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Smoky Mountain Wrestling- March 14, 1992

by Scrooge McSuck

- Last week on SMW TV... The SMW Tag Team Championship Tournament begins on the March 21st episode, card subject to change. Jim Cornette's team will compete, but we still have no information on them... Bob Armstrong has banned Mr. Ron Wright from ringside until he has a wrestler under contract... Brian Lee pinned Carl Stiles, but can't quite get all he wants out of Dutch Mantel... Tim Horner cheated Rip Rogers out of a $500 squat challenge... Paul Orndorff is frustrated about his finisher being banned and barely squeaks a victory by Barry Horowitz... Terry Gordy debuted in less-than-impressive fashion... Bob Holly remains undefeated.

- Taped from the Knoxville Civic Coliseum from an undetermined date, and the last part from that taping cycle. Bob Caudle and Dutch Mantel (with Carl Stiles) are at ringside to call the action, unless otherwise noted. Mantel says tonight that Rip Rogers is going to take $500 out of Tim Horner's hide in a match later tonight.

Hector Guerrero vs. TJ Travis:

Second time we're getting to see Guerrero in action. Travis is the definition of local talent. Guerrero does forward rolls to spook Travis out of the ring. Lockup, Travis grabs a side headlock and comes off the ropes with a shoulder tackle. Crisscross and Guerrero plants Travis with a slam. Guerrero skins the cat and takes Travis out of the ring with a flying head scissors. Back inside and Guerrero rolls Travis around on the canvas with another head scissors. Travis sweeps the leg and hooks a standing toe hold, but Guerrero quickly escapes and hooks a bow-and-arrow lock. Snap mare into a body scissors. Whip to the ropes and Travis with an elbow for two. Snap mare and Travis misses a flying knee drop. Guerrero with a pair of diving headbutts to the chest, scoop slam, and a twisting top rope headbutt. He locks up Travis in the rolling stretch cradle and it's good for three at 4:42. Decent offensive showing for Guerrero, but very little can be said about his opponent when we've seen weeks of "enhancement talent" getting plenty of offense.

- "Nitro" Danny Davis is standing by with a self-promoting clip. He continues to compare himself to a small bottle of nitroglycerin, because it can be small like himself, and bad for anyone that doesn't take it seriously.

- The Fantastics, Bobby and Jackie Fulton, are standing by with comments about their upcoming Six-Man Tag against the Koloffs and Jimmy Golden. They know their partner well, and he's going to scare the living daylights out of them. They won't know who that man will be until NEXT WEEK.

Ivan & Vladimir Koloff and Jimmy Golden vs. Rocky Patterson, Ben Jordan, and Reno Riggins:

Warm-up match for the villainous trio, who as mentioned in the last segment, are scheduled to face The Fantastics and a partner of their choice in the immediate future. Vladimir and Patterson start. Lockup into the ropes and Vladimir gives a surprisingly clean break. Patterson avoids a cheap shot in the corner and takes Vladimir over with an arm drag. Crisscross and Patterson with a hip toss, followed by a slam. Riggins comes off the middle turnbuckle with a double axe-handle. Vladimir with a clothesline and tag to Golden. He plants Riggins with a slam, followed by a butterfly suplex. Riggins surprises Ivan with a dropkick and tags in Jordan. He goes to work on the arm. The underdog trio with quick tags, keeping pressure on the left arm of Ivan. Jordan gets caught in the wrong side of town, and now the Koloffs and Golden give him a taste of the same medicine. Double clothesline for a two count. Whip and Vladimir with a back breaker for two. Golden with a whip and dropkick. Ivan with a short clothesline for three at 4:06. Vladimir continues to look awful, but Ivan and Golden carried themselves well, and all three opponents were given a little shine before the finish.

- Bob Caudle is standing by with The Koloffs and Jimmy Golden for their post-match comments. He confirms that the big six-man tag is next week. Golden says there's not three men on earth that can beat them. It's going to be a bad day for the Fantastics when they get in the ring with the Koloffs and himself. When they're done with the Fantastics, they're going to be mud.

- Mr. Ron Wright calls what happened last week a disgrace. He thought Bob Armstrong was a better man than to manhandle a crippled old man, but he has a man under contract, and he's going to show these people what rasslin' and managing is all about.

Ron Wright's New Protégé vs. Rikki Nelson:

That was a quick turn around, but it makes sense since they wanted to pay it off for the same TV crowd, I guess. The man finally signed to a contract, giving Wright the possible financial means for that hip and knee replacement implant transplant surgery... Tony Anthony, The Dirty White Boy. He comes out to "Dirty White Boy" by Foreigner. Anthony quickly goes to work pounding away on Nelson. He misses a clothesline and Nelson hits him with a diving body press. I don't know if they messed up a spot, but an obvious clothesline turned ugly and transitioned into a uranage instead. Nelson with chops to no effect. Anthony sends him hard to the corner and continues to win the slugfest contests. Whip and a Power-Slam for two. Anthony with a suplex and side slam (otherwise known as Dino Bravo's "side suplex.") Nelson comes back with a dropkick, but the offense just isn't coming easily for him. Whip to the corner and the Dirty White Boy with a clothesline to the back of the head finishing at 3:39. Yes, for the sake of not losing my mind, I'm referring to him as Tony Anthony too, even though he's billed as just the Dirty White Boy.

- Bob Caudle is standing by with post-match comments from the DWB and Ron Wright. Wright is gloating about the success of the Dirty White Boy and he might even make him enough money for the open-heart surgery, too. Tony Anthony says he's the only dirty white boy you need to worry about. Not one man would step up to help Ron Wright, and he's watched him for many years. With his ability and Ron Wright's knowledge, he can't be beat. That joins Terry Gordy, Paul Orndorff, The Koloffs and Jimmy Golden for people making that claim lately.

- "Hollywood" Bob Holly is standing by, thumbing through an issue of the National Enquirer. He wants to address rumors about himself and Julia Roberts. No, he didn't break up her wedding plans, and he's not flying to Hawaii to marry her. They're just good friends, and you can't believe everything you read.

Killer Kyle vs. Jerry Lynn:

Yes, that Jerry Lynn. At the time, famous among tape trading fans for a series of matches with the Lightning Kid in GWF. Third appearance for Killer Kyle, and let's see if this one is an improvement over his first two. Lynn quickly grabs a side headlock, but a shoulder tackle doesn't budge Kyle. He tries again, and this time Jerry goes down. He slides between the legs and pounds away. Kyle no-sells the strikes and side-steps a dropkick attempt. He scoops Lynn up for a press slam, but Lynn slides down and comes off the ropes with a diving body press for two. Dutch Mantel goes over all the men who said they can't be beat. Whip to the ropes, Lynn ducks under a clothesline, but gets caught in a tilt-o-whirl slam, followed by a side slam. Whip to the corner and Kyle misses a charge, meeting the buckle. Lynn with rights and a diving back elbow. Kyle catches him off the ropes in a bear-hug and finishes with the spine-buster (or as Dutch called it, the Bubba Slam, and Caudle calls it the "Rub Out") at 2:46. Short match with non-stop action, and the best showcase so far for Mr. Kyle.

- Highlights from last week, where Terry Gordy made his in-ring debut. Bob Caudle is standing by for comments from the former Freebird. Gordy ask who does Caudle have his money on. He says he wouldn't bet against him. Gordy says when he gets in the ring, we're going to see who's going to stand, and a lot of people are going to fall. He says he can back up when he says nobody can beat him, because he drops bombs.

White Lightnin' Tim Horner vs. Rip Rogers:

Main Event of the Night™. Last week, Rogers was doing squats for the entire broadcast, but telling Tim Horner he's a hillbilly lead to Horner cheating him out of their $500 bet. In a pre-match promo, Rogers calls Horner a tobacco-chewing hillbilly that owes him $1,000 in 50-cent coin. Get in line, Rip. Lockup into the ropes and Rogers complains about a hair pull. They trade waist-locks and grappling on the canvas. Back-and-forth with hammer-locks until Horner takes Rogers down into an arm-bar. Rogers with a knee to the midsection and a side headlock, but Horner quickly counters back to the arm-bar. Whip to the ropes and Horner with a right hook. Rogers uses a hair pull to counter a headlock with a head scissors. Horner rolls over to regain control of the hold. Whip to the corner and Rogers dumps Horner to the floor. Rogers follows, coming off the top with a double axe-handle. Back inside, Rogers with a slam. He goes to the top again and hits another axe-handle for two. He tries to suplex Horner onto the concrete, but Horner counters, bringing him in from the apron. Horner with rights, sending Rogers to the floor, and follows him out with a tope suicida. Rogers rakes the eyes and goes for a piledriver on the floor, but Horner counters with a back drop. Back inside, they reverse whips, do a crisscross, and meet in the middle, both going for a leap frog. Horner with a shoulder to the midsection and sunset flip. Rogers hangs onto the ropes for as long as he can, but Horner eventually muscles him over, and that gets three at 7:15. **1/2 Solid wrestling and a clean finish. I wouldn't mind seeing them go for another 7-minutes at the rate they were going.

- Commissioner Bob Armstrong is standing by, and he says Jim Cornette cannot enter a team in a tournament until he knows who they are, and that deadline is running out with the tournament beginning next week. Cornette says everyone will be scared and running away if he reveals his team, but next week, he promises he will have a video of his tag team, so Armstrong can leave him alone on the matter. Also, next week on SMW... The Fantastics and their Mystery Partner take on Ivan & Vladimir Koloff and Jimmy Golden.

Final Thoughts: Not their strongest show, but we're finally getting somewhere, with the Tag Team Title Tournament beginning next week. We still don't know who Jim Cornette is representing, but he promises we will see a video of them next week, as well. The Saga of Mr. Ron Wright finally reaches the point where he has a protégé, The Dirty White Boy, and just by association, we can expect him to be a threat at the top of the card. Tim Horner and Rip Rogers had a good match to pay-off their little angle shot for the March 7th episode, and Horner continues to look like someone who can be a title contender for the babyface side. Next week should also be the blow-off to the rivalry between the Koloffs and Fantastics that began on the very first episode. Big things are coming, and more surprises, I'm sure.

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