SMW House Show
Date: 2/24/1995
From: Erlanger, KY
Opening Contest: Tracy Smothers vs. D’Lo Brown: Smothers backs Brown into a corner, but backs away cleanly. Brown arm drags Smothers and taunts him. Smothers takes Brown down with a fireman’s carry, but Brown bails to the floor to regroup. Smothers gets out of a go-behind and takes Brown down to the mat, which Brown complains of Smothers using the tights for leverage. Smothers gets a rollup out of a hammerlock for a near fall. Brown gets arm control with a wrist lock. Smothers counters with a wrist lock of his own. Brown yanks Smothers down by his hair and maintains the advantage on the mat. Smothers gets out of a wrist lock and they have a standoff. Smothers tries to get out of a top wrist lock, but Brown switches to a headlock. Smothers hip tosses Brown and gets arm control on the mat. Smothers is backed into a corner and Brown delivers a cheap shot to gain control. Brown sends Smothers chest first into the corner and connects with an elbow drop. Brown continues with a falling headbutt and chokes Smothers over the ropes. Brown slams Smothers and goes to the top rope. Brown hits a flying clothesline for a two count. Brown puts an abdominal stretch on Smothers and uses the ropes for extra leverage. Smothers nearly wins with a rollup, but Brown decks Smothers with a clothesline for a two count. Brown keeps Smothers on the mat with a sleeper hold. Smothers elbows free from Brown and hits a side Russian leg sweep. Smothers nails Brown with a leaping shoulder block and rams Brown into the corner. Smothers delivers a leaping kick to the back of the head for a near fall. Brown plants Smothers with a powerslam coming off the ropes. Brown goes to the top rope, but misses a flying attack. Smothers gets a rollup and pins Brown for the win. (*. A slow match that didn’t provide much excitement or interest. I was a bit disappointed by the pace and the action they went with.)
Second Contest: Chris Candido vs. Boo Bradley in a loser eats dog food match: Bradley attacks Candido before the bell and hits a backdrop before knee lifting Candido to the floor. Bradley knocks Candido down to the mat as the match has legally started. Candido stalls in the corner yelling at a few fans in the crowd. Bradley shoulder blocks Candido to the floor. They run the ropes a few times until Bradley goes to the floor and Candido continues to run the ropes before realizing that Bradley isn’t in the ring anymore. Bradley shoulder blocks Candido and delivers a clothesline followed by an atomic drop. Bradley scoop slams Candido and dropkicks Candido outside the ring onto the stage. Candido takes Bradley over with a snap suplex, but Bradley doesn’t sell it. Candido counters a backdrop with a powerbomb to keep Bradley down this time. Candido delivers an elbow drop for a two count. Bradley no sells strikes in the corner and responds with a few of his own. Bradley misses a splash in the corner and drops to the mat. Candido pulls back on Bradley’s arm on the mat, but doesn’t get a submission. Candido low blows Bradley, but the referee didn’t see it. Candido eye rakes Bradley, but misses a splash in the corner. Bradley clotheslines Candido, but the referee pulls Bradley away against the ropes. Candido tried to use a weapon, but was stopped by Dan Severn and that allows Bradley to win by rollup. (*. Similar to the first match the pace of the match was slow and there just wasn’t much of anything to be entertained by.) After the match, Candido is supposed to eat dog food, but tries to attack Bradley. Bradley slams Candido to the mat and force feeds Candido the dog food. Candido cuts a promo on Severn saying that he can beat him anytime he wants. Severn says he doesn’t have any gear, but says he doesn’t need gear to beat Candido. Severn wants a no holds barred match with Candido tonight if he has the guts. Candido mocks Severn and Severn assures the referee that he’ll buy some gear to have a match tonight.
Third Contest: SMW Tag Team Champions Rock ’n’ Roll Express vs. Al Snow & Unabomb: Morton and Snow kickoff the title match with Snow bailing to the floor to stall for a few moments. Snow continues to stall in the corner with Unabomb as his backup. Unabomb tags into the match to try his luck against Morton. Unabomb shoulder blocks Morton and taunts the crowd. Unabomb shoulder blocks Morton again and tags in Snow. Morton hip tosses Snow followed by an arm drag and Snow bails to the floor to regroup. Unabomb returns to the match and slams Morton to the mat. Morton gets a two count with a rollup and Snow rolls to the floor again to stall. Morton slingshots Snow into the ring and Snow cowards to his corner to tag in Unabomb. Snow ducks a clothesline on the apron, but is decked by Gibson. Gibson tags in and they shoulder block Unabomb and they deck Snow to the floor. Gibson puts a full nelson on Unabomb, but doesn’t hold onto it long enough. Snow tries to get involved and accidentally strikes Unabomb and begs off. Snow backs Gibson into the corner, but backs off. Snow is punched out of the corner by Gibson and again goes to the corner to regroup.
Snow tries to send Gibson into the corner, but Morton adds cushion. Gibson decks Snow and Unabomb tries to be a cushion for Snow, but is kicked off the ropes by Morton on the apron and Snow is sent to the floor. Snow clotheslines Morton to gain the advantage. Morton is met with a double clothesline. Morton is choked over the ropes as Unabomb held Morton’s legs up in the air. Snow tags into the match and kicks Morton in the midsection before delivering a slam and an elbow drop for a two count. Morton is double teamed while Gibson is distracting the referee. Unabomb clotheslines Morton in the corner. Snow works over Morton in the corner and keeps Morton on the mat with a dragon sleeper. Snow knee drops Morton on the back a few times. Morton runs into a knee lift coming off the ropes. Morton tags in Gibson and Gibson cleans house on Snow and Unabomb. Gibson sends Snow to the floor. Morton knee lifts Unabomb, but Unabomb decks Morton with a right hand, with maybe a loaded glove, to win the match and titles. Wait a minute, the referee notices the cheating and reveres the decision to give the match and titles to the Express. (*1/4. It’s a lackluster match largely due to all the stalling and snail pace they went with. I knew the match was in trouble especially when Gibson got zero reaction for the hot tag. It sure feels like these guys are mailing it in and it’s likely because it’s a small market compared to the other markets they are hitting on the weekend.)
Fourth Contest: Dirty White Boy vs. Buddy Landel in a no disqualification match: White Boy wastes no time hammering away on Landel and sends Landel to the floor to continue pummeling Landel with strikes. White Boy chokes Landel with a cord at ringside. White Boy elbow drops Landel on the knee to keep control in the ring. White Boy hammers away on Landel on the mat. White Boy works over Landel in the corner with right hands. Landel stops White Boy with an eye rake and chokes White Boy over the middle rope. White Boy fights back with right hands in the corner. Snow comes out and gives Landel brass knuckles. Landel decks White Boy and wins the match. After the match, Landel puts a bag over White Boy’s head to suffocate him. Morton and Gibson come down to the ring to make the save. (NR. It’s such a short match that I can’t really rate it. It’s a bummer these two weren’t given much time. But, again I think that has to do with the markets they also have matches in during the weekend.)
Fifth Contest: NWA World Champion Chris Candido vs. Dan Severn: Severn takes Candido down to the mat with leg control, but Candido reaches the ropes quickly. Candido gets frustrated when he’s taken down to the mat again. Severn fireman carries Candido to the mat and Candido reaches the ropes again. Severn connects with a German suplex and Candido rolls to the floor. Candido returns and slaps Severn only to run away and elbow drops Severn upon getting in the ring. Candido kicks Severn over the back and gets a two count. Candido controls Severn on the mat, but doesn’t get a three count. Candido stomps on Severn followed by knee drops to the back of the head. Severn counters and takes Candido down to the mat locking in a choke, but Candido breaks free by reaching the ropes. Candido plants Severn hitting a back suplex. Candido knee drops Severn a few times. Candido tries to keep Severn on the mat, but can’t get a three count. Severn tosses Candido with an overhead suplex. Candido decks Severn to the mat and chokes Severn for a few moments. Candido again tries to keep Severn on the mat, but Severn counters until Candido reaches the ropes. Candido tries for a double under hook and manages to drop Severn with a suplex followed by a series of quick leg drops for a two count. Severn arm drags Candido to the mat, but Candido stops Severn with an eye rake. Candido chops Severn a few times in the corner. Candido sits Severn on the top rope and hits a hurricanrana for a near fall. Candido tries for a pilediver, but Severn counters with a backdrop and locks in a cross arm bar to win the match and title by submission in quick fashion. (**. A decent little title match which included Severn taking a hurricanrana and that was something I was not expecting. The title change really shouldn’t be a surprise since Candido lost earlier in the evening to Bradley.)
Main Event: The Gangstas vs. The Heavenly Bodies: Del Ray and Prichard attack the Gangstas from behind for the early advantage. Jack is met with a double back elbow coming off the ropes. Cornette hits Mustafa with his tennis racket on the apron. Jack is knocked to the stage where Prichard rams Jack into a table face first. Del Ray sends Jack through the table on the stage. Jack is knocked back into the ring by Del Ray. Mustafa hammers away on Prichard while Cornette beats on D’Lo with his tennis racket. Prichard hits Jack with a chair and the same happens to Mustafa. Prichard puts Mustafa through a table in the corner. Bodies continue to dominate the match with strikes on the mat and in the corner. Mustafa gets powder thrown into his eyes. Jack is tossed to the mat and Del Ray delivers a jawbreaker. Del Ray superkicks Mustafa on the apron. Jack is taken down with a double vertical suplex. D’Lo distracts Prichard allowing Jack to deliver a strike from behind. Cornette comes over with his tennis racket and decks D’Lo on the floor. Mustafa elbows Prichard to the mat and delivers a few strikes to Prichard before dumping Prichard to the floor. Jack leaps off the apron to hit a clothesline. All four men are brawling around ringside along with D’Lo and Cornette getting involved. Jack chokes Prichard in the ring and Mustafa delivers a few kicks to the face.
Mustafa big boots Prichard coming off the ropes for a two count. Mustafa keeps Prichard on the mat by choking him for a few moments. Mustafa delivers a forearm drop for a two count. Prichard almost wins the match with a rollup. Jack hits a belly to belly suplex on Prichard for a near fall and continues to choke Prichard. Prichard kicks Jack and staggers around the ring. Prichard superkicks Jack in the corner, but Jack eye rakes Prichard. Jack hits a clothesline for a near fall. Jack goes to the middle rope missing a diving headbutt. Del Ray tags in and dropkicks both Mustafa and Jack. Del Ray chokes Jack with his wrist tape. D’Lo whacks Del Ray with an object, but Cornette hits D’Lo and they got to the floor. Jack manages to cover Del Ray and wins the match. After the match, the Bodies run backstage to continue the fight. (**1/4. There was a different energy to this match than the other ones. Intensity was there between the two teams and I liked the brawling aspect of the match. I wish this was just a street fight as I think they would have excelled with no limitations. The finish is a little weak, but the match solid enough compared to the other matches.)
Final Thoughts:
It’s a skippable show, but the runtime is under 1.5 hours, so it’s not like a complete waste of time. If you’re a completist of SMW viewing, it may be fun to see a full live event outside of a main market, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to ever watch this one again.
Thanks for reading.