LastStopTour

I have to say, this is one tightly written show. It ebbs and flows like it should without the need for a huge roster and focusses on a few while giving us the hierarchy to show the pecking order. Well played out characters and storylines that apparently cross territories in the case of Dirty Dick Slater and Tommy Rich. Really well done. The one surprise is Bill Dundee taking a backseat to Shane Douglas. I figured we would hear a little something from Bill without him being in the shadow of Jerry Lawler. Really good stuff here on my must read list.

Pre-taping Match In non-title action, Bil Ash made short work of Ken Jugan. International Pro Wrestling Excited Voiceover: You are watching International Pro Wrestling from the KAIT Channel 8 television studios! Wrestling action whizzes by quickly over music, showing the stars of International Pro Wresting. Drop kick here, monkey flip there, big swinging neck breaker there. When the music comes to a stop, the camera pans the studio and the loud studio audience ready for some wrestling action! Buddy Lee and Bert Prentice welcome everyone to International Pro Wrestling's exciting "Power Half Hour! Rip Tyler is out once again and apologizes for making this a regular habit but it is better news than last week's reason for coming out. He is here to announce the IPW's Tag Team Titles and how they are going to resolve finding our first champions. Unlike having a tournament as we did with the heavyweight title, we are going to start with the two most deserving teams, pitting Reno Riggins and partner Dancing Wolf against nemesis Tojo Yamamoto and the New Guinea Head Hunter ... in a Best of 7 Series of matches. No fluke wins to determine the champs here. With these two teams having been battling it out for the last two months, we are sure to have some great wrestling action! Getting this all started , we kick this off TODAY in our Main Event! The fans cheer as Tyler walks off. Buddy Lee and Bert talk about the announcement and two teams. Bert is very pro Reno and Dancing Wolf here and predicts they win the straps. Next on the agenda is Dark Journey and her "90 Days of Lockdown" with Jamie Dundee and Bruno Spazzinsky. Buddy Lee with the quick rundown of the past events leading up to last week and says we have actual videotape! Bert Prentice can't wait to see this! ROLL THE TAPE! We get several vehicles pull up to the end of a driveway out in the country. It is Dark Journey and an entourage along with a camera crew. The get the shot of the sign ... FRAZIER FARM. They are met by Jamie Dundee and Bruno Spazzinsky, both in overalls. No entourage needed, no suitcases or other gear needed ... they got everything Dark Journey needs! The camera guy can stay but everyone else has to go! Moving on, Dark Journey has changes from her expensive clothes into overalls and boots with an IPW t-shirt. NOW. she's ready. She is brought to a stable and handed a shovel and wheelbarrow. She complains about the smell but the boys laugh and tell her that's why she's here. They pull up chairs and watch her shovel away all the while complaining ... END THE TAPE! The hosts chuckle while the audience cheers at Dark Journey getting her comeuppence. Bert loves it and thinks this is a much better fate for DJ than a simple 90 day suspension! He can't wait to see more of what they have in mind for Dark Journey. Buddy Lee throws it to a commercial! x-x-x-x-x COMMERCIAL BREAK x-x-x-x-x We go to the ring for our first match ... Match #1 Tom Renesto Jr. versus The American First match for this Renesto and we get a time limit draw that has both men shaking hands afterwards. After the match, Renesto joins our hosts and sings the praises the American's abilities but wants to talk about Rip Tyler's announcement at the start of the show. Renesto is looking forward to the series of matches but doesn't agree the best teams are involved, especially with him and his brother being left out of the mix. Bert reminds Junior that his brother appears to have unfinished business with the Zebra Kid. Renesto says the only think Tim needs to concern himself with is Tag Team gold! Buddy Lee sends us to a commercial break! x-x-x-x-x COMMERCIAL BREAK x-x-x-x-x We return to the program with Bert and Buddy talking about Tom Renesto Jr. and his desire to compete with his brother in the tag team division. Tim's answer sounded pretty convincing that he wasn't interested at this point. We will see how this plays out! Buddy Lee and Bert are joined by the young woman from last week. She greets the two as Brandy Mae. She was called in by Jamie Dundee who were having a "Pest Problem". She came in like an exterminator and took care of business. She talks about looking forward to getting into the ring and wrestling before joining our hosts on commentary. Match #2 Reno Riggins & Dancing Wolf versus Tojo Yamamoto & the New Guinea Head Hunter. First match in our Best of 7 Series for the IPW Tag Team Belts. Both teams come out guns blazing and ready to knock the other team "off the mountain". We get some talk about the Ladies wrestling with Brandy dropping names around the wrestling world and her ready to make her mark not only here in Arkansas but i nthe wrestling world as well. Riggins and Wolf with solid double teaming with their opponents countering with some iffy tactics. They go back and forth, trading near pin attempts that are either broken up or kicked out of. Riggins and Dancing Wolf knock the Head Hunter for a loop after he breaks out a nerve hold on Riggins. Tojo gets involved and whacks both Riggins and Dancing Wolf with his kendo stick right in front of the referee for the bell and disqualification loss, putting Riggins and Dancing Wolf up 1-0! The fans cheer as Buddy Lee and Bert Prentice with a big thank you and a reminder to join us next week for more International Pro Wrestling action!

Nice challenge from Oliver but Bad News Brown keeps rolling along. Raw deal for BJ Strong. Now he goes off into the sunset and Gagne's Gang can continue to terrorize the midcard.

I am sure the Texas Outlaws' opponents would prefer you calling them by their proper nom de guerre ... Enhancement Talent. Yeesh! There is a true art form to their position on the totem pole of the business. Never liked John Tatum, so I won't be unhappy when Eddie Gilbert and Missy stab him in the back unless of course, she runs away with Tatum. Are we seeing the Steiners coming together now that Hercules Hernandez stepped aside? They may be young but it is very easy to see the pair muscle their way through the tag division here.

Wahoo might be on his last legs but don't count him out just yet. The old veteran I am sure has a few tricks up his sleeves yet to counter whatever Lightfoot throws at him. The Nightmares, though on the smaller side, bring good Southern tag team rasslin to the territory. Looking for them to do well here.

Impressive display by El Canek to first throw Crusher Blackwell to the outside but to also military press Greg Gagne and throw him onto Blackwell. That is a feat of strength.

Marvel Comics has come to professional wrestling! I don't know if that is a good thing or a bad one? Big weekend for the Jr. Heavies (Candido and Pillman) stepping in against the bigger guys and giving a good account of themselves but coming up just short. Barry Windham - when in doubt, knock his block off. By this time, Barry's a seasoned hand, he knew what to do with Pillman.

Pre-taping Match Debbie T. Wild defeated Prissie Purcell. International Pro Wrestling Excited Voiceover: You are watching International Pro Wrestling from the KAIT Channel 8 television studios! Wrestling action whizzes by quickly over music, showing the stars of International Pro Wresting. Drop kick here, monkey flip there, big swinging neck breaker there. When the music comes to a stop, the camera pans the studio and the loud studio audience ready for some wrestling action! Buddy Lee and Bert Prentice welcome everyone to International Pro Wrestling's exciting "Power Half Hour! Big show last week at the ASU Armory in Jonesboro, Arkansas and we didn't expect this to go long before ... HERE WE GO ... Rip Tyler comes out with a smile on his face. He'd rather not have to come out here and take up television time that could be actual wrestling which is what these fans are here for but today brings him a bit of pleasure. It's not every day that he gets to suspend anyone for 90 days but this one is well deserved. Buddy Lee describes the situation Tyler's talking about with Dark Journey having been banned from the Armory and being told if she showed her face, she would be suspended. And like a moth to flame, Dark Journey just could not stay away! Dark Journey and the Terrors are out to plead her case but Rip Tyler isn't listening. He laid down the law last week and she disobeyed. There are rules, he laid down the rules and Dark Journey is not above the laws ... SHE IS SUSPENDED FOR 90 DAYS! HOLD ON JUST A SECOND! It sure is getting crowded in here as Jamie Dundee and Bruno Spazzinsky join the party. Come to gloat? No, they ask for Rip Tyler to hear their proposal ... they want him to NOT suspend Dark Journey! WHAT?!?!? No one in the studio can believe it! What they are out here to do is to ask for a match against the Terrors - they have unfinished business ... Rip Tyler interrupts. He knows the two teams have some bad blood and there will be plenty of time to meet in the ring but like it or not, Dark Journey WILL NOT BE AROUND FOR THE NEXT 90 DAYS! The fans cheer to that. Bruno tries to quiet the fans as Jamie continues. What they are proposing is better ... if Jamie and Bruno win like they did last week at the Armory, THEY GET DARK JOURNEY AS THEIR VALET FOR THE NEXT 90 DAYS! Jamie and Bruno smile as the fans go ape! If Rip is just dead set on a suspension today ... IF JAMIE AND BRUNO LOSE ... THEY WILL LEAVE IPW FOR THE NEXT 90 DAYS! Talk about throwing a curveball! Everyone waits on Rip Tyler's answer to the proposal. Rip Tyler: I don't know what you two boys are playing at but do you know what you're asking? You understand, if you lose, you'll be gone from Arkansas for the next three months? As long as you two understand there's no second chances if you lose and I can bet Dark Journey's gonna fire up her two boys to win that match to not only get away scott free but to be rid of the two of you for the next three months. Against better judgement, I'll grant the match today ... Everyone in the building go nuts as grumpy old Rip Tyler walks off shaking his head. Buddy Lee throws it to a commercial! x-x-x-x-x COMMERCIAL BREAK x-x-x-x-x We go to the ring for our first match ... Match #1 Tim Renesto versus the Ninja. Showcase match for Renesto who makes quick work of the Ninja. After the match, he joins our hosts. They talk about his successes but has fallen short a few times in the "Big Matches". He understands and knows that he just needs to put in the work and believe in himself, just as these fans believe in him. He sees titles in his future and he's will to do what he needs to ... They are joined by his brother, Tom Renesto Jr. Tom talks about being Tim's biggest supporter and he knows exactly what his brother can do but maybe it is time to put the title aspirations for singles belts aside and come back to his strength ... TAG TEAM WRESTLING. Buddy Lee and Bert Prentice talk about the Renesto bloodline and their father's history and success as a member of the Assassins where they ran roughshod all over the south for years. Tom says he doesn't know about being the Assassins but he knows he and his brother could wreck havoc on the tag division in this territory. Tim appreciates his brother's support but right now, he's got other business to take care of ... and that's against the Zebra Kid! Buddy Lee sends us to a commercial break! x-x-x-x-x COMMERCIAL BREAK x-x-x-x-x We return to the program with Bert and Buddy talking about the ramifications of our next match between Jamie Dundee and Bruno Spazzinsky versus the Arkansas Terrrors under Dark Journey. Bert wonders if the boys understand exactly what they are doing getting involved with this jezebel. Match #2 The Arkansas Terrors w/Dark Journey versus Jamie Dundee & Bruno Spazzinsky. They've done it before and this time is no different as they immediately get after it. The two teams beat the tar out of one another while Dark Journey does her best to stick her nose into the match whenever she can as she, too, has a lot riding on the victory. They go back and forth with several near pinfalls and Dark Journey doing more and more. Things don't look good for our heroes when DJ shoves Spazzinsky from the top turnbuckle. That's enough of that! Young woman in daisy dukes runs out to the ring and yanks DJ off the ring apron. Applying a hammerlock, she marches Dark Journey to the back to the approval of the cheering fans. In the ring, young Jamie opens up a can of whoopass and light up the Terrors. Double dropkick sends one Terror through the ropes to the outside. Working together, they manhandle the other masked man where Jamie finishes him off with the Bomb's Away! He hooks a leg for the 1! 2! 3! JAMIE DUNDEE AND BRUNO SPAZZINSKY HAVE WON THE MATCH! The fans cheer as Buddy Lee and Bert Prentice with a big thank you and a reminder to join us next week for more International Pro Wrestling action!

Here's a vote for Rip Oliver to walk out of his match with Bad News Brown as the champion. He walks it, he talks it and can carry himself well on the the mic and in the ring. Baby Doll is looking to take a tag team all the way. Simpson and Doll with Texas roots could probably benefit from her tutelage. Can she take them to the titles? That remains to be seen. Griz gets the TV Title shot off of a countout? BOOOOOO! Larry Z tells it like it is and didn't have to call anyone a Spudhead.

Just a note here, Bart Sawyer is in Arkansas. I have to say, West Virginia has some of the strangest named enhancement talent I have ever seen.

IPW signs Oliver Humperdink. I would like to use him as a wrestler.

From the Sunday morning edition of The Sun ... International Pro Wrestling 4-29-1988 ASU Armory Jonesboro, Arkansas News & Notes 1. With Dark Journey nowhere in sight, Dundee and Spazzinsky were able to defeat the Arkansas Terrors. 2. Cody Michaels intercepted an object handed to Brian Knighton from a cloaked individual. Caught red heanded by the referee, the match was awarded to Knighton. MIchaels complained to the referee and with the fans' help reversed the decision.The person of unknown origin had their hood yanked off revealing Dark Journey. 3. Riggins and Dancing Wolf won the match but were left laying when Tojo Yamamoto broke out the kendo stick. 4. Pat Rose officially came in as the new #1 contender and proceeded to put a beating Bill Ash. Ash fought his way back into the match with some shortcuts but Rose was able to win by disqualification. After the match, the continued fighting before disappearing in the back,

Holy cow, Brian Christopher is getting one whale of a push here and he isn't even in Memphis. Your light heavyweight division is stacked with Cheetah Kid at the top but there are a lot of talented guys that Christopher is going to have to go through to get to him.

Big win by Manny Fernandez over Vader. A chair swinging Woman proves that Vader is soft and should likely never show his face again in Mid-South or will likely be laughed out of the locker room. Rick Steiner finds himself in even deeper with Eddie Gilbert now that he's hired or lured two new associates into his employee. Though I would count him out just yet, Steiner's run with the TV title might be just a tad shorter than it would have been without Gilbert and Hyatt involved. When even a cage match with Ted DiBiase isn't enough to keep someone from interfering, it might be time to move onto something else.

For Dutch's antics in the two matches, at least he got his at the hands of Shane Douglas. That ought to have made the fans happy. While he might not have deserved it, Landel wins the Southern title and a target on his back as eventually Slater is going to come looking for him once finishing with Tommy Rich.

Pre-taping Match Tim Renesto defeated Mountain Lou.. International Pro Wrestling Excited Voiceover: You are watching International Pro Wrestling from the KAIT Channel 8 television studios! Wrestling action whizzes by quickly over music, showing the stars of International Pro Wresting. Drop kick here, monkey flip there, big swinging neck breaker there. When the music comes to a stop, the camera pans the studio and the loud studio audience ready for some wrestling action! Buddy Lee and Bert Prentice welcome everyone to International Pro Wrestling's exciting "Power Half Hour! Big show today with the finals of the #1 Contender's Tournament as Pat Rose takes on the Zebra Kid who has literally come out of thin air and found instant success. Tonight! Tonight! Tonight! At the ASU Armory in Jonesboro, Arkansas, the winner of that match gets an instant match against IPW Champ, Bill Ash. Before we get there however, we have tag team action today with two teams very familiar with one another, Reno Riggins and Dancing Wolf taking on Tojo Yamamoto and the New Guinea Headhunter. These two teams have been battling it out across the territory and both return from Crockett Cup action. Buddy Lee throws it to a commercial! x-x-x-x-x COMMERCIAL BREAK x-x-x-x-x We go to the ring for our first match ... Match #1 Reno Riggins & Dancing Wolf versus Tojo Yamamoto & the New Guinea Headhunter Burnburner of a match that turns into a brawl with all four men going at it making it very difficult for the referee to keep control. Warning issued to both teams about throwing this one out if they do not obey his commands. Tojo with the kendo stick hits his partner instead of the ducking Riggins. Fast tag to Dancing Wolf who hits the wobbled Headhunter with the flying tomahawk chop for the pinfall as Riggins holds off Tojo. Joining our hosts are the team of Reno Riggins and Dancing Wolf. A slightly out of breath Riggins throws out a challenge to Tojo Yamamoto and the New Guinea Headhunter for tonight. There's a lot more beatdown left where that came from! Buddy Lee sends us to a commercial break! x-x-x-x-x COMMERCIAL BREAK x-x-x-x-x We return to the program with Bert and Buddy having been joined by commissioner Rip Tyler. They sell tonight's show with a reminder from Rip about the stipulations placed on Dark Journey having been banned from tonight's matches at the ASU Armory. If she shows her face inside the building she will face a 90 suspension. He's been very lenient up until this point but make no mistake, there is no getting around this ... HE MEANS BUSINESS! Match #2 #1 Contender Tournament - FINALS The Zebra Kid versus Pat Rose Things start slow with the Zebra Kid hesitant to lock up. He wants the referee to back up Rose, he wants a time out and does anything else he can to slow down as well as frustrate Rose which of course draws the ire of the fans. Once finally locking up, Rose chains together move after move, putting the Zebra Kid to the mat, more than once rolling him to his back for 2 counts. To his credit, the Zebra Kid weathers the storm and shows his own wrestling prowess, putting Rose to the mat and with a handful of trunks able to get a 2 count of his own. The two go back and forth with Zebra Kid getting the upper hand, twisting with a hammerlock and grabbing hair. Reversed by Rose, Zebra shouts out about his hair being pulled. The ref watches closely for an infraction, seeing none being committed. Zebra pulls free and shoves the referee out of the way. Rose shoves Zebra Kid off into the ropes, catches him up on the return, lifts him into the air and falls backwards, planting him facefirst into the canvas. Hooking a leg ... 1! 2! 3! PAT ROSE IS THE IPW #1 CONTENDER! The fans cheer as Buddy Lee and Bert Prentice with a big thank you and a reminder to join us next week for more International Pro Wrestling action!

Big win for Strong to send Mike George packing. The Warrior is a kook.

Steamboat and Savage on TV is pretty big. Steamboat gets the win but an injury to Savage of any magnitude shakes up things even more. If he is out for any extended period of time, who is going to step into the vacuum?Does Michael Hayes turn out to prophetic and his title becomes the most important belt out there?.

TONIGHT! TONIGHT! TONIGHT! International Pro Wrestling 4-22-1988 ASU Armory Jonesboro, Arkansas Saturday night packed house in Jonesboro! Buddy Lee and Bert Prentice welcome everyone to the show. Match #1. Cody Michaels versus Mountain Lou A month ago, Cody Michaels beat young Brian Knighton. This time however, he drew the "Man Mountain". The athletic Michaels ran roughshod on the big man, winning with a bulldog off the top rope. Afterwards, he shook hands with his opponent and held the ropes open for him when leaving. Match #2. The Arkansas Terrors w/Dark Journey versus Ken Jugan and Johnny Weiss Tag team action with Dark Journey with a shot at the two guys they jumped at the TV taping earlier in the day. Weiss and Jugan get a shot at revenge but find themselves outmatched by the masked men directed by DJ. Double pin victory for the Terrors after sending Jugan and Weiss crashing into each other. Match #3. Tojo Yamamoto, the New Guinea Headhunter & the Cuban Assassin versus Reno Riggins, Dancing Wolf & Plowboy Frazier From tag action to 6-man action. A case of all six getting a chance to shine before the sheer size of the Plowboy came into play. The Cuban Assassin as the target of several corner splashes had the fans on their feet before he crashed to the mat and was pinned. Intermission. Buddy Lee and Bert Prentice are joined by Reno Riggins, Dancing Wolf & Plowboy Frazier. Congratulations all around before Reno talks about being happy to be here in Arkansas. The Crockett Cup tournament saw him and partner Dacing Wolf having to leave for a bit to compete but they are back and ready to continue their war with Tojo and the Headhunter. Match #4. Bill Ash & Prissie Purcell versus Debbie T. Wild & Pat Rose Mixed tag action in our main event that sees Ash and Rose start things with a heated argument before escalating into a slap followed by right hands. Real donnybrook with Ash and Rose showing no love lost as they try to kill one another. The ladies are just as hostile to one another when it is their turn. Both teams go back and forth trading near pinfalls until Ash is able to rock Rose with several closed fists when the referee is distracted by Purcell. He sets Rose up for the Arkansas Whiplash but Rose is able to shove him off. A knee to the midsection before Rose hooks Ash up for a vertical suplex, holding him in the air ... IT'S THE ZEBRA KID! HE CHARGES INTO THE RING AND NAILS ROSE WITH A KNEE TO THE BACK! ASH DROPS BACK TO HIS FEET AND THE TWO MEN TAKE TO STOMPING AWAY! WE GET THE BELL AND THE DISQUALIFICATION! Purcell and Wild duke it while Rose takes a beating ... HERE COMES THE CAVALRY! RENO RIGGINS! DANCING WOLF! CODY MICHAELS! PLOWBOY FRAZIER! HERE COMES THE ARKANSAS TERRORS! TOJO YAMAMOTO! THE NEW GUINEA HEADHUNTER! WE'VE GOT A PIER 6 BRAWL! Buddy Lee and Bert Prentice get out of the way!

Great episode of TV. Some very good matches, a debut for Terri, a chicken-shit Dutch Mantel calling Shane a lunatic and that it might be "curtains" for him, Rip Rogers doing his schtick, more on the Southern Title with Dutch having to wrestle for a spot in the tournament against none other than a returning Bill Dundee. All good things right there. Jeff Jarrett with a good look in the ring but he's still young and I am sure will get many chances down the road to get one over on Rip Rogers. Good win for Shane Douglas against the masked Jeff Gaylord AND being able to take out Dirty Dutch on the apron. Doesn't get better than that. Nice to see Bob Armstrong in action and even picking up the win for his team. Back to the drawing board for Whatley and the Russians.

I have a question about the Tiger Mask 2 question? Did he wrestle at least 10 matches in a year in Japan/abroad? If the answer is yes, I think he or any Japanese based wrestler should be available for use in the US. I know I am new here and don't really want to step on anyone's toes but the thing you also have to consider is the structure of the league we have here in 1988 versus what existed in the US in real life. Real life, the territory system was all but dead minus a few small places. You had Vince and the beginnings of Turner/WCW which meant there were just two big promotions plus a few smaller dying ones. Our league has in the neighborhood of 6 or 7 big promotions, my little one who won't be bringing in foreign talent, parttime/way behind WWF and absent Florida - that's quite a few big guys with a lot of active wrestlers who might have, if this was the way things really went, might have turned to bringing in foreign talent to get a leg up on the competition. A Japanese piece here and there as part of a talent exchange makes sense to me. We already have WCW sending talent to tour Japan, it makes sense to me you might have the reverse of that.

Agreed talent level at the time versus name or gimmick used is more important being realistic about.

No need to beat yourself up over it. The summery was very good and did what it was supposed to do - get you closer to that next big show while catching us up on "what down before". Very effective way of doing things . Also, if facing writers block, this at least keeps you involved with the territory rather than trying to write yourself out of it and/or take weeks off, eventually losing interest and losing your readers. Big curveball if JYD was awarded the title, leaving Jake Roberts on the outside looking in. As things are in the personal side of things between them, Rick Steiner/Eddie Gilbert will be a hot one. I agree with AD, Missy might have done Gilbert in. Despite coming to Midsouth recently, I am enjoying the Manny Fernandez story. It is a good and juicy one to throw him into against Vader and dying in Sullivan and Woman. The show in the 6th is going to be a good one.

Agreed, totally crazy. Awesome job that you can split your roster and run two totally independent entities of each other with both territories feeling very different from one another rather than feeling like a rehash of the same thing with just different people plugged in. Cudos to you. I have to think that eventually, it will catch up to you but in the mean time, let me say that your Memphis is spot on and one of my favorite reads here. Keep up the great work.