CWA TV 11/15/1986

Written by: Bob Colling

CWA TV
Date: 11/15/1986
From: Memphis, TN

Lance Russell and Dave Brown welcome us to the program. They promote how the Sheepherders have returned to the area. Big Bubba has a new partner in the form of Goliath with his manager Downtown Bruno.

Jeff Jarrett and Paul Diamond make their way out to be interviewed. They are the new AWA International Tag Team Champions and they have decided to have different partners for the AWA Southern Tag Team Championship tournament. Diamond says the belts mean a lot to them because they got it from Tojo. Diamond is disappointed because he didn’t send any of the trio to the hospital. A fan screams and out comes Tojo Yamamoto. Tojo is blaming Eddie Marlin for the titles being lost and pokes them with his kendo stick. Tojo promises to break Diamond’s legs and says they don’t forget. Diamond challenges Tojo to a singles match and that leads Tarzan Goto and the Ninja to come out and attack the champions. Jarrett is held back while Diamond is destroyed with the kendo stick over his back. Boy Tony was involved as well. The heels runaway and Diamond freaks out saying that this isn’t over and he’s going to break their legs.

Opening Contest: Tarzan Goto & The Ninja vs. Pat Tanaka & Tony Parks: Goto and Tanaka trade chops in the middle of the ring until Tanaka delivers a standing side kick. Ninja enters and shoulder blocks Tanaka. Tanaka stops him with a leaping forearm strike. Goto works over Parks in the corner but Parks comes back with a couple of dropkicks and Ninja tags in. Parks decks Ninja followed by a clothesline. Parks gets a sunset flip on Goto for a two count but Goto quickly regains control of the match with headbutts and strikes. Tanaka enters and hammers away on Goto before tagging in Parks again. Parks decks Goto with another clothesline but Goto allows Tojo to hit Parks with the kendo stick as the referee was distracted. All four men are in the ring brawling when Tojo tosses a chair into the ring and they try to break Tanaka’s leg. However, Paul Diamond predictably comes out and makes the save. (*1/2. I’d say the action was fairly solid and enjoyable. The aftermath continues to advance the storyline of the heels trying to break legs and Diamond preventing it. I was interested in what Parks was doing in there. I don’t recall ever seeing him prior to this.)

Lance Russell promotes the Evansville show which will feature a revenge match between Tojo Yamamoto and Paul Diamond. Yamamoto says the doctor told him that Diamond’s body was falling apart due to cancer, or something like that. The Sheepherders cut a promo about their upcoming match with Jeff Jarrett and Billy Travis. Boyd says that he wasn’t going to hurt Eddie Marlin and is now going to show how short Jeff Jarrett’s career is going to be. He puts over his partner Big Foot and how dangerous he is.

Back to the arena, Lance Russell talks about Big Bubba and we see a video highlighting his career thus far in CWA. Of course, it starts off with him botching a promo, but he’s a big guy so we’ll let that slide.

They talk about some dream matches that wrestlers mentioned last week. We see footage of a bullrope match between Jerry Lawler and Dirty Rhodes. Rhodes beats on Lawler with the bullrope and Lawler was busted open badly. There was also a one time tag team match where Big Bubba teamed with Lawler to take on Rhodes and Don Bass. Bubba promised he wouldn’t betray Lawler. Bubba certainly isn’t trying hard to make the tag as Rhodes delivered a piledriver. Lawler begins to get a second wind when Bass enters the match and hammers away on the heels. Rhodes sends Lawler into the referee and Rhodes decks Bass on accident. Lawler covers Bass and wins the AWA Southern Tag Team Championships. Bubba remained on the apron and didn’t help Lawler as he was getting beaten on. Bubba shook his head and left the ringside area as Lawler continued to be destroyed.

AWA International and AWA Mid-American Champion Big Bubba comes out and says he’s not friends with Jerry Lawler and claims he tried to tag in. He believes he lived up to his end of the obligations. Bubba is annoyed that Lawler wants to give up the titles now. Bubba talks about how bad it is to be living in Tennessee and waiting for main event matches. Bubba tells a story about a disgusting car and how the car looked better than the people coming out of the car. Bubba describes some gross people with no teeth and picking ear wax out of their ears. He says that someone had cornbread with a food stamp in the middle of it. Bubba brings out someone that gave him a big offer that he couldn’t refuse. Downtown Bruno makes his way out and puts over Bubba as being a bad man. Bruno is going to prove that he’s the man and calls Jerry Lawler “the Queen”. Bruno says there is a bigger man than Bubba, which is surprising. Goliath makes his way out and he’s taller and bigger than Bubba. Goliath has a championship around his waist, which he apparently defeated Abdullah the Butcher to win.

Second Contest: AWA International Champion Big Bubba & Goliath vs. Robert & Randy Bryant: Goliath starts the match and casually beats on Robert with strikes. Goliath slams Robert and Bubba enters to deliver a scoop slam. Bubba connects with a clothesline as Robert came off the ropes. Bubba connects with a standing dropkick and Goliath gets tagged back in. Goliath drives Randy into the corner and nails Randy with a standing dropkick. Bubba drives Randy down to the mat with a press slam and a leg drop. Bubba pulls Randy up at the count of two. Goliath runs the ropes a few times before hitting a big splash for the win. (1/2*. By the looks of things the crowd didn’t seem to care very much for the giant duo. Goliath doesn’t appear to be all that impressive or compelling.)

Lance Russell promotes some local shows including a show in Evansville.

AWA Southern Heavyweight Champion Jerry Lawler comes out and talks to Lance Russell. Downtown Bruno has remained at the commentary table. Lawler gives Bruno some advice telling him that he better get himself somewhere else. Bruno thinks that Lawler is jealous because he can’t grow a mustache. Lawler gets close to the table and says that Bruno reminds him of Jimmy Hart. Lawler suggests that the same thing will happen to Bruno that happened to Hart. Bruno dismisses that notion and Lawler grabs Bruno by the collar. Goliath and Bubba come out and corner Lawler picking him up by his arms and tossing him away. Lawler slowly backs away seeing he’s outnumbered. Well, Giant Hillbilly comes out and stands next to Lawler. Lawler says that he’s not done with Bubba and notes that Hillbilly is bigger than Bubba and Goliath.

Downtown Bruno talks to Boy Tony in the corner prior to the next match and they shake hands. It would appear that Bruno is aligning himself with several heels in CWA within a short period of time.

Third Contest: Boy Tony vs. Tracy Smothers: Smothers starts off by shoving Tony away on a lockup attempt. They trade hammerlocks until Tony reaches the ropes and Smothers squeezes his backside. Tony pulls Smothers down by his hair and then goes to the corner to back away. Smothers arm drags Tony and keeps control of the left arm. Tony hammers away on Smothers in the corner but runs into a backdrop and a dropkick. Tony rolls to the floor and regroups with Bruno. Tony returns to the match and drives Smothers face first into the corner a few times. Smothers kicks Tony after hanging onto the ropes. Smothers backdrops Tony and delivers a standing dropkick. Tony sends Smothers into the referee and attempts a slam, but Smothers rolls through and has an inside cradle. Bruno stomps Smothers and that allows Tony to get the cheap pin victory. I mean, Bruno seemed to hit Smothers right in front of the referee. (*1/4. I’m in favor of a push of Boy Tony as the character is so different from anyone else that he stands out better. I’m not sure if he needs to be in a stable of guys as he might be better as a solo act. Smothers seems to be getting more and more comfortable in the ring, too. He appears to be on the verge of really breaking out.)

Lance Russell talks to the Sheepherders but Eddie Marlin comes out and says that Dirty Rhodes had to be suspended because he didn’t give Lawler the money back. Boyd says the money belongs to them and then shoves Marlin to the floor saying his grandfather could fire everyone at the station. Jeff Jarrett and Billy Travis come over with steel chairs and whack the Sheepherders. Marlin says they won’t get any money until they pay back the money to Lawler. This is reference to the money that Lawler won in the battle royal last week.

Fourth Contest: The Sheepherders (Boyd & Big Foot) vs. Jerry Garmen & Benny Trailer: Boyd and Big Foot quickly go to work sending the enhancement guys to the floor, Garmen is sent into the ring post and Trailer gets ran over by Big Foot. Boyd pins Trailer after a knee lift by Foot.

Lance Russell promotes the Evansville show again and he has Paul Diamond for an interview. Diamond will take a match with Tojo any way he can. Diamond is going to get revenge for what Tojo had his men do to his leg. Diamond suggests that Tojo not bring his kendo stick to ringside because if he gets his hands on it he will blister Tojo’s back. Jeff Jarrett and Billy Travis are interviewed and Jarrett doesn’t consider the talk that Boyd had with Marlin to be business. They will be in Evansville and they are prepared for a bloodbath. Travis promises to finish what they started.

Main Event: Jeff Jarrett & Billy Travis vs. The Sheepherders (Boyd & Big Foot): Well, it was originally supposed to be Rough and Ready, but the Sheepherders come out and say they paid off the original opponents. All four men are in the ring brawling as soon as the bell sounds. Travis and Big Foot go to the floor and Jarrett whacks Boyd with a chair on the floor. Travis and Foot continue to trade strikes. Jarrett gets sent face first into the ring post and appears to do a blade job. Travis is sent into the post as well and Boyd is busted open. Foot sends Jarrett into the post as well. The bell has sounded and the match has been thrown out quickly. It looks like all four men are bleeding at this point. Jarrett uses a chair on Foot on the floor. There’s nobody coming out trying to breakup the fight. Travis scoop slams Foot on the floor while Boyd chokes Jarrett. There are pools of blood all over the floor. Eventually, several wrestlers come out and try to help stop the fighting. The amount of blood on the floor is an interesting visual. The situation is calmed down, but the Sheepherders come out again and start fighting again for a few moments. (**. Obviously there wasn’t a match, but the whole situation was enjoyable and it would appear this feud will be the blood feud to be focused on. The visual of the blood spilled on the white floor was cool to see.)

Final Thoughts:
The episode was better than last weeks, though I’m not sure how interested I am in seeing Lawler take on Bubba and Goliath. Downtown Bruno appears to be the next heel manager to be heavily featured and is likely replacing JD Costello. I think the feud between Lawler/Bubba is one of the weaker feuds for the AWA Southern Heavyweight Championship since I started watching the program. Hopefully it doesn’t last too long.

Thanks for reading.