SMOKY MOUNTAIN WRESTLING TV – May 2nd, 1992
– Last week on SMW TV… The Heavenly Bodies defeated Danny Davis and Joey Maggs to advance to the Tag Team Tournament Finals… The 1st Round of the Heavyweight Championship Tournament at Volunteer Slam has been announced: Brian Lee vs. Buddy Landel, Dirty White Boy vs. Dixie Dy-No-Mite, Robert Gibson vs. Jimmy Golden, and Tim Horner vs. Paul Orndorff… The toxic relationship between Dutch Mantel and Carl Stiles continues… Bob Holly squashed Bart Batten in what turned out to be the former’s last SMW appearance.
– Taped on April 9th from Sneedville’s Hancock County High School. They’ve milked this taping enough that I’ve grown bored with mocking their attempts to not mention the city and instead calling it the Heartland of East Tennessee (see also: WWF saying KOTR ’93 was in the Heartland of America instead of dull as dirty Dayton, OH). Bob Caudle and Dutch Mantel are standing by, and yes, Carl Stiles is STILL hanging around despite being chewed out and pushed around the last time we saw them together. This would be the last appearance of Mr. Stiles, who’s absence would go unmentioned for a few weeks, but we’ll cross that bridge later.
– As I mentioned in last week’s closing comments, this episode, and the May 16th episode, are mostly recap/clip heavy episodes, so this one is going to be short. This is the “Tag Team Review” episode of Smoky Mountain Wrestling.
– Highlights of The Maulers vs. Johnny and Davey Rich from the March 21st episode. Finish came when Rip Morgan knocked Davey Rich out with a boot shot to the back of the head while Davey had a sleeper applied on Jack Victory. Full match was OK.
– Highlights of The Fantastics vs. The Wild Bunch from the March 28th episode. The finish came with Bobby Fulton getting tossed to the floor, Bobby taking Joel Deaton with him, and Jackie rolling up Billy Black during the confusion. Full match was one of the better matches featured (so far) on SMW TV.
– Highlights of Jumpin’ Joey Maggs and “Nitro” Danny Davis vs. Ivan and Vladimir Koloff from the April 11th episode. Ivan and Vladimir tried using their Russian chain, but the Fantastics came ringside to help Davis avoid danger, and Vladimir ended up knocking himself out on the chain instead. Full match was OK (Vladimir was terrible).
– Bob Caudle is standing by with comments from “Primetime” Brian Lee, White Lightnin’ Tim Horner, and The Fantastics, hyping up a show on May 17th in Beckley, WV. Yes, these promos were used on another episode, too. The Fantastics ended up missing the show due to commitments in Japan.
– Highlights of The Batten Twins vs. The Heavenly Bodies from April 11th, and the big debut of Jim Cornette’s team after over two months of teasing and hype. The Bodies finished one of the Batten’s with a back drop into a gut-wrench suplex. Full match was pretty good.
– We run down the 1st Round Tournament matches for the Volunteer Slam, and to no surprise, Dutch Mantel picks all the heels to be victorious.
– Commissioner Bob Armstrong is standing by with comments about steroids. This same segment was used a few weeks ago, and while it appears to be sincere, it also comes across as a shot at the WWF and WCW for pushing talent based on their unbelievable physique rather than their abilities as a performer.
– Highlights of Danny Davis and Joey Maggs vs. The Heavenly Bodies from the April 18th episode. Maggs was selling a neck injury thanks to taking a piledriver from Paul Orndorff, and was mostly squashed during his 5-minutes of ring time. Finish came with the referee missing the hot tag to Danny Davis and the Bodies finishing Maggs with a head-spike in a good, but one-sided match.
– Jim Cornette is standing by with his Heavenly Bodies. He doesn’t care who advances because the Maulers can slobber all over themselves and they aren’t lollipop wrestlers like the Fantastics, they’re hard candy dream of every woman in America. Lane says they’re the hottest thing going today. Prichard rambles a bit and simply adds they’re walking away with the Championship, regardless who their opponent is.
– The Fantastics vs. The Maulers:
(Bobby & Jackie Fulton vs. Rip Morgan & Jack Victory)
Semi-Finals Match and the winners advance to the Volunteer Slam to face The Heavenly Bodies in the Finals. The Maulers attack before the bell, but get cleared from the ring with a pair of dropkicks. Bobby and Victory start once the bell rings. Morgan pounds away with rights, with Caudle calling attention to it and its legality. Bobby comes back with a flying head scissors. Morgan tags in and bulldozes Jackie with a shoulder block. Morgan with a slam, but misses an elbow. Jackie with a sunset flip from the apron for a two count. Fist to the midsection and Bobby with a knee lift. Whip to the corner and a monkey flip, and the Fantastics do the old row-boat spot on the Maulers. There’s a spot that can stay in the past. I don’t recall ever seeing it outside of a midget match. Jackie with a dropkick, sending Victory out of the ring. Morgan trips up Bobby, allowing Victory to nail him from behind.
Morgan pulls Bobby through the ropes to drop him across the security barricade. Back inside, Morgan with a hard whip to the corner and clothesline for two. Whip and a double clothesline for two. Bobby escapes a chin-lock with a jaw breaker, but Morgan cuts off the tag attempt. Victory with a slam, but that elbow drop just isn’t working tonight, is it? Bobby punts Morgan going for a back drop and tags out. Jackie runs wild with dropkicks. He gets tossed to the floor, but the Maulers have miscommunication trying to double team Bobby. Jackie recovers, comes off the top with a flying body press on Morgan, and it’s good for the three count at 8:01. **1/2 Solid match, but the finish could’ve been a bit stronger.
– Bob Caudle runs down the card coming to Beckley, WV on May 17th. Children under 12 will be admitted for 4 cents with a paid adult (sponsored by Channel 4 television). The card looks like this: The Batten Twins vs. Killer Kyle and Joe Cazana, Dixie Dy-No-Mite vs. Hollywood Bob Holly, Tim Horner vs. Buddy Landel, Robert Gibson vs. Jimmy Golden, Brian Lee vs. Dirty White Boy with special referee Bob Armstrong, and The Fantastics vs. The Heavenly Bodies.
– Bob Caudle is standing by with post-match comments from the Fantastics. With the support of the fans, they’re one step closer to going to Knoxville and walking away with the Tag Team Championship. Bobby says he may not be too pretty, but the one thing they can do is out-wrestle. Cornette can run his mouth all he wants, but they’re going to see what kind of men the Heavenly Bodies, and if they’re anything like Cornette, it’s not much.
Final Thoughts: The only new content this week was the Semi-Finals Match between the Fantastics and Maulers, as well as a couple of short promos. The rest was a recap of the entire Tag Team Championship Tournament. You can look at it and say “wow, that was a lazy episode to produce”, but dedicating an entire episode to pushing the tournament, with the Finals fast approaching, is a better excuse than usual for a recap heavy episode. I would prefer more new material, but this worked to catch people up in case they missed something (or better yet, if they found new stations to broadcast their programming, but this is just pure speculation).