Memphis Wrestling (9.20.1980) Review

-Originally aired September 20, 1980.

-Your hosts are Lance Russell & Dave Brown.

CARL FERGIE vs. DAVID OSWALD
-Fergie gets a quick takedown to start. Fergie sticks with the mat wrestling and clamps on a hammerlock. Oswald tries to get something going but runs straight into position for a backdrop, and Fergalicious goes to a wristlock.

-Oswald tries a whip but crashes on the attempted follow-through. Oswald tries throwing punches at the stomach and it’s the first truly effective thing that’s worked for him in the past five minutes. He sends Fergie into the ropes but Fergie slams on the brakes and turns it into an abdominal stretch for the submission. NWA-style squash where it went ridiculously long for how one-sided it turned out to be.

-BREAKING: Handsome Jimmy Valiant was challenging for the Southern Heavyweight Title against Tommy Rich. Jimmy Valiant brought Carl Fergie to ringside to keep an eye on Jimmy Hart, and while they don’t say specifically what happened, Carl Fergie did SOMETHING that caused Jimmy Valiant to win the Southern Heavyweight Title.

-We go to Tommy Rich, who’s doing the math to figure out how much income he’s going to lose because of Carl Fergie screwing up the title match for him. Tommy Rich warns Fergie that he’s not a big star just because he interfered with somebody who really is a big star.

-Carl Fergie cuts a rebuttal promo and, uh, I think I can see why Fergie spent most of his career as a referee.

-Off to the Mid-South Coliseum, where Jerry Lawler is wrestling Killer Karl Krupp one on one, with a stipulation that both men are allowed to wear heavy plaster casts on their legs. Krupp stomps Lawler, until Lawler PULLS THE STRAP DOWN. Krupp tries to run away, but the cast hinders his speed, while Lawler is accustomed to walking around with his at this point, so he gets his hands on Krupp, beats him down, and belts Jimmy Hart across the chops.

-Lawler does a series of legdrops with the cast, which busts Krupp open, and he just does legdrop after legdrop after legdrop until Krupp is motionless, and Lawler gets the three-count.

-In the studio, Russell announces that although he got the win, even with his leg in a cast, wrestling that match reaggravated the injury, so Lawler may be on the shelf yet again.

-Lance Russell brings in a guest commentator for the next match, CWA World Heavyweight Champion Billy Robinson, and it turns out that when Billy Robinson isn’t wrestling, he wears eyeglasses with Bill Cullen-level thickness, and it makes you wonder how he even sees his opponent in the opposite corner at the start of a match.

KILLER KARL KRUPP (with Jimmy Hart) vs. EDDIE GILBERT (with Tommy Gilbert)
-Jimmy Hart is adamantly against this arrangement because he has a manager’s license and Tommy Gilbert doesn’t. Being a daddy doesn’t make you a manager. Referee is tired of waiting and calls for the bell, so to make a point, Krupp stays on the floor and lets Gilbert take the win by count-out.

-Jimmy Hart cheerfully whips out a bottle of champagne after the bell and toasts Krupp as they celebrate Jerry Lawler screwing up his leg and having to go right back on the shelf. Krupp demands a title match now that Jerry Lawler is back out of the picture, and Robinson points out, “You just lost to a man with a broken leg last week, get boned.” Not in those words, but that’s the gist. Krupp throws champagne in his face and walks away. Robinson tries to keep his cool.

SUPERSTAR BILL DUNDEE & TOJO YAMAMOTO vs. FRANK SAVAGE & KEN WAYNE
-It would appear that we’ve already given up on that hot new team from New York that we’ve heard so much about. Wayne gets knocked around right away. Savage tries to rescue his partner, but the faces work his arm over. Savage resorts to some George Steele-style weapon work to take control. Dundee fights back.

-Savage keeps cheating, and Tojo has had enough and just starts beating on people like a granddad play-fighting with his grandkids. Dropkick by Dundee gets two, and then Dundee gets caught in the bad part of town. Wayne whips him across the ring, but Dundee scales the ropes and lands on him with a bodypress for three.

-Dr. Bill Irwin complains about how Superstar Bill Dundee attacked him with a weapon last Monday night in the Coliseum, and Russell concedes that yes, that happened, and yes, Irwin kept fighting even after that attack.

EXPIRATION OF TIME: DR. BILL IRWIN & GYPSY JOE vs. TONY BOYLES & DAVID MCGEE
-Really? 14 minutes left in the show for THIS?

FALL ONE: Jobbers surprise Irwin with a lot of offense right out of the gate. McGee locks on a side headlock, but Irwin gets out with a back suplex. Joe tags in and stomps a mudhole. McGee gets worked over, and Joe gives him a shot to the throat for three to take the first fall. Wait…Wait a second, there’s still a significant amount of time remaining in the show. Is there an angle coming. A really long house show promo?…

FALL TWO: HOLY FUCK! HOLY LIVING FUCK! THEY’RE ACTUALLY GOING TO A SECOND FALL ON THE EXPIRATION OF TIME MATCH! THE CONCEPT OF THE EXPIRATION OF TIME MATCH ACTUALLY MATTERS! HOLY SWEET SCREAMING MOTHER OF GOD WITH A PLATE OF WAFFLES! And Bill Dundee and Tojo Yamamoto run in to pick a fight with Irwin and Gypsy Joe to end the second fall immediately.

FALL THREE: There’s still TV time left, and they got Tojo and Bill cleared out of the ring during the break, so we get a third fall. Boyles gets dumped to the floor, and McGee, the unlucky shlub who’s STILL the legal man after all this, takes a beating from both opponents.

-Irwin gets so tired of pounding on McGee that he just outright demands a tag, and Boyles comes in full of vinegar, but Irwin gives him a shot to the eyes and looks to finish right away with a shoulderbreaker. He thinks better of it and tags in Joe. Boyles keeps beating on him until the bell sounds and TV time is up for the week.

10.0

The final score: review Virtually Perfect

The 411

The Expiration of Time match actually went to multiple falls. Best episode ever.