CWA TV 3/22/1986

Written by: Bob Colling

CWA TV
Date: 3/22/1986
From: Memphis, TN

Lance Russell and Dave Brown promote what we’ll see on the program. Jos LeDuc will make his return. AWA Southern Tag Champions Fantastics and the Mod Squad will be in action.

Opening Contest: Billy Travis vs. Keith Eric: Travis is feuding with Abdul Gaddafi over the AWA International Championship to really explain why he’s getting a squash match. Travis has control early on with a hip toss, but Eric is complaining of a tug on his tights. Eric bails to the floor after a rollup attempt. Eric gets the brief advantage by yanking Travis down by his hair. Travis hammers away on Erich with right hands and connects with a backbreaker. Travis comes off the middle rope with a splash for the win. (1/4*. I don’t think this needed to go anywhere near four minutes. Hopefully Travis isn’t this dull in the ring all the time.)

Frank Morell has pre-tape comments to share from a park it looks like. He puts over Billy Travis and his dedication despite not being successful in his first attempt. Frank is confident that Travis will win the championship. We see footage of Travis doing pushups while Frank yells at him. Travis also does a bunch of sit-ups while Frank motivates him. Travis is also jogging while Frank is in a car and motivates Travis.

Lance Russell promotes a show taking place at the Coliseum. Dutch Mantell challenges AWA Southern Champion Bill Dundee will be taking place. We hear from Dundee via pre-tape comments who talks about how there is a lawsuit still going on and he says he’s never going to lose the title to redneck like Dutch. Dundee talks about taking out Jerry Lawler but then politics brought him back to the company. Dundee is going to take all his frustrations out on Mantell. Dundee is going to stop for anything and he’ll beat Dutch 1-2-3.

Second Contest: AWA Southern Heavyweight Champion Bill Dundee & Buddy Landell vs. Benny Traylor & Jerry Garmen: One positive to take from this segment is that Traylor and Garmen are wearing matching tights and gear. Similar to how it went last week, Dundee and Landell dominate the action showing no mercy on their opponents. Dundee delivers a clothesline and Landell locks in the figure four for the submission victory. (1/4*. Not as good as last weeks showing, but it serves its purpose.)

Lance Russell and Dave Brown talk about Jeff Jarrett and how people have asked about his condition. They recently talked to Jeff Jarrett and we have comments from Jeff that were taped previously at his home. Jeff is going to answer why he wanted to be a pro wrestler and why he refereed Dundee’s tag match. He gives his explanation about how he’d be excited to see his father competing in the ring. He was proud to have his father competing on television and his friends tell him they saw his father on TV. His father was just his dad growing up. He’d go to the shows and became his fathers biggest fan. Jerry had become his hero. Jeff wanted to be just like his dad. He hopes that the interview has given the fans an explanation about why he wanted to be wrestler. Jeff then talks about being the referee for Dundee’s match. He wants to do it again and that’s because his father told him to never give up. There’s a poem written for his brother Jason that is called “Don’t Quit”. Jeff recites the poem as we see footage of him getting beaten up. The poem fits the situation really well.

Lance Russell promotes some local events taking place. He promotes the same matches that he had done earlier in the show.

Third Contest: Joe LeDuc vs. David Haskins: LeDuc beats on Haskins throughout the match not allowing his opponent to get any momentum. LeDuc dropkicks Haskins and continues to deliver overhand strikes. LeDuc decks Haskins with a clothesline and wins the match. (1/4*. LeDuc makes some hilarious facial expressions. That’s all I really got from this.)

Jerry Lawler shills his VHS tape. It’s only $29.99 plus $5.95.

JD Costello and the Mod Squad are with Lance Russell for an interview. Costello is frustrated by the fans booing them. Costello asks Russell if he knows what he has. Costello has a sack of gold coins, which is worth $3,000. He is going to put up the coins for them to get a title shot at the Fantastics tonight. Costello puts over his team as being the best team in the business. Costello wants Russell to pass the news along. Russell reminds Costello that his wishes may not be met. Apparently, they will have to talk to Eddie Marlin.

After a commercial break, it is revealed that the title match has been agreed to. The match will be an expiration of time.

Fourth Contest: AWA Southern Tag Team Champions The Fantastics vs. Mod Squad in a titles vs. $3,000: The Mod Squad attacks the champions before the bell but their offense doesn’t last very long. Rogers dropkicks one of the challengers to the floor and they regroup on the floor. Fulton dropkicks Basher to floor and Spike suffers the same fate. Rogers keeps control of Spike with a headlock on the mat. Rogers hip tosses Spike and continues with a shoulder block. Basher gets tagged into the match as Fulton has entered, too. Basher gets dropkicked by Fulton and Spike tags back into the contest. Rogers comes in and decks Spike with a right hand. Rogers monkey flips Spike out of the corner. Fulton comes in and rolls Spike up for a two count. Fulton continues to deliver strikes and a hip toss to take Basher over. Rogers delivers another dropkick and a leg drop. Spike tags in but is met with a dropkick by Rogers. Rogers gets stopped by Basher on the apron and is choked for a moment. Rogers gets worked over by Basher with a scoop slam and an elbow drop.

Rogers continues to be double teamed in the corner by the Mod Squad. Basher chokes Rogers on the canvas. Spike tags in and decks Rogers with a clothesline for a two count. Spike continues with a leg drop for another near fall. Spike plants Rogers with a powerslam for a two count. Rogers takes both men over with a sunset flip and tags in Fulton. Fulton hammers away on the Mod Squad. All four men are going at it. Fulton has a rollup on Basher but the referee is distracted. JD Costello decks Fulton with the bag of gold coins and Basher gets the three count! They have won the tag team titles! Wait a minute, Eddie Marlin comes out and takes the titles because he saw what happened. Marlin reverses the decision! Costello is livid! Marlin tells them to beat the Fantastics to get the titles and money. The bag was actually full of washers. (**. It’s not a bad TV match as they got plenty of time. Fantastics seemed to be limited by what they could do with these guys. The finish certainly had heat attached to it.)

Lance Russell once again promotes local live events. Dutch Mantell comes into the scene and says that things are finally going his way. Dutch isn’t going to go into the match knowing that Dundee and Landell are going to jump him. He is battling Dundee on the live event and he has a score to settle with him. Buddy Landell will be barred from the arena. Dutch is coming straight at Dundee and is coming for the belt.

Main Event: Paul Diamond & Michael Lee vs. Tony Falk & Pat Rose: Diamond and Rose start the match trading some basic holds. Falk gets tagged in but misses a double clothesline. Diamond takes them both down with a leaping crossbody before tagging in Lee. Lee hip tosses Falk and keeps control of the left arm. Lee hip tosses Falk causing Falk to tag out to Rose. Rose works over Lee with strikes in the corner and delivers an elbow strike. Rose takes Lee over with a vertical suplex before tagging in Falk to continue the match. Rose keeps control of Lee on the mat with a sleeper hold. Falk Falk keeps control by choking Lee on the mat but can’t get a three count or submission. Rose enters to deliver a powerslam on Lee. Rose delivers a scoop slam and an elbow drop for a one count as he pulled Lee up. Falk enters the match and trades blows with Lee. Lee trips Falk and tags in Diamond. Diamond cleans house with strikes and a couple of dropkicks. Diamond drives Falk down with a side Russian leg sweep and gets a rollup for the win. (1/2*. Pat Rose seems to be a guy who is wasted in this role. He has believable offense and I think he’d be a fun guy to watch in an expanded role. Diamond is being primed to be the focus of the tag team, which is pretty clear.)

Final Thoughts:
The focus on the Fantastics/Mod Squad was done nicely this week to added much needed interest into the match. Especially if they are going to be running matches between them on the live events. Plus, the development of Jeff Jarrett and introducing his in-ring character is going to be fun to witness.

Thanks for reading.