The Name on the Marquee: Smoky Mountain Wrestling (7.17.1993)

-Originally aired July 17, 1993.

-We’re in Council High School.

-Your hosts are Bob Caudle & Dr. Dutch Mantell. Bob Caudle asks to draw the name for Beat the Champ…and he draws Dutch Mantell. So Dutch ditches the broadcast table for this week to get his gear out of the car.

“Prime Time” BRIAN LEE (with Tammy Fytch) vs JIMMY JANNETTY
-Lee has new entrance music and a lot of swagger in his step. 100% positive the jobber isn’t related to Marty.

-Lee offers a handshake, and since he WAS a babyface, Jannetty is stupid enough to accept and gets murdered with a clothesline. Tammy sits in on commentary and gushes about how she’s managing “the perfect man.” She now wishes to be called “the first lady of SMW” in light of how quickly she’s risen to success, just like Hillary Clinton. Brian introduces a new finisher, a knee from the top rope, to end things.

-We watch the Tracy Smothers/Brian Lee confrontation from last week. Smothers’ insult still doesn’t make any sense.

-Bob Caudle is instructed not to speak to Tammy without getting Brian Lee’s permission first. He wants all the coal miners in this hick town to remember, he was the first SMW Champion, and he’ll never forget the way nobody stood by him when he got cheated out of the belt.

-And here’s Tracy Smothers with a rebuttal. Brian Lee is a prima donna and Tammy Fytch is about to become the first woman ever to get slapped across the face by Tracy Smothers.

-We watch the Bruise Brothers capturing the tag team gold last week.

-Bob Caudle says that the Armstrong Army will take care of the Heavenly Bodies, and that the Rock & Roll Express will take care of the Bruise Brothers and get their belts back. Rock & Roll is here to stay, not here to play.

-Brian Matthews talks to the Rock & Roll Express in a house show promo. Rock & roll is here to stay, not here to play.

BEAT THE CHAMP TV TITLE: BOBBY BLAZE (Champion) vs DUTCH MANTELL
-Dutch reveals that he pulled a muscle while putting his boots on, which sounds like a hilarious story that somebody would have about Kerry Von Erich, but here he’s just a heel trying to get away with something. He consulted his friend Mr. Ron Wright, and Mr. Wright has just signed a new charge, a masked wrestler named Mighty Yankee.

BEAT THE CHAMP TV TITLE: BOBBY BLAZE (Champion) vs MIGHTY YANKEE (with Mr. Ron Wright)
-Mighty Yankee is really obviously Dirty White Boy, and Bob Caudle is so insulted by the scam that he refuses to even say the name “Mighty Yankee.”

-Dropkick by Blaze to start off. He shoulderblocks Yankee but goes to the well too many times and gets clotheslined down. Yankee slams him and drops a few elbows for two. He targets the throat while Dutch complains about being insulted by accusations of chicanery when it took all of his energy to even walk back to the commentary table.

-Snapmare by Yankee, but an elbow misses and Blaze comes back with forearms. Dropkick sends Yankee retreating to the corner. Mr. Wright loads something into Yankee’s mask and Yankee knocks him out with a headbutt. Easy three-count by the Yankee, and we have a new TV Champ.

-Bobby Blaze says he was beaten this week, but he’s not quitting because that’s exactly what Dirty White Boy wants.

-Vote for SMW’s Most Popular Wrestler! You could win a TV!

DOWN AND DIRTY WITH DUTCH
-Jim Cornette and all of his charges are here. The Armstrong family is a collection of gypsies, tramps, thieves, pickpockets, and assorted white trash.

-Kevin Sullivan has been suspended from wrestling in the United States and Japan as a result of an incident with Kanemura in Tokyo. SMW is refusing to air videotape of the incident, although Sullivan’s lawyers are making numerous requests because they’re trying to prove that Sullivan was provoked.

ARMSTRONG’S ARMY vs ROBBIE EAGLE, MIKE SAMPSON, & JEFF DANIELS
-Bullet Bob and his sons do the JYD Juke as they enter the ring; aside from that, Bob actually has some slick dance moves for an aging redneck.

-Steve bodyslams everybody. Bullet Bob hiptosses Sampson and connct with an uppercut. Other jobbers are afraid to get into the ring with Bob. Daniels reluctantly tags in and Steve gets some phenomenal air on a bodypress for two. A Bruise Brother wanders down to ringside just to watch. And then Jimmy Del Ray saunters out, now wearing tights that don’t make him look like an aging Las Vegas showgirl.

-Bob is fighting off the jobbers as Tom Pritchard and the other Bruise Brother head out here, and the ring is surrounded. Crowd chants “Rock and Roll” as Killer Kyle arrives at ringside, too.

-Robbie Eagle takes a beating from Scott and Bob. Sweet finish has Bob Armstrong applying a sleeper with each arm while his sons finish off Mike Sampson for the win.

-And as you could have guessed, Jim Cornette arrives and it’s a six-on-three assault. Rock & Roll Express shows up and Ricky has a baseball bat, so Corny’s crew gets the hell out.

“Suicide Blonde” CHRIS CANDIDO (WWA Champion) vs “White Lightning” TIM HORNER
– Bob Caudle reiterates that no evidence has been found that the WWA exists.

-Horner goes right on the offensive with right hands. Clothesline sends Candido over the top and onto the floor, and Horner meets him out there with a dive…not really a tope and not a plancha. Just, like, a dive.

-Back in the ring, Horner works the arm with a top wristlock. Candido punches free and elbows Horner down for two. Candido slams him into position and goes upstairs, but Horner Flair-slams him. Funny bit as Horner whips him into the ropes and winds up for an elbow, but Candido holds onto the ropes to avoid making contact. So Horner is the first wrestler ever to figure this out; he just takes two steps forward and elbows Candido right in the jaw, then sunset flips him for three. Candido throws a full-blown tantrum after the bell.

-Cornette is ready for Easy Country Night in Williamsburg, with SMW action plus a live concert afterward.

-The Armstrongs and the Rock & Roll Express promise to jackhammer Cornette’s skull with a Louisville Slugger until he’s firmly lodged in the ground, and then celebrate by kicking a field goal off the indent in the skull. I love how wonderfully specific that threat is.

7.0

The final score: review Good

The 411

Good stuff all around this week, particularly with Brian Lee, who finally has a role that suits him really well.