by Liam Byrne
The main event is up next as Krusher Kruschev meets Jim Duggan in a flag versus hair match. As stated before, this feels like a feud that had been dragged out for quite a while, yet the stipulation as least adds something to it, as well as Cornette’s involvement as the catalyst. The two men collide in the middle of the ring in the early exchanges, before Duggan drops Kruschev with a body slam and a shoulderblock. A clothesline and an elbowdrop has Duggan in control, whilst a rear chinlock aims to wear Kruschev down. In a poorly thought out decision, Duggan then tries to hit a top rope tackle and completely misses, allowing Kruschev a way back in.
Kruschev uses the top rope to choke Duggan, as well as avoiding a Duggan kick that sees Hacksaw crash to the mat. A second rope punch to the forehead earns Kruschev a two count, but Duggan bursts out of the corner with a lariat to leave both men on the canvas. A second attempt at the second rope punch is greeted by a Duggan clothesline, with Kruschev elevated into the air with a back body drop moments later. A sequence of leapfrogs and duck downs that highlight some impressive athleticism by Duggan ends up with Hacksaw’s flying tackle and a three count. A simple, but effective main event.
Kruschev and Duggan end up fighting over the flag in the center of the ring, a fight that Duggan wins and uses as the precursor to rip up the Russian flag. The lengths they’ll go to to get an angle over on television, only furthered by the last segment. Following the Rock and Roll Express montage video (with Bill Watts proclaiming they will be back soon), Duggan is ringside and sets fire to the Russian flag! Very much an angle you could only get away with during this time period and one that taps into the very ethos of what Watts liked to promote through his company – the triumph of the Good Ol’ American Way.
A decent show all round, with a solid main event ably supported by an interesting, if not particularly impressive, match between Ladd and Brown, alongside worthwhile squashes with Street and the Midnights.
September
CWA Championship Wrestling 1.9.84
Dave Brown is back alongside Lance Russell on tonight’s Memphis show as he gets the chance to run down the card as The New Generation take on Poffomania, Giant Frazier returns to the promotion, Ric Rude in singles action, Dutch Mantell in a tag team match against the Nightmares, and Eddie Gilbert versus Jerry Lawler. The card definitely looks good on paper, yet I’ll be intrigued as to how much of the cut of this episode allows me to see as we are back down around the fourty-five minute mark for the show.
The New Generation and Poffomania is our opening bout, with Randy Savage wearing an impressive looking robe accompanied by Lanny Poffo in his suit of armour. Johnny Wilhoit and Poffo begin the match for their teams, and the opening exchange is a real mess – Poffo lands on his feet after a back body drop, careens into the ropes, then falls to the floor as Wilhoit aims a dropkick at him, one that ends up hitting him about two inches off of the mat. A repeat of the back body drop spot this time sends Poffo to the mat, and Mark Batten gets a one count after a crossbody following a tag. Two armdrags allow the New Generation to keep Poffo grounded, though Wilhoit’s own armdrag sends Poffo into the corner and allows him to make a tag to Savage.
Savage takes his time to engage, choosing instead to get verbal with Tojo Yamamoto at ringside. The instant Savage is caught in a side headlock, he tags back to Poffo. Poffo athletically escapes from a side headlock on the mat, only to get hit with a Batten back body drop that leads to him tagging back out. Savage lures Batten back into the corner and Poffo is almost immediately back in the ring, though this time with Poffomania in control. Both members of the team pepper Batten with strikes, whilst Savage uses his over the top rope clothesline to good effect, one that Poffo repeats moments later. Savage’s attempts to wind up Yamamoto sees the referee out of position for a New Generation tag, as well as a top rope axe handle.
Batten almost steals victory with a small package on Savage, but several unorthodox kicks followed by a rolling senton by Poffo keeps him down. With Batten at ringside, both Savage and Poffo tease jumps to the outside but the referee is in position this time to stop them. Batten telegraphs a back body drop, whilst a missed Poffo elbowdrop allows Wilhoit to get the tag in. Wilhoit hits dropkicks on both members of Poffomania, yet he takes a big knee to the stomach from Savage to cut off his fire. The referee is busy stopping Yamamoto and Angelo Poffo getting into it at ringside, leading to a slam and top rope elbowdrop by Savage. A very competitive and relatively long match for television which started inauspiciously but picked up quickly, especially when Savage found his way into the contest.
David Johnson is the unfortunate wrestler who has to take on Giant Frazier, who apparently is another heel under the tutelage of Jimmy Hart. Three big punches have Johnson on the canvas in seconds and things don’t improve as Frazier uses his bulk to manhandle his opponent. He looks as if he is going for a bodyslam, but turns it into a lifting choke before nailing two leg drops for the easy victory. Frazier’s second legdrop looks like it engulfed Johnson’s head – I do not envy him one bit.
After a break, Ric Rude is up against Randy Johnson, a jobber who would fit in nicely with the hillbilly gimmick that Giant Frazier would eventually use in the WWF as he wears a white shirt with a pair of dungarees. Following a very competitive opening match, the next two contests are short, brutal squashes. A back elbow and an elbowdrop target the head and neck area, whilst Rude picks up Johnson after a backbreaker and kneedrop at two. A couple of straight rights have Johnson toppling to the canvas, which Rude follows with a DDT. Rude will proclaim ‘this one’s for the King’ as he lands a second rope fistdrop for the win. A dominant performance.
Dutch Mantell’s tag team partner for his match with the Nightmares is Mark Reagan, who comes down to the ring with ‘Billy Jean’ by Michael Jackson blaring out over the PA system. Mantell and Nightmare #2 start the contest, with Mantell grabbing an early top wristlock takedown. Nightmare #1 is greeted with a hiptoss and an arm wringer upon his arrival into the match, whilst Reagan uses a side headlock to maintain control. Reagan impressively flips out of a headscissors down on the canvas to little reaction from the studio audience, with a dropkick to Nightmare #2 moments later also getting limited response until the heel starts complaining about a mask pull, with the same thing happening after a Reagan hiptoss/complaints about a handful of tights.
Reagan sends one of the Nightmares to the ringside after a flying headscissors, which somewhat forces a reset to the match, with Mantell using a side headlock to regain control for the face team after an impactful shoulderblock. Rather than force the issue, Mantell leaves the ring to try and get physical with Hart three times, the last time after an attempted criss cross allows him a chance to slide under the bottom rope. However, this disrupts the flow of the contest once more. An illegal knee to Reagan finally gives the Nightmares a chance to work over their opponent with quick tags and strikes. Nightmare #1 grabs a two count off of a powerslam, before Reagan gets punished with a bear hug.
Regan manages to break the hold, yet finds himself moments later in a camel clutch. We are past the ten minute mark as the bear hug is applied once more, yet just as it looks like Reagan might make a tag, the other Nightmare enters the ring to grab a handful of hair. Mantell is firing up the crowd on the apron, and it inspires Reagan enough to scoot through the legs of a Nightmare and make the tag. All four men are in the ring, which allows Hart to enter with his cane in an effort to save his team following a Mantell powerslam. However, Dutch sees it coming and begins to chase Hart around the ring, leading to a disqualification. This just didn’t work for me: too long for a non-finish, too stop-start, too little crowd engagement with Reagan as a face in peril.
It would appear that any build to the shows at the Mid-South, or footage from the previous Monday’s event, are what has been lost from this episode as we head to the main event: Jerry Lawler versus Eddie Gilbert. Lawler chances his arm by suggesting it should be a title match for the International Heavyweight Title, but Gilbert is having none of it. The fir
st exchanges of the contest see Gilbert hit an arm throw, a bodyslam and a hiptoss, with each move seeing Gilbert arrogantly strutting around the ring. He is soon at ringside after Lawler retaliates by repeating each move dished out to him, much to the chagrin of the champion. As the crowd get behind Lawler, Gilbert throws a chair across the room, but his anger doesn’t help him as Lawler lands another hiptoss as Hot Stuff charges at him in the ring.
A punch on what should have been a clean break has Gilbert once more showing off, but the moment Lawler threatens to throw a punch at him, he dives outside of the ring in a move that has Hot Stuff tapping the side of his head to indicate what a smart move he thinks it is. However, he finally eats a punch after a second attempted leapfrog within seconds is telegraphed by Lawler, leading to more time with Gilbert avoiding engaging. A slow start sees the match begin to pick up speed as Gilbert wails away on Lawler in the corner with several punches, yet Lawler drops the strap and blasts away on Gilbert with punches of his own. Just as the match is kicking into gear, Ric Rude jumps in for the disqualification. Initially, Lawler is beaten down by both men, but he grabs the chair that Gilbert threw across the room earlier and runs both Rude and Gilbert off. This is a real shame, as the match was building up quite nicely; I guess it did its job in making people want to see them meet again, perhaps in the Coliseum.
A show that didn’t really live up to its expectations, with it all going downhill from the opening match. Rude’s squash was fine, but the twelve minutes given over to Mantell, Reagan and the Nightmares could have been better used. I do look forward to more Gilbert versus Lawler interaction, though the company is clearly still milking the Rude feud for as much as it is worth.
MACW World Wide Wrestling 1.9.84
Brian Adidis continues his stretch of starting the Mid-Atlantic shows, though this time he is joined by his partner in crime of offering up less than engaging squash matches, Angelo Mosca Jr. They are up against Jeff Swords and Doug Vines, with Adidis uses a side headlock, shoulderblock, hiptoss and armdrag on Swords to start things off quickly. A leapfrog allows Adidis to hit a dropkick, followed by another armdrag and a Mosca Jr. legdrop after the tag. Mosca Jr. throws Swords with a very loose looking hiptoss, before using an arm wringer to control him and tag back out. Swords manages to work his way to tag to Vines, who has some initial success with a big beil out of the corner. This just seems to annoy Adidis, who punches Vines several times and hits a dropkick to the face. Mosca Jr. also has some struggles as he gets caught in the heel corner, with Swords landing a Samoan drop, though he almost instantly missed an elbowdrop. Vines ends up back in the ring, but back into Mosca Jr’s arm work. Eventually, a powerslam by Adidis sets up for a top rope crossbody by Mosca Jr. for the win. A lot of this just ambled along with little structure until the finish.
During the match David Crockett and Bob Caudle say that we are going to see some of the stars that have been mentioned in the past weeks, and this starts with the Long Riders as they are interviewed alongside JJ Dillon. Dillon wants people to stand up and take notice, whilst Ron Bass plays up the Texan element of their gimmick as he talks about people disliking their hats, their coats, their cow bells and their whips. Bart adds a few generic tough guy words to finish.
Ivan Koloff, with Nikita Koloff in his corner, is up against Mike Fever next, and causally chucks him across the ring out of a collar and elbow tie up. The two men trade hammerlocks, but a Fever elbow to break the hold has the crowd cheering along. This is all Fever offers initially, with Koloff hitting several clubbing blows and a big kneedrop across the chest of his opponent. A clothesline to the back of the head, a headbutt to the back and several boots to the stomach showcase Koloff’s unorthodox offense, whilst a suplex shows his sound technical ability as well. Throughout the match, Koloff continues to talk to Nikita, using this as a teaching opportunity. It is a backbreaker that finishes the match with Ivan the dominant winner. I like the focus on teaching Nikita, which also bleeds into the amount of offense Ivan allowed his opponent: significantly less than usual.
After a shill for an event at the Roanoke Civic Center that sees Tully Blanchard talk about a TV Title defense against Barry Windham (still being promoted as the wrestler who’d signed the biggest contract in wrestling history), we get to see Windham in the ring as he enters to ‘Sharp Dressed Man’ and faces off against Gary Royal. Windham’s offense is dynamic, with a snappy hiptoss, though he has to take evasive action to avoid a Royal falling headbutt after ending up on the canvas. A slam leads to a chinlock, but Royal makes the ropes to break it. Two shoulderblocks in a roll set up Royal for a Windham dropkick, although it is slowed down once more by a side headlock spot.
Royal actually escapes with a nice looking backbreaker, but he is unable to capitalise with Windham scoring a nearfall off of a running forearm moments later. A front facelock is then used by Windham to wear down Royal, whilst Royal’s brief come back is halted when he misses a dropkick. This allows Windham to hit his jumping clothesline for the win. This is where a squash more akin to what Windham is used to in Florida would have been better: this was too competitive and involved too many rest holds for someone they have promoted so heavily.
After a commercial break, we return to JJ Dillon, Paul Jones and the Zambuie Express alongside Crockett, with Dillon passing the contract for the Express over to Jones due to the conflict of interest caused by him managing the Long Riders. He reads a statement by Elijah Akeem, one that we are helped with by subtitles of what the piece of paper says. The overarching theme here is that the Express is a team that are attempting to herald a revolution against the suffering of people of colour and rally against the backward thinking of those in positions of power. It is odd that this type of progressive gimmick, at last in terms of the words spoken, is given to a heel team, as the desire to be fairly treated as a minority should be a given. When you couple it to a pair of close to, if not actually, four hundred pound wrestlers who bend the rules, I guess it takes on a whole different look.
Speaking of JJ Dillon, it is the Long Riders who are in action next as they take on Gene Ligon and Tom Shaft. Bart begins the contest for his team, using the ropes and his head to target the arm of Ligon. That assault on the arm continues as Bass gets in the ring and stamps on it multiple times before ramming Ligon into the turnbuckle arm first twice. A legdrop to the arm, an armbar and a splash t the arm by Bart continue the theme of working the injured limb, as does the hammerlock with knees that Bass then uses. When Ligon gets thrown outside, Bass grabs him and posts the injured arm for good measure.
Bass eventually makes a mistake when using the ropes to attack Ligon, as it sends him flying back into his own corner for the tag to Shaft. However, a boot in the corner halts a charge by Shaft and allows them isolate their other opponent. In an odd decision, Shaft fires back with a headbutt and then tags out pretty much immediately. An eye rake from Bart stops Ligon coming in, whilst both Long Riders choose to lift him up twice when in pinning predicaments. Two running charges in the corner by Bart sets things up for a powerslam by Bass for the victory. The initial arm work was good, but this went really too long for a squash match.
Dusty Rhodes is with Crockett, with words for Tully Blanchard, Wahoo McDaniel, Ivan Koloff and Don Kernodle, as he is sowing his seeds far and wide. He preaches unity, before throwing over to the ring in a brief promo.
It is Mike Rotunda in the ring next as he faces Paul Kelly, with some opening rope running ending with a Rotunda dropkick. The match goes to the ground with a side headlock takedown by Rotunda, before neither man wants a clean break as they tag each other with a couple of punches until Rotunda drags Kelly back to the mat. Kelly cannot escape as Rotunda uses leverage to keep him down on the canvas, as well as going back to the hold the moment it is broken. Kelly does have a brief flurry of offense, though it is once again cut off by a Rotunda punch. A slam and two elbowdrops earn Rotunda a pinfall and he follows with two quick cradles for two other nearfalls. Three two counts in a row lead to another sid
e headlock, followed by two turnbuckle smashes and a back elbow for one further two count. However, an airplane spin is the next move and is enough for the win. Way too many two counts against a wrestler of Kelly’s standing just hurts a wrestling in my opinion, even if it is somewhat Rotunda’s style to grind opponents on the mat.
After we get the return words from Barry Windham to shill the Television Title contest against Tully Blanchard, once again proving that Windham shouldn’t be let near a microphone at this stage in his career, we end up with some more brief words with Crockett from Ric Flair this time. It is the similar vein that has been tapped the last few weeks: Flair thinks McDaniel shouldn’t have sided with Blanchard, but since he has, Flair and the collective face group that are aligning with him will deal with that treachery. Crockett introduces new footage of Dusty Rhodes saving Flair from an attempted spike piledriver by McDaniel and Blanchard, a moment that has the crowd going mental.
The last match on the show is the Zambuie Express versus David Brown and Sam Houston, with the Express doing their usual and attacking before the bell. Punches, chokes and headbutts lead to the Express standing tall in the ring, whilst it is Houston who is the unfortunate member of the team who gets the initial beat down. Houston is dumped across the top rope and dropped with a double clothesline, but the Express refuse to pin him, instead chucking him into his own corner. The onslaught continues on Brown briefly, though they send him back to tag within seconds. Two slams, a double falling headbutt and an elbowdrop leaves Houston handily defeated by the Express in a Zambuie squash – same old, same old.
The changes in the territory are really significant, with this whole show focusing on talent that has been brought in recently outside of the opener. Whilst this should lead to an upturn in match quality with the Long Riders, Windham and Rotunda around, it just didn’t quite work this week. Nothing horrendous, but just some oddly booked squash matches let this down a little.