CWA TV 6/21/1986

Written by: Bob Colling

CWA TV
Date: 6/21/1986
From: Memphis, TN

Lance Russell and Dave Brown welcome everyone to the program and rundown what we’ll see tonight. There will be a one night tournament to crown a new AWA Southern Heavyweight Championship.

The Nightmares come out with face paint and unique hair colors. Davis says they look the way they do because they want to be different and recognized. They believe they are the greatest tag team ever. Wayne believes they are the uncrowned tag team champions. Davis says the Beach Boys will not use them as stepping stones.

Opening Contest: The Nightmares (Danny Davis & Ken Wayne) vs. Beach Boys (Johnnie Stuart & Van Van Horne): Horne and Wayne start the bout with Horne controlling Wayne with a head scissors on the mat. Davis tags into the match and Stuart enters to deliver a back elbow strike. Wayne knee lifts Stuart while he was running the ropes. Davis delivers a scoop slam before tagging in Wayne. Wayne backdrops Stuart followed by a knee drop. Horne tags in Stuart and he hammers away on Davis. Davis slams Horne and a top rope diving headbutt by Wayne for the win. (1/2*. A quick match between these two teams with the right team going over. I’m not really fond of either team, but the Nightmares are a better in-ring team.)

Bill Dundee comes out to be interviewed by Lance Russell. Dundee wants everyone to listen to him and says there was a big conspiracy against him. Dundee talks about Buddy Landell, Jerry Lawler and Eddie Marlin working together knowing that nobody can beat him. Dundee thinks the excuse for a tournament is a dumb idea. He’s livid that he wasn’t even going to be in the tournament. Dundee knows that he is the best there is and everyone knows it. Dundee is confident that everyone is going to say that nobody can beat him. Dundee threatens to slap Russell if he even says that he was beaten for the belt. Dundee is tired of Jerry Jarrett and threatens to sue him too.

Lance Russell promotes the Evansville show and says that there will be ten matches and GA tickets are only $2 for high school students. Bill Dundee provides another promo saying that he doesn’t care who he has to face because he’s going to prove a point and win his title. Rip Rogers enters the scene and believes he’ll be the next champion. Paul Diamond takes on Joe LeDuc in a strap match.

Second Contest: Dutch Mantell & Buddy Landell vs. The Inferno & Keith Eric: Buddy and Dutch were once buddies, and then hated each other and now have some kind of alliance simply because they both hate Bill Dundee now. As expected, they don’t have much of a problem with their opponents and they get a few minutes to showcase their talents. They are all in the ring for a moment until Dutch drives Eric down to a mat with a front slam. Landell wins the match following an elbow drop. (1/4*. Just a showcase match for two of the bigger face characters in CWA. Simple and to the point for the most part.)

Lance Russell promotes a show in Clarksville and other areas. He also promotes the Evansville show, which will feature a tournament to crown a new AWA Southern Heavyweight Champion.

Back to the studio, Lance Russell and Dave Brown show highlights from a recent show that featured a match between the Mod Squad/JD Costello and the team of Jerry Lawler and the Giant Hillbilly. Austin Idol got involved hitting the bad guys with a stick. Costello tried to get away but was caught by Hillbilly and slammed to the mat. Hillbilly delivered a leg drop to Costello. Lawler spikes Costello with a piledriver. Idol locks in the Las Vegas leg lock. Costello submits. The match went nearly 19-minutes. Costello did a stretcher job.

JD Costello and the AWA Southern Tag Team Champions Mod Squad come out or an interview. Costello is sporting a neck brace. Costello isn’t happy with what Hillbilly and Idol did to him. Costello believes that Lawler, Idol and Hillbilly had the goal to get him out of wrestling, but he’s still here. Costello says there is a critical situation and assures us that they will seriously hurt the trio. Costello promises they will hurt them badly. We hear from Spike saying that nobody does this to Costello and gets away with it.

Third Contest: AWA Southern Tag Team Champions The Mod Squad, Fire & Flame vs. Benny Trailer, Jerry Garmen, David Haskins & Jim Jamison: As per usual in these kind of situations, the Dynasty group doesn’t have an issue destroying the unlucky enhancement guys. All eight men are in the ring brawling and Flame delivers a fireball to Jamison leading to the pin. So, it would appear the fireball is part of the character for the masked team. (1/4*. A quick match and it seems like the focus isn’t really on the Mod Squad in this segment. It’s hard to be invested in Fire and Flame.)

Lance Russell says that there is a new name coming to the scene named Bam-Bam Bigelow. Larry Sharpe starts the segment and has the Jaws theme song playing. Sharpe has someone hiding under a sheet. Dennis Coralluzzo has offered Sharpe something he can’t refuse. Sharpe warns the kids to leave the room if they don’t want to be scared. Sharpe uncovers the sheet and Bigelow still has another sheet over his head. Bigelow is a thick fella. Sharpe doesn’t like looking at him but he likes money. He uncovers the sheet on Bigelow’s face and Bigelow is officially revealed. They are making it clear their target is Jerry Lawler.

Fourth Contest: Jerry Lawler & The Giant Hillbilly vs. Abdul Gaddafi & Strong Machine: Lawler and Machine start the match with Lawler tossing him across the ring. Lawler is trying to remove the mask but isn’t successful. Gaddafi enters the match and trades a few strikes with Lawler. Gaddafi gets control with a knee strike and a scoop slam for a two count. Gaddafi scoop slams Lawler again but misses an elbow drop. Lawler drops his strap and pummels Gaddafi with several right hands on the mat. Hillbilly enters to deliver a leg drop and wins the match. (1/4*. They must have officially dropped the Gaddafi character from being anything of importance. Seems like they are kind of wasting Lawler in this tag team with Hillbilly, who isn’t very good at all.) After the match, Lawler and Hillbilly dance for a little bit.

There’s a music video promoting Austin Idol as he’s at the gym working out.

Lance Russell promotes the Evansville show coming up on Wednesday. Buddy Landell enters the scene to cut a promo saying that Bill Dundee has been crying about not being the champion. Landell should have taken Dundee’s teeth along with the championship. Landell warns Rogers to not piss him off. Dutch Mantell comes in and says the controversy is good for him because he gets a shot to win the title. Dutch is going to take Dundee out.

Fifth Contest: Joe LeDuc vs. David Johnson & Mike Murphy in a handicap match: LeDuc takes on both guys at the same time because he doesn’t care and he’s crazy. The fans are chanting that they want Paul Diamond. LeDuc dropkicks Murphy and decks Johnson with a clothesline. LeDuc proceeds to pin both men. (1/4*. The usual routine with LeDuc.)

Joe LeDuc is interviewed by Lance Russell. He is still focused on Paul Diamond and wants everyone to see him take on Diamond. LeDuc still doesn’t believe that Diamond is a man and refers to him as a boy. LeDuc notes that Diamond attacked him from behind. LeDuc reminds Diamond that he is his mentor and teach him how to be a man. LeDuc isn’t going to be attacked from behind with a trash can. As he’s talking to the camera, Paul Diamond is behind LeDuc and is wearing army gear. Diamond superkicks LeDuc and says that this isn’t over. He will be after LeDuc every chance he gets. LeDuc is acting like he’s choking and isn’t able to speak as he got kicked right on the throat.

Main Event: Paul Diamond & Mr. Liberty vs. The Dirty Black Boys: Diamond starts the match with a standing dropkick before tagging in Mr. Liberty, who is another masked wrestler. Diamond comes back in and keeps control with some mat wrestling. Diamond delivers a running clothesline for a one count. I just noticed that the Dirty Black Boys are also masked wrestlers. Liberty continues the match with a snap suplex before tagging in Diamond. Diamond hits a double under hook suplex for a near fall. Joe LeDuc and the Mod Squad enter the ring to attack Liberty and Diamond. LeDuc is choking Diamond with the strap. This attack shouldn’t be all that surprising for Diamond. LeDuc continues to choke Diamond with the strap over the ropes while on the floor. Luckily, some people come out to save Diamond from being murdered. (1/2*. There was some decent action in there, but this was just a way to continue the issues between Diamond and LeDuc.)

Final Thoughts:
A decent episode this week as they focused on the Diamond/LeDuc feud and the television debut of Bam-Bam Bigelow. The tournament to crown a new AWA Southern Heavyweight Champion is interesting as all four men could walkout as the champion. Should be interesting to see what direction they go in.

Thanks for reading.