wrestling / Video Reviews
The Name on the Marquee: Smoky Mountain Wrestling (2.8.1992)
Loading...-Originally aired February 8, 1992.
-From Greenville, SC.
-Your hosts are Bob Caudle and Jim Cornette.
HOLLYWOOD BOB HOLLY vs. TIM FRY
-Holly is a pissed off heel who for some reason is dressed head-to-toe like Bret Hart, with sunglasses and a black jacket for his entrance, and a hot pink singlet with long tights. Corny calls him one of wrestling’s most talked-about newcomers.
-Holly is really aggressive with his offense, jerking Fry’s hair and arm while Cornette talks about all the casting directors that are hounding Bob Holly lately. Ron Wright wheels his way down to ringside to get a good look at Holly. Caudle wonders how you can feel sympathy for Wright, a man who “has put more stitches in people’s faces than Aunt Millie puts in her quilt.”
-Legdrop by Holly gets two. Backbreaker and an elbow get two more. Holly slams Fry into position, and then gets some jaw-dropping air with a kneedrop from the top rope to finish.
-We get words from Ivan Koloff and his nephew Vladimir, who is a dead ringer for Nikita and is doing an impressive job aping the act.
-Call Sandy Scott’s office for information about Smoky Mountain Wrestling fundraisers!
“Rock & Roll” Robert Gibson promises the fans that Rock & Roll will never die, and he thanks the fans for standing by him.
“Mister Wonderful” PAUL ORNDORFF vs. “Hustler” RIP ROGERS
-Orndorff’s the biggest star we’ve seen so far and therefore gets the biggest reaction from the crowd. Corny says that Orndorff is a tough guy and that’s why he came to Smoky Mountain Wrestling—here, he can focus on competing and winning instead of having to worry about how well the Paul Orndorff doll is selling. Corny just wishes Orndorff wouldn’t spend so much time sucking up to hillbilly fans for approval.
-Rogers attacks Orndorff from behind and that just pisses off the Wonderful One. Orndorff clotheslines him all over the place and takes him out to the floor to ram him into a table. Back in, Orndorff comes off the top rope with an elbow. Orndorff works the arm as Rogers screams for mercy. Rogers rakes Orndorff’s back until Orndorff breaks the hold, and Rogers boots him out to the floor.
-Rogers rams Orndorff into the barricade a few times, then rams him into the chairs next to ring announcer Scooter Leslie, because of COURSE the ring announcer’s name is Scooter. I don’t want to sound like a jerk here, I really do kind of admire that. Corny really had no interest in making this a national promotion. He wants SMW to be a territory and he wants to cater to the region, and by God, he delivers!
-Sleeper by Rogers and Orndorff breaks it by running him into the turnbuckles. Orndorff cradles him for two. Rogers fights back with a suplex attempt, but Orndorff reverses it, with Rogers screaming for his life. Hard right hand by Orndorff causes Rogers to fall backward into the ropes and get all Andred up in them. Corny casually mentions that the piledriver is barred in Smoky Mountain Wrestling, at which point Orndorff simply hooks Rogers’ legs and rolls them up for three. Disappointing finish for what had been one HELL of a match, but I think Corny booked himself into a corner by making a match with two guys that he probably had plans for.
-Bob Caudle talks to “Nitro” Danny Davis, who’s excited because live wrestling hasn’t been coming to the smaller towns in the Smoky Mountain area and it’s time to bring some new life into the region.
-Commissioner Bob Armstrong has a big stack of paperwork and says he’s in the middle of lots of contract negotiations to get the best wrestlers to come to Smoky Mountain Wrestling.
-Next, here’s Brian Lee, who says that he wants a piece of Dutch Mantell if Mantell has the guts to back up the stuff he said on commentary.
SCOTT ARMSTRONG vs. DUTCH MANTELL
-Armstrong works the arm. Mantell goes to the ropes and the referee here has the same problem that WWF referees had, where he clearly doesn’t get the rope-kicking spot and kicks Mantell’s arm instead. It’s a shame; it’s such a great, simple spot and we’re never going to see it again in a big match because for some reason, nobody gets how it’s supposed to look.
-Abdominal stretch by Mantell and he grabs the ropes, not for leverage, Corny explains. It’s simply that Mantell’s hand is sweaty and he’s trying to wipe it off. Referee forces a break of the hold, but Armstrong can’t take advantage of the break, missing a dropkick, and Mantell locks on an armbar. He punches Armstrong out to the floor, which “breaks his fall” so Armstrong isn’t really hurt. Armstrong gets aggressive once he gets back in the ring, throwing a series of punches, so Mantell whips out his bullwhip and whips Armstrong with it for the DQ.
-Brian Lee comes to the rescue and clears the ring after the bell, and Mantell issues a challenge over the mic before taking off.
-Jerry Williams of Morristown High School gives a ringing endorsement to Smoky Mountain Wrestling fundraisers. It was a fun show and the SMW people were very easy to do business with.
-Bob Armstrong books Mantell vs. Lee for next week.
-Cornette says he’s tired of being asked about the new tag team he’s bringing into SMW and he says he doesn’t want them until SMW introduces a tag team championship because his men are champions, and they aren’t champions at selling bubble gum cards, and they aren’t champions at endorsing sneakers; they’re champions at wrestling, dad gummit.
-SMW Fundraisers!
-Bob Caudle talks to Wally Yamaguchi of Power Channel Cable TV, who is trying to arrange TV and talent exchanges with SMW and hopes to have news in the future.
-We go back to last week’s confrontation between the Russians and the Fantastics.
-Ron Wright is upset that anybody would accuse a poor, crippled sick man of interfering in a wrestling match. All he wanted to do was scout talent so he can make a lot of money and get the surgery he so desperately needs. Ron Wright really should have been a bigger star. He was such a pain in the ass.
THE FANTASTICS vs. IVAN & VLADIMIR KOLOFF
-A donnybrook erupts at pier six before Katie even has a chance to bar the door, and the Koloffs retreat to the floor quickly.
-Vladimir gets worked over by Jackie Fulton. Bobby tags in and monkeyflips him, but Ivan sweeps his leg. Bobby stays on the mat and drop-toeholds Ivan, then takes a cheap shot at Vladimir, which outrages Corny. Bobby works the arm of Ivan, then applies a front facelock and we get a neat bit where Ivan clearly gives his nephew a signal, and Vladimir creates a distraction and then runs in for double-teaming, like this was a plan they laid out before the match.
-Koloffs cut the ring in half nicely, and the commentary is pretty much already declaring this a victory for the Koloffs because they’re doing such a good job of controlling the match. Fulton gets rammed face-first into the turnbuckle while the Russian chain just HAPPENS to be draped over it. Jackie gets knocked off the apron before he can make the hot tag and the Koloffs double-suplex Bobby. Headlock by Vladimir and Bobby writhes in pain but smiles when he looks at his brother because he hasn’t given up hope yet.
-Hot tag is finally made and Jackie’s a house of fire, which Corny actually says after I type it. Jackie gets knocked out on the floor and the Koloffs beat on Bobby some more. The Koloffs sorta-kinda forget that Jackie is actually the legal man so Jackie flies off the top rope and lands on Ivan, who isn’t ready for him, and the Fantastics get the win.
-Bob Caudle talks to Jim Cornette, who says that he doesn’t want to go to all these damn redneck hillbilly towns, but it’s where Bob Armstrong wants SMW to go. Terry Gordy walks in wearing a pink & purple striped shirt that I actually had when I was in seventh grade, and he does a crazy drugged-out promo promising that he’s going to illuminate the skies over the Smoky Mountains, because he’s gone from Badstreet to Tokyo.
-And Tim Horner is glad to wrestle home. He loves the Smoky Mountains and he loves being able to compete at the level that they’re able to compete at. SMW isn’t a bodybuilding competition or a rock concert.
