Written by: Bob Colling
CWA TV
Date: 1/9/1988
From: Memphis, TN
Lance Russell and Dave Brown welcome everyone to the program and rundown who we’ll see on the show. There will be a renegade rampage that will be happening over the next several months and there’s a big check promoting it. The ring apron also has Renegades on it.
Opening Contest: Blue Knight vs. Scott Hall: As expected, Hall doesn’t have an issue taking care of Knight in dominating fashion. Hall wins the match following a bulldog out of the corner.
Lance Russell talks about the check they have from Renegades and it’s 250,000. They will be having the Renegade Rampage. Jerry Jarrett had a press conference and revealed they will be producing the biggest promotion in their company. The men competing will be competing for points. The finals of the series will take place in June. They introduce John Kenny, the money man behind the concept. Jarrett is proud that they picked his company for this. They are taking questions from the press. The finals will be four men and Jarrett explains the rotating matchups. Ten points for a win, five points for a win by disqualification and two points by draw. Someone could be out of the running within two or three showings. Another question is asked why they chose Jarrett over the WWF or the group of Atlanta. They considered the CWA to be the very best with competition. Eddie Marlin says they have been getting calls from talent and they expect more to come. John says they have 700 special events lined up for the year.
Second Conterst: Ken Wayne vs. Keith Eric: Wayne gets the quick pin with a bridging rollup. There wasn’t a lot of wrestling going on at all between these two.
Lance Russell chats with AWA Tag Team Champion Shawn Michaels. Michaels says that if they were to up the price they’d see both of the Midnight Rockers. Michaels calls Ken Wayne a geek. Wayne makes his way out to confront Michaels. Wayne says that the Midnight Rockers are trying to copy the Nightmares and Michaels refutes that claim. Wayne claims that the Rockers were hiding from them and wouldn’t sign a contract. Michaels says that they weren’t ducking them and that instead they were booked all over the country. Wayne asks Michaels how many tapes of him and Danny Davis he has watched. Michaels gets stumped a little bit there and is trying to find an excuse out of these claims. They continue to argue as the show goes to break.
Third Contest: AWA Tag Team Champion Shawn Michaels vs. David Wilson: Ken Wayne is on commentary for the contest as Michaels makes easy work of Wilson. Michaels wins the match following a top rope elbow drop.
Shawn Michaels goes over to Ken Wayne and suggests Wayne get some platform shoes to get a little taller. Wayne doesn’t want to be a Midnight Rocker. They continue to argue until Scott Hall comes out and bumps into Michaels. Hall tells Michaels that he use to be friends with the Midnight Rockers. Hall tells Wayne that he’ll be his partner and proceeds to shove Michaels. Wayne wants a tag title shot and promises to walkout with them.
We see footage of the final night where the winner would win a ring. The footage is from the Mid-South Coliseum. Bill Dundee and Jeff Jarrett squared off in a singles match. The action is shown in a music video format. Dundee won the match by count-out as it appeared Jarrett was held by someone. Scott Hall and Jerry Lawler squared off in the other match. Lawler won, but they don’t show how. Dundee and Lawler battled in the finals. They collided and the referee was knocked down, but Lawler bounced off the ropes and pinned Dundee. After the match, Dundee cut a promo and shook hands with Lawler just as he had promised he would if he were to be beaten.
Jerry Lawler comes out to chat with Lance Russell. Lawler is given the ring and is appreciative of the ring. Lawler puts over Scott Hall saying that he’ll make a big name for himself in the sport. Hall used a piledriver and was disqualified because it’s not legal. Lawler admits he was having trouble with Hall. The man that prevented Jarrett from getting in the ring was Hector Guerrero. Bill Dundee makes his way out and joins the segment with Lawler. Dundee thought he was going to win and says there is video proof of Dundee beating Lawler. We go back to footage where Dundee is beating on Lawler with right hands. Dundee tossed Lawler into the referee and had a rollup where he kept Lawler down for over ten seconds and shows that he won the match. Lawler doesn’t seem to be bothered by this and tells Dundee he was taking a rest because there was no referee to count the fall. Lawler notes that Dundee was the first man to start throwing right hands. They were just tag team partners and Dundee quickly went to throwing right hands. Dundee wants to win the ring and has a proposition for Lawler. Dundee takes his checkbook out and is scribbling down some numbers. Lawler wants Dundee to put something on the line and wants Dundee to put $10,000. Dundee doesn’t see the point because he’d just have a ring made for him. Lawler gladly accepts the challenge made by Dundee. Dundee tells Lawler that it’s just business. Dundee believes he won the ring and wants to settle it next week. Lawler tells Dundee that he’ll start the match throwing right hands.
Main Event: Hector Guerrero vs. Billy Travis: There’s not a lot of time left in the show. Jeff Jarrett is at ringside as Travis nearly pins Guerrero with a rollup. Guerrero pulled Travis down by his hair and the referee prevented anything further from taking place. Guerrero controls Travis with a head scissors on the mat, but that’s short-lived. The bell sounds as the show ran out of time. What was the point of that? Guerrero and Jarrett slap towards each other to end the segment.
Final Thoughts:
It’s another lackluster episode of television as there’s nothing going on that is holding my interest. I feel like they continue to rely on Lawler/Dundee when they don’t know where to go with either man and it’s a played out angle. Scott Hall probably should have won the tournament and get a big push because he’s coming across like a huge star in the area. Shawn Michaels continues to play the heel role vey well, but he needs a stronger opponent. I’m not looking forward to the Renegade Rampage series and hope it’s not heavily featured on TV.
Thanks for reading.