Memphis Wrestling (8.8.1981) Review

-Moving ahead a few weeks…

-Originally aired August 8, 1981.

-Your hosts are Lance Russell & Dave Brown.

STEVE KIERN & DUTCH MANTELL vs. TOM STANTON & JIM DALTON
-Everyone jockeys for position. Mantell takes over, working the leg on Dalton. Tom Stanton tags in and it’s wild how, at average height and 250 pounds billed, he’s clearly the largest man in the ring.

-Kiern tags in and uses an amateur takedown to tie up Stanton and work the arm. Stanton manages to tag out while caught in the hold. Dutch tags in and goes for an elbow to finish, but the pin gets broken. Fisticuffs ensue and the jobber contingent actually manages to get the edge over Dutch. Dutch gets a second wind and backdrops Stanton, and Kiern rolls him up for three.

-Jimmy Hart is here to deny all rumors that he’s been seen canoodling with Lady Diana. He’s here with the entire First Family, and before long Jerry Lawler is here with the rest of the members of the Jets and we have a rumble on the floor of the studio. The rest of the First Family is so preoccupied with the brawl that they miss Lawler tarring & feathering Jimmy Hart, with Lance Russell having an indignant reaction to it because, yes, Jimmy deserves it, but Jerry is making a great big mess on the studio floor and Eddie Marlin needs to put a stop to it.

SOUTHERN TAG TEAM TITLE: JERRY “The King” LAWLER & SUPERSTAR BILL DUNDEE (Champions) vs. MASA FUCHI & MR. ONITA (with Tojo Yamomoto)
-Great atmosphere, with two janitors sweeping the floor as the heels take the ass-kicking to start off. Funny spot with the heels trying to do a double-team move without actually looking, and Onita ends up snapping Fuchi’s arm repeatedly. And really, that’s about it. Lance calls “Five minutes” after nothing but a sound drubbing by the champs has occurred.

-Fuchi goes after Lawler’s eyes to finally turn the tide for the forces of evil. Dundee tags in to take his licks, and then the First Family is back out because they want another brawl. The faces rush back out to try to even things out, but since the First Family got a head start, they adapt easily to the changing numbers and the faces get battered and bloodied. In the middle of all the brawling, Lance suddenly calls a three-count that we don’t see and the bell sounds, and somehow the referee didn’t declare this a non-finish and Onita and Fuchi scored a pinfall to win the titles. I, uh, feel like that finish would have had more of an impact if we had, uh….seen it.

DREAM MACHINE & BUGSY MCGRAW (with Chic Donovan) vs. TIM LEONARD & ROY ROGERS
-So this is why it sucks to miss weeks of this territory. They really did book it week by week and it feels like you’ve missed a lifetime when you skip episodes. So Dream Machine is a heel managed by Hart again, Bugsy McGraw is now his tag team partner, and Chic Donovan, who has been appointed Vice President of the First Family, is managing them in place of Jimmy due to the shenanigans earlier in the show.

-Leonard takes a beatdown, and a big elbow gets the three-count without Rogers ever tagging in.

EXPIRATION OF TIME: DUTCH MANTELL & ROBERT GIBSON vs. THE NIGHTMARES (with Chick Donovan)
-This is supposed to be the Gibson Brothers, according to the chyron, but Ricky’s missing due to getting busted open in the second brawl.

FALL ONE: Lots of takedowns by Dutch to start off. Gibson tags in and shoulderblocks #2. Atomic drop by Dutch on #2. #1 tags in and takes firmly outwrestled. We’re six minutes in and all there is to say about this match is that the Nightmares keep getting caught in holds. Axehandle and an elbow by Dutch gets two. Clothesline gets another two as the Nightmares keep breaking the attempts. Gibson tries to finish but the Nightmares keep making the save for each other. Nightmares finally get an edge and start getting near-falls of their own, with Dutch staying alive and powering out again and again. Hot tag to Robert, but he gets thrown out to the concrete immediately. #1 tries to suplex him back in, but Robert rolls with the impact and makes it a cradle for three. Not bad, but just nothing to get excited about until the finish.

-And that’s the show.

5.9

The final score: review Not So Good

The 411

Lots of action in the studio this week but the matches left me a little cold, oddly enough.