Atlantic Coast Championship Wrestling TV
June 1st, 1984
Sportatorium, Tampa, FL
(After the opening credits, we join Bob Caudle, who’s solo this week, at the broadcast booth to start today’s show.)
Bob Caudle: Hello wrestling fans and welcome to Atlantic Coast Championship Wrestling TV. I’m Bob Caudle and I’m flying solo this week as Tony Schiavone is on assignment and as a matter of fact, we’ll join him a bit later in the show because we’ve been told that the Brisco Brothers will finally reveal who’s behind the bounty that allowed Jack Brisco to oust Greg Valentine to crown the inaugural Atlantic Coast Heavyweight Champion. This is a situation that has wreaked havoc literally everywhere in the territory as Eddie Graham has even lost the ability to sign major top talents to the territory. Keep in mind it’s that same mysterious individual who allegedly convinced Brad Armstrong not to come to Florida and he instead chose to join his brother Scott and his father “Bullet Bob” with Southeastern Championship Wrestling. We just hope that this will at least temporarily, calm everyone down and cooler heads will prevail. We’ve got some great wrestling action, including our feature bout between Ricky Steamboat and Abdullah the Butcher from the House of Humperdink. Plus, we will have the debut of Khruscher Khruschev from Russia, along with his partner Boris Zhukov But first, we’ve got a 6-men tag match to get us started, and it also features the House of Humperdink! Let’s get to the ring now!
Match #1
6-Men Tag Team Match
The House of Humperdink (Kevin Sullivan, Purple Haze & The Great Kabuki, w/Sir Oliver Humperdink & Fallen Angel) beat Mike Graham, Paul Orndorff & Wahoo McDaniel in 31:15 after Sullivan hit Wahoo with one of the heels of Fallen Angel’s shoes! Luckily for Wahoo, Sullivan didn’t have time to use the Golden Spike on him to exert further damage as Orndorff & Graham chased off the House of Humperdink with a chair!
***commercial break***
(Back from the break, we see the same VTR vignette we saw a few weeks back…)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U06jlgpMtQs
(As the vignette ends, the Soviet anthem starts again and out comes Khruscher Khruschev and Boris Zhukov, proudly waving the Soviet Flag on their way to the ring.
Match #2
Khruscher Khruschev (w/Boris Zhukov) beat Don Kernodle in 6:18 by submission with a leglock he called the Soviet Crowbar
***commercial break***
Bob Caudle: We’re back on Atlantic Coast Championship Wrestling TV and it’s finally time to join Tony Schiavone with the Brisco Brothers as we’re waiting to find out who’s been hiring the Brisco Brothers to do their dirty deeds. Tony, the floor is yours.
(We cut to the hallway inside of a building as Tony Schiavone is standing by with the Brisco Brothers, dressed in suit & tie, to claim their bounty.)
Tony Schiavone: Thank you, Bob. Here we are, this is the moment that everyone in the territory has been waiting to find out. We’re about to enter a room in which stands the man who’s caused so many problems to not only Greg Valentine but Eddie Graham himself.
Jerry Brisco: Hey, but he didn’t cause troubles to us!
Jack Brisco: That’s right, on the contrary, I’d say he’s been pretty good to us!
Tony Schiavone: Jack, Jerry, would you mind?
Jerry Brisco: Of course, of course…
(Jerry knocks on the door)
???: Come in!
(The door opens and a somewhat familiar voice greets the Brisco Brothers and Tony Schiavone.)
???: Jack, Jerry! Mr. Schiavone! Come in, don’t be shy!
Tony Schiavone: I….I cannot believe my eyes. You?
(The cameraman enters as well and we discover that the mystery man is….FLORIDA HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION GINO HERNANDEZ!!! In front of Gino lays the Florida Heavyweight Championship belt and a briefcase presumably full of money destined to the Briscos.)
Gino Hernandez: Why so surprised, Tony? Who did you expect? Come on, boys! Come get your share of the money!
(Gino hands over the briefcase to Jack & Jerry Brisco. Gino shakes hands with the Briscos as they leave the room. Tony is now alone with Gino.)
Tony Schiavone: Gino Hernandez, why would you do something like that?
Gino Hernandez: The answer is: why not? I’m rich, I’m young, I’m handsome and there’s no one more talented than me. To make it in this business, you have to pull some strings and take advantage of some opportunities. And that’s exactly what I did. Greg Valentine was an obstacle in my way to one day become the Atlantic Coast Heavyweight Champion. So I took care of that by enlisting the help of a few people. I didn’t specifically ask to Jack & Jerry Brisco to do this; they came to me. And they were willing to do the job so that’s what they did. Jerry placed the call to Greg Valentine to tell him his father’s health wasn’t good and he had to fly back home. Eddie Graham couldn’t cancel such a big match and since Eddie trusted Jack, he put him in his place to wrestle Paul Orndorff. And the rest is history. Now, I’ll grant you that I didn’t expect Valentine to pull off what he did but we’ll deal with that in due time.
Tony Schiavone: Don’t you feel sorry to have put Eddie Graham through all of this?
Gino Hernandez: Eddie Graham pretty much was collateral damage. It would’ve been anyone else at the helm of this territory, I would’ve done the exact same thing. It would’ve been Fritz Von Erich, Bill Watts, Stu Hart, Verne Gagne….nothing would’ve changed. I needed to send the message to Eddie Graham that nobody can stop me from accomplishing my goals in Atlantic Coast Championship Wrestling. This (Gino takes the Florida Heavyweight title belt) is just an appetizer. I’m soon gunning for the main course and the Atlantic Coast Heavyweight Championship is my dessert. I don’t care if the Cuban Assassin still has the title or whoever else has it. Before it’s all said and done, I will be the champion.
Tony Schiavone: And if I can ask….how did you convince Brad Armstrong to not come here? Eddie Graham was counting on Brad Armstrong to make a big impact in this territory.
Gino Hernandez: Tony Schiavone, at the end of the day, when you can persuade anyone to do what’s best for themselves, you go ahead and do it. Brad Armstrong would’ve been a thorn in my side in Florida and I have plenty on my plate already so I wanted to make sure that he didn’t get in my way. And besides, I can’t say that so far, Paul Jones’ Army hasn’t helped me convince Brad he did the right move, slapping around his daddy and his brothers. In the end, Brad Armstrong knew what was best for him. And the day will probably come where he’ll want a piece of me when he realizes that I’m the best thing going on God’s green Earth. And I’ll be waiting with open arms.
Tony Schiavone: Well, Gino Hernandez…Thanks for that conversation. Back to you, Bob at the Sportatorium.
(Back to Bob Caudle at the Sportatorium, with Don Kent standing next to him.)
Bob Caudle: Folks, I’m as speechless as everyone here as we came to the realization that it was Gino Hernandez, all along, who pulled the strings behind Eddie Graham’s back. Obviously, we can’t join Eddie Graham yet for his comments but we hopefully will able to get some thoughts from him soon. Now, joining me is Don Kent. Don, busy weekend for you as tonight, you’re wrestling Angelo Mosca Jr and tomorrow night in Miami, you take on John Bonello. How important is it for you to win those matches as you might be getting back in the hunt for the TV title currently held by Purple Haze?
Don Kent: Important? Are you kidding me, Bob Caudle? I’m gonna wipe the floor of Angelo Mosca Jr and John Bonello. Those guys couldn’t even lace my boots if I asked them to. People now seem to be talking about Gino Hernandez being the best thing since sliced bread and everything but is he a former TV Champion? NO! I’m the one who sent Rick Rude packing back to his territory. I saved the honor of this territory when no one else could!
Bob Caudle: With all due respect, Don; you’ve only held the title for one week before Killer Tim Brooks took it from you.
Don Kent: This is the problem, here. People are just paying attention to what you’re doing now and not what you’ve done prior to today. Like nothing else you did counts. I’ve been overlooked for too long and I’m gonna make an example out of Angelo Mosca Jr and John Bonello this weekend. And when it’s all said and done, I’ll make an example out of the rest of this territory. Maybe people will take me seriously going forward. Now, get out of my way.
(A visibly irritated Don Kent leaves the set to return backstage)
Bob Caudle: One thing we can say is that Don Kent isn’t in a jovial mood right now and he feels overlooked by ACCW management and the fans. We’ll see this weekend if he can be true to his words and score victories. But now, we’re ready for our main event!
MAIN EVENT
Match #3
Abdullah the Butcher (w/Sir Oliver Humperdink) beat Ricky Steamboat in 9:48 with the Sudanese Meat Cleaver. After the match, Dory Funk Jr runs-in and attacks Steamboat with the branding iron in the ribs! Steamboat is writhing in pain as the show ends while Dory Funk leaves the ring, satisfied with his work.
Next week on ACCW TV:
-Tommy Lane of the Rock N’Roll RPMs takes on Boomer Lynch in singles competition
-The Purple Haze defends the Atlantic Coast TV Championship against Rufus Jones
-Plus, in 6-men tag team action, The Russians team with The Great Kabuki to take on Don Kernodle and whoever will want to team with him!
