Memphis Wrestling (3.13.1982) Review

-Originally aired March 13, 1982.

-Your hosts are Lance & Dave.

-BREAKING: The AWA is not happy about the Southern Tag Team Title change from last week. The AWA has to sanction all title matches, and it happened spur-of-the-moment. Also, one of the stipulations the men agreed on was a ten-minute time limit, and it’s etched in stone in the AWA bylaws that title matches have to have a one-hour time limit. Therefore, the title change from last week is voided, but also, rather than return the belts to the ex-champions, due to Reasons, there will now be a round robin tournament to determine the new champions, and info about that will come at a later date.

-The Gibson Brothers are excited about all the screw-ups surrounding the Southern Tag Team Title, because now they’re in the round robin tournament.

GIBSON BROTHERS vs. NIGHTMARE & SPEED (with Jimmy Hart & Kenny Shane)
-But what’s this? Jimmy announces that the people deserve a real treat, so the match is going to Bobby Eaton & Sweet Brown Sugar instead, and also, Jimmy is so busy…that he’s electing not to stay out here for the match. Zuh?

GIBSON BROTHERS vs. SWEET BROWN SUGAR & BOBBY EATON (with Kenny Shane)
-Lance Russell eagerly anticipates a dandy to start things off this match. Bell sounds, and immediately Bobby Hill emerges wearing a velvet smoking jacket.

-So anyway, Robert wriggles around and avoids every attempt by Sugar to apply a hold. Eaton tags in and gets armdragged down as Lance now clarifies that Jimmy’s whole thing about showcasing Eaton & Sugar was his way of sugarcoating what actually happened, which is that Nightmare and Speed can’t make it to the TV studio because of car trouble.

-Sugar comes back in and gets dropkicked down. Ricky tags in and applies a really tight-looking wristlock. Everybody tags and now Eaton is caught in the wristlock. Kenny Shane pool-cues Robert from the outside with his cane, and that turns the tide. Heels double-team Robert with a tandem backbreaker.

-Heels stay on the back and cut the ring in half. Ricky gets so frustrated that he runs across the ring just to punch Eaton off the apron, but it doesn’t do any good, as Eaton is able to tag in and stop the hot tag with a chinlock. We end up with a pier-sixer soon enough, and Eaton hurls Robert over the top rope in full view of the referee for a DQ. Good action that left me wanting more.

THE MONK & THE ANGEL (with Kenny Shane) vs. JOE STARK & PAT HUTCHINSON
-A monk and an angel are a pretty natural pairing, so kudos for that booking. Kenny Shane is changing his look more and more by the week to look like Jimmy Hart, and now the commentators have received word that he wants to be known as “Kenny Hart.” Stalker.

-Monk bearhugs Hutchinson, and Angel knocks him out with a black-gloved punch for the three-count in seconds.

-Lance has a word with Jerry Lawler, once again wielding the Southern Heavyweight Title after another rematch against Dutch. Jerry tells us that Norvell has challenged him to a match, and again, Norvell is loading it with stipulations. No time limit, no DQ. And Jerry is smart enough to know that “No DQ” means that for sure, the other members of the Midnight Express would be at ringside. So from now on, Jerry Lawler will have someone in his corner for his matches…

-And to the surprise of everybody, it’s former heel manager Danny Davis. And Lawler drops truth bombs all over the ring–Jimmy Hart was threatened by the presence of another heel manager, so Jimmy signed him to a sweet deal to put a mask on, conceal his identity, stop managing, and wrestle under the name “Nightmare.” So from now on, Danny Davis is taking the mask off, and he’s going to be Jerry Lawler’s manager as a way of keeping tabs on the Midnight Express, Jimmy Hart, or anyone else who might engage themselves in chicanery. And Danny reveals, if it’s not already obvious, that the car trouble from earlier was a lie.

-By the way, something that fascinates me about this territory and the fans…there is always total SILENCE for Lawler’s promos in the studio. In the WTBS studio, no matter who’s out there, you hear a constant flow of chatter and yelling. But the audience always gives Jerry their undivided attention.

JERRY “The King” LAWLER (with Danny Davis) vs. GYPSY JOE (with Kenny, uh, Hart I guess
-Joe attacks before the bell, but Lawler ain’t haven’t it and just turns his lights out with an elbow for the three-count in about 30 seconds.

SUPERSTAR BILL DUNDEE vs. THE INVADER
-I don’t think it needs to be said–you’ve probably figured it out by this point–but “The Invader” is a masked guy exclusive to this territory who is definitely not anyone else who ever went by that name. That’s another fascinating thing about this territory, they would just grab names and say “Thanks, we’ll take that” with no acknowledgment of the world beyond the territory.

-Dundee waistlocks Invader and takes him down. Invader goes for a backdrop, but Dundee turns it into a backslide for three, and somehow that was a two-minute match.

NORVELL AUSTIN vs. DENNIS UPTON
-Norvell is out there all alone for some reason.

-Dropkick and a boot by Norvell. Forearms and a big chop by Norvell, and a big headbutt finishes Upton off uneventfully.

-Bill Dundee is here for an interview, but Jimmy Hart comes out with the First Family and immediately drops to his knees to make Dundee an offer–join the First Family. Dundee turns his back and won’t even listen to the offer, so the Family attacks him 4-on-1, and some faces eventually come out to scrape him off the mat.

EXPIRATION OF TIME: DREAM MACHINE & CRAZY LUKE GRAHAM (with Kenny Hart) vs. RICK MCCORD & CHIEF THUNDERCLOUD
-FALL ONE: With seven minutes remaining in the TV hour, Dave explains that the Expiration of Time match rules mean we could see five falls, and with the pacing of this week’s show, that’s not a ridiculous statement.

-McCord armdrags Machine. Machine slaps McCord down and drops the leg. Graham tags in and offers a slam and an elbow. Dream Machine gutwrenches McCord. Thundercloud tags in and gets booted down right quick, and a big elbow by the Machine gets the win.

7.0

The final score: review Good

The 411

Fun storytelling this week.