Memphis Wrestling (3.28.1981) Review

-Originally aired March 28, 1981.

-Your hosts are Lance Russell & Dave Brown.

EDDIE GILBERT & BIG RED vs. THE ANGEL & GYPSY JOE
-Armdrags by Gilbert. Angel tries a takedown. Backdrop by Angel gets two. From there, the heels take control, and Eddie’s partner is about 1500 pounds so you can kind of see where this match is going. Heels just keep dishing out punishment on Eddie until he finally makes the long-awaited hot tag. Powerslam and the holy ghost splash get three. Red has “Vince McMahon” written all over him and I’m a little surprised he never had a run up north.

-We head to Mid-South Coliseum, with Jerry Lawler defending the Southern Heavyweight Title against Jack Brisco, who’s working heel with Jimmy Hart in his corner. The story here is that Jimmy Hart brought a $10,000 check to the ring, and Jack gets it as a bonus if he can re-break Lawler’s bad leg. But alas, the foot is on the other hand, as Lawler ends up destroying Brisco’s leg. And later, when Brisco has the upper hand, he goes for the kill with the figure four, but since his leg has been weakened, Lawler is able to block him and turn it into a cradle for the three-count, and then to add insult to injury, Jimmy Hart tries to exact some post-match revenge with his cane and knocks out Brisco by mistake! The old woman losing her shit at the post-match antics is a huge bonus. Great story-telling here.

-Tuesday night at the Gardens, it’s Night of Champions. Tickets are an extra dollar apiece, but it’s worth it for a main event pitting Jerry Lawler against Terry Funk. Terry seems to be throwing out shoot comments at “somebody in Lexington, Kentucky who doesn’t like professional wrestling” and says that both Funks are going to leave the arena with title belts.

WAYNE FERRIS & TOJO YAMOMOTO (with Jimmy Hart) vs. KOKO WARE & RON SEXTON
-Ferris starts with Koko and they jockey for position. Ferris is wearing tights with PUNK ROCK embroidered on the ass, which is funny in light of what’s in his future.

-Tojo chops away at Koko while David Letterman comes out and does three minutes of “Tojo, Koko; Koko, Tojo” to diminishing returns.

-Sexton tags in and cleans house, but he’s Ron Sexton, so how long is that gonna last? Big chop by Tojo gets the three-count.

CWA WORLD TAG TEAM TITLE: AUSTIN IDOL & DUTCH MANTELL (Champions, with Jimmy Hart) vs. TOMMY RICH & SUPERSTAR BILL DUNDEE
-We go to Lexington, Kentucky to watch this entire match! Dundee starts with a side headlock on Dutch. Dutch tries a hiptoss, but Dundee plants his feet on the mat and turns it into an armbar. In comes Rich, and he armdrags Dutch around for a bit. Idol comes in and he gets knocked around for a little while.

-Mantell heads back in and goes to the eyes to take over on Rich. Dutch sends Rich into the ropes, and Idol jerks the middle rope down, causing Rich to tumble through and crash on the floor. Rich takes a beating for a spell from that before Rich gets an atomic drop with his remaining ounces of strength and tags out. That was a pretty shockingly short heat segment for a house show title match.

-Ah, but now it’s Dundee in peril and sure enough his beating takes a little more time. Action spills out onto the floor with Idol and Rich brawling. Dutch is a bit distracted by that melee, and with no chance for a pin to be broken, Dundee jumps on the opportunity and rolls up Dutch as fast as he can to get a three-count and capture the gold. Okay, but not spectacular.

-Tojo Yamomoto is in the studio with two new Japanese stars, Mr. Onita & Master Fuji (not that one) who run down America until Bill Dundee & Dream Machine come out and plant a U.S. flag in the studio to make a point. What better people to stand up for the USA than an Australian and a guy whose whole persona screams “I have a Confederate flag decal on my truck”?

EXPIRATION OF TIME: SUPERSTAR BILL DUNDEE & DREAM MACHINE vs. EL TORO & THE TURK
-FALL ONE: Lance calls for the bell because TV time has expired. Ten thousand and 3/4 stars.

5.4

The final score: review Not So Good

The 411

Yay, a Terry Funk promo! The rest was, eh....