Lance Russell and Dave Brown call the action from the WMC-TV5 studio in Memphis, Tennessee.
Opening Contest: Doug Gilbert (11-9-2) pins Reggie B. Fine (0-11) with the Flair pin at 1:42 shown:
My copy of this telecast is interrupted and picks up when Fine is attacking Gilbert in the corner. Fine tries to use the Flair pin, but the referee spots his feet on the ropes and breaks it up. Fine argues and when he turns around, Gilbert does the Flair pin to him for the win. Old heel habits must die hard for Gilbert as he is booked as a face but keeps cheating to win.
Brown interviews Gilbert, who mistakes the Heavenly Bodies invading the USWA from the WWF rather than SMW. Gilbert hypes the first round of a USWA Tag Team Championship tournament in Memphis where he and Rich are going to face Axl Rotten and Brian Lee, noting of course that he and Rich are going to win.
Bob Armstrong, the Commissioner of SMW, comes out to complain about Buddy Landel losing a “loser leaves town” match to Bill Dundee at the last Memphis show because Dundee won via reverse decision. Dundee follows and rips off Armstrong’s clip-on tie, prompting Jesse James Armstrong, who was the Roadie in the WWF and one of Bob’s sons, to run out and attack him. Jesse James puts Dundee in a cobra clutch, and ever the professional, Russell comments on the deadly effectiveness of the move as if the audience is watching a demonstration. PG-13 make the save.
Brown interviews Brian Christopher, who wants a piece of Billy Jack Haynes and complains that he cannot because Haynes has a concussion. In a bit that does not age well, Christopher says that concussions are not that big of a deal. He hypes a grudge match between the two in Memphis on Monday night.
Brian Christopher (27-13-4) beats Gorgeous George III (w/Uptown Karen) (12-21-1) with a sunset flip at 4:04:
If there was a jobber title in the USWA, George and Reggie B. Fine would be feuding over it. After the match gets going, Haynes arrives and talks about fear with Russell and Brown. George uses his hair spray to put Christopher on the defensive and lands a belly-to-belly suplex for a near-fall. However, an elbow drop misses, and when George taunts the crowd, Christopher does a sunset flip to win his return match on television. The stalling for the first two minutes hurt this match. George’s losing streak is now up to twenty-straight matches. Rating: *
After the match, Christopher confronts Haynes but the locker room empties to keep both men away from each other.
Brian Lee (w/Brandon Baxter & Axl Rotten) (10-12-1) wrestles Steven Dunn (9-2-1) to a no-contest at 1:45:
This was booked as a tag team match between Rotten and Lee and Dunn and Bill Dundee but Dundee was laid out by Jesse James Armstrong earlier in the show and cannot wrestle so the audience gets a singles match between Lee and Dunn instead. Well, that is the general idea as the referee does not seem to care that Rotten works with Lee to pummel Dunn in the early going. Then, Doug Gilbert runs in and brawls with Lee into the crowd and that forces the referee to just call the whole thing off in less than two minutes.
Russell and Corey Maclin discuss today’s show and a taped promo from Dundee recaps the assault he endured earlier in the telecast. He hypes a singles match against Jesse James Armstrong for Memphis.
The Last Word: The appearance of Jesse James Armstrong was a nice surprise and should continue to bolster the heel side of the promotion so long as they do not make him look like a chump in his feud against Bill Dundee. The Doug Gilbert-Brian Lee feud is going along nicely too since both men are brawlers and complement each other’s styles.
There was a sizable drop in attendance for the August 28 Mid-South Coliseum show, which was centered around an eight-team tournament for the held-up USWA Tag Team Championship. 900 fans attended, 500 less than the previous week. Here were the results of the show, courtesy of prowrestlinghistory.com:
-King Cobra & the Spellbinder defeated the Yellow Jacket & Gorgeous George III in a first round match of the USWA Tag Team Championship Tournament.
-Tracy Smothers & Terry Gordy beat Brian Christopher & Bill Dundee (0-3) via disqualification in a first round match of the USWA Tag Team Championship Tournament.
-Axl Rotten & Brian Lee (2-0) beat Doug Gilbert & Tommy Rich (11-8-2) in a first round match of the USWA Tag Team Championship Tournament.
-PG-13 (30-15-3) beat the Heavenly Bodies (1-1-1) in a first round match of the USWA Tag Team Championship Tournament.
-Brandon Baxter (3-3) beat USWA Women’s Champion Miss Texas (14-5-1)
-Tracy Smothers & Terry Gordy (1-0) defeated King Cobra & the Spellbinder (0-1) in a semi-final match of the USWA Tag Team Championship Tournament.
-PG-13 (31-15-3) beat Axl Rotten & Brian Lee (3-0) in a semi-final match of the USWA Tag Team Championship Tournament.
-Bill Dundee (19-8-1) defeated Jesse James Armstrong via disqualification
-Brian Christopher (28-13-4) beat USWA Southern Heavyweight Champion Billy Jack Haynes (17-2-1) in a non-title match.
-PG-13 (32-15-3) beat Tracy Smothers & Terry Gordy (2-0) in the finals of the USWA Tag Team Championship Tournament.
Backstage News*: There were a lot of changes to the August 28 Memphis card as Pat Tanaka was missing for undisclosed reasons, Reggie B. Fine was at a WWF television taping, and Steven Dunn was ill, which is why Brian Christopher replaced him in the tag team tournament as Bill Dundee’s partner.
*The Spellbinder is back in the USWA because the WWF decided to ditch his Phantasio character.
*Backstage news is provided courtesy of Dave Meltzer’s Wrestling Observer for September 4.
Up Next: USWA Championship Wrestling for September 2!