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Smoky Mountain Wrestling- February 29, 1992

by Scrooge McSuck

- Last week on SMW TV... Ivan Koloff and Jimmy Golden stole a victory from the Fantastics, with more than a little help from Vladimir (Koloff, not the Super-Fan)... Dutch Mantel found himself protection from Brian Lee in the form of a man named Carl Stiles... Ron Wright is still, STILL, looking for someone to manage, and continues to be a pest at ringside... Killer Kyle was this week's beneficiary from Wright's distraction, blasting a jobber with his violin case to win his match... Hector Guerrero debuted and had trouble defeating Tommy Angel.

- Unofficially titled Lethal Leap Year, taped at an unknown date (but closer to the broadcast date than the previous episodes) from the Knoxville Civic Coliseum Studio in Knoxville, TN. Bob Caudle and Dutch Mantel (flanked by Carl Stiles) are calling the action, unless otherwise noted. "Nitro" Danny Davis will make his in-ring debut, and we'll also see "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff and "Hollywood" Bob Holly in action. Even Dutch Mantel is scheduled for competition.

"Nitro" Danny Davis vs. "Bad Boy" Barry Horowitz:

For those unfamiliar with him, this is not the Danny Davis known for being an evil referee in the WWF. His most notable contribution in wrestling was probably as part owner of Ohio Valley Wrestling, which at one time was a WWF developmental system, and years later, with Impact Wrestling. Davis comes out to "TNT" by AC/DC, because he's like nitroglycerin and he's ready to explode. Aggressive lockup and neither man with the advantage. Horowitz with a waist-lock takedown, but Davis slips free and gets back to a neutral position. Horowitz with a cheap shot against the ropes. Crisscross, Davis with a hip toss, dropkick, and arm drag into the arm-bar. Horowitz counters with a jaw breaker and gives himself a pat on the back for such a clever move. Stretch cradle for a two count. Horowitz with a reverse DDT. He pulls the knee pad down and climbs the ropes, but misses an elbow. Davis with a hip toss and back drop for two. Horowitz with a small package, but Davis counters and that gets three at 4:12. At least it wasn't a tag team match where guys kept being pushed back and forth. I was more impressed by Horowitz than Davis here.

- Jimmy Golden is standing by with comments for Robert Gibson. They'll meet in tonight's Main Event. Golden says Gibson is in for a heck of a rasslin' lesson. He better be ready to fight, because he's going to chop him down in the middle of the ring.

- Highlights from last week's Main Event between The Fantastics and Ivan Koloff & Jimmy Golden. Vladimir made a "surprise" appearance, bashing Jackie Fulton over the head with a boot to cost the Fantastics the match. Afterwards, Tim Horner came to their aid and all six men brawled all around the building. Caudle lets us know that the Fantastics will be in Japan for the next couple of weeks, to explain their absence from in-ring competition on the latest batch of TV tapings.

- Bob Armstrong is standing by to drop the hammer on last week's brawl. He watched the tape and says that everyone involved in that fight is fined $500. He's talked to the Fantastics and says when they get back from Japan, they can have a Six-Man Tag against the Koloffs and Golden, and they can pick their own promo. As for Dutch Mantel, Brian Lee has been on his back to get his hands on him again, but told Lee that while Dutch is at the table as an announcer, Lee is not allowed to lay a hand on him. When he's in the ring, that's another story.

- Mr. Ron Wright is standing by to share with us one of the "thousand" of letters he's received.

"Dear Mr. Wright, I am writing you this letter to say I have been a fan of you for years. I know that you were one of the greatest and best loved wrestlers ever, and always liked how you showed them other wrestlers such good sportsmanship when they tried to maim and crippled you. I sure am sorry how you need money for your operation. Please take this here 5 dollars I am sending you. I wish it could be more for a kind old man like you. Maybe the other fans will write in and send money too, until you can find a good, Christian, athlete to manage."

These segments featuring Ron Wright have been fantastic, looking for cheap sympathy and using every lie and tactic in the book to paint himself as a sympathetic figure when he was one of the most despised wrestlers in the Smoky Mountain region throughout his career. Won't someone let this man manage him so he can pay for his operation?!

"Hollywood" Bob Holly vs. Tommy Angel:

We're in for a treat... it's the debut of Bob Holly's fantastic pink and black robe. It's a step up from the windbreaker, and makes him look even more like an obnoxious Hollywood wannabe. Angel offers a handshake, but Holly doesn't want a part of it. Lockup and Holly with a snap arm drag, followed by a slam. Whip to the ropes and Holly sends Angel across the ring with a hip toss. Angel slips out of a second slam and plants Holly with his own. He takes Holly over with a pair of arm drags and sends him through the ropes with a dropkick. Meanwhile, Mr. Ron Wright has come down to ringside. Back inside, Angel with an overhead takedown into an arm-bar. Holly counters with a short clothesline and connects with a back breaker for two. Holly stomps away at the midsection and slams Angel into the corner. Holly comes off the ropes with a leg drop for two. Angel tries mounting a comeback, but Holly rakes the eyes. Angel starts mounting offense again. He climbs the ropes, but Wright hooks his ankle, allowing Holly to recover and take him back into the ring with a suplex. Holly goes to the top rope and finishes with a missile dropkick at 5:39. Two weeks in a row they let Angel get a decent bit of offense, but Holly looked better in victory than Angel's opponent did last week.

- Bob Caudle is standing by with Paul Orndorff. He says he's been all over the world and held all kinds of Championships and faced (and beaten) the best competition there is. Orndorff says people will be gunning for him because of his success. He's still butt hurt about the rule about piledrivers being banned. This segues into a brief reminder over what is banned in Smoky Mountain Wrestling, by law of Commissioner Bob Armstrong...

The following are grounds for automatic disqualification...
1. Throwing Opponent over Top Rope
2. Low Blow
3. Using Piledriver Hold

Grounds for Disqualification and $500 Fine...
1. Hitting the Referee
2. Using a Foreign Object during Match

- "Primetime" Brian Lee is standing by with comments for Dutch Mantel. He says when he steps foot in the ring, he's going to break Dutch in half for the 1-2-3. We cut back to Mantel, who has suddenly come down with the fastest developing Hong Kong Swine Flu, and instructs Carl Stiles to fill in for him in his scheduled match. He wouldn't be surprised if he had a 105 fever. You don't think this has anything to do with Dutch having immunity at the table, but not when he's in the ring as an official competitor?

Carl Stiles vs. Reno Riggins:

First appearance for Mr. Riggins. I don't recall him ever being much more than enhancement talent, but he was a regularly used jobber for the WWF throughout the early 90's. Lockup, Riggins grabs a side headlock. He takes Stiles over with a hip toss and sends him out of the ring following a slam. Mantel insists his fever is legit and isn't looking for compassion. Back inside, Riggins with a dropkick to send Stiles right back out. Lockup into the corner and Stiles takes control with clubbing blows. Riggins misses a charge to the corner and Stiles connects with a shoulder breaker. Whip to the ropes and a clothesline, followed by a gut-wrench suplex. Stiles with a knee drop and choking. Snap mare into a chin-lock. Riggins rolls out of the way of a pair of elbow drops and unloads with rights. Whip is reversed and Stiles with a Power-Slam for three at 3:47.

Post-match, Brian Lee makes his way to ringside. He says Dutch has been making a fool of him and wants Dutch to face him like a man in the ring. Stiles isn't convinced by Lee's accusation and attacks from behind, with Dutch cheerleading at the announcers table. They tussle around the ring before we go to a break.

- Jim Cornette is standing by with comments. He says Bob Armstrong is the leader of the gutless brigade, and says that Armstrong told him he's not allowed to enter a team into a tournament without disclosing who they are. He says he isn't telling anyone his team because everyone would back out of the tournament like rats jumping off a sinking ship. We still don't know the identity of Cornette's tag team, but we can easily assume they're going to be one of the main focuses of Smoky Mountain Wrestling once they do appear.

"Rock & Roll" Robert Gibson vs. Jimmy Golden:

Main Event of the Night™. No interesting backstory for this one, it's just a match to fill time and maybe lead to bigger things. Jimmy Golden comes out to "Hard to Handle" by Black Crows. Lockup and Golden shoves Gibson to the ropes. He slaps on a side headlock and uses a pull of the hair to prevent a counter. Whip to the ropes and Gibson with a slam. Golden with a slam, but Gibson keeps him from following up with a mule kick and goes to work on the arm. Golden sends Gibson to the ropes and hits him with a boot to the face. Caudle informs us that we'll see the in-ring debut of Terry "Bam Bam" Gordy next week. Gibson blocks a boot and sends Golden out of the ring with an atomic drop. Ivan and Vladimir Koloff make their way to ringside "for support". Ivan wastes little time tripping up Gibson, allowing Golden to take control. He puts the boots to Robert and slaps on a bear-hug. Gibson gets a little dirty, going to the eyes to force a break. Gibson feeds him the boot and follows up with an enzuigiri. Gibson with a running bulldog, but the Koloffs run in for the Disqualification at 6:11. *1/2 Not much to this match, complete with a cop-out finish. Tim Horner and Hector Guerrero come out to clear the ring before too much damage can be done.

- We're standing by with Brian Lee, Robert Gibson, and Commissioner Bob Armstrong. The Commish is doing his best to keep order, but he wants to be the first to say that "we've got a lot of fire power on this side of the fence" and suggests Gibson look for some help, and maybe he'll look the other way. Gibson says payback is heck, and payback is coming for Jimmy Golden. Or at least that's what I think he said, as he cut the promo huffing and puffing for air. Lee says next week he's going through Carl Stiles, and when he gets his hands on Dutch Mantel, he's going to break him in half.

Final Thoughts: We're still waiting for the tournament for the Tag Team Titles to begin. Thanks to an advertisement for upcoming dates, we know that first round matches should begin at the next set of tapings. We still don't know who Jim Cornette's team is, and I doubt we'll know any time soon, even with the beginning of the tournament fast approaching. They're already planting the seeds for a Paul Orndorff heel-turn, who continues to be disgruntled over his finisher being banned. With the Fantastics unavailable, the Koloffs and Jimmy Golden have targeted Robert Gibson, and Bob Armstrong seems to be teasing reinforcements (I'm avoiding spoiling future storylines and appearances). Mr. Ron Wright is cranking up the scumbag heel levels, reading a fake letter from a fake fan, encouraging real fans to send him money for his fake hip and knee surgeries. Finally, will Brian Lee ever get his hands on Dutch Mantel? It didn't seem like much happened this week, but when breaking things down, they did plenty to advance the few storylines they were currently running.

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