The Name on the Marquee: Smoky Mountain Wrestling (7.3.1993)

-Originally aired July 3, 1993.

-Your hosts are Bob Caudle (“the epitome of a white man in brown shoes,” according to Jim Ross) and Dr. Dutch Mantell. There will not be a Beat the Champ match this week because Bobby Blaze took such a beating last week that the SMW board of directors granted it an extreme circumstance and let him take the day off. It also helps the board of directors scrape together the necessary thousand bucks.

BRUISE BROTHERS vs ROBBIE EAGLE & JEFF DANIELS
-Brothers attack immediately. One of them takes Daniels out to the crowd and wipes out three full rows of seats with an Irish whip, and the fans scatter to get away from them. Gotta hand it to them, that isn’t something you saw on TV wrestling in 1993 and it makes them look dangerous. Robbie goes into a table as Daniels gets back into the ring. Boots and clotheslines by the Bruise Brothers. Cornette leaves the commentary table for a little while to add some tennis racquet blasts. Referee gets tossed across the ring in all this chaos. Bruise Brothers get disqualified, and they just don’t care.

-Cornette and his whole crew are here. Jimmy Del Ray is tired of getting nude photos in the mail from Scott Armstrong’s ugly girlfriend.

-Tommy Lloyd is at a hotel in the affluent part of Knoxville, where Tammy Fytch has made a temporary residence while she manages in SMW. Tammy Fytch answers the door in a silk robe and makes Tommy meet her out back by the pool so he doesn’t track mud into the lobby.

-So now we’re poolside. Everybody knocked Hillary Clinton just because she’s a woman, but now she’s getting things done as the real President of the US. Brian Lee walks out and complains that every time Tracy Smothers has even the slightest whiff of adversity, SMW and all the guys in the locker room have their back. But last year, he got screwed out of the SMW Title, AND had a bounty on his head, AND spent two months in the hospital, and absolutely nobody came through for him when he needed help. We promptly go to video of Tracy Smothers coming to Brian Lee’s aid, and Lee says, as usual, Tracy is out there to hog the spotlight and look like a hero. He’s signed with Tammy Fytch and says “she takes care of men.” Tammy whips off the robe and reveals a while bikini, and even pre-implants, she’s giving off enough steam to unclog your sinuses.

-Tracy Smothers promises that he’s gonna make Brian Lee pay for turning on his friends just for some dumb ‘ol girl. The Armstrong Brothers cut a brutal promo where they promise “a human sacrifice” with Jim Cornette. Somebody audibly objects to that off-camera and the Armstrongs promise it won’t be that violent, but then say that it will be violent. That was odd.

$20,000 BOUNTY MATCH: TRACY SMOTHERS (SMW Champion) vs KILLER KYLE
-Kyle attacks on the floor during the entrance as the fans start a “USA” chant for some reason. Kyle tries to ram him into the post, but Smothers counters and whips him into three different posts, and works his arm over with a barricade. Back in the ring, a double axehandle by Smothers gets two.

-Kyle fights back with choking and right hands. Smothers boots him down for a one. Series of punches by Smothers, and an enziguiri sends Kyle out to the floor for a breather. Back in, Kyle rebounds with a slingshot back suplex and a bearhug. Smothers punches free and connects with a high knee. Kyle fights back and applies a rear chinlock. Elbow misses and Tracy quickly rolls him for three. Short but pretty good.

-A black and blue Bobby Blaze admits that yeah, he got his brains beat out, but Dirty White Boy made an idiot of himself for underestimating his opponent. He says Dirty White Boy could probably beat him 99 times out of 100, but at least Blaze has the guts to get in the ring 100 times. Even if he’s outmatched, he won’t back off from a fight.

-Blaze vs. Boy has been added to the SummerBlast card, and Ron Wright is so happy about it, it’s enough to make him feel healthier, except for his incurable coughing fits and need for a wheelchair.

-Bob Caudle talks to WWA Champion Chris Candido. Dennis Corraluzzo is putting together a pay-per-view event with guests Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, Jean Claude Van Damme, Mike Tyson, and a WWA Title match in the main event. Tim Horner storms out and says he’s tired of looking at Candido’s “souped-up car tag” phony title belt and says if he wants to be a REAL champion, he needs to meet top competition in SMW. He storms right to the ring and demands a WWA Title match, just to screw with Candido, and Candido goes from braggart to coward in a matter of seconds. What makes it especially funny is the audible change in voice. He started the promo as a Jersey tough guy, but as soon as Horner demands the match, Candido suddenly sounds like Kermit the Frog on helium, and you’d swear he’s about to cry.

TIM HORNER vs “Suicide Blonde” CHRIS CANDIDO (WWA Champion)
-Horner lays into Candido with elbows and suplexes. Dutch clarifies that Candido wasn’t lying about the pay-per-view show, and he knows because he got an invitation from Dennis Corraluzzo to wrestle on the show. Unfortunately, the card was going to take place around the time that Rush Limbaugh comes on, so he had to say no.

-Candido fights back with elbows and choking. Backdrop is turned into a cradle by Horner for two. Candido fights off the comeback and goes for a suicideplex, but Horner turns it into a Gourdbuster and then connects with a top rope bodypress for two. I could have sworn that was it. Candido pulls out a chain and KOs Horner with a chain, then pins him with a foot on the rope. Real funny aftermath, as Mark Curtis picks up the chain and confronts Candido with the evidence. Candido RUNS out of the ring, and Curtis chases him around ringside and back to the locker room, waving the chain around all the while.

-Bob Armstrong says the army is coming for him. Payback is going to be very slow, and very painful. He says that SummerBlast should be retitled “The Jim Cornette Farewell Tour.”

-The Armstrong Brothers and the Rock & Roll Express are ready for SummerBlast!

-Jim Cornette is gonna smash & bash Bob Armstrong again, just like he did at Rage in the Cage. They’re gonna kick his butt, kick his sons’ butts, and kick the dog if Armstrong brings him too.

STEVE ARMSTRONG vs JIMMY DEL RAY (with Jim Cornette)
-Armstrong blitzes to the ring and fires off punches at 100MPH. Clothesline sends Del Ray out to the floor and slingshots him back in. Kneedrop by Armstrong. Del Ray counters a clothesline with a DDT. Del Ray chokes away and slams Armstrong. Legdrop from the top gets two. That surprises Del Ray, so he tries it again and Steve gets out of the way this time. Steve comes back with punches and chops. Bodypress off the top looks to finish, but Cornette stops the pin by KOing the referee with the tennis racquet. Tom Pritchard comes to the ring for a 2-on-1 assault, but Scott rescues his brother quickly. That brings in the Bruise Brothers, and THAT brings in the Rock & Roll Express, and WE ARE DESPERATELY OUTTA TIME, COPYRIGHT NOTICE AND FADE TO BLACK!

7.2

The final score: review Good

The 411

Wonderful, angle-loaded show this week once again. I can't say enough about how good this show was at making every segment matter.