Written by: Bob Colling
CWA TV
Date: 11/22/1986
From: Memphis, TN
Lance Russell and Dave Brown welcome everyone to the program and rundown what we’ll see this week. Big Bubba and Goliath will be taking on four guys. The main event this week will see Jerry Lawler teaming with Hillbilly Elmer taking on Dennis Hall and Boy Tony. Plus, the AWA International Tag Team Championships will be on the line when Jeff Jarrett teams with Paul Diamond to defend against Akio Sato and Tarzan Goto. Also, The Killer will be unmasking tonight.
Lance Russell brings out Jeff Jarrett, Billy Travis and Paul Diamond. The trio has been teaming up to go after both the Southern and International tag team titles. Russell promotes how bad the brawl was last week and the amount of blood was spilled. Jarrett says they should have won the AWA Southern Tag Championships, but they came up short but think they have earned some respect. Travis knows the reputation that Boyd has and they are going to get respect from everyone. Paul Diamond is focusing on Akio Sato and Tarzan Goto. Diamond wants to cripple them and send them back to Japan.
The Sheepherders come out and they are the AWA Southern Tag Team Champions to confront the trio. Boyd says all they do is cry. Boyd tells them to just challenge them if they want another shot. Travis wants a shot right now. Boyd isn’t going to pay money for hurting them like they had to pay $1,400 last week. Tojo Yamamoto chimes in and says they aren’t real champions. Billy Travis will be remaining at ringside for the title match coming up.
Opening Contest: AWA International Tag Team Champions Jeff Jarrett & Paul Diamond vs. Akio Sato & Tarzan Goto: Jarrett and Sato start the match with Jarrett hitting a backdrop and an arm drag before tagging in Diamond. Diamond works over Goto with strikes but Goto fights back with a few strikes. Jarrett gets tagged in and they elbow strike Goto for a two count. Jarrett chops Goto to the mat and tags in Diamond. Diamond delivers a running knee lift for a two count. Diamond drives Goto to the mat with a vertical suplex. Goto and Diamond trade several strikes in the ring until Goto sends Diamond into Sato’s boot. Diamond nearly wins after a dropkick on Sato. Jarrett tags into the match and delivers a few right hands and an elbow strike but Goto breaks up the cover. Jarrett gets worked over in the corner and is able to avoid a knee drop. Diamond tags in and double teams Sato until all four men are brawling. Jarrett backdrops Goto and Diamond clotheslines Sato. Goto and Sato get driven head first into each other. Diamond has the cover, but Tojo tries to get involved and is stopped by Travis. However, Boyd attacks Travis allowing Tojo to toss powder into Diamond’s eyes and Sato is able to pin Sato to regain the titles. (**. That was a short match. I was expecting it to go a little longer and be more competitive. Instead, it went short and they did a finish to likely drag the feud on even longer. This feud has been going on for roughly four months and needs to be concluded.)
Paul Diamond gets a microphone and says this is the final straw. He promises that Tojo will be history when he gets his hands on him.
Lance Russell promotes the upcoming Evansville show. Paul Diamond will be wrestling Tojo Yamamoto in a tar and feathered match. Tojo cuts a promo saying that Diamond is nuts to think he will beat him. Goliath will be in action against Hillbilly Elmer. Jerry Lawler takes on Big Bubba as well. Downtown Bruno is interviewed with his men. Bruno says there is no way that his men will lose their matches. Bruno doesn’t believe that Lawler will get him in the ring. Bubba is confident he will beat Lawler and win the AWA Southern Heavyweight Championship.
Second Contest: The Rock N’ Roll RPM’s (Mike Davis & Tommy Lane) vs. Keith Eric & David Razor: Lane starts off with a hip toss and scoop slam on Eric. Davis gets tagged in and hits a standing dropkick causing Eric to beg off. Lane delivers a standing dropkick. Russell and Brown note that the RPM’s are not flashy and don’t care if it doesn’t look good. They can’t cover that these guys aren’t the best in-ring. Eric tags out to Razor and is beaten down by Davis with an elbow strike. RPM’s deliver a double backbreaker and that finishes off Razor. (1/4*. Well, RPM’s certainly didn’t have a good showing here. They looked sloppy and not very well experienced.)
Lance Russell conducts an interview with the RPM’s. They say that rock n’ roll is here to stay. They aren’t scared to get the job done. Man, they aren’t very good on promos either. Lane talks about Goto and Sato and how they pulled the same thing in Japan. They are going to get the $50,000 they lost out on and get their revenge. That brings out Goto and Sato to confront them and they shove each other. They proceed to get in the ring and all four men begin to brawl. The brawling isn’t coordinated very well. Anyway, the RPM’s are able to stand tall. They tell Russell that Goto and Sato will be RPM. I’m not sure what that means, but cool.
Lance Russell promotes the Evansville show amongst other shows. Sato and Goto will be defending against Rock n’ Roll RPMs. Sheepherders defend the tag titles against Jarrett and Travis. AWA Southern Heavyweight Champion Jerry Lawler defends against Big Bubba. If Lawler wins, he gets Downtown Bruno in the ring.
Lance Russell interviews Downtown Bruno, Big Bubba and Goliath in the arena. Bubba can’t believe that Lawler would make such stipulations for the title match. Bubba knows that he can beat Lawler everyday of the week. Bubba is going to prove that Lawler is really a queen. Bubba knows that he can only have one belt. Bubba says they talked to a lawyer to settle that issue. Bruno chimes in and says that Lawler isn’t going to beat Bubba. Bruno isn’t afraid to get in the ring with Lawler. Bruno tells a story about representing a woman in Pittsburgh. He’s referencing his days as a pimp, but not directly saying that. Bruno says that the woman wanted Lawler to be her manager because Lawler doesn’t ever beat anyone, unlike her previous one.
Third Contest: AWA International & Mid-American Champion Big Bubba & Goliath vs. Benny Trailer, Jerry Garmen, Jim Jamison & David Johnson in a handicap match: The enhancement guys are allowed to have two guys in the match at a time. Bubba takes on Trailer and Garmen to start the match having very little difficulty with them. Bubba connects with a dropkick on both men. Goliath enters and shoves both Jamison and Johnson to the mat. Goliath scoop slams Jamison and then dumps him to the floor. Bruno gets a few shots on Jamison. Goliath hits a big splash but doesn’t finish the cover. Bubba wins the match after a splash on Johnson. (1/4*. A better enhancement match for the big guys and they didn’t appear to look lost or anything.)
Jerry Lawler and Hillbilly Elmer chat with Lance Russell. Lawler calls Bruno a worm and says that Bruno thinks he’ll squirm his way into the issues in CWA. Lawler promises that Bruno won’t be able to talk for a long time when he gets his hands on him. Jerry talks about knocking Bubba down and he’ll do it again. Lawler is confident that Bubba will not get the AWA Southern Championship. He’ll do whatever he has to do in order to retain the championship. Elmer chimes in and says he’s going to take Goliath’s belt. Elmer doesn’t even know the name of the wrestler he’s wrestling. Elmer notes that Goliath fell in the Bible and he will again.
Boyd and Big Foot cut a promo about being fined $1,400 for what they did last week. Boyd wants Jarrett and Travis to pay attention to what they do here. Boyd hits himself with one of the tag titles and busts himself open.
Fourth Contest: AWA Southern Tag Team Champions The Sheepherders (Boyd & Big Foot) vs. Tony Parks & David Haskins: Boyd works over Parks with a few headbutts and an elbow strike. Foot enters the match to keep control with a right hand. Foot scoop slams Parks and delivers a standing leg drop. Boyd gets tagged back in and beats on Parks with more right hands. Haskins gets tagged in and delivers a few right hands. Boyd seems to welcome the right hands and pummels Haskins with strikes of his own. Foot connects with dropkick on Haskins. Boyd is driven head first into Haskins and that finishes the match. After the match, Boyd says that is what champions look like. (1/2*. At least the action was kept short and was quick.)
Lance Russell promotes the Evansville show. Paul Diamond is interviewed regarding his match with Tojo in a tar and feathered match. Diamond is happy to finally get his hands on Tojo and feels like he won the lottery. Diamond is going to tar and feather Tojo in Evansville. Jeff Jarrett enters the scene to promote the tag match against the Sheepherders. He thinks they will win the tag titles. Jerry Lawler is also interviewed regarding his match with Big Bubba. He is looking to get his hands on Bruno. He calls Bubba “Blubber”, which he has been doing all show. Lawler says it is going to be like the fourth of July when he lights Bubba up like a roman candle.
Main Event: AWA Southern Heavyweight Champion Jerry Lawler & Hillbilly Elmer vs. Dennis Hall & Boy Tony: Hall and Lawler kickoff the tag match. They stall for a few moments before they lockup and Tony gets tagged in but Hall accidentally hits Tony instead of Lawler. Hall remains in the ring working over Lawler’s left arm. Lawler decks Hall with a right hand after Hall tried to use the tights for an illegal advantage. Hall tags in Tony as Lawler had a top wrist lock. Tony puts a headlock on Lawler to get some control. Tony runs the ropes and stops to not collide with Elmer. Lawler punches Tony and tags in Elmer. Elmer knocks both Tony and Hall down. Elmer uses his body to drop Tony again. Elmer splashes Hall in the corner a few times and tags in Lawler. Lawler pummels Hall on the mat with right hands. Hall thinks he should win because it was a closed fist, but the referee disagrees. Hall punches Lawler in the corner and Tony delivers a shot from the apron. Tony chokes Lawler while the referee had his back turned. Lawler fights back with right hands to knock both men down. Elmer and Tony get in the ring and they are brawling. Dolly Parker decks Hall with her purse on accident and Lawler gets the pin. Dolly just casually walked into the ring and slaps the referee after the bell. She also slaps Lawler. Hall and Tony attack with Dolly slapping Lawler a few times. Lawler grabs Dolly, but she gets out of the ring. (*1/2. The match wasn’t too bad since Lawler was in it for most of it. The trio of Tony, Hall and Parker could be entertaining if they made it a regular act.)
Final Thoughts:
There was a title change, which is always cool on TV, but the match wasn’t all that exciting. I find myself not connecting with the Bruno led heel stable. The angle isn’t very strong nor is the talent. I don’t see the Rock n’ Roll RPMs staying as a face duo either. There isn’t one program that is holding my interest, so it looks like 1986 might be ending on a poor note.
Thanks for reading.