What the World Was Watching: USWA Championship Wrestling – October 28, 1995

Lance Russell and Dave Brown are reunited in the booth for today’s show from the WMC-TV5 studio in Memphis, Tennessee.

Russell interviews Downtown Bruno, who complains about what Doug Gilbert and Miss Texas have done to Brandon Baxter over the last few weeks. Bruno says that he will be taking Baxter’s place as an ally of Smoky Mountain Wrestling. He also complains about the recent treatment of Bob Armstrong. This brings Armstrong out and he shakes Bruno’s hand before running down the USWA. Armstrong hypes his son Jesse James and Tracy Smothers as his biggest weapon.

Opening Contest: Jesse James Armstrong & Tracy Smothers (w/Downtown Bruno) defeat Charlie Laird & T.D. Steel when Armstrong pins Steel after a Smothers spinning elbow off the top rope at 1:30:

Smothers and Armstrong dominate the jobbers, wiping them out in ninety seconds.

After the bout, the heels pound away on the jobbers before PG-13 makes the save. PG-13 also seize Smothers Confederate flag.

Brown interviews Armstrong and Smothers, who are not happy that PG-13 took Smothers property. The complaining continues after the commercial break. Smothers provides a great run down of Memphis wrestling history and how it has always thwarted his career ambitions. He demands that he and Armstrong get a tag team title shot on today’s show. Randy Hales walks out with PG-13 and after PG-13 say they are not afraid of Armstrong and Smothers they agree to put the belts on the line.

USWA Tag Team Championship Match: Jesse James Armstrong & Tracy Smothers (w/Downtown Bruno) (1-0) defeat PG-13 (Champions) (44-17-3) when Armstrong pins J.C. Ice after Smothers hits Ice over the back of the head with a Confederate flag to win the titles at 7:21:

The SMW faction uses interference from Bob Armstrong and Steven Dunn to lay out J.C. Ice, forcing Wolfie D to wrestle much of the match on his own. Armstrong and Smothers keep the beatdown fresh by doing regular tags and are on the verge of winning the titles after Smothers hits his spinning elbow off the top, but the referee gets tied up with Bruno and a weakened Ice sneaks into the ring and hits Armstrong over the back of the head with a hubcap for the double KO. After Ice gets the hot tag PG-13 get close to retaining the belts after Wolfie D tilt-a-whirl slams Ice on top of Armstrong, but Bruno distracts the referee and Smothers uses his Confederate flag to smash Ice over the back of the head to give the heels the belts. Armstrong and Smothers used a masterclass of heel tactics and it was the best way to derail PG-13’s tag team title train. Rating: ***

Brown interviews PG-13. Ice threatens Armstrong and Smothers with a hubcap while Wolfie D screams about how he hates Smothers and Armstrong. PG-13 warn the new tag team champions to be ready for a return match on Monday in Memphis.

Doug Gilbert (20-13-3) pins the Yellow Jacket after a piledriver at 2:00:

Gilbert yells about SMW as he beats on the Jacket, finishing the match with his trick of giving the referee a piece of wrist tape so he can use an illegal piledriver. He gives the Jacket another one after the bell.

Russell talks with USWA Women’s Champion Tasha Simone, who talks about how she does not like to sign autographs. It is unclear when Tasha somehow won the title as that is not mentioned. Tasha spends a long time running down Miss Texas’ looks until Texas comes out. The ladies have a small war of words before USWA officials come out and break them up.

Russell interviews Downtown Bruno, who says Bob Armstrong is sick so he cannot wrestle Brian Christopher today. As a replacement, Bruno introduces Ripley Prim. In a nice bit, Bruno writes his own doctor’s note for Armstrong. Dave Brown is outraged about this but there is nothing he can do.

Non-Title Match: Brian Christopher (USWA Southern Heavyweight Champion) (37-15-6) pins Ripley Prim after a Tennessee Jam at 1:37:

What kind of ring name is Ripley Prim? At the very least, Prim has a hilarious gimmick, as he bumps around like someone with zero experience and sells all of Christopher’s stuff like death. A superkick, suplex, and Tennessee Jam finish.

Steven Dunn (w/Downtown Bruno) (14-6-3) wrestles the Spellbinder (11-7-2) to a time limit draw at 5:21:

The crowd is not much into this match because neither guy is being utilized in a big feud and they have no reason to care about them. Each man exchanges some basic offense and a chinlock from Dunn sucks up a lot of time. Eventually the television time limit expires after the five-minute mark. Rating: ½*

A video package recaps the USWA-SMW feud up to this point.

The Last Word: The first half of the show was really entertaining, but everything after it, starting with the women’s promo segment is terrible. Seeing Bob Armstrong-Brian Christopher would have been nice, so it is a shame fans did not get to see it. Still, a ***-level match was unusual for USWA television, so the broadcast was still worthwhile.

Attendance at the Mid-South Coliseum continued its upward trajectory, even though it remained below 1,000 fans. For the October 30 show, 700 fans attended for a gate of $5,000 to sell the following card, with results coming from prowrestlinghistory.com:

-Tekno Team 2000 (5-4) wrestled King Cobra & the Spellbinder to a draw at 10:00

-Steven Dunn (14-6-4) pinned Pat Tanaka (2-7-2) at 5:44

-USWA Women’s Champion Tasha Simone beat Miss Texas (16-7-1) via count out at 6:10

-Freddie pinned Downtown Bruno (0-1) at 2:28

-Doug Gilbert (21-13-3) defeated SMW Champion Brad Armstrong (0-1) via disqualification after Jesse James Armstrong interfered at 12:12

-USWA Tag Team Champions Jesse James Armstrong & Tracy Smothers (2-0) defeated PG-13 (44-18-3) via count out at 16:14

-Brian Christopher (38-15-6) beat WWF Intercontinental Champion Razor Ramon (1-1) via disqualification when Jesse James Armstrong and Tracy Smothers interfered at 12:05. After the match, Christopher said he deserved another title shot and Ramon agreed to come back and give him one.

Backstage News*: While Memphis attendance is lagging behind its normal standards, Louisville and Nashville crowds are higher than normal, with an October 24 Louisville show drawing 1,000 fans. The belief backstage is that the emerging Monday Night Wars between the WWF’s Monday Night RAW and WCW’s Monday Nitro are hurting Memphis attendance figures.

*There have been several departures from the promotion over the last week as Billy Jack Haynes, Axl Rotten, Johnny Rotten, and Brandon Baxter quit.

*Backstage news is provided courtesy of Dave Meltzer’s Wrestling Observer for November 6.

Up Next: USWA Championship Wrestling for November 4!