The SmarK Rant for Smoky Mountain Wrestling – 02.01.92 (Debut episode)

The SmarK Rant for Smoky Mountain Wrestling – 02.01.92 (Debut episode)

Originally written 03.31.26

OK, so I’ve had requests for SMW and KrisP appears to have a pretty complete collection, so let’s just start from the start and see how it goes.

Of course, the promotion was started when Cornette quit WCW and decided to strike out on his own, with help from producer Rick Rubin.

Taped from Greenville, SC, on 10.30.91

Your hosts are Bob Caudle & Dirty Dutch Mantell

Killer Kyle v. “Rock N Roll” Robert Gibson

So immediately, the presentation of early SMW is a dead on match for what the NWA had been presenting in 1986. Arena layout and lighting, hard camera angle, graphics, the whole bit. If I was a casual viewer in the area and flipped this on at the time, I’d be like “Oh, it’s a WCW syndicated show”. The layout and aesthetic became drastically different by the time it gets to the more well known shows of 1993-94. Killer Kyle, using “Green Onions” as his theme, is doing a mafia gimmick and wears a suit to the ring, complete with a literal violin case that he leaves in the corner for future nefarious purposes. Richard Morton was still stuck in WCW at this point, so Robert is running solo. Kyle grabs a headlock, but Robert takes him down with a hiptoss. Kyle works the arm and clotheslines him for two while Dutch discusses the singing career for the Rock N Roll Express: “They released a record one time and it went plywood within two weeks, selling in excess of 75 copies”. Kyle misses a charge and Robert finishes with an O’Connor roll at 3:25.

Meanwhile, The Fantastics are fired up to be in the main event against Ivan Koloff. Well at least Bobby Fulton is fired up. Jackie isn’t involved.

Meanwhile, Bullet Bob, the newly appointed commissioner of Smoky Mountain Wrestling, is here to bring back wrestling as it should be. No foreign objects! No over the top rope shenanigans! No foreign objects! No beating up referees! The fines will be HEAVY! See the difference between Cornette and Bill Watts was that Cornette’s promotion had the babyface figurehead promise all those things as a part of the show, and then it immediately put all the heat on the heels when they used foreign objects and beat up referees. Bill Watts made the promise that the PROMOTION wouldn’t do those things and then it took forever for any of them to happen, so it gave the feeling of a boring, no fun show. With SMW the fans were in on the joke, so to speak.

Primetime Brian Lee v. Barry Horowitz

Brian Lee as a smiling babyface star is certainly a choice. Lee had mostly been kicking around Memphis to that point and did a job for Tom Zenk in an atrocious Clash of Champions match for his first national exposure to that point. Lee works the arm, but Barry chokes him out in the corner and drops a leg for two. Barry with a kneelift and belly to belly for two. He throws a nice standing dropkick and follows with a Perfect necksnap, but Lee slugs back until Horowitz cuts him off. Crucifix gets two for Barry. Horowitz misses a dropkick and Lee slugs away in the corner and finishes with an over the shoulder backbreaker at 4:39. Horowitz tried really hard to give him a good match.

Meanwhile, Ron Wright is now in a wheelchair after getting the diagnosis of a hip replacement, and he’s scouting top wrestlers to manage so he can make money and pay for the surgery.

Tim Horner v. Joe Cazana

Horner is using Garth Brooks “Thunder Rolls” because he’s “White Lightning” I guess. I should point out that Def Leppard literally had a song called “White Lightning” off the Adrenalize album that was out at that point. Horner works a headlock and takes Cazana down with some armdrags before going to the headlock again. Caudle puts over Horner as being a winner without the “show business” of some of the other big promotions of the time. Certainly no one would accuse this promotion of excessive show business. Cazana takes him down and drops knees on the back while Dutch claims to hold the Guinness world record for holding his breath underwater. I doubt that. Cazana goes up and Horner slams him off, and then finishes with a rolling bridge at 4:25. Thrilling debut for Horner. Cough.

Jim Cornette joins Bob to insult the city and rant about corporations turning wrestling into a sideshow with steroids and funny costumes and toys on the shelf. So he promises that he’s introducing a new team soon, and it ain’t no cartoon wrestling!

The Black Scorpion v. Paul Miller

Hilarious that Cornette bitches about steroids and cartoon characters and then the very next match features some masked dude juiced to the gills and playing a famously stupid cartoon character gimmick from WCW. The guy’s name is Doug Stahl and he had done a bunch of super rando masked roles around the territories and that’s about all I know about him. Scorpion pounds away on Miller as Caudle talks about the mysterious history of the Black Scorpion. Miller gets an offensive flurry but misses a dropkick and Scorpion powerslams him. Scorpion drops an elbow and follows with a bunch of slams and a legdrop on the jobber. Scorpion slugs away in the corner and hits Miller with an atomic drop and clothesline and more slams. He loves those slams. But then he tries a fourth one, and Miller rolls him up for the pin at 3:21. Cute little subversion there, I guess. That was the one and only appearance of the Black Scorpion.

Brian Lee joins Bob to throw his name in the hat for the heavyweight title tournament, but Dutch interrupts and points out all the things Lee did wrong in the match, like letting himself be clotheslined at one point.

Bobby Fulton v. Ivan Koloff

Truly a main event in any territory startup in the country. Bobby and Ivan trade hammerlocks while we get an inset from Koloff, promising to make him suffer. Inset promos? That sounds like fancy technology used by those other show business companies! Ivan chokes him out on the mat and works the arm while Caudle promises the impending debut of Ivan’s nephew, Vladimir Koloff. How many nephews does this guy have? Ron Wright wheels himself to ringside to scout the match, because he really needs that sweet, sweet hip surgery money. Fulton works the arm while Dutch shares his empathy with Wright’s circumstances, because he’s a caring guy. Fulton works a headlock, but Koloff hits him with a suplex. Fulton with a bodypress for two. They fight to the floor and Koloff runs him into the post, which Wright approves, and then drops a piece of railing on him. Back in the ring, Uncle Ivan hits a neckbreaker for two. Fulton makes a comeback, but Koloff shakes Wright’s hand and Ivan suddenly knocks out Fulton with one punch for the pin at 7:09. This would seem to contradict Bullet Bob’s “no foreign objects” edict. But the ref sees the object and reverses the decision, so the Russians attack Bobby and lay him out on the floor to end the show.

This didn’t feel at all like what SMW would quickly morph into as a promotion, but it was an easy show to watch and I would 100% continue on with it. It felt more like what Cornette would envision as the continuation of JCP before Turner bought them out and “ruined” it. However, 3 out of the 5 matches ended with a variation of a rollup out of nowhere and they don’t really have a focal star that they’re presenting here yet, so there’s work to be done. Also, these initially slick production values and music are soon gonna take a DRASTIC drop, which is actually for the better because this version of the show can’t compete with the big guns anyway and they needed to differentiate themselves. Plus the crowd was bigger than what you think of with SMW TV, but they weren’t really that enthusiastic. But it’s a good start overall.