Memphis Wrestling (3.21.1981) Review

-The next episodes in sequence are March 7 and March 14, 1981. Unfortunately, the audio is pretty much non-existent on both of my copies, so we’re jumping to March 21, 1981. The key thing that we missed on the skipped episodes is that, as teased, Dream Machine has turned babyface.

-Originally aired March 21, 1981.

-Your hosts are Lance Russell & Dave Brown.

-Lance welcomes Big Red back to the territory. He admits he’s been eating a lot since he went to the Atlanta territory, but now he’s back to wrestling for Jerry Jarrett. Well, that takes care of eating a lot, then.

EDDIE GILBERT & DAVE PRICE vs. THE TURK & EL TORO
-I love those names for the heels, they’re like the robot wrestler in Futurama who was just called “The Foreigner.” Kinda wish they’d pair up The Turk with a partner named The J.D. Ah well.

-Gilbert uses speed to fight off both of his much larger opponents. They use chicanery to take control, but Eddie fights back with an armdrag. Eddie gets caught in the corner and worked over. He hangs on and keeps fighting, then finally makes the tag to David Price, long after he really should have. Unfortunately, he’s David Price, so Toro just gives him a shot to the chin and drops a big elbow to get the three-count. They celebrate with a post-match beatdown for good measure, and Eddie gets busted open. The blood is enough to draw Big Red out there, and he cleans house.

-Tuesday night at the Gardens! Jerry Lawler, Bill Dundee, & Dream Machine vs. Tojo Yamomoto, Dutch Mantell, & Jimmy Hart. Jimmy announces that Wayne Ferris was injured and will be ouit for four to six weeks, and now he’s looking for revenge on “The Gimp, The Blimp, and The Wimp.”

WAYNE FERRIS & TOJO YAMOMOTO (with Jimmy Hart) vs. TOM MALEY & ROY RODGERS
-So following that promo, here’s Wayne looking fine and dandy and Jimmy wearing a neckbrace that he didn’t have in the last segment. But yeah, Vince McMahon exposed the business three years later.

-Rodgers works the arms on both opponents. Tojo throws some impressive chops to take control. Maley tags in and gets hammered down, and one more big chop finishes things.

-The boys strut around and stay for a post-match promo. Wayne Ferris declares that he’s not a Blonde Bomber anymore and warns Lance never to call him that. Jimmy Hart then requests one second of silence for the late Jimmy Valiant , who couldn’t get the job done and now his ass has been kicked out of the First Family. Also, the hell with Dream Machine, who didn’t rack up as many victories as he racked up jelly doughnuts since he got in the territory, and they were tired of having to take detours from the five-star restaurants that Jimmy and Wayne wanted to go to so Dream Machine could get his stupid Happy Meal. And Tojo announces that from now on, Dream Machine should be called the Pepsi Can Machine.

-And THAT brings out Dream Machine and Bill Dundee for a surprise ass-kicking. Machine declares that Jimmy Hart isn’t loyal to anybody and doesn’t love anybody. He has seven kids at home and doesn’t love any of them…not even the two that are actually his! Okay, that’s a good line.

-We go to action in the Mid-South Coliseum just to give you a feel for how carefully Dream Machine studied every TV match of Dusty Rhodes’ career before he began training for wrestling.

-In the studio, Dream Machine says he never cared about wrestling before because guys like Jimmy Hart made him obsessed with making money, but now that he’s turned face, he wants to emphasize that he doesn’t care about making money anymore. God, that’s like pitching a beach ball to home plate.

EXPIRATION OF TIME: SUPERSTAR BILL DUNDEE & DREAM MACHINE vs. WAYNE FERRIS & DUTCH MANTELL (with Jimmy Hart)
-So The Angel no-showed this week’s show, but that’s no problem, says Jimmy! There’s always another First Family member in waiting.

FALL ONE: Dundee takes down Dutch with a side headlock. Ferris tags in and eats a series of rapid-fire rights. Bodypress from the second turnbuckle gets a near-fall. Ferris comes to life and hits a neckbreaker, but since he hasn’t perfected the move yet, he neither shakes nor rattles and it only gets two. Dundee and Mantell slug it out in the corner, and when the referee tries to separate them, Mantell accidentally strikes the ref, getting himself DQed.

FALL TWO: Heels come to life in this fall and dish out a beating until a fist drop misses. Mantell & Dundee spill onto the floor and brawl, and we have a double countout, which, in this situation, benefits the babyfaces, and they’re the clear winners of the match as TV time expires.

5.7

The final score: review Not So Good

The 411

Memphis, where wanting to skip meals and being okay with a shitty paycheck makes you a babyface.