CWA TV 6/7/1986

Written by: Bob Colling

CWA TV
Date: 6/7/1986
From: Memphis, TN

Lance Russell and Dave Brown promote what we will see on the program. The team of the Beach Boys will be making their debut. Tracy Smothers returns to take on Bill Dundee. Oh, and the return of the Fabulous Ones all in this episode of CWA TV!

Opening Contest: The Beach Boys (Johnnie Stuart & Van Van Horne) vs. Keith Eric & The Inferno: By the looks of it, the Beach Boys are presented as surfers or lifeguards. Horne starts the match for his team and doesn’t appear to be all that great in the ring judging by his lackluster arm drags and dropkick. Stuart delivers a bad looking head scissors out of the corner on Eric. Horne delivers a roundhouse kick to Inferno followed by a front slam. Beach Boys hit a double dropkick on Inferno for the win. (1/4*. The Beach Boys didn’t come across very impressive and don’t seem like a team ready to be pushed or anything. Also, is the double dropkick the go-to finishing move for any new tag team?)

Beach Boys head over to Lance Russell for an interview segment. They talk about having fast motion and they put over all the tag teams in the CWA. They are looking for competition and the tag team straps. They are glad to be here with all the beautiful women.

Memphis Vice come out and say they are going to take care of their opponents tonight. They also make sure to say that the Beach Boys will go down, too. So, that might be a new feud going on here.

Second Contest: Memphis Vice (Jerry Bryant & Lou Winston) vs. Benny Trailer & Jerry Garmen: Garmen starts off with a few hip tosses on Bryant for the early advantage. Bryant drives Garmen down to the mat with a powerslam before tagging in Winston. Winston keeps the advantage with a vertical suplex. Bryant nails Trailer with a clothesline and scoop slam. Winston comes off the middle rope with an elbow drop for the win. (*. Memphis Vice is a significantly better tag team compared to the Beach Boys. So, I won’t be surprised if they end up losing to the Beach Boys.)

Lance Russell promotes a local card in Evansville. Joe LeDuc will be taking on Paul Diamond at the event. LeDuc knows that the fans know he sticks to his word. LeDuc says that Diamond will look like a man with his short hair now even if he’s ugly. LeDuc wants Diamond to show up and see what he’s all about. The Mod Squad and JD Costello are interviewed as they will be wrestling the Giant Hillbilly and Jerry Lawler in a handicap match. Costello believes he will scoop slam Hillbilly and fist drop Lawler. Bill Dundee enters the scene and says he’s going to rub Buddy Landell’s face into the barbed wire. He thinks he’s better than Buddy in every possible manner.

Back at the studio, Lance Russell interviews Bill Dundee. Dundee wants all the girls to call their friends to let them know that a man is on television. Dundee shows off the AWA Southern Heavyweight Championship and talks about slapping everyone. Dundee expected Landell to call him and say he was right, but Landell wants his gold. Dundee talks about how Buddy would wear his belt around because he wanted to be like Dundee. Bill thinks that Landell wasn’t mad at him for slapping him. Dundee thinks that Buddy truly believes he’s the next Ric Flair. Dundee doesn’t like barbed wire. However, he’s going to rub the barbed wire into Buddy’s flesh. He will do whatever it takes to keep the AWA Southern Heavyweight Championship. Buddy doesn’t think that Buddy can beat him. Dundee says that he never liked JD Costello and doesn’t need him to fight his battles.

Third Contest: AWA Southern Heavyweight Champion Bill Dundee vs. Tracy Smothers: I believe this is the first time that Smothers has been seen since he was attacked while on a stretcher a few months ago. Smothers takes Dundee down with an arm drag and Dundee complains of a hair pull. Smothers takes Dundee down again followed by a dropkick to send Dundee rolling to the floor. Dundee continues to complain about a hair pull and yanks Smothers down by his hair. Dundee rams Smothers face first into the corner and continues to deliver right hands followed by a clothesline and a knee drop. Dundee pummels Smothers with forearm strikes in the corner and controls Smothers with a sleeper hold. Smothers fights back with a right hand managing to get a two count. Smothers elbows Dundee into the ropes and continues to deliver right hands. Dundee avoids a backdrop with a right hand and gets a pin with a handful of tights. (1/4*. I was actually kind of disappointed by this. They didn’t make any mention of Smothers attack by Dundee a few months ago and it wasn’t exactly a competitive match. Smothers seems like he should be a guy getting attention in the CWA. I’d prefer to see Smothers get a push instead of a guy like Paul Diamond.)

Lance Russell promotes an upcoming show happening in Evansville. Honestly, the card doesn’t sound all that appealing.

Fourth Contest: Jeff Jarrett, Dutch Mantell, Paul Diamond & Joe LeDuc vs. Danny Fargo, Baron Von Brauner, Pat Rose & The Eagle: LeDuc isn’t in the ring with his team so it looks like it’s going to be a handicap match. LeDuc does make his way out but is just a few moments later than his teammates. Jarrett and Fargo kickoff the tag match. Jarrett backs Fargo into a corner twice, but doesn’t do anything. Rose tags in and controls Jarrett with a side headlock for a few moments. Diamond tags in and gets taken down to the mat by Rose for a moment. Mantell gets tagged in and works over Rose with a short arm clothesline. LeDuc tags in and beats on Rose with a chop. LeDuc knee lifts Rose coming off the ropes and tags in Jarrett. Rose drives Jarrett down with a back suplex, but Jarrett pops right back up and tries to keep Rose on the mat, but isn’t successful. Fargo returns to the match and keeps control until Diamond gets tagged into the bout. Diamond scoop slams Fargo only to miss an elbow drop attempt. Diamond gets worked over by The Eagle with a few strikes but fights back with right hands of his own.

LeDuc gets tagged in and dropkicks Eagle for a one count. LeDuc gets a bear hug on Eagle looking for a submission but Eagle refuses to give in. Dutch comes in and atomic drops Eagle into the corner. Brauner tags in and LeDuc comes in to deliver a strike to the midsection and a clothesline. Dutch elbow drops Brauner for the win. (1/4*. There wasn’t much going on here between the two teams. The action was rather basic and not overly enjoyable. I was quite surprised to see that Brauner would take the pin fall.)

Joe LeDuc and Paul Diamond go over to Lance Russell to be interviewed. They are the Canadian Connection. Diamond looks forward to be partners with LeDuc for a longtime. LeDuc is going to make Diamond a real Canadian and is going to shave Diamond’s hair. Diamond looks confused as LeDuc is getting a chair and hair clippers. Diamond understands what LeDuc is saying, but he didn’t think that LeDuc was serious. Diamond wonders what the difference would be if he has long hair or short hair. LeDuc wants people to look into Diamond’s face and not his sissy hair. LeDuc is going to show Diamond how to make main event money and win titles. Diamond gets up from the chair when the clippers come close. Diamond thinks he’ll look like an idiot and doesn’t want to look like LeDuc. Diamond sits down again and again pops up. Diamond wants to be LeDuc’s partner, but if he has to shave his head… LeDuc wants to make Diamond look like a champion. The fans don’t agree with LeDuc’s mindset. Diamond once again sits up and decides to not be LeDuc’s partner if he has to shave his head. He hopes he can still be LeDuc’s friend. Diamond walks off but gets attacked by LeDuc! LeDuc decks Diamond with a few right hands and rams Diamond face first into the ring post. LeDuc drags a lifeless Diamond back to the chair and Diamond has been busted wide open. Russell tries to talk sense into LeDuc. JD Costello is out there praising LeDuc for doing this. The Mod Squad is blocking the door to allow this to happen. LeDuc is shaving Diamond’s hair! LeDuc doesn’t look like he’s making much progress, though. There is now four guys blocking the door to prevent anyone from making the save. That can’t be the only way into the studio. Eventually, the good guys are able to get in the studio but LeDuc has scissors to make sure they don’t attack him. LeDuc plays the deranged character really well. This segment was kind of spoiled from the earlier interview segment.

Fifth Contest: AWA Southern Tag Team Champions The Mod Squad vs. Billy Travis & David Haskins: Travis starts the match taking Basher down with a back elbow strike but gets yanked down to the mat by his hair. Spike gets tagged in and Travis takes him over with a hip toss. Travis tags in Haskins to keep control of the match. Basher gets tagged in and beats on Travis with strikes. Basher scoop slams Haskins before coming off the middle rope with a leg drop. Spike tags in and works over Haskins with strikes followed by a scoop slam and a leg drop of his own. Haskins gets tossed to the floor where JD Costello taunts him before Basher sends him back into the ring. Spike decides to send Haskins to the floor again. Basher brings Haskins over to the announcers table before delivering a scoop slam on the studio floor. Travis comes over to check on Haskins. Haskins continues to be beaten on in the ring by the champs. Mod Squad hit their double team clothesline, which didn’t look very good, for the win. (1/4*. Ya know, it just doesn’t make sense to me when a guy like Travis decides to tag out to an enhancement guy and then they lose. I would have to think that a semi-successful guy like Travis would want to stay in the ring for the best possible chance to win matches. Mod Squad isn’t consistent in the ring as this was a poor showing for them.)

Lance Russell promotes local shows and we hear from Paul Diamond, who is wearing a baseball cap. Diamond says he was already a man and now LeDuc will wrestle him. Diamond is pissed that his hair is short, and not shaved off. Jerry Lawler and The Giant Hillbilly enter the scene to talk about JD Costello. Lawler calls Costello a whimp who wouldn’t be able to fight out of a wet plastic bag. They promise to do a number on Costello. Hillbilly will give Costello $1,000 if he is slammed by Costello. Buddy Landell enters the scene and says you either love him or hate him. He’s excited about having a barbed wire match. Buddy is going to knock Dundee’s teeth out. Buddy is looking forward to taking Dundee out in the barbed wire match.

Main Event: The Fabulous Ones (Stan Lane & Steve Keirn) vs. Abdul Gaddafi & The Strong Machine: Well, the Fabulous Ones are certainly a favorite amongst the women. However, didn’t Keirn lose a loser leaves town match against Dundee? Are they just ignoring these angles? Abdul Gaddafi is teaming with an enhancement guy here. Is the Dynasty led by Costello already non-existent? Lane works over Gaddafi with a few strikes and an elbow strike. Keirn tags in and scoop slams Gaddafi followed by stomps. Machine gets tagged in but is taken down by Keirn quickly. Lane works over Machine with a headbutt to the midsection. Lane keeps control of Machine with a headlock on the mat for a moment. Keirn controls Machine on the mat but that doesn’t last very long. Keirn takes Machine down with a suplex and tags in Lane. Keirn comes back in to keep control on Machine with several knee drops. Machine decks Lane to the mat and Gaddafi comes in to deliver a scoop slam and an elbow drop for a two count. Lane nails Gaddafi with a few standing kick to the head. Keirn decks Machine on the apron and all four men are in the ring. Gaddafi is met with a double clothesline leading to the three count. (1/2*. The action wasn’t all that great and I’m still confused by Gaddafi being jobbed out and the seemingly forgotten angle of the Dynasty group. Fabulous Ones come across like a real deal kind of team, though. That is needed in the tag team division since the Fantastics haven’t been on TV.)

Randy Hales comes into the scene and says a change has been made for the card. Paul Diamond comes out with half of his hair gone. Diamond says he once looked up to LeDuc and now he embarrassed him on television. Diamond wants LeDuc on Monday night and will do any length to beat LeDuc. Diamond promises that he’s coming for LeDuc and that he better not rest easy because he’ll be there.

Final Thoughts:
It might be the first episode that I didn’t enjoy all that much. Several angles have been forgotten about or lost a lot of focus seemingly out of nowhere. The LeDuc/Diamond segment was effective and well done, though. I’m just not sure how Steve Keirn can return after a short while gone after the loser leaves town match. The episode just felt like a head scratching episode that didn’t continue much of anything.

Thanks for reading.