Smoky Mountain Wrestling- April 4, 1992
by Scrooge McSuck
Last week on SMW TV... The Fantastics (Bobby and Jackie Fulton) defeated The Wild Bunch to join The Maulers in the Semi-Finals of the Tag Team Championship Tournament... Tim Horner was given a personality profile, where he treated us by singing Garth Brooks' "Shameless"... The Volunteer Slam was announced and will feature an 8-Man Single Elimination Tournament to determine the first SMW Heavyweight Champion… Brian Lee offered his guaranteed spot in the tournament for a rematch with Dutch Mantel... Bob Holly says he's not in the tournament because it would be smarter to beat the Champion instead of having to wrestle three matches in one night... Jim Cornette failed to deliver footage of his new team for the second week in a row.
Taped on March 12th, 1992 from the Civic Coliseum Ballroom in Knoxville, TN, the final week of this taping cycle. Bob Caudle and Dutch Mantel are calling the action, unless otherwise noted. Featured tonight is the rematch between Mantel and "Primetime" Brian Lee. If Lee can't pin Mantel or make him submit, then Mantel gets Lee's spot in the tournament. We'll also see Killer Kyle, Tim Horner, and the debut of Dixie Dy-No-Mite.
Dixie Dy-No-Mite vs. "Bad Boy" Barry Horowitz:
I don't think you can get more "Southern" with a gimmick name than that. Too bad the Dirty White Boy isn't the Mighty Yankee from "Up North" to make this an even more classic debut, so Mr. Horowitz gets those honors instead. I know we get to the reveal down the road, but for those unfamiliar, Dixie is a masked Scott Armstrong, decked out in a rebel flag cape and introduced from "The Heart of the Confederacy." I was raised in the North, so color me less than impressed with this gimmick. Lockup and Dixie with a fireman's carry. Horowitz with a drop toe hold, but Dixie quickly regains control and flusters Horowitz with a pair of dropkicks. Horowitz with a forearm in the corner, followed by uppercuts. Dixie goes for a head-scissors, but gets dropped across the top rope and thrown to the outside. Horowitz accidentally wraps his arm around the post and Dixie comes off the top with a flying body press for a two-count. Horowitz cuts him off with a thumb to the eyes. He punishes Dixie with a knee breaker and jaw buster for a near-fall. Snap mare and crucifix cradle for two. Dixie counters a snap mare with a back-slide for two. Dixie unloads with rights and lefts and follows with a dropkick. Whip to the ropes and Dixie with the Confederate Kick (Super-Kick) for three at 6:29. Good back-and-forth action. Based on this one appearance, I don't see Dixie as much more than an opening match level guy. Is this performance enough to earn a Wild Card spot at the Volunteer Slam?Commissioner Bob Armstrong is standing by for an anti-drug speech, specifically against steroids. He tells kids not to take shortcuts, and that steroid abuse, and drug abuse in general, is bad for your body and will cut your life short. This took up all of 45-seconds, and came across well, even if the underlying motive was to bash the WWF (and to a lesser extent, WCW) for years of promoting athletes with enhanced physiques.
"White Lightning" Tim Horner vs. T.J. Travis:
Travis must be a true enhancement talent, he doesn't get a cute nickname! Horner gets a hug from a front-row Grandma on the way to the ring. Lockup and they jockey for position. Horner grabs a side headlock and comes off the ropes with a shoulder tackle. Crisscross and Travis with a drop toe hold into a front face-lock. Horner escapes immediately and grabs a rear chin-lock. Horner comes off the top with a flying body press for a two count. Dropkick sends Travis to the floor for a breather. Back inside, Travis sweeps the leg and applies a step over toe hold. Horner counters and takes him over with a snap mare for two. Crisscross and Horner with a sloppy head-scissors into a sunset flip for two. Whip and Travis with an elbow for two. Travis with a slam and knee drop for two. Horner puts the breaks on running the ropes, and the Natural Bridge finishes at 4:19. Competent mat wrestling, and another victory for Horner with his patented move.Bob Caudle is standing by with comments from "Primetime" Brian Lee, The Fantastics, and Tim Horner, hyping up local house shows.
Jim Cornette walks onto the set to make fun of a poorly dressed fan in the front row before throwing it to footage of himself unveiling his new team. Phil Raney is still on the job, but Cornette yells at him from a concealed location for being out in the middle of the day with a television crew. They're busy training, so we can only see them for a moment. He whips out the "key to greatness" to open their Hotel door, but he's got trouble, and gets women's lingerie thrown at him from some angry females. NEXT WEEK, he's not going to have a tape, he's going to have them here LIVE, because they have a match set for next week. He's going to need extra security, maybe the national guard, for their protection.
Bob Caudle is standing by with Killer Kyle. He wants to know why Kyle didn't enter his name for the Tournament. No response. What's in the Violin case? No response. Well, that sure answered some questions.
Killer Kyle vs. Keith Hart:
The simple answer to why he's not in the Tournament... you don't want to put him in a situation where he needs to do a job. Except for when he lost clean in the first match of the first episode in Smoky Mountain Wrestling history, but that was forever ago, so it doesn't count. Hart avoids being trapped in the corner and unloads with rights. Kyle with a knee to the midsection. Hart ducks under a pair of clotheslines and connects with a dropkick. Kyle swats away a second dropkick and knocks Hart coming off the ropes with an elbow. Kyle hits the ropes hard, and sends Hart flying over the top with a clothesline. Kyle with a fireman's carry drop across the ring apron and a press slam over the top rope, back into the ring. He makes a relaxed cover and pulls Hart up at two. Body press into an inverted atomic drop for another "two" count. Hart avoids an avalanche and throws a flurry of rights. He comes off the top, but Kyle catches him and finishes with the Rub Out at 3:36. Probably the best squash for Kyle so far, barely selling anything, and hitting some good looking power moves.Flashback to comments from "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff from the March 7th episode. He has expressed his unhappiness with the Piledriver being banned, and he's still protesting the ban. We follow that with a reminder for the rules of Smoky Mountain Wrestling. Fines will be levied, blah blah blah...
Next week, we conclude the 1st Round of the Tag Team Championship Tournament. Jumpin' Joey Maggs and "Nitro" Danny Davis face Ivan and Vladimir Koloff, assuming the latter team has paid their fines for no-showing a match two weeks ago, and if Jim Cornette's Team™ shows up, they face Brad and Bart Batten.
The Dirty White Boy (w/ Mr. Ron Wright) vs. Paul Miller:
Dirty White Boy is one of five men with guaranteed seeds for Volunteer Slam's Championship Tournament. Miller surprises the Dirty White Boy immediately with a twisting body press for two. Crisscross and the White Boy lays him out with a short clothesline. He plants Miller with a slam and comes off the ropes with a leg drop. Whip to the ropes and the DWB with a clothesline, turning Miller inside out. DWB shrugs off a few blows and plants Miller with a side slam for only a one count. DWB with a thumb to the eyes to interrupt a comeback attempt. White Boy with a forward Power-Slam, and the Bucksnort Blaster (choke-lift into a slam) finishes at 2:52. Complete squash, and rightfully so. The top heel shouldn't be doing much selling for enhancement talent.Bob Caudle is standing by with some post-match comments. Apparently, nobody is sending in checks or cash to help out Ron Wright for his hip and knee replacements, and calls them a bunch of heartless hillbilly rednecks. The Dirty White Boy is beaming with excitement for the Volunteer Slam. He mentions Robert Gibson and Tim Horner before mocking Brian Lee. Lee comes out to shut the White Boy's mouth and says he hopes they meet in the tournament to see who the real man is.
"Primetime" Brian Lee vs. "Dirty" Dutch Mantel:
As mentioned earlier, Brian Lee must pin or make Mantel to submit, otherwise Mantel gets the guaranteed spot in the tournament. If Mantel loses, we can assume he loses a chance at one of the three Wild Card spots. Before Lee can get in the ring, the Dirty White Boy comes back and nails him with a steel chair. He goes for another shot, but Bob Armstrong intervenes and escorts him from ringside. Mantel takes advantage of the help, and chokes Lee with his own vest. Mantel rolls Lee into the ring and takes him over with a snap suplex for two. Short-arm clothesline for two. He locks in an abdominal stretch, and uses the ropes for leverage. Mantel rakes the eyes with his boot laces and plants Lee with a slam for two. He turns Lee over with a Boston Crab, and offers the referee a submission on Lee's behalf. Snap mare into a seated surfboard. Lee counters a back-drop attempt with a boot to the chest, but Mantel is on him like white on rice. Whip to the ropes and Mantel with a sleeper. Mantel takes it to the floor and gets pushed into the post for it. Back inside, and a collision puts both men down. Mantel tries to pull a foreign object out of his tights, but Lee cradles him for three at 6:51. That should be the end of the Lee/Mantel program that got us through the early months, as we anticipated bigger and better things. Not the strongest victory, but Lee walked away the winner after being put at a disadvantage with the pre-match assault from the Dirty White Boy.Bob Caudle is standing by with commissioner Bob Armstrong. If Jim Cornette doesn't produce his team next week, then there's no second chance for them. The Koloffs will also be disqualified from the tournament if they can come up with the $1,000 to pay off their fine, and speaking of fines, the Dirty White Boy is fined $500 for his attack on Brian Lee before the start of the Main Event. I hope that doesn't come out of Mr. Wright's Surgery Fund. I hope Armstrong is putting that money to good use and not lining his own pockets.
Final Thoughts: With a break in the Tag Team Championship Tournament, there was a lot of spotlight on the upcoming Heavyweight Championship Tournament, taking place on May 15th (spoilers: they had to move the date) at the Volunteer Slam. Brian Lee pinned Dutch Mantel to keep his spot, and also put that rivalry to rest, while we get showcases for Tim Horner and the Dirty White Boy, who have both been guaranteed spots as well. Dixie Dy-no-Mite debuted and seems like he will fall into the "Koko B. Ware" section of the depth chart, and Killer Kyle was given another strong showcase. Next week the 1st Round of the Tag Team Tournament concludes, and we finally, FINALLY, get to see who Jim Cornette's team is (spoilers: I'm playing along as if I didn't already know).
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