Autistic Dragon

Taped at the Cumberland County Memorial Auditorium before Main Event. Originally airing on 9/10/88 on the USA Network. On Commentary: Bob Caudle & David Crocket. "Black Bullet" Shaska Whatley w/*Number One" Paul Jones defeats The Enforcer with the "Flying Willie". "British Magician Steve Wright defeats The Black Scorpion with the "Octopus Hold". Non title. NWA United States champion Col Debeers defeats The Pearl with the face first Piledriver. Main event. The Road Warriors (Hawk & Animal) defeat The Sheepherders (Butch Miller & Luke Williams w/"Number One" Paul Jones by DQ when the Beasts of Burden storm the ring and attack the Road Warriors! In other news... We run down the leaderboard for the Starrcade Series so far... Block A: Kamala 4pts, Robert Fuller 4pts, Ron Garvin 4pts, Wahoo McDaniel 0pts, Joe Lightfoot 0pts, Wendell Cooley 0pts. Block B: Bob Orton 4pts, Jimmy Garvin 4pts, Manny Fernandez 2pts, Tom Prichard 2pts, Super Destroyer 2pys, Jimmy Golden 0pts. We learn Block A will continue next week with... Wendell Cooley vs Joe Lightfoot Ron Garvin vs Wahoo McDaniel Kamala vs Robert Fuller. (Thanks to @LowBlowPodcast for convincing me to use a leaderboard. I had been toying with the idea and him asking for it settled it.)

From the Cumberland County Memorial Auditorium in Fayetteville NC. Previously recorded airing on 9/9/88 on the USA Network. On Commentary: Gordon Solie. Ring announcer/Interviews: Sean Moony. Match #1. Starrcade Series Block B match. "The Doctor of Desire" Tom Prichard vs "The Gatekeeper" Jimmy Golden w/"The Mastermind" Ron Fuller. A good blend of brawling and wrestling to start the block this week. The match is pretty even when Fuller goes to intervene. Michael Hayes comes down and gets into an fistfight with Fuller. This distracts Golden causing him to walk into a Superkick giving the Doctor his first win of the tournament. Match #2 "Crippler" Chris Benoit defeats Will Alphonso with a "Dragon" suplex. We see video of another Horsemen tour. This time it's World Tag Team Champions Ole Anderson and Harley Race touring Japan, defending their gold against the best teams the land of the rising sun has to offer. Match #3 Ace's High (Johnny & Mark Ace) defeat The Appalachian Outlaws with "Pocket Rocket" on Outlaw #1. Match #4. Starrcade Series Block B match. The Super Destroyer w/"Number One" Paul Jones vs "The Ace" Bob Orton w/JJ Dillon A tense feeling to this one with Jones and Dillon trading insults as their clients traded holds. Both men made several attempts at a Super-plex with the Ace ultimately staking his claim to the move as well as two more points. Match #5 "The Latin Heartthrob" Al Perez defeats Black Cat with a bridging German suplex. Curiously Brett Sawyer was seen observing the match and seemed displeased by Perez's winning move. We see clips of the Road Warriors and the Beasts of Burden having a number of rematches throughout the NWA's recent tours. The two teams at times seem more interested in beating each other senseless then actually winning matches. Match #6 The Samoan Island Tribe (Fatu & Alofa) defeat Ken Handler and Bill Jenkins when Alofa pinned Jenkins with a Samoan drop. Main Event. Starrcade Series Block B match. "Raging Bull" Manny Fernandez vs"Gorgeous" Jimmy Garvin w/Precious Bit of a contrast in styles with Fernandez being more of a brawler while Garvin is more a technician. They keep it clean with the finish seeing Fernandez charge Garvin in the corner only for him to move causing Manny to ram his shoulder into the post and fall to the floor. Fernandez barely beats the count but Garvin quickly puts him down with a Brainbuster for the win.

MCW makes it's debut at the Fairgrounds. I'm sure the shows will get bigger in time.

Aldo gets the big upset but Bradshaw makes him pay for it. I've actually seen the promo from Bearer where he swears Mankind had taken the Undertaker's power. Good stuff, glad you kept it. Camp Cornette is looking sharp. Austin advances as I think we all excepted.

I'll be frank, I'm young enough that Karl Gotch is basically a name I know from hearing others talk about what a legend he is. Still I recognize his endorsement means a lot, especially to a guy like Maeda. Perhaps the most interesting line was when Gotch said American fans would need to be "educated" as to why certain holds are dangerous. I feel that could be seen as pushing the bounds of kayfabe, which would be surprising from such an old school guy like Gotch.

Ya know someone, I think it's Bill Behrens, is uploading the episodes of the real Music City Wrestling to YouTube. Watching them is how I got introduced to Bert Prentice to begin with so I admit I got kinda hyped seeing it pop up here. So Papa-san has a soft spot for Jamie. Too bad Bruno knows how to hold onto a grudge. Cowboy Tony shoots down a reunion with Don Bass, who I'm sure will be very mature about this. The Renesto Brothers continue to get the best of Riggins. Miss Elizabeth is in the Music City and she's looking for... Jamie Dundee? I think Bert summed it up well.

It is a cool song. Still if @Perfectly Straightedge called it first, then I shall let him have it. Thankfully Richard Myhill wrote a song I've long associated with pro wrestling.

Smoky Mountain Wrestling TV. Taped at the Civic Auditorium in Knoxville TN on 9/6/96. Originally airing on 9/8/96. On Commentary: Bob Caudle & Dutch Mantell. Ring announcer: Tommy Noe Interviews: Michael St John The new Smoky Mountain intro plays with highlights from the previous era set to "The Hit" by Richard Myhill. The song continues over a sweeping shot of the sold out crowd before cutting to Caudle and Mantell in front of their desk, Dutch has the SMW Heavyweight Title over his shoulder. Caudle: Hello, wrestling fans and welcome back to Smoky Mountain Wrestling. Wrestling the way it used to be, and how you like it. I'm Bob Caudle alongside, and I still can't believe this one, the NEW Smoky Mountain Wrestling Heavyweight Champion Dutch Mantell. Mantell: Bob Caudle I can only imagine how thrilled you and all these Tennessee heathens are to have a champion you can actually be proud of. Ya see folks I'm not one of those people who reaches the heights of fame and fortune only to forget the little people I met on the way up. That's why I'm still gonna be out here every single week to give you the help you so desperately need on commentary. Caudle: My how magnanimous of you. In any event we have an exciting hour of wrestling for you today. Listen to this main event, due to their heated exchange at Rebirth Brian Lee and Chris Candido will go one on one right here today! Also on tap for you is the return of a familiar face to long time fans of Smokey Mountain Wrestling, Killer Kyle. Also fans, the new owner of Smoky Mountain Wrestling Mr Bert Prentice will be here with a big announcement regarding the next major event for Smoky Mountain Wrestling. All that and more but now let's send it to the ring. Match #1 The Gambler vs American Kickboxer Gambler comes out to, appropriately, "The Gambler" by Kenny Rogers holding up a hand full of aces. AK comes out to "Kung Fu Fighting" by Carl Douglas. Gambler uses his size to muscle AK around in the opening minutes. A attempt at Snake Eyes is countered and Gambler goes into the turnbuckle chest first. AK takes over and frustrates the bigger man with his speed and agility. The end sees AK come off the top with a Hurricanrana which he turns into a pin for the win. Caudle: How about that Dutch! That fans is what happens when you don't give up. Mantell: Well they say it ain't the size of the dog in the fight but the size of the fight in the dog and I gotta admit. Kickboxer just proved that to everybody. Of course if it had been me in there with him it would've been a different story. Caudle: Well maybe one day you can get in there with him and show everyone how you'd handle him. Switching gears fans I'd like to welcome the owner of Smoky Mountain Wrestling Mr Bert Prentice who has a big announcement regarding our next major show. Prentice: Thanks Bob, ladies and gentlemen on Saturday September 30th, Smoky Mountain Wrestling returns to the Paintsville High School Gymnasium in Paintsville, Kentucky for the Big Apple Grapple. On that night we will hold a one night 8 team tournament to crown brand new Smoky Mountain Tag Team Champions. All former tag champions are automatically entered into the tournament. That means Tracy Smothers and the Dirty White Boy, The Thugs are in it *pop*, that means the Heavenly Bodies *boos* are in it, and that means the Rock n Roll Express are in it *big pop*. Furthermore, over the next four weeks we will have a series of matches in which the winners will earn their way into the tournament, the first of those matches takes place on this very broadcast. The final team will be determined in a Wild Card battle royal at the Big Apple Grapple, the last two men in the match will be entered into the tournament as a team. Caudle: Wait a minute there, you're saying that we could end up with a team where the two men involved don't even like each other and they'll be in the tournament. Prentice: That's exactly right Bob. They may like each other, not like each other heck they could be total strangers, as long as their the last two men in the Wild Card battle royal they'll be in the tournament. And one more thing before I go and Dutch I want to pay close attention because this involves you. Now I don't like how you won that title but what you did was within the rules so I'm not going to hold it against you. But one man is and he intends to do something about. That's why at the Big Apple Grapple you will defend the Smoky Mountain Heavyweight Championship against the man a lot of people think you stole it from, "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan! Prentice leaves to a notably bigger reaction then when he entered while Mantell shouts he'll whoop Duggan again. A grinning Caudle sends it back to the ring. Match #2 Killer Kyle vs Paul Diamond Kyle enters his classic theme "Green Onions" by Booker T & The MGs holding his signature violin case. Diamond enters to "Bad Company" by Bad Company. The former AWA World Tag Team Champion puts up a good fight but ultimately gets caught and planted with the "Rub-out" (spinebuster slam) to give Kyle the win. VTR- We see panning shots of a rural woodland area before setting on two familiar looking men staring intently into the camera. Man #1: We may come from Arkansas but we ain't no dang dirty pig farmers. Man #2: We may not be brothers in blood but we are brothers in battle. Man #1' I'm Mark Canterbury. Man #2: And I'm Dennis Knight. Smoky Mountain Wrestling get ready... Both: Cause The Arkansas Hit Squad is coming! We see a logo reading "Arkansas Hit Squad" come on screen. A gun is cocked and fired twice with two bullet holes appearing in the logo. VTR ends. Match #3. Tag Title Tournament qualifier. Mr #1 & The Nightstalker (George South & Tony Falk in masks) vs The Tennessee Volunteers (Reno Riggins & Steve Dunn) The masked men are already in the ring as the Vols enter to "Dixieland Delight" by Alabama. The masked duo break every rule they can while trying to break their opponents but Riggins & Dunn buckle down and endure everything that's thrown at them. Their tenacity pays off when they catch Mr #1 with a double flapjack to punch their ticket to Paintsville. We see a video package of Brian Christopher. When it ends Caudle announces that Christopher will make his debut for SMW next week. Main event. "No Gimmicks Needed" Chris Candido vs "Primetime" Brian Lee Lee enters to "Everybody wants you" by Billy Squier while Candido swaggers out to "Get the Funk Out" by Extreme. Candido does NOT want to lock up with Lee and spends the whole match employing a hit-and-run strategy that irks Lee and the fans alike. Lee does get ahold of him eventually and batters him from pillar-to-post to loud cheers from the live crowd. The end sees Lee going ham on Candido in the corner causing the ref to have to separate them. This gives Candido the chance to reach into his tights and retrieve something. He goes for a punch with the object but Lee ducks and slips behind before picking Candido up for a back suplex. However Candido takes the opportunity to nail Lee with the loaded punch. Lee falls in a heap with Candido on top. Three seconds later, Candido is having his hand raised as boos fill the air. Caudle: I don't believe this Dutch, Candido had something in his hand and he knocked out Brian Lee with it! Mantell: I don't know what you're talking about Bob Caudle. The only thing Candido used to knock Lee out was a right hand between those beedy little eyes of his. Caudle: Oh come off it Dutch. Well fans that'll do it for this this week. We'll see you next week, and until then, so long for now.

Two loaded cards await at The Brawl in St Paul. Damaged ribs could make Von Erich a liability in Wargames. Adias's turn to the dark side is officially complete. Fantastics and Glamour Boys get shorted for time and will look to settle their differences at the Brawl in St Paul. I'm sure Tony just wants to have a friendly competition next week .

Thank you.

How do i get rid of a quote box i accidentally put in my draft?

SMW will be bringing back Tommy Noe as its ring announcer.

Kikuta wins a largely grounded after. Sakurai wins the battle of the young guns. Taira gets what must've been a hugely satisfying k.o victory. The Spider catches Randleman in his web. Sato shows RINGS why he was the man in SHOOTO.

I know Suzuki and the Shamrocks had a rivalry in real life so it's cool to see them going at it. Shamrock wins round 1. Nakano goes out the hard way against Funaki. Anjo kept getting up but Miyato kept knocking him back down back down. I think you wrote the result for Vale vs Yamazaki backwards. Still a impressive debut for Vale even in defeat. Go's downturn continues. Takada cements himself as a headliner in the UWF. Could we be looking at a three way power struggle?

Actually Garvin won but Cooley isn't out of the tournament yet!

Bloodstar is poised to be an insane night of wrestling. Especially looking forward to the 4 team -well 3 teams and 1 extra man- Wargames.

I'm gonna let those hillbilly cracks slide this time because Bert kinda shot his mouth off about Onita at rebirth. Moolah is probably the last person I would've pictured showing up at W*NG but she proves she belongs by smacking Kong with a brick! Homicide wastes no time making an impact. Onita brings in a heavy hitter in Bam Bam Bigelow for Hayabusa's first challenger. Let's see if the champ can survive the Beast the East. Luna and Raven showing some ECW solidarity? He's done stranger things.

A colorful guy like Ware should do well in the WWF. Taylor starts showing a darker side. With the Slickster back in their corner, I think the Twin Towers just became my pick for the US tag title tournament. Heenan just shamelessly calling dibs on all title shots for his guys. Macho Man calling out Hogan just feels natural.

September 3rd, 1996. Civic Coliseum in Knoxville Tennessee. Smokey Mountain Wrestling presents Rebirth! *The VHS starts with a sweeping shot of the mostly sold out venue before cutting to Bob Caudle standing in the ring alongside SMW's new owner Bert Prentice* Caudle: Hello, wrestling fans I'm Bob Caudle welcoming you to the new and improved Smokey Mountain Wrestling, still bringing you pro wrestling the way it used to be, and the way you like it. I'm Bob Caudle and it is my pleasure to introduce to you the man responsible for the return of Smokey Mountain Wrestling Mr Bert Prentice. Bert before we get started I wanted to give you an opportunity to explain what made you bring back Smokey Mountain Wrestling Prentice: First of all Bob Caudle, I want to say it's an absolute privilege to stand in this ring with a legend of the wrestling business such as yourself and I'm so glad you agreed to come back and once again be the Voice of Smokey Mountain Wrestling. *This starts a round of applause for Caudle who accepts it with a humble smile. Prentice waits for it to die down before continuing* Now to answer your question, like a lot of these people I grew up on classic NWA style wrestling, the kind of wrestling you used to call for Jim Crockett Promotions. But I look around the pro wrestling scene nowadays and I barely recognize the sport I grew up loving. If it's not the folks up in New York sending out guys who look like they came out of your kids Saturday morning cartoons then it's guys like Paul Heyman and this Onita fella who think you can just have guys take turns hitting each other with a chair and call that a wrestling match. I brought back Smokey Mountain Wrestling because the business needs, perhaps more than ever, a promotion that respects the history, the legacy, the tradition of professional wrestling and that's what we're here to do tonight! *Prentice's firey speech gets a big pop from the Knoxville faithful.* Caudle: Well you'll certainly get no argument from on that. Speaking of why we're here tonight, you've promised over your various media appearances that tonight we're going to crown a brand new Smokey Mountain Wrestling Heavyweight Champion. Care to explain to the folks here and at home exactly how that's going to happen. Prentice: Certainly Bob. Ladies and gentlemen tonight ten of the toughest professional wrestlers walking God's green earth are going head-to-head in five singles matches. The winners of those matches will meet in a over the top rope battle royal in the main event and the winner of the battle royal will be your brand new Smokey Mountain Wrestling Heavyweight Champion. Now I think you and I have taken up enough of these peoples time, let's get things started! The Dirty White Boy vs "No Gimmicks Needed" Chris Candido A 3 time SMW Heavyweight Champion vs a former NWA World Heavyweight Champion who'd held every title in SMW but the heavyweight strap. We get a fun contrast in styles with Candido's clinical heel work clashing with DWB's straight forward brawling. DWB is setting up for the "Bucksnort Blaster" (chokeslam from a back suplex position) but Candido slips out and performs an O'Connor roll with both hands full of tights for the win. "Primetime" Brian Lee vs The Punisher A competitive, hard-hitting match between two big men who can both move pretty well for their size. The end sees the first ever SMW Heavyweight Champion claim victory with the "Prime Time Slam" (Lee gets him up in a Canadian backbreaker before dropping to his knees) The Heavenly Bodies (Tom Prichard & Jimmy Del Rey) vs George South and Hardbody Harrison It wouldn't be a SMW show without the Heavenly Bodies. As you might expect, this was just a showcase for the 3 time tag champs which ends with "Giggelo" Jimmy pinning South with a splash from the top rope. "Superstar" Bill Dundee vs Jake "The Snake" Roberts The two crafty veterans put on an engaging battle of wits. Roberts plays the heel but Dundee isn't afraid to fight fire with fire. Dundee goes for his "Bomb's Away" sit-down splash but Jake gets his knees up and they catch Dundee where the sun don't shine, ref makes a judgment call that this doesn't count as a low blow. Dundee staggers up and Roberts pulls him into the DDT for the win. "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan vs Bruiser Bedlam A huge pop greets Duggan as he makes his SMW debut. Caudle hypes up that Bedlam once beat "Macho Man" Randy Savage in this very building. The two best seven shades of hell out of each other with Duggan scoring the k.o with his three point stance clothesline. "Wild Eyes Southern Boy" Tracy Smothers vs "Dirty" Dutch Mantell These two put on a classic southern style upper card match with plenty of brawling but some solid chain wrestling thrown in for flavor. The end sees "Dirty" Dutch live up to his nickname when a backslide with his feet on the ropes advances him to the main event. The Rock n Roll Express (Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson) vs The Black Sheep (Wolfie D & Flash Flannigan) Wolfie D is relatively well known in Tennessee thanks to a stint in the USWA while Flanagan had some appearances in SMW in 95. Wolfie D raps as they head to the ring with the lyrics insulting the fans and the city of Knoxville in general. The Rock n Roll Express come out to a great reaction from their home state. To their credit Wolfie and Flanagan show promise as a team but the experience of the RnR proves too much and Flanagan eats the double dropkick to give the 10 time SMW tag champs the win. 5 man battle royal. Winner becomes Smokey Mountain Wrestling Heavyweight Champion. "No Gimmicks Needed" Chris Champion vs "Primetime" Brian Lee vs Jake "The Snake" Roberts vs "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan vs "Dirty" Dutch Mantell Lee and Candido head for each other as soon as the bell rings with Caudle putting over the shared history between them. Roberts and Duggan square off with Dutch discretely slides out of the ring. Lee is able to get Candido over the top rope but Candido grabs him in a front facelock and pulls Lee over as well with the momentum carrying them both to the floor. The two keep fighting on the floor and security has to separate them. Back in the ring, after a back-and-forth struggle Duggan is able to land a clothesline that send Roberts over the top. Duggan and the crowd start celebrating but Mantell (who's been under the ring this whole time) re-enters the ring, comes up behind Duggan and nails him with a uppercut to the uprights. He uses the leverage that gives him to hoist Hacksaw over the ropes and to the floor. The video ends with Dutch Mantell holding the SMW Heavyweight Title, celebrating like he just won the Super Bowl single handedly, all the while boos rain down on him.

King Kong Bundy in a shoot style promotion is kind of a strange thought to me but let's see how it goes. I don't know much about 80s and 90s Japanese wrestling but even I know Hashimoto is a great pick for company Ace.

You really do a great job breaking down this more MMA inspired matches. Really appreciate it as someone who's never watched a lot of MMA.

Dave Meltzer is so out of place on commentary but he's trying so dang hard. Dynamite Kid's last stand was handled really well. That's the kind of moment the fans will remember for years. Love the WCW parody. The crowd seems to be getting a kick out of it too. Never actually seen Hayabusa in action but I've heard great things. Look forward to seeing what he does as champ.

Pretty good idea putting singles stars against tag wrestlers. They can take a loss and it can be excused by them being out of their element.

The IC title tournament is shaping up nicely. Savio over Owen was a surprise to me as was the Smoking Gunns helping Farooq beat down Sid.

Too Cold Scorpio is a great choice for TV champion. His skill set guarantees an exciting match every week. Rhodes makes the Perfect choice for the US title match but Heyman counters with a Loose Canon. The Macho Man is in the house and has to be a favorite to hold the ten pounds of gold. The 1-2-3 kid stuns everyone by laying out the boss on his first day!