Written by: Bob Colling
CWA TV
Date: 5/23/1987
From: Memphis, TN
Lance Russell and Dave Brown welcome everyone to the show and they rundown what we’ll see on the program.
Paul E. Dangerously and the AWA Southern Tag Team Champions Jack Hart & Chic Donovan come out to cut a promo. Hart says he never paid his fine and that Dangerously did. Hart says it’s too bad that Marlin and Hales got in his way. He doesn’t care who gets in his way because he’ll knock them out. Horowitz thinks he and Donovan are the best champions ever and they are perfect strangers. Hart doesn’t care about anybody and it’s that simple.
AWA Mid-American Champion Jeff Jarrett comes out for an interview with Lance Russell. This is Jarrett’s first major singles championship. Jarrett was happy to be a tag champion but he won the belt on his own. Jarrett says that now the hard stuff starts in trying to defend it. Jarrett defeated Moondog Spot for the championship and they’ll be having a rematch at the arena.
Tojo Yamamoto comes out and declares that we’re going to see a new Tony Burton tonight.
Opening Contest: AWA Mid-American Champion Jeff Jarrett vs. Tony Burton: Burton yanks Jarrett down by his hair. Jarrett hip tosses Burton and keeps Burton on the mat with a arm lock. Jarrett arm drags Burton and keeps control of the left arm. Burton works over Jarrett with chops in the corner but misses a splash. Jarrett scoop slams Burton and delivers an elbow drop for a two count. Jarrett shoulder blocks Burton a few times and tries for a crossbody, but Burton catches Jarrett with a slam. Jarrett sends Burton into the corner chest first followed by a back elbow. Jarrett takes Burton down with an inside cradle for the win. (*. A rather basic match and uneventful for the most part.) After the match, Tojo isn’t happy with Burton again and is yelling at him. Tojo slaps Burton a few times and taps Burton with his kendo stick. Tojo whacks Burton with the kendo stick a few times. Burton attacks Tojo but is attacked by Shima and Helo. Jarrett runs back into the ring and makes the save on Burton.
Lance Russell interviews Bill Dundee who says that he’s been asked why he’s back in the area. Dundee was in Florida and did television on Wednesday’s. Dundee heard about Lawler getting his hair shaved. Dundee got mad about hearing the news. Dundee admits that his dream was to cut off Lawler’s hair and that’s why he’s back because they did something he couldn’t do. Dundee says that Idol and Rich aren’t better than Lawler in any capacity. Dundee just wants to beat them up because they were successful in doing something he couldn’t accomplish. Dundee promises to bend the rules because that’s what they do. Dundee knew that Idol was a snake and jokes that Tommy Rich has drank so much cold beer that it’s messed with his head. We see footage of Lawler losing the cage match and his hair as a result.
Second Contest: Bill Dundee vs. Keith Eric: Eric jumped Dundee to get the early advantage, but that doesn’t last very long at all. Dundee hits a top rope knee drop and wins the match in twenty-five seconds.
Third Contest: Southern Boys (Bob Cook & Bucky Siegler) vs. Rough & Ready: Southern Boys are a new team in Memphis making their television debut this week. They win the match quickly following a double dropkick.
Downtown Bruno is interviewed with Moondog Spot. They aren’t happy because Jeff Jarrett cheated to win the Mid-American Championship by stealing Spot’s bone. Bruno thinks Jarrett is being protected by his family. Bruno believes the only thing left of Jarrett will be his bone when Spot’s done with him.
Fourth Contest: Moondog Spot vs. Jim Jamison: As expected, Spot works over Jamison early and often with strikes. Spot drives Jamison down with a shoulder breaker to win the match in short order. After the match, Spot hits Jamison with his bone a few times on the midsection. Spot rams Jamison face first onto the announcers table and another strike over the head. Spot also hits Jamison with the ring bell. Jamison is bleeding from the mouth as Spot fills the ring with chairs and whacks his head with a chair several times. Spot scoop slams Jamison on the announcers podium after tossing Jamison over the table.
Lance Russell interviews Downtown Bruno and the AWA International Tag Team Champions Paul Diamond and Pat Tanaka. Apparently, Mark Starr and Billy Travis have been wanting a title match and begging for one. Bruno doesn’t think they are worthy of another shot against them. Starr and Travis come out and they say if they win they want Bruno in the ring for five minutes. In just noticed now that Bruno is sporting a new bald look. Travis thinks if Bruno is so confident then they should put five minutes on the line.
Main Event: AWA Southern Tag Team Champions Jack Hart & Chic Donovan vs. Mark Starr & Billy Travis: Hart and Donovan attack before the bell to get the early start. However, Travis and Starr hit stereo backdrops to send the champs to the floor. Travis shoulder blocks Donovan and nearly wins with a rollup. Donovan tags out to Hart who works over Travis briefly until Starr gets tagged in. Starr comes off the ropes with a shoulder block. Travis enters to beat on Hart with strikes to the arm. Travis arm drags Donovan and tags Starr back into the match. Starr controls the arm of Donovan for a few moments. Donovan sends Starr into the ropes to deliver a back elbow strike. Hart tags back into the match and knee lifts Starr to the mat. Starr fights back with strikes to drop Hart followed by a standing dropkick. Travis continues with right hands to knock Hart to the mat. Here comes Diamond and Tanaka to attack Travis and Starr to cause a disqualification. Bruno whips Travis with a belt while Diamond and Tanaka held Travis in the air. Jeff Jarrett and Bill Dundee run into the ring to make the save after Travis was whipped several times.
Final Thoughts:
A decent episode this week that didn’t really have any major developments attached to it. I’m liking Moondog Spot and how wild he comes across. The tag division appears to be getting stronger with Diamond and Tanaka as the champions, too. Memphis has been having some quality television in recent weeks.
Thanks for reading.