wrestling / Video Reviews
The Name on the Marquee: Smoky Mountain Wrestling (6.24.1995)
Loading...-Last week: Bob Armstrong introduces a beanpole in a mask, calling him “Armstrong’s Avenger.” Jim Cornette and Buddy Landell think he looks so pitiful that they agree to a match between Buddy and the loser this week.
-Originally aired June 24, 1995.
-Your hosts are Chip Kessler and Les Thatcher. They’re with Bob and The Avenger, and Les politely asks if Bob realizes what he’s doing. Bob kind of laughs it off and insists he has total confidence in his man.
BUDDY LANDELL (SMW Champion, with General Jim Cornette) vs THE AVENGER (with Bob Armstrong)
-After a commercial break, Armstrong’s jobber comes to the ring, and suddenly he’s a solid 50 pounds heavier, all muscle. He yanks the mask off and it’s Brad Armstrong.
-Brad is all over Landell and gets an early two-count. He starts targeting the leg. Landell stops the offense with an Irish whip, but charges and runs into a knee. Landell goes to the eyes and slams Armstrong down. Figure four is locked on but Brad hangs on. Buddy tries throwing chops as Chip says this match would be a main event anywhere in the world. Easy there, Gorilla.
-Buddy takes Armstrong to the mat and clamps on an armbar. Armstrong punches free and it turns into a slugfest. Armstrong with a sleeper. Cornette heads up to the apron to jaw with Armstrong, but Brad just punches him off. The tennis racquet flies out of his hand, Buddy catches it and takes a swing at Brad, but Brad ducks and gives Buddy the Russian legsweep to get the three-count over the SMW Champ, clean as a sheet. Good match!
-Cornette tries to mount a 2-on-1 attack after the match, but Landell accidentally punches him and Cornette is so dazed he leaves his tennis racquet behind, and Brad keeps it as a souvenir.
-We flashback to Randy Hales’ weeny assault on Mark Curtis.
-Mark Curtis offers comments about how Randy Hales gets under his skin. He asked Bob Armstrong to book him in a wrestling match as a personal favor, and Bob Armstrong has the contract all drawn up for Summer Blast.
-Les Thatcher is with Randy Hales. Randy brags about his karate and bodybuilding skills. He gets so fired up, he rips his jacket off to reveal he’s even skinnier than he initially appeared to be, and Les looks like he’s going to lose it when he mentions karate.
CONFRONTATION WITH LES THATCHER
-Rock & Roll Express has a Thunderdome cage match coming up at Summer Blast, but in the meantime, Ricky Morton has a tape player that he’s just dying to use…and then Bob Armstrong shows up along with Al Snow and Unabom. Ricky Morton stupidly announced to the world that he stole the tape recorder, so Bob has a legal document demanding it be returned. They reluctantly give the tape recorder back. Ricky Morton throws out a loser-leaves-town stipulation for no apparent reason, and Al Snow and Unabom agree to it for their title match.
-General Jin Cornette announces that a former NWA Champion is joining the Militia, and he’s going to spread through SMW…like wildfire.
-And here’s Tommy Rich. Cornette made him a good offer, so Tommy’s enlisting.
-Buddy Landell says Brad Armstrong should be damn glad that Landell happened to be running a fever today. Buddy’s a great heel and not mentioned enough in discussions of wasted talent.
TERRY GORDY (with General Jim Cornette & The Punisher) vs LEE THOMAS
-The jobber is billed “from Center Stage, Georgia.”
-Gordy whips Thomas back and forth and charges with a clothesline on each one. Gordy puts the boots to him. Thomas comes to life briefly with some offense, but Gordy just boots him down again, and the powerbomb ends it.
-Bob Armstrong announces that on August 4, whoever the respective champions are at that time, the WWF Intercontinental Champion will defend the title against the SMW Heavyweight Champion.
-We hear from the Headbangers, who are so stupid that they can’t remember their names, but they’re tired of seeing the ‘70s and ‘80s teams in SMW and they’re the team of the ‘90s.
THE THUGS vs KILLER KYLE & UPTOWN D-LO BROWN
-Dirty White Boy starts with Killer Kyle. Thugs double-team Kyle to work the arm. Smothers hiptosses and armdrags D-Lo around. D-Lo fights back with right hands, but Smothers just armdrags him again and stays on the arm, getting two from a crucifix.
-Kyle tags in and they work his arm again, but Da B-Squad comes to life with a side slam/elbow combo. D-Lo comes off the top with a clothesline for two. D-Lo goes for a frogsplash, but Smothers rolls out of the way, makes the tag, and we have ourselves a brawl. D-Lo comes off the ropes with another flying clothesline, but he accidentally connects with his partner and gets rolled up for three. Da-ssention in the ranks is teased after the match. Da Gangstas are done at this point in SMW, as a result of a weird political game Paul Heyman was playing where Cornette agreed to a deal to send them to ECW, but then Paul tried to arrange a behind-Cornette’s-back version of the same deal for some reason, and Cornette just said fuck it and told Da Gangstas to leave.
