Bryan Turner’s VHS Rehab YouTube channel has been uploading old Tennessee wrestling footage from various promotions that were previously thought of as lost footage. Thankfully, much footage has been donated to Bryan, and he’s been posting new matches and segments every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Complete shows are published on Saturdays.
Match #1: Air Paris & AJ Styles vs. Bad Attitude (Rick Michaels & David Young)- USA Championship Wrestling 2001
Reason For Reviewing: These four guys are major parts of the indie scene in the Tennessee/Georgia area during the MNW era and beyond. I have high expectations for a tag match involving all four men. Paris and Styles got exposure on WCW Thunder in 2001. Meanwhile, Young and Michaels continued to headline in Tennessee and Georgia.
Paris decks Michaels to kickoff the tag match and Michaels staggers to the corner to tag in Young. Paris and Young trade go-behinds leading to Paris to dropkick Young into Michaels on the apron. Paris drop toe holds Michaels onto Young to put them in the 69 position. Styles hits a standing moonsault and they clothesline Bad Attitude to the floor. Paris hits a top rope somersault dive to the floor. Styles leaps off the top to also hit a crossbody onto Bad Attitude. Young and Paris end up in the ring to compete. Young eye rakes Paris and gains control with a few strikes. Paris runs the ropes and dropkicks Young a few times. Styles enters and double backdrop Young. Michaels tries to get involved and is double backdropped and clotheslined. Young is also double clotheslined. Styles hip tosses Michaels and hits a slam. Styles connects with a dropkick to maintain control of the match. Young slams Styles and drops Styles over the ropes. Michaels delivers a headbutt to the lower midsection and decks Styles with a strike. Young tags into the match and delivers a strike to the midsection. Young shoulder blocks Styles and delivers a headbutt. Michaels eye rakes Styles from the apron. Styles is taken down by a double drop toe hold and a double elbow drop for a two count.
Michaels keeps a headlock on Styles to control the match. Michaels delivers a facebuster over his knee and stomps Styles. Young tags into the match and kicks Styles in the ribs. Styles tries to fight back, but Young drives Styles down to the mat with a swinging side slam for a two count as Paris makes the save. Michaels works over Styles with strikes in the corner. Michaels stomps Styles in the corner and delivers a running clothesline. Styles sends Michaels into the corner and hits a dropkick. Michaels cuts Styles off with a clothesline. Young dropkicks a seated Styles and tags in Michaels. Michaels nails Styles with a running knee strike as Young held Styles on the mat. Styles gets a rollup on Michaels, but Michaels gets out and superkicks Styles. Young tags into the match and strikes Styles on the ribs. Young keeps control with a chin lock. Styles crawls towards his corner, but Michaels distracts the referee so that the tag isn’t witnessed. Michaels stomps on Styles to keep control of the match.
Michaels slams Styles and heads to the top rope. Michaels leaps off missing an elbow drop attempt. Michaels grabs Styles boot, but Styles kicks Michaels and tags in Paris. Paris leaps off the top to head scissors Young. Paris kicks Michaels followed by a superkick. Paris and Styles drive Young down to the mat face first. They plant Michaels with a double powerbomb, but Young breaks the cover. Young plants Paris with a spinebuster. Michaels tries to powerbomb Styles, but Styles counters hitting the Styles Clash. Styles dropkicks a chair into Young’s face. Paris leaps off the top to hit a leg drop on the chair on Young for the win. (***1/2. As expected, this was a quality tag match. Paris and Styles are a great high flying duo and their immediate dives to kickoff the match got my attention and I remained invested from there. Young and Michaels did a fine job carrying the beatdown segment. If WCW stuck around a bit longer all four men would have been on TV.)
Match #2: Terry Funk vs. Dusty Rhodes – Steel Cage – SCW Wrestling 2005
Reason For Reviewing: I’m a sucker for cage matches and it’s between two legends who tend to bleed a lot. I’m not expecting this to be good, but it’s going to be bloody.
Rhodes avoids a punch in the corner to start the match. Rhodes nails Funk with an elbow strike in the corner and Funk staggers out to another elbow strike causing Funk to drop to the mat. Funk gains control with strikes in the corner. Funk taunts Rhodes while pummeling Rhodes with left hands. Rhodes sends Funk into the cage head first a few times. Rhodes rubs Funk’s face against the cage. Rhodes rams Funk into the cage and Funk is already busted wide open. Funk fights back with strikes on Rhodes against the ropes. Funk rubs Rhodes forehead against the cage. Funk bites Rhodes forehead to bust Rhodes open in the corner. Rhodes jabs Funk and delivers another elbow strike to stagger Funk. Funk crashes to the mat. Rhodes continues to work over Funk with an elbow strike. Rhodes low blows Funk with a kick. Rhodes pulls Funk’s tights down on the middle rope as Funk tries to climb the cage. Rhodes crotches Funk on the ropes and Funk ends up dangling on the ropes. Funk low blows Rhodes to get out of the corner. Funk lights a branding iron on fire. Funk threatens the referee with fire. Rhodes brands Funk on the butt a couple of times. Rhodes ducks a strike and messes up a rollup, but still pins Funk for the win. (DUD. You’re not reading the match wrong. There were zero moves during the match. They were all strikes and repetitive ones at that. It was exactly what I expected it to be.)
Match #3: Joey Matthews vs. Jason Scott – USA Championship Wrestling 2004
Reason For Reviewing: 2004 Joey Matthews on the indies is probably one of my favorite runs for him aside from his MNM run in 2005 for WWE. I’m not familiar with Jason Scott.
Matthews backs Scott into a corner and cleanly backs off. Scott backs Matthews into a corner and also cleanly backs off. Matthews gains control with a hammerlock, but Scott manages to counter with a hammerlock. Matthews takes Scott down with a fireman’s carry for a one count. Matthews puts a headlock on Scott, but Scott breaks free. Matthews kicks Scott and they trade wrist locks. Matthews yanks Scott down by his hair, but Scott pops back up. Matthews regains control with a headlock on the mat, but Scott tries to rollout. Scott nails Matthews with a dropkick and an arm drag. Scott keeps arm control on the mat for a few moments. Scott yanks Matthews down by his hair and they shove each other. Scott drop toe holds Matthews and tries for a dropkick, but Matthews holds onto the ropes. Matthews tosses Scott over the top to the floor. Matthews follows to the floor and pummels Scott. Matthews chokes Scott over the ropes and yanks Scott backwards to the mat for a two count. Matthews kicks Scott and hits a neckbreaker. Matthews tries for a cocky cover, but Scott kicks out at two.
Matthews backdrops Scott coming off the ropes and delivers a knee drop. Matthews covers for a two count. Matthews nails Scott with a clothesline. Matthews controls Scott with a chin lock on the mat. Scott punches free, but Matthews tries for a neckbreaker. Scott counters with a backslide for a two count. Scott gets an inside cradle for a two count. Matthews nails Scott with a forearm strike and a knee drop. Scott sunset flips Matthews and almost gets a three count. Scott nearly wins with a crucifix pin. Scott decks Matthews with a few strikes. Matthews elbows a charging Scott in the corner. Scott connects with a powerslam and goes to the top rope missing a twisting splash. Scott surprises Matthews with a takedown and floats over to pin Matthews with a rollup. After the match, Matthews pummels Scott with strikes. Matthews hits an inverted DDT to leave Scott laying. (**. Scott didn’t get a chance to shine and since he’s a rookie, I guess they were going for the flash win over the veteran. Matthews did a good job carrying the match action wise.)
Match #4: Chase Stevens vs. Tommy ‘Crimson’ Mercer – NWA SAW 2011
Reason For Reviewing: Previously reviewing the Chris Michaels/Chase Stevens feud in Tennessee showed that Stevens is a more than capable singles wrestler. I’m interested in this match to see how Stevens continued his singles run without any exposure on mainstream TV.
They start trading right hands instead of locking up. Mercer backs Stevens into a corner to gain the advantage with strikes. Stevens battles back with right hands as both men stagger. Stevens runs into a big boot in the corner. Mercer back elbows Stevens coming off the ropes for a one count. Mercer rubs Stevens face over the top rope. Mercer hits a side Russian leg sweep for a two count. Mercer hits a snap suplex for a near fall. Mercer shoulder rams Stevens in the corner a few times. Mercer sends Stevens hard back first into the corner and manages a two count. Stevens comes off the ropes to hit a leaping forearm smash. Stevens kicks Mercer and continues with strikes against the ropes. Stevens back elbows Mercer to the mat for a near fall. Mercer stops Stevens with a jawbreaker for a near fall. Mercer keeps a neck vice on Stevens. Mercer knee lifts Stevens, but runs into a dropkick. They trade strikes until Mercer delivers a big boot to drop Stevens. Mercer chokes Stevens in the corner to maintain the advantage.
Stevens decks Mercer with a few right hands to drop Mercer to the mat. Stevens kicks Mercer and hits a scissors kick for a two count. Stevens chokes Mercer between the ropes. Stevens rams Mercer face first onto a chair in the crowd. They trade strikes on the floor until Mercer grabs a chair, but the referee takes it away. Mercer sends Stevens into the wall. Mercer rams Stevens onto the bleachers and chokes Stevens on the bleachers. It sounds like the bell was ringing, but it’s announced the count is currently going. Stevens tries to suplex Mercer off the stage, but Mercer counters with a low blow and tosses Stevens into the wall. The referee ends up reaching a ten count and the match ends in a double count-out.
Mercer rams Stevens into the wall head first a few times and tosses Stevens off the stage causing Stevens to slide across the basketball court floor. Mercer chokes Stevens with a chair as the bell continues to ring. Mercer jabs Stevens with a chair several times. Eventually, security and the locker room empties to try and keep them apart, but they continue to brawl. Mercer is literally carried out by several wrestlers as the video ends. (**1/4. It was a fight and I liked the vibe the match gave off. There wasn’t much in terms of wrestling moves, but it didn’t feel like a scripted typical fight, though. The non-finish doesn’t bother me. The crowd ate this up and setting up another match between these two with a stipulation is the way to go.)
That wraps up the latest installment. Please checkout Bryan Turner’s channel. Bryan puts a lot of work into the channel and it’s a thankless task. Checking out this lost Tennessee (or south in general) footage continues to be a blast.
Thanks for reading.