EVIL~! alkeiper 0 Report post Posted December 4, 2004 Muggy asked me to post this, since he is having login issues at the moment. On the Banks of the Mississippi: Memphis Wrestling by Matt Blythe Welcome to the first Memphis Wrestling recap on thesmartmarks.com. Sure, it's only the boards right now... but maybe one day... I will reach the main page... until then, I shall bring to you here on this board. I am Matt Blythe, and I am a walking curse... In the past, Memphis was THE hotbed of wrestling. Bill Dundee, Jackie Fargo, Jerry Lawler, the Moondogs, Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, and Andy Kauffman are just some of the names that stayed in Memphis for a while and wrestled here. Since theose days, wrestling has certainly cooled off... USWA went under, Power Pro Wrestling (basically the USWA under a differnt name) went under, Memphis Championship Wrestling bit the dust... and Memphis Wrestling was formed one year ago and has stayed with the tradition of other Memphis promotions by holding weekly cards in TV studios. (USWA was doing it for a while and sow was Power Pro. MCW never did though.) I would go into the history of the other promotions, but that would take a while. Power Pro and MCW used to be WWE developmental territories though. Spanky, American Dragon, William Regal, Rikishi, Kurt Angle, and Albert are a few of the names that have been through those promotions. But those are long and gone, and this remains... welcome to Memphis Wrestling, the home of rhythm and bruise. I will provide background on some of these guys since you may not know them or haven't seen them in a while. --------------------------------------------------- We are LIVE BITCHES at the UPN 30 TV Studio in Memphis, Tennessee, the home of a man who died on the toilet eating a hoagie. Yours hosts are Corey Maclin and Brian Tegland, the weatherman for the station this airs on. This guy once introduced the Rock n' Roll Express as a team "who has been in lots of TLC matches". Yeah, he knows what he's talking about.... We start the show with Jerry Lawler (a heel right now in Memphis) being all pissed about losing to Ric Flair on RAW. Corey wants to show the footage, but Jerry is all like "no way girlfriend" and Corey is all like "yeah sister we will". And Jerry is like, oh yeah, I'll throw this chair at you. So Corey leaps into the crowd to protect himself. He's supposed to be the face.. and he's using a baby to protect him? Why yes, this is Tennesseee. Everything is backwards around here. --------------------------------------------------- Commercial... 3 minutes in. Yay. --------------------------------------------------- We come back and Lawler comes back out with Skandor Akbar (yes THAT Skandor Akbar) who Lawler calls a personal friend. Cue the "USA" chants. God... throw out a stereotype from another country in Memphis, and boom... Since Jimmy Hart can't be there today, he sent Akbar to make sure nothing would go wrong with Jerry. Lawler blabs out the usual spiel about Arabs getting a bad shake after 9/11, yada, yada, treat him right, yada, yada, that's how babies are born, yada, yada, we still ain't gonna show the footage of me losing to Ric Flair's man boobs... ring the damn bell, we need to get to our first match. Why yes, Jerry Lawler is the star in this federation. Who else would it be? First Match: American Anarchy vs. Jerry Lawler Wrestler Background: American Anarchy looks like a ginat American flag wrapped around a fat guy. I don't recognize the person at all since he's under a mask. Jerry Lawler... I think we know his history. The Match: Before the match, Jerry gets all paranoid that Corey is trying to turn the whole country against by wrestling a guy dressed up like the Patriot Version 2.0. I would like to see Lawler come out dressed like an arab one day, talk about how the people in his country are oppresed, yada, yada... I think that would be funny.... or sad, I don't know which... anyways... the match.... The "USA" chants continue as Jerry Lawler asks for a handshake, and Anarchy is stupid enough to take it and gets pummeled and nailed with a back elbow from Lawler. More right hands from Lawler (I beleive JHawk is right... Lawler does throw a beautfiul right hand. People really need to punch like that) and a snapmare. Fistdrop follow s that. Lawler then goes for his 2nd rope fistdrop, but Anarchy moves out of the way. Anarchy hits with a few rights and whips him into a corner and complete nails Lawler with a clothesline that didn't look right for some reason. Lawler was walking out of the turnbuckle it looked like and Anarchy just nailed him, and Lawler took an odd fall backwards. Akbar distracts Anarchy and the referee as Lawler pulls out the good ol fashioned CHAIN OF DEATH and nails Anarchy with it and gets a three count for it. Winner: Jerry Lawler Star rationg: 1/4* Muggy says: Prototypical Jerry Lawler heel match. Next... Afterwards, Jerry Lawler keeps threatening Corey Maclin to not show the video. And now we have a "You tapped out" chant for Lawler. Well, that's better than "USA"... We now get a promotion for Throwback Night on December 26th at the Mid-South Coliseum (the arena where the big matches used to be in Memphis back in the day). Last time they had a throwback night, the main event was the Rock n' Roll Express & Jerry Lawler vs. Corey Maclin & The Fabulous Ones (Stane Lane and Steve Kiern). I would love to see the rating that would get on EWR. I didn't go to that event... --------------------------------------------------- Commercial --------------------------------------------------- Second Match: II Cool II vs. Kevin White & Stan Lee Wrestler Background: II Cool II (Flex and Tim, because when I think cool, I think of the name Tim) are kinda funny actually. They were Brian Christopher's proteges when they were under masks and were called the Sexy Assassins. They later unmasked and betrayed Christopher turning Christopher face. They decided to totally rip off II Cool and have become II Cool II. They do bad rip-offs of Brian's dancing... which actually looks better than Brian's dancing in the first place! Like many independent wrestlers, they like to exaggerate by saying they are going on dates with the Bush twins, Paris Hiltion, etc. Both are about 6'2 and 250 pounds. When Flex dressed like Christopher, he almost looks exactly like him. Pretty scary... Kevin White is another work of Brian Christopher's. He was popular, but he had no gimmick, no charisma, and was pretty much the definition of bland in the ring... so his friend Christopher decided to give him a II Cool "Starter Kit" (some glasses, leather jacket, pants instead of wrestling tights). He's now a better dancer that Brian Christopher (Brian must be a good teacher or suck I guess.. the latter probably). He's currently one of the most popular guys in the company. About 5'10" 210 pounds. Stan Lee just showed up in Memphis a month ago, and he might have the most potential in the entire company. He's only about 5'7", but he's a good high flyer. The first time he did the Standing Shooting Star Press, the people in the crowd were all "WOAH!". Picture 50 people at the same time going WOAH! That was the first impression of Stan Lee. He's a good mat-worker too. I hope he gets somewhere in Memphis, because he's got potential to be something good. The Match: Stan Lee starts in the ring with Flex and Flex starts by pounding him in the corner. He whips Stan, but Stan counters with a kick to the face and a pair of dropkicks. He follows that up with the STANDING SHOOTING STAR~! I'm a sucker for that move. Flex kicks out at two. Tag to Kevin, and Kevin goes to work on the arm until Flex pokes him in the eye aand tags out to Tim. Tim gets hiptossed and an irish whipped into the ropes. Kevin pulls out a nice dropkick himself and tags back out to Stan Lee. They double irish whip him and Lee catches Tim with a leg lariat for two. Tim gets back up and pokes Stan in the eye but misses a clothesline and Stan starts to hit him with a barrage of kicks and punches before whipping Tim into the ropes. Tim reverses, and Flex pulls him down by the hair to give II Cool II the advantage. Tim stomps away and suplexes Stan Lee for a pair of twos and tags out to Flex. They hit a double hip toss, and do some weird dance number that leads to an elbow drop/legdrop combo for two. Flex misses a clothesline on Lee and Lee nails him with a tornado DDT. Stan makes the hot tag to Kevin White and White goes off on Tim and Flex. Tim and Stan Lee fight on the outside as White nails Flex with a spinebuster. On the outside, Tim nails Stan Lee with a chain and the ref calls for the DQ. White doesn't hear it at first and nails Flex with a nice somersault senton off top. Right when he gets up, Tim comes in and pops him with the chain and starts the heel beatdown. Bill Dundee comes in to make the save and II Cool II take off. Afterwards, II Cool II tell the world they gotta run... they gotta date with Paris Hilton tonight. Enjoy the crabs guys.... Winners by DQ: Kevin White & Stan Lee Star Rating: *3/4 Muggy says: Pretty darn good match till the cheap ending. Stan Lee plays the Ricky Morton role well with his size and charisma. I have been watching Flex and Tim over the past couple of months, and they are gelling as a team pretty well. On a side note, Stane Lee is one of the better high flyers in the fed, but you won't see a whole lot of flying around in that ring in the studio's though. To put it into perspective how short the ceiling is here, Christopher used to do his flying legdrop across the ring on someone by reaching up climbing across the scaffolding and then dropping the leg down on the opponent. There will still be flying around the ring, but it won't super impressive 450's and SSP's all the good stuff. --------------------------------------------------- Commercial --------------------------------------------------- Third Match: Koko B. Ware (yes THAT Koko B. Ware), Soultaker & Derrick King w/Rahsard vs. Johnny Dotson, Alan Steel, and Drew Donovan Wrestler Background: Koko is still kickin'... and he's got a good mean streak going too. He's going around with a stun gun and shocking people left and right. He's over as a heel, and that's what matters. Soutaker... I have no clue about him. He just came in over a month ago and started just beating up people and was all of a sudden teaming with Koko with no explanation. He's a big tattooed 340 pound guy with a mask that looks like it was bought at a costume store. Derrick King is a lightweight who has been around in Memphis for about 5 years. He's a solid wrestler, solid interview, just solid all around. Some of you might have seen him before. Rashard is the evil referee turned manager. In a Stun Gun on a Pole match, Brian Christopher was about to win the match by stunning Koko, but Rashard grabbed the stun gun from him tossed it to Koko, and Koko shocked Christopher. Rashard was fired as a ref, but has now become Koko and Soultaker's manager. Johnny Dotson is about 150 pounds.... if he was holding a bag of bricks. This guy makes the Amazing Red look like Rosie. He is freaking skinny, but he does have some muscles to make up for that. He's a flyer ovbviously, and a solid one at that. The crowd really loves him for some reason I don't understand. He's feuding with Derrick King right now, because apparently Lawler follows the Vince McMahon method of if there are two black guys in a federation, they shall feud. Also see: The Rock vs. Booker T. Alan Steel is a wrestler that has been on and off in Memphis for the 3-4 years. Like many of the lightweights in Memphis, solid overall wrestler. He's gained some weight, but it hasn't effected him in that ring in any way it seems like. Drew Donovan... don't know. This is my first look at him. Whew.... that took a while didn't it? The Match: First off... Rashard speaks... and he drops the F-Bomb when he says "I never wanted to be a fucking referee!" Kid... that'll get you kicked out right there... he's not a good speaker in the first place and adds nothing. Koko entertains me by threating to shock Corey. I was begging for it. Koko says "he's mad at the WORLD! RWHARAR!" Derrick comes out dressed like Dotson (visor turned to the side, and short tights with a Jamican flag on them). He says he wanted to dress like Dotson to see what a loser felt like. The bell rings and we finally get this under way. King and Steel start out and King pummels him the corner but Alan reverses a whip into the other corner. Derrick leapfrogs him in the corner, then in another corner. He goes then to hiptoss Alan, but he counters it into a double-arm belly-to belly! And a nice one too. Scoop slam gets a two after that. Dotson gets tagged in and King runs for his fucking life from a guy that weights about about a buck forty. That's Memphis for you... the heels are always chickenshit scard of the opponent. But he does tag in Soultaker who looks like he could eat Dotson, so that's a plus. Dotson ducks a clothesline and nails the Taker' with a pair of dropkicks and tags in Donovan and knock Soultaker off his feet with a double dropkick. Koko pulls Drew off a pin of the Taker by his ponytail. Donovan arm wrings Soultaker and tags Dotson back in. Dotson tries to arm wring Soutalker... but c'mon... Soutaker rips his head off with a clothesline and tags in Koko. Koko then does... A CHOKESLAM?! Smart marks, you have read it here, Koko B. Ware did a choke slam! And you thought Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit being world champions were the first sign of the apocalypse... Koko tosses Dotson around like a ragdoll and tags in King who will now come in with Dotson hurt. He slams Dotson down and taunts the crowd. He goes for another slam, but Dotson counters into a roll-up for THREE! That came out of nowhere! Derrick is flipping out and the crowd loves it! Derrick goes over to the annoucers booth screaming for Dotson to get back out here and screaming it was a fluke. The crowd starts a "You got whooped" chant. You don't hear that every day... Dotson comes back out, and Derrick challenges him to another match one-on-one. Johnny tells him he has nothing to prove, he's already beaten King. Dotson walks away, and King's look is priceless. He just stands there shocked not moving as the crowd continues the "You got whooped" chant. Winners: Johnny Dotson, Alan Steel, and Drew Donovan Star Rating: *1/4 Muggy says: Nice storytelling in this match. Derrick was afraid to lose to Dotson, so he stayed tagged out until Dotson was hurt. He then got too cocky... and "he got whooped". Match was too short to be anything special, but everyone looked pretty good. --------------------------------------------------- Commercial --------------------------------------------------- We come back as Corey promises now to show us the Legends match between Ric Flair & Jerry Lawler signed by RAW GM "Randy Horton". WTF? How do you get that name wrong? I'm sure Horton has been in lots of TLC matches too... Corey asks for the video to be played... but we see the camera is on the video which is on the floor... and a boot crushes it! Lawler destroys the video as Corey screams at security for not doing their job and stopping the King from doing that. They finally get in there and throw him out of the room. --------------------------------------------------- Commercial. Bait meet Switch. Swtich: "Nice to meet you bait!" --------------------------------------------------- Corey's still pissed... who cares... next match... Fourth Match: Slam Shady vs. Shock Wrestler Background: Corey says Slam Shady used to wrestler in the WWE. I've never heard of him. Anyone know who this guy is? I don't know squat about him. Shock has been in the Memphis for about 7 or 8 years, as the powerhouse of Memphis. He's about 6'6" 290 pounds... and man has he ripped Scott Steiner off look wise. He bleached part of his hair, wears the same short "Superman" tights that Steiner wore in WCW, and looks is jacked up with muscles. He's a competent wrestler though. That's the difference between him and Steiner. He's been a big player in Memphis for a while now. You may remember him as Phantasia in the WWE or the Spellbinder. Yep... crap gimmicks in the past.... he's got that shadow behind him though. The Match: Shock is the heel, but the crowd chants for him anyways. We start with what seems to be the favorite way to start... Shock pummeling Shady in the corner. He throws him into another corner and pummels him there. Shady ends up ducking a clothesline and nails Shock with a few rights that look like crap. He whips Shock to the ropes and hits a weak ass clothesline that Shock has no clue how to sell since it was that weak. He then nails him with a REALLY bad dropkick. Were talking Erik Watts and Steve McMichaels levels here. He nails Shock with a flying clothesline and then a snapmare. He goes for a flying splash, but gets nothing. Shock props him up by his feet on the ropes and DRILLS him into the mat with a spike DDT for the uno, dos, tres. Winner: Shock Star Rating: DUD Muggy says: Thank you for coming Shady. Don't come back. Please drive safely. Hope you enjoyed putting Shock over. --------------------------------------------------- Commercial --------------------------------------------------- We come back as Corey says they had a backup tape, but that one is missing now. Whee.... Bill Dundee comes out to challenge Jerry Lawler to his own "Legends" match. Lawler comes out and starts making short jokes (Bill is about 5'6" at most). Lawler refuses the match since he claims that Bill ain't a legend. He is in Memphis... but not anywhere else, I'll say that. Lawler and Dundee have fough MANY times in the past and traded the heavyweight titles numerous times. Dundee is an ok mat worker... but age is catching up to him. And you may know his son... JC Ice. Lawler proceeds to make an old joke on Dundee about how he was there when David and Goliath battled. Like you have room to talk Lawler.... Lawler gets pissed at some fan who said he sucked and throws him around by his collar! Didn't look like a plant either! Dundee stops him from doing anymore damage. He walks over to some other guy and says his parents are cousins and threatens the same fun he threw down earlier. He stands up, and Lawler knocks him down again, but the fan is laughing about it... ok... he's a really incompetent fan that's not a plant I think... hell, this is Memphis, I don't know these days.... Dundee gets in the ring ready for a match with Lawler, and Lawler goes after Corey for some reason, and then runs away from him! Lawler is running away from an announcer... yeah... The fans are really into this. Lawler gets back on the stick and says since there are only 4 minutes left in the show, he doesn't have time for the match. He challenges him for a "Half a Legend" match. Bill Dundee accepts, and we got our main event for next week... 2 guys that combine for over 100 years old. That's a fact. The one hour is up, and it's time to go! We'll see you next week! Final Thoughts: Well... that was Memphis Wrestling... there are some people that didn't show up on today's show like Brian Christopher, King Mabel, Koonta, Jimmy Hart, Kid Kash, and a few others... they may be around next week. Overall... this actually wasn't too bad... but... the feud between an announcer and a 50+ year old wrestler is the top storyline. That's not exactly a ticket seller. Besides... the studio shows are free for people. Announcers vs. Lawler isn't exactly the kinda match I would pay to see at the Mid-South Coliseum. Now King vs. Dotson on the other hand.... if they keep this up, they could get somewhere. MVP of the Show: Derrick King. Him making fun of Dotson was pretty good, and he was the star of his segment with his reaction after Dotson beat him. He gets the first MVP award of this column. That's all for now. It's only my first time doing this, so it most likely will need some work. I'll take all the feedback I can get though, positive, negative, advice, etc. E-Mail: [email protected], or you can post those comments here. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
