CWA TV 8/30/1986

Written by: Bob Colling

CWA TV
Date: 8/30/1986
From: Memphis, TN

Lance Russell and Dave Brown welcome everyone to the program. Brown highlights a six man tag match taking place to start the show. AWA Southern Tag Team Champions Fire and Flame defend their titles against a mystery team. Bam-Bam Bigelow will be in a handicap match. Jerry Lawler teams up with the Giant Hillbilly.

Opening Contest: AWA Mid-American Champion Tracy Smothers, Paul Diamond & JT Southern vs. Memphis Vice (Jerry Bryant & Lou Winston) & Ron Sexton: Diamond and Winston start the match. Diamond dropkicks both Winston and Bryant after leaping over both men. Southern tags into the match to battle Bryant. Bryant shoulder blocks Southern but is met with an arm drag. Southern takes the heels over with arm drags. Sexton gets back in the ring and he’s pissed, but leaves the ring quickly. Smothers and Winston square off with Smothers trying for a rollup but settles for a dropkick to send Winston through the ropes to the floor. Winston returns to the ring and is dropped by Smothers with a forearm strike. Diamond gets tagged into the match and keeps control of Winston. Sexton gets tagged in after Winston eye raked Diamond. Diamond punches Sexton and tags in Smothers. Smothers hammers away on the heels in the corner until they all drop off the apron. Smothers scoop slams Sexton followed by right hands in the corner. All six men are in the ring brawling at this point. Smothers sends Sexton to the floor and comes off the middle rope with a forearm strike! Smothers and Sexton get counted out, since they were the legal men. Sexton scoop slams Smothers on the floor! They continue to hammer away on each other. (*1/2. A fine opening six man tag match and the aftermath with Sexton and Smothers is likely setting up a match for their big show on Monday. I’d actually be inclined to see it since there is actually substance to it on television.)

Lance Russell promotes the Evansville show on Wednesday. AWA International Tag Team Champions Jeff Jarrett and Pat Tanaka will defend the titles against the hair of Akio Sato and Tarzan Goto. Tojo isn’t happy about this, though. He thinks the promoters are giving them the run around. Russell mentions that Jerry Jarrett will be there, too. AWA Southern Tag Team Champions Fire and Flame enter the scene to cut a promo on the Mod Squad. They are going to burn whatever hair is left of JD Costello’s hair. We also hear from AWA Southern Champion Bam-Bam Bigelow and Larry Sharpe, who will be teaming up to face the Killer and Jerry Lawler. Sharpe says that they haven’t seen anything yet as now he belongs in the ring and he has Bigelow as his tag team partner. Sharpe wonders if they think they can deal with that.

Eddie Marlin comes over to reveal who Fire and Flame will be defending the AWA Southern Tag Team Championships against. Fire has one question to ask and he wants to know how an organization and a promoter like Marlin can put a stipulation on the tag titles like they have done. Fire wants to know how long this is going to go for until the stipulation is lifted. Marlin says that they will defend the titles each week they are the champions. Fire threatens Marlin saying it is going to make Marlin cry. They want their challengers right now. The Mod Squad makes their way out and they will be challenging Fire and Flame. The champions aren’t happy because they use to be partners with them. JD Costello is not here for the match.

Second Contest: AWA Southern Tag Team Champions Fire & Flame vs. MOD Squad: Eddie Marlin tells the champions to defend the titles or to hit the road, since they were stalling. Spike and Basher hammer away on the champions in the corner and send them into each other in the middle of the ring. Flame is met with a double shoulder block, but Fire is able to breakup the cover attempt. Spike has a sleeper hold on Flame, and punches Fire coming off the top rope. Basher has an abdominal stretch on Flame, but Fire enters to deliver a headbutt and the champions have the advantage. Basher is sent into the corner and met with a double elbow shot. Basher comes off the ropes and is met with a double backdrop. Fire delivers a knee lift and tags in Flame to maintain control of the match. All four men are in the ring brawling as the referee appears to have lost control of the contest. Fire gets dumped over the top behind the back of the referee. Basher hits a suplex from the apron into the ring and a second referee comes in to count the fall and we have new tag team champions! Wait a minute, the original referee goes to the floor and notes that the Mod Squad and dumped Fire over the top to the floor. The referee reverses the decision giving the match to Fire and Flame by disqualification. Eddie Marlin is in disbelief that the decision was reversed. (*1/2. A decent match but it’s mostly angle here considering they went with the dusty finish. I’m not sure if this is a face turn for the Mod Squad, which might be the case since Costello wasn’t there.)

Eddie Marlin goes over to Lance Russell to talk to the Mod Squad. Spike and Basher believes they are the champions and they want another shot against Fire and Flame. They want a no disqualification match and want Marlin to sign it off. It appears that Marlin agrees to the stipulation.

Lance Russell promotes the Evansville show and runs down the show. AWA Mid-American Champion Tracy Smothers defends against Great Kabuki, and we see a mysterious video package promoting Kabuki. AWA International Tag Team Champions Jarrett & Tanaka defend against Sato and Goto in a titles vs. hair match. AWA Southern Tag Team Champions Fire & Flame defend against Mod Squad in a no disqualification match. AWA Southern Heavyweight Champion Bam-Bam Bigelow teams with Larry Sharpe to take on Jerry Lawler and the Killer.

Third Contest: AWA International Tag Team Champions Jeff Jarrett & Pat Tanaka vs. The Renegades: It shouldn’t come to a surprise that the Renegades are masked wrestlers. Tanaka and Jarrett keep control of the match not allowing the Renegades to get much of anything offensively. Jarrett hits two dropkicks because the first one wasn’t very good. Tanaka wins the match following a German suplex. (1/4*. I’m liking the tag team of Jarrett and Tanaka. Tanaka comes across very explosive and his offense is crisp.)

Fourth Contest: Akio Sato & Tarzan Goto vs. Jim Jamison & Mad Dog Boyd: Sato and Goto don’t have a dominating performance as Mad Dog got a few strikes in on Goto before tagging in Jamison, who gets a few punches in and is promptly beaten up for several minutes. Jamison tries to fight back with a knee lift and is sent into his corner to allow Mad Dog to be tagged in. Mad Dog works over Sato a few times and decks Goto with an elbow strike for a two count. Mad Dog clotheslines Goto for another two count. Goto delivers a savant kick to regain control of the match. Jamison gets tagged in and Goto delivers a gut buster and a leaping headbutt. Sato tries for a piledriver but switches to a weird looking powerbomb for the win. (*1/2. I enjoyed this more than I expected because Mad Dog got plenty of offense to give his team a chance. It was kind of funny when he’d tag out to Jamison and his partner would just continue to be beaten up. At some point, you’d think he wouldn’t tag out.)

Lance Russell promotes the Evansville show and talks to AWA International Tag Team Champions Jeff Jarrett and Pat Tanaka. They thank the fans for their support. Tanaka wants Goto and Sato to sweat out about having their hair on the line. Jerry Lawler enters the scene with the Killer and cuts a promo on Bigelow and Sharpe. Kenny D puts over his big man, the Killer. Lawler says he will be easy to find in Evansville. Lawler talks about how Bigelow couldn’t believe someone could slam him and Lawler smells defeat coming for Sharpe and Bigelow in Evansville.

Lance Russell interviews AWA Southern Heavyweight Champion Bam-Bam Bigelow and Larry Sharpe. Sharpe notes that they have wanted Jerry Lawler in the ring, but Lawler always comes up with an excuse. Sharpe says that Killer’s manager isn’t in his corner. Sharpe says he is not the weak link because he’s been wrestling for thirteen years. Sharpe believes that their tag match will be the longest night of Lawler’s career. Sharpe says that Lawler has to look him in the eye and face him like a man. Sharpe says that Bigelow is going to headbutt Lawler and keep him down. Sharpe will stand behind his man any time while Kenny D doesn’t do the same for the Killer.

Fifth Contest: AWA Southern Heavyweight Champion Bam-Bam Bigelow vs. Benny Trailer & Jerry Garmen in a handicap match: Bigelow wastes no time taking on both opponents hitting a dropkick and right hands. Bigelow does a weird looking cartwheel. Bigelow picks both men up and has a bear hug on both men to win the match. (1/4*. Well, that was a bit messy and clunky.)

Main Event: Jerry Lawler & Giant Hillbilly vs. Mr. Universe & The Nighthawk: I don’t recall ever seeing the Nighthawk in the CWA to this point in 1986, so I’d be surprise if he doesn’t take the pin. Lawler and Universe start off the tag match. Universe misses a splash in the corner as Lawler was able to avoid it. Universe backs Lawler into his corner and accidentally shoulder blocks Nighthawk as Lawler broke free from his grasp. Universe gets a headlock on Lawler, but Hillbilly enters the match and hammers away on Universe a few times. Hillbilly flips Universe to the mat and Lawler returns to deliver a standing fist drop, but Universe powers out on the cover attempt. Universe taunts the crowd and wants a test of strength with Lawler. Universe keeps Lawler down to his knees with one arm. Lawler fights back with a right hand and the referee warns him about the closed fist. Nighthawk gets the tag for his first in-ring appearance. Nighthawk locks in a bear hug in the middle of the ring and Lawler is struggling to block the pain. Lawler breaks free from Nighthawk and tags in Hillbilly. Hillbilly decks Nighthawk a few times and flips him down to the mat. Hillbilly tags in Lawler, and Lawler gets backed into the corner where Universe delivers a few shoulder rams and right hands.

Universe continues to hammer away on Lawler against the ropes. Universe backs off from Lawler after Lawler pulled down his strap and drops Universe with a right hand. Lawler misses a middle rope fist drop attempt. Nighthawk enters to deliver a double elbow and nearly won the match. Nighthawk thinks he has won, but Lawler gets a rollup on Nighthawk to win the match. (1/2*. Yeah, no surprise there. The action was okay although the finish was little lame. I can still see Universe being an eventual challenger to Lawler.) After the match, Nighthawk and Universe try to make themselves feel better by posing for the crowd.

Final Thoughts:
In-ring wise, there weren’t any big feature matches, but the action was more enjoyable than I was expecting. The segment with Fire and Flame with the Mod Squad was good, too. It should be interesting to see if the Mod Squad are turned face as a result. There wasn’t anything major going on these week for a storyline, but action made it for an entertaining episode.

Thanks for reading.