The Name on the Marquee: Smoky Mountain Wrestling (10.29.1994)

-Originally aired October 29, 1994.

-Your hosts are Jim Ross and Les Thatcher.

-We take a look at the shocking attack on Ron Wright last week, and we get confirmation that Ron Wright is indeed coming out of retirement for a tag team match with Dirty White Boy against Bruiser Bedlam and Jim Cornette.

-DWB and Mr. Ron Wright are here. They’ve started training for Thanksgiving Thunder and if Wright’s hip is so bad that he has to go to the ring in a wheelchair, he’ll be there that night to fight that “potato-muscled” Cornette.

BEAT THE CHAMP TV TITLE: SCOTT STUD (Champion) vs. BRYANT ANDERSON (with Ole Anderson)
-Little touch that I like: Bryant is SO old-school that his dad sits in a chair to manage him.

-They battle for a top wristlock. Stud outmuscles him and gets him down to the mat. Stud is in firm control with an armdrag. Stud is actually wrestling circles around Anderson and Ole is calm as can be about it. You know what they should have done with Bryant and Ole? Ole should have been a “football father” who was clearly living vicariously through his son’s achievements, riding his ass and screaming at him through every match and then passive-aggressively taking full credit during promos, until Bryant finally snapped and got away from his dad. Ole would have been the right guy for that role and it would have gotten over big.

-Bryant takes control with a chinlock as we keep this one purely scientific. Stud runs into an elbow, but evades a corner charge. Stud goes to the top rope but crashes. Shoulderbreaker by Bryant, and Stud literally has his face against the bottom rope but submits anyway to give the title to Bryant.

-Bryant cuts a hilarious promo complaining about how long it took him to finally get a title shot, after, like, his third match. Tracy Smothers comes out to congratulate the new champ but says he’s ready for a match any time. Tracy promises to shake his hand if Bryant wins. Worth noting here: They walk away and Jim declares that the match is signed as a direct result of that promo. Bryant wanted a match against Tracy. Tracy wanted a match against Bryant. They agreed to a stipulation. They walked away. No need for a commissioner. No need for a 15-minute contract signing. They made their own match.

-We get an Abdullah the Butcher highlight reel, and a really good one, too.

-Jim Ross talks to Bullet Bob and they do such an awesome job putting over Abdullah. Both men say it literally never occurred to them that Cornette might sign Abdullah for this match because Abdullah’s been barred from so many promotions and so many arenas that everyone just kinda forgot about him.

CONFRONTATION WITH JIM ROSS
-Chris Candido’s suspension has been extended an extra two weeks as a result of last week’s incident. Les Thatcher interrupts the segment to announce that Candido is calling the arena and he’s demanding to talk with Tammy. Tammy storms off to deal with that, but leaves Boo out there all alone.

-Cactus Jack, who was supposed to be the other Confrontation guest, comes out to talk to Boo, who cuts a very sweet, shy promo where he gives his entire backstory. He was living in a cardboard box until Candido found him, and he beat up whoever Candido told him to beat up in exchange for being allowed to live in a nice, slightly bigger doghouse, which is fine, except when it rains because there’s a hole in the roof. He’s also never seen any of the money he makes from wrestling, but he gets a six-dollar-a-week allowance. Cactus tries to talk Boo into standing up for himself, but Tammy runs out in a hurry, whispers something in Boo’s ear…and Boo attacks Cactus. It turns into a brawl, with the chain and a metal bench getting involved.

BRUISER BEDLAM (with Jim Cornette) vs. CHAD AUSTIN
-Bedlam hammers away at Austin and suplexes him. Diving headbutt looks to finish, but Bruiser just wants to beat him up some more. Stomach claw puts Austin out of his misery.

-Jim Cornette runs down Ron Wright’s wrestling career, saying that he only beat a bunch of Tennessee pansies and never any tough men from another state. He thinks Ron Wright should act his age and die.

-Les Thatcher talks to Cactus Jack in the locker room. He demands a match against Boo Bradley, but promises that it’s a humanitarian mission and that he still wants Boo to come to his senses.

-Jim Ross announces that the Rock & Roll Express have been arrested for their assault on Da Gangstas in a bar.

-Da Gangstas come to the ring for a squash match, but Ricky Morton shows up with a folding chair and goes to town on them. Mustafa stops it with a nightstick, which brings out Robert Gibson, who for some reason wasn’t already out there, and the show ends with a big crazy brawl.

6.8

The final score: review Average

The 411

I'm enjoying Express/Gangstas more when it's just two teams that hate each other and they're veering away from the casual racism. I'm enjoying the Cactus/Boo Bradley stuff while it lasts because I'm aware of the sharp left turn that thing is about to take. And for the moment, I'm enjoying the Bryant Anderson stuff, although I have a hunch it's not going anywhere. Good week, though.