match? This program is reaching new levels of boring as I can’t bring myself to care about it at all. Horner was a guy that was ok for the most part so in a company like this, he was a big deal. He wouldn’t win the title at Night of Champions but he’d win it soon thereafter.

The Bullet says he’s sorry the Flame is gone because he didn’t get to beat him up enough. Some other masked guy named Mr. Olympia has been trying to steal Bullet’s mask. They tried to take Bullet’s mask but Brad Armstrong came in to help. The mask came off but Brad covered his face with a towel. There was another brawl with Tennessee Stud involved too. Olympia vs. Bullet for Night of Champions.

Roberto Soto and Boomer Lynch have a match for the Alabama Title and talk about their match. It’ll be big you see.

Gordon plugs some homebuilding company.

TV Title: Robert Fuller vs. Brad Armstrong

Fuller is champion and is more famous as Colonel Robert Parker. The title hadn’t been around for about five years but Fuller reactivated it for all of a month. Fuller is your standard “I’m pretty” character. Armstrong knocks him to the floor quickly and Fuller stalls a lot. Back into the ring and it’s off to an armbar by Armstrong. Fuller comes back and uses a variety of slams as I look for blunt instruments to hit myself with. Armstrong dropkicks him down and out to the floor. Some of Fuller’s friends come out and apparently TV time is up and the title is held up until next week.

Rating: F. The biggest move in a 4 minute match was a dropkick. You figure out the rest.

Fuller yells a lot.

Armstrong and Bullet yell a lot too.

Olympia starts yelling and we’re out of time.

Overall Rating: F. WOW this was boring. I watched the shows from 1988 of this company and they were bad. They were uninteresting, they weren’t that good and they were poorly put together. They look like masterpieces compared to this though. This show was just not interesting in the slightest and the production was awful. Usually I give a show two runs to see if I’ll keep it up or not but I’m done with this already. Just incredibly boring.

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CWA Championship Wrestling
Date: January 3, 1981
Location: WMC-TV Studios, Memphis, Tennessee
Commentator: Lance Russell

Much like with Power Hour, if I don’t like this one then I’m dropping the whole series. If nothing else it’ll make my list a lot smaller. Anyway we’re in 1981 now and not a lot has probably changed. To give you an idea of how much I enjoyed last week’s show, I don’t remember anything about it for the most part other than a few flashes, and I only reviewed it a few days ago. Let’s get to it.

There’s going to be a retrospective on Jerry Lawler later today.

Tom Maley vs. David Oswald

They go to the mat and it’s a technical exhibition to start. Maley is a rookie here and Oswald is the bigger guy. Back to more mat stuff. Oswald is the heel here it seems. This is a very different style and looks more like an amateur or MMA style here. There hasn’t been a single strike in almost four minutes. Maley keeps taking him down but stands up so Oswald can get in some forearm shots. Maley comes back with forearms of his own but they collide and both guys are down. Oswald hits a knee lift and drops an elbow for the pin.

Rating: C. This was different than almost anything you’ll ever see. It certainly wasn’t bad or boring but it’s really not something that you’re going to want to see. The crowd didn’t seem all that interested but Memphis crowds are always an odd bunch. It wasn’t bad though and was nice to see for something different.

We get a clip from Lawler vs. Dundee, hair vs. hair. Lawler keeps beating on Dundee in the corner until the match is stopped because Dundee can’t continue. Dundee begs them to let it keep going and actually gets his way. Lawler pounds on him again and the beating gets even worse. Dundee hits something like a headbutt…and we cut to another match between them. Make that a highlight reel of them. I want to know who won the hair match.

We get some magic words though: Tupelo Concession Stand Brawl. Video of it later.

House show ads. Lawler has a match with Dream Machine and if he wins, he gets five minutes with Hart. Lawler has been out for eleven months with a broken leg. Nothing will stop him from getting his hands on Hart though.

Here’s a clip from Lawler vs. Dream Machine. Machine says something before the match but I couldn’t understand a word of it. There are stipulations to this but Machine stops the announcement to yell some more. Ok so it’s a handicap match with Bobby Eaton/Jimmy Hart vs. Tony Charles. So Lawler and Machine aren’t in the match but are seconds? This is hard to follow.

If Tony loses he gets his hair cut. If he wins, Eaton and Hart are gone. Lawler and Dream Machine get into it on the floor and there’s no match. Little trivia note for you here: Eaton has brown hair here. Scratch that: the match happens but we don’t get to see it. This is getting annoying.

Angel/Tony Russo vs. Carl Fergie/Tommy Russo

This is 2/3 falls again. Russo and Tommy start things off. Very slow to start as it’s off to Fergie. I think he and Gilbert are the faces here. They work over Russo’s arm and it’s back to Gilbert. Russo brings in Angel for all of 8 seconds and it’s back to Russo. We’re three minutes into this and nothing of note has happened. Cross body gets two for Gilbert. Fergie hits an elbow to the face and drops another one for the first fall on Russo.

Apparently we’re going to get the rest of the match later. For now though, OFF TO TUPELO!!! Ok so this one needs some backstory. We have Bill Dundee and Lawler teaming up against Larry Latham (Moondog Spot) and Wayne Ferris (Honky Tonk Man), collectively known as the Blonde Bombers. The Bombers cheated like CRAZY to win the tag titles. The show looked like it was ending but as they faded to black you heard Russell saying stay with this because there’s a big brawl going on. The brawl went down to the concession stand, and this is what followed.

The Blondes are all busted open and they beat on each other with EVERYTHING. Mustard goes flying and they’re filming from the stairs. This is totally serious stuff in case that wasn’t clear. Everyone is bleeding. Lawler destroys Ferris while Dundee is stomped on. Jerry Jarrett comes in and finally gets Dundee away for a second. Also this isn’t one of those fake WCW concession stands. This is the real concession stand where the fans are buying food. The Blondes run so Lawler and Dundee chase them but the Blondes come back and destroy Jarrett, stripping his clothes off. They’re FINALLY pulled off to end this.

I won’t go into details on the whole history of this (if you’re interested in why this was booked and why Jerry Jarrett is one of the smartest men ever in wrestling, look up Jim Cornette’s commentary called “The Slippery Slope of Hardcore Wrestling.” It’s incredibly interesting and well worth the read, as is almost anything Cornette writes) but the main idea is that this is pretty much the birth of modern hardcore wrestling.

The key difference though: it was believable. This wasn’t something that you saw every day (first time ever for the most part) and EVERYONE talked about it. It saved the territory and worked because it was treated as a huge deal. This is something you’ll still hear about from time to time and you’ll occasionally see tributes to it even today. This is incredibly historic stuff and possibly the most famous moment in southern wrestling.

We get a clip of the rematch (one of many) with the crowd being noticeably larger. That’s the idea and it worked like a miracle.

House show plugs.

Oh yeah we have to go back and finish that tag match. Fergie and Russo start us off but it’s off to the monster named Angel very quickly. Fergie fights off an abdominal claw and it’s Gilbert’s turn to get beaten down. Back to Russo as the beating continues. Russo (who looks like Mario from the Super Mario Brothers Super Show, and yes I know who played him) chokes away but it’s back to Angel. There’s the hot tag to Fergie who misses an elbow and gets pinned by Angel to tie it up.

Before the third fall, here are MORE Lawler highlights, this time of him getting beaten up by Harley Race and beating up Nick Bockwinkel. We see him losing to Jack Brisco after a one hour fight. Also some of the matches with Jackie Fargo (the guy that made Lawler), possibly the one where he won the name King.

The third fall is finally joined in progress with Angel pounding on Gilbert. Everything breaks down for a bit as Gilbert hooks Angel in an abdominal stretch….and the time limit runs out.

Rating: D. This was about as different of a match as you’ll ever find. I really don’t get the point in having it all cut up like this. It took almost 40 minutes to get through a ten minute match because of all the Lawler stuff. The problem otherwise was that this was a really boring match with nothing interesting to it at all, which is the problem with most of the matches on these shows.

Dream Machine isn’t worried about Lawler.

Russell wraps things up.

Overall Rating: C+. Given that Lawler is coming back, I think I have to keep watching this. The Tupelo Brawl scene is more than enough to bring me back, even though it’s part of a clip show. Still though, fun show and the Brawl footage is great. The wrestling here was certainly different, but it wasn’t all that great. Lawler coming back will completely change the show though so I’ll keep watching this for now.

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Mid-South Championship Wrestling
Date: January 13, 1984
Location: Irish McNeil Boys Club, Shreveport, Louisiana
Commentators: Jim Ross, Bill Watts

What is with all this 1984 I’m watching lately? Anyway, this is Mid-South which is one of the major territories I haven’t touched on yet. It was based around Oklahoma, east Texas and Louisiana and was run by Cowboy Bill Watts. They’re known for having great in ring stuff but being light on angles, so if that’s your style this might be what you’re looking for. I haven’t seen much of their stuff either so let’s get to it.

JR and Billy welcome us to the card. Last week the Russians ran their mouths and challenged whoever wanted some to come fight them. They wanted JYD and Magnum (probably the biggest stars in the company) but they weren’t ready to wrestle. Terry Taylor came out and yelled at Crusher Darsow, the Russian sympathizer. Volkoff jumped Taylor and this became a match. Taylor won with a sunset flip in like 30 seconds.

Terry Taylor vs. Doug Vines

This is Taylor’s second match in the territory so he’s brand new. Terry hits a monkey flip, a dropkick and an armdrag to set up an armbar. Small package wins it quick.

The Russians run in but JYD and Duggan make the save.

Junkyard Dog/Jim Duggan vs. Larry Higgens/Jeff Sword

JYD is the North American Champion, which is the top title in Mid-South. Dog starts with let’s say Higgens. A headbutt puts Jeff down and he runs away from a scream by Duggan. Duggan knocks him into the corner and Sword comes in. JYD hits Sword in the head a bit and Duggan slams him. The referee is Karl Fergie who had a match on a show I recently did. I love little things like that. Three Point Headbutt from Duggan gets the pin. Total squash.

The Russians attack post match but the power of AMERICA cleans house.

Paul Garner/Don Ralston vs. Magnum TA/Mr. Wrestling II

Magnum and Wrestling are tag champions. Magnum and Garner start us off…..and here’s Jim Cornette. He gets in the ring and makes fun of the champs as the Midnight Express runs in through the crowd and knocks out Wrestling with a blackjack. The Express lay out Magnum as Cornette pours some liquid on his back. They pull out a pillow and tar and feather Magnum. Ok that’s AWESOME. I remember hearing about this in Cornette’s shoot and it resulted in the Express almost being killed on multiple instances. This was a comedy spot in Memphis but here, it’s DEAD serious.

Midnight Express vs. Lanny Poffo/George Weingroff

Dig that From Lexington, Kentucky! This is Eaton and Condrey. Condrey and Poffo start us off. Eaton has brown hair here which is so strange to see. Poffo throws them both around to start and Condrey is in trouble. Back to Eaton who has a little bit better luck. We get into a much more standard Express match with the double teaming blocking a tag. The Express destroys Weingroff for awhile and a double team move (elbow/belly to back drop combination) gets the pin.

Rating: D+. Not much here but it was a squash so what were you expecting? The Express at least had a little change of pace in their squashes as they started off slow because they were adjusting to their opponents. It’s not much but at least it breaks the formula that you always get in these things.

Wrestling II and Magnum say they’ll pluck the Express.

Jim Neidhart vs. Tom Lentz

Neidhart goes right after Lentz and the dominance begins. A Samoan drop ends this quick.

Steve Williams vs. Crusher Darsow

I think this is the main event. Watts sums up the match very quickly: Williams hates Russians. Watts, ever the AMERICAN rants about how the Russians winning means annihilation. Crusher hooks a quick chinlock and holds onto that for a good while. Doc finally gets up and hits a bunch of three point stance shoulders. Volkoff comes out and slips something to Darsow. A shot to the head with it gets the pin.

Rating: F. What a boring match. We had a four minute long match here and about two and a half of that was the chinlock. Who goes to a chinlock that early in the match anyway? Doc was a lot more interesting when he was running over people rather than laying on the mat. Darsow would go on to become Smash in Demolition.

Butch Reed vs. Rick Rood

Yes, that Rood. He’s VERY young here and looks nothing like himself. Reed is a former champion here so what do you expect out of this? Reed throws him around a lot but Rood makes a comeback with very little time left in the show. Butch takes him down again and we hear about a new team coming called the Rock N Roll Express. Reed hooks a facelock with about two minutes to go in the show. He finally wins with a delayed gorilla press.

Rating: D. It’s always cool to see someone like Rude out there where you have no idea what’s coming from him in the next few years. Reed was a guy that had everything going for him and then more or less disappeared after Doom broke up. The match was just a squash but Rude would get a push soon after this I think.

Overall Rating: C. I liked this show. It flew by which is good and there was a big angle going on in it. The Express had been here only a short time but they’ve now established themselves as monster heels. This was a good show and I’m looking forward to seeing more from this company.

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CWA Championship Wrestling
Date: December 27, 1980
Location: WMC-TV Studios, Memphis, Tennessee
Commentators: Lance Russell, Dave Brown

This is back in Memphis but in the early days. The company was founded in 1977 so it hasn’t been around a terribly long time here. I have no idea what to expect from this but I’m sure Jerry Lawler will be involved somewhere. This is the first of about seven shows I have from here so let’s get to it.

The announcers (whatever their names are) tell us about the matches. One of them is Lance Russell.

Angel vs. David Price

Angel is managed by Jimmy Hart. He’s a bald guy who looks like George Steele but with smoother skin and bigger muscles. The arena is tiny, maybe holding 200 people. Angle pounds him down and you can hear Hart coaching him in the days before the Megaphone. Angle almost kicks him to the floor but Price hooks the rope with his feet. Price manages to roll him over and we get some mat work. I didn’t expect that.

Price is thrown to the floor but is quickly back in. Angel really likes to hit him in the back with forearms. Even Jimmy is saying this is a workout for him. Hart also doesn’t have glasses. Back to the apron for more stomping. Angel lets go of some covers and Price grabs a worthless hammerlock. Angel finally ends this with a Claw.

Rating: D. Boring match here as Angel liked pounding him on the back way too much. I’ve never heard of him but he was big, mean and bald headed so you really don’t need much else, especially not back in the old days. The announcers sounded really bored with this and rightfully so.

Gypsy Joe/David Oswald vs. Bill Dundee/Tommy Rich

This is 2/3 falls. Rich and Joe start things off and Joe is taken to the mat quickly. Off to Dundee and then Oswald. Back to Rich who would be NWA Champion in about tour months. A dropkick by Rich gets two. Off to a chinlock for a few seconds and it’s back to Dundee pounding on Joe. Dundee is really popular here, even drawing a chant from the small crowd. Oswald gets in a cheap shot and Joe takes over.

Dundee gets in a dropkick for two as David saves. Off to Oswald who gets two on a backdrop. Joe comes in but walks into a sunset flip for the first fall. After a break we get a promo from Rich and Dundee who are tag team champions and have a loser leaves town match coming up. Tommy also gets Jimmy Valiant in a street fight on the same show. He says he can get just as crazy as Valiant can and it’ll be a late Christmas present for him. That was a good promo.

Dundee pounds on Joe some more and a dropkick gets two. Everything breaks down for a few seconds and Joe takes over with a chinlock. Back to Oswald who sounds like a duck. Oswals breaks up a tag and brings in Joe for a chinlock. We get into a long Ricky Morton sequence years before anyone knew who Ricky Morton was. Joe chokes Dundee and Oswald gets two off a slam.

Joe knocks Dundee down again and it’s off to a nerve hold. Everything breaks down and Rich still can’t get the tag. This match is going a lot longer than I was expecting it to do. Out of NOWHERE Dundee grabs a small package on Joe. Rich comes in to take out Oswald again and Dundee gets the second pin of the match.

Rating: C-. It’s not a bad match but I really don’t get why this needed to be two straight falls. Dundee took a good beating here and the match was pretty fun. This was a lot like a tag team formula match but they didn’t have the hot tag aspect to it yet. That hurts things but it’s 1980 to be fair.

Tony Charles vs. Pat Hutchinson

I have no idea who either of these guys are, nor who is who. These are junior heavyweights I think. Hutchinson is in blue. Got it. They go to the mat where Charles controls with headlocks and arm holds. We cut to a Dundee and Rich talking about a charity drive or something. The match is still going on and the drive is for Tony Charles apparently. Charles hooks a Boston Crab but doesn’t turn it over. He hits a backbreaker and then a full Crab but Hutchinson makes the rope. Hutchinson tries to get into an amateur match which fails as well. Charles hits a bad dropkick for the pin.

Rating: D+. Not a very entertaining match and they spent most of the time talking about the charity drive. I still don’t know why Charles needs the money or anything but I think it’s supposed to be something serious. Nothing to see here and the announcers talk about the match like it was something really interesting.

Dream Machine vs. Carl Fergie

This is from some other show, I believe in the Mid-South Coliseum. Machine is a big masked heel. Hart is the manager and pokes Fergie in the ribs with what appeared to be a cane. Machine takes him down and wins with a standard armbar. Total squash which allegedly went 5:00 so there much have been a lot of clipping.

Dream Machine won’t let go post match. A few guys come in for the save (including Rick Morton and Koko Ware) but it’s back to the arm when they’re dispatched. Lawler finally comes in and really cleans house.

Dream Machine (with a THICK southern/country accent) runs down Lawler and all of the faces here. Imagine Dusty Rhodes talking fast with a high pitched voice. Jimmy calls out Lawler and counts to ten. Lawler doesn’t answer it and Russell says that everyone knows he’s not here this week.

More house show stuff.

Koko Ware/Tom Meley vs. Tojo Yamamoto/Jimmy Valiant

This is actually an iron man tag match as they say it’s whoever has the most falls when we’re out of TV time wins. Koko is TV Champion at this point and starts with Valiant. Valiant loudly complains of hair pulling then pulls Koko’s hair to pull over. That’s heel psychology for you. Koko and Tojo are both really short. The heels double team Koko a lot and chop him even more.

A slam gets two for Valiant. Tojo tags out and literally is on the apron for 2 seconds before coming back in to chop Koko down for the first fall. We take a break and come back with Koko cleaning house to start the second fall. Finally off to Meley who charges at Valiant which goes badly for him. Elbow drop by Valiant makes it 2-0. Apparently that’s it.

Rating: D. This was a squash. Meley was nothing of note at all and got destroyed the whole time. I have no idea what the point was in having Koko getting beaten down that much and then lose clean but whatever. Tojo would become a big top heel in this company for years and would pop up in the late 80s in WCCW as well.

Valiant runs his mouth about Tommy Rich.

Overall Rating: D. This is a show I really don’t see myself watching much more. I’ll watch one more episode of it and if it’s not a lot better, I’m done. This style just isn’t for me and while I get that it was insanely popular for a long time, that doesn’t mean it works well over thirty years later. Not awful, but really not something I want to spend 9 hours watching all that I have of.

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AWA All-Star Wrestling
Date: January 1, 1984
Location: WFBT Studios, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Commentator: Ron Trongard

This is I think the flagship show of the AWA. Since it’s getting kind of hard to find some of the requests I’ve gotten, I figured I’d work on this huge backlog of shows I’ve found while I download copies of others. I don’t know very much about this company at all so I’ll be guessing on a lot of it as we go. Let’s get to it.

We open with Gene Okerlund who has Jesse Ventura with him. Jesse has promised us a major announcement that is going to knock wrestling both forward and backward. Two years ago he was in Japan and saw a guy that he wanted to start tagging with. It’s not Adrian Adonis but rather someone who compliments Jesse perfectly. It’s Mr. Saito. Saito gives Jesse a kimono. Saito hits a board with his head but it doesn’t break. He does it again and the board still doesn’t break. Everyone cracks up laughing and I think that was a blooper.

Here’s Gene again who brings in Verne Gagne. He talks about how this is the season for amateur wrestling. Verne congratulates all of them for their hard work and dedication. Back to the pro ranks though, he’s glad Schultz (I presume Dave) has been suspended. Rule breakers are going to get cracked down on a lot more in 1984.

Opening sequence.

Rocky Stone vs. Jim Brunzell

Brunzell is half of the High Fliers and takes Stone down with an armbar. Off to a headscissors but Stone gets to the ropes. The referee’s nickname is Sodbuster. I can’t say I’ve heard that one before. Stone grabs a front facelock but Brunzell knocks him into the corner and works on the leg. Pick a body part dude. A high knee sets up the dropkick for the pin.

Rating: D+. That dropkick is awesome but the match was boring up to that point. Brunzell was in a team with the owner’s son so you know that he was getting pushed strong. The match was dull as Brunzell couldn’t pick what he wanted to work on so he worked on everything, then finished with the dropkick. Boring but it’s a squash so it doesn’t matter much.

Gene runs down a card and talks about how Bockwinkel needs a partner. Heenan, Bockwinkel’s manager, has been asking old Heenan Family members to be Nick’s partner. Heenan and Bockwinkle, the world champion, come in and deny that. They won’t announce who their partner is. We’ll find out by the end of the show.

Buddy Lane vs. Mr. Saito

Lane takes him to the mat but Saito gets us easily. Saito takes him down now and works over the arm. He chops Lane in the corner and dropkicks him down (kind of). Saito tries a Boston Crab but Lane blocks it. Instead he tries a cradle but Lane keeps getting his shoulder up. That goes on for about 30 seconds and they get back up. Saito punches him near the throat and chops him down again. Saito Suplex ends this.

Rating: D. This was another odd match as Lane got in a lot more offense than you would expect as well as blocking a lot of Saito’s stuff. It wasn’t horrible I guess but it was a different kind of squash and I’m not sure if I mean that in a good way or not. Still though, it wasn’t bad.

We get the Jesse/Saito thing again but this time he breaks the board. That’s awesome that we got a blooper.

Jake Milliman vs. Buck Zumhofe

Milliman is nicknamed Milkman and is kind of the AWA’s version of the Brooklyn Brawler. Buck is Light Heavyweight Champion and this is 2/3 falls. And now Jingle Bell Rock is playing. Buck is nicknamed Rock N Roll so maybe that’s why? He hooks a quick stepover toehold and then shifts to the arm. I don’t think the title is on the line here. Zumhofe hooks some armdrags and back into the armbar.

Milliman manages a knee to the ribs and hooks a chinlock for his first offense. Buck fights up and works on the arm again. A dropkick takes Milliman down and a second one does as well. A cross body (called a flying body slam) gives Zumhofe the first fall. We take a break and come back with the second fall. The fans chant for Milliman who is the heel I think as Buck works on the arm.

Now for a change of pace, Buck works on the arm. Good to see them mixing things up in a match that has no apparent reason for being two out of three falls. Milliman gets two off something like a DDT. A slam gets two for Buck. Jake hits a flying forearm to take over but Zumhofe slams him off the top and wins with a Vader Bomb.

Rating: D+. Boring match and I have no idea why it was two out of three. Milliman got squashed twice in a row when once certainly would have given us the same result. Also, why not make this for the title if it’s going to be a squash? Either way, dull stuff but not terrible I guess.

Buy the AWA shirt! It’s $10 which is a lot better than the $39.99 for the Austin jersey in 1998.

The High Fliers say Saito is strong. They say they’ll be patient about getting their titles back.

Zumhofe says happy new year while having Auld Lang Syne playing on his boombox.

House show rundown. Bockwinkel comes in to announce his partner as Jerry Blackwell. He’s half of the tag champions and injured both Mad Dog Vachon and the Crusher, the two guys they’re teaming against.

AWA World Title: Mad Dog Vachon vs. Nick Bockwinkel

This is from Christmas Night and we’re joined in progress with Bockwinkel in trouble. I think they said there are five minutes left in the time limit. A backdrop gets two for Mad Dog. Vachon has dominated this according to Trongard. Bockwinkel avoids a charge in the corner and both guys are down. Nick tries the piledriver but Vachon reverses. Vachon puts him down but pulls him up at two. There’s a piledriver by Mad Dog for the pin and the title! That came out of nowhere. Not enough shown to properly rate it but it was your usual main event style ending, although the pin comes out of nowhere.

Heenan and Bockwinkel jump Mad Dog’s friend Crusher post match until Crusher gets a chair and pops them both with it. And never mind as Bockwinkel is disqualified for something so there’s no title change. This was a weekly thing in the AWA, including twice taking the title back from Hogan, which is why he bolted.

Vachon says he’ll hurt Blackwell. Crusher comes in and calls Blackwell fat.

Overall Rating: C-. The show isn’t really bad and at just an hour, it’s not like this is a chore to sit through. The in ring work is far weaker than the talking parts though, which set up future stuff as well as catch us up on what’s been happening. Not a terrible show or anything, but it’s not something I would regularly watch I don’t think.

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