Written by: Bob Colling
CWA TV
Date: 2/20/1988
From: Memphis, TN
Lance Russell and Dave Brown welcome everyone to the show and they mention there’s been an ice storm in recent days. Russell reveals we have a new CWA Heavyweight Champion as Maxx Payne defeated Jerry Lawler to win the championship.
Brother Ernest comes out with CWA Heavyweight Champion Maxx Payne and Gary Young. They are also the CWA Tag Team Champions. Ernest claims he’s never said he’s a pastor or minister. Ernest says they are all brothers and sisters. Ernest has a bible, but Ernest calls it a good book. Ernest is just representing a cause. Ernest says he had a calling to clean up wrestling in the area. Ernest has someone in mind to take Russell’s job.
Opening Contest: CWA Heavyweight Champion/CWA Tag Team Champion Maxx Payne & CWA Tag Team Champion Gary Young vs. Rodney Napper & Alan Reynolds: As expected it’s a squash match for the champs. Payne allowed Young to earn the pin after hitting a big splash off the ropes.
Lance Russell talks about the Renegade Rampage series, which has a big purse of $250k.
There are music video packages for the Midnight Rockers and Rock n’ Roll Express. They’ll be wrestling at the Coliseum.
Second Contest: Jerry Lawler vs. Choir Boy #1: Lawler won the match after punching Choir Boy over the top to the floor thus leading to a count out.
Brother Ernest talks with Lance Russell again and says that his calling has reached all over the earth. He’s been getting a lot of calls from wrestlers to join his mission.
Third Contest: The Great Samu & Giant Kokina vs. Ken Raper & Doug Dancing: Samu would end up in the Headshrinkers and Kokina would later be known as Yokozuna in the WWF. This is the debut of Samu and Kokina. Samu looked great showing his strength tossing Dancing around. Kokina continued to dominate the match. They hit a back suplex/middle rope clothesline combo on Dancing. Kokina won the match following a big splash off the ropes. (NR.That was honestly a great squash match. Samu and Kokina looked great.) After the match, Samu and Kokina continue to beat down their opponents.
Lance Russell chats with Jeff Jarrett regarding a match with Bill Dundee coming up. Jarrett knew that this day would come and wants to listen to an interview by Bill Dundee. Dundee says that Russell refuses to interview him. Dundee doesn’t like what happened to him last week. Dundee is pissed because Jarrett didn’t win the battle royal last week. Dundee was prevented from getting the belt from Lawler. Dundee knows that he would have won the title and ring. Lawler avoided that and agreed with Russell that Jarrett won the match. Dundee thinks that Jarrett is a punk. Dundee says the fun is over and he’s going to take Jarrett out of the business. Dundee notes that Jarrett is tougher, but not tough enough to handle him. Dundee wants his ring back from Lawler, too. Back to Jarrett who says that he’s been wrestling for almost two years and a lot of people are asking about the issues between himself and Dundee. Jarrett says that they’ve never liked each other, really. Jarrett wants to show a piece of film. The film is from 1986 where Jarrett was attacked by Buddy Landell until Jerry Jarrett came into the ring and made the save. Jerry ended up getting attacked by Dundee and tried to blind Jerry’s other eye. Jeff Jarrett made the save and fought Dundee and Landell. Jarrett recalls the incident and says that a lot of things have changed since that time. Jarrett isn’t going to back down from Dundee.
Fourth Contest: Jimmy Jack Funk vs. Ken Raper: An easy win for Funk following a spinning powerslam. After the match, Funk goes to the commentary table and says that if anyone wants a piece of him he’s not a hard guy to find.
Main Event: Ken Wayne, Jeff Jarrett & Billy Travis vs. Blue Knight, Rough & Ready: Wayne comes off the top to hit an elbow drop for the easy win.
Final Thoughts:
Despite being a filler week of TV, I enjoyed the episode. The Jarrett/Dundee angle is building well and I thought Samu/Kokina looked great in the ring. I’d really like to see them stick around for a while in the tag division. I’m not buying into Maxx Payne as the champion, though. Anyway, an overall enjoyable episode of CWA this week.
Thanks for reading.