Lance Russell and Dave Brown are calling the action and they are broadcasting from the WMC-TV5 studio in Memphis, Tennessee.
Opening Contest: Brian Christopher (25-12-4) pins the Gambler (2-5) after rolling through an O’Connor roll and using the tights at 4:11 shown:
As this match gets going Billy Jack Haynes comes to ringside and talks to the announcers about fear. His gimmick would be so much better if he started spouting conspiracy theories like he does today in shoot interviews. Christopher and the Gambler get in an equal amount of offense, with the Gambler scoring a near-fall from a clothesline before getting caught with a superkick. Christopher lands the Tennessee Jam, but Haynes gets on the apron and Christopher breaks the count. The Gambler tries to capitalize on the distraction, but Christopher rolls through and cheats to win. If the Gambler was going to a long-term talent, it would have made sense to give him a cheap win. Rating: **
Non-Title Match: Brickhouse Brown (6-6) beats Billy Jack Haynes (USWA Southern Heavyweight Champion) (9-0-1) via disqualification at 3:09:
The announcers never mention that Hayes and Brown were feuding with each other the previous month. Haynes has incorporated the “fear” gimmick into his ring gear as he is now wearing long tights with “fear” down the side of them. After Brown misses a missile dropkick, Haynes toys with him and keeps lifting him off the mat when he has him pinned. That includes a spot where he hits Brown with his chokeslam finisher. The referee grows tired of this and decides to disqualify Haynes, giving him his first USWA loss. Rating: *
After the match, Brian Christopher runs in and Haynes flees. Christopher talks with Russell and says that he is going to keep bothering Haynes every week. Haynes returns and attacks Christopher, beating him with a wooden board. The board has no give to it, either, so Christopher was a champ for taking those blows.
Russell interviews Brandon Baxter and the Legend Slayers. Baxter is on crutches because Sid Vicious powerbombed him twice in the Mid-South Coliseum to win a stretcher match on Monday night. Baxter vows revenge and promises to call some of his friends to get it. Doug Gilbert promises payback against Jerry Lawler on today’s show.
Brian Lee (w/the Legend Slayers) (7-7-1) pins Mr. Clyde with a flying knee drop in 58 seconds:
Clyde had nothing to do with why the heels are upset but he takes the brunt of it from Lee. Lee attacks the jobber before the bell and quickly finishes with a flying knee drop. After the match, Jimmy Harris and Lee beatdown Clyde. Since he is just a jobber, no one bothers to come to his aid.
Steven Dunn (1-0) beats Ken Raper with a crucifix at 2:15:
Dunn was returning to the USWA after an ill-fated run in the WWF with Timothy Well as a tag team called Well Dunn. He started his career under his real name of Steve Doll for Pacific Northwest Wrestling (PNW) in the late 1980s, winning the promotion’s heavyweight title four times. He formed the Southern Rockers with Well, who was better known in the Pacific Northwest and Memphis as Rex King and the two won the USWA tag team titles three times before leaving for the WWF in 1993. Dunn also wrestled the future Sting and Ultimate Warrior in their debut match as the Blade Runners in the Universal Wrestling Federation (UWF) in 1985. A pretaped promo appears in the split screen during this squash, with Dunn positioning himself as a babyface. He says he is glad to be in the USWA and he wants to win titles. He also hypes a match this Monday in Memphis against Smoky Mountain Heavyweight Champion Buddy Landel. In the squash’s closing stages, Raper’s blind charge eats boot and Dunn uses a sloppy crucifix to finish. That aside, this was a good television return.
USWA Unified World Championship Match: Jerry Lawler (Champion) (13-3) pins Doug Gilbert (w/Brandon Baxter) (7-6-2) after a sunset flip at 2:02:
The USWA must be experimenting with doing more title matches on television to boost ratings because this is the second time in two weeks that Lawler is defending his title over the airwaves. Gilbert attacks Lawler before the bell and screams about how he is going to make history as he methodically works over Lawler. Problem is that Lawler surprises the heel with a sunset flip to retain the title in a little more than two minutes.
USWA Unified World Championship Match: Jerry Lawler (Champion) (14-3) pins Doug Gilbert (w/Brandon Baxter) (7-7-2) after a small package in 49 seconds:
Gilbert complains that Lawler held his tights and demands the match get restarted. He punches Lawler before an agreement is made to restart, but the referee assumes this is official.
USWA Unified World Championship Match: Jerry Lawler (Champion) (15-3) pins Doug Gilbert (w/Brandon Baxter) (7-8-2) via disqualification after Baxter interferes in 52 seconds:
This time, Gilbert argues that Lawler pulled his hair, so he demands another restart and Lawler reluctantly agrees. Gilbert relies on a phantom object trick before Lawler turns the tide, triggering Baxter’s interference and a disqualification. Based on these results, Gilbert did made history but in the wrong way.
After Baxter’s interference, the Legend Slayers hit the ring and beat up Lawler and the referee. Randy Hales comes out but is ineffective in stopping the beating. Hales informs Gilbert that he is now suspended due to attacking a referee.
Smoky Mountain referee Mark Curtis delivers a taped promo that puts over SMW as the hottest promotion around. He chides the USWA for being old. USWA Tag Team Champions the Rock N’ Roll Express come in to cut a promo with Andrea, but they say nothing important.
PG-13 (24-13-2) defeat the Yellow Jacket & Mr. World Class when Wolfie D pins the Yellow Jacket after Demolition Decapitation at 2:24:
The match is littered with pre-match promos as Randy Hales runs down Curtis and the Express. PG-13 get the best of their opponents, trapping Mr. World Class in a Boston Crab-leg drop combination before finishing the Jacket with their version of Demolition Decapitation. As the match wraps up, a PG-13 promo in the split screen sees the team vow to beat the Express this Monday in Memphis to get their titles back.
The Last Word: There was lots of wrestling on today’s show and the PG-13-Rock N’ Roll Express feud is lots of fun to watch, but Randy Hales was the worst thing in it because he butchered promos. A full-time referee would have been better because that would have played off Mark Curtis’ involvement. This is where they should have relied on T.D. Steel to be a referee for a couple of months or weeks prior to this feud because that would have given them a competent hand, and Steel refereed for some of the TV shows earlier in the year. Anyway, a pretty good show with lots of action, although Doug Gilbert-Jerry Lawler was stupid and did nothing for Gilbert despite the post-match beatdown.
Here were the results of the July 10 show in Memphis. Attendance figures were unknown. Results are courtesy of prowrestlinghistory.com:
-Scott Studd (22-9-3) wrestled Brickhouse Brown (7-6) to a draw
-Tracy Smothers (3-1) beat Gorgeous George III (12-13-1) in an amateur rules match
-Jimmy Valiant defeated Brandon Baxter
-SMW Champion Buddy Landel (1-0) beat Steven Dunn (2-0)
-USWA Southern Heavyweight Champion Billy Jack Haynes (9-1-1) defeated Brian Christopher (26-12-4)
-PG-13 (25-13-2) beat USWA Tag Team Champions the Rock N’ Roll Express (3-1-3) to win the titles
-Jerry Lawler, Bill Dundee & Sid Vicious defeated Brandon Baxter, Brian Lee & Jimmy Harris in a handcuff elimination match.
Up Next: USWA Championship Wrestling for July 15!