kevinmcfl

Nice week of shows. I was wondering how you do your loop. Do you move all your wrestlers from one area to another or do you almost have a California crew and a northern part of your territory crew. The reason I ask isyou are able to find work for so many wrestlers and don't really have total jobbers.

Episode #7 May 16, 1991 WBIR-TV (Channel 10-Knoxville) WJHL-TV (Channel 11-Johnson City) After the regular opening we go right to Les Thatcher and “Dirty” Dutch Mantel with Ahmed, his “bodyguard” standing behind him. Les Thatcher: Welcome wrestling fans, coming to you from Knoxville Auditorium Studio for Smoky Mountain Wrestling… wrestling the way it used to be and the way you like it. I’m Les Thatcher along with “Dirty” Dutch Mantel. We are just over a week away from Volunteer Slam at the Knoxville Civic Coliseum on Friday, May 22 where we will crown the first ever Smoky Mountain Champion. On today’s show, we will see the newly formed tag team, TNT…. Shawn Michaels and “Double J” Jeff Jarrett as they take on the extra tough team of “The Hustler” Rip Rogers and “No Class” Don Bass. We have Irwin R. Schyster trying to get on the winning side tonight but it won’t be easy as he takes on “The Fab One” Steve Keirn. Killer Kyle makes his return to Smoky Mountain Wrestling against Bart Batten. The Destruction Crew tries to get ready for the upcoming tag team tournament against Dixie Dynamite and Joey Mags. We will also be hearing from The Wild-eyed Southern Boys as they will pick their tag team partner for today’s main event against Ivan Koloff, Boris Zhukov and “Captain Redneck” Dick Murdoch! What a match that’s going to be. Ron Wright is here again and he says he has a big announcement for everyone. And Dutch, you’re going to love this… Stunning Steve Austin is hear and he says he has a message for both you and Ahmed! Dutch Mantell: Well, I don’t think I’ll be sticking around to hear what Mr. Austin has to say. He doesn’t respect me and I don’t respect him. I am really interested to see who the Southern Boys found to be their tag team partner. I mean that would be one stupid person to face The Russian Bear, Ivan Koloff, Boris Zhukov, and Dick Murdoch!... I really can’t wait to here from my good friend, Ron Wright. I hope his luck is finally changing! I mean he is such a great person and he has always fought for these fans in the Knoxville Area. It is such a shame these moonshiners aren’t chipping in to help with his medical bills. Les Thatcher: Oh brother… I don’t think I can listen to this anymore so let’s get to the ring for our first match. Match #1: TNT (Jeff Jarrett & Shawn Michaels) defeats the “Hustler” Rip Rogers & “No Class” Don Bass when Jeff Jarrett connects with a top rope drop kick on Bass. Les Thatcher tries his best throughout the match to explain that TNT might just be the favorites in the upcoming Smoky Mountain tag team tournament on June 1st at the National Guard Armory in Johnson City. Next, we see a replay from a few weeks back when Boris Zhukov attacked the Southern Boys in their match against Ivan Koloff and Dick Murdoch. This led to Mr. Wonderful Paul Orndorff getting involved and we end up with a wild brawl all over the studio. After the video replay, we see the Southern Boys with Mr. Wonderful Paul Orndorff where Les reminds everyone that the Southern Boys have been granted a 6-ma tag team match tonight against Koloff, Zhukov and Dick Murdoch….. Tracy Smothers: First of all, Steve and I would like to thank Paul Orndorff here for helping us out that night. I mean we should never have trusted a word coming out of the mouth Ivan Koloff when he said his cousin, Boris was back in Russia. We should have known that they were planning some devious attack that night. Well, Steve and I have been over in Japan the last two weeks battling some of the greatest tag teams in the world but to be honest, all we’ve been thinking about is Ivan Koloff, Boris Zhukov and that “Captain Red” Dick Murdoch! Commissioner Armstrong promised us a rematch against them with a partner of our choosing and tonight we’re here to collect. Les Thatcher: So, I guess that means you are ready to name your partner for tonight? Steve Armstrong: We are Les and it was a pretty easy choice. We’ve got to fight fire with fire so Tracy and I looked at each other and we just blurted out the same man at the same time. (Paul Orndorff is nodding his head) Steve Armstrong: Our partner tonight is going to be none other than “Bam Bam” Terry Gordy! Les Thatcher: You guys can’t go wrong with Terry Gordy… I mean I wouldn’t want to be the Russians or Murdoch knowing Gordy is coming after me! Paul Orndorff: What… Gordy… It was me that saved your butts a few weeks ago when Zhukov came after you all. And now… I’m not good enough! You two made the wrong choice… not only for tonight but for your futures! (Orndorff storms off) Steve Armstrong: I understand why Paul is upset but honestly, we’ve seen the tapes from the last few weeks and we weren’t sure we could trust him. He’s been yelling about this and that and blaming my father for not being able to use the piledriver and all. Paul is a great wrestler but in a 6-man tag match we all have to be on the same page and I think we got that in Bam Bam. Let’s not forget, he is one of the original Freebirds… one of the best 6-man tag teams in history. Dutch Mantell: uh oh… trouble in Paradise… or should I say trouble in Perfectville… anyway… I don’t think you two have any shot tonight even if I was your partner! As the Southern Boys walk off, Ron Wright rolls in. Ron Wright: (try reading in a slow, Southers accent) It’s been a long haul for ol Ron Wright here but there is finally a light at the end of the tunnel. I finally found a man that thinks just like me. A man that wants the best for the people of this region of the country. A man that knows just how hard most people work here in Appalachia. A man who wants to weed out the bad apples and reward the others… a truly Christian rassler who has agreed to let me be his manager. This should not be a surprise to any of you who want the best for our people and I will bring him out in just a little while…. I am just so overwhelmed with joy that I a might actually cry… I can finally see a path where I earn some money to have those surgeries to get up out of this here wheelchair! Old Ron Wright is still not past accepting your generosity so if you want to speed up this process, please send your donations down here to the offices at Smoky Mountain Rasslin …care of Ron Wright… Bless you all and bless my new rassler. Commercial Break “Fans if you’d like to raise money for your school, club or civic organization and you’d like to see all the excitement Smoky Mountain Wrestling provides, then this message is for you. Bring the stars of Smoky Mountain Wrestling to your town simply by calling (703) 989-6819 or send your letters to P.O. Box 1279, Morristown, Tennessee. Wrestling the way it used to be and wrestling the way you like it! BE THERE!! Next we get a promo from IRS where Les Thatcher reminds him of his defeat last week at the hands of “White Lightening” Tim Horner! IRS: The only way Tim Horner could ever beat me is to cheat and that’s exactly what he did. Pretending to be the Tennessee Volunteer … to make me prepare for one wrestler only to be disguised as another. Once a criminal … always a criminal. That is exactly why I have joined forces with the one and only honest person here in Smoky Mountain Wrestling… Mr. Ron Wright! Ron rolls back out with a huge smile on his face and the two shake hands… with Ron letting everyone know that together, he and Irwin are going to clean up Smoky Mountain Wrestling and make this a place where Christian rasslers can be treated fairly…. And ol Ron can finally get those surgeries to give him a new hip and a new knee. Dutch is really excited for Ron and Irwin while Les just rolls his eyes. Match #2: I.R.S. defeats “The Fab One” Steve Keirn with the help of Ron Wright who somehow times it perfectly that he backed his wheelchair up and into the ring post just as Keirn was climbing up to hit I.R.S with what Les thought was going to be a flying elbow drop. Instead, Keirn crashed to the mat and I.R.S went to work and eventually nailed Keirn with “The Audit” (Samoan Drop) for the win. Dutch was so happy for Ron Wright that he has found another Christian wrestler like himself and that he is going to start to earn some real money while helping the people of East Tennessee get away from the dredges of society like Tim Horner! Next, we hear from Kolff, Zhukov and Murdoch- hype up todays main event! Ivan: I heard the Southern Boys talking about how we cheated. How we said Boris was back in Russia. Well, he was. Look back on my interview and I said he would be back very, very soon… and he was. It was you two who are the cheaters. It is you who jumps off the top rope to get a win when you are not the legal man! Tonight… it is us who have found the best partner… not you. Dick Murdoch: I must admit it… the Southern Boys had a tough choice in picking their partner for tonight. Paul Orndorff… the one trick pony with his only move … the piledriver… being outlawed or Bam Bam Gordy. Bam Bam is nothing but a cartoon character …. See him on the Flintstones every week… A joke … Gordy, if you get in my way tonight, I’m going to drop you on your head! Commercial Break Next we get a promo from Stunning Steve Austin to hype up his win against Ahmed and the upcoming Volunteer Slam. Steve Austin: Oh Dutch … the time is coming…last week I beat you and your goon all over the arena. Ahmed might be big… he might be strong … but he is nothing like Stunning Steve. Soon, hopefully at Volunteer Slam, it will just be you and I Dutch and we both know what the results will be. Bob Armstrong said that the matches at Volunteer Slam will be chosen randomly … I have a feeling that your name is going to be right next to mine…. And you will be my first stepping stone on the way to the Smoky Mountain Title. Match #3: Destruction Crew vs Dixie Dynamite & Joey Mags The Destruction Crew had a quick pre-match promo where they seemed to take offense to Les Thatcher saying that TNT (Michaels and Jarrett) might just be the favorites to become the first ever Smoky Mountain Tag Team Champions on June 1st. They used this match to utterly destroy their opponents to show everyone that they are the actually favorites to win the belts. They nailed both Dixie Dynamite and Mags with the Shaker Heights Spike where one person whips their opponents into the ropes and then tosses them in the air only for the other to grab his head from about an 8-foot height and slam him face first into the mat. The beating went on and on and every time the ref started to count, they pulled them up. Les Thatcher, the ref, and the crowd were getting very angry as Dixie Dynamite and Joey Mags seemed to be injured. Finally, the crowd erupted as Shawn Michaels and Jeff Jarrett hit the ring and got in a few shots before Enos and Bloom headed for the hills. TNT dared the Destruction Crew to come in and fight but they wanted no part of the young guns! Les and Dutch both hyped up the tag team tournament in a few weeks with Les saying that TNT is still his choice to win the titles while Dutch is disgusted that Michaels and Jarrett interfered in a great match. Dutch is getting sick and tired of the lack of respect these young wrestlers have for the business and that it all started with Steve Austin! MATCH #4: Killer Kyle vs Bart Batten Nice showcase for Killer Kyle who is still very mysterious with his dark suit, sunglasses and black case that could be carrying a weapon according to Les Thatcher. Ring announcer Tommy Noe adds to the mystery by saying he is from Hell’s Kitchen, NY! As for the bout, Killer Kyle does a great job of combining speed and size and connects with a bunch of power moves with the end coming from the powerslam! Commercial Break Main Event: The Southern Boys and “Bam Bam” Gordy defeat Ivan Koloff, Boris Zhukov, and Dick Murdoch when Gordy nailed Zhukov with a devastating powerbomb. The situation was a little uneasy as Paul Orndorff joined Les and Dutch on commentary and he was furious when Gordy bounced Zhukov’s head off the mat with the powerbomb. Orndorff is really convinced that Commissioner Armstrong is biased by outlawing his piledriver but allowing all these other dangerous moves. At one-point Orndorff moved closer to the ring and nobody knew what was going to happed but cooler heads prevailed as Orndorff shakes the babyfaces hands after the bout as Les is relieved that all is well in Smoky Mountain Wrestling. Les Thatcher: What an hour this has been! Folks, if you are anywhere near the Knoxville area on May 22, get your tickets to Volunteer Slam. You will be a witness to history as the first ever Smoky Mountain Champion will be crowned! Until next time, so long from Knoxville!

Great event with Dusty going down to Rude. At this point, Rude is way over Dusty but I wasn't sure what to expect in Florida. Nice job. I feel the last 3 matches could have gone either way and the results give us a glimps as to the direction WCW is going. Doom over the Road Warriors has us all set up for Doom -Steiners at some point. Dustin/Steamboat over the Dangerous Alliance might just be the first battle in a war. Sting over Sid with some help from a returning Lex gives us so many options. Can't wait to see where you go. One note. The Bayfront Center is in St. Pete. The only reason I know this is that it is one of only two wrestling events I was ever at. I was in St. Pete with my mother for NY Mets Spring training and the stadium was right next to the Bayfront Center and it was advertising a huge show. I talked my mother into going and saw Dusty and Andre vs Blackjack Mulligan and Ox Baker which should have been the main event but the main event was for the NWA TItle with Harley and Mike Graham.

Just to start off, I really loved this format. I know everybody is different but for me, it is the promos that make the shows and you nailed it! Tunney... Lawler... Funk... perfect set up for the big match. And your match results were quick with the added info like when Andre came in fuming and took out all 4 men. Great job and really looking forward to the King of the RIng!

Seattle Showdown better bring is some huge crowds to pay all those wrestlers. Some really great matches on there. I'm most interesred in Dibiase vs Dr. Death. That to me, is two of the all-time best. Again, loved the promos in your shows. The back and forth between Coss and the Playboy was so well written. Great job.

Wow... PiP is in disarray but this might have been last straw as Tasha gets spanked!! Love this angle and it continues to carry West Virginia Wrestling.

Episode #6 May 9, 1991 WBIR-TV (Channel 10-Knoxville), WJHL-TV (Channel 11-Johnson City) After the regular opening we go right to Les Thatcher and “Dirty” Dutch Mantel with Ahmed, his “bodyguard” standing behind him. Les Thatcher: Welcome wrestling fans, coming to you from the Knoxville Auditorium Studio for Smoky Mountain Wrestling… wrestling the way it used to be and the way you like it. I’m Les Thatcher along with “Dirty” Dutch Mantel and boy do we have some show today but first, let me call in Smoky Mountain Commissioner “Bullet” Bob Armstrong as he has some very exciting news for you fans. Bob Armstrong: Thank you Les and I do have a lot of great news so bear with me a minute. First, I liked to welcome all the fans watching us on WJHL Channel 11 in Johnson City. Johnson City has a long history of great wrestling but of late, they have been starved for wrestling action. Folks, I promise you if you give Smoky Mountain Wrestling a chance, you won’t be disappointed; lots of great action at an affordable price for the entire family! Bob then goes on to give a whole lot of other important information including: Volunteer Slam- Friday, May 22 at the Knoxville Civic Auditorium- there will be a one-night, 8-man single elimination tournament to crown the first Smoky Mountain Champion. The wrestlers competing in Volunteer Slam will be announced later tonight. Another big night of wrestling will happen on Monday, June 1 at the Freedom Hall Civic Center in Johnson City where the first Smoky Mountain Tag Team will be crowned! More on that next week. Next, Bob reviews the rules of Smoky Mountain Wrestling as there has been some people who seem to be a bit confused. 1. NO PILEDRIVERS 2. AUTOMATIC DQ FOR TOSSING YOUR OPPONENT OVER THE TOP ROPE 3. NO PUTTING YOUR HANDS ON THE REFEREES OR THE ANNOUNCERS 4. FINES FOR ANYONE USING AN ILLEGAL OBJECT Next Bob plays a VTR of all the dirty deeds of Ron Wright, including handing a weapon to Ivan Koloff against the Southern Boys, giving a pair of brass knuckles to Dirty Dutch in his match against Stunning Steve Austin and grabbing hold of Tim Horner’s leg in his tag team match. As a result of all of these dirty deeds, Bob has banned Ron Wright from ringside until he has a signed contract with a current Smoky Mountain wrestler. Ron Wright, wheelchair and all, comes rolling in and is fuming. “Now I am hearin what you’re a saying but I just can’t believe it. I’m nothin but a poor, old cripple and I couldn’t have those things you accused me of even if I wanted to … and by no means do I want to… I’ve been nothing but one of the finest, most upstanding rasslers this part of the country has ever seen.” Bob reminds Ron Wright that he has known him for over 20 years and he’s not buying a word of this nonsense. Armstrong warns Ron, “Don’t go to ringside without a contract” and then the Commissioner walks off. Les Thatcher: Wow… what a start to tonight’s show but how about we get to the ring for our first match tonight as “Freebird” “Bam Bam” Gordy is about set to make his Smoky Mountain debut. Match #1: “Bam Bam” Terry Gordy destroys The Mighty Yankee with the win coming with a huge powerbomb! Post-Match Promo by Terry Gordy bout the upcoming Smoky Mountain Title Tournament. “Let me speak truthfully to all these people here. I don’t think there’s a man alive that can beat me…. As you just saw the bombs are already starting to fall. I don’t care if its Dick Murdoch, Ivan Koloff, Irwin Schyster, or Paul Orndorff …. I’m here for that Smoky Mountain Title and I’m a gonna drop another bomb on whoever gets in my way. Just ask that commissioner of yours who the favorite is. I’ve already dropped a few bombs on him in my career and he knows exactly how tough a man I am. Fans… hitch a ride on the Bam Bam bus as its gonna be a wild ride! Next, we get a promo from “White Lightening” Tim Horner in response to Irwin R. Schyster’s words from last week and Ron Wright’s interference in his tag team match last week against the Destruction Crew. “Fans … I just want ya’ll to know that I take serious offense to last week’s comments by I.R.S.. He’s been going around here insulting myself and all the people of East Tennessee…..saying all we do is make and sell moonshine. He even said my nickname, “White Lightening” is prove that I’m a moonshiner. Let me tell you something I.R.S. … the people of this region of the country are some of the hardest working people I’ve ever met. We work with whatever the Lord has given us… I.R.S., If you dare get in the ring with me I’ll show you what “White Lightening” really stands for. Also, The Tennessee Volunteer, that you defeated last week is real disappointed in his performance and vows to do better for you fans this week so let’s really get behind him today. One more thorn in my side is Ron Wright…Wright … you talk about being this Christian Rassler … a rassler of the people …. Well, I’m one person who has seen enough of your nonsense… interfere in my match again and I won’t be tuning the other cheek. Next, we get a promo from Jeff Jarrett and Shawn Michaels who hypes of the friendship these two have made here in Smoky Mountain Wrestling and their big match tonight against Ivan Koloff and Boris Zhukov. Jeff Jarrett: That’s right Les. I saw Shawn’s first match here in Smoky Mountain Wrestling and I just loved his energy … his athleticism …. His confidence… I went up and introduced myself and found out we got a lot in common. We hit it off right away. Shawn Michaels: That’s right … we’re just two Southern boys … he’s from Tennessee… I from Texas… and both love to mix it up in the ring … we love to listen to music… A couple of Southern Rockers full of TNT! When we heard that there’s going to be a Smoky Mountain Tournament to crown the first Smoky Mountain Tag Team Champions, we said, “Hey, why not us.” We asked Commissioner Armstrong to give us a match and he gave us Ivan Koloff and Boris Zhukov tonight. Listen up you two … TNT … Tennessee and Texas together….Jarrett and Michaels are about to show you two Russians what we’re all about. Commercial Break “Fans if you’d like to raise money for your school, club or civic organization and you’d like to see all the excitement Smoky Mountain Wrestling provides, then this message is for you. Bring the stars of Smoky Mountain Wrestling to your town simply by calling (703) 989-6819 or send your letters to P.O. Box 1279, Morristown, Tennessee. Wrestling the way it used to be and wrestling the way you like it! BE THERE!! Match #2: Irwin R. Schyster vs The Tennessee Volunteer This rematch from last week was asked for by The Tennessee Volunteer who wants to make I.R.S. pay for his comments about the people of Tennessee. I.R.S., grabs the house mic prior to the start of the match and gives another of his degrading segments. He continues to be all over the people of East Tennessee and goes on to say that Tim Hornser’s words a littler early prove just how dumb the people of the Smoky Mountains are as they believe his corrupt nonsense. I.R.S. let’s everyone know that the time is coming for Horner to pay the Taxman! As for this match, the Tennessee Volunteer is much more aggressive than last week and is all over I.R.S. for the first couple of minutes. Unfortunately, he was a little over aggressive and rushed into the corner too soon and I.R.S moved away. Now, I.R.S. begins a severe beating of the Tennessee Volunteer. It looked over when he lifter the Volunteer up for the Samoan Drop but the Volunteer shimmied away and quickly rolled up I.R.S. 1…2…3! The fans go wild as we have just seen the biggest upset in the short history of Smoky Mountain Wrestling. The Tennessee Volunteer quickly rolls out of the ring as I.R.S is fuming! Next, we see the Tennessee Volunteer rip his own mask off and it’s none other than Tim Horner! The crowd explodes as I.R.S. is so hot he is almost ripping his own hair out. Dutch is screaming that Tim Horner is a cheater… just like on his taxes while Les Thatcher thinks Dutch has lost his mind as Horner did nothing wrong! Match #3: Mr. Wonderful “Paul Orndorff vs “No Class” Don Bass Give Don Bass some credit here as he is one tough dude who knows his way around the ring and his size, nearly 300 pounds, gives Orndorff all he can handle. In the end, Orndorff tires of Bass’s dirty tactics and starts throwing big elbows and haymakers of his own. Orndorff seems to forget the Smoky Mountain rules as he hoists Don Bass up for the piledriver but referee Mark Curtis grabs the legs of Don Bass and pushes him back down. Curtis now admonishes a fuming Orndorff about the piledriver … Orndorff quickly whips Bass into the ropes and catches him with a clothesline for the win! A fuming Orndorff heads over to the podium where Dutch Mantel is heard saying “tisk, tisk, tisk… you’ve been a naughty boy! Les tell Orndorff to “pay Dutch no mind. Paul Orndorff: Les… I getting a little frustrated here. I’ve been doing a little research here about how Commissioner Bob Armstrong banned the piledriver and I just don’t get it. Les Thatcher: Well, you must admit Paul that it’s a very dangerous move. Paul Orndorff: Come on Les, let’s be real. This is professional wrestling. It’s a dangerous sport. I mean Dick Murdoch is here in Smoky Mountain Wrestling…. His finisher is the brainbuster. Yes… he picks a man up in a suplex position and drops him on his head…. Sounds dangerous to me. Then you got the Destruction Crew with some crazy move called the Shaker Heights Slam where two men slam their opponents head off the mat after lifting him like 10 feet off the ground. Again… sounds dangerous to me. We just saw Bam Bam whatever his name is … pick a man up and slam him as hard to the ground on the back of his head as he could… I mean that man could have broken his neck. The neckbreaker isn’t banned here in Smoky Mountain Wrestling … The DDT isn’t banned here in Smoky Mountain Wrestling … but Mr. Wonderful can’t go out there and use a move a piledriver. I want to know why. The fans want to know why. Commissioner Armstrong talks about calling it right down the middle but I think he has a double standard. Les Thatcher: Paul … I think you know just how deadly that piledriver really is. Paul Orndorff: Deadly yes… but my job is to win matches. We just heard Gordy out here saying there isn’t a man alive that could beat him and how he is the next Smoky Mountain Champion. Well, I don’t think there’s a man alive that can beat Mr. Wonderful … piledriver or not! Orndorff, storms off as Dutch agrees with Orndorff about the double standard by Bob Armstrong and wonders why his Shoo Baby is considered illegal! Commercial Break After the break, we have the Destruction Crew come out to hype up the upcoming tag team tournament and they are laughing at the idea that two little punks like Shawn Michaels and Jeff Jarrett think they can win the Smoky Mountain tag belts when the Destruction Crew are around. They admit to using a little TNT themselves when they blew up some buildings in Chicago and now they are about the blow up Michaels and Jarrett. They also elude to some favoritism by Commissioner Armstrong about how he is waiting for the Southern Boys to return from Japan before holding the tag team tournament. Match #4: Shawn Michaels & Jeff Jarrett vs Ivan Koloff & Boris Zhukov What a debut for Michaels and Jarrett as they go toe to toe with the big Russians. They were even able to fend off Dick Murdoch who tried to get in the ring when the ref had been knocked down. As Murdoch climbed up on the apron, Michaels nailed him with a superkick and Captain Redneck went flying. Unfortunately for JJ and Michaels, the bell sounded and we got a 10-minute draw! Mr. Wonderful rushed down to ringside to make sure that there were no more 3 on 2 shenanigans. After the bout, Dutch could be heard warning the Russians and Murdoch to watch out for Paul Orndorff and his illegal piledriver as he tried to kill Don Bass just a little while ago. Les simply told him to knock it off. Commercial Break Before our next match, we get a replay of wild ending from last week’s show Main Event: “Stunning” Steve Austin vs Ahmed with Dutch Mantel With Ahmed and Dutch already in the ring, Austin comes running down but instead of getting ready for Ahmed, he makes a bee-line for Dutch. Dutch rolls out onto the floor and is running around the ring as fast as he can with Austin in hot pursuit! WHAM… Ahmed with a huge running forearm on Austin as he turned the corner. Dutch is screaming at Ahmed to kill him and it looks like Ahmed just might do that with power move after power move. Somehow, Austin makes the comeback and nails Ahmed with a flying clothesline and down goes the 300+ pound beast. The problem was that Austin was still not focused on Ahmed and once again exits the ring and goes after Dutch. But this time Dutch was ready and gave him a nasty eye rake before “helping” him back into the ring where Ahmed was waiting! Ahmed now works over Austin who is tangles in the ropes. Every time the reg shoves Ahmed back, Dutch gets in 3 or 4 blows. This goes on for what seems like eternity as Les is getting really concerned for Austin’s health. Next, we see nasty moves by Ahmed who is just clawing and ripping and Austin’s body and then finally locks in a massive bearhug! When Austin refused to submit, Ahmed drops him to the ground and then whips him into the ropes. WHAM… somehow Austin kicked Ahmed in the chest as he went for a back body drop! Austin whips Ahmed into the ropes…. STUN GUN! Austin with the cover. 1…2… Dutch with the run-in! 2 on 1 attack is under way but it is short lived. As they whipped Austin into the ropes, he came off the ropes with a double-clothesline and sent both Dutch and Ahmed to the ground! Austin tosses them both out of the ring and gets a huge ovation from the crowd. Next, we see Commissioner Armstrong come out to announce the names for the Smoky Mountain Title Tournament at Volunteer Slam… In no particular order: “Stunning” Steve Austin, “Captain Redneck” Dick Murdoch, “Mr. Wonderful” Paul Orndorff, Irwin R. Schyster, “White Lightening” Tim Horner, “Bam Bam” Terry Gordy and “Dirty” Dutch Mantel. Next we see Terry Gordy come back out “That’s right… you know it’s like this… I’ve been to Freebird Mountain and all around the world. I’ve been from Freebird Mountain to Tokyo, Japan. Now I’ve come from Freebird Mountain to the Smoky Mountains and I’m about to become the first ever champion here in Smoky Mountain Wresting. I heard Mr. Wonderful out here before saying that he thinks that there isn’t a man alive that could beat him. I heard I.R.S out here bragging about what he is going to do …Dutch Mantel thinks he is something special… Well, Orndorff… piledriver or no piledriver you couldn’t beat me on your best day. I.R.S…. you better just focus on Tim Horner or you might not make it Volunteer Slam… and Dutch Mantel … Dutch Mantel… never mind… Dutch aint worth my time. The bombs are gonna be droppin… I’m the next champ… the first champ… the only champ in the Smoky Mountains. Les Thatcher: Well folks, we’re out of time. Join us next week as we get ready for Volunteer Slam. So long from Knoxville.

Great show this week as the AWA continues to survive with Hogan out of action. I loved the Wildfire promo and then the attack by Muraco. Wildfire in a suit was a nice touch. He used to do that every now and then in Georgia for some reason. Loved the segment behind the steel door with Norman... so creepy... so strange... so wrestlng. I used to enjoy those arm wrestling matches that would come on like once a year in wrestling. Scott Norton is the Flash! Wondering on the relationship between Idol and Young. You do a great job of planting those seeds of decension that hooks us into an angle. Nice booking! Bad News... Untimate Warrior... seems like the AWA has some serious names coming in to ease the pain in the pocketbook from No Hulkster. A very creative show that sets us up for Title NIght!

Hope you and your kids are feeling better. Sometimes short shows are more useful then long ones and this might be the case here as everyone gets to focus on your last line!! WHO ATTACKED Jake "The Snake" Roberts..... Can't wait to find this one out! I could see this as the cover to Pro Wrestling Illustrated back in the day!

I really enjoy when you do the Crow's Nest and this one was awesome. Dibiase basically saying Dr. Death has no friends left and then we get Dr. Death confronting the entire Terror Collective.... great stuff but nothing compared to what came in the Portland Coliseum.... WOW... Macho Man with Dr. Death. Macho Man could be the biggrst surprise mystery partner of all time!!! AWESOME!

Great preview show for Superbrawl. I am really interested to see the direction you go in with the WCW title. The Dangerous Alliance is a great heel stable. Could control WCW going forward. Enjoying the Freebird-RnR situation with the joint titles in the middle of a huge feud. Very creative. Doom-Road Warriors.... Historic battle coming. WCW is loaded and yet everyone has their place. Wonder where Vader fits in all this?

Really enjoying the upside down world of West Virginia wrestling where PiP's enemy, Shane Morton keeps making the save when the Cuban Assassin tries to kidnap Tasha. Tasha seems frustrated with here boys... can't wait to see the final outcome. Nice job with the newspaper article from the house show!

New names added to free agency as the Southeastern roster has been removed.

Smoky Mountain releases JJ Dillon, Jeff Sword, Doug VInes, Doug Furnas, Dan Kroffat, and Missy Hyatt

Episode #5 May 2, 1991 WBIR-TV (Channel 10-Knoxville) After the regular opening we go right to Les Thatcher and “Dirty” Dutch Mantel with Ahmed, his “bodyguard” standing behind him. Les Thatcher: Welcome wrestling fans, coming to you from Knoxville Auditorium Studio for Smoky Mountain Wrestling… wrestling the way it used to be and wrestling the way you like it. I’m Les Thatcher along with “Dirty” Dutch Mantel and boy do we have some show for you fans today. On this week’s show you’re going to be seeing the debut of “the Heartbreak kid, Shawn Michaels” Also, Irwin R. Schyster will be taking on the Tennessee Volunteer. The Destruction Crew will try to continue their winning ways but they have stepped up in competition this week as they square off against “The Fab One” Steve Keirn and “White Lightening” Tim Horner. Stunning Steve Austin will be here. We will hear from the Wild-eyed Southern Boys. And fans listen to this… my partner, Dutch Mantel will be in action. All of this and much more including our main event… “Mr. Wonderful” Paul Orndorff vs “Captain Redneck” Dick Murdoch. What a show! Dutch Mantell: Folks, I thought it was time.. I thought you all deserved to see a treat…. A real professional wrestler is going to be in the ring tonight …. That’s right Dirty Dutch has decided to grace all of you with his presence. I wouldn’t be surprised if the fans stood up the entire match… I would not be surprised to see the entire locker room empty out as these other wrestlers in Smoky Mountain come down to ringside to see if they can learn something from one of the best ever to lace up his boots. Les Thatcher: Oh brother… Dutch. Nice to know your so humble. Let’s get to ring announcer Tommy Noe and our first match. Match #1: “The Heartbreak Kid” Shawn Michaels vs “Gentleman” Ken Timbs Michaels has been building a name for himself in some of the major promotions but this is the first time many of the people here in Knoxville are seeing him and if his entrance is anything like his wrestling, they are going to love him. He comes out with TNT by AC/DC blaring in the speakers. His colorful outfit, sunglasses, long blondish-brown hair and good-looks have the girls screaming for him right from the get go. In fact, the cameraman is unsure whether to show Michaels or the beautiful blonde who is looking at Shawn like it’s love at first sight. The Gentlemen grabs the mic from Tommy Noe and tells the fans that it is obvious that Shawn comes from a questionable background … listening to that heathen music …. looking like he is going to party all night! Shawn Michaels …. if you’d just listens to Gentleman Ken Timbs, you could become a productive member of society. Michaels just laughs at Timbs and gets the crowd going … he points at Timbs as the crowd boos … he points at himself and they cheer. A few rounds of this and Michaels is already getting over with the fans while Timbs is helping Michaels get even more love as he plays the angry heel and attacks before the bell. This only goes on for so long before Michaels flips the situation and now “The Heartbreak Kid” comes off the middle rope with an elbow drop and Timbs hits the canvas. Michaels waits for him to stagger to his feet…. WHAM…. Superkick and that is all she wrote as Michaels and the fans … and the hot blonde in the stands …. Celebrate the successful debut! Next, we get a promo from “Captain Redneck” to hype up today’s main event against “Mr. Wonderful” Paul Orndorff. “Orndorff… last week you stuck your nose where it didn’t belong… you had no right coming down and getting involved in my business or the business of Ivan Koloff and Boris Zhukov. The Southern Boys have been a thorn in our sides for a few weeks now. They earned everything that we were giving them last week and then you showed up. You call yourself “Mr. Wonderful.” Well, I think your Mr. Stupid. You stuck your nose in a hornet’s nests Orndorff … now prepare to be stung … over and over again. Your nothing but a one trick pony …and with the piledriver being outlawed here in Smoky Mountain, your nothing! Next, we get a promo from The Southern Boys, Tracy Smothers and Steve Armstrong tell us they are currently in Japan where they are competing in a World Tag Team Tournament but when they get back, they aren’t through with Ivan Koloff, Boris Zhokov are that turn-coat Dick Murdoch! Next, we see a replay from last week about what Dick Murdoch was talking about but instead of it being Orndorff who had stuck his nose where it didn’t belong as Murdoch had said, it was Orndorff making a save as it was 3-2 after Boris Zhukov had actually attacked the Southern Boys in their match against Ivan Koloff and Dick Murdoch. This wild situation saw the Southern Boys so angry after the loss that they attacked the three heels post-match and the brawl was going all over the studio with chairs, ring-posts and anything that wasn’t nailed down. With the heels having the numbers advantage during this brawl, it was Orndorff that came out to help out the Southern Boys even things out. After the video replay, we see Smoky Mountain Commissioner, Bob Armstrong with Les Thatcher, Dutch Mantel and Ahmed. Bob Armstrong: While the ending to last week’s show was entertaining and exciting, the wrestlers here in Smoky Mountain Wrestling are professionals and none of them acted in a professional manner. They actually put our fans in jeopardy and for that, I am finning all 6 men $500. Also, to be honest, Ivan Koloff deceived the Southern Boys when he told everyone that Boris Zhukov had been recalled to Russia and for that reason, when the Southern Boys return from their tour of Japan, I am granting them a 6-Man tag team match with a partner of their choosing against The Russians and Captain Red, Dick Murdoch. Dutch Mantel: You mean Captain Redneck, Dick Murdoch. Bob Armstrong: Looks more like Captain Red to me … oh and Dutch Mantel … I have some information for you. It seems that you and Stunning Steve Austin are having some kind of issue. Well as long as you are at this announce table, he cannot touch you but as you have sent this man Ahmed after him and both of you attacked him in the ring last week, I have given him permission to get even … in the ring. So Dutch… If I were you, I might grow some eyes in the back of my head! As Armstrong is walking off, Dutch is yelling, “what kind if commissioner are you … saying it’s okay for a wrestler to attack another! Your nothing but a dictator! As we go to break, Dutch seems to have something caught in his throat as he starts coughing. Commercial Break “Fans if you’d like to raise money for your school, club or civic organization and you’d like to see all the excitement Smoky Mountain Wrestling provides, then this message is for you. Bring the stars of Smoky Mountain Wrestling to your town simply by calling (703) 989-6819 or send your letters to P.O. Box 1279, Morristown, Tennessee. Wrestling the way it used to be and wrestling the way you like it! BE THERE!! When we come out of break we see Ron Wright, wheelchair and all, with mic in hand and he is holding what appears to be a letter. “Folks, what I got here is one of the thousands of pieces of fan mail I’ve been receiving lately and just to sum it up as I don’t want to take too much of your time, this fan is a thankin me for all I’ve done in my long career of fighting bad guy after bad guy. He feels just awful seeing me in this wheelchair needing all the surgeries and things I need just to be able to get up out of this here chair and walk again. (Wiping his eyes) These letters here get me all choked up knowing how much the fans care about what I’ve a done for them and I look forward to the day I sign a couple of these here Christian rasslers so I can earn so money and get back on my feet. MATCH #2 Irwin R. Schyster (I.R.S) vs The Tennessee Volunteer ( orange & white mask) I.R.S. enters the ring to “Tax Man” by the Beatles as the crowd boos. He immediately takes the microphone while looking his opponent up and down. “Hmmm… a Tennessee Volunteer… that means one of two things … either your two stupid to work and earn money so you sit up on your porch and call yourself a volunteer or you are just trying to avoid paying your taxes like the rest of you Hillbillies here in this part of the country…. A few weeks ago, I learned that Tim Horner is from around here … Morristown, Tennessee if my memory serves correct. Tim Horner … “White Lightening” Tim Horner? … It only took I.R.S. a minute or two to put it all together… A man from Eastern Tennessee called White Lightening …. He is just like the rest of you …. Making money by selling Moonshine! Tim Horner… is avoiding paying his TAXES also. Well, there is only two things for certain … Death and Taxes … Tennessee Volunteer your first …. And then Tim Horner … your next! Time to pay the tax man! And I.R.S. wasn’t kidding. He beat the Tennessee Volunteer from pillar to post with the end finally coming with the Samoan Drop which Les Thatcher informs us that I.R.S. would like this move to be called “The Audit.” After the match, we see “Mr. Wonderful” Paul Orndorff with Les and Dutch. Dutch is really coughing now and saying he isn’t feeling to well and would like a glass of water. Paul Orndorff starts by saying that he heard Murdoch out hearing calling him Mr. Stupid for sticking his nose where it doesn’t belong. Orndorff thinks it is Murdoch who is stupid for choosing the Russians over the Americans and that is something “Mr. Wonderful” could never do. He does touch on the idea of the piledriver being illegal here in Smoky Mountain Wrestling and that it is something he would like to talk with Commissioner Bob Armstrong about. He also says that he is unsure why he was fined $500 for last week when he was coming to the ring to save the Southern Boys and that he only used a chair after Ivan Koloff, Boris Zhukov and Dick Murdoch basically used every weapon they could find! Les Thatcher seems to agree with Orndorff but he is hard to hear over all the coughing and gagging that Dirty Dutch is doing. Next, we get a quick promo by Stunning Steve Austin where he reiterates Bob Armstrong’s earlier warning to Dutch that if he leaves the announcers table, Stunning Steve is free to attack him. As we go to break, Dutch seems violently ill. Commercial Break Match #3: The Destruction Crew (Enos & Bloom) vs Fab One Steve Keirn and “White Lightening” Tim Horner This was a great tv match with the babyfaces bumping and selling all over the place for the heel team. The Destruction Crew had given a quick pre-match promo where they claimed that they were the best tag team not only on Smoky Mountain, but the entire country and that they have the titles to prove it! They went on to want to be introduced as the first Smoky Mountain Tag Team Champions but ring announcer Tommy Noe refused. Enos and Bloom got in his face but Keirn and Horner rushed in and the brawl was underway. We see Horner playing the face in peril before the hot tag to Keirn and the ensuing 4-way melee. During the chaos, we see Ron Wright roll on down to ringside and grab the foot of Horner causing him to go the ground. This led to the big Shaker Heights Spike on Keirn and the match was over. A fuming “White Lightening” Tim Horner. While Keirn was holding his head, called out both Ron Wright and his constant dirty tactics. Horner vowed to roll him right out of Smoky Mountain Wrestling! Match #4: Dutch Mantel vs Dixie Dynamite Dutch decides he is just too sick to wrestle so he sends Ahmed in his place. Les is wondering how he could disappoint all the wrestlers and fans in the building today of seeing such an amazing wrestler as “Dirty” Dutch. Next, Les wonders if he isn’t sick at all and that he might just be afraid to leave the announcer’s table in fear of being attacked by “Stunning” Steve Austin. Dutch let’s Les have it as he says he isn’t afraid of Stunning Steve Austin or any man for that matter but that he is really sick… maybe he got Coxsackie from being so close to these Mongrols in East Tennessee. As for the match, the muscular 6’5, 300-pound Ahmed is just too much for Dixie Dynamite with the end coming with a nasty middle rope powerbomb like move. Dutch is so excited he tells Ahmed to forget about the pin and keep on beating Dixie Dynamite. Ahmed is more than happy to and is stomping away on Dynamite. The ref is calling over and over for the bell but Ahmed is on a roll. The crowd erupts and here comes Stunning Steve Austin! For the second week in a row, we see Ahmed and Austin going at it with each giving as good as he gets. Dutch rans back over to Les as Les wonders how a “sick man” could run so fast. Dutch says is Coxsackie not Legsackie you moron. This time it takes a commercial break to stop the chaos! Commercial Break When we come out of break, Stunning Steve is in the ring screaming at both Dutch and Ahmed. Stunning Steve lets everyone know that Dutch is nothing but a yellow-bellied coward and he isn’t sick at all. He’s just afraid of what Stunning Steve is going to do to him when he gets the chance. As for Ahmed… Austin lets him know that he has the size, power and speed to be great at this sport but that Dutch is using him and if he is a friend of Dutch, then he is an enemy of Stunning Steve and that he will put an end to his career before it even starts! Main Event: Mr. Wonderful Paul Orndorff vs Captain Redneck Dick Murdoch These two experienced wrestlers put on a great show with both getting time to shine until we get to the finish where we see Ivan Koloff and Boris Zhukov come down to ringside. Les Thatcher says they have no right being here but Dutch says they just want to come down to ringside to see their comrade, Dick Murdoch! We all know what is coming and it doesn’t take long…. The 3-1 attack is under way ….as the ref gives the win to Orndorff by DQ… Who makes the save… none other than Stunning Steve, Tim Horner and Steve Keirn! The problem was that Dirty Dutch saw his chance … well at least Ahmed’s chance and sent him to attack Austin. When the heels looked to take the advantage, Dutch came running in with Shoo Baby … but Austin clobbered Ahmed just in time and was ready for Dutch who stopped right away and ran back to the announcers table. With the brawl still ragging, Les signed off until next week. So long from Knoxville.

Nice build up to SuperBrawl. I liked the idea of giving one belt to the RnR Express and 1 belt to the Freebirds. I thought you were going to let all hell break loose and make an edit to the Freebird rule and use all 4.

WOW..... Champagne Slam might just have been the best big event we have had in Dawn of War. What a way to keep the belt off of Hogan!!! I just really enjoyed every moment of the match. From Bossman going over Shawn Michaels to the Slater and Garvin keeping the title to the battle royal and lets not forget Demolition!!!!! This was A+ from top to bottom. Can't wait to see what happens to Hulk and Morrow when their leave of absence is over!

First, sorry for falling a little behind. Great choice with Callis on the mic. The first two RAW shows were great. You seem to have so much going on but it all seems to be so well thought out. So many great feuds are developing nicely.... Santana vs Lawler, the Warlord vs Slick, Snake and Flair. Then you got some great alliances forming with Ronin and Hart, Backlund and Nailz and the First Family. Very interested in the King of the Ring but more interested in the phone call that Jack Tunney had to take while being on the air. Very interesting! Really fun reads! Thanks

Awesome night in the Omni. This is the arena that got me into wrestling. While I never saw a show there, Ch. 17 and Gordon Solie hyping up the big cards from 1979-1983 had me hooked! As for your show... great card with a lot of big, creative moments. Looking forward to seeing what happens with the RnR Express and The Freebirds ... Not sure what happened at the end of the Rude/Hall-Dustin/Nikita match but looking forward to seeing where this goes. Steamboat might have won the battle but he seems in some real trouble in the war... Henning, Arn and Larry Z are a great stable. Meng was always such a great company man ... while Sting is the top of the company right now!

I knew something was going to happen in that Dibiase-Gordy match. This is the match I really wanted to see but Dibiase can never be trusted!

Episode #4 April 25, 1991 WBIR-TV (Channel 10-Knoxville) After the regular opening we go right to Les Thatcher and “Dirty” Dutch Mantel. Les Thatcher: Welcome wrestling fans, coming to you from Civic Auditorium Studios in Knoxville, Tennessee for Smoky Mountain Wrestling… wrestling the way it used to be and wrestling the way you like it. I’m Les Thatcher along with “Dirty” Dutch Mantel and boy do we have some show for you fans today. On this week’s show you’re going to be seeing the debut of the Destruction Crew and if their half as good as they say they are, we are going to be seeing one awesome team. Also, “The Fab One” Steve Keirn be taking on “Bad Boy” Billie Black, “Stunning” Steve Austin will square off against “Big” Joel Deaton. “Mr. Wonderful” Paul Orndorff returns to Smoky Mountain Wrestling and takes on The Mighty Yankee. We will also be hearing from “Double J” Jeff Jarrett. “The original Knoxville Bad Boy,” Ron Wright, has asked for some time to “clarify” a few things and we will hear from Irwin R. Schyster as he says he has a message for all the fans. Dutch Mantell (who has been trying to interrupt during the entire intro): Oh now I get to speak… well all those matches seem wonderful and all but I wish we had that video tape from East High School last week where we all saw that psychopath, Steve Austin, try to kill me. I mean that was attempted murder! … Did you see him hit with those brass knuckles … I have never seen such a lunatic before … he should be in leg irons! I just wish we had that tape! Les Thatcher: Dutch, I’m glad you brought that up as we do have that video tape and I’m sure we can find a few minutes to replay it for anyone who missed it last week. Dutch: On second thoughts, maybe we should just stick to the program. Not sure I want to relive what that madman did to me… I mean it might trigger some flashbacks or something. He’s just an animal! Les Thatcher: Oh brother… Dutch, I think you don’t want to show that video again cause it might show the truth and you might not be as innocent as you say. Let’s get to the ring. Announcer Tommy Noe is ready for our first match. Match #1: The Destruction Crew vs Joey Maggs & Dixie Dynamite The Destruction Crew are very impressive here in their Smoky Mountain debit as they mix in dirty tactics with some big double team and power moves. The end came with a move that Les called the Shaker Heights Spike on Joey Maggs. This devastating move saw Mike Enos whip Maggs into the rope and then toss him high into the air by tossing him up by his ribs. When Mags reached the pinnacle of his height, Wayne Bloom grabbed him by this head and slammed him to the ground head first. Maggs was out and might be lucky to ever return. As impressive as the Destruction Crew were, Dutch Mantel could not stop talking about the psychopathic killer that is Stunning Steve Austin. Dutch does infer that he does have a secret plan to deal with Stunning Steve but that he can’t reveal it just yet. Next, we see a replay from last week were Ron Wright handed “Dirty Dutch Mantel a pair of brass knuckles in his main event match vs Stunning Steve Austin. The problem for Dutch was that Stunning Steve ducked under the right hand of Dutch and nailed him with a knee to the gut. This doubled over Dutch and Stunning Steve took the brass knuckles off of Dutch and nailed Mantel with a loaded right hand. Stunning Steve went to cover Dutch but when the ref got to the count of 2, he noticed the brass knuckles still on the hand of Stunning Steve and disqualified him. After the VTR, we see Dutch standing with Les and Les makes a point of letting Dutch know that it was Ron Wright who gave him the brass knuckles first and that it was not Stunning Steve Austin who brought the illegal weapon to the ring. Dutch: First … Second… Tomatoes … Tomotoes… it doesn’t matter. What matters is who used the brass knuckles and that was the psychopath, Steve Austin. Now, Austin … fool me once… shame on you. Fool me twice …. Shame on me. I’m not going to let that man try to kill me again. Now, I was over in Louisville, Kentucky the other day and this man came up to me and asked are you Dutch Mantel … come in here …. Come in here Ahmed! A huge black man walks on camera. Les Thatcher: Who is this Dutch? Dutch: This is Ahmed and he asked is there anyway he could get into the wrestling business. I told him you got the size … you got the body… If you stick around me for a while and let me help you out, I’m sure we could get you into the business. Ahmed has agreed to do a few things for me and I will help him out. Les Thatcher: And what is Ahmed going to do for you Dutch? Dutch: Stick around Les and you and all these fans will find out. Commercial Break “Fans if you’d like to raise money for your school, club or civic organization and you’d like to see all the excitement Smoky Mountain Wrestling provides, then this message is for you. Bring the stars of Smoky Mountain Wrestling to your town simply by calling (703) 989-6819 or send your letters to P.O. Box 1279, Morristown, Tennessee. Wrestling the way it used to be and wrestling the way you like it! BE THERE!! Next, we see Jeff Jarrett and the Southern Boys promo where all three do hype up how happy they all are to be here in Smoky Mountain Wrestling and while it is great to see on tv, it is so much better to see wrestling at the arena. The 3 continue on with the idea that they can’t wait to meet all the young wrestling fans. All three also seem interested in meeting some of the beautiful women they keep seeing in the audience. The Southern Boys hype up their main event today against Koloff and Murdoch while JJ ends with a little Rocky Top! Promo with Ron Wright: “It really broke my heart last week when that Steve Austin came down to the ring with a pair of brass knuckles hidden somewhere in his rassling tights and then clobbered such a Christian man like Dutch Mantel. I mean it reminds me of when I used to rassle and do everything I could to stop the likes of Steve Austin and because I was such a good guy … a rule follower if you will, that now I’m a sitting in this wheelchair … a cripple … It’s a cryin shame … what people like Dutch and myself have had to go through and I’m a still hoping beyond hope that I can sign a rassler or two to help earn me some money to have these surgeries I need to get up out of this chair and folks if you could spare a couple dollars, send them on down to Smoky Mountain Rasslin in care of Ron Wright. I am looking forward to seeing your generosity help out a Knoxville legend.” Les tries to explain that everyone just say the video tape and that it was you, Ron Wright, that brought the brass knuckles down to the ring but now it seemed as if Ron Wright had amnesia and not the leg injuries that he claims. Match #2: “The Fab One” Steve Keirn vs “Bad Boy” Billy Black Bad Boy Billie uses his signature “attacking before the bell” which gives him some early momentum. Keirn does a nice job of bumping and selling before making his comeback and getting the win with the Reverse Russian Leg sweep. Promo by Ivan Koloff and Dick Murdoch on today’s main event. Ivan Koloff: “I just talked to Boris the other day and he is taking care of business in the Kremlin and he guaranteed me he will be back very shortly but the great news is that I have found another partner just as good and somebody who hates the Southern Boys as much as I do.” Dick Murdoch: Southern Boys … you two are just plain stupid. I mean to sign a contract against Ivan and myself! You two morons picked the perfect name… Southern BOYS… and believe me… this match is going to be men against boys. Not on your finest day could either of you two beat Ivan and Dick Murdoch! Commercial Break When we come out of break, we see Les and Dutch with Ahmed standing with his arms folded behind the two. He seems to take up more of the screen than both the other two. Match #3: “Stunning” Steve Austin vs Joel Deaton The first thing Les points out is the size of Joel Deaton. Deaton came down to the ring in what Dutch called “cowboy attire” but thinks he should have come down wearing a football helmet as Austin might have those brass knucks with him again. Les tries again to remind Dutch of the video they all say and that it was Ron Wright who brought the illegal weapon to the ring but Dutch played like he was deaf…. Throughout the match, Dutch praises Deaton and his ability even though Stunning Steve has controlled bout 75% of the action. When it looks like Austin is going to get the win, Dutch turns to Ahmed and tells him to go get a closer look to make sure Austin aint cheatin…. Les seems to wonder what’s going on…. Steve Austin sees Ahmed standing at ringside and points at him. This little lapse in focus allows Deaton to attack from behind. Deaton is hitting some pretty good moves now and Dutch is loving it! Deaton gets a good 3-4 minutes on top before Austin reversed an Irish Whip and then nailed his opponent with the Stun Gun and just like that it is over!! Ahmed now enters the ring and slowly walks towards Austin. Wow is Ahmed big! The two are going nose to nose… jawing at one another. Ahmed shoves Austin … Austin shoves back. Dutch is yelling that Austin is hitting his man and heads to the ring. Ahmed and Austin are going 100 miles an hour at each other, trading big blow after big blow. Dutch is at ringside yelling at Ahmed! Neither Ahmed or Austin is giving an inch… And here comes Dutch. It’s now 2 on 1. Dutch grabs Austin from behind but when Ahmed came off the ropes with a big elbow smash, Austin moved out of the way just in time and Ahmed nailed Mantel. Mantel flies out to the floor and Austin tossed Ahmed over the top rope and out to the floor. The crowd goes wild as Austin owns the ring as Dutch and Ahmed head up the ramp. Commercial Break Match #4: “Mr. Wonderful” Paul Orndorff vs The Mighty Yankee To the delight of the crowd, Orndorff makes quick work of the Mighty Yankee but he almost messed up. He had The Mighty Yankee up for the piledriver before remembering it was illegal here in SMW. Instead, Orndorff finished off the Mighty Yankee with a powerslam. Promo with Irwin R. Schyster. “There are only two things for certain in this world … Death and taxes! As I have demonstrated over the past few weeks, all you hillbillies are criminally behind in your taxes … and … if the poor excuse for wrestlers you have in Smoky Mountain Wrestling keep getting in the ring with me, death may come before taxes. Commercial Break Main Event: Wild-eyed Southern Boys vs Ivan Koloff & Dick Murdoch After a minute or two of trash talking by both teams, the match gets under way with Ivan and Steve Armstrong. Surprisingly, there is more technical wrestling then you would have expected. We had some headlocks, armbars, hip tosses, monkey flips and even a near pin when Armstrong came off the top rope with a crossbody block but Murdoch was ready to make the save. The first tag doesn’t happen for nearly 4 minutes and that brought in Dick Murdoch and belief it or not, the technical stuff continued. Finally, Murdoch had enough and elbowed Armstrong right across the face and now the dirty tactics were front and center. Murdoch basically tortures Armstrong who has now been in the ring far too long. Eventually Smothers makes the tag and he is tossing everyone through the middle ropes and out onto the floor. Smothers is going crazy and the 4-way melee is under way. Like last time, the action is so crazy that we see Armstrong with another crossbody block on Koloff and as he covered the ref started to make the count but realized they were not the legal men … and the brawl continued. While this was going on, Smothers locks in a sleeper on Murdoch and he seems to be going down. The ref though is still arguing with Armstrong. WAIT…. What’s this… its Boris Zhukov with a boot in hand comes running in and clobbers Smothers. Smothers goes down and Zhukov pulls Murdoch on top of Smothers and quickly rolls out of the ring. The ref turns … starts the count! 1…2….3! Koloff and Murdoch have won the bout! Koloff, Murdoch, and Zhukov go over to Les Thatcher and start to gloat! But the Wild-eyed Southern Boys are having none of it. They don’t care that it is 3-2 as they attack! And the brawl is all over the studio. Inside and outside the ring… this one is wild. And here comes Mr. Wonderful, Paul Orndorff. We now go 3-3. Nobody and nothing is safe. Chairs, ringposts, 2x4’s. It’s all in play. When we finally are going off the air, we see Koloff and Armstrong are both a bloody mess. Les Thatcher: Until next time here on Smoky Mountain Wrestling! So long from Knoxville.

Really interesting ending to the show this week. The Cuban Assassin is quickly making a name for himself here!

Thanks for the input on Smoky Mountain Wrestling. Eruc-Birmingham might be a solid solution as Continental was out of business by this point. LastStop- I am looking at this in a kind of historical situation and not so much Dawn of War. So in real life Memphis still exists. As far as my roster, I amusing about 20-25 at time even though my actual roster is more like 60. This would give me the chance to switch people in and out without having to depend on trades. So while my roster looks large, many are "on the bench." Moving certain stars on my roster out as loans gives me a chance to run certain events that SMW ran in real life. For example they ran a Superbowl of Wrestling supercard where their champ faced the WWF champ. I can also bring in someone like Lawler for a few shows here and there which would help sell out some events.

SMOKY MOUNTAIN WRESTLING’S LONG TERM TV PLAN The ultimate goal of any business is to make money. If Smoky Mountain Wrestling doesn’t start to turn a profit in the next few years, Rick Rubin, the founder of Def Jam Records, and its financial backer, will pull out and its all over. Part of the problem was that SMW was never able to secure a national cable television deal. Instead, they syndicated their show on various stations in Eastern Tennessee, Eastern Kentucky, Western North Carolina, Western Virginia and West Virginia. The problem with that was that the only market that was over 150,000 in population was Knoxville at just under 175,000 people. It is hard to get crowds large enough to pay the bills when your promotion is situated in such rural places. This made Smoky Mountain run the majority of their shows in local high school gyms and small local venues like armories and ballrooms. When they did run in larger venues like Knoxville, they were able to draw between 1,000 and 5,000 people. This would bring in a house between 12 and 18 thousand dollars. The problem was these cards war few and far between. My solution, which I am sure would never ha vereally worked as Jim Cornette is a lot smarter than I am, is to try and expand not just into the rural areas but also markets similar to Knoxville that were within driving distances. This would require SMW to secure local TV stations to air its programs. In this time in wrestling, there was no money in these local tv contracts but you needed them to promote your shows. They were like a giant informercial. They worked in one of two ways. First, you could simply buy the time on the television station and then sell advertising to your show. The other was the tv station would allow you to show your show and they would sell the advertising time. Either way, the money you made was extremely minimal. You would be lucky to pay the jobbers, referee and ring crew a few bucks for their time. Which ever way you did your tv contract, it was done to get people excited to come and watch your local shows. From the research I have seen, promotions would run about 4-6 weeks in an area before trying a house show in the area. I am going to try and follow this and slowly build SMW into a profitable promotion. Television Plan: First, understand that in the mountains at this time in history, television stations usually had a range of about 50 miles. So, location is important. 1. Acquire TV in Knoxville- As I stated before, Knoxville had the largest population in Eastern Tennessee at about 175,000. They also, if the promotion is successful, had a venue larger enough to make some money- The Knoxville Civic Auditorium. Knoxville also has such a great wrestling history. Through various promotions, Knoxville had weekly shows for decades but has been starved of local shows since 1981 when Georgia Championship Wrestling and later WCW would come in about once every other month. 2. Acquire TV in Johnson City, Tennessee. When we add in the local towns of Bristol and Kingsport, we get a population of over 100,000 in 1991. This area also had a great wrestling history with weekly shows in one of the three towns as late as 1981 with almost nothing over the last decade. And just like Knoxville, Johnson City has a large venue in Freedom Hall. 3. Acquire TV in Chattanooga, TN. Just like Knoxville, this is a large city for the area with a population of over 150,000. They are also starved for professional wrestling. Georgia Championship Wrestling and later WCW had been running bi-weekly shows here up until 1983 but ever since, nothing. Maybe a WWF or WCW house show ever 2-3 months but nothing like it was in the early 80’s. Chattanooga is also only 2 hours from Knoxville which makes it a pretty easy road trip! 4. Acquire TV in the Hazard, KY area. While this area is very rural and nearly 2.5 hours from Knoxville, it does give you a foothold in Eastern, KY. This area showed a lot of love to the Poffo’s and ICW in the late 70’s and early 80’s. SMW might be able to capitalize on this and get some extra house shows which are desperately needed right now. With only a few charity events on the schedule right now, SMW will take anything. While its roster is small, even these guys will hit the road if there’s no work. 5. Acquire tv Nashville, TN. This would be huge! A longtime USWA stronghold but it is not seeing the action it did in the past. It was always a weekly stop in the old Memphis territory but since the formation of the USWA and the merger between Memphis and Dallas, Nashville was only getting a show every other month by 1991! This just doesn’t satisfy its ½ million people! Again… to me this is huge and there is definitely a need! 6. Acquire TV in Frankfurt, KY. While Frankfurt is not a hotbed of wrestling, it is within about 50 miles of both Lexington and Louisville. Both of these are large markets with over 200,000 people and both haver large wrestling histories that are currently being ignored. Both had seen almost weekly events prior to 1986 but almost nothing by 1991! There is money to be had here! They are a bit of a trek at 3-4 hours from Knoxville but that is nothing when you look at the old driving schedule of places like Midsouth and Albuquerque. 7. Acquire TV in Cincinnati: With Les Thatcher joining SMW, Heartland Wrestling will soon die. The fans of Southwestern Ohio have long supported wrestling… let’s give them SMW. Their 350,000 people will love it and SMW will love the money. A 4-hour drive to the Cincinnati Gardens sounds profitable even though WCW and the WWF had little interest in. 8. Memphis: The pipedream! Sounds impossible by Jerry Lawler did wrestle in SMW in real life so it can be done! Might require a war! Sounds fun. This expansion would take time but seems like it might have worked. Any thoughts? Anything that would make something here not work? Again, trying to come up with a plan to make SMW work but also to find a plan that realistically, could have worked. Anybody know why Cornette did not look at some of these cities?

Looking forward to the Omni show. I used to love just seeing those cards on Georgia Championship Wrestling and wondering how great it would be to live in Atlanta instead of NY. Wondering on the Steiners here... why did they not acknowledge the crowd. Just could be because they are so focused or could it mean something else. Interesting