goc

Go back and look at the Mania thread at the time it was happening. I know there were people who didn't like the finish because I was one of them and I was not alone.

Yea I would agree on Warrior because the people who dog him talk about him like he was completely worthless and not good at anything. You can't have the number of well regarded matches he did and be totally shitty and worthless like his detractors claim. Yes the stuff with Hogan, Rude & Savage was him against guys who were better and provided the structure of the match or was planned out in advance by Pat Patterson. But it doesn't take away that he held up his end of the bargain and the matches were really good. Warrior/Savage is better than a lot of matches that Savage had with guys who are regarded as way better than Warrior. And Sid/Hogan doesn't come close to Warrior/Hogan even though I think the majority of Warrior haters rank him right at the same skill level of Sid.

So I was reading through an old thread about "Guys who got away with being bad" and Don Muraco's name came up a few times but then someone would come in and jump to his defense and it got me thinking that Don Muraco might be the most divisive wrestler in history. It seems like people fall into the camp of "Don Muraco sucked and was lazy as shit" or "Don Muraco was fucking great and one of the best ever" and I'm not sure I can think of anyone else who elicits that type of response. Yea yea I know Cena is divisive but outside of the most hardcore "I hate everyone that doesn't wrestle 100 miles an hour and do 30 moves a match" types, he seems to at least get credited as a good worker even if there is a lot of disagreement about how good. So who else would fit in the Don Muraco category of guys who are either "love him or hate him" types without a whole lot of in between?

Going through my footage and listings it looks like the next show I have is about 2 and a half months after the one I just recapped with the date I have on it being 5/16/81. So we won't get to find out what Don Curtis decided to do to Condrey & Rose after his extremely long deliberations and we'll miss how The Tennessee Stud Ron Fuller ended up making his triumphant return to the area because on the listings he's already back in May. That makes me sad because I really like the Golden/Fuller feud and I'm sure The Stud coming back was a hot angle.

Most of the audience who doesn't post on wrestling boards, I think, like Roman at this point, but yeah, this is one of the only places where I've seen that match acknowledged for being as good as it was. Most other places, Roman Reigns matches devolve into contests for whoever can post that Roman is gassed first. What a shitty time for "smart" fans that they mistake selling for being gassed because they think that the idiots who work 100 miles an hour and never stay down for more than 5 seconds before they get to their next move are the "good workers."

That is some really high praise. You think that match is better than Rock/Austin at X-Seven for a main event, or better than Bret/Austin for a match? Better than Savage/Steamboat? I'm used to having a different opinion than many others on here but I have never felt a disconnect this badly before. I'm going to go re-watch it right now. If it had actually had a finish I would feel comfortable saying I thought it was the best Mania match ever. As it is I actually think it compares favorably to Rock/Austin as that had a really shitty finish also. I wouldn't put it over Bret/Austin though. Never actually been that big a fan of Savage/Steamboat, at least not compared to the hype.

at WrestleMania. FTFY I voted Roman/Brock despite the fact that I really really hated the finish and thought it did a lot more damage than good. I'm in the Parv camp of not down grading a match for a bad/not clean finish unless it just breaks it's own rules like the Butch Reed/Dick Slater match from the Mid-South set that got shit on hard for being a No DQ match that ended in....a DQ.

Disappointed at Jim Ross not telling us about the wrestling credentials of AC Slater. He was undefeated as an amateur!

We're back and it's still February which means Championship Month so we'll see Condrey & Rose defend the Southeastern Tag Titles against Norvel Austin & Paul Orndorff. Stan Lane will also make his TV debut against my fantasy Southwest superstar Roy Lee Welch, Mr. Saito will take on Robert Gibson and Ken Lucas will also be in action. Les talks about the attacks by Condrey & Rose over the past few weeks on guys like Bob Armstrong & Jerry Stubbs are being "reviewed" by Don Curtis to see what action is going to be taken. He sure is doing a lot of deliberating. They take us down to the ring for the first match which is Stan Lane against Roy Lee Welch. 1983 fantasy Southwest allies collide! Les puts Stan Lane over hard on commentary talking up the titles he's had an how he'll be a tough challenger for Brad Armstrong's US. Junior Title. Welch controls the match until Stan Lane catches him with a Russian Legsweep and then does a weird JYD style crawling headbutt into Welch's back as Welch starts to get up. Lane wins by kicking out of a Welch sunset flip and then pinning Welch with a handful of tights. Felt like they could have debuted Lane with a stronger win against one of their real scrub jobbers like Charles Oden but I'm not sure how hard they really end up pushing Lane here either. After that match we go to the desk with Les & Charlie talking to Bob & Brad Armstrong and they show a video of Brad Armstrong facing Chick Donovan at the arena in a U.S. Jr. Title match. They start the clip with Brad moving out of the way of a top rope splash from Donovan and then after another minute or so of action, Brad ducks a clothesline and hits a crossbody on Donovan to win the match. Seems like they're definitely trying to build up Brad by giving him some new competition to beat in the Jr. division. Now they go to a clip of Bob Armstrong taking on Ron Bass in the arena which pretty much immediately has Mr. Saito run in. Bob makes it out of the ring away from Saito & Bass and gets a chair and clears the ring. Bob complains about Saito costing him his chance at the Southeastern title and a match with Harley Race. Coming back from commercial we get the rundown for the Boutwell card which has Robert Fuller against Jimmy Golden, Ken Lucas taking on Ron Bass for the Southeastern title (although the graphic says Lucas vs. Golden, get it together!) a Six Man Southern Street Fight match with Norvel Austin, Paul Orndorff & Bob Armstrong against Randy Rose, Dennis Condrey & Mr. Saito, Brad Armstrong defending the U.S. Jr. Title against Stan Lane and Robert Gibson vs. Oki Shikina. I'd definitely want to see the Fuller/Golden match and the Southern Street Fight 6 man. After the rundown we get a video promo from Stan Lane with Les Thatcher talking to Brad Armstrong afterwards. Stan doesn't even sound like himself in this promo, I'd guess he was trying to go for a more "dangerous" sounding voice or something. It's tough being a young guy learning your way of cutting promos in this territory as both of these guys are just miles away from the Fullers, Jimmy Golden and Bob Armstrong in that department. Then we get ANOTHER promo from Stan Lane at the desk with Charlie Platt and I can't get past over just how weird he sounds. I mean he sounds natural with the "fake" voice but he doesn't sound like the Stan Lane I know. We go from that to a taped split screen promo between Orndorff & Norvel Austin standing with Les Thatcher and Charlie Platt talking to Rose & Condrey and then right down to the ring for Condrey & Rose defending the titles against Orndorff & Austin. I'm disappointed at not getting any results of the Andre 6 man. This is a pretty good match and then we get a surprising finish as some partner miscommunication leads to Paul Orndorff & Norvel Austin beating Condrey & Rose for the tag team titles. It's 1981, a title change on TV ain't something you would expect. Condrey & Rose are pissed off after the match and attack the new champions during their celebration. They knock Orndorff out of the ring and then Rose gets a chair and they wind up hitting a Spike Piledriver on the chair on Norvel Austin. That's about as deadly as pulling out a gun and shooting him as far as 80s rasslin goes. Orndorff comes back into the ring and they start double teaming him when Jerry Stubbs runs in with his street clothes on and helps Orndorff clear the ring. After a commercial break we come back to Bob Armstrong, Jerry Stubbs & Paul Orndorff at the desk with Les Thatcher. Les says that Norvel has been injured and Jerry Stubbs is going to fill in for Norvel Austin in the 6 man street fight. Orndorff talks about what he's going to wear to the street fight which includes cowboy boots with spurs on them and a belt with a giant buckle that he's gonna "wear out their fannies with" and then the man Bob Armstrong, wearing his Titan overalls talks about how he's going to wear his overalls with his pockets full of anything he wants. We get a promo from Condrey, Rose & Saito in response that I don't care for because they're changed into their street clothes which makes it painfully obvious that they taped the promo talking about Jerry Stubbs in the match before the TV match where Norvel got injured. I do love street fight hype where they spend most of it talking about what they're going to wear to the ring though. After the fashion segment we get Mr. Saito vs. Robert Gibson. Saito is the man and I love how he just muscles out of a side headlock by picking Gibson up and slamming him. Gibson gets worked over for a bit but starts a comeback with a dropkick that catches Saito right in the face but Saito dodges the second one and grabs Gibson up into a Saito Suplex and then pins him to win a quick match. We come back from commercial to our 2nd fashion segment with Condrey, Rose & Saito talking about the cowboy boots and belts they're gonna be wearing for the street fight and then Bob Armstrong, Jerry Stubbs & Paul Orndorff's response. Bullet Bob might be the only guy who can sell overalls as dangerous street fight attire. Our last match is TV time remaining with the fake Japanese real Mexican Oki Shikina taking on Ken Lucas. Shikina attacks at the bell and Lucas fights him off then whips him into the ropes and catches Shikina in a Sleeper. Super short match with Lucas putting Shikina to sleep. After that match we get Jimmy Golden out at the desk with Charlie and Les looking quite slick in his suit and they show footage of a match between Jimmy Golden and Ken Lucas from the arena. Golden says that Lucas' sleeper is a chokehold not a sleeper hold and it should be banned. Lucas is busted open in the match and the footage starts pretty much at Ken Lucas' comeback and he shows a lot of fire. Golden is great talking trash through this mentioning Ron Slinker sticking his nose in Golden's business and how he was gonna cut it off. Bass comes out and hands something to Golden but that doesn't help him much as he doesn't get a chance to use it as Lucas stays all over him. Bass ends up getting in the ring to help but Lucas starts kicking his ass too (remember this is a Light's Out match and thus no DQ) finally Lucas falls victim to the numbers game and Golden gets ready to hit Lucas with whatever he's got while Ron Bass holds him from behind but now we see the Ron Slinker interference as he comes out and holds Golden's arm as he gets ready for the punch and then blasts Golden with a punch of his own which causes whatever object Jimmy had to go flying in the air. Then we cut back to the studio as Ron Slinker has come out and started trashing Jimmy Golden, calling him a backstabber and a liar and challenges Golden to meet him in the ring. Golden takes off his jacket and heads to the ring when, predictably, Ron Bass jumps Slinker from behind and the two of them start beating on Slinker and set him up for a double suplex but Lucas runs out and saves Slinker and helps him clear the ring. We come back from a commercial to the updated card rundown that changes the Southern Street Fight to reflect that Norvel Austin has been replaced by Jerry Stubbs and also reminds me we didn't get a Robert Fuller promo on Jimmy Golden which upsets me. Then we've another promo from Jimmy Golden in his suit and Ron Bass as Golden runs down Robert Fuller and then Ron Bass talks about how he's going to take back the Southeastern Title from Ken Lucas. Bob Armstrong essentially cuts a promo for Robert Fuller talking about family feuds are always the most bitter rivalries and he knows what Robert is gonna do to Jimmy Golden. After that we're back to Les and Charlie talking about the day's events and also let us know that Don Curtis had a meeting that day to review the actions of Randy Rose and Dennis Condrey and how the attack on Norvel Austin would surely lead to some kind of punishment being levied against them. Les speculates about the tag team titles as Norvel Austin is injured and possibly won't be able to defend the titles. Charlie tells us that Championship Month will continue next week with the Southeastern title on the line and welcomes us to join him next week and that's all for this show.

I found the midget tag match to be really enjoyable. They got a lot of time so they managed to work in just about all of the spots you'd expect in an 80s midget match (except, thankfully, no referee getting his ass bitten) I wish they would have settled down and worked a bit more of a traditional tag match towards the end but it's a fun comedy match and never wore out it's welcome with me which is high praise for a comedy match that goes over 15 minutes.

I had this match #1 on my AWA ballot. Thought this was by far the best Hennig performance I've ever seen and wish we'd have gotten more fired up Curt performances like this one. I liked this version of "I'm pissed off and want to fight" Curt a lot more than "technical worker" Curt that we got in the majority of his babyface matches.

The "Harley Race is a really tough bad ass" stuff is more about real life Harley Race on the road and backstage and not about him in the ring. From all the Harley stuff I've seen, I wouldn't expect to see that "myth" of Harley in his matches.

Randy Orton is already pretty much a "less is more" wrestler. His injuries aren't due to him doing a bunch of crazy shit it's just that his shoulders are apparently made of glass. We saw him get injured pounding on the mat and the reports I read about his latest shoulder injury is that it happened while he was taking out his trash at home. It's not because he was taking 360 flip bumps to the arena floor.

Results from July-mid November can be found here: http://prowrestlingonly.com/index.php?/topic/31398-southwest-championship-wrestling-results/ Champions: Southwest Heavyweight Champion: Tully Blanchard Southwest Tag Team Champions: The Fabulous Ones (Stan Lane & Steve Keirn) Southwest Television Champion: Mike Masters Taped at The Junction in San Antonio, TX on 11/21 Southwest Championship Wrestling airing on Saturday 11/26 in local markets -Show intro- Steve Stack: Welcome to another edition of Southwest Championship Wrestling, the most exciting hour in all of professional wrestling! We've got another action packed in store for you this week like we do every week here on Southwest Championship Wrestling but before we get to any of that I want to let you know about the events that took place last Sunday night at the HemisFair Arena in the main event between 'Hacksaw' Jim Duggan and the Southwest Heavyweight Champion Tully Blanchard. It was a wild affair that saw both referees, Jack Howe and Carl Fergie, end up getting knocked out of the ring during the contest with Jack Howe the original referee having to be helped back to the locker room and then Carl Fergie taking over the match only to also be knocked out of the ring later in the contest. At that point both Mr. Saito & Yoshi Seito became involved in the match and attacked Jim Duggan only for David Von Erich to make his surprise return by clearing them out of the ring with a chair and then attacking Tully Blanchard. Unfortunately for Jim Duggan however, Carl Fergie regained his senses while that was going on and upon seeing David Von Erich attacking Tully Blanchard, he disqualified Jim Duggan and declared Tully the winner. This meant that Jim Duggan would be ineligible to receive any future Southwest Heavyweight Title matches while Tully is the champion due to the stipulations of the match. After reviewing the tape of what happened Stanley Blackburn has made a ruling that due to the outside interference by Mr. Saito and Yoshi Seito and under the circumstances that Duggan was disqualified he will allow Jim Duggan one more opportunity to earn a Southwest Heavyweight Title match by competing in a tag team match this Sunday night with a partner of his choice against Tully Blanchard and a partner of his choice. When we come back from the break we'll get the reactions of 'Hacksaw' Jim Duggan and also find out who his partner will be this Sunday night, so don't go away we'll be right back! -First commercial break- Steve Stack: We're back on Southwest Championship Wrestling and with me now is 'Hacksaw' Jim Duggan. Jim it was definitely a wild one last Sunday night and it seemed like you'd been robbed out of your chance to ever beat Tully Blanchard for the Southwest Heavyweight Title but it seems like now you've got a bit of a reprieve. Do you know who your partner is going to be this Sunday night? Jim Duggan: Well Steve Stack it wasn't a hard decision for me to make when I found out Stanley Blackburn's decision earlier in the week. I knew I wanted a tag team partner I can trust and that's why I did everything I could to get a hold of Ron Starr even though I know he went down to Puerto Rico to chase after Abdullah the Butcher. I haven't been able to actually get him on the phone but we played some phone tag and I talked to someone down there who assured me that Ron Starr got my message and if I paid for his flight back here then he'd be my partner Sunday night. -Suddenly David Von Erich comes out Jim Duggan: What do you want out here!? This is my interview time and I don't want nothing to do with you! David Von Erich: Look I know you're mad at me because you got disqualified last Sunday night, but don't forget that I came down to the ring and helped you when you had 3 guys trying to beat your brains out. I don't want you to get stuck without a partner hoping that Ron Starr is actually going to show up Sunday night, I'm right here right now telling you face to face, not through other people over the phone, that I can be your partner. Jim Duggan: First of all, I don't like you. Second of all, I don't trust you. I don't want you for my partner. If I got word from Ron Starr that he's going to be there Sunday night, then he'll be there. You don't want to help me you just want to get your hands on Tully Blanchard and you don't care if you get disqualified in doing it. I want to win the match, I want to earn another shot at the Southwest Heavyweight Title and I want to win it for all these people who deserve a real champion. David Von Erich: I'm not going to come out fighting like a wild man, I got a lot of that out of my system last Sunday night. I don't want to just beat Tully's brains out I want to defeat him and I want him to lose that Southwest Heavyweight Title. Jim Duggan: I'm sure you do. But you want him to lose it to YOU and that's another reason I can't trust you in this match. How do I know if I got the match won you're not gonna try and jump me and try to take me out of the match so you can win it for yourself? I know what kind of a man Ron Starr is, I know I can trust him. With you any time I got for a cover I'll need to have eyes in the back of my head looking for a loaded purse from your girlfriend. David Von Erich: Now look don't you bring Sunshine into this! I'm out here offering to help you as a man, don't insult me! Jim Duggan: I don't want your help, I don't need your help and I'd rather fight alone Sunday night than have you in my corner so how's about that tough guy! -Jim Duggan and David Von Erich get nose to nose Steve Stack: Gentlemen please! Control yourself out here, this isn't the time or the place for this! David Von Erich: You're right Steve Stack. Duggan you had your chance if you're stuck out there on your own this Sunday night you won't have anyone to blame but yourself and I won't feel sorry for you. -David Von Erich walks off Jim Duggan: I don't need anyone to feel sorry for me! I know Ron Starr is gonna be in my corner Sunday night and I know that at the end of the night I'm gonna have my hand raise and I'm gonna earn myself another shot at the Southwest Heavyweight Title! -Jim Duggan leaves the interview area Steve Stack: I'm glad that didn't end up coming to blows, I could have cut the tension between those two with a knife. Last week here on this program you all saw the shocking return to the area of The Assassins, their brutal assault on The Fabulous Ones and the revelation that The Canadian was actually Assassin #2 the whole time. Now after The Fabulous Ones were successful in their title defense against the team of Mr. Saito and Yoshi Seito they demanded a match this Sunday night with The Assassin to exact their revenge on The Assassins for that assault. Stanley Blackburn made that match and so this Sunday night it will be The Fabulous Ones defending the Southwest Tag Team Titles against the team of the masked Assassins. This decision has upset a few teams in the area that were looking for a title shot at the tag team belts but none more than the team I'm about to bring out here now the team of Ken Lucas and Eddie Gilbert. & Steve Stack: Gentlemen I know you guys were very hot when you hot that The Assassins had been granted a Southwest Tag Team Title match this Sunday night and caused such a ruckus about it that Stanley Blackburn has made a match for here on TV today with you two against The Assassins and if you win it will instead be you in the tag team title match this Sunday night. Ken Lucas: I don't think it's fair to say we caused a ruckus, we simply demanded what was right. We've been fighting over the past month ever since Eddie Gilbert returned from injury to get a shot at the tag team titles and we've been trying to do it the right way. The Assassins comes back here after being gone for 3 months and just attack the champions and immediately get themselves a title match, well of course that didn't sit well with us. Steve Stack: To be fair, The Fabulous Ones did request the match against The Assassins. Ken Lucas: Steve, I've been a champion here before, Ricky Morton and I held those Southwest Tag Team Titles for a long time and you know and I know that the champion doesn't get to make their own matches. Sure, The Fabulous Ones might have requested that match but Stanley Blackburn should have recognized we were more deserving of the title match without me having to call him and complain. Steve Stack: Well it seems like everything is going to work out in the end as you'll be facing The Assassins here on TV today and the winners of that match will be the team to face The Fabulous Ones Sunday night. Eddie Gilbert: And we intend to be the ones getting that title shot. We know the Assassins are a big tough team that will do anything to win, we saw what they were capable of last week when they pulled that trick on The Fabs and injured Steve Keirn's shoulder. But we teamed up together to become the Southwest Tag Team Champions and we know to do that we have to beat teams like The Assassins we have to beat teams that are bigger than we are because that's what being a champion is all about. So Steve Stack if you or anyone else is counting us out today, you get ready to be surprised because we're gonna be the ones in that title match this Sunday night. -Ken Lucas and Eddie Gilbert leave the interview area Steve Stack: Fans there you have it, today in the main event here on TV we're going to see The Assassins take on Ken Lucas and Eddie Gilbert and I know it's going to one heck of a fight. And we've got a heck of a fight for you coming up right after the break because Art Crews has challenged Timothy Flowers to a match here on TV this week and Art Crews has vowed that if he can't defeat his former partner this time out then he will leave the Southwest area! You won't want to miss that match so don't go away, we'll be right back! -Second commercial break- Steve Stack: We're back on Southwest Championship Wrestling and before we get to the ring for our first match of the day I wanted to get a quick word from Art Crews the man who made the challenge for this match and vowed to leave the area if he failed to defeat Timothy Flowers here on TV. Steve Stack: Art when we first saw you come into the area you were teamed up with Timothy Flowers but then it seems like once you guys got around Jim Holliday he got convinced that he could do better things on his own under the guidance of a manager. What are your thoughts on your former partner ditching you and taking up with 'Gentleman' Jim Holliday? Art Crews: When Tim and I made the decision to come down here to Texas together it was because we heard this was one of the best areas for tag team action in the country. We had just started teaming together up in the Portland area and we thought we could get more experience and improve ourselves by coming down here to face the stiffer competition of the area. But then Tim let a snake like Jim Holliday get in his head and convince him that he was already a star and that I was the one holding him back. Well he's been able to cheat me the last two weeks at the HemisFair Arena and his manager didn't want to give me another rematch so I had to offer to leave the area if I failed to win. But I didn't pack my bags Steve Stack, I didn't call around to find myself another place to wrestle if I don't win. Because I know I'm going to win, I'm going to beat Timothy Flowers right in the middle of that ring and show everybody that he made the biggest mistake of his career turning his back on me. -Art Crews heads down to the ring Steve Stack: Well fans we're about to find out together if that's true, let's take it down to the ring for our first match of the day! Steve Stack: What a despicable way to send a man looking for a new job! I can't believe that! Let me bring in Jim Holliday now and talk to him about how that match went down and the matches his men are involved in this Sunday night at The HemisFair Arena. Holliday: Wasn't that just the greatest thing you've ever seen Steve Stack? My man Timothy Flowers just kicked Art Crews to the curb AGAIN and this time he's gotta go pack his bags and find a new place to work because he's gone from Southwest Championship Wrestling! Steve Stack: It was something all right. Somehow you've managed to avoid having your man Mike Masters defend the Southwest Television Title here on TV today and instead he'll be defending the title against this Sunday night against Roy Lee Welch at the HemisFair Arena. Why did you work so hard to avoid having that match on TV? Holliday: Because I don't want these people to get tired of seeing the greatest young star in all of wrestling having to face the same tired competition on TV here every week. I tried to get Stanley Blackburn to give him a fresh opponent but instead he insisted on Roy Lee Welch getting his rematch and so I thought it best to have that match at The HemisFair Arena instead. Steve Stack: If you want Mike Masters to face fresh competition then why don't you have him answer the challenge of Man Mountain Link? Holliday: Because Mike Masters deserves to wrestle men who are actually worth of a title shot. What has Link done? And to show how magnanimous I am I've even provided for Link to earn the opportunity to face Mike Masters. This Sunday night it will be Timothy Flowers teaming up with Goldie Rogers, who I taken under my advisement on a trial basis, against the team of Man Mountain Link and his worthless brother Tiny Anderson and if Link's team wins the match, which of course won't happen, then he'll receive a title shot right here next week on TV. Steve Stack: Assuming Mike Masters is able to retain it against Roy Lee Welch first. Holliday: Steve Stack please, there's no need to assume what is already obvious to everyone but yourself. Now I believe I've wasted my time enough talking to you I have to get back to the locker room and celebrate Timothy Flowers great victory. -Jim Holliday leaves the interview area Steve Stack: Well fans you just heard it from Jim Holliday, two more matches that you'll be seeing this Sunday night at the HemisFair Arena: Goldie Rogers and Timothy Flowers teaming up to take on the brother team of Man Mountain Link and Tiny Anderson and also Mike Masters defending the Southwest Television Title against Roy Lee Welch. We've got to take another break but when we come back we're going to be talking to the Southwest Heavyweight Champion Tully Blanchard about his tag team match this Sunday night so don't go away, we'll be right back with more Southwest Championship Wrestling! -Third commercial break- Steve Stack: We're back here on Southwest Championship Wrestling and with me now is the Southwest Heavyweight Champion Tully Blanchard. Tully Blanchard: STILL the Southwest Heavyweight Champion Steve Stack! Just like I told you I would be last week when you were out here acting like there was no way I was going to keep my title against the "great" Jim Duggan. Well who is out here with this belt today? Me! Not Jim Duggan! Steve Stack: And it only took the help of Mr. Saito and Yoshi Seito to keep Jim Duggan from beating you and David Von Erich causing Duggan to get disqualified for you to be able to keep that belt. Tully Blanchard: Do I have to tell you every single week not to get smart with me? Or should I just show you one good time why you shouldn't so you can remember? Don't blame me for the stupidity of David Von Erich, even if I did scramble his brains, he was stupid well before that! And he's so stupid that he thought he would be able to call Stanley Blackburn and get himself a Southwest Heavyweight Title match with me this week. He didn't tell you that part did he? No, he tried to get Stanley Blackburn to give him a title match despite the fact that he's nothing but a LOSER. When is the last time David Von Erich even won a match? He lost the TV Title to that run Roy Lee Welch, he caused us to lose the Southwest Tag Team Titles to The Fabulous Ones and the rematch in the cage and then he sat at home for a month drinking his meals through a straw and trying to remember how to spell his name after I cracked his skull with the cage door. What makes him qualified to wrestle the greatest Southwest Heavyweight Champion of all time? Steve Stack: There are some very small kernels of truth in that story you're telling but certainly the fact that you DID slam his head in the steel cage door should give him the right to wrestle you. Tully Blanchard: Well I disagree Steve Stack and you can see that Stanley Blackburn did as well. David Von Erich is going to have to work his way up the ladder before he can get to me, that's why this Sunday night he's facing Yoshi Seito. Mr. Saito and I have been a little disappointed in his performance here in Texas but Saito has assured me he's got Seito back on the right track and that he'll beat David this week and keep him from even dreaming about getting in the ring with me. Steve Stack: Well since you just brought up your two associates and Yoshi Seito will apparently be wrestling David Von Erich, is it safe to say your partner this Sunday will be Mr. Saito? Tully: Of course it's Mr. Saito. There's not a man I trust more to protect me and my reign as the greatest Southwest Heavyweight Champion of all time. I shouldn't even be in this tag team match, I already beat Duggan and he wasn't ever supposed to get another title match but Stanley Blackburn is the most biased match maker in the history of wrestling so he wanted to give Duggan another chance. Well there won't be another chance, he will won't get a shot at this title because there is no way he can beat me and Mr. Saito especially once his partner doesn't even show up. How stupid is Jim Duggan to trust a guy he hasn't even talked to is going to come back from Puerto Rico to be his partner? He's about as stupid as David without the excuse of me slamming a cage door on his head. Steve Stack: Alright Tully I think that's about enough from you for today, I've got to move on with the show. Tully: I am the show, there's no one more important to talk to or see than me but I'm tired of looking at you anyway Steve Stack. -Tully walks off from the interview area Steve Stack: Now let me bring in Jose Lothario who says he has some news about the fine that was levied on The Cuban Assassin that has kept him from being able to wrestle here in Southwest Championship Wrestling. Steve Stack: Jose despite The Cuban Assassin being barred from wrestling here until his fine is paid we saw appear at the HemisFair Arena again last Sunday night and attack El Gran Apollo. I heard that Stanley Blackburn increased the fine due to that attack, is that true? Jose Lothario: Yes it's true Steve Stack! Now instead of $2500, I was supposed to pay $5000 before The Cuban Assassin is allowed to wrestle here! But you know what happened? That idiot El Gran Apollo paid the fine! Hahaha! Steve Stack: Wait a minute Jose, you're saying that El Gran Apollo paid the fine and that now The Cuban Assassin will be allowed to wrestle here in the area? Jose Lothario: That's right Steve Stack! That fool was so desperate to get a match with The Cuban Assassin that he gave Stanley Blackburn the $5000 and now this Sunday night The Cuban Assassin will make his debut at the HemisFair Arena against El Gran Apollo in what will be the FINAL appearance of El Gran Apollo not just at the HemisFair Arena but in any wrestling ring anywhere in the world! Steve Stack: Well it's certainly a surprise that Apollo would be so anxious for the match that he would pay $5000 to get it but I think that alone should tell you not to count him out Jose. Jose Lothario: I not only have counted him out but I knocked him out! Did you see that punch I gave him last Sunday night that turned his lights out? Steve Stack: Yes I saw it and it's exactly why you aren't allowed to wrestle with that cast on your hand. Jose Lothario: I don't need to wrestle with this cast Steve Stack, I have The Cuban Assassin to wrestle for me until I have this cast off and by the time my hand is healed El Gran Apollo will be a former wrestler and so will Mil Mascaras if he's stupid enough to come back here after his suspension is over! Steve Stack: Jose I'm incredibly sorry to have to cut this interview short now, truly I am, but we have to take another time out for our sponsors but don't go away when we come back we'll talk to The Fabulous Ones and we've still got our main event of Ken Lucas and Eddie Gilbert vs. The Assassins to come so don't go away! -Fourth commercial break- Steve Stack: Apparently we've gotten another paid for video by Sheik Adnan. I don't really know what to make of the things he just said so I'm just going to move this show along and bring out the Southwest Tag Team Champions, The Fabulous Ones! Steve Stack: First of all congratulations on your victory over Mr. Saito and Yoshi Seito last Sunday night, I know that was a tough match not just because of the quality of your opponents but with shoulder injury Steve Keirn that left Stan Lane to almost have to go it alone. Steve Keirn: My shoulder might be a little banged up right now but I could have gotten in there and wrestled last Sunday night, that's just not how the match ended up playing out. They did a good job of keeping Stan Lane from being able to make the tag but everything worked out in the end as you can see by us standing out here now with these belts. Steve Stack: I know you guys requested a match with The Assassins, what are your thoughts on Ken Lucas & Eddie Gilbert facing the Assassins on TV today with them getting the title shot against you instead of The Assassins if they come out victorious? Stan Lane: Look, we like Eddie and Ken. We had some problems with them in the past but that's all water under the bridge now and we consider those guys friends of ours. We'd like to give them a title shot but The Assassins came out here last week and jumped us and beat us up right here on TV. How are we supposed to just let that go and not try to get our revenge on them? Of course we asked for a match with The Assassins and we certainly won't be rooting for them to beat Gilbert and Lucas but we still want that match with them this Sunday night. Steve Stack: Steve, I've got to ask what is the status of that left shoulder we saw The Assassins attack last week? Steve Keirn: I'm not going to lie Steve Stack, it's still sore, it still hurts me and I don't have full mobility of my left arm right now. But luckily for me I'm right handed which still means I can throw my best punch and so I'm not too worried about it. I'm not going to let it slow me down or keep me from defending these belts. Steve Stack: Well gentlemen I look forward to seeing you in action this Sunday night against whichever team you end up facing in your title defense. Right now let's head to the ring for our second match of the day with the newly formed team of Larry Hamilton and Steve Pardee taking on Paul Peller and Mike Fever. Steve Stack: That was an impressive first showing of the newly paired team of Larry Hamilton and Steve Pardee and it looks like they could be set to make some waves in the very competitive tag team division here in Southwest Championship Wrestling. Now we've got to take our last commercial break of the program but you won't want to touch that dial because when we come back we're going to see our main event of the day with Ken Lucas and Eddie Gilbert taking on The Assassins! -Fifth and final commercial break- Steve Stack: Welcome back to Southwest Championship Wrestling! Let's not waste any time, we want to make sure we can give you a finish to this big main event so let's head right down to the ring for Ken Lucas and Eddie Gilbert taking on The Assassins! Steve Stack: What a tough loss for Ken Lucas and Eddie Gilbert! The Fabulous Ones certainly have their work cut out for them Sunday night as The Assassins look even more vicious than they did here a few months ago. Fans we're out of time but make sure you get your tickets to see the action at the HemisFair Arena this Sunday night where we'll see The Fabulous Ones defending the Southwest Tag Team Titles against The Assassins, David Von Erich making his return to the ring taking on Yoshi Seito, Jim Duggan and Ron Starr facing off against Tully Blanchard and Mr. Saito, El Gran Apollo versus The Cuban Assassin and much more! You won't want to miss it and don't forget to join us here next week for more of the most exciting hour in all of professional wrestling right here on Southwest Championship Wrestling! Scheduled for Sunday, November 27th at the HemisFair Arena in San Antonio, TX Southwest Tag Team Titles: The Assassin vs. The Fabulous Ones David Von Erich vs. Yoshi Seito Jim Duggan & Ron Starr vs. Tully Blanchard & Mr. Saito El Gran Apollo vs. The Cuban Assassin Eddie Gilbert & Ken Lucas vs. Yin & Yang Southwest TV Title:Roy Lee Welch vs. Mike Masters Timothy Flowers & Goldie Rogers vs. Man Mountain Link & Tiny Anderson Steve Pardee & Larry Hamilton vs. Bruiser Costa & Terry Adonis

I liked Maddox a lot during his GM run but I can't be bothered to get upset about his release. It's been like 2 years since he was regularly featured on TV and never even really went down to NXT to reinvent himself as a new character. He just randomly floated around and worked some house shows and dark matches every once and a while. It seemed pretty clear the guy was never going to get an opportunity to do anything.

Yea I know Chavo has a good rep but who ever pimps The Guerreros as a team when they're talking about great 80s tag teams?

I'm dropping out too.

Gary is on the late 70s cards (and in a 6 man tag with Fritz himself on one of them) so that would definitely be before the big split.

Well I can say for sure after reading Gary Hart's book and his hatred for Joe Blanchard that Gary didn't work in Southwest. The Spoiler did work for Fritz in World Class (or technically Big Time Wrestling as it was called pre-World Class) managed by Gary Hart though. Gary talked up The Spoiler a lot in his book and was one of the few people Gary wrote about in his book that he didn't eventually "turn on" by saying "but then he didn't listen to me one time so I never spoke to him again."

If I ever get super powers and take up masked vigilantism I'll make sure not to confide my secret identity to Bruce Tharpe.

The Guerreros Besides the guys you listed like Jose & Gino the biggest standouts so far to me have been Hector & Chavo Guerrero. They have some good singles stuff on there (and I haven't seen Chavo/Bock yet) but their tag stuff is a real revelation to me. They could do pretty much anything you needed from a tag team whether it's being ass kicking babyfaces, sympathetic underdogs or bumping and stooging heels. They were really great at working around Jose Lothario's limitations and creating a ton of movement around him so he could just hit his punches and look good without trying to expose him like the Dallas stuff that shoe mentioned. It's a shame these guys didn't get more opportunities to tear it together as a tag team in the late 80s. Chavo seemed to kind of disappear from the scene while Hector hopped around places like Memphis and USA Championship in Knoxville but they could have been a shot in the arm to the weak talent pool of the AWA or helped bolster the strong tag scene in JCP. Certainly would have been made a bigger impact than Lazertron teaming with Jimmy Valiant.

Generally looking for "classics" in 1980s TV is going to set you up for disappointment. Especially the main shows, they were almost always squash matches and promos. The "secondary" shows like Power Pro, Worldwide and whatever the secondary Memphis show was where you could find some good arena matches.

Let's try and get this train back on the tracks. The date I have for this show is 2/14/81 but the only thing I know for sure is that it's in early 81. Charlie and Les welcome us to the show and run down the matches for today's show which include Ken Lucas vs. Ron Bass and Paul Orndorff vs. Chick Donovan. They talk about how everyone is looking to become the Southeastern champion before Harley Race comes into the area to defend the NWA World Title against whoever is the title holder. Then we get a pre-taped split screen promo between Brad Armstrong & Jerry Stubbs with Stubbs talking about how he wants back his U.S. Jr. title and Brad kind of stumbles his way through a rebuttal. This takes us straight to the ring where both guys are already waiting for the bell. This match is kind of losing me and then Dennis Condrey & Randy Rose come out with a board and try to get Jerry Stubbs to take it and use it on Brad Armstrong and Stubbs thinkgs about it but decides not to which causes them to run in and attack Stubbs with it! Then hell breaks loose as Bob Armstrong, Mr. Saito and a whole bunch of other people run in and we get a bunch of people brawling in the ring before the heels retreat. Stubbs wins by DQ but Brad retains the title and we go to commerical with Stubbs trying to get up in the ring while he's bleeding big time. We come back with the rundown for the Monday show in the Boutwell Auditorium which has a Light's Out match with Ken Lucas vs. Jimmy Golden, Ron Bass defending the Southeastern Title against Paul Orndorff in a No DQ match, Bob Armstrong, Brad Armstrong and a "mystery partner" (almost assuredly Jerry Stubbs now) against Saito, Condrey & Rose, Jerry Stubbs vs. Oki Shikina and Robert Gibson vs. Stan Lane in what may have been the first of the MANY times they would be in the ring together. I'd have gone. Then we get promos from Paul Orndorff & Ron Bass about their match with both guys accusing the other of chickening out of the match and getting themself disqualified to set up their No DQ match for Monday. Orndorff is outclassed badly by all the other great talkers in this territory. After that we get Charlie Platt interviewing Ken Lucas about returning to the area. I have no idea what is going on as Ken Lucas has the Southeastern title in front of him and they're talking about him winning it but we JUST saw a promo from Ron Bass with the title on his shoulder talking about defending it against Orndorff. Lucas talks about wanting to hold on to the belt so he can be the one to wrestle Harley Race for the NWA World Title but I'm still confused. After they finish making my head spin we go back to Charlie & Les at the desk talking about how Southeastern had the best action of any promotion in 1980 and then we get a video from the Southeastern figurehead promoter Don Curtis. He talks about spending $150,000 on special prizes for matches and plans to double that budget in 1981. That's amusing to me. He says he also plans to go around to the towns in the area so the fans can tell him what they like and don't like about the promotion. Just imagine someone trying to do that today. After that we get my least favorite Southeastern guy the fake Japanese actually Mexican Oki Shikina vs. Robert Gibson. This match does nothing for me and instead I sit here and think about how much wrestling has changed since 1981 and how desperate WWE is for a Mexican star while back in 81 they would be so under used it was easier to get bookings by shaving your head and pretending to be Japanese (or Mongolian in the case of Juan Reynosa becoming Taras Bulba) You can't get away with that shit today just look at how WWE had to backtrack on Kofi Kingston being from Jamaica once it got outed he was really from West Ghana. It's too bad really, The Ascension would make much better fake Mongolians than fake Road Warriors. Gibson wins this with a Thesz press to save you from more of my pointless musings. We move on from that to our Personality Profile with Rose, Condrey & Saito. Thank you, this is more like it. Condrey & Rose still have the Southeastern Tag Titles and Saito has the Alabama Title making them the "Terrific Trio" according to Rose. These guys are really under rated promos especially Condrey. We get a promo from Bob Armstrong who talks about the concussion he got from Condrey and he walked sideways for 3 days. Bob says he's been hit by so many karate chops by Saito his voice has changed 3 times in the last month. Bob wants to show who his partner is going to be and OHH SHIT it's not Jerry Stubbs, it's Andre the Giant! They built that reveal up great and even got me hyped with it almost 35 years later. The "Terrific Trio" sell it perfectly and damn now I *REALLY* wish I could have seen that Boutwell card. After that awesomeness we get "The Golden Boy" Chick Donovan against Paul Orndorff. Chick looks about as jacked as I've ever seen him in this match. Les Thatcher sums up Donovan's strategy in this match as a "hit and run artist" which is a lost art of being a heel. God forbid a wrestler stall to get heat these days they might not get a good review on the internet or a this is awesome chant. Orndorff kind of starts moving too fast here and just throws out a bunch of offense without letting any of it breathe including the weakest looking powerslam I've ever seen him do. Orndorff wins with a back body drop attempt countered into a backslide. We go back to the desk with Les Thatcher talking to Bob & Brad Armstrong along with a video promo from Rose, Condrey & Saito. They go all in on the Andre hype saying he's never been off his feet but they're going to chop down the tree and then we get Bob & Brad's response. "Salt, karate, kung fu boogaloo I don't care what it is in Birmingham you will go down." Bullet Bob is the best. After a commercial we get another promo from Ken Lucas at the desk with Charlie Platt and they look at footage of Jimmy Golden vs. Ken Lucas from the arena. Lucas shoves off the first referee for trying to push him off Golden and then Golden punches the referee out once he recovers and tries to break them up again. They keep fighting and then the second referee comes in and gets the same treatment. Lucas keeps kicking Golden's ass but Condrey & Rose come down and pull him out of the ring to save him and Lucas promises more of the same for Jimmy this Monday night. Then we get our TV main event of Ron Bass vs. Ken Lucas and I suspect some bullshit on the finish for this one. Neither guy comes out with the belt or gets called the champion in an effort to make sure I stay confused on that point. And that doesn't take long as Lucas gets his Sleeper on Ron Bass and then gets attacked from behind. Lucas tries to fight them off and then Bob Armstrong comes out and helps him and they clear the ring. After a commercial we get the card rundown again for Monday night and the last little bit of hype from Les Thatcher who shows a video promo from Jimmy Golden who has is holding The Stud's mask on a stick with him while he talks trash about Ken Lucas. I love trash talking Jimmy Golden. Then we get Charlie and Les at the desk recapping the day's show and welcoming us back next week. I'm surprised we didn't get a bloody promo from Stubbs about the attack from Condrey & Rose but I guess they didn't want to take the focus off the Andre surprise.

He already gave credit for Dr. Death.