CWA TV
Date: 1/30/1988
From: Memphis, TN
Lance Russell and Dave Brown welcome everyone to the program. There will be a CWA Heavyweight Championship match on TV between Jerry Lawler and Jimmy Jack Funk.
Lance Russell interviews Jimmu Jack Funk who says that Lawler has finally been forced to put the title on the line against him. Funk is going to be the new champion today.
Opening Contest: CWA Heavyweight Champion Jerry Lawler vs. Jimmy Jack Funk: Funk shoves Lawler to the mat and taunts the crowd. Lawler shoves Funk down to the corner and Funk complains of a hair pull. Lawler shoves Funk to the mat again. Funk rips his own hair out and shows the referee what Lawler has been doing. They trade hammerlocks with Lawler taking Funk down to the mat with a wrist lock. Funk goes to the floor and heads backstage to bring Teijo Kahn with him. Kahn sits at ringside to watch the match. Lawler has a top wrist lock on Funk and is distracted by Kahn. Funk kicks Lawler in the corner and pulls Lawler’s hair to keep a headlock on. Funk does it again and Lawler continues to tell the referee what’s going on, but the referee keeps missing it. Lawler gets out of the hold and heads backstage only to come back with Jeff Jarrett. Lawler pulls Funk’s hair to keep a headlock on just as Funk had been doing. Funk beats on Lawler in the corner with strikes and choking. Funk drops Lawler over the top rope throat first. Lawler fights back with right hands and drops Funk. Kahn trips Lawler running the ropes. Lawler avoids Funk’s attack and has a chair on the floor. Jarrett attacks Funk and then all four men start brawling on the floor leading to the referee to throw the match out. (1/2*. They decided to not have an actual match and instead went with a boring simple match where it was making it evident that Funk was a heel by pulling hair and whatnot. If this was a true match I would have enjoyed it much more.)
Lance Russell interviews Jeff Jarrett. Jarrett says that Manny Fernandez has had to go to the doctors since being attacked by Kahn with the loaded glove. Here comes Jimmy Jack Funk and Teijo Kahn. They call him a sissy and corner him by the announcers table. Funk beats on Jarrett with the cowbell. Jarrett is beaten up by four men in the ring. Funk puts the noose around Jarrett’s neck and tosses him across the ring until they are ran off by the babyface locker room.
Lance Russell interviews Rikki Nelson, who says he doesn’t know who those guys think they are. Nelson is convinced that the masked men that attacked Jarrett was the RPMs. Randy Hales comes out and says that if someone removes their mask that they will leave the area and fined $5,000 for violating the contract. The masked men come out and deny being the RPMs. They have worn the masks for years. They are telling us they are not the RPMs.
Lance Russell interviews Terry Taylor and Gary Young. Young says they are going to wipe out all the competition in the area. Taylor knows that everyone talks about Lawler/Dundee tag team and Jarrett/with whomever. Taylor wants the Midnight Rockers to get a moment to shine as they should get. AWA Tag Team Champions the Midnight Rockers come out with the gold. Shawn Michaels says that the Jarrett Promotions have done something right in getting four good looking guys on television.
Second Contest: Terry Taylor & Gary Young vs. Bill Dundee & Rikki Nelson: Dundee taunts Young after taking him down to the mat. Dundee drops Young with a right hand. Dundee slams Young and backdrops Taylor. All four men are in the ring brawling until Young and Taylor bail to the floor. Young and Taylor work over Nelson until Nelson knee lifts Taylor. Taylor and Nelson trade right hands in the corner. Nelson is kicked away by Taylor and they have a standoff. Nelson arm drags Taylor and decks Young off the apron. Young trips Nelson from the floor and Dundee tries to get a shot on Young outside the ring, but misses. Taylor grabs Nelson and delivers a slam. Young gets a two count following an elbow drop. Young knee lifts Nelson and tags Taylor back into the contest. Taylor drops Nelson with a spinebuster. Young knee lifts Nelson and rams Nelson into Taylor’s knee in the corner. Nelson knee lifts Taylor to avoid a backdrop. Taylor prevents Nelson from tagging out and delivers an atomic drop. Nelson forearms Taylor, but it looks like Dundee didn’t take a tag from Nelson. Dundee does get the tag from Nelson and cleans house with right hands. The Midnight Rockers slide into the ring and attack Dundee and Nelson to end the contest. Michaels hits Dundee with his boot a few times. Jerry Lawler runs out and makes the save to send the heels bailing. (*1/4. That was a weird segment as it seemed like the announcers were teasing a heel turn by Dundee but they must have not read the situation correctly at all. The action was basic and underwhelming. The aftermath continues to be the formula brawl for Memphis.)
Lance Russell brings out Max Pain. Pain says he’s badder than Bam-Bam Bigelow. Pain is here to get revenge for Bigelow’s loss. Pain is here to destroy a nobody and he’s going to do that right now. Pain has 666 written on his forehead.
Third Contest: Maxx Pain vs. Alan Reynolds: Pain dominates the match in his TV debut. Pain wins the match following a big splash off the ropes.
Lance Russell announces the Renegade Rampage trivia contest where the winner would win some merchandise. They will also get tickets to the finals wherever they are held and $500 in spending money. That will be every eight weeks or so.
Main Event: AWA Tag Team Champions Midnight Rockers vs. Bruise Brothers: Michaels and Don kickoff the match with Michaels getting control with right hands in the corner. Don monkey flips Michaels out of the corner and follows up with an arm drag. Ron shoulder blocks Michaels and keeps control with an arm drag. Don returns to the match and Michaels runs into a back elbow for a near fall. Jannetty drops Don with a forearm shot. Jannetty continues with a clothesline and Michaels delivers a clothesline from the apron. Michaels superkicks Don coming off the ropes for a near fall. Jannetty returns to the match to deliver strikes. Jannetty elbows Don to the mat. Don comes off the ropes to kick Jannetty in the face and Ron gets the hot tag. All four men are in the ring brawling as time is running out. Rockers are sent into each other and bail to the floor. Janetty tries for a slam, but Ron counters with a rollup. Michaels comes off the top with a clothesline and Jannetty gets the win with a rollup. (*. Bruise Brothers are just not very good and the Rockers are very good in their role. I can’t imagine they stick around for long in 1988.)
Final Thoughts:
I was hopeful that Funk/Lawler was going to be a fun, worthwhile match, but it instead was a lackluster and boring encounter. I’m still waiting for a major angle to pickup steam for the year, but I think the Rampage series is going to derail that for a bit, at least.
Thanks for reading.