Andrew Lutzke
From Amazon Prime
Rip Morgan and Taras Bulba vs. Jim Jamison and Tracy Smothers
Jonathan Boyd is acting as flag bearer instead of partnering with Morgan as “The Sheepherders”. Bulba sings the “Waltzing Matilda” before the match. Google tells me it’s Australia’s “unofficial national anthem”.
Bulba uses his girth to push Smothers around. Smothers scores with a drop kick, sending Bulba looking for a tag. Morgan is out wrestled by Smothers. Morgan pretty much looks like a Bruiser Brody clone at this point.
Jamison tags in and the heels immediately just beat the hell out of him. Bulba hits a diving headbutt for the win at 2:57. Smothers looked good, and the heels looked like monsters, so this was a winning segment.
Billy Travis vs. “Superstar” Bill Dundee
Travis out grapples Dundee, frustrating the lilliputian heel and sending him for a time out. Dundee tries to take some short cuts, but can’t maintain any sort of control. The men collide, and Travis falls to the floor. Dundee posts him, and Travis comes up trickling blood.
Dundee drives Travis into a wall. Dundee assaults Travis back in the ring, with Travis trying to fight from underneath as best he can. Dundee dumps his young foe back to the cement. Koko Ware has finally seen enough and he charges the ring. Dundee catches him and starts to beat him down too. Travis gets a shot in, leaving an opening for Ware to fire off some blows. Dundee takes some double team moves before running off. Dundee is awarded a DQ win after 8 minutes of action. This was HHH-like, with the heel beating up two babyfaces, before the numbers game could catch up with him and he had to flee.
Jerry Bryant and Lou Winston vs. Billy Travis and Tracy Smothers
Dave Brown points out he is wrong in his announcement as Bryant is AWOL. A masked man who the announcers do not recognize takes his place. Bryant and Winston were working a “Miami Vice” gimmick at this point.
Smothers out works both the masked man and Winston. Travis tags in to get his shots in on the masked man as well. Both faces take control working over the heels. Then the babyfaces just get the clean win at the 3-minute mark!! What the hell?! I guess the babyfaces have to get a win now and then to show they are young, up and coming stars and not just geeks who can get some work in before ultimately always losing. I would guess the Masked Man angle will go somewhere, but who knows if this collection will show it?
Jerry “the King” Lawler vs. Tony Falk
Falk is still riding his losing streak gimmick. The announcers remind us he tried and failed at 3 different matches last week. Falk charges Lawler, knocking the ref loopy in the process. Lawler sees the ref is down, so he piledrives Falk (an illegal move in Memphis) and scores the win at the 24-second mark. Awesome!
We see a Jerry Lawler music video. Lawler beats on Austin Idol, Jerry Blackwell, Ken Patera, Kamala, Hulk Hogan, Nick Bockwinkel, The Road Warriors, Bruiser Brody, Randy Savage, King Kong Bundy, Andy Kaufman, Terry Funk and others.
Lawler promo: The King discusses possible stipulation matches for he and Dundee to take part in. Lawler reminds us that he beat Dundee and took his hair, then beat Dundee again and was able to shave his wife’s head. The Dundee’s will put up their hair again in a match where Lawler will leave Memphis if he loses.
Buddy Landel and Dutch Mantel promo: Landel is apparently a face now as he proclaims he “hates” Bill Dundee.
Dutch Mantel and Buddy Landel vs. Keith Eric and the Inferno
Landel and Mantel trade off abusing the masked Inferno as the announcers explain that Dutch may not like Landel, but they share a common enemy in Dundee. That fact will be enough to keep everyone behaving. The faces win with a suplex, spinning elbow combo in a little over two minutes.
Tojo Yamamoto screams about Jerry Jarrett in broken english.
Jerry Lawler vs. The Torch
I can not confirm that the Inferno is related to the Torch. Torch has two partners named “Fire” and “Flame”. What a hot territory!
Torch shoves Lawler around, then turns his back, so Lawler rolls him up for the quick win. The heels want another crack at it, so….
Jerry Lawler vs. The Flame
The Flame roughs Lawler up with some blows, but Lawler taps him on the back during a pin attempt. The Flame thinks it was the ref and stands up. Lawler rolls him up for the win at the 40- second mark.
Fire comes out and challenges Lawler. If Lawler wins again, the three heels will unmask.
Jerry Lawler vs. Fire
Fire jumps Lawler and unloads with some clubberin’. Fire tries several quick pinfalls. He delivers a neck breaker, headbutts, knee drops and other blows, but can’t get the duke. Lawler fires up, busts out a dropkick and prepares to extinguish the Fire. The other heels distract Lawler, allowing Fire to toss powder in Lawler’s face. Even with white powder all over Lawler, the ref counts the pin. Why would Fire not use a fireball?
Tojo cuts a promo with Akio Sato and Tarzan Goto. Yamamoto cuts a promo like it’s 1942, talking about Imperial Japan and whatnot.
Akio Sato and Tarzan Goto vs. Jeff Jamison and David Johnson
The heels chop and kick away at their opponents. Jeff Jarrett and Pat Tanaka come down and dump yellow paint on Tojo, prompting a four-way brawl. Jarrett is held up by Sato as Tojo rails on him with his belt and a kendo stick. Tanaka is knocked out on the floor.
Eddie Marlin tries to calm the situation down, but Sato and Goto double up on him. After the refs calm the situation down, Marlin takes off his suit top and challenges the heels to come back and fight him. The heels do not appear, so Marlin charges to the back.
Lance Russell is great as always here, begging Marlin to help Jarrett and leave the rough stuff for later. Tojo shows up. Marlin charges back in, only to be blinded by salt. Tojo beats on Marlin, Marlin bleeds. Lance screams for Lawler or anyone to help Marlin. Jeff Jarrett and Tanaka run back down to save Marlin.
Tojo comes over to cut another promo. Russell says “you’re an embarrassment to your people”. A great angle for what it was. Jarrett was just a skinny geek, so feuding with other EVIL skinny heels works well.
BONUS MATCH:
Junkyard Dog, Angelo Mosca, Angelo Mosca Jr. vs. Gary Hart, Kabuki and Ivan Koloff
I had to check out this six-man from the “Boogie Jam ’84” on the WWE network. There is a strong argument that the JYD is the second best worker in the match, which is terrifying in some manner.
JYD was in as a special guest attraction. Gary Hart was making a rare in ring appearance after his career was ruined in a plane wreck. Mosca Sr. is old and limited. Mosca Jr. was notoriously BAD. Kabuki was the master of the nerve pinch rest hold of DOOM. There is no commentary. I am begging for this to be awful.
Mosca Jr. and Kabuki look like they almost blow something in the first ten seconds as they run the ropes. Hart teases a run in and Daddy Mosca scares him off. Mosca Jr. works the arm of Kabuki. Kabuki eats a shoulder block, but sidekicks Jr. to take control. Koloff and Hart get their shots in as Jr. is trapped in the heel corner. Kabuki busts out an enziguri. Koloff knocks into Mosca, allowing the kid to make the hot tag to JYD.
The Dog throws some quick punches to the gut and headbutts Koloff several times, earning a big reaction. Daddy Mosca tags in and just starts choking Kabuki. The ref starts to lose control as Hart sneaks in to choke Mosca. Kabuki and Hart take turns digging in Daddy Mosca’s eyes. The crowd squeals as this big orge of a man sells his pain and desperately tries to fight back as all three heels work on him in their corner.
Gary Hart tags in, and that goes poorly right away for the heels. Daddy Mosca picks him up and carries him to the babyface corner. JYD gives Hart the Thump slam, then Junior Mosca tags in for a crossbody and the win.
JYD hits Koloff with a chain after the fact. Mosca gets the chain and unleashes on Hart and Kabuki. Daddy swings the chain overhead to thrill the crowd.
This did not overstay its welcome, with frequent tags and a hot crowd making for a much better match than I expected.
Thanks for reading! Feel free to follow me on Twitter to keep up with my wrasslin’ research and reviews. https://twitter.com/Brody1982
