wrestling / Video Reviews
Memphis Wrestling (1.9.1982) Review
Image Credit: Memphis Wrestling
Loading...-Originally aired January 9, 1982.
-Your hosts are Lance Russell & Dave Brown.
DUTCH MANTELL (Southern Heavyweight Champion) vs. THE INVADER
-Invader may very well be a little kid that they threw a mask on to hide the fact that it’s a little kid. Seriously, where did this territory find these people?
-Mantell takes him to the mat. Invader throws punches and goes to the eyes. Dutch has no qualms about getting aggressive and knees the Invader down. Double chop to the throat by Dutch gets the pin.
-We go to the Mid-South Coliseum, where tonight’s big main event is a two-ring 23-man battle royal. You can get eliminated over the top rope or get pinned, and that sets the stage for your finish. Dennis Condrey is eliminated, but the referee gets bumped, so Condrey comes off the top rope and KOs Rick Gibson, and Randy Rose gets the tainted pin to win the battle royal. There’s a post-match beatdown by the Midnight Express on Gibson, and the severity is underscored by the droves of fans hustling out to beat the traffic in the background.
MIDNIGHT EXPRESS (with Norvell Austin) vs. ROY ROGERS & RICK MCCORD
-Rogers shoulderblocks Rose down and clamps on a side headlock. McCord tags in and applies a standing side headlock, but Rose turns it into a suplex and tags in Condrey. Decapitator COULD finish but they decide to keep dishing out more punishment, but before they can do that, here are the Gibson brothers with some revenge for the assault in the Mid-South Coliseum. Both of them are wielding boards and they just drive them into the Express’ skulls, with Rose doing a gory bladejob before running out of the building to save himself.
SPEED (with Jimmy Hart) vs. DENNIS UPTON
-These two are a pair. Speed is about 5’5″ and 140 tops. Upton is 6’5″ and no more than 180.
-Upton hammers Speed and backdrops him, but Speed comes back with a clothesline for three.
THE ASSASSINS (with Jimmy Hart) CHIEF THUNDERCLOUD & RICK MORTON
-Jerry Lawler steps in for guest commentary.
-Morton dropkicks the Iranian to start, but Cuban breaks the pin. Thundercloud snapmares the Iranian for a one-count. Morton comes back in and armdrags him around. Cuban tags in and gets knocked around with “a double Tommy-hawk,” and I like Lance’s unexpectedly bumpkinish spin on that name. Cuban keeps getting chopped and finally tags out in frustration.
-Iranian dodges a dropkick, then loads up his evil pointy boot and uses that for some punishment. Morton is face in peril before making the hot tag. Thundercloud throws more chops and additional chops, and for a guy who’s been in the business for 30 years by this point (according to Cagematch) he has a rather…underdeveloped arsenal.
-Thundercloud keeps throwing chops, but the Assassins take him down with a double clothesline for the three-count. It’s the ridiculous finish you see a lot in tag team matches in this era, where it’s supposed to be a tainted win because they did it behind the referee’s back, but guys do double clotheslines in front of referees all the time without consequence, so it’s a clean win.
EXPIRATION OF TIME: SUPERSTAR BILL DUNDEE & GIBSON BROTHERS vs. SWEET BROWN SUGAR, STAN LANE, & BOBBY EATON
-FALL ONE: Dundee dropkicks Sugar. Robert Gibson and Bobby Eaton trade right hands and Sugar comes back in to try a corner charge, but Robert turns it into a sunset flip for a one-count. Eaton bungles a double-team and knocks Lane to the floor. and suddenly the Assassins storm into the ring for a surprise attack, but Steve Keirn hurries in seconds later and helps clear the ring, and it’s a great big schmozz.
