by Liam Byrne
The Hollywood Blonds are the next guys to join Solie, with the National Tag Team Titles in their hands. Perfectly generic heel comments follow, with the two men lauding over the fact that they are the new champions and the best in the promotion. The episode then cuts to Solie throwing over to pre-taped footage of Tommy Rich – a guy who never seems to be wherever studio recordings are taking place, whether it be Memphis or Georgia. Rich has been gone for a while, but is now back in Georgia to get to Ted Dibiase. A third interview follows, as Tony Atlas is in front of an AWA logo talking about heading back to Georgia, and his willingness to take on anyone who comes through. The main focus of his words are the Georgia people, who love their wrestling and love Atlas as well.
The Hollywood Blonds are up next against Rocky King and Ted Allen. It is Rogers and King who begin the match, with Allen scoring a quick one count off of a hiptoss. A tag to Oates sees him taken to the canvas with a side headlock, as well as getting sent over with a second hiptoss as Allen is in control. When King is tagged in, things turn as the Blonds are able to cut the ring in half, with Oates locking up the left arm in a modified bear hug. The quick tags are coming thick and fast, as Oates lands a slam and a fistdrop and the Blonds work together with a back elbowdrop. Neither Rogers or Oates stay in the ring for more than a couple of moves, with Oates’ offense in particular leaving King reeling as he gets dumped with a big back suplex.
King attempts to fight back with punches but to little effect, yet he is able to tag out after scooting past Rogers out of nowhere. An odd spot sees Allen miss a dropkick but seemingly also lead to a Rogers bump. Allen tags out to King once more, but he is hit hard when he leapfrogs over Rogers and is caught with an Oates clothesline. That is enough to set up for the DDT and the win for the National Tag Team Champions. A decent enough outing for one of your main local heel teams at this moment.
Ted Dibiase and Bob Roop are back out with Solie, with Dibiase now calling Ronnie Garvin a liar. However, Dibiase is willing to meet Garvin in the ring no matter how many minutes remain at the end of the show. Luckily for me, it cuts to the end of the show after some local shilling, with Garvin in the middle of the ring sharing words with Dibiase. As it looks like Dibiase is about to walk out, Garvin drags him into the ring, though this just prompts the arrival of Roop. Bob Armstrong, Ted Oates, The Hollywood Blonds and then another ten or so wrestlers hit the ring as things just go crazy. The brawl finishes the show as the time runs out with punches and kicks still being thrown by all the men involved.
Due to the editing, this is a hard show to judge as it seems to cut out bits that could be helpful to understanding some of the bits of storyline we are shown. In ring is good, and the locker emptying brawl is a good way to finish, especially as Georgia wasn’t always a company who looked to include these studio-wide brawls in the same way Memphis, Mid-South or even Florida would do from time to time.
Pro Wrestling USA
Pro Wrestling USA
With the juggernaut that is the World Wrestling Federation showing no signs of stopping any time soon, several of the biggest promotions both working under and outside of the NWA banner joined forces in an effort to fight back against Vince McMahon and his company. Pro Wrestling USA saw Memphis, Georgia, the AWA, Jim Crockett Promotions and several other NWA territories come together, offering the chance for champions and superstars from across the country to wrestle under the same banner.
As has previously been mentioned in several of the Memphis reviews, the first big television taping took place at the Mid-South Coliseum. A twenty five match card took place on the 18th of September; the first television show would then air on the 27th. Here is a review of the first show of this new, ultimately doomed to failure, project.
Pro Wrestling USA 27.9.84
Whilst the opening is the same as the Memphis one that sees the statue of two men wrestling rotating around, a jazzier theme is in place to herald a new era. Jack Reynolds is the man doing the commentary as we begin, though he isn’t long for the promotion whatsoever – he will join the WWF around this time. We also begin in the middle of a contest, as Ricky Morton uses a superplex on one of the Nightmares as we get what is effectively a Memphis match to begin. The Rock and Roll Express hit the other Nightmare with their double dropkick and win the match within seconds of the show opening (and in just under four minutes according to Lance Russell on ring announcer duty). Just a very odd way to begin the show.
Reynolds then does the rundown of the show, with Tony Atlas and Butch Reed teaming up, the Road Warriors, Nick Bockwinkel, the team of Jerry Lawler and Tommy Rich, Mr Saito and Rick Martel. Plus, we get a closer look at the Rock and Roll Express as we get to see their music montage video. It could be argued we’d have seen more of them if their match had actually been shown, but what do I know?
Russell is in the ring and introduces the Memphis team of Kurt Von Hess and Keith Roberson who are up against an interesting duo that includes a heel, Butch Reed, and a face, Tony Atlas. However, with Von Hess and Roberson as opponents, I believe they work as de facto faces. An Atlas arm wringer sends Von Hess to the canvas, but he then tags straight out to Reed. This quick tagging is a facet of the opening minute as a shoulderblock and some arm work sees Reed tag back out and allow Atlas to continue to attack the arm. A rake of the face with the sole of Von Hess’ show breaks the hold, but Atlas turns the tide as Roberson is tagged in by reversing an Irish whip and punching him in the stomach. Reed is fired up, hitting some punches and a dropkick, before Atlas lands a back body drop.
Neither man is staying in the ring for long, with Reed and Atlas continuing to target the arm of Roberson. This time, it is a reverse to an Irish whip by Roberson on Reed that allows the heels a chance to take advantage, yet Atlas then just walks into the ring to start a four man brawl. This primarily happens so we can see a collision off of an Irish whip and duelling gorilla press slams in an exciting spot for the time. Reed pins Roberson following the press slam in a match that didn’t really do much outside of establishing the possibility of some interesting mixes in terms of partners and foes.
The next promotional video is on for Dusty Rhodes, though instead of being a montage, it is a match from Mid-Atlantic which sees him wipe out a jobber in a little under a minute. We get some punches, some elbows and a figure four leglock for the dominant victory.
A surprise arrival happens next as Bob Backlund joins Reynolds for an interview, with this being the first time we’ve seen Backlund on television for around eight months. Backlund even speaks about being away for so long, talking about the cards and letters he has received during that period of time. Backlund claims he is still the world champion as he never quit, whilst also saying that ‘they’ wanted him out of wrestling. As a way of drumming up interest in the show and the promotion, Backlund isn’t a bad name to have, but he shouldn’t be let near a microphone for too long.
The AWA World Tag Team Champions, The Road Warriors, are greeted with huge cheers from the Memphis crowd as they hit the ring to take on Mark Ragin (Pro Wrestling USA spelling) and Ken Raper. The entrance of the Warriors has them through Ragin and Raper out of the ring before the match begins, yet wait around long enough for Russell to do the full introductions. Ragin is the first opponent to get chucked around the ring, literally getting thrown into the corner by Hawk to make the tag. The Sheik is shown at ringside keeping a close eye on the Warriors as Raper is caught with a fist drop and a knee to the face by Hawk, before Animal throws him to Ragin. Some punches from his knees by Ragin have little effect and it is soon Raper who is back in the ring getting press slammed by Hawk. Animal just about gets Raper over for a powerslam off of the ropes, only to pull him up at two and allow Hawk to hit the second rope clothesline for the win. It is pretty standard Warriors fare, and they are lucky not to hurt Raper on that powerslam.
Next up is Nick Bockwinkel as he meets Lanny Poffo, as it is clear that Memphis has provided all of the job guys at least until this point. Bockwinkel and Poffo lock up, though we
get a clean break as they end up in the ropes the first two times. Poffo manages to turn a side headlock takedown against him into a headscissors, but Bockwinkel is back to his feet quickly. Two shoulderblocks allow Bockwinkel to use the side headlock takedown again, yet Poffo uses a bridge to escape and floatover into a hammerlock of his own. Ever the wily veteran, Bockwinkel uses an elbow to break the hold and reapplies the side headlock. The Sheik is back out, but this time joins Reynolds to talk about why he is out there – scouting talent. As this happens, Poffo takes control with an armdrag and an armbar. Bockwinkel uses a bodyslam to halt Poffo, but eats a boot to the face as he tries to capitalise, with Poffo then going back to the arm. Bockwinkel stands Poffo up and punches him over the top rope, though claiming it was a forearm smash.
Seemingly annoyed by Poffo, Bockwinkel heads to ringside to hiptoss him on the concrete floor, before a suplex into the ring earns him a two count. Poffo isn’t done yet though, nailing a dropkick and rocking Bockwinkel with several punches in a row. A slam sets Bockwinkel in position for Poffo’s moonsault, but he manages to get his knees up. This leads to a Bockwinkel piledriver (called a ‘suplex’ on commentary) and the victory. A really fun squash match that gave Poffo just enough to make Bockwinkel look like he has overcome someone of note.
A strange booking decision follows, as the Dirty White Boys take on Jerry Lawler and Tommy Rich, a match that you’d have thought Memphis might want to keep for themselves. Still, it offers us a notable match on the card as Rich starts off by winning a punch exchange against Len Denton and forcing him to tag out to Tony Anthony. Terry Funk now joins Reynolds on commentary, whilst in the ring Rich hits Anthony with a dropkick after a leapfrog. Lawler is tagged in, getting initially nailed with punches by Anthony, but fighting back with several of his own. Anthony tries to get Lawler caught in the corner, yet a kick just sees the King move and Anthony hit Denton instead. After Rich has another brief window to showcase his fiery offense, Lawler misses a fistdrop on Denton, turning the tide in favour of the heels.
Denton lands several elbow drops, but as Anthony tries to use multiple turnbuckle smashes on the King, he begins to shrug them off and introduces the two Dirty White Boys into each other with a double noggin knocker. After Lawler makes the tag to Rich, all four men end up in the ring and Rich gets the pin with the Thesz Press on Anthony. Considering how they are putting the Dirty White Boys over on Memphis television, this feels an odd place to give them their first loss but the match was useful enough for what it was.
Not in the corner of the Dirty White Boys, Jimmy Hart is instead at ringside with Mr Saito as they put up a one million yen challenge for anyone who manages to defeat Saito. This week, it is Tracy Smothers who gets a shot at Saito, but he is instantly in trouble after a beautiful takedown, a chop to the throat and a bodyslam. Several chops in the corner lead to a biel out of the corner, before one more chop sets up for the Saito suplex and a dominant win. Saito’s execution is so good that it is always fun to watch him throw guys around the ring.
Having just has Hart talk about an open challenge, it is odd to hear Paul Ellering effectively offer the same thing to anyone who wants to face the Road Warriors. After Hawk talks about spitting in Al Capone’s face, Ellering finishes the interview by claiming they are the greatest of all time.
The AWA World Heavyweight Champion, Rick Martel, is up next in a match against Eddie Gilbert; a match that looks good on paper but is short on time as we are coming to the conclusion of the show. Interestingly, Gilbert shakes hands with Martel in a show of respect a world away from his behaviour on Memphis television. An early takedown by Martel sees him caught with a modified monkey flip, a spot that he learns from as he utilises a cartwheel to avoid it moments later. Some pushing and shoving out of a clean break show Gilbert’s more tempestuous nature, but some wild swings aimed at Martel’s head miss and allow the champion to hit an atomic drop and work the arm on the canvas. No clean break by Gilbert allows him to rock Martel with four big elbow smashes, but a blocked suplex has Gilbert in trouble as Martel lands a back body drop and a second rope crossbody. Gilbert tries to regain control with an abdominal stretch, but Martel reverses it into one of his own, before falling back into a pinfall for a three count.
As an opening show, this wasn’t too bad – the squashes were fun, the more competitive contests were good, the talent showcased was all pretty worthy of the opportunity. How they go in terms of feuds and/or storylines will be key to whether this at least worked in the early going, so I look forward to at least getting a chance to see a slightly alternative take on how all of these wrestlers are used.
