USWA Championship Wrestling (2.17.1990) Review

-Originally aired February 17, 1990.

-Your host is Michael St. John.

-We head to Memphis, TN, with Dave Brown and Jerry Lawler on commentary to start the show.

WORLD TAG TEAM TITLE: STUD STABLE (Champions) vs. SOUTHERN ROCKERS
-Southern Rockers are Well Dunn as babyface heartthrobs. Robert Fuller cuts a promo saying the mail is already coming in for the new valet contest, but he asks that ugly women please stop mailing requests to them.

-Bell rings while we get a breaking news bulletin from Evansville Eyewitness News: the Whirlpool union workers have accepted their new contract. Southern Rockers work Brian Lee’s arm for a spell until Fuller gets a handful of Rex King’s hair . Fuller tags in and tries to take advantage, but King slips out and makes the tag. All four men battle it out in the ring and Brian Lee gets clotheslined into a sunset flip for a three-count out of nowhere to capture the belts. Match was just getting started! Come on!

-Bill Dundee and Jeff Jarrett have comments for Billy Joe Travis and Jerry Lawler. They have a big tag team match coming up, and Billy Joe Travis might think he’s hot stuff, but he’s NOT! They’re workshopping new nicknames for everybody too, as Jarrett is billed as “Golden Boy” here and they talk about “Hot Property” Billy Joe Travis, which is hilarious because if you ever hear Norm MacDonald’s stand-up routine about watching Star Search, you’ll never hear the words “Hot Property” the same way again.

BILL DUNDEE & JEFF JARRETT vs. JAMES RATH & JAMES RATH’S TAG TEAM PARTNER
-From Dallas and the Sportatorium. Check this out, your sole commentator is Percy Pringle as a neutral/babyface personality. Jobbers take a beating. Standing armbar by Dundee, and Jarrett tags and slingshots himself over Rath and sunset flips him for a three-count. Even Percy Pringle seems surprised that it finished. “Wow, that was it!” Pringle is ALSO the ring announcer, to show you how well things are going for this company.

JERRY “The King” LAWLER vs. FREEZER THOMPSON
-Back to Memphis…But wait! The Stud Stable walks out here and slams a thousand dollars in cash on the commentary table, demanding that the Southern Rockers get back out here and take a rematch right now. The Southern Rockers head out here and say they’re game. Eddie Marlin comes out to make sure the Southern Rockers know what they’re doing, and the Southern Rockers insist that they understand the terms and they’re willing to risk the belts right now.

WORLD TAG TEAM TITLE PLUS $1,000: SOUTHERN ROCKERS (Champions) vs. STUD STABLE
-All four men brawl in the ring while Dave Brown and Jerry Lawler argue about who should hold the money for this match. Lee lariats Steve Doll for two and the referee is having the worst trouble keeping it to two people ion the ring. Doll applies a figure four on Lee. Robert Fuller loads up his sinister boot and kicks him in the head, but Rex Ring sneaks up behind Fuller and rolls him up for three, so the Rockers retain and they have a thousand bucks as a bonus. Funnier than it sounds, as Lawler pointed out on commentary that the referee was confused and that Fuller, who was actually the legal man, was standing on the apron. So when Fuller snuck in, it turned out the referee knew exactly who the legal man was.

-We flash back to a match from what I’m guessing is the missing February 10 episode. AHA! Okay, so this clears stuff up. Gorgeous Gary Young runs in during the chaotic final moments of a six-man tag feature match, attacks Jimmy Jack Funk, and steals his mask. This leads to Akbar’s men starting their new hobby of assaulting people and putting sombreros on them, and Gary Young wearing his ill-gotten mask and calling himself Texas Ranger.

-Dutch Mantel warns that the Texas Ranger had better be ready to get down and dirty with him, a TRUE Texan.

-We go to Memphis, where the Stud Stable now has $2000 (which Fuller explains is gambling money that he was saving for some fun he was going to have on Monday night) and he wants the Southern Rockers to get out here for ANOTHER rematch.

-So out comes the Southern Rockers, and out comes Eddie Marlin, who tells them not to do this because they’ve already wrestled twice in the past hour. Southern Rockers point out that they had shockingly good luck with finishing the first two matches, so they’re not really particularly hurt or tired, so…yeah, they’ll wrestle another match,

WORLD TAG TEAM TITLE PLUS $2,000: SOUTHERN ROCKERS (Champions) vs. STUD STABLE
-Southern Rockers work the arm on Brian Lee. Lee gets free and hiptosses Rex King. King just gives him a hard right, and a double dropkick sends Lee to the floor. Fuller comes in and King opens himself up to a knee to the back from Lee on the apron. Lee tags in and powerslams King for a one count. All four men end up brawling in the ring and Rex King comes off the top with a bodypress on Lee and goes for the pin, but Fuller loads the boot and makes full contact this time, and Brian Lee rolls over and gets the pin with his feet on the ropes. Stable gets the belts back and the Stable mauls the Rockers on the floor after the match.

-JYD is coming for the Soultaker in Evansville! He warns Soultaker that Mike Tyson just proved to the world that any man can lose on any given night, so Soultaker had better be careful.

-Back in Dallas, Hollywood John Tatum makes his surprise return with a bevy of fabulous babes, but really he just looks like he’s doing a “guy who peaked in high school” gimmick.

HOLLYWOOD JOHN TATUM vs. THE WRESTLING PRO
-Pro applies a hammerlock. Tatum makes the ropes, but Pro comes right back and slams him. Tatum looks frustrated already and gives the Pro some hard rights and a snap suplex. He throws the Pro out to the floor. Pro struggles his way back in and Tatum is waiting with a superkick for three.

CHRIS CHAMPION vs. JOBBINGTON LOSEWORTH
-Percy Pringle needs to enunciate. I can’t understand the jobber’s name. Whoever he is, he gets sent to the concrete and kneed and legdropped and is generally thrashed about by Champion. Side suplex by Champion, and he finishes with…a superkick. Are we getting a feud out of this, or is it just a failure of imagination?

7.2

The final score: review Good

The 411

Hey, this was actually a pretty cohesive and entertaining show!