Rick McGraw vs. El Santo Negro (3/21/83)

 

This is JIP and McGraw wins.

 

SCW Commission Lou Thesz then announces that SCW would be creating their own world heavyweight title and the tournament that would take place in Houston 2 months later. This is a definite extra.

 

Southwest Tag Titles: The Grapplers (Tony Anthony & Len Denton) © vs. The Dynamic Duo (Tully Blanchard & Gino Hernandez) (3/21/83)

 

This is a rare heel vs. heel match but the Duo were getting the cheers although they still work their normal style. Tully works early FIP and the Grapplers take it to him with Tully bumping around the ring. Gino would get the tag and he comes in fired up beating on both Grapplers but would get kicked in the head so he tagged back in Tully. Tully would get the advantage on Grappler #2 before both made tags and Gino would get the quick advantage on Grappler #1 with there being quite a bit of switching in and out. Tully would get back in and played FIP again with both Grapplers taking it to him. Tully would eat a nice swinging neckbreaker for a nearfall before tagging Gino but Jack Howell didn’t see it. Gino would tag in and was fired up again getting a dropkick for a nearfall before tagging Tully back in. Gino would then accidentally hit Tully and countered a slam into an O’Connor Roll where the Grappler would knock heads with Tully and Gino got the win. The Duo win the titles and Tully decides to attack Gino with his title belt. Tully pounds on Gino relentlessly who blades but Gino would recover to run Tully off until the Grapplers decided to start destroying him until Gino made a comeback cleaning house on the Grapplers and Carson. This was a solid match with Gino getting over bigtime as a babyface afterwards in this legendary angle and this is a nomination.

 

“Bruiser” Bob Sweetan vs. Ali Bey (3/21/83)

 

It’s a hard act to follow the hot angle that happened before the match so these two just break the second rope on the ring. They try to tighten the rope but the guys continue to work on the loose rope causing problems for the ring crew so they leave and just let these guys continue to work. Gino comes out during the match and declares the Dynamic Duo is dead and he would destroy Tully. Extra material.

 

Steve Stack then recaps the Duo split with Lou Thesz.

 

“Hangman” Bobby Jaggers vs. Frank Monte (3/21/83)

 

Competitive squash. Jaggers then cuts a promo after the match and wanting to be the world champ.

 

Terry Funk sends in a taped promo putting over the world title tournament. This was a great promo.

 

Eric Embry vs. Tonga John (3/21/83)

 

Another match JIP with Embry getting the upset on a schoolboy.

 

Bob Sweetan then cuts a promo about being the Southwest champion and going for the world title.

 

Eric Embry vs. Tully Blanchard (3/28/83)

 

This was a fun competitive semi-squash as Embry got some offense in but was brutalized by Tully who would give him a brutal backdrop suplex before sending Embry to the floor. Gino then showed up in street clothes ready to brawl with Tully with the crowd going nuts for him but Tully would duck out of the ringside area allowing Embry to win by countout. Extra material.

 

Sweetan then cuts a promo about the current events in Southwest. Gino then comes out and hands Sweetan what looks like a video before cutting a great promo on Tully. More for the Tully/Gino feud extra files.

 

“Hangman” Bobby Jaggers vs. Tonga John (The Barbarian) (3/28/83)

 

Pretty much a squash.

 

Next is a taped match of Adonis vs. Terry Daniels.

 

Sweetan comes back out and they show the tape that Gino gave him and it has the highlights of the cage match that Sweetan beat Tully for the Southwest title from February.

 

Ali Bey vs. El Santo Negro (3/28/83)

 

Ali gets the win in a cheap way.

 

Scott Casey & Rick McGraw vs. The Grapplers (Tony Anthony & Len Denton) (3/28/83)

 

This goes to a TV draw.

 

The next show starts with a promo by Terry Funk about the SCW World Title tourney.

 

“Hangman” Bobby Jaggers vs. El Santo Negro (5/9/83)

 

Jaggers dominates here for most of the match but Negro gives him a fight near the end and has him on the ropes until Jaggers hits him with the Hangman.

 

Then we get clips of the Grapplers vs. Sheeps on 4/24/83 in San Antonio with Jonathan Boyd on commentary. Boyd saying the Grapplers are Mexicans is funny. The Sheeps use a loaded glove given to them by Don Carson who turns on the Grapplers but the best part is that the Sheeps turn on Don Carson because they don’t need him. Terrific angle and a definite extra.

 

Scott Casey & Sweet Brown Sugar (Skip Young) vs. Cocoa Samoa & “Continental Lover” Eddy Mansfield (5/9/83)

 

Bert Prentice is doing the ring announcing here which is funny and Terry Funk is doing color. Eddy has packed on the weight since the last time he was here. Casey reminds Mansfield when they get in the ring together about the time he shaved his head and the fans are really hot for them matching up. Sugar looked good here as did pretty much everyone except Mansifeld who wasn’t in there much and did basically nothing with Cocoa doing all the work for his team it seemed. It would break down into a 4-way brawl with Sugar hitting a big cross body block on Cocoa to get the win. This had some good stuff but not good enough to warrant a nomination.

 

Rick McGraw vs. Tully Blanchard (5/9/83)

 

This started out as a slugfest with both men throwing shots at each other here. McGraw got Tully in a backdrop suplex but Jack Howell would get knocked down in the process so he couldn’t count the pin. Tully then answered with an atomic drop across the top rope before going to get a steel chair where he would smash it on McGraw’s left knee. Tully then locked on the figure-four for the win and refused to break so Howell awarded the match to McGraw. Tully tried to attack Howell but Sugar would make the save hitting a big dropkick off the top rope. Another fun little match

 

Sweetan then cuts a promo on Adonis wanting to get the Southwest title back from him that he lost a couple of weeks earlier.

 

“Bruiser” Bob Sweetan vs. Tonga John (The Barbarian) (5/9/83)

 

Tonga is now working barefoot and stayed even with Sweetan before missing a diving headbutt off the second rope. Sweetan took advantage and gave him a piledriver for the win.

 

The Sheepherders (Jonathan Boyd & Luke Williams) vs. Eric Embry & Mando Guerrero (5/9/83)

 

Embry gets his ass kicked to start the match with Mando having to jump in to save him from being pinned before finally getting the tag to Mando. Mando comes in looking good to start but the Sheeps go to work on him as well keeping him grounded until he rolled around enough to get the tag to Embry. Embry came in there and like Mando got some quick offense but fell prey to the Sheeps who would finish him off. Sheeps looked really good here.

 

USA Jr. Heavyweight Title Tournament – Semifinals: Mando Guerrero vs. El Santo Negro (7/18/83)

 

This is JIP and this had some fun stuff.

 

Midnight Express (Bobby Jaggers) vs. Luke Williams (7/18/83)

 

Jaggers has to wear a mask and full suit to get a match with Williams. This was what you would expect from this angle as Jaggers unmasks in mid match and Luke runs to the back. Jaggers tries to burn the flag but Luke fights him off until Buddy Moreno helps out. Extra material.

 

Then we get promos by Scott Casey & Tiger Conway Jr. about gunning for the Southwest title.

 

Al Perez vs. Cocoa Samoa (7/18/83)

 

Perez has matador style music which is funny. Competitive match that was good in spots but Perez was still green.

 

Next we get a promo by Mando Guerrero about the USA Jr. Heavyweight Title Tournament.

 

6 Way #1 Contender Elimination Match for the Southwest Heavyweight Title: Ali Bey vs. Tiger Conway Jr. vs. Ninja Warrior (Mr. Pogo) vs. Sweet Brown Sugar vs. Bob Sweetan (7/18/83)

 

This was a rare match for this time period as you never saw multiple man elimination singles matches. Tully would come out for color commentary and this was a fast paced match with lots of quick tags in and out to start. Sugar would eliminate Bey first with a beautiful dropkick from the middle rope leaving 4 faces and 1 heel so we get lots of face vs. face action. Sweetan would soon finish off Ninja with a piledriver thus leaving all 4 faces against each other. Casey would backdrop Sweetan over the top rope for the DQ and he landed hard on the floor. Next we get some fun work with Tiger & Sugar mimicing each other before Sweetan returned to the ring. After some good action with everyone, Sweetan would hold up Sugar by the legs and grabbed the top rope to eliminate Sugar and the fans along with Tiger weren’t too hot on that idea. Tiger then starts popping Sweetan before he chunks him to the floor by the tights. Sweetan then tries to keep him on the floor by pounding him on the apron but Jack Howell allows him back in the ring. Sweetan would go for the piledriver but Tiger counters with a backdrop into the turnbuckle. Tiger makes a comeback and hits a diving headbutt off the second rope going for the pin before Tully runs into the ring for the DQ and throws Tiger off the top rope to the floor. Sweetan looks upset after the match as Tiger wins by DQ. Even with the DQ finish I really liked this match a lot and this goes on the block.

 

Sweetan then cuts a promo after the match pissed off about what happened before Sugar came out to say that Sweetan cheated to beat him and wants him in the ring. They have punchoff at the desk before Sugar goes to the ring where the brawl would soon start. Sugar throws some dropkicks and Sweetan bails out. Fun stuff and extra material.

 

Buddy Moreno vs. Roger Hatfield (7/18/83)

 

Moreno is getting a push.

 

Eric Embry vs. Randy Hoskins (7/18/83)

 

Embry is about to get a push as well so he gets the win.

 

Moreno then cuts a promo about helping Jaggers.

 

This next show starts with clips of Susan Green vs. Evelyn Stevens from San Antonio on 6/2/84.

 

Before we get a Bruiser Brody set to You Dropped The Bomb On Me by The Gap Band from WWC.

 

The Mummy vs. Arandu (6/4/84)

 

This is JIP and now the matches are en Espanol.

 

The Fabulous Blondes (Eric Embry & Ken Timbs) vs. Bob Garcia & Steve Simpson (6/4/84)

 

Blondes looked good here.

 

Then we get clips of Blondes vs. Tony Falk/Bobby Fulton from San Antonio on 6/2/84 with Embry hitting Fulton with a piledriver off the middle rope then piledrove him through a table. Tony Falk then cuts a really good face promo afterwards. Great stuff.

 

Jonathan Boyd cuts a promo on Fernandez & Perez until they show up challenging them to a match.

 

“Ragin Bull” Manny Fernandez & Al Perez vs. The Sheepherders (Butch Miller & Luke Williams) (6/4/84)

 

I love the early work by Bull on Luke’s injured right hand with some nice punches right on the wrist. Sheeps were relentless here working over the faces but Bull would make a comeback getting the advantage on Luke before it would soon switch back to the Sheeps thanks to double-teams. Bull fought back though and he was great here fired up trying to get the hot tag but Perez would jump in anyway starting off the 4-way brawl. Luke would hit Bull with a running knee sending him to the floor so they could hit their double-team stomach breaker on Perez followed up by whipping him with a belt as the referee calls for the DQ. They get rid of Perez as Bull is hung up in the ropes by his foot as he tried to get in the ring so they start whipping him with the belt until Scott Casey made the save. Boyd threw his crutch in the ring though so they used that on him before taking him out. Bull & Perez though would fight back making their own save and sending the Sheeps out of the ring. The match was really good and the angle afterwards was very hot. This goes on the block.

 

“Hangman” Bobby Jaggers vs. Killer Brooks (6/4/84)

 

This is nothing but a brawl at the bell as both men just start beating each other’s ass. Brooks gets a pile of fencing from Butch Miller and uses it on Jaggers’ head to really fuck him up which he does as Jaggers juices big time. Brooks then rolls Jaggers up in the fencing and destroys him with boots and a legdrop before Manny runs in to make the save. This is a definite extra as it was just a wild brawl with Jaggers bleeding profusely and cutting a great promo.

 

The Sheepherders (Butch Miller & Luke Williams) vs. Bob Garcia & Steve Simpson (6/11/84)

 

Squash.

 

Then we get clips of Carlos Colon vs. Moondog Rex from San Antonio on 6/2/84.

 

“Hangman” Bobby Jaggers vs. Juan Reynosa (6/11/84)

 

Jaggers wins fairly easily.

 

Then we get clips of the Jaggers/Brooks feud which looked awesome.

 

Eric Embry vs. Henry Garcia (6/11/84)

 

Garcia puts up a fight but fails.

 

Then we get clips of the Blondes vs. Falk/Fulton feud that ends up in a brawl with Falk & Timbs

 

Handicap: The Mummy vs. Rudy Boy Gonzales & Dan White (6/11/84)

 

Squash.

 

Then we get clips of the Brody/Mummy feud.

 

Killer Brooks vs. Manuel Villalobos (6/11/84)

 

Squash.

 

“Ragin Bull” Manny Fernandez & Al Perez vs. Randy Hoskins & Bill Howard (6/11/84)

 

Just the start is shown before they go to clips of the Bull/Perez vs. Sheeps feud.

 

The next show starts with Bobby Jaggers cutting a promo with his newly regained Southwest Heavyweight Title.

 

Joe Blanchard then is out with Fernandez, Perez, & Lou Thesz and presents Bull & Perez with the new Southwest Tag belts after the Sheeps destroyed the other ones. Of course Boyd & the Blondes show up wanting a shot at the titles saying that 60 days have elapsed since the former champs got a shot so Thesz has to award the titles to the Blondes. Great angle and extra material.

 

Boyd then demands that the Blondes defend their titles against Henry Garcia & Relampago Leon with their hair on the line.

 

Southwest Tag Titles vs. Hair: The Fabulous Blondes (Eric Embry & Ken Timbs) vs. Henry Garcia & Relampago Leon (6/18/84)

 

This has some good back and forth action to start as the faces were fired up and the Blondes were solid as chickenshit heels. Blondes would take over though working over Garcia who would run to get the hot tag to Leon. Leon comes in blazing with multiple dropkicks before Embry would reverse an O’Connor Roll using tights to get the win. The Mexicans are then forced to get their head shaved by Boyd and I think this is more extra material than a match on the block.

 

Next we get clips of the Invaders from WWC.

 

Then we get a Carlos Colon video.

 

“Hangman” Bobby Jaggers vs. James Nelson (6/18/84)

 

Squash. Brooks would run out after the match with a dog collar and beat Jaggers bloody until Manny runs him out with a steel chair.

 

Then we get clips of Brody vs. Mummy from 6/16/84 in a steel cage from San Antonio.

 

Tony Falk vs. Juan Reynosa (6/18/84)

 

Falk is getting a small push at the time.

 

Then we get clips of Bobby Fulton vs. Eric Embry from 6/16/84 in San Antonio with Fulton winning the USA Jr. title. Fulton & Falk then cut a promo on the Blondes as well.

 

The Sheepherders (Butch Miller & Luke Williams) vs. Rudy Boy Gonzales & Manuel Villalobos (6/18/84)

 

This is JIP and the faces get a little offense in before being destroyed.

 

Then we get clips of Falk/Susan Green vs. Timbs/Evelyn Stevens from San Antonio on 6/16/84.

Disc 1:

 

Lou Thesz Interview

 

Some promotions are creating their own World Titles for selfish gain, which is totally not what's going on here, I assure you. Extra.

 

“Bruiser” Bob Sweetan vs. Ali Bey (3/21/83)

 

Agreed that Gino's mid-match promo makes this an extra, though the match itself is good, too.

 

“Hangman” Bobby Jaggers vs. Frank Monte (3/21/83)

 

Solid bout.

 

Bobby Jaggers Interview

 

Man, Kansas sounds badass.

 

Terry Funk Interview

 

Terry is looking uncharacteristically dignified as he calmly announces his and his brother's intentions to enter the World Title tournament.

 

Tully Blanchard Interview

 

Tully gives his side of the story with regards to the Dynamic Duo break-up.

 

Eric Embry vs. Tully Blanchard (3/28/83)

 

This is a rematch of a bout a few weeks earlier, and I assume that would be the match I saw on WCCW Ft. Worth/Dallas 1982-83 Disc 2, where Embry managed to get a lot in on Tully early before getting destroyed and bloodied by him later. This match is a lot more even, great back-and-forth mat stuff with interspersed with both guys getting in some nice shots on one another. This was en route to a nomination, but Gino shows up to bring things to an early finish. Still an entertaining bout, and a good way to advance the Gino/Tully feud. I agree that it's extra material.

 

Adrian Adonis vs. Terry Daniels

 

Entertaining pre-taped squash, with Adonis busting out a bunch of freaky matwork.

 

Ali Bey vs. El Santo Negro (3/28/83)

 

Short, but fun.

 

“Hangman” Bobby Jaggers vs. El Santo Negro (5/9/83)

 

This was a fun bout. Jaggers brought the hurt, and El Santo Negro looked great making the comeback at the end. Also loved Terry Funk marking out for El Santo Negro on commentary.

 

Eddie Mansfield Interview

 

The crowd chants "Eddie sucks", and I get all wistful.

 

The Grapplers vs. The Sheepherders (clips)

 

Good angle and amusing commentary from Jonathan Boyd.

 

Sheepherders Interview

 

Boyd brags about how he pulled off his awesome plan while Luke Williams nods his head and mutters incomprehensibly with a big, gap-toothed smile plastered on his face. This is extra material.

 

Scott Casey & Sweet Brown Sugar (Skip Young) vs. Cocoa Samoa & “Continental Lover” Eddy Mansfield (5/9/83)

 

This was really good. Sugar was the star, uncorking a bunch of nice high energy offense and eating the heels' stuff well. I think Kris is being a little hard on Mansfield. He is heavier, but still moves around really well. He got up pretty high for a Sugar hiptoss early on. He wasn't an offensive dynamo, but he is really a guy whose main strength is his stooge heel stuff, and he still does that really well. I am going to go ahead and put this up as a low-end nomination.

 

Disc 2:

 

Rick McGraw vs. Tully Blanchard (5/9/83)

 

Wow, that is one strict ref. Good match, with some nice post-match stuff with Sweet Brown Sugar to boot.

 

“Bruiser” Bob Sweetan vs. Tonga John (The Barbarian) (5/9/83)

 

Short, but solid. Sweetan definitely earned the nickname "Mr. Piledriver".

 

The Sheepherders (Jonathan Boyd & Luke Williams) vs. Eric Embry & Mando Guerrero (5/9/83)

 

This was OK. Luke Williams was definitely a good wrestler. I think maybe Butch Miller was a weak link, and he might have dragged Luke down when they teamed, but here is really good. Mando escaping the Sheepherders' wrath is kinda unimpressive after watching Buddy Moreno's cool evasive babyface stuff.

 

Midnight Express (Bobby Jaggers) vs. Luke Williams (7/18/83)

 

A great angle, plus Jaggers shows off his good taste by busting out the Canek mask, truly the finest of all wrestling masks. Extra.

 

Conway & Casey Interview

 

It's all for the marbles!

 

Al Perez vs. Cocoa Samoa (7/18/83)

 

OK bout. Perez wouldn't be this fun again until his heel turn later in the decade.

 

6 Way #1 Contender Elimination Match for the Southwest Heavyweight Title: Ali Bey vs. Tiger Conway Jr. vs. Ninja Warrior (Mr. Pogo) vs. Sweet Brown Sugar vs. Bob Sweetan (7/18/83)

 

Match wasn't perfect, and I am becoming a big mark for Ali Bey, so I was a little sad to see him go so soon. Still, there was plenty of great action to make up for it, and the booking of the match was outstanding. As screwy finishes go, that was a great one. I actually loved the idea of Blanchard - quintessential wrestling asshole that he is - seeing the territory's top babyface starting his heel turn earlier in the match, and deciding to run down and get him DQ'd just to get one last potshot in on him before he goes over fully to the dark side. This moves forward.

 

Sweetan/Sugar Confrontation

 

When Sweetan acts like a dick and disingenuously tries to pass himself off as a babyface, he gets called on it immediately and we get an awesome little fight between him and Sweet Brown Sugar. When Batista acts like a dick and disingenuously tries to pass himself off as a babyface, WWE spends almost three excruciating years expecting us to side with him before finally cutting their losses and pulling the trigger on a heel turn. Score one for Southwest. Extra.

 

Buddy Moreno vs. Roger Hatfield (7/18/83)

 

I like Moreno, but he is not really a good squash match wrestler.

 

Eric Embry vs. Randy Hoskins (7/18/83)

 

Squash, as Embry embarks on a well-deserved push.

 

The Fabulous Blondes (Eric Embry & Ken Timbs) vs. Bob Garcia & Steve Simpson (6/4/84)

 

Squash. Good showing for the Blondes.

 

Fabulous Blondes Interview

 

Fine heel promo where they brag about piledriving Bobby Fulton. Speaking of which....

 

Bobby Fulton & Tony Falk vs. The Fabulous Blondes (JIP)

 

The incident in question from the Hemisphere. Ends in a DDQ, but they keep brawling until Falk gets tied up in the ropes, allowing the Blondes to drop Fulton with a super piledriver and a piledriver on the table. This feels like an extra.

 

Tony Falk Interview

 

This, too.

 

“Ragin Bull” Manny Fernandez & Al Perez vs. The Sheepherders (Butch Miller & Luke Williams) (6/4/84)

 

Yeah, Luke was definitely the workhorse of this team, although Butch didn't look actively bad here. Manny looked great on the face side of things. I'll second this as a nom.

 

“Hangman” Bobby Jaggers vs. Killer Brooks (6/4/84)

 

These are two guys who can run hot and cold with me. This was fine, but I'm not really feeling it as an extra.

 

Clips of the Jaggers/Brooks feud

 

I'd rather include this as an extra. Lots of really cool stuff here, but I get the feeling that the decompressed version of the feud isn't as good, so this feels like the way to go.

 

Eric Embry vs. Henry Garcia (6/11/84)

 

JIP. Good stuff from Embry.

 

Disc 3:

 

Jonathan Boyd Interview

 

If you want The Mummy in the toilet, you can have him in the bloody toilet!

 

Clips of the Fernandez/Perez vs. Sheepherders feud

 

Lots of good stuff here. Extra.

 

Boyd & the Blondes confront Thesz & The Raging Bulls over the Southwest Tag Titles

 

Great angle. Extra.

 

Southwest Tag Titles vs. Hair: The Fabulous Blondes (Eric Embry & Ken Timbs) vs. Henry Garcia & Relampago Leon (6/18/84)

 

I agree that it falls short as a nomination. I'm not sure the head shaving works as an extra without the match, and the match is too long to be an extra, so I don't know if it fits there, either.

 

Tony Falk vs. Juan Reynosa (6/18/84)

 

JIP. Reynosa was pretty good. I wonder if he ever got a push anywhere. He gives Falk a run for his money, but Falk pulls out the win.

Juan Reynosa = Tarras Bulba