Lance Russell and Dave Brown are doing commentary and they are taped from the WMC-TV5 studio in Memphis, Tennessee. Since Russell missed last week’s show, he is oblivious about what happened so Brown clues him in. That is not a good look to start the broadcast.
Russell interviews Downtown Bruno, who puts himself over as the best manager in the WWF. He says Uptown Karen will be Gorgeous George III’s new valet and he is forming a stable known as the Downtown Connection that includes George, Karen, the Gambler, Brickhouse Brown, and Johnny Rotten. Bruno runs down Miss Texas and challenges her to a match where the loser must eat dog food.
Opening Contest: Johnny Rotten & Brickhouse Brown (w/Downtown Bruno & Uptown Karen) beat David Haskins & Scott Studd when Rotten pins Studd after Bruno interferes at 3:12:
Rotten was exchanging wins with Haskins in the opening match of some of the recent Memphis shows. He was a tall jobber in 1991 USWA before returning in 1995. Rotten sports a Mike Awesome-like look with black trunks. The match does not generate a lot of momentum as Studd is pounded on by the heels until Haskins gets the hot tag out of nowhere. Haskins traps Rotten in an O’Connor roll but the referee is busy with Brown and Studd, allowing Bruno to come into the ring and hit Haskins with a yellow wet floor sign to help his guys go over. Rating: ½*
Brown interviews USWA Women’s Champion Miss Texas. Texas accepts Bruno’s challenge, prompting him to come back out with Karen. Texas beats them up until Rotten and Brown interfere, allowing Bruno to smear Texas’ face with dog food.
Brown interviews Brian Lee and Jimmy Harris. Lee says he is not going to be a loving and caring man in his match against Doug Gilbert today.
USWA Southern Heavyweight Championship Match: Doug Gilbert (Champion) (5-2-2) pins Brian Lee (w/Jimmy Harris) (6-4-1) after heel miscommunication at 3:27:
Harris’ interference dominates the match as he attacks Gilbert during his entrance and then trips him when he runs the ropes and tries to mount a comeback. The referee gets bumped during a second Gilbert comeback, allowing Harris to hop into the ring with his walkie talkie. However, he hits his man instead of Gilbert and that helps the champion retain. Lee has now lost five straight singles matches. Rating: *¼
After the bell, Lee and Harris pound away on Gilbert to continue the feud.
Bill Dundee & Jamie Dundee (2-0) beat the Yellow Jacket & Edric Hines when Jamie pins the Jacket with a flying body press at 2:43:
Jamie Dundee is J.C. Ice but he is billed by his real name here. The Jacket shows he is above other jobbers on the roster by going toe-to-toe with Jamie but Hines screws everything up. When the jobbers try a double clothesline, Jamie avoids it and hits a body press off the ropes, going on to pin the Jacket with one off the top rope. This was one of the better USWA squashes of the year because of Jamie and the Jacket’s work.
Brown interviews the Dundees, allowing Bill to hype his legendary status. Brian Christopher walks out, saying he is putting his car on the line for a rematch against them in Memphis, and is joined by Wolfie D. Jamie tells his tag team partner that there are no hard feelings.
Russell interviews Christopher and Wolfie, with Christopher pumping up his partner for their match in Memphis. Wolfie says he will not attack Jamie during the match. The Dundees interrupt, which is overkill based on what happened in the last segment.
Brian Christopher & Wolfie D (1-1) beat the Gambler & Gorgeous George III (w/Downtown Bruno & Uptown Karen) when Christopher pins George after heel miscommunication at 2:39:
This is hardly an equal booking arrangement as Christopher and Wolfie have to face serious competition whereas the Dundees drew jobbers. Wolfie is placed in peril when he gets kneed in the back running the ropes, but a Gambler blind charge allows Christopher to get the hot tag. Karen tries to spray Christopher with George’s deodorant but hits her guy instead thereby costing her team the match. Karen is so bad at this wrestling stuff that she did not spray George until Christopher clearly escaped.
The Last Word: The screwy finishes keep piling up. The May 15 Memphis card saw five of the eight matches end in some variation of a disqualification and three matches today saw interference used to win or it backfired to let the other side win. That gets exhausting and repetitive. The Miss Texas-Downtown Bruno feud is the worst thing happening in the company but without a real women’s division the audience is going to get stuck with it for a while longer.
Here were the results of the May 22 Memphis show, according to prowrestlinghistory.com:
-Gorgeous George III (9-10-1) beat King Cobra (1-0)
-Scott Studd (18-7-2) beat the Gambler (2-1)
-David Haskins (6-1-2) beat Johnny Rotten (1-2-1)
-Uptown Karen (1-4) defeated Susan Sapphire (0-1)
-Miss Texas (10-3) beat Downtown Bruno in a loser eats dog food match
-Brian Christopher & Wolfie D (2-1) defeated Bill Dundee & J.C. Ice (3-0) to earn a future WWF Tag Team Championship match against Owen Hart and Yokozuna
-Brian Lee & Jimmy Harris (0-0-1) beat Doug Gilbert & Jerry Lawler when Lee pinned Lawler after Gilbert hit Lawler with a chain
Backstage News*: There will be a second Memphis Memories show on June 10 to honor Jackie Fargo, who was the big star of Memphis before Jerry Lawler. Jimmy Valiant will also be honored there.
*Downtown Bruno did not actually eat dog food in Memphis as they substituted corned beef for the bout.
*Backstage news provided courtesy of Dave Meltzer’s Wrestling Observer for May 22.
Up Next: USWA Championship Wrestling for May 27!