CWA TV
Date: 6/4/1988
From: Memphis, TN
Lance Russell and Dave Brown open the show promoting what we’ll be seeing. Tojo Yamamoto will be returning to TV. Billy Travis and Scott Steiner will be in tag action against Don Bass and Gary Young.
Lance Russell interviews Tojo Yamamoto who went to Japan and found the Great Senshe. They head to the ring for some action.
MATCH #1: ALAN REYNOLDS VS. THE GREAT SENSHE
FINISH: Senshe wins following a backhand strike.
Bob’s Take: For the record, that is how they spelled Senshe, and I’m aware that is not the correct way to spell it. There’s not much to this, but Senshe at least looks like he has some in-ring ability and can work a faster pace.
Match Rating: SQUASH
Lance Russell interviews Robert Fuller, who is quite happy about winning the money and has the prettiest valet with him. Fuller has a woman named Sylvia with him, but she doesn’t say a word. Fuller has a stable of men and he’s bringing in men to the area. Fuller introduces his stable of men and brings out Jimmy Golden, who is wearing the same robe as Fuller. Fuller has more guys to introduce. Fuller also brings out Gary Young as a member of the Stud Stable. Young is wearing a suit and not a similar robe as the other two. Fuller calls out Tojo Yamamoto to join the segment and wants The Great Senshe brought out, too. Tojo and Senshe come out to join the segment. Fuller is interested in acquiring Senshe. Tojo doesn’t like Fuller or the Stud Stable and they walk off. Fuller insults Tojo, but Tojo returns with his kendo stick after Fuller kept calling Tojo slant eyed.
MATCH #2: ROBERT FULLER & JIMMY GOLDEN VS. THE HARRIS BROTHERS
FINISH: Fuller delivers a double axe handle from the middle rope allowing Golden to win the match.
Bob’s Take: I grew up watching Jimmy Golden as Bunkhouse Buck in WCW, so it’s a bit bizarre to see him portraying himself in a different manner, but that’s to be expected. I kind of thought this would be more one-sided, but they gave the Harris Brothers some momentum, but it was mostly in the form of arm control and nothing too damaging offensively. I feel like the Stud Stable is being positioned as the top heel stable, but they weren’t given a dominating victory. Seems a bit odd booking to me. Despite the odd booking, it was a decent segment.
Match Rating: *1/2
MATCH #3: JEFF JARRETT VS. KEITH ERIC
FINISH: Jarrett wins following a dropkick.
Bob’s Take: Jarrett didn’t do much to keep me invested in this one, but it’s just a squash match so what should I really be expecting. Extended squashes are fine to fill time, but I wish they’d have some more impactful offense other than basic strikes.
Match Rating: *
Lance Russell interviews Jeff Jarrett following his victory. Jarrett says he’s not there to talk about his previous match. Jarrett is here to talk about Robert Fuller. Jarrett proved that Fuller wouldn’t meet him face to face last week. Sylvia comes out and taunts Jarrett saying she’s not a stud. Robert Fuller comes out to laugh at Jarrett while Sylvia calls Jarrett a punk and continues to say he can’t fight out of wet paper bag. Sylvia slaps Jarrett, but Jarrett decks Fuller several times. Sylvia gets on Jarrett’s back allowing Fuller to trade strikes with Jarrett. Jimmy Golden comes out and rolls Jarrett into the ring where Jarrett is double teamed. Fuller punches Jarrett while Golden holds Jarrett. Tojo Yamamoto comes out, but Fuller kicks Tojo to the floor. Sylvia hits Tojo several times with the kendo stick! Tojo grabs Sylvia by her hair, but Sylvia continues to hit Tojo. The Great Senshe enters the ring and decks the Stud Stable helping Jarrett to end the segment.
Lance Russell talks about Brickhouse Brown and the Cuban Assassins attacking Max Pain recently causing Pain to have to give up the CWA Heavyweight Championship. We get an update from Max Pain, who is sitting in a hot tub. Pain talks about thinking Brickhouse was his friend. Pain thinks greed and money caused an end to their friendship. Pain mentions Brickhouse tried to break his leg and take money out of his pocket. Pain says Brickhouse made a mistake by not breaking his leg. Pain warns Brickhouse to be ready for him because he’s hunting Brickhouse.
Max Pain comes out using crutches to chat with Lance Russell in the studio. Pain says he wanted to sign his name on a contract with Brickhouse, but he can’t do it. Pain talks about thinking his leg was broken. Pain it hurts not knowing who he can trust since Brickhouse was his manager before. Pain wants a piece of Brickhouse because the belt doesn’t matter anymore. Brickhouse Brown comes out to join the segment. Brickhouse calls Pain a fool and says Pain could have been part of his plan. Brickhouse asks about Pain’s leg acting dumb to what happened to Pain. Brickhouse takes the crutches away from Pain and pokes Pain with a crutch. Pain is hobbling on one leg as Brickhouse continues to taunt Pain. Brickhouse throws the crutches on the ground and tells Pain to get the crutches. Brickhouse slaps Pain across the face to drop Pain to the floor. Russell steps in front to prevent further beating. Eddie Marlin comes out and tells Brickhouse he’d be suspended if he put another hand on Pain. Randy Hales is out there as well to help keep the peace. Pain gets his crutches and heads backstage.
MATCH #4: THE CUBAN ASSASSINS VS. DOUG DANCING & TOMMY KING
FINISH: King is pinned following a sit down splash to his back.
Bob’s Take: At one point, there was a nice German suplex on Dancing in the early stages of the match. I don’t know why, but the announcers constantly want to call the Assassins the Choir Boys. I thought it was an enjoyable quick showcase for the Assassins.
Match Rating: SQUASH
AWA World Champion Jerry Lawler cuts a promo about his rematch with Curt Hennig. Lawler knows people are going to think his reign is coming to an end, but he is confident that he will beat Hennig in the rematch and knows when he does that nobody will be able to claim that it was a fluke win.
MAIN EVENT: BILLY TRAVIS & SCOTT STEINER VS. GARY YOUNG & DON BASS
FINISH: Bass dumps Steiner over the top rope to the floor causing a disqualification. After the match, Travis is double teamed until Steiner makes the save.
Bob’s Take: Any time there’s a match involving people with actual name power it tends to feel like a bigger deal, so it’s nice to have something of substance on these shows. It’s a competitive tag match with Travis getting worked over by Bass and Young for several moments. Steiner gets tagged in a couple of times, but the referee was distracted each time to allow the heels to keep control on Travis. When Steiner does get the hot tag, the crowd pops pretty well for it. The finish is a bit dull, but I guess Young can’t be on the losing side since he’s associated with the Stud Stable, so it would be better off to try and keep him strong. Despite the lame finish, it was an enjoyable segment to close the show.
Match Rating: **1/4
Final Thoughts:
It sure feels like they’re trying to make the Stud Stable a major force in the area, and it hasn’t been going too bad thus far. I do find myself interested in Fuller and he is coming across as a good heel. I’m not sure if it’s a drawing money kind of heel, but it’s doing well for TV. I’ll consider this an average week for TV overall.
Thanks for reading.