GSR

Three way match for the MPPW TV title where the winner will be the first man who scores a pin. Derrick King walks to the ring with some female called Tiffany, although it’s never explained who she actually is. Khan rushes at his opponents, ducks under a double clothesline, only to get planted by a double chokeslam. Double back elbow followed by a combination boot to the mid-section/swinging neckbreaker. Blade makes the cover, but King pulls him off even though they had been working together up until this point. Boudreaux with a dropkick and now King covers Khan only for Blade to pull him off. They shove one another before DK drops Blade with a right and that short lived alliance is over. ‘O’Connor roll’ from King, and Blade bulldogs him at the count of two putting a stop to that pin attempt. Nice clothesline sequence that sees DK level Blade only to then get taken out himself by Khan. A backdrop sends King over the top rope but he lands on the apron. Khan avoids the crossbody back into the ring, although he connects with Blade instead and Khan is forced to break up the pin to save his title. A dropkick sends DK to the outside, from where he hooks Blade’s ankle as he’s running the ropes, pulling him out to join him. They trade blows on the floor, forgetting all about Khan who nails them both with a pescado. Double clothesline off the top by Blade. He launches DK at Khan, however he catches and throws him overhead with a suplex. Russian leg sweep by Blade and Khan kicks out at two. Spinebuster by King on Khan, and Blade with a leg drop to the back of the head as he makes the cover. Boudreaux goes to crack Khan with a chair that King had earlier bought into the ring, but he pulls the official in front of him and Blade clobbers him instead. Facebuster by DK and he gets the visual pin as the ref is still down. Alan Steel is out pestering Tiffany which leads to King coming to her rescue and the pair go at it at ringside. Meanwhile inside, ‘Oriental spike’ on Blade by Khan for the win as Randy Hales and Dave Brown say how they need to look at banning that move. The three of them crammed a lot of stuff into this and I thought that they all worked hard with some nice, if slightly contrived, spots thrown in there. King clearly was the one holding all of this together though, and it was majestic the way he was selling Blade’s punches at one point when they were outside. Ref bump was completely uncalled for and unnecessary, and looked to have only been done in order to give King a visual pin before he left the match to go and rescue Tiffany from Steel. It’s a hugely overdone spot in Power Pro as it is, and when it’s used in instance like this where it’s not needed (like King really needs to get a visual pin on Khan? Just have him leave the moment he sees Steel at ringside) it doesn’t help that perception in the slightest.

It's from 4/19/78 in Croydon (originally aired 5/6/78). There were three Breaks/Grey matches that aired on TWC (original air dates for the three are 5/6/78, 7/7/79 and 5/16/81). The following website will help you out http://itvwrestling.co.uk/ Just after I worked out which Grey/Breaks match it was, I referenced to get the date it was taped and found that they've now added a ton of youtube links.

It's on youtube. The match is dated 2/2/80 on there though because that was the date it aired, although was taped in Reading on 1/28.

It looks like Krush has been reading his Jerry Lawler joke book with the way he’s throwing out one liners at members of the audience! Abs overpowers Krush on the initial lock up, and when he tries to rush him, runs into a boot to the face. Big scoop powerslam but Krush kicks outs on one. Kevin Kelly wonders where Viscera is and is surprised that Krush’s ‘ace in the hole’ isn’t at ringside for this. That means expect Vis to show up later in the match at some point! Nice overhead suplex, although they’re too close to the ropes and Krush gets a foot over them when he makes the cover. Joey telegraphs the backdrop and Krush with an upward kick followed by a scissors kick. Flying forearm, though ref Mike Johnson spots Krush resting his feet on the ropes for added leverage and stops his count. Abs counters the leapfrog with a sit out powerbomb and that might be the opening he needs to get back into this. Big splash out of the corner and Krush only just kicks out in time. Irish whip is reversed, Krush holds on, knee to the mid-section, face first suplex and now it’s Abs who barely kicks out. Krush looks to use Joey’s own finished against him, though he counters with a backdrop when out to ringside walks Viscera. Told ya! Abs has him set for ‘the Absolute’ (Splash Mountain) when Vis pulls Krush out it. He decks Viscera, but at the same time Johnson gets bumped while he was trying to get the big man away from the ring. Krush blinds Abs with some powder, only to miss the top rope guillotine leg drop as Joey moves out the way. ‘Absolute’ and Charlie Miller runs down to replace Johnson and make the count, however Vis yanks him from the ring and clobbers him. Viscera with a headbutt to Krush, ‘Rude Awakening’, guillotine leg drop hits and Johnson has recovered to count the fall as we have a new MCW Southern Heavyweight champion. The two of them attack Abs after the match until he’s eventually saved, weirdly, by Headbanger Thrasher. Didn’t think Krush would win here, what with Abs having only defeated Regal for the title last week, so the outcome was a surprise to me. I enjoyed this and preferred it to the Regal match which is something I wouldn’t have expected going in. There were also plenty of twists and turns in the final few minutes here so you didn’t know which way it was heading. Reading Chad’s comments, I thought it was clear Krush was the heel, not only due to the fact that he’s been aligned with Viscera recently but the whole ragging on the audience shtick that heel Lawler would do at the onset.

David Jett and Kevin Kelly give us a bit of background on Brookside, explaining that he’s someone who has competed all over the world. Dragon whips him into the ropes but misses the dropkick as Robbie holds on to them. Brookside grapevines the leg, whilst at the same time locking on something resembling a guillotine choke for a submission attempt. Dragon is sent chest first into the turnbuckles and Brookside with some European uppercuts as Jett says how he has a very similar style to Steven Regal. Uppercut is blocked and Dragon counters with a backslide for two. Crossbody, but Brookside catches and then ties him in the ‘tree of woe’ before a baseball slide dropkick to the head. “USA, USA” chant fires Dragon up, although not for long as Brookside catches him with a high bridged Northern Lights suplex. Drop toe hold by Dragon, who then puts his feet under Brookside’s armpits, rolls him over and bridges back for the pin. Regal certainly took care of Brookside over the years; getting him work in WCW, this MCW gig here, trainer’s job at NXT and every likelihood he got him into New Japan too. I found this dull and that’s not something I often would say about a Dragon match. That’s probably down to Brookside, who isn’t the technical whizz that you would expect from a WOS era guy, isn’t a flier despite being a lightweight and is bland personality wise.

Tracey is in the ring and he tells the fans to sit down and shut up! He cuts a very similar promo to the one he cut in MPPW all the way back in January, saying how he doesn’t like promoters, bookers, referees etc and has been held down for 17 years. He doesn’t like Shawn Michaels and doesn’t like his ‘Clique 2000’ either, before promising to go out and slap anyone who chants “Tracey sucks” and will commit mass homicide if they dare to chant “Go Clique Go”! Lance Cade cost him a title match and everyone saw what he did to him, what he did to Spanky and the American Dragon and that just leaves Shooter Shultz. Smothers now claims that he retired Shawn Michaels and will retire all four of those guys. He says that Lance Cade is nothing but a punk and will whip everybody from Texas like he whipped Stan Hansen, Bruiser Brody and the Funks! Lance sprints out from the back and this is on. There’s nothing fancy here, just plenty of punches thrown and kicks landed. They roll around on the mat before Smothers digs his fingers into Lance’s eyes and then throws him into the turnbuckles. Cade manages to reverse position and unloads on Tracey. Running forearm smash and a big splash. Flying back elbow off the top for a two count. Lance with a go behind, when Smothers distracts the referees attention and back kick low blows his opponent. Heel kick to the side of the head, he grabs a chair from ringside and, like previously, breaks it over Lance’s head for the DQ. Only a couple of minute’s action before the DQ finish, but what we did see was pretty heated. Although I’m sure Smothers can cut that opening promo in his sleep, this storyline has definitely lit a fire beneath him. Hoping that this may lead to some sort of gimmick match down the road, as based on what we got here that could be pretty good.

Prior to the match commencing Kevin Kelly announces that Jerry Lawler plans on returning to the rival Memphis Power Pro Wrestling, although David Jett isn’t buying it. After the wrestlers make their entrance, Tracey Smothers joins Kelly and Jett at the commentary table and explains what he did boiled down to money; titles bring money and Lance Cade cost him a title match against the Mean Street Posse. Dragon and Spanky with a handshake after the opening exchanges to reaffirm that they’re on the same side now and that there is mutual respect between them. Smothers is talking non-stop throughout the match and I like the way how he’s wording things, saying that he’s better than them, but at the same time not putting Dragon or Spanky’s talents down (“they’re great athletes, but they’re young punks who haven’t paid their dues”, “that’s a great move, they’re all great athletes, but he couldn’t have done that to me”). A headscissors sends Dragon out of the ring, where Spanky nails him with a springboard plancha to the floor. Slingshot senton back in, but Dragon powers out of the pin. He drops Spanky with a big boot before sitting him on the top turnbuckle. Spanky blocks the ‘suicideplex’, shoving Dragon backwards to the mat, and then hits a glorious swinging DDT, leaping from the top himself. Smothers has seen enough and leaves his position at the commentary desk to enter the ring and attacks both men with a steel chair until he’s run off by Lance Cade and Shooter Schultz. Lovely swinging DDT by Spanky and there were no major issues on the work, it just felt like this was going nowhere and was backround whilst Tracey ran his mouth on commentary. When he ran out of things to say, then we got the expected interference.

Tracey busts out a ‘Downward Spiral’ which is a new one for him. Double team superkick/belly to back suplex on Hector for a two. Lance with a pair of dropkicks to the Salsario Boys and a double backdrop on Enrique. Big splash in the corner by Smothers and a running forearm smash by Cade. ‘Texas & Tennessee’ are looking really good here. Sunset flip, however the referee is over in Tracey’s corner and that enables Hector to come in and help his partner out behind the official’s back. Drop toe hold/knee drop to the back of the head combination. Moonsault by Enrique but Cade kicks out of the pin in time. Double clothesline and Lance makes the hot tag. Tracey takes it to the Salsario Boys with his usual array of thrusts, strikes and heel kicks to the back of the head. As Lance is trying to gather himself on the apron, Enrique reverses the Irish whip and Tracey crashes into him. Quick roll up on Smothers for a two. All four men are in the ring, Tracey grabs Enrique but he moves out the way, avoiding the Cade big boot, which nails his own partner instead. Cover and the Salsario Boys gain an upset win. Smothers calls for the mic, although before he gets the chance to say anything, Lance apologies and takes the blame for the loss saying that it was his fault. Tracey tells him that these kind of things happen, this is pro wrestling, he knows that he’s a good kid and there’s always tomorrow. They hug and embrace, but the moment Lance turns his back Tracey attacks him. He picks up a chair from ringside and breaks that over his head when out rush the rest of the TWA graduates who run him off. Quick post-attack dressing room interview from the graduates where, from this point on, they promise to watch each others backs. Disappointed that only after a month or so ‘Texas & Tennessee’ has been broken up. They’d added another nice double team move to their repertoire and looked better with each passing match. The angle at the end with Tracey turning on him, although predictable, was very well done with a good promo by Smothers indicating that everything was alright and ‘accidents happen’, then the moment he turns his back, bam! It’ll be cool if we get a series of him going against the TWA students as Tracey seemed pumped and up for all this. NOTE: I thought it was T&T as opposed to TNT, either way it stands for Texas &/n Tennessee.

Spanky announces how recently he’s been coming out here and acting all goofy, like a little boy, but he’s just had his 21st birthday and that means he has to stop acting like a boy. Now he’s a man and makes an open challenge to any man man enough in the back to take this man on! The challenge is answered by Steven Regal (so it looks like he’s sticking around and isn’t off to the WWF just yet) and Spanky’s face says it all, instantly regretting what he’s just said when he sees who is walking out. The venue here is a tent, and Kevin Kelly talks about how this would take Regal back to his roots, about how he started out fighting all comers out of the crowd at carnivals. Nice escape and reversal out of a wristlock by Spanky, but Regal then just smacks him across the face with a forearm. Butterfly suplex before he starts kicking Spanky in the ribs, using the point of his boot to do so. Headbutt to the mid-section, but Spanky counters the double underhook with an arm drag. His comeback doesn’t last long though as he runs into a stiff Regal boot to the chops. Forward roll slam (the old Kendo Nagasaki finisher) for a two count. He sits Spanky on the top rope, but he fires back again on his Lordship and hits a tornado DDT. Missile dropkick, ‘Sliced Bread #2’, he’s throwing everything he’s got at Regal trying to put him away. Spanky goes to the well once too often though, missing the frog splash and the ‘Regal stretch’ for the submission. He refuses to break the hold after the match and Shooter Schultz comes to Spanky’s aid. A bunch of referees then separate the two of them just as Schultz is about to put him in the ‘Shooter clutch’. Regal looks in great physical condition here, although we’re back to those sub-five minute matches. Real good final minute or so of action with Spanky hitting one high impact move after another as he tries to put Regal away.

American Dragon is outside at ‘Libertyland’ and there is a ‘no parking on the grass’ sign, only someone has ignored it and parked on the grass! This superhero character they’re trying to give him is so lame! Fabulous Rocker attacks Dragon from behind and drags him to the ring for their match. Clothesline, back elbow, suplex, his offense is all so rudimentary. Bodyslam and an ‘Arabian moonsault’ for a two. He almost loses his balance when he climbs to the top rope, but hits the ‘Swanton bomb’. Rocker’s knife edge chops look and sound weak, so Dragon shows him how they’re done. Running forearm smash in the corner followed by that lovely Northern Lights suplex where he hooks the leg. Poke to the eye and a thrust to the throat by Rocker. He connects with a moonsault, although that still isn’t enough to put his opponent away. Dragon blocks the monkey flip by sitting Rocker on the top rope and then comes off the middle himself with a jawbreaker. Belly to back cradle suplex and he retains the Light Heavyweight title. Rocker worked on top for the majority of this, and like I said, aerial moves aside, his offense is all very basic. Dragon showed plenty of fire and aggression in his comeback, but the match was for the worse with Rocker being the one who was controlling it.

Cade backs Bryce back into the corner off a lock up and he’s complaining of a hair pull, even though he hasn’t got any hair to pull! High hip toss, one for Schafer and stereo dropkicks from ‘Texas & Tennessee’. Tracey with a flying forearm and Schafer kicks out of the pin. Double Russian leg sweep followed by a double elbow drop. Sadly no ‘Mason - Dixon Connection’ reference today when David Jett talks about Smothers being a tag team specialist. As he hits the ropes Bobcat grabs Lance’s ankle from the outside, and as he’s distracted by her, Bryce nails him with a clothesline from the apron. The Kingpins work over Cade as they cut the ring in half. Bryce goes to backdrop Schafer onto Lance, but he moves and is able to make the tag to Tracey who takes it to ‘the Pins’ with his martial arts strikes. Bobcat is now up on the apron trying to do something to help her men, and Smothers is over and asking the fans whether he should hit her. Bryce rushes at him, Tracey side steps out the way although, he stops in time from crashing into her. Quick roll up by Tracey and it’s another in the win column for T&T. The Mean Street Posse jumps them after the match, getting a bit of revenge for their non-title loss from last week. I’m warming to the ‘Texas & Tennessee’ team, and Cade certainly looks as though he offers more in a tag than as a single at this point. He and Smothers have got a few double team moves sorted too that they incorporate into things. A different dynamic to last week with this time Lance being the one ‘the Pins’ get the heat on, and Tracey as the hot tag. I know Bobcat was under contract to the WWF, and while we’ve only seen a bit of her in the project, it feels as though they’re throwing various things at her, putting her with different wrestlers hoping to find something that works.

This week’s episode of Talking Sheet did a fantastic job of breaking this whole situation down, I thought. I’d recommend that others who are interested in the murky topic of pro wrestling journalism give it a listen.http://www.sheetsandwich.com/109-wrestling-coverage-problematic-bruce-mitchell-delivers-mike-johnson-fails-cwf-mid-atlantic-brad-stutts-story-questionable-journalistic-integrity-meltzer-satin-elgin/ Nah, you're alright. I can only image 'Les Moore' was chomping at the bit and couldn't wait to record his weekly (I presume he'll stick with Talking Shit for a few months and then drop it like he does every year) rag on Dave when all this broke. I thought they were pretty fair on this one. Pretty tough to be anything but critical of Dave for his “coverage” of this story and this episode wasn’t overboard by any means. Certainly not every episode is good but the last couple have been and they haven’t been three hours long. I just don't find the guy objective in the slightest and for some reason he seems to have an irrational and obsessive dislike of Dave. I think it was only earlier in the week that I saw a response from someone I follow who corrected him on a tweet he'd put out about why doesn't Dave report on exaggerated New Japan attendance numbers. They linked him something proving that he had, and all 'Les' could do was say something along the lines of "Oh, I wasn't aware of that, glad you've bought it to my attention" Imagine if it was the other way around? Don't get me started on hiding behind a nom de plume either. I've not listened to anything involving him since he ruined an episode of Between the Sheets with his Meltzer agenda and don't intend to ever again. It's bad enough when I occasionally come across him on Twitter!

Non-title match for the Southern tag team belts currently held by the Mean Street Posse. Tracey says how they’ve been running their mouths for several months now, and tells them that if they don’t like Memphis, MCW or the South, then they can take their asses back to Greenwich, CT cause they’re fixing to kick them right now! Really nice escape from the wristlock by Rodney, before taking Cade down with a leg scissors back heel trip (he’s clearly been watching and learning from Regal). He plays to the crowd instead of following up though, and when he turns around Cade takes his head off with a lariat. Tag to Tracey and a double arm wringer, a double knife edhe chop, and when Pete comes to try and help his partner, it’s a double dropkick for him. Another week, another reference to the ‘Mason-Dixon Connection’! Rodney shoots Smothers off to escape the side headlock and Gas pulls down the top rope sending him careering over it to the outside. With Rodney distracting the official, Pete does a number on Tracey down on the floor. Double underhook suplex by Rodney for a two. Drop toe hold/elbow to the back of the head double team from the Posse. They continue to work over Tracey but aren’t able to put him away. Double shoulder tackle and Rodney with a slingshot leg drop. Smothers avoids a charging Rodney and hits a belly to back suplex. Great hot tag and Cade nails Rodney with a clothesline off the top. Dropkick to Pete Gas, but the MSP then block the ‘noggin knocker’. They whip Lance into the ropes, however he ducks under the double clothesline and, as Tracey trips Rodney from the outside, catches Pete with a flying crossbody for the win. Post-match ‘Gas Mask’ on Tracey and a ‘High Society’ (Buff Blockbuster)’ on Cade as the Posse leave them lying. I would never have imagined before watching the matches from this week that Rodney and Pete Gas would look better prospects than Joey Abs. Rodney has improved a ton and you can clearly see Steven Regal’s influence on him (that back heel trip, double underhook suplex). The Posse actually make a decent old fashioned team; Rodney carries the load, but they isolate an opponent, cut off the ring, work distraction spots, have got a few double team manoeuvres etc. I’m not sold on Smothers like seemingly every one else is, but I really enjoyed him here as the Posse got the heat on him. Only slight knock on the match was before the slingshot leg drop it looked like Tracey forgot the spot, so Rodney had to step in the ring to reset it up before stepping out again.

A bunch of flash pin attempts from Abs right from the onset. Regal lays in those uppercuts before grabbing a rear chinlock whilst at the same time crossfacing him across the bridge of the nose. Kicks to the ribs, forearms to the side of the face and Regal is mixing up his offensive strikes. Abs ducks under a clothesline and a roll up for a one count. Leg scissors back heel trip, and Regal is right back on his opponent. Front chancery with Regal resting his foot over the middle rope to apply added pressure. Rolling senton followed by the ‘Regal stretch’. It looks like Abs taps, although he can’t have as the match continues. He manages to power and slowly inch his way to the ropes for the break, as the commentators put it over huge that he was able to do that. Regal unloads with more forearms, but Abs has caught a second wind and fires back with some of his own. The Mean Street Posse are out and Rodney grabs the official’s leg to distract him. Pete Gas’ interference fails miserably as Abs sees him coming and levels him with a sideslam. He takes out Rodney, ‘Splash Mountain’ on Regal and we have a new MCW Southern Heavyweight champion. Seeing him without his sweater on you realise what a big, thick due Joey Abs is. I’m guessing that this is Regal’s swansong before heading full time to the WWF. Although the commentators put over the title change and that he escaped the ‘Regal stretch’, Abs didn’t show much at all, and from this match you can kinda see why he never made it back to the main roster. At times it did feel like a Regal ‘painting by numbers’ match, in the sense you knew what was coming next, but I’ll take Regal ‘painting by numbers’ over a lot that I’ve watched this year.

Before the bout gets underway Reckless says how he’s wrestling this match under protest, because not one of these people here deserve to see a talent like Reckless Youth wrestle in this ring right now! Straight arm lift by Regal as he looks to be targeting the left arm of Youth. Reckless ducks under a clothesline and a headscissors take down. He drops a knee across the forehead while continuing to favour that arm. Whip to the turnbuckle only to run into a Regal big boot. Blue Thunder Driver from this Lordship for a two. Reckless retaliates to some Regal forearms with some of his own, and lands the tornado DDT for a near fall. Bodyslam, but he misses the moonsault and Regal clamps on the ‘Regal stretch’ for the win. We’re getting quite a few sub-five minute matches in Memphis at the moment and here’s another. Not a lot to say really, fine little tussle but you just want more. It is announced during the match though that Hollywood Little is in no condition to compete tonight. He therefore won’t be facing Al K. Holic for the MCW Light Heavyweight title and Al K. will have a statement to make in regards to that later in the show. Looks like common sense prevailed on that front then!

Reckless is wearing a cowboy hat and pretending he’s riding a horse to mock Cade. He’s about to cut a promo but gets no quiet from the crowd so gives up after a few words! Ronnie James joins David Jett on commentary and just as the match begins we go to footage of a spot show from the Fairgrounds where James was scheduled to face Reckless in a ‘Tennessee Street fight’. Youth managed to weasel his way out of those stipulations and they had a regular bout which he ended up winning by DQ, even though James pinned him after ramming his head into a chair that he had initially bought into the ring. Back to the match and he’s struggling with the size difference between them, so resorts to kicking Cade between the legs from behind. Somersault senton for two. Youth is in the official’s face complaining about the slowness of the count and gives him a shove. Referee Charlie Miller shoves him back, Cade drills him with a right and a hip toss from Miller! He then schoolboys Reckless as Cade counts a pin! Fuck this comedy bullshit. Scoop powerslam by Cade for two. Lariat off the top, chokeslam and neither is able to put Reckless away. Youth with a tip up, after being whipped into the corner, followed by a tornado bulldog. Miller gets squashed between Cade and the turnbuckle and, sensing an opportunity, Reckless pulls something out of his pockets. James leaves the commentary position to go to the ring and snatches that object out of Youth’s hand. He drills him with a right and Cade with a roll up for the win. I was bored by this, add in the ‘comedy’ ref spots and it isn’t for me. Reckless has got some entertaining shtick with the crowd and that, but Cade brings nothing to the plate here. It says everything about WWF developmental that out of the four TWA signees, the one who’s got the least talent and probably least charisma, but has the significant size, is the one who made it to the WWF first (I’ve not checked although I think he made it before Brian Kendrick did).

This week’s episode of Talking Sheet did a fantastic job of breaking this whole situation down, I thought. I’d recommend that others who are interested in the murky topic of pro wrestling journalism give it a listen. http://www.sheetsandwich.com/109-wrestling-coverage-problematic-bruce-mitchell-delivers-mike-johnson-fails-cwf-mid-atlantic-brad-stutts-story-questionable-journalistic-integrity-meltzer-satin-elgin/ Nah, you're alright. I can only image 'Les Moore' was chomping at the bit and couldn't wait to record his weekly (I presume he'll stick with Talking Shit for a few months and then drop it like he does every year) rag on Dave when all this broke.

There’s going to be no rapping tonight, K-Krush just wants Tracey Smothers to get his ass out here! ‘Mason –Dixon Connection’ reference by David Jett when talking about some of the tag teams that Tracey has been part of. Smothers reverses the whip to the corner and Krush does the Flair flip bump. He vaults back into the ring only to be met by a dropkick for an early two. Drop toe hold followed by a rolling cradle, although they are too close to the ropes. Boot to the mid-section by Krush and a scissor kick to the back of the head. After he telegraphs the back drop, Tracey with a sunset flip, but that only gets him a one count. Smothers blocks the attempted snap mare and counters with a backslide. Face first suplex by Krush as both continue trying to put their opponent away. Downward Spiral and for some reason Krush doesn’t go for a pin after that move. Tracey avoids a charging Krush and fires back with a series of punches and kicks. As it looks like he might have this one in the bag, out comes Krush’s hired gun, Viscera, who attacks Smothers for the DQ. Big ‘Avalanche splash’ and a leg drop before again, just like last week, Lance Cade comes to Tracey’s aid and Krush and Vis just step out of there.

Regal says that he is going to grace these peasants with the chance of seeing him defend the Southern Heavyweight title. There is someone in the back who has been making quite a name for themselves in MCW and deserves that shot, Shooter Schultz. His Lordship thinks he should know better about calling himself ‘Shooter’ though “as there is only one bloody ‘Shooter’ in this company!” A proper lock up, in the same vain as that Low Ki and Homicide one from IWO. Schultz grabs the wrist to escape a side headlock, forces his opponent to the mat, and bends that hand back while at the same time digging his knee into Regal’s elbow. Double underhook suplex for two. As Shooter rushes in, Regal scissors and trips the legs before slapping on a half nelson submission. Schultz makes the ropes for the break, but Regal, in getting back to his feet first, boots him in the ribs. Shooter reverses the wristlock and tees off with some forearms. A lovely vertical suplex for another two count. Regal’s peeved after a gut wrench and unloads with some forearms of his own in the corner. When referee Charlie Miller tries to get him to stop, he back elbows him in the face. Knee to the stomach by Schultz and a second double underhook suplex. He locks on the ‘Shooter clutch’ when out comes the Mean Street Posse and Pete Gas clobbers him in the head with a title belt. ‘Regal stretch’, Rodney shakes Miller in order to wake him and comes around to see Schultz tap. Another highly enjoyable MCW TV outing for Schultz and I maintain everything I said about him from last week after the Dragon match. I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone do such a lovely vertical suplex as he did here. Regal gives him enough to make him look strong and credible, before getting the win due to outside interference. I can only imagine that he learned plenty working with and training alongside Regal on a regular basis, making it all the more disappointing, to go along with all that talent, that he gave up after the WWF gave up on him.

Not only is Al K. Holic the Commissioner, but somehow also the Light Heavyweight champion (I don’t want to know!). He says that he’s going to be a fighting champion though, and wants all the other light heavyweights in the back to have a match where the winner will get a shot at his belt. Dragon and Spanky start off by working together against Rocker, utilizing a couple of double team moves against him, until Dragon nails Spanky with a dropkick that sends him out of the ring. Sunset flip and Spanky breaks up the pin with a springboard dropkick to the back. German suplex on Rocker and he lands right on the top of his head when taking the move. Dragon is forced to break that one up and hits a gorgeous German of his own on Spanky for two. Rockers picks up his metal sign and wallops the pair of them with it, when out from the dressing room runs midget Hollywood Little who low blows him. He’s apparently part of this match too now as Al K. says that he is a light heavyweight. Headbutt to the balls, tadpole splash and Hollywood wins a match that he wasn’t in when it began. So the MCW Light Heavyweight title is held by an overweight man who is a good 150lbs plus in excess of the weight limit and his next defence will be against a midget? Are you sure this is MCW and now WCW? This is not one for the Dragon and Spanky aficionados in the slightest!

Whatever Smothers tries against his much larger opponent, be it a collar and elbow tie up, top wristlock, go behind it doesn’t work. Impressive looking bodyslam from the big man. He whips Tracey from corner to corner before dropping him with a clothesline, and then shouts something about wanting competition. Belly to back suplex and Vis picks up a chair which he wedges between the turnbuckles. Huge sidewalk slam. As Smothers gets back to his feet, Viscera charges for an ‘Avalanche splash’, but Tracey side steps it and he crashes into that chair he’d just wedged there. Schoolboy roll up and Smothers with the upset win. K-Krush comes out to help Vis put a post-match beating on Tracey until Lance Cade makes the save and they think better of it. Tracey does an effective job in making Viscera look like a monster right up until that ending which I didn’t like at all. I know it was the ‘slip on a banana skin’ finish, but I’ve never been a fan of a guy Viscera’s size being schoolboyed and pinned like that.

Lightning fast shoulder tackle, drop down, leap frog and drop down ending with a picture perfect Dragon dropkick. Arm drag take down, from where he transitions to an arm lock submission. Schultz forces the break with some forearms to the face and although Dragon blocks the hip toss, not so the side slam. Belly to belly as David Jett refers to him as the ‘Master of the Suplexes’. Just to reinforce that he follows up with a Butterfly suplex. Dragon escapes the attempted German and hits a twisting Fisherman’s to show that he’s not too shabby in the suplex department either. Running forearm smash in the corner and an elbow off the top for two. Fabulous Rocker heads out to ringside enabling Schultz to catch Dragon with a release German suplex while he’s distracted by him. ‘Shooter Clutch’ (which is a combination full nelson/camel clutch), and Dragon taps. This shows Schultz in a much more positive light after that disastrous run in during the Shawn Michaels/Venom match from the TWA back in April. You can tell that he and Dragon came up together with how quick and on point that opening section was. The match only goes about four minutes but I enjoyed it and wonder why Schultz never did anything after this WWF developmental run. He doesn’t look out of place in the ring with Dragon, and I can’t see any reason why he couldn’t have mirrored what Danielson ended up doing on the Indies. Dragon continues to pull out those new suplex variations and that ‘Shooter Clutch’ looks legitimately painful the point I wonder why no-one has stolen it for them self.

Kevin Kelly talks about how there’s been a change in attitude of Reckless recently, and that he’s cut a few corners en route to victory. Some solid chain wrestling kicks us off here. Hip toss takedown, arm drag and Reckless starts strutting as if he’s Jackie Fargo. He yells to the crowd that they should cheer when he does that, but all that does is elicit boos. Satellite headscissors and now he’s spinning on his back as though he’s a breakdancer! Inverted vertical suplex by Dragon and a back elbow off the middle turnbuckle. He whips Reckless into the corner, but Youth moves out the way as he comes charging in with a running knee. Dragon screw leg whip. Go behind by Danielson, followed by a beautiful Northern Lights suplex, hooking the leg in the process for a two. He heads upstairs for a moonsault but is too slow on the climb, and Reckless with a Russian leg sweep off the second rope. Tornado DDT for two as Dragon is able to get a shoulder up. Danielson starts to fire back with some running forearms until Reckless ‘hot shots’ him across the top rope before getting the pin with his feet over the middle for added leverage. Kelly foreshadowed the outcome of this one with his pre-match comments about Youth cutting some corners in his recent victories. Reckless is also starting to show more personality now, fleshing out his character and, from his mannerisms and interactions, you can see that he’s definitely more suited to being a heel.

The footage begins as Team Canada are attacking Gen. Rection after he’s just been defeated by Jeff Jarrett. ‘Double J’ puts the General in a Figure four and M.I.A. try to help their leader but are kept at bay by Team Canada (featuring a freshly cropped Jim Duggan). Sting eventually makes the save clearing the ring of them all. Lance Storm tells ‘the Stinger’ if he wants to stick his nose where it doesn’t belong, he’s going to have to teach him some respect. So, if he’s got the guts? Of course Sting has got the guts, like he’d back out of a fight! We return from a commercial break with the match already in progress. Storm with a two count after a lovely looking dropkick. Sting shrugs off the Russian leg sweep and levels his opponent with a series of clotheslines. He heads upstairs, but Lance is back to his feet and swipes a foot out from under him. Suicideplex is blocked and Sting shoves Storm backwards to the canvas. Clothesline off the top, however Lance is able to avoid the ‘Stinger splash’. A swift back elbow sends Storm through the ropes to the floor where Sting whips him into the guard rail. As he rushes at him though, Lance side steps out the way and a drop toe hold sending ‘the Stinger’ crashing into the rail. Springboard dropkick followed by a sort of ‘Blue Thunder Driver’ for two. Crossbody off the top, but Sting’s momentum enables him to roll through for a two of his own. ‘Stinger splash’ hits, and as he looks for the Scorpion Deathlock, Lance grabs an ankle and reverses it into the single leg crab. He fights his way to the ropes for the break and shortly after the ‘Scorpion Death Drop’ gets him the win. Unfortunately this only goes about five minutes which is a shame as it could’ve done with another five on top of that. Considering the time limitations they worked a quick pace here and didn’t really hold back. Storm’s reversal of the Scorpion Deathlock into his single leg crab was especially nice.

Thunder opens with Jeff Jarrett dragging Ms. Jones to ringside while he’s flanked by Kevin Nash and Scott Steiner. ‘Big Sexy’ believes that with Booker T beaten to a pulp and demoralised, he’ll be easy pickings come Fall Brawl. He adds that the match will also now be contested inside a steel cage to stop any of Booker’s friends from interfering. ‘Sir Pumpalot’ then warns Goldberg that in four days he’ll prove to both he and all this white trash out here that he’s (Goldberg) a boy, while he’s (Steiner) a man! Jarrett threatens Ms. Jones with a guitar shot, when Booker T and ‘the Cat’ arrive just in time. Booker promises to get his title back at Fall Brawl, before ‘Commissioner Cat’ sets up a couple of matches for later in the show; Kevin Nash and Scott Steiner will face himself and Booker T in a match where the World title will be on the line, whilst Jeff Jarrett will take on Sting. The lights in the arena go off and a solitary spotlight shines towards the back where Sting is. Ms Jones sees her chance and jumps out of the ring, but Jarrett grabs Dave Penzer who was up on the apron and breaks a guitar over his head. Jarrett and Sting disagree over who will get the World title match on the Nitro after Fall Brawl. It would appear Sting now has the ability to play matchmaker, as he tells Jeff that whoever wins their 2/3 falls match tonight will get the shot, no matter whom the champion is. After the opening feeling out process, Sting with a high hip toss before clotheslining ‘Double J’ over the top rope and to the outside. He slams his head into the commentary table and then oddly empties a bottle over water over him. ‘The Stinger’ drags ‘Double J’ up onto the metal ramp way where he suplexes him. Back inside, Jarrett avoids the ‘Stinger splash’ however Sting puts on the breaks and prevents himself from going flying into the turnbuckles. A pair of clotheslines followed by a further one off the top. Top rope splash, but Jarrett is able to get a shoulder up at the last split second. Sting looks for the ‘Scorpion Death Drop’ and Jeff grabs hold of referee Mickey Jay, who in turn grabs hold of the ropes. The moment he lets go though, ‘Double J’ pulls him towards them and he crashes into Sting. As ‘the Stinger’ checks on him, Jarrett with a low blow, ‘the Stroke’ and he’s one fall up. ‘Double J’ is immediately back on Sting after the ten second break and now he’s the one ramming his opponent’s head into the announcer’s table. Jarrett returns to the ring and he instructs Jay to count ‘the Stinger’ out. He doesn’t get very far though before Sting is up and on the apron. Shoulder charge to the mid-section and a sunset flip back into the ring. ‘Double J’ thinks he’s blocked it when he drills Sting with a right, but he quickly regains his bearings to complete the move, catching Jeff off guard in the process to tie the match at one fall apiece. Jarrett escapes the sleeper hold and applies one of his own. The arm drops twice, but not for the third time. Sting forces the escape and an accidental clash of heads sees both men go down, although when Sting falls to the canvas he headbutts ‘Double J’ in the groin at the same time. ‘The Stinger’ blocks having his head rammed into the turnbuckle and starts to unload on his opponent. ‘Stinger splash’, but Jarrett pulls Mickey Jay in front, whilst he steps out the way, and Jay gets taken out. Slick Johnson sprints out to replace him and a second ‘Stinger splash’ that hits its intended target. He goes for another but Jarrett has now pulled Johnson in front of him. ‘The Stinger’ asks the crowd what he should do and despite Johnson trying to tell him no, it doesn’t do him any good. ‘Scorpion Deathlock’ but there’s no referee. Where’s Charles Robinson when you need him? Jarrett taps before passing out from the pain. ‘The Stinger’ lifts ‘Double J’s’ arm three times, it falls to the mat on each occasion and he then calls for the timekeeper to ring the bell. Tony Schiavone proclaims that Sting won it and will get the title shot, although Mike Tenay is the voice of reason saying there was no referee as the segment ends. Somehow I don’t think we’ve heard the last of this... These two have good chemistry, and despite only getting eleven minutes for a three fall match, have a good fast paced bout together, building on what we saw from them at the War Games. Sting’s equalizing fall was rushed mind, and although I like how they pulled it off, with Jarrett thinking he’d blocked the move only for Sting to surprise him, I wish they would’ve stretched things out a bit more before it happened. Considering there’s been no shortage of officials it was also a bit suspect how there was no one around after Slick Johnson had been bumped. That finish has screw job and Sting being swerved out of the title shot written all over it.