wrestling / Video Reviews

The Name on the Marquee: Smoky Mountain Wrestling (3.18.1995)

March 8, 2018 | Posted by Adam Nedeff
Jim Cornette Smoky Mountain Wrestling
5.6
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The Name on the Marquee: Smoky Mountain Wrestling (3.18.1995)  

-Originally aired March 18, 1995.

-Your hosts are Jim Ross and Les Thatcher.

“Nature Boy” BUDDY LANDELL vs WOLFMAN
-Buddy clobbers Woldman and rams him into the turnbuckles. Weird spot where Buddy seems to be going for an Irish whip and Wolfman just falls on his back. Figure four gets an easy win.

-Jim Cornette and Tracy Smothers are here. This segment was supposed to be Jim having another meeting with Bob Armstrong, but Bob couldn’t be in the building this week because he’s “tending to Smoky Mountain Wrestling business.” Jim has signed a six-man tag match contract for all three Gangstas against Tracy, Bob Armstrong, and a mystery partner. Losers salute the winners’ flag, which has Tracy gobsmacked because Cornette didn’t run that by them before signing the contract, and he goes off on Cornette until Cornette settles him and down and says they need to know who the mystery partner is because it’s the one man in wrestling that Da Gangstas are afraid of…THE UNDERTAKER. That’s right. Jim Cornette is demanding a taaaaaag teeeeam match with The Undahtakah, player!

-Cornette shows footage of the Survivor Series, where he saw first-hand how much Taker terrified Yokozuna. We get pre-taped words from Paul Bearer and Undertaker, who say that Cornette appealed to their sense of justice, and moreover, Undertaker is insulted that draping a flag over someone constitutes a “burial” by Da Gangstas.

-Smothers is pretty impressed by the mystery partner and cheerfully agrees to whatever wacky stipulations Cornette wants to slap onto a match.

BOBBY BLAZE (SMW Champion) vs MIKE SAMPSON
-Blaze comes to the ring, appropriately, to “Won’t Back Down.” Also, he just became a father, so he’s just having the best month ever.

-Sampson with a drop toehold. Blaze slips out and applies a hammerlock. Superkick by Blaze gets two. Not quite super enough I suppose. Armbar by Blaze. Sampson gets to his feet and makes it an Irish whip. He chokes Bobby out and tries flying headscissors, but Blaze catches him in midair and makes it a backbreaker for two, and a simple bridge gets three. What a Tim Horner wannabe.

-Bobby Blaze tries to cut a gracious promo, but he gets interrupted by Buddy Landell, who wants to know if Bobby’s figured out who the real father is yet. He offers Bobby $500 to forfeit his title belt since he really didn’t earn it anyway. Blaze says that $500 is a lot of money and he could really use it, which makes this entire company sound AMAZINGLY bush league. Blaze challenges him to a match right now, but Buddy settles for attacking him and running away.

CONFRONTATION WITH LES THATCHER
-Da Gangstas are completely freaking out about the Undertaker, and New Jack says he needs a fourth Gangsta to show up, one who can handle The Undertaker…they found Killer Kyle. Killer Kyle blames the systematic racism in SMW for keeping him down all this time, which has the crowd completely confused because Kyle is really, REALLY light-skinned and this development is a complete surprise to the fans that have been watching SMW for three years.

-Everyone is getting ready for Billy Black’s TV Title match against Brian Logan when Boo Bradley politely shows up and reveals that he’s got the title match. JR asks where Brian Logan is and Boo says Logan agreed to trade his title shot for some baseball cards and a cake, and also Boo promised to stop ramming Brian’s head into the wall repeatedly if Brian would give up his title match.

DYNAMIC DUO vs LARRY SANTO & KENNY ARDEN
-Surprisingly, Al Snow elects to wrestle this week and even starts the match. He connects with a dropkick and Unabom press slams him onto Santo. Prophetic moment from JR, who observes that Unabom is about the same size as The Undertaker.

-Kenny tags in and Unabom stomps him down with Snow helpfully holding him in place. Powerbomb by Unabom, and a springboard splash by Snow gets the win.

BEAT THE CHAMP TV TITLE: “Bad Boy” BILLY BLACK (Champion) vs BOO BRADLEY
-New Jack walks out and reveals that Billy Black slipped in a puddle of his own tobacco spit and had to be rushed to the hospital, so since he’s unable to defend the TV Title, the title is vacant and Boo must now wrestle against Killer Kyle to determine the new champion. God, the threads on this taping are just unraveling completely.

-Kyle knocks Bradley out of the ring, and Boo just pleasantly goes for a walk in the crowd and comes back smiling. Side suplex by Kyle gets two. Kyle gets out of the way of a blind charge. Kyle headbutts the shoulder, then jaws with the referee while New Jack lends some interference. JR laments that Boo doesn’t have a support system of friends in the locker room to come to his aid.

-Suplex by Kyle, and Bradley is pretty much out…but not out enough, as he kicks out at two. Bradley gets a sudden roll-up for two. Kyle tries ramming Boo into the turnbuckle, which won’t end well, and indeed, Bradley makes the Popeye comeback and slams him down. Braldey heads to the top rope and just shoves him off. Bradley crashes and all four Gangstas come in and attack, ending the match with a DQ.

5.6
The final score: review Not So Good
The 411
Man...a borrowed main eventer, a champion who decided he'd rather be unemployed and an MIA commissioner....this week is not putting the best face on a struggling company.
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