Memphis Wrestling (2.14.1981) Review

-Originally aired February 14, 1981.

-Your hosts are Lance Russell & Dave Brown.

-We go to the Mid-South Coliseum. The Bounty Hunters are signed to face Tommy Rich & Bill Dundee for the Tag Team Titles, and the Bounty Hunters attack the champs in the aisle and leave Dundee bloodied and in dire need of medical attention.

-Rich asks the referee for permission to get a substitute partner, but the referee refused to let him do that on short notice, so with no alternative, Tommy Rich has to defend the Tag Team Titles by himself in a handicap match.

-Rich ably handles the challengers for a bit, but gradually, the Bounty Hunters just wear him out. Rich hangs in there and gets some near falls while Lance Russell lays out the strategy: Rich needs a sudden lucky pin here because he absolutely cannot survive for a one-hour time limit against two men.

-Rich gets thrown to the concrete, where Jimmy Kent attacks him with a boot and opens his forehead with it. Rich survives long enough to throw a double dropkick, but soon he’s just overwhelmed by double-teaming.

-And NOW here’s Bill Dundee, all bandaged up. He beats Jimmy Kent on the floor, then heads in, totally fresh, to turn it into a 4-on-1 brawl, and Jimmy Kent hurries in while the referee is trying to restore order, striking with a weapon and hurrying out. Back in the studio, Lance clarifies that the Bounty Hunters did indeed go on to win the match, and they’re the new Tag Team Champs.

-We get the house show promo, and the now ex-champs vow revenge and mention “Oh, by the way, we shaved Jimmy Kent’s head.”

BOUNTY HUNTERS (Tag Team Champions, with Jimmy Kent) vs. DAVID PRICE & PAT HUTCHINSON
-And when we return to the studio, Jimmy Kent has a full head of hair. My god, this promotion and their godforsaken approach to house show promos…

-Big boot by David Novak. Jerry Novak tags in and drives an elbow into Hutchinson’s elbow. Hutchinson takes a bizarre bump off an attempted backdrop, just kind of slumping down on the mat without even going in the air. Price comes in and takes his beating, then Hutchinson tags back in and takes a cheap shot from Kent on the floor behind the referee’s back.

-…But then, even though the referee missed it, Lance rings the bell, and reveals that promoter Eddie Marlin walked through the studio door and signaled for him to ring the bell.

-We go to the locker room of Mid-South Coliseum, where Austin Idol goes on an unexpectedly foul-mouthed tirade against Jerry Lawler, calling attention to what appears to be a huge rope burn on his neck that Lawler caused. The longer Idol talks, the more his voice gradually transforms into heel-style Terry Funk, and it’s weird to hear that kind of voice coming out of Idol.

-And now, we have a special match coming to us all the way from New York, so Lance throws it over to Vince McMahon, Jr. for the call of the action!

HANDICAP MATCH: “The Incredible” HULK HOGAN (with Classy Freddy Blassie) vs. JOHN CALLAHAN & ANGELO GOMEZ
-Heavily and awkwardly-edited highlights of a squash match. The last time Hulk was in the territory, he was a face, so I feel like the only point here is to get him over as a heel now. Hogan stacks his opponents on top of each other, then sits on top to pin them together.

EXPIRATION OF TIME: ALI HASSAN & THE ANGEL (with Jimmy Hart) vs. EDDIE GILBERT & TOM MALEY
-First time in a while that we’ve seen Hassan. For anyone who’s late to these reviews, you might remember Hassan in his later role as the WWF referee who yelled everything. He’s playing a middle eastern gimmick here, and rather than having something like IRAN or HAIL AYATOLLAH printed on the ass of his tights, he has the word OIL written across him, like he’s a political cartoon.

-FALL ONE: Gilbert backdrops Hassan and applies a side headlock. Hassan escapes but keeps getting snapmared over and over by Gilbert. Angel tags in and he has bad luck with Gilbert’s side headlocks. Gilbert does the SD Jones thing and tags his partner in, spelling doom for the team. Maley has his own side headlock applied, but Angel makes a tag behind his back.

-Maley is actually ready for that and manages to trap Hassan in the side headlock, then tags Gilbert back in. Gilbert sends him into the ropes and gives him a big shot to the stomach. Maley tags back in and goes back to the side headlock while Jimmy Hart grows more and more agitated with how badly this match is going.

-Angel tags in and connects with a hard kick to take control. Aggressive front facelock by Angel. So now the heels make up for lost time and just totally destroy Maley, but Gilbert breaks the attempted pinfall. Angel slams Maley and tries again, but Maley kicks out at one.

-Angel gets frustrated and tags Hassan back in, and Maley just completely slips away from Hassan and makes the hot tag to Eddie. Flying forearm by Eddie gets two. Maley tags in and throws a dropkick, but Hassan ducks, Maley crashes, and Hassan cinches up tightly to get a three-count to take the fall.

-BREAKING: Lance Russell announces a special broadcast next week: all three regional titles will be on the line next week, including our first TV Title defense in three months!

-FALL TWO: Hassan continues to make life difficult for Maley. Everybody tags. Gilbert throws some aggressive right hands and backdrops Angel. Angel fights back and tags Hassan in. Hassan tries to finish it but gets backdropped for two. Maley tags in. Hassan gets a suplex but Gilbert blocks that pin. Back suplex by Angel gets a one-count. Hassan applies headscissors with a sixty-second warning from Lance. Gilbert comes off the top rope with an elbow to break it and make the save. Heels pour it on, but Maley survives the onslaught until time expires. Interesting crowd reaction to the jobber Maley, as the crowd cheers for him, basically seeing it as a win that he hung in there for so long.

6.0

The final score: review Average

The 411

A couple of good segments this week.