Anthony Michaels v. The Hornet

 

Decent basic match. Hornet as a heel is kind of funny as he has the look of a hooded babyface. They worked at a slow pace and really brought it up for a couple of big spots most of which looked good. Solid enough opener.

 

Tracy Smothers v. Chris Candido

 

They start out with some opening mic work and then Smothers is a unloading shit and Candido is immediately reeling. Loved some of the early stuff like Candido eating a back fist on a corner charge and taking maybe the best Tracy "backflip, into middle rope" spot I've ever seen. SMW is a promotion where the matches usually develop fairly slowly, but they are going really fast here but with everything done well. I thought Candido's initial transition to offense was a little underwhelming, but once he was in control they worked some really excellent cutoff/hope exchanges. I really enjoyed their use of the ropes in this as they did several big spots build around Smothers trying to work inside out spots and either getting nearfalls off of them or getting caught by Candido. Smothers strikes looked really sharp throughout and Candido was on point with the big bumping during all of the teaser spots which made the build to the eventual comeback really interesting. Smothers is so awesome in this working the great every time he looks to gain an advantage and I really liked his big comeback coming off of a missed Candido splash. Candido's selling is awesome at this point as he weeble wobble's around and just keeps falling out of the ring to save himself before using a visit to the floor as an excuse to a pull chain and waffle Smothers for the pin. Awesome match.

 

The Heavenly Bodies v. Mike and Doug Furnas (Football Helmet On A Pole)

 

Pre-match Cornette goes on an anti-Tennessee Vols tirade which makes sense given that this is the Furnas brothers claim to fame. Mike is green as grass and I'm not sure how many matches he ever worked. When Doug is in they did some really good exchanges off the ropes and there were some decent teaser spots with the pole, including a really good looking suplex and a big electric chair spot off the top rope. Finish is Cornette getting pulled off the pole by the RnR's who toss the helmet to Doug for a quick shot and finish. This had good heat and the finishing run was good for a match that was basically one against two, but overall this was nothing special.

 

"The Bullet" v. Terry Funk (Texas Death Match)

 

The Bullet is of course Bob Armstrong under a hood. Pre-match Funk "give him a chance" to quit and come kiss Cornette's feet, then goes haywire and throws a bunch of chairs in the ring, runs in and slaps Bullet a bunch before getting tossed to the floor. Funk takes over with some stiff punches and atomic drops Armstrong into a chair on the floor before pelting him with it. Terry targets the neck with a serious of nasty shots including a ddt, his awesome neckbreaker (does anyone have a better neckbreaker?) and a then a ddt through a table which strangely results in the Bullet taking over and whipping Terry around for the first fall. Funk ends up hitting Bullet's leg from behind to set up the toehold..and Bullet fights him off and gets Funk reeling and takes the second fall. Funk is hilarious in between falls tossing shit around, almost putting Corny in a toehold on the floor, et. Funk ends up taking over with chairshots and he has a huge pile of chairs in the ring. Funk ends up moonsaulting Bullet on the pile of chairs for a fall. Bullet barely makes it up and then goes for a piledriver which Bob reverse and then DDT's Funk on the chairs for the finish. I thought Funk was awesome in this, but I did not like how weak he was made to look in "his match." Still more than good enough to pass on, but the post-match beatdown should have translated more in the match itself.

 

The Heavenly Bodies v. The Rock N Roll Express

 

I don't know why, but they immediately went to the Ricky FIP here and you get all the staples, including the Cornette racket shot to the throat, the Cornette assisted table bump, et. Ricky makes a pretty quick comeback and they hit a double dropkick before Corny jumps in for the DQ finish. Good work but too abbreviated to rate.

 

Brian Lee v. Dirty White Boy (Chain Match)

 

Tammy is managing Lee at this point and does some pre-match mic work. DWB comes out and announces Ron Wright as his manager to a huge pop. For a four corner gimmick match this was well done. Lee took a couple of good bumps, DWB sold well, and they both did a good job milking the chain. Anthony getting the win at the finish with Wright's help got a nice pop.

Anthony Michaels vs. The Hornet (2/13/94)

 

Good little opener with both men working hard.

 

Chris Candido vs. "Wild Eyed Southern Boy" Tracy Smothers (2/13/94)

 

Smothers is great on the mic before the match and just starts tearing into Candido who takes a lot of punishment here with Smothers dishing it out at a fast pace. These guys are really moving here with Candido hanging move for move with Smothers and both men taking some big bumps here from the ring to the floor. Candido would take over though and grounded Smothers with a headlock but again both men were working hard here as Smothers was moving around while Candido was jawing with Mark Curtis and trying to cheat. Candido missed a big splash which kickstarted Tracy's comeback and he was great as usual firing away on Candido before Candido got to the floor where he pulled out a chain and used it to win. This was a damn good match and moves forward fairly easily.

 

Helmet on a Pole: Doug & Mike Furnas vs. The Heavenly Bodies ("Gigolo" Jimmy del Ray & Dr. Tom prichard) (2/13/94)

 

The show is in Knoxville so Furnas is over and Corny goes a big Tennessee Vol tirade on the mic before the match. The Furnas boys coming out to Rocky Top was a nice touch also. When Doug was in the match the action was pretty good but Mike was extremely green and he dragged down the match when he was in there. There were some good pole teases and the crowd was into this so Corny decided he was going to climb the pole but was thrwarted by the RnR who got the helmet and chunked it to Doug who used it for the win. This had some good moments but nothing enough for a nomination.

 

Texas Death Match: The Bullet vs. Terry Funk (2/13/94)

 

Funk coming out to the The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly theme was great. Funk is out of control before the match starts as he is all over ringside waiting for Bullet. Funk telling Bullet to quit and kiss Corny's feet was hilarious then he flips out and throws chairs in the ring before just beating the Bullet's ass from pillar to post including an awesome DDT through the ringside table which Bullet basically no sold before smashing Funk's head into the table. Bullet then uses this to pound Funk to earn the 1st fall. Funk would fight back to use the spinning toehold but Bullet is superhuman here just firing away on Funk to take the 2nd fall. Bullet sends Funk to the floor where Funk goes nuts and starts throwing chairs in the ring where he just bashed Bullet numerous times before hitting a moonsault to win the 3rd fall. This was great stuff here. Bullet would answer the call in the 4th fall as he just planted Funk with a DDT on the chairs laying the ring to win the fall. Both men then struggle to get up with Bullet getting up at 9 and Funk falling flat on his face to end the match. Dory would join Terry and Corny after the match to destroy Bullet and drug him over to kiss Corny's feet but the babyfaces would finally come out to make the save. This was great stuff as you had Funk being Funk and Bullet being fun playing Dusty Rhodes. Easy nomination.

 

SMW Tag Titles: The Heavenly Bodies ("Gigolo" Jimmy del Ray & Dr. Tom Prichard) © vs. The Rock n Roll Express (Robert Gibson & Ricky Morton) (2/13/94)

 

Bodies doing double duty here and they work this match in fast forward mode as they almost immediately go to Morton's FIP section. The work was good but this was just criminally short.

 

Tennessee Chain Match for the SMW Heavyweight Title: "Primetime" Brian Lee © vs. "Dirty White Boy" Tony Anthony (2/13/94)

 

DWB is over like a motherfucker here and then when he brings out Ron Wright the place goes apeshit. Ron Wright in a tux and walking normally is so great considering his gimmick as a heel manager. Early on it was all DWB was ruthless pounding on Lee but Lee would fight back and both men took some good punishment here as they tried to drag the other around the ring with the chain. Lee took a nice bump off the top rope when DWB pulled the chain and it wasn't long before Tammy got involved but this led to her man's downfall as both men were touching the corners Ron Wright stepped in and loaded up his boot to KO Lee and DWB touched the 4th corner to win the title. This wasn't as good as the Smothers chain match but the story here was awesome and a great finish to boot. This is a solid nomination.