CWA TV 10/4/1986

Written by: Bob Colling

CWA TV
Date: 10/4/1986
From: Memphis, TN

Lance Russell and Dave Brown welcome everyone to the program. Brown promotes the return of Tommy Rich to CWA television later tonight.

Prior to the first match, which is to feature Jerry Lawler, Russell announces that Lawler has unmasked the trio of Fire, Flame and Torch. Fire was Dirty Rhodes, Flame was Don Bass, and Torch was Larry Wright. I’ll admit, it was noticeable that Fire was Dirty Rhodes when he did promos.

Randy Hales comes out and says that Jerry Lawler isn’t at the arena and the match will have to be moved. He has talked to his family and they said that Lawler had left earlier and he should be here.

Dirty Rhodes, Don Bass and Larry Wright come out for an interview. Rhodes says that Lawler is not here and gone forever. They wore those masks for a long time and did what they were going to do. Rhodes reveals that he has Jerry Lawler’s car keys and proclaims that Tommy Rich is next. He apparently repossessed Lawler’s car.

Lance Russell promotes the Evansville card. AWA Southern Tag Team Champions Dirty Rhodes and Don Bass will be defending against Tommy Rich and Pat Tanaka. Rhodes calls Lawler a lunatic for what he did to him later on the show and is pissed he can’t wear a hat. Akio Sato and Tarzan Goto come into scene and cut a promo on Jeff and Jerry Jarrett, whom they will be wrestling in a strap on s pole match. Goto cuts his promo in Japanese.

We see highlights of a match between Jerry Jarrett and Tojo Yamamoto that took place in Memphis. Jerry wrenched on Tojo’s left arm. Apparently, there was a loud pop on Tojo’s arm and the referee rang the bell. Frank Morrell was the referee and tried to stop Jerry, but was decked for doing so. Jeff and Pat Tanaka came out and brawled with Sato and Goto. Tojo’s arm was broken. Jerry Lawler came out and attacked the Ninja while Jerry continued to beat on Tojo’s arm.

Lance Russell brings out Tojo, Sato and Goto. Russell says he will sue Tojo if he puts his hands on him. Tojo has his left arm in a cast and says that Jerry never broke his arm and that he’s too strong. Tojo tells us his arm is only fractured and that his issues with Jerry aren’t over with. Goto proceeds to speak and again speaks in Japanese so there’s no telling what he’s talking about.

Opening Contest: AWA International Tag Team Champions Akio Sato, Tarzan Goto & The Ninja vs. David Haskins, Jim Jamison & Mike Murphy: Haskins hits a crossbody coming off the ropes early on Goto for a two count. Murphy almost wins with a rollup and Jamison hit a backdrop on Ninja, but his offense doesn’t last long. Murphy his a dropkick but misses a second one on Sato. Ninja delivers a double arm strike on Murphy and gets the pin. (1/2*. The action was decent for what it was. The trio is becoming one of the biggest heel acts in the area, it seems.)

Lance Russell talks with Jerry Jarrett, Jeff Jarrett and Pat Tanaka. Jerry says he’s not proud today and talks about how wrestling has been his life. Sometimes, you have to go against everything you’ve taught and that was an example last night. It has gone too far with Tojo and he had to stop him. Jerry says that Sato and Goto are next and he puts over Pat Tanaka for being one of the best wrestlers. He notes that Tanaka has taken several beatings. Jerry wants to team with Jeff for one time to take on Sato and Goto. They will be wrestling in a strap on a pole match. Jerry promises to beat them up with the strap. Jeff chimes in and says he’s always dreamt of teaming with his father. Jeff promises to beat them up to the point that they’ll never forget it.

Lance Russell promotes the Evansville card. There will be six matches on the show. AWA Mid-American Champion Tracy Smothers defends against The Ninja. There will also be a battle royal involving sixteen wrestlers with the winner getting $10,000.

Second Contest: Jeff Jarrett & Pat Tanaka vs. Memphis Vice (Jerry Bryant & Lou Winston): Jarrett and Bryant kickoff the match. Bryant misses an elbow drop and Jarrett takes him down with a few arm drags. Winston tries to get involved and he gets taken down to the mat a few times. Bryant accidentally punches Winston on the apron and Jarrett dropkicks Bryant into Winston to knock him off the apron. Tanaka tags into the match and tries his luck with Bryant. Tanaka comes off the ropes and shoulder blocks Bryant a few times. Tanaka avoids a backdrop and nails Bryant with a kick to the back of his head. Sato and Goto come out and attack Jarrett and Tanaka. Jerry Jarrett comes out and helps his son and Tanaka. The Ninja comes out and knocks the heels down with strikes. Paul Diamond slides into the ring and cleans house until he gets whacked with a steel chair on the right leg. Jarrett is being hit by Tojo with a chair. They put Diamond’s leg over a steel chair and Sato comes off the top to deliver a splash to the leg. That got a cringe look from me. They are destroying the faces for several moments. Jerry is trapped on the apron and Tojo whips Jerry with his belt. Eddie Marlin has a trash can and decks Ninja but he is hit by the trash can within a few moments. A few enhancement guys try to help while Jarrett is destroying Tojo with a kendo stick on the floor. Tommy Rich and Tracy Smothers enter the ring with steel chairs to make the save. Paul Diamond is selling his leg on the mat for a few minutes. (**. The aftermath gets most of the credit here, obviously. The stuff involving Diamond and the chair spot on his leg looked gruesome. I’m not sure if I care about Jerry Jarrett getting into the ring. But, regardless, they continue to drag on the feud and the brawling aspect allows it to not feel like its overstaying its welcome.)

Third Contest: Tommy Rich vs. Keith Roberson: Rich controls early on with arm drags. The match doesn’t last long. Dirty Rhodes, Don Bass and Larry Wright come int and attack Rich. They work over Rich with a chain. Rich has been busted wide open. Rhodes whacks Rich over the head with a steel chair. Rich is bleeding quite a bit. Eddie Marlin and Randy Hales come out and they threatening to suspend the trio. Marlin has ice on his head considering he was attacked earlier in the show. Rich did a nasty blade job for that attack.

Dirty Rhodes goes to the announcers table and says he promised to end Tommy Rich. Rhodes claims that Lawler looked worse than Rich when they were done with him earlier.

Fourth Contest: AWA Southern Tag Team Champions Dirty Rhodes & Don Bass vs. Benny Trailer & Jerry Garmen: Bass beats on Garmen and Trailer to start the match . Rhodes gets tagged into the match and backdrops Garmen. Rhodes picks up Garmen on a pin attempt after a double backdrop. Trailer tags in to try his luck but is slammed by Rhodes and pinned quickly.

Lance Russell talks to Dirty Rhodes, Don Bass and Larry Wright. Rhodes puts his glasses on and says his future is so bright he can’t see. Rhodes wants to know who their opponents are. Jerry Lawler appears and attacks the heels with Tommy Rich. Lawler smashed Rhodes with a glass bottle. This leads to a brawl around ringside as Lawler hits Rhodes with a steel chair and sends him into the ring post. Rhodes has been busted wide open. Lawler and Rich are able to send the heels to the backstage ares.

Lance Russell talks to Jerry Lawler and Tommy Rich. Lawler says it takes a real tough three guys to run him off the road and leave him like this. Lawler promises to kill them when he gets in the ring with them.

Lance Russell promotes the Evansville card, again. Jerry Lawler has been suspended for one week for his actions just moments ago. However, Lawler isn’t banned from the arena. We hear from Tommy Rich saying that Rhodes and Bass will regret the day they got Lawler suspended. He’s teaming with Pat Tanaka and they are coming for the straps. Rich suggests he might be suspended.

Lance Russell interviews Ric McCord and John Paul and they talk about how CWA is a hotbed for tag team wrestling,. McCord has found a partner he can trust and they are coming for the titles. Memphis loves to have the good looking guy tag teams entering the area.

Main Event: Ric McCord & John Paul vs. Rough & Ready: Paul and McCord work well as a team early on. Paul delivers a slam and press slams McCord onto Rough for the win. (1/4*. They didn’t do anything all that exciting and they don’t seem like a team that would standout or anything.)

Final Thoughts:
Probably one of the better episodes of CWA TV that I’ve seen in recent weeks. The stuff with Lawler and Rhodes was done very well and I’m finding myself sold on Rhodes as a big time challenger to Lawler. I wouldn’t mind seeing them feud for an extended period of time. Tommy Rich being in the area seems to be a positive addition and that blade job on TV was truly nasty looking. The angle involving Paul Diamond was gruesome, too. I’m intrigued to see the direction they go with that. This was a really effective show to setup feuds.

Thanks for reading.