Written by: Bob Colling
Smoky Mountain Wrestling presents Sunday Bloody Sunday
Date: 2/13/1994
From: Knoxville, TN
Opening Contest: Tracy Smothers vs. Chris Candido: Smothers goes right after Candido with right hands and a backdrop. Candido bails to the floor following a dropkick from Smothers. Candido comes back into the ring and works over Smothers in the corner. Tracy slingshots himself from the apron to kick Candido for a two count. Smothers kicks Candido on the floor sending him into the railing. Smothers comes off the apron to hit Candido with a head butt to the shoulder area. Candido comes off the middle rope to hit a fist drop on Smothers and continues to work over Smothers in the corner. They collide in the middle of the ring as Smothers attempted a leapfrog. Candido knocks Smothers off the apron with a knee strike. Smothers hits a slingshot cross body for a two count. Candido clotheslines Smothers over the top sending both men to the floor where Candido continues to work over Tracy with strikes.
Candido hits a slingshot cross body to the floor to take Smothers out. Candido attempts a suplex from the apron but Smothers suplexs Candido to the floor! Smothers follows up with a baseball slide to take Candido out into the railing. Candido stops Smothers by sending him back first into the guard railing. Smothers punches Candido from the apron and hits a twisting cross body front eh top but Candido gets control with a strike for a near fall. Candido keeps Smothers on the canvas with a headlock and uses the ropes for leverage. Candido is sent face first into the ring post in the corner but stops Smothers with a knee in the corner and hits a running clothesline for a two count. Smothers jabs Candido but runs into a boot and Candido hits a snap suplex. Smothers manages to battle back with a belly to belly suplex.
Smothers goes to the top but is stopped by Candido. Candido hits a top rope hurricanrana and takes the time to taunt the fans before going for the cover but Smothers kicks out. Candido goes to the top rope but misses a diving head butt. Smothers gets some offense hitting a leaping back elbow. Smothers comes off the apron to double axe handle Candido on the floor. Tracy works over Candido with strikes in the corner and a leaping kick to the back of Candido’s head. Candido bails to the floor but Smothers quickly follows. Smothers comes off the top to hit an uppercut. Candido decks Smothers with a chain while the referee was turnaround and gets the win. (***. A good way to open the show, but the finish was kind of anticlimactic to me. Candido having to cheat doesn’t elevate him and I don’t know why they are protecting Smothers at this point. There was some good brawling and a good mix of fast pace/high flying stuff, too.)
Second Contest: SMW Tag Team Champions The Heavenly Bodies vs. Mike & Doug Furnas: It appears that the mother of Doug and Mike is in the front row for the match. Del Ray is taunting them with a t-shirt on the floor and gets chased by Doug. In the ring, Doug plants Del Ray with a snap power slam and Mike holds Pritchard in the corner before they run over him with a shoulder block. Mike tosses Del Ray across the ring in awkward fashion. Del Ray and Mike legally start the match with Mike knocking Del Ray down with a shoulder block. Mike tries to climb the pole to but is stopped by Del Ray. Mike clotheslines Del Ray and goes back to the post to get the Tennessee helmet, but is stopped. Pritchard enters and scoop slams Mike followed by a stomp and works over Mike in the corner. Doug is tagged in and Pritchard backs away from the bigger, more talented brother. Doug shoves Tom across the ring to showcase his strength.
Mike prevents Del Ray from climbing the pole to get the helmet. Doug press slams Pritchard and does the same to Del Ray. Mike and Doug send the champs to the floor with dropkicks. Doug attempts to climb the pole but is stopped by Pritchard and Del Ray. Mike comes over and grabs Del Ray while hitting Pritchard with strikes. Doug can’t reach the helmet and is stomped by the champions. Doug is worked over in the corner while Mike was distracting the referee across the ring. Doug takes Del Ray over with an overhead belly to belly suplex. Doug climbs the corner and tries to get the helmet but Del Ray is there again to stop Doug hitting a middle rope back suplex. Del Ray climbs the corner but Doug recovers to low blow Jimmy. Del Ray scoop slams Doug but misses a top rope moonsault. Pritchard gets tagged in and clotheslines Doug but is stopped by Mike from getting the helmet.
Doug plants Pritchard with a middle rope electric chair slam. Doug takes Tom over with a snap suplex. Mike gets the tag and takes Tom to with a cross body but he rolls to the floor which gets laughs from the crowd. Mike atomic drops Del Ray over the top to the floor while Doug hits a German suplex on Pritchard. All four men are brawling in the ring at this point. Doug comes off the ropes to hit a running clothesline on Pritchard. Doug continues to work over the champs with right hands as Jim Cornette gets on the ropes and tries to get the helmet down for his men. Robert Gibson and Ricky Morton come out and take Cornette out and toss the helmet to Doug! Mike covers Pritchard and gets the win after a helmet shot. (*1/2. Mike Furnas is one of the most awkward moving wrestlers I’ve ever seen. The Furnas Brothers were over with the crowd, though. The involvement of the Express adds some tension for their match later on, I suppose. I’m just glad that one is over with.)
Third Contest: Bob Armstrong vs. Terry Funk in a Texas Death Match: Armstrong slaps Funk sending him to the floor with one strike. Funk returns to the ring and works over Armstrong with strikes in the corner before sending Armstrong to the floor. On the floor, Funk atomic drops Armstrong sending Bob head first into the railing due to the momentum. Funk drives Armstrong down with a neck breaker for a two count back in the ring. They go back to the floor where Funk puts Armstrong on a table and hits a DDT through the table! For some reason, Armstrong gets up first and sends Funk into the broken table before they return to the ring. Bob hits a double stomp and pins Funk, but Terry has thirty-seconds to get up. Funk gets up and whacks Armstrong over the knee with a cane. Funk works over Armstrong with a spinning toe hold but Armstrong fights out of the hold with strikes knocking Funk down to the canvas.
Bob hammers away on Funk with several strikes and a head butt to get another three count, but Funk has thirty-seconds to get up again. Funk stumbles to his feet but gets knocked over the top to the floor. Funk nearly attacks Jim Cornette on the floor unaware it’s not Armstrong but realizes it just in time. Funk tosses chairs into the ring as he staggers around ringside. Funk whacks Armstrong over the back with a chair and piles the other chairs in the middle of the ring. Funk whacks Bob over the head with a steel chair to maintain control of the match. Funk scoop slams Armstrong onto the chairs and heads to the top where Funk hits a top rope moonsault, which gets a three count. I believe that is the first time Funk hit the move. Armstrong manages to get up before the end of the thirty-second period. Armstrong backdrops Funk onto the chairs and plants Funk with a DDT onto the chairs for a three count. Funk tries to get to his feet but is unable to and Armstrong wins. After the match, Jim Cornette attacks Armstrong with his tennis racket and Funk gets some cheap shots in. Funk is using a branding iron on Armstrong, it appears. Cornette wants Armstrong to kiss his feet. That doesn’t happen as Tracy Smothers runs down to make the save. (**. It’s not a great hardcore brawl, but there were a few spots that were good. These matches are usually tough with the thirty-second rest periods. The moonsualt by Funk was cool to see since it was the first time he pulled it off in his career. The aftermath was expected because the heels have to keep their heat to justify the feud dragging along longer.)
Fourth Contest: SMW Tag Team Champions The Heavenly Bodies vs. Rock N’ Roll Express: Gibson hammers away on Del Ray to start the match while Morton chased after Pritchard on the floor. Gibson knee lifts Del Ray to keep control of the match in the ring as Morton rolls Pritchard into the ring. Del Ray attempts a piledriver on Morton but is instead taken over with a backdrop. Del Ray tosses Morton over the top but the referee didn’t see that happen. The Bodies hold Morton on the floor to allow Cornette to get a cheap shot in with his tennis racket. Gibson comes over and brawls with Del Ray. A table is setup on the floor but they go back to the ring brawling. Morton has a pin on Del Ray but the referee was distracted. Pritchard works over Morton with strikes in the corner but Morton fights his way out of the corner. Morton atomic drops Pritchard two times and does the same to Del Ray. Morton rolls to the corner and tags in Gibson. Gibson cleans house on the champs with strikes and sending them into each other. A double dropkick to Del Ray gets Gibson a near fall but Cornette enters the ring and causes the disqualification by hitting Gibson. (*1/2. I don’t think was intended to be a classic match since the Bodies competed once before. This felt like a TV angle advancement.) After the match, Morton and Gibson are beaten down.
Fifth Contest: SMW Heavyweight Champion Brian Lee vs. Dirty White Boy in a chain match: The fans are heavily behind White Boy after months of wanting to fully cheer for him, they let him hear it. Ron Wright is introduced and is given a standing ovation and great reception. By the way, he is walking to the ring and not in the trademark wheelchair. He gives White Boy the chain for the match, which I’d assume is Wright’s personal chain.
White Boy yanks Lee over the top rope into the ring and Lee begs off already. Lee bails to the floor but that is useless as he is dragged back into the ring. White Boy clotheslines Lee with a chain assisted clothesline. White Boy chokes Lee over the middle rope for a few moments. White Boy decks Lee with the chain and begins to touch the corners but doesn’t get all the way around the ring. White Boy settles for hitting Lee with the chain wrapped around his fist. Lee fights back with strikes and chokes White Boy with the chain. White Boy low blows Lee and sends Lee face first into the ring post from the floor. White Boy continues to work over Lee with the chain and it looks like Lee has been busted wide open at this point. White Boy has the chain wrapped around the neck of Lee. White Boy begins to touch the corners but can’t touch all four.
Lee drops White Boy with a boot to the midsection and drives the chain down across the head of White Boy. Lee begins to touch the corners but is stopped by White Boy. Lee drops White Boy with a big boot and delivers a few quick elbow drops. White Boy sends Lee face first into the top turnbuckle but Lee recovers to choke White Boy some more. Lee decks White Boy with the chain wrapped around his fist. Lee gets close to touching all four corners but is stopped by White Boy. Lee wraps the chain around the mouth of White Boy for a moment. White Boy gets a second wind and begins to hammer away on Lee. White Boy clotheslines Lee with the chain and chokes the champion. White Boy misses a splash in the corner and Lee comes back with a clothesline to drop White Boy. Tammy gets involved but Ron Wright enters and kicks Lee with a loaded boot. White Boy manages to touch all four corners and wins the match and title. (**1/2. It’s nowhere near the first one between White Boy and Smothers, but it was decent and the Wright involvement got a good reaction from the crowd, so that was probably the most enjoyable part of the match.) After the match, Tammy is furious with Lee for losing the title but also comforts him on the floor.
Main Event: The Bruise Brothers vs. The Moondogs in a steel cage match: A table is in the ring already as all four men are brawling before the bell even sounds with the Bruise Brothers getting the better of the exchange early on. They use a stop sign on Spot while Rex is sent into the table in the corner. Moondogs get control and begin to hit the Bruise Brothers with the same weapons they were just hit with moments earlier. Spot is hit with the broken table in the corner several times. The Moondogs are sent into each other and they are continued to be hit with the broken table. The Bruise Brothers are worked over with the broken table and fish net. Moondogs are sent into each other as Ron avoided a double clothesline and they get a quick win. (DUD. This was one of the worst cage matches I’ve ever watched.) After the match, Heavenly Bodies come to the ring and attack the bruise Brothers. Here comes the Rock N’ Roll Express to get in on the brawling too. The good guys stand tall.
Final Thoughts:
The main event must have been the last match only because it was a steel cage and that takes a moment to setup. There were only a couple of good matches and everything else felt really flat or was disappointing. I don’t know what I expected from Funk/Armstrong considering their age but I was left wanting more violence there. The best match was Smothers/Candido while the title match was only exciting due to the finish with Wright’s involvement. I’d say the whole show was underwhelming and I expected more from it.
Thanks for reading.