wrestling / Video Reviews
The Name on the Marquee: Smoky Mountain Wrestling (5.7.1994)
Loading...-Originally aired May 7, 1994.
-We’re in Clinton, TN.
-Your hosts are Bob Caudle & Les Thatcher. Chris Hamrick gets drawn for Beat the Champ.
DIRTY WHITE BOY vs DARK SECRET
-DWB still has his eye patched up from Kendo the Samurai’s attack.
-Secret gets hammered down. DWB goes after Dark Secret’s eye through the mask, just needing to take his anger out on somebody. Bucksnort Blaster gets a fast three count.
-Bob Caudle chats with DWB after the match. DWB has big plans for “The Jap” and then he’s coming after Jake the Snake.
-Chip Kessler is in the locker room at Freedom Hall, where the Rock & Roll Express lost the SMW Tag Team Titles to Brian Lee & Chris Candido. The cute booking here is that the title match is preceded by a one-on-one match with the fans voting on who they want from each team. Ricky Morton gets the pick for the Express, and to pay off the running gag about Candido being too much of a wimp to do his own fighting, Candido gets the vote. Ricky Morton gets the win, and then, failing to understand that no means no, shoves his tongue down Tammy Fytch’s throat. Candido attacks Morton with a piledriver, earning himself a $1,000 fine but seriously injuring Morton before the title match later that night.
-Robert Gibson defends the title in a handicap match until Morton courageously returns to the ring in a neckbrace to tag in, and Brian Lee immediately drops him throat-first on the top rope and Morton collapses for an easy three count.
-We get the Thrillseekers music video again with goof-off Chris having to be reined in by responsible one Lance. This really is a fun dynamic and I hope they push it harder in the coming months.
-We flash back to Bruiser Bedlam and Jim Cornette’s assault on Tracy Smothers & Bob Armstrong last week.
-We go to an interview conducted in the locker room immediately after. Tracy says that Bob Armstrong has been a second father for him, and since Armstrong is now legally prohibited from ever wrestling again, Tracy vows to get revenge for him.
-“Macho Man” Randy Savage music video and oh my god it’s beautiful. We get words from Savage afterward. He’s coming to Tennessee to WALK THAT AISLE in the glory days of Smoky Mountain Wrestling. His good friend Bob Armstrong has a problem, and Savage is a problem solver, dig it? Savage mentions that his visit to SMW will be “a magic carpet ride,” which harkens back to a great tip that the Honky Tonk Man gave in a shoot interview once for any aspiring wrestlers who are weak on promo skills: just grab something from a song lyric if you don’t have anything else to say. Obviously, Savage wasn’t weak on promos, but “magic carpet ride” is a great little phrase and it gets your attention.
BEAT THE CHAMP TV TITLE: BRUISER BEDLAM (Champion, with Jim Cornette) vs CHRIS HAMRICK
-Bedlam pounds away at Hamrick. Hamrick goes off the ropes and charges. Bedlam ducks and Hamrick goes over the top rope and crashes on the floor. Bedlam press slams him back into the ring and gets the stomach claw to get the win.
-We watch Bruiser Bedlam doing some heavy weightlifting while Jim Cornette runs down Randy Savage & Bob Armstrong. Bedlam practices for the stomach claw by driving nails into wood with his bare hands.
-Jake Roberts cuts an awesome promo talking about seeing Dirty White Boy in a locker room ten years ago and predicting “This guy’s not gonna make it in wrestling”…and he hasn’t, because a REAL talent wouldn’t walk around with his eye all patched up for weeks and weeks because a little spit got into it.
-Darryl Van Horne & Kendo the Samurai are here. Kendo will strike again, and Van Horne warns that it will happen before Jake the Snake arrives.
THRILLSEEKERS vs WELL DUNN
-Timothy Well starts with Chris Jericho. He gets pinballed in the corner and heads out for a breather. Back in, Jericho connects with a springboard moonsault and Well goes out for another break. Fans aren’t popping enough to Jericho’s liking and he’s desperately trying to get SOMETHING out of them.
-Steven Dunn finally tags in and takes some flying headscissors from Lance Storm. Jericho bounces off the ropes and Well pulls down the top rope to make Jericho tumble out to the floor. Well Dunn double-teams Jericho. Crowd is just NOT into this match and there’s a weirdly lethargic vibe to it.
-Donnybrook breaks out eventually, and an attempted double-team by Well Dunn backfires and both of them get rolled up and pinned for a Thrillseekers win. After the bell, Well Dunn soaks a towel with mystery liquid and uses it to smother & choke the Thrillseekers and WE’RE DESPERATELY OUTTA TIME! I gotta say, this feud is leaving me flat. I feel like no matter what Cornette or any other promoter could possibly attempt, Well Dunn just has WWF jobber stink on them. I also just really hate the way this match was booked. Yeah, Well Dunn has done a dastardly deed, but guess what? They got pinned clean as a sheet, the Thrillseekers are the bigger stars and this feud is DEAD.
