CWA TV 6/28/1986

Written by: Bob Colling

CWA TV
Date: 6/28/1986
From: Memphis, TN

Lance Russell and Dave Brown welcome everyone to the program. They rundown who will see tonight and it will include the in-ring TV debut of Bam-Bam Bigelow.

Larry Sharpe comes out and says he can’t wait to speak. Sharpe tells Russell that he is going to introduce someone to Tennessee that is the greatest professional wrestler to ever compete in the country. The man has his head tattooed with flames. Nobody is going to stop him. He hopes that Jerry Lawler is paying attention.

We see footage of Sato and Goto competing in a tag match against Mr. Liberty and Pat Tanaka. They won the match following an elevated superkick on Liberty. Lance Russell interviews Akio Sato and Tarzan Goto and they have trophies for their championships. They are here to prove they are good against the challengers in Tennessee. They want the toughest competition.

Opening Contest: AWA International Tag Team Champions Akio Sato & Tarzan Goto vs. Tracy Smothers & David Haskins: Goto and Sato have basic offense mostly just using strikes to control Smothers early on in the match. Smothers misses a splash in the corner hitting his chest on the top turnbuckle. Sato comes off the middle rope with an overhand strike. Haskins gets the tag and all four men are in the ring. Smothers is brought back to the apron and Haskins is nailed with an elevated kick for the win. (1/2*. This was kind of boring, honestly. Goto and Sato weren’t very enjoyable with their offense or anything.)

Larry Sharpe comes out again and says he’s never early or confused. He’s excited for everyone to see his man in action. He wants everyone to watch the tape over and over again. Sharpe says that Lawler is done now. Sharpe says that Lawler hasn’t fought the best yet because he hasn’t wrestled Bigelow.

Lance Russell promotes the Evansville show which has six matches on it. AWA Southern Tag Team Champions Jerry Lawler and Hillbilly defend against Bill Dundee and Bam-Bam Bigelow. Dundee is excited to have Bigelow has his partner. Dundee is confident they will win the titles. Sharpe says that Hillbilly is a dinosaur and Lawler can’t hide behind him. Sharpe believes that Lawler will be pancake city. JD Costello and the team of Fire and Flame are interviewed next as they will be wrestling Jerry Lawler and Buddy Landell. Costello says that Lawler will be gone after the first match so it will just be Buddy Landell. The match will be lights out, but Costello says the entire arena will have fire and flame.

Second Contest: Bam-Bam Bigelow vs. Keith Eric & Mike Murphy in a handicap match: Bigelow takes both men down with a shoulder block and rams them into each other. His music has been playing the entire time. Eric gets tossed to the floor and drops Murphy with a slam followed by an elbow drop. Bigelow heads to the top rope hitting a big splash and wins the match easily. Wait, Bigelow has been disqualified. After the match, Sharpe sprays Murphy with a red spray can to poke fun at rednecks. (*. Well, that was a quick showing and I think effectively introduces Bigelow into the promotion.)

Jerry Lawler makes his way over to Lance Russell and Larry Sharpe comes over saying that Lawler is going to pay because Dennis Coralluzzo has paid him to do so. Sharpe tells the fans that Lawler won’t be around to be appreciated for much longer. Sharpe says they are here to beat people up and doesn’t care about disqualifications. Lawler talks about Coralluzzo and says he knows who he is now. He shows some tape dating back to when Dundee tried to prevent Lawler’s tape from being sold. It turns out that Dennis was the lawyer for Dundee. Lawler wants it known that there has been a long list of guys trying to get rid of him, but he’s still here. Lawler lists some of the guys who have tried to take him out and they have all failed. Lawler isn’t going to run from Bigelow and says they can come and get a piece of him whenever they want it.

Lance Russell promotes some local cards and the Evansville show taking place on Wednesday. Paul Diamond will take on Joe LeDuc in a dog collar match. Plus, the two tag matches mentioned earlier are the big matches.

We see footage from a recent show where Buddy Landell took on Flame. Landell avoided a fist drop and ran the ropes to collide with Flame sending his opponent to the floor. Landell won the match with an inside cradle. The match lasted five minutes and won the AWA Southern Heavyweight Championship. After the match, Buddy got a fireball tossed into his face.

Back to the studio, JD Costello and the team of Fire and Flame are interviewed. Costello is happy about what happened. Costello says that the women aren’t flocking towards Landell now. Costello claims that Landell’s face has melted now like a nuclear test. Costello issues a warning to the wrestlers. Costello says that Idol, Mantell and Lawler are next. They will all be victims of his Dynasty.

Third Contest: Mod Squad, Fire & Flame vs. Beach Boys (Van Van Horne & Johnnie Stuart), Benny Trailer & Jerry Garmen: Early on, the Dynasty tosses the enhancement guys to the floor because they don’t care about the rules or anything. The Dynasty group don’t allow their opponents any momentum whatsoever and just overwhelm them with their attack. All eight men get in the ring and Fire tries to use fire. However, Buddy Landell gets in the ring and makes he save! Landell has a bandaged on his chest to sell the fireball attack that he suffered.

AWA Southern Heavyweight Champion Buddy Landell is interviewed by Lance Russell. Buddy wonders if Smokey the Bear put out JD’s fire. Buddy says he’s been in easier car wrecks. Landell says they tried to burn his entire body. Buddy has never wanted to hurt anyone like he has with fire. He notes he hurt Jeff Jarrett, but nothing like this. Maybe Buddy will set them on fire. Landell thanks Austin Idol for helping him even though they haven’t always gotten along. He’s going to take JD Costello out of the picture.

Fourth Contest: Dutch Mantell & Paul Diamond vs. Rough & Ready: Diamond continues to wear camo since his attack by Joe LeDuc. I’m not sure if I like the look for the guy. Seems like he should be sticking to his pretty boy look. Rough & Ready were previously known as the Dirty Black Boys from last week. Even with the name change, they weren’t very successful in this match. Diamond won the match following a superkick. (1/4*. I wasn’t very interested in this match and the action just dragged along for four minutes, really.)

Paul Diamond is interviewed by Lance Russell. Diamond knows that every match isn’t going to be easy. He says the whole issue is about making him a man. The fans are freaking out about something. Diamond says that LeDuc isn’t a man. They will be connected by their neck. The wall behind them begins to move around and is tipped over revealing that Joe LeDuc was trying to flip it over onto him. Luckily, Diamond avoided it. LeDuc cuts a promo about wrestling Diamond in a dog collar match. LeDuc talks about being tied in various different ways. He is going to choke Diamond over the ropes by his neck. LeDuc is going to prove that Diamond is not a man, but rather a boy. Diamond is in the ring and wants LeDuc to get in the ring with him. However, LeDuc decides against it.

Lance Russell promotes the Evansville show. We hear from AWA Southern Tag Team Champions Jerry Lawler and Giant Hillbilly. Lawler says he isn’t going to run from Bam-Bam Bigelow. Lawler has defeated every challenger that tried to run him out of the area. Lawler hates Dundee’s guts, too. He’s looking forward to beating on Bam-Bam Bigelow and Bill Dundee. Lawler is also teaming with Buddy Landell to take on Fire and Flame on the same show. Lawler says we should expect a hot time in Evansville. Hillbilly doesn’t say anything and walks off awkwardly.

Main Event: The Nightmares (Ken Wayne & Danny Davis) vs. Pat Tanaka & Tracy Smothers: Wayne wants to do some judo with Tanaka and actually holds his own until Tanaka nails Wayne with a kick to the side of his head. Smothers comes off the ropes to elbow strike Davis. Smothers dropkicks Davis and keeps him on the mat. Davis chokes Smothers on the mat to keep control of the match. Wayne tags into the match and Smothers is driven down with a double elbow strike. Wayne takes Smothers down with a front suplex. Smothers and Davis continue to trade strikes in the ring. Davis works over Smothers with right hands. Smothers comes off the ropes with a sunset flip, but the referee was distracted by Wayne on the apron. Davis slams Smothers to the mat for a two count. Davis has Smothers for a tombstone and spikes him. Wayne comes off the top with a leg drop and Davis wins the match. (*. A better showing by the Nightmares and the finishing move is a pleasant sight. I’m not sure if they are connecting with the audience, though.)

Final Thoughts:
The debut of Bam-Bam Bigelow was done nicely and it should setup an entertaining feud with Jerry Lawler. I wonder how long it will take before Lawler is the champion again. It seems like that kind of feud would be best served over the championship. Landell doesn’t seem to be involved in a major angle feuding with Fire and Flame. The LeDuc/Diamond segment was fine for what it was. I’m not sure if that feud really needs to dragged on much longer, though.

Thanks for reading.