SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
SMOKY MOUNTAIN WRESTLING
MARCH 14, 1992
TAPED IN KNOXVILLE, TENN. AT THE CIVIC COLISEUM
AIRED IN SYNDICATION REGIONALLY
REPORT BY MIKE MILLS, PWTORCH SPECIALIST
Show Summary
– OPENING OF THE SHOW. Bob Caudle, Dutch Mantel, and Carl Styles open the show and get us set for the hour. Bob Caudle announces all the matches and he announces that Ron Wright will be here to make a big announcement later in the episode. Dutch also lets us know that Rip Rogers and Tim Horner will do battle in the main event at the end of the episode with $500 on the line.
(1) Hector Guerrero vs. T.J. Travis
Hector’s over with the fans. He’s so over that Travis is billed “from Knoxville” and the crowd is still booing him. Nice fast paced action that starts the match off with a criss-cross. We then get a surfboard by Guerrero while Dutch and Bob Caudle discuss Ron Wright’s proclamation that Wright has a huge surprise this week. Dutch is appalled by last week’s events when Bob Armstrong got into a yelling match with Ron Wright and Armstrong rolled Wright off the set way too aggressively for Dutch’s liking. Bob Caudle doesn’t have too much of a response to it but says Bob Armstrong gently rolled Ron Wright away from the set. Let me remind you, there was nothing gentle about how Bullet Bob rolled Ron Wright off the set. Back to the match. Travis takes control, but misses a knee-drop from the second rope. Hector comes off the top with a bad looking dive. Travis stood up before Hector jumped and Travis was out of position to take Hector’s move. Somehow Hector found a way to adjust in mid-flight, it was not Hector’s fault at all. Credit Hector for adjusting well in mid-air. Hector does his jalapeno roll as Dutch says to get the three victory over Travis. Good opening contest where Hector gets the win.
– NITRO DANNY DAVIS PROMO. Most old school and long-time wrestling fans know who Danny Davis is. Davis delivers a decent promo here for this time period. As most know, Davis is undersized. Davis during the interview says, “I’m not as big as most of the wrestlers you know. I’m like a little bottle of nitro glycerin.” Davis says, “I’m ready to explode on all the competition! What’s good for me is bad for you” is what he says. Good delivery and believable. And when you view this 25 years later and know how much this man has contributed to the wrestling business, it’s hard to criticize Danny Davis.
– THE FANTASTICS PROMO. The Fantastics have signed the contract for their big six-man tag match against the Koloffs and Jimmy Golden, and they promise a surprise partner that everyone knows who he is. Bobby and Jackie call out Ivan and Vladimir Koloff and Jimmy Golden and say that the Koloffs and Golden will get what’s coming to them next week when they’re back from Japan.
(2) Jimmy Golden & Ivan & Vladimir Koloff vs. Ben Jordan & Reno Riggins & Rocky Patterson
I mean no disrespect here, but the jobber team of Jordan, Riggins, and Patterson get an early advantage on the Koloffs and Golden. Caudle speculates that Golden & The Koloffs are thinking of this match as “a tune-up for next week” and due to this they showed up unprepared for the match. Dutch and Bob Caudle start speculating about who the Fantastics will bring in for the Koloffs and Golden next week. Golden finally takes out Riggins, but Riggins fires back with a dropkick on Ivan, and Jordan, Riggins, & Patterson take back control again. Dutch and Bob Caudle turn on each other as usual as Mantel spouts off a list of every wrestler that Caudle has referred to as “quick” and Dutch asks if Bob Caudle knows any other words to describe wrestlers who are fast and not big slower guys. (I must say, Bob does overuse the term quick as it pertains to the wrestlers). The match finally ends when Golden nails Jordan with a dropkick, and Ivan hits the Russian sickle. Jimmy Golden throws one of the best drop kicks that a guy who’s 6’6” would ever throw. He gets some great height and it’s very impressive. Again, Koloffs and Golden are victorious leading up to their match with The Fantastics next week.
– JIMMY GOLDEN AND THE KOLOFFS PROMO. Right after the match. Golden does all the talking telling the Fantastics they better be ready next week. He and the Koloffs are going to be waiting on them. They pan to the good southern smoky mountain wrestling fans (i.e. Hillbillies as Cornette calls them) as they boo the heels. It might be 1992 but it’s 1982 for these folks and I love it. I’m just kidding as I say that. I am by no means attempting to insult the great people of TN. It’s just that watching this era of wrestling reminds me of the early 80s which is what makes SMW great.
– RECAP OF BULLET BOB AND RON WRIGHT FROM LAST WEEK. If you haven’t checked out last week’s column, go check it out. This was an exceptional segment with Bullet Bob Armstrong and Ron Wright.
– RON WRIGHT PROMO. Bob Caudle then welcomes in Ron Wright to address what happened last week as we just looked at Mr. Ron Wright’s confrontation with Commissioner Armstrong. Wright says, “it was a disgrace when Armstrong came out and tried to assault me last week. Mr. Ron Wright also says “I was disappointed that Commissioner Armstrong wasn’t a better man than that.” Wright continues and says “my ringside ban won’t stay in effect for long because I’ve got a wrestler!” Yes, Ron Wright says he’s got a man under contract and he can now be at the ring so you just keep your eyes open Bob Caudle! They go to commercial but when we come back we will find out who Mr. Ron Wright will be managing which will allow him at ringside.
(3) The Dirty White Boy vs. Rikki Nelson
Ron Wright is at ringside and he gives the ring announcer a signed contract where he wants the announcer to announce his new wrestler who the announcer says is The Dirty White Boy. For those who don’t know The Dirty White Boy (DWB) is long-time ring veteran Tony Anthony who spent some time in the WWF years later as TL Hopper. Dutch and Bob Caudle state that this a major surprise and says DWB is a big get for Ron Wright. Dutch Mantel is moved by the idea that Wright can finally get his surgery with all the money he’ll make managing DWB. Bob Caudle says “what a coup for Ron Wright!!!” DWB is very aggressive with Nelson clubbing him and a headbutting him in a way that Caudle says “DWB shows complete disregard for personal safety.” Back to the match, a DWB powerslam gets a two count as Ron Wright cheers as he’s happy with his signing. DWB dedicates moves to his manager and respectfully calls him “Mr. Wright” during the match. Nelson tries throwing some punches that daze DWB, but Nelson gets Irish whipped and then finished off with a clothesline from behind. DWB wins his debut match on SMW.
– RON WRIGHT AND DWB PROMO. Bob Caudle meets the “happily married couple” after the match. Ron Wright says “Let me tell you something, this man (DWB) is signed on the dotted line, he’s made my trips to the hospital a success, I may even have to have open heart surgery, but this man is making it all possible.” DWB says that as long as Mr. Ron Wright is happy, he’s happy. DWB says he’s sickened that not one man in SMW was willing to step up and to help such a legend like Ron Wright. DWB is happy that he gets the satisfaction of helping a man and getting access to his deep knowledge that Ron Wright has. Ron Wright says it won’t be long now until he has his surgery and he’ll be better off. This is one of the great things about SMW. This is episode 7 of SMW and we’re nearly 2 months into the federation. It took nearly 2 months for this story to play out where Ron Wright finally signed a wrestler. Nothing in today’s wrestling ever takes that long for a story to play out because you have 3 hours of TV time to fill. Long slow builds just don’t happen much anymore. Here, we had a long and slow build and it was great.
– BOB HOLLY PROMO: Promo starts with Bob holding up and reading a real-life dirt sheet known as the National Inquirer with some of the cheesiest but awesome sunglasses on. Bob Holly wants to make a statement regarding some recent rumors. He denies responsibility for the break-up of Julia Roberts’ relationship and insists that he and Julia are just friends. He is not breaking up Julie Roberts marriage plans. Him and Roberts are just good friends and you can’t believe everything you read! This is 1992 and Julia Roberts was a big deal. It’s hard to watch this 25 years later and not laugh at it especially when you know that Holly is an Alabama guy with a southern accent playing the role of Hollywood Holly. That said, Bob still does a good job delivering this promo.
(4) Killer Kyle vs. Jerry Lynn
Killer Kyle is back with his violin case that Bob Caudle feels there’s something in the case. We haven’t seen Kyle in a while but you remember him. He’s been on a few times and a little-known trivia question is that Kyle was in the first televised match against Robert Gibson in SMW. Yes, that is Jerry Lynn of ECW fame. Lynn is a rookie with a bunch of “hot moves” according to Bob Caudle, however back then, he’s a job guy that I am assuming not many people knew of in 1992. I loved Dutch telling Bob Caudle, “don’t you start in with how fast and quick this Jerry Lynn guy is Bob, we know he’s fast already.” I really started to realize how often Bob Caudle says that guys are “quick and fast” with Dutch mentioning this. They start talking about the violin case again. Caudle seems to think there’s something fishy in there. Dutch says he knows what’s in the case but he’s not talking about it. Back to the match, Lynn goes under a charge and comes off the ropes with an elbow, but Kyle is not phased and catches him in a Bubbaslam (as Dutch calls it) or a Rub-Out (Bob Caudle calls it) and Kyle gets the win with the 1-2-3. Killer Kyle wins in a quick three-minute match.
TERRY GORDY PROMO. We go to a recap of the previous week when Terry Gordy defeated Tommy Angel with a powerbomb showing off Gordy’s power. Then is the GORDY PROMO: Caudle says we just got a recap of the type of devastation that this man can dish out on an opponent. Caudle tells Terry that the SWM Heavyweight Championship tournament is coming up soon but the guys here say they can’t be beat. Gordy, in response to Caudle says “Let me ask you this. You know this business inside and out so who do you have your money on.” Caudle says, “I wouldn’t bet against you Terry!” Then Terry says “You know United we stand and divided we fall, when I get in the ring we’re going to see who will stand and who will fall.” Gordy says the bombs will be falling and that he will win the SMW Heavyweight title tournament because he is the biggest bomber of them all. Terry Gordy delivered a strong promo. As a guy who grew up watching Gordy and the Freebirds, I’ve always felt Gordy was great. Michael Hayes was the best talker of the Freebirds but don’t be fooled, in Terry’s prime he was a different but great talker also.
TIM HORNER & RIP ROGERS RECAP. We go to a recap of when Tim Horner kicked the chair out from Rip Rogers as he was doing free squats. Again, the key word to insulting the good people in the Smoky Mountain area is to call them hillbillies. Then ROGERS PROMO: Rogers lets Horner have it and says, “Tim Horner, you tobacco chewing hillbilly, you owe me $500 dollars!” Rip Rogers then issues a $5000 challenge to Tim Horner for a match this week, and Tim Horner accepted. This is in response to Horner kicking out the chair on him the previous week. RIP says “I’m going to take it out on your dirty tobacco redneck hillbilly smoking hide!” From here, we go to the main event.
(5) Tim Horner vs. Rip Rogers
Horner hugs the old lady who’s been at all the shows so far when he comes out. At least I think she’s been at every event. Dutch Mantel makes a valid point; Rogers still lasted 59:30 in last week’s challenge, so from now on, all he has to do is drag any match to the 20-minute mark or so and he’s pretty much unbeatable. Lots of on the mat wrestling early, but Rogers becomes aggressive and sends Horner in for a turnbuckle shot. Rip throws Horner to the floor, then comes off the top rope with an axe handle. When Rip does these axe handles off the top to the floor, it gets over with the fans each time. Rogers attempts a suplex of Horner off the apron and back onto the floor, but Horner counters it and brings him back in the ring. Horner then sends Rogers to the floor and hits him out there with a dive through the ropes which was not very common back then. They fight back inside and they collide in an awkward manner. I think they were both going for a leapfrog and it was a botch but give them credit they recovered very well. Horner gets a sudden win with a sunset flip. I’m just eternally grateful we weren’t graced with the Horner bridge for the win. Beyond the match here we have a couple of zingers from Dutch. He says the women in the building look like biker women and he doesn’t mean it as a compliment. Or as he says, “Some of these women are so ugly they couldn’t make the biker magazines.” They start talking about the Fantastics also and their return to SMW and Dutch says, “I hope those fantastic don’t bring back any oriental diseases!” Recall that the Fantastics are currently on a tour of Japan and that’s why Dutch says this. Chalk that line up to something you’ll never hear on a wrestling program today.
BULLET BOB ARMSTRONG PROMO: Bullet Bob is responding to Jim Cornette last week when Cornette said he wouldn’t announce his tag team before the tag team title tournament. Bullet Bob says, “Let me get something straight. Who does Jimmy Cornette think he is to bring in a team and not tell anyone their name?” Bullet Bob declares that Cornette has to declare who Cornette’s team will be. He says Cornette can’t do that. Cornette comes out and calls Armstrong “Mr. Stick Your Nose In Everyone Else’s Business” and says he’s trying to do you a favor and save the tournament so that everyone won’t drop out of the tournament. Cornette says “but you know what Armstrong, I’m feeling charitable so next week on TV I will have a video of my brand-new tag team, the team that will be the champions and you will see you shouldn’t have meddled in our business.” Cornette then “ifs” towards Armstrong as to make him flinch and Bullet Bob looks like he’s ready to lay a whooping on to Jim Cornette.
Final Thoughts
And that is a wrap for the March 14, 1992 episode of SMW. I loved the end of this episode. Cornette teases us with something simple with how he’ll be showing a clip of who his tag team will be next week. This is what made the territory days great when week to week because you only had one hour to fill you could tease things and do a slow burn like this. Now keep this in mind, this is week 7 and episode 7. Cornette has been talking about this tag team since either week 1 or 2. Here we are almost two months later and we’re finally about to find out who this team is. In today’s wrestling environment, they would have announced something at 7:15 p.m. CT on Raw and by 9:45 p.m. we would have the surprise answer. The slow burn as it relates to telling wrestling stories has evaporated. We also found out who Mr. Ron Wright’s wrestler is with the DWB Tony Anthony. It took us 7 weeks to get to this point which made the payoff that much better. This is just the beginning of DWB and Mr. Ron Wright’s journey in SMW. Much more will be coming from them in the coming weeks and months. Stay with us here and check out our audio walk through of SMW as well at mikemills.podbean.com for even more great Smoky Mountain Wrestling content. Until next week, in my Bob Caudle voice, SEE YOU NEXT WEEK AND SO LONG FOR NOW!
Mike Mills is a PWTorch.com Smoky Mountain Wrestling TV Flashback Specialist, providing his point of view on Smoky Mountain Wrestling TV that aired between February of 1992 through November of 1995. You can follow Mike at @BTT_Podcast and @Mike504Saints on Twitter. An audio version of the Smoky Mountain flashbacks are also available at mikemills.podbean.com. You can e-mail Mike at BookingTheTerritory@gmail.com
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