[1996-02-17-USWA-TV] PG-13 vs Tracy Smothers & Jesse James Armstrong

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

So this is Brandon Baxter? He wears a tuxedo without a shirt and has hair like a member of the one-hit wonder group of the early 90s Nelson. Awesome! Outstanding match! It's like they were playing on every cliched Southern tag finish you can think of and then not ending the match that way. There were at least five times I was sure this was the finish, and the match kept going. Going through them all would give away too much of the element of surprise in watching this for yourself, but this was great! Jesse James Armstrong is the lesser guy of everyone involved in this match, but who knew ROAD DOGG had the ability to stick to a role and be a perfectly acceptable heel in a series of really strong Southern tags.

 

Speaking of Road Dogg, after the match, Brandon Baxter tears into him for losing the match, saying he doesn't associate with losers, and Smothers ends up attacking him from behind and getting a check from Baxter for his deed.

 

I love Memphis. In spite of the world changing around them, they stay consistent and are still very Memphis in everything they do. I'd be tempted to call it staying true to their principles if it wasn't a territory run by such slimeballs.

[KrisZ]

Brandon Baxter was awesome in his role then and like I said earlier this was the last of the great days in Memphis.

[Phil Austin]

PG13...Wolfie D especially...have been a discovery for me. Liking them a lot more than in the little I had seen before. Love Jesse James line "we Armstrongs are winners".

 

Brandon looks like Josh Matthews in a Stryper wig but works great. Good stuff throughout this.

[shoe]

I thought this was pretty good. The finishing run of false finishes was pretty neat. The angle at the end was good. You so want to cream Baxter.

[Tim Evans]

It's a shame Baxter wasn't around much longer after this. He was great in Power Pro wrestling 1998 feuding with Randy Hales. Lance and Dave were pretty good putting the angle over.

[KB8]

I dug the Hell out of this. Baxter is such an obnoxious shithead, it's awesome. Match itself is pretty boss, especially the run to the finish with all the shenanigans and "so this is the finish...wait, no, THIS...okay, they're going with THIS, then" moments.

[Kevin Ridge]

Brandon Baxter. Has the look alone that would want fans to see him get beat up. This match was excellent. I like how they get more TV time for matches in 96. The false finishes with PG-13 continuing to avoid all the heel cheating situations was really well done. I was convinced they were going to lose somehow but they pull out the win thanks to Baxter bad managing skills. James ends up getting kicked off the team which is too bad as wanted to see more of this James/Smothers team.

[PeteF3]

Brandon Baxter is possibly the scuzziest, sleaziest manager I've ever seen. He makes JD Costello look like Paul Newman. He announces a new partnership with Scott Bowden, B&B Enterprises and laments his inability to further beat up Randy Hales without drawing a suspension.

 

Outstanding studio match follows, one of the very best of the '90s. In fact I think I liked it more than Christopher-Jarrett because it has a much more satisfying ending. After about 5 big false finishes in a row, Armstrong loses control of JC Ice for a second time and gets nailed with the Confederate flag, giving the tag titles back to PG-13. Baxter browbeats Jesse James for being a screw-up afterward, and Jesse James tells him off in response--"You smell what I'm cookin'?" Ha. Baxter warns JJ to shape up while Tracy tries to play peacemaker, but when James pops Baxter, he creams him with the flag. Cool beatdown follows to conclude one of the best Memphis segments in months and months.

[soup23]

I think this may be the best studio USWA match of the 1990's. First off, seeing Baxter here and knowing what he is like in 98 and 99 was a total mind-fuck for me. This looked like a Truth Martini ripoff. The match worked well and featured solid work by the heel team and PG-13 being sympathetic in building to the finish. Tracy Smothers between 96 and 93 is getting a push of stock in my eyes. ***1/2

[ohtani's jacket]

Loss' #488 was a great piece of TV. Solid promo from Baxter to start with, really good studio bout, and a well executed angle to finish with. Felt like classic Memphis TV. Entertaining from wire to wire.

[Childs]

I've been doing the Loss 500 challenge, though I haven't commented as much as intended. One thing he did a particularly nice job of was including matches that represented whole species. So even though I probably wouldn't have this on my own top 500, I appreciate that he brought attention to it, because it's perhaps the best of its type.

[tim]

Hell of a TV segment. Good promo to start off with and the match ruled. Really well worked, classic style studio tag match, but the end was really exceptional. You have about 3 spots that in a studio tag would be GUARANTEED to end the match but it keeps going, one after the other, until the faces pick up the big win. Post-match promo is really good, with some good mic work from Armstrong, and a nice angle to end it. I still think the Vader angle was the best single TV segment of the year so far, but overall USWA takes it for best TV product.