CWA TV 7/5/1986

Written by: Bob Colling

CWA TV
Date: 7/5/1986
From: Memphis, TN

Lance Russell and Dave Brown welcome everyone to the program. They rundown what we’ll see on the program. Russell says that he has a tape that the fans will likely enjoy.

Opening Contest: AWA Southern Tag Team Champions Jerry Lawler & Giant Hillbilly vs. Rough & Ready: The match doesn’t last very long at all. Lawler takes one of the guys down with a snapmare and hits a middle rope fist drop. Hillbilly enters to deliver a leg drop for the quick victory. It lasted twenty-two seconds.

Bam-Bam Bigelow comes out to the announcers table and he’s pissed. He wants his opponent right now and wants to beat the time Lawler just had.

Second Contest: Bam-Bam Bigelow vs. Mike Murphy: Bigelow press slams Murphy and comes off the ropes with a splash for the win. Bigelow wins in thirteen-seconds. Bigelow comes off the top rope to deliver a big splash.

Bam-Bam Bigelow goes back to the announcers table and is staring into the camera. Russell reads a note from Larry Sharpe and says that there is a video to be viewed. It features the first confrontation between Bigelow and Lawler. We see footage of Bigelow battling two enhancement guys. It looks like it was David Haskins and Tracy Smothers. Bigelow comes off the top rope to splash Smothers, and he was disqualified. Bigelow goes to the top again and delivers another splash. Jerry Lawler ends up getting in the ring and punches Bigelow, but Bigelow doesn’t budge. Bigelow dropkicks Lawler and we go back to the studio. Bigelow is making some ridiculous facial expressions.

Larry Sharpe is sitting at the chairman of the board table. Sharpe doesn’t have time to be at the show because he’s there. Sharpe would love to be there to see Bigelow do exactly what he wants him to do. He promises that Lawler’s days are numbered. Sharpe is trying to get the top rope rule overruled. Sharpe says that it’s all over for all the rednecks.

Lance Russell promotes a local show coming up in Evansville. JD Costello and his two tag teams enter the scene. Fire and Flame will be wrestling Austin Idol and Buddy Landell. He also cuts a promo on Jerry Lawler and the Giant Hillbilly. He suggests they watch their back. Bill Dundee enters the scene to promote his bullwhip match against Dutch Mantell. Dundee mocks Mantell saying there’s no way for him to runaway from him. He’s looking forward to whipping the skin off Dutch’s back.

Prior to the next match, Akio Sato and Tarzan Goto say they don’t want to wrestle boys in the ring, but rather the best competition in the Mid-South.

Third Contest: AWA International Tag Team Champions Akio Sato & Tarzan Goto vs. Beach Boys (Van-Van Horne & Johnnie Stuart): Stuart kicks off the match with Goto but is worked over with strikes. Sato enters and continues to beat on Stuart with strikes. Stuart battles back and tags in Horne. Sato stops Horne with a headbutt and drives Horne into the corner. Stuart tags in and they hit a double dropkick on Goto. Stuart follows up with a scoop slam and elbow drop. Goto decks Stuart with a right hand. Sato chops Stuart coming off the ropes and delivers more strikes on the mat. Goto comes off the middle rope with a big splash. Stuart runs into an elbow drom Goto in the corner. Goto scoop slams Stuart and comes off the middle rope with a fist drop. Sato enters the match and delivers several strikes. Stuart fights back with a few strikes but gets knocked down to the mat. Sato enters and is backdropped by Stuart leading to a near fall. Sato clotheslines Horne in the corner followed by a dropkick for a two count. All four men are in the ring brawling at this point. Horne gets met with a savant kick while being held by Sato and that leads to the pin fall. (*. Sato and Goto are a decent team and I can see them getting plenty of heat in CWA. Beach Boys are still fairly basic and aren’t doing much of anything to keep my interest in them.)

Lance Russell promotes local cards. There will be nine matches on the card.

Back to the arena, the Nightmares come over to the announcers table. They have a match coming up against Hillbilly and Jerry Lawler for the tag titles. They promise the titles to quickly change hands.

Fourth Contest: The Nightmares (Danny Davis & Ken Wayne) vs. Pat Tanaka & David Haskins: I’m assuming that Haskins will be eating the fall here since Tanaka has been getting some momentum on television in recent weeks. Haskins arm drags Davis early on and controls the left arm. Haskins continues to keep control with an arm drag on Wayne and Tanaka enters. Wayne and Tanaka trade shots with Wayne delivering a running shoulder strike in the corner. Tanaka avoids being sent across the ring and chops Wayne several times. Tanaka takes Wayne over with a German suplex for a two count. Davis gets into the ring to save his partner. Haskins attempts a dropkick but Wayne holds onto the ropes and Davis comes back in to connect with a backdrop. Wayne scoop slams Haskins and the Nightmares keep working over Haskins with strikes. Davis spikes Haskins with a tombstone piledriver and Wayne comes off the top with a leg drop for the win. (*1/2. Actually, this was a fun little sprint of a match. The crowd was invested in Tanaka, for sure. I’m thinking Tanaka is going to be getting some kind of push in the future. Haskins does fairly well in his role of an enhancement face wrestler. Nightmares have been getting better the more they appear on TV. As noted before, I like the Nightmares finisher, though they can only do it when the referee is distracted.)

Lance Russell brings out Paul Diamond for an interview. Diamond still has his face painted and is dressed for combat. Diamond talks about how Jim Jamison isn’t prepared for a chain match. Diamond recalls calling out LeDuc and he didn’t get in the ring. He’s going to be beating LeDuc’s brains out in a chain match. Diamond talks about LeDuc attacking him and choking him. This time they will get it done with the chain wrapped around their wrists.

Joe LeDuc has a chain around his neck and goes over to Lance Russell to cut a promo. LeDuc says that Paul Diamond talks a lot. He challenged Jim Jamison because he has experience and has a chance to beat him. Russell doesn’t seem to think so.

Fifth Contest: Joe LeDuc vs. Jim Jamison in a chain match: I like Jamison, but I’m afraid this could be a televised murder. I’m not entirely sure why he’d agree to this kind of match. LeDuc hammers away on Jamison with the chain and has a crazed look choking Jamison with the chain. Jamison is already busted wide open after only a few shots. LeDuc whips Jamison over the back with the chain. LeDuc continues to choke Jamison with the chain over the middle rope. LeDuc ends the match after a standing dropkick. After the match, LeDuc attacks Jamison. Paul Diamond gets in the ring and chokes LeDuc with the chain from behind! LeDuc bails to the floor and escapes. The fans are heavily behind Diamond. (*1/4. It’s an effective segment to show LeDuc as a monster and Jamison did incredibly well in his role. I look forward to shows that hve Jamison on them. He’s just really good at getting his ass kicked.)

The Bruise Brothers makes their way out and they are interviewed. They say that they are back and here to stay.

Sixth Contest: Bruise Brothers (Porkchop Cash & Mad Dog Bod) vs. Keith Eric & Keith Roberson: Man, CWA sure has been bringing in a lot of different tag teams. Bruise Brothers are two African American wrestlers who wrestle in slacks and often times dance after a successful move. Bod clotheslines and scoop slams Eric to keep control of the contest. Cash backdrops Eric followed by a right forearm. Cash knocks Roberson off the apron and Eric is left in the ring. Eric gets forearmed and Bod horribly botches a big splash attempt. He does it again and hits the move for the win. After the match, Bod headbutts Eric likely out of frustration for the first splash attempt. (1/2*. Bruise Brothers appear to have some personality, but in-ring they are rather clunky and not very good.)

Seventh Contest: AWA Ladies Champion Debbie Combs vs. Despina Montages in a non-title match: This is the first women’s match on TV thus far in 1986. Montages wastes no time with a kick to the chest and drops Combs to the mat after sending her chest first into the ropes. Montages continues to beat on Combs with stomps and a side headlock. Combs counters with a head scissors on the canvas. Montages clotheslines Combs for a two count. Combs backdrops Montages twice. Montages leapfrogs over Combs and collides with the referee. Joe LeDuc comes out and drives Combs with a backbreaker. LeDuc places Montages on top and pins Combs. Paul Diamond slides into the ring and explains to the referee what happened, but the referee isn’t changing the decision. (*. I’m not sure why LeDuc would get involved in the match. I’d assume it would lead to a mixed tag match in the future. It just felt like a random attack.)

Lance Russell talked to AWA Southern Tag Team Champions Jerry Lawler and the Giant Hillbilly. They will be in Evansville to wrestle the Nightmares. They plan on being champions for a long time. They don’t think that the Nightmares will win the titles. Dutch Mantell enters the scene and says he has several bullwhips. He wants a piece of Bill Dundee in Evansville. Dutch is going to knock Dundee off the apron. Apparently, it will not have ring ropes. Buddy Landell comes in and says he hasn’t forgotten about what JD Costello did to him. He’ll be teaming with Austin Idol to take on Fire and Flame.

Main Event: Mod Squad (Spike & Basher), Fire & Flame vs. David Haskins, Tracy Smothers, Jerry Garmen & Benny Trailer: Smothers dropkicks Basher into the ropes chest first and slams Flame. Garmen has been worked over for several moments by the heel team. All eight men end up in the ring and a fireball gets tossed into Garmen’s face leading to a three count. After a commercial break, we’re back for another fall. Garmen isn’t wrestling because of the fireball. Spike and Basher driver Haskins down to the mat with a powerslam. Haskins continues to be worked over by Fire and Flame. Smothers gets tagged in and trades blows with Spike for a moment. Spike slams Smothers and tags in Basher. Smothers kicks Basher away but isn’t able to make the tag. Smothers gets dumped to the floor and is sent shoulder first into the post. Flame whacks Smothers over the back with a steel chair. Smothers breaks free in the corner and tags in Trailer. That was a mistake because Trailer doesn’t get any offense in. The show comes to an end before the winners are revealed. I’d assume the Dynasty prevailed here.

Final Thoughts:
It honestly took me a little longer to get through this weeks show. The Lawler/Bigelow stuff at the start was enjoyable and I’m interested in the feud. You’d think that it was for the AWA Southern Heavyweight Championship, but at this point it’s just an undercard feud. The LeDuc/Diamond feud should be coming to an end soon. It has been a fine undercard grudge feud, but it’s on the backend of being interesting. Aside from that, the show was kind of lackluster and overall boring.

Thanks for reading.