The Name on the Marquee: Smoky Mountain Wrestling (10.7.1995)

-Originally aired October 7, 1995.

-Your hosts are Chip Kessler & Les Thatcher.

COMET CHRIS MICHAELS vs LARRY SANTO
-Michaels is getting a push now that he’s got that Robert Gibson rub. Santo attacks from behind while the commentators say Michaels can get a lot of seasoning from battling a veteran like Santo. Santo jerks the hair every time Michaels gets some offense and chokes him over the middle rope. And then Michaels cradles him for three. Truly a star-making performance.

-Halloween Scream Tour ’95 is coming. The Trick or Treat Tag Team match pitting Brad Armstrong and Wolfman against Terry Gordy and Mosh is now loaded with stipulations, also selected via random draw. Follow this carefully: If Brad Armstrong loses the fall, Terry Gordy wins the SMW Title. If Thrasher loses, he and Terry Gordy must shave their heads. If Gordy loses, Brad gives him 10 lashes with a leather strap. If Wolfman loses, he’ll be given $1,000 but must immediately give it out to fans.

-We hear from Wolfman and Armstrong. Wolfman really can’t swing the thousand, but he knew what he was signing up for when he put his name in that hat, so he’ll dig into the savings account. Armstrong says that Wolfman must have earned his name somehow and he actually has more faith in his partner than anyone else.

-Wow, an actual house show promo! Haven’t seen one of those in a while. Buddy Landell is going to turn Jim Cornette into cole slaw on October 28.

-A commercial from Power Maker II, the company that paid Cornette to book the Wolfman. DID YOU KNOW: Wolfman weighed 160 pounds before using Power Maker II weight gain powder.

ROBERT GIBSON vs TOMMY RICH (with General Jim Cornette and Punisher)
-Gibson takes Rich down and applies a wristlock. Gibson misses a corner charge and Rich drives a series of elbows into the back of his head. Rich dumps him into the floor and Punisher attacks. Back in, Rich applies a hammerlock as Gibson just takes this relentless beating and Ricky Morton is probably watching at home, doing the Apu laugh and point and saying “Now you know how it feels!”

-Gibson catches Rich with an enziguiri out of nowhere. Rich digs into his tights and grabs something, but Gibson ducks and Rich drops the weapon. Gibson tries to use it but gets into a tug of war with the referee. He accidentally knocks over the referee, Rich gets his hands back on the weapon and knocks out Gibson to get the three-count.

KESSLER’S KORNER
-Chip is with Buddy Landell. They go through all the Four Faces of Fear stipulations. Chain match means Tommy can’t run away. Falls Count Anywhere means Tommy CAN run anywhere but Buddy can follow him there and win the match. Buddy isn’t worried because he’s already been through hell. Nothing is worse than waking up and realizing you’re such a screw-up that you can’t buy food for your kids. Putting himself through hell in four straight matches isn’t any different.

HEADBANGERS vs WOLFMAN & RON DAVIS
-Wolfman surprises Thrasher with a series of clotheslines. Thrasher fights back by flinging him across the ring by his beard. Headbangers slam dance into Wolfman and he tags out. Davis falls victim to the stage dive pretty quickly to end it.

-Headbangers are excited about Halloween so they can egg cars, beat up little kids, steal candy, and make Brad Armstrong & Wolfman look like idiots.

-Les is in the locker room with The Thugs, who are excited about their impending title shot. Robert Gibson interrupts the promo saying he’s looking for a new tag team partner and asks DWB and Tracy if either one of them is interested in splitting up the Thugs and teaming up with him. Thugs “WTF” at that offer and Les points out that Gibson just said last week that he was more interested in singles matches anyway. DWB politely declines and tells Gibson that his confidence is probably a little rattled from losing that match earlier in the show, but they think he can bounce back.

TAG TEAM TITLES: HEAVENLY BODIES (Champions, with Jim Cornette & The Punisher) vs THE THUGS
-DWB locks up with Del Ray. Arm wringers are exchanged and Del Ray just punches DWB down and tags out. DWB gets Prichard off his feet and just goes ape-poopy on the bad leg. Smothers tags in and splashes the leg. He follows with a toehold and the Thugs are just laser-focused on that bad legs. Thugs take turns applying toeholds until Del Ray takes a cheap shot to the back of Smothers’ head to take control.

-Prichard tags out and Del Ray elbows Smothers down. Bodies double-team behind the referee’s back and we wind up with all four men in the ring. Referee takes a nice bump out to the floor and the Thugs start hitting all of their finishers, but with no way to get a winning pin. DWB ends up in a brawl with the Punisher on the floor as Prichard knocks out Smothers with the loaded boot, and Cornette revives the referee and sends him back in just in time to count the pin. Decent match but a predictable ending from the first bell.

-The Thugs complain to Sandy Scott about this grave injustice and request a rematch with a guest referee. One who’s big enough that he won’t get wiped out by a teeny little knock to the shoulder. Sandy Scott promises they’ll get a rematch some time during the Halloween Scream Tour.

5.9

The final score: review Not So Good

The 411

The Bodies loaded-boot rerun angle is still leaving me cold, and the Chris Michaels push is off to a pretty lame start, but Halloween Scream Tour is shaping up to be a fun couple of nights.