CWA TV 2/7/1987

Written by: Bob Colling

CWA TV
Date: 2/7/1987
From: Memphis, TN

Lance Russell and Dave Brown welcome everyone to the show and promote what we will see on the program this week. This episode marks the 20th anniversary of Russell and Brown calling the action for CWA. They show a few pictures from 17 years ago. The pictures have them both looking like they are sleeping and they joke about that for a bit.

Downtown Bruno and the Pittsburgh Connection come out for an interview. Bruno says that the wrestlers are the stars and that Russell and Brown wouldn’t be anything without the wrestlers. Russell reminds Bruno that they were here before Bruno ever came to town. Bruno doesn’t really care about that.

Opening Contest: Big Bubba, Goliath & Boy Tony vs. Jerry Garmen, Benny Trailer & Jim Jamison: Downtown Bruno remained on commentary to put over his trio of men as they dominated the enhancement trio. They are talking about Jimmy Hart and how he sold out. They consider Hart to be a circus freak nowadays. Bubba gets the win following a big splash onto Garmen. (1/4*. There was no reason for this to go over five minutes.)

Downtown Bruno wants to show footage of him being a winner. They show a boxing match with Emily Arthur. Emily is beating on Bruno as he’s laid on the mat covering his head. Big Bubba entered the ring and yanked Emily to the mat to help Bruno. Bruno decks Arthur with a right hook and wins the match by knockout. Bruno won the match after nearly three rounds. Bruno dismisses the interference and brags about the knockout punch he threw.

Lance Russell promotes the Evansville show where Big Bubba and Goliath will get another shot at the tag titles against Jeff Jarrett and Billy Travis. Bruno thinks they got lucky and they are coming for the gold. Austin Idol shares a pre-tape comment and says that Evansville is a nothing town and insults all the fans who live there. Idol says he’s built to perfection and he’s going to win the AWA World Championship that is around Nick Bockwinkel’s waist.

Downtown Bruno comes out again and has more footage for the fans to look at. We see footage from a Texas death match between the RPMs and Jarrett/Travis. Bubba and Goliath entered the ring and tried to help the RPMs, but that backfired. Bubba and Goliath accidentally splashed the RPMs ending the match in less than five minutes. Well, apparently both teams were down and Jarrett was able to get to his feet first to give his team the win. This was actually the fifth fall of the match. So, that match must have taken a while to finish. Bruno puts over the RPMs as being the best tag team and thinks his team is on the rise. Bruno doesn’t think Jarrett and Travis want any more of his team.

Randy Hales comes out with a cake to celebrate the 20-years for Russell and Brown. Hales speaks for all the wrestling fans and puts over Russell and Brown as the best commentary team in the world. They take a picture of Russell and Brown holding the cake. Eddie Marlin provided some pre-tape comments. Marlin puts over Brown and Russell as a team. Downtown Bruno comes out yet again and cuts off the celebration. Bruno claims that nobody would be big if it wasn’t for him. Dave Brown stands up and confronts Bruno telling him to leave the area. Bruno starts to mess with the cake as Bubba shoves Russell down into his chair. Bruno is picking at the cake when Jarrett and Travis come out from behind and push Bruni’s face into the cake! I mean, the cake is now ruined. They all seem happy about it as long as Bruno got to look like a fool.

Second Contest: AWA Southern Tag Team Champions Jeff Jarrett & Billy Travis vs. Keith Roberson & Tony Burton: Jarrett and Travis control the entire match leading to all four men in the ing brawling. Goliath and Big Bubba enter the ring to attack the champions and cause a disqualification finish. After the match, Roberson and Burton hold the door shut to allow the champions to get busted open following strikes with a chain. Bruno is tossing cake at Jarrett in the ring. Travis and Jarrett are left laying in the corner.

Third Contest: AWA International Champion Soul Train Jones vs. Keith Eric: Eric works over Jones before the bell for the early cheap advantage. Jones fights back with a clothesline and a side Russian leg sweep out of the corner for the win. (1/2*. That could have been a lot worse. Luckily, they kept it to literally under a minute and it didn’t expose Jones too much or anything. It seems like Jones is gradually getting better response from the crowd.)

Fourth Contest: The Hunter vs. John Paul: Hunter misses a clothesline and Paul nearly wins with a leaping crossbody. Hunter tosses Paul with a fallaway slam and continues to work over Paul with strikes. Bambi takes her high heel off and jabs Paul in the eye. Hunter takes Paul over with a snap suplex and a leg drop. Hunter counters a backdrop attempt with a swinging neckbreaker and a powerslam finishes off Paul. (*. Not too bad for a squash match. I feel like John Paul could be better used on television, though.)

Jerry Lawler calls into the show and talks to Lance Russell and Dave Brown. Lawler can barely hear Russell and says that he’s doing a lot better. The doctors have set a timetable for when he’s able to come back to wrestle. They show footage of Lawler being attacked by Rich and Idol. Lawler says that friendship doesn’t exist when it comes to money and championships. There will be a tournament for the AWA Southern Championship. Rich and Idol made sure there was a tournament since Lawler couldn’t defend in thirty days. Lawler warns Idol and Rich to watch out because friendship has been thrown out the window.

Lance Russel talked with CWA Tag Team Champions Jeff Jarrett and Billy Travis about their fight with Goliath and Big Bubba. Jarrett says they can bring whatever they want because they will be in for a fight. Travis calls them big jerks and goofs. Travis threatens Downtown Bruno, too.

Main Event: Paul Diamond & Pat Tanaka vs. Tarzan Goto & Larry Wright: Diamond and Goto start the match with Goto knocking Diamond down, but Diamond battles back with a clothesline. Goto tags in Wright, who hammers away on Diamond followed by a scoop slam. Wright works over Diamond in the corner with strikes, but Diamond fights out only for Goto to get tagged in and chops Diamond several times. Goto comes off the middle rope to headbutt Diamond. Diamond fights back on Wright with right hands and tries to tag in Tanaka, but Goto stops him from behind. Diamond plants Goto with a back suplex. Tanaka gets tagged in and cleans house with chops. All four men are in the ring brawling,. Tanaka savant kicks Goto and they trade wild strikes. Diamond hits a spinning back elbow and the time for the match has ran out. That leads to all four men brawling to close the show. (*1/2. It’s an enjoyable match to end the show as they had some quality action. The draw finish was obvious from the start, but I thought everyone looked decent in there.)

Final Thoughts:
They are slowly progressing the Lawler/Idol/Rich feud and I can appreciate it. I’d assume that either Rich or Idol will be winning the Southern Championship. Considering Idol is the major heel, I’d assume he’ll be champion. Most of the segments served a purpose and I enjoyed the program this week.

Thanks for reading.