The Name on the Marquee: Smoky Mountain Wrestling (3.11.1995)

-Originally aired March 11, 1995.

-Your hosts are Les Thatcher & Jim Ross.

DYNAMIC DUO vs GEORGE SOUTH & ANTHONY MICHAELS
-Al Snow ditches ringside to do guest commentary and just let Unabom do all the work. Al is hilariously condescending and it blows my mind that the WWF wasted him as Leif Cassidy. Unabom whips Michaels back and forth and chokes him out. Big boot, and another, and another. Unabom has mastered boot-based offense for certain. Powerbomb by Unabom and Snow decides now is the time to head to the ring. He tags in, does a slingshot splash, and gets the pin.

-Rock & Roll Express has pre-taped words. The team that’s been around for 13 years isn’t afraid of the team that’s been around for 13 days.

-We take you now to highlights from Sunday Bloody Sunday, the dog collar match between Boo Bradley and Chris Candido. Tammy Fytch heads to the apron and tosses her sinister hairspray to Candido, but Bradley gets his hands on it and blinds Tammy with it. Meanwhile, Candido goes to the top rope, but Bradley gives the chain a hard jerk and Chris crashes on the mat. Bradley gets the pin to send Candido packing.

-Boo Bradley talks about how he didn’t want to be mean last week when he thought Billy Black was hurt, but now that Billy Black did that, he wants to be mean. “Have a good day, and eat your peas,” he concludes.

BEAT THE CHAMP TV TITLE: “Bad Boy” BILLY BLACK (Champion) vs BRIAN LOGAN
-Logan works the arm and gets an early edge. Black throws a high martial arts kick. Basically, the character is developing into “guy whose moveset doesn’t match his gimmick” and JR and Les are speculating that there are details about this man’s past that we don’t know yet. That’s actually kind of an intriguing type of character.

-Black chokes Logan out, but Logan ducks a clothesline and connects with a superkick. Black shakes it off. Logan tries a bodypress from the second rope for two. Logan tries another one and Black anticipates this time and gets out of the way. Flying elbow by Black gets three.

-Billy Black doesn’t want to talk to Jim Ross or anybody else. He just wants to be left alone.

CONFRONTATION WITH CHIP KESSLER
-Jim Cornette has asked for a meeting with Bob Armstrong. Cornette admits there’s still a ton of animosity between them, but he admits he needs help because he’s in a position where he doesn’t have a friend left in SMW. Bruiser and Candido are gone, Gangstas hate him, ditto Dirty White Boy and Tracy Smothers, Rock & Roll Express are starting to warm up a little bit but it’s still awkward…point is…well, here’s some video from Sunday Bloody Sunday…

-It’s the Heavenly Bodies & Jim Cornette against all three Gangstas, Bob Armstrong guest referee. Bodies and Cornette get the win after Armstrong stops New Jack from using the slapjack, so Gangstas avenge the loss by strangling Armstrong with a chain and attacking him 3 on 1.

-Back to Cornette and Armstrong. Cornette wants to serve as manager for Armstrong and Tracy Smothers in an upcoming match against Da Gangstas. Armstrong politely declines, so Cornette makes him another offer—D-Lo’s gonna interfere and cost them the match, probably, right? So instead of a regular tag match, Cornette says, make it a six-man tag and Cornette will supply the third man for Armstrong and Smothers…if Cornette can manage the whole unit. Cornette has him on the phone in the other room right now, he’s on hold, he just needs an answer. Armstrong thinks it over for a second and says okay.

-Back to Sunday Bloody Sunday. Jerry Lawler is defending the SMW Title against Dirty White Boy, winner meets Buddy Landell. Landell attacks DWB from behind and leaves him injured and writhing, so Buddy thinks he can just go straight to the title match. Armstrong marches out there, fines Landell $2500, and says that the first wrestler he sees in the locker room gets the title shot.

-He returns with semi-jobber Bobby Blaze…who gets a fluke roll-up on Lawler and wins the SMW Title, and the fans shit themselves in shock. Lawler lays him out with a DDT because he’s so mad, then takes off. Landell just destroys Blaze and Blaze is bleeding like the champ that he is. Meanwhile, the injured Dirty White Boy is trying to get into the ring, but he’s being held back because all the earlier shenanigans mean he’s not in this match anymore…but DWB steals a set of brass knuckles from Landell, and Landell is caught by surprise by it and falls victim to a roll-up from Blaze, who retains the gold.

-We go to the locker room, where Chip is with DWB and still-bloody Bobby Blaze. It’s the greatest night of Blaze’s life.

-Great rebuttal from Buddy Landell, who cuts a promo while still covered in Blaze’s blood. He says that his loss tonight was the result of the biggest conspiracy since Dallas in ’61 (or ’63, I guess).

-Da Gangstas ain’t worried about whatever Mystery Redneck they bring to the six-man tag match. And then he borrows an infamous line from an episode of “Sanford and Son” (the line about making a Tarzan movie) and Jim Ross looks like he’s about to faint.

7.2

The final score: review Good

The 411

Neat batch of angles, although it's to a point where Cornette himself is going on TV and drawing attention to how many wrestlers they've lost (he's a manager with absolutely no clients). Al Snow is turning into a bright spot for these later shows too.