[1993-01-16-SMW-TV] Tracy Smothers vs Dirty White Boy vs Killer Kyle vs Jimmy Golden (Elimination)

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

Not a good match at all, but Dutch Mantell is tremendous on color commentary. However, he starts making the point about how Smothers isn't wrestling as smart of a match as he should be, which is fine for a heel color guy to say, but then Caudle starts agreeing with him. It's a bit weird. But this is a four-way elimination match for the TV title. Killer Kyle/Tracy Smothers is done within a minute, and Jimmy Golden/Tracy Smothers is pretty actively bad. But Tracy Smothers/Tony Anthony is almost decent. I don't want to get in a big discussion about the Confederate flag, but I will say there's something uncomfortable to me about Smothers wearing it on his tights and waving it proudly in an audience full of white people. For the finish, Smothers wins the match by rolling through on a DWB flying bodypress and picks up $1,000 and the title. Smothers' post-match promo is an excellent babyface promo though, putting over himself and his opponents and selling the match big time.

 

I hope SMW picks up in the ring. I've enjoyed many angles I've seen prior to watching this yearbook, but not many matches that are very good.

[goodhelmet]

I want to hear Dylan chime in on your thoughts because he nominated it as a match for the SMW project that should be released this summer.

[Graham Crackers]

SMW project that should be released this summer.

That's awesome news.

[Dylan Waco]

What I wrote:

 

Awesome opening as Smothers rolls up Killer Kyle at the bell while he is still in his full suit! Lots of milking the crowd. Smothers cross body did not look great but it was sold well. They did a good job of establishing dissension with DWB and Golden with Golden hitting Anthony when Smothers ducked and Smothers talking it up to DWB as if it was a deliberate shot. Tracy works through a test of strength and hits a nice dropkick. They tease another spot with Golden hitting Anthony but they stop each other only for Tracy to crack their heads together. Smothers wins with a quick sunset flip out of the corner which was kind of uneventful. Anthony comes in and immediately spikes Smothers with a DDT. Cool spot with Smothers getting thrown over the top behind Curti's back and then clotheslined back over when he tried to skin the cat in. DWB busting out the subtle eye poke on the Tracy come back attempt was nice. Really liked Tracy's selling in this as it carries a match that does not feature to many huge shots. Anthony hits one shoulder tackle and then goes for a second but Tracy ducks and DWB takes a nice bump to the floor. DWB hits a good looking cross body but Smothers rolls through for the pin. This is not a slam dunk but this was a good match, a good showcase for Tracy and a good way to establish the TV title gimmick.

 

I've got to say if you didn't like this match I think there is very little chance you are going to like very many SMW tv matches from this period. SMW tv rarely had really good matches, and while this match isn't blowaway great I thought it was safely "good" and is easily one of the better SMW tv matches I have watched.

[benj]

For me I think SMW is going to be a nice change of pace and something a little different from other stuff on the set, but nothing will stand out and be Top 10 stuff.

[Loss]

I do like most of the Rock & Rolls/Bodies matches I've seen, even if they feel like second-rate MX/Rock & Rolls matches. But they're still very good. So I think there's a chance I will like some other SMW TV matches.

 

I'm interested in doing a compare/contrast on the Del Ray version of the team when he comes in.

[shoe]

I liked the match, and was a great way to get the Smothers/DWB feud started. Plus it puts the spotlight on Smothers as the #1 singles face in the company.

[Matt Franklin]

Really simple but effective way of putting Smothers over as a threat to the champ. The match itself was nothing to write home about, but was solid throughout. I have a feeling I will use the adjective 'solid' a lot when going through the SMW featured on the yearbook.

[El-P]

Too much dead weight for this to be a good match, although getting rid of Killer Kyle right away was nice. Golden has showed me exactly zilch in the ring since I began watching SMW. Too few of DWB vs Tracey at the end, but it's a way to kick off their feud. Mantell is awesome on color though.

[Kevin Ridge]

Wearing a full suit with jacket says you ain’t going to stick around long in match. It’s a four way match but really just Smothers running a gauntlet against the heels as he takes them on one at a time. No team work done by the heels at all. Nothing spectacular here but it does get over Smothers as challenger to belt. Scallywags and Confederate Flag. Looks like 1993 is the year the south will rise again.

[PeteF3]

Total showcase to put Smothers over. Not really a good match and Golden pretty much sucks here, but it was still effective, especially the quickie pin on Kyle. It does leave you wanting to see more of Smothers vs. DWB, because their segment is brief but pretty good while it lasts. Dr. Mantell is hilarious "outing" Smothers as actually being from Wisconsin, due to the goat cheese on his breath and his failure to use the phrase "fixin' to."

 

If they'd just stuck to waving the flag around and using the "Wild-Eyed Southern Boy" nickname, I honestly wouldn't have a problem. I don't like the Confederate flag but I'm willing to tolerate certain things more in wrestling than in real life. But Smothers coming out to a song called "The South's Gonna Do It Again" and using "the South will rise again" as a catchphrase is just too damn much, and I don't think it's remotely necessary. Tracey's a good enough talker and more than good enough worker to be above this sort of thing.

[WingedEagle]

Smothers immediately pins Kyle with a small package. I enjoy Golden as a strong stooging, bitching midcard heel with his antics and facials complaining to the ref & accidentally nailing DWB. Smothers pins Golden with a sunset flip and DWB attacks right away. Smothers rolls through a DWB cross body for the win and TV title, while also going over as a top contender. Would definitely like to have seen Sullivan/Stomper from the same show. There was nothing really bad here, but absolutely nothing so special either other than Golden as a solid tv heel and the beginning of a Smothers push.

 

**1/2

[soup23]

I liked Smothers coming out and immediately beating Killer Kyle and Cornette losing his shit. I had high hopes for Golden vs. Smothers but they really meandered around. They played up the story of Golden and DWB taking out Smothers. DWB lets Golden handle all the dirty work. Smothers takes care of Golden and now DWB has no one to hide behind with Ron Wright losing it at ringside. DWB is someone I go back and forth on as a worker and this was on the lesser side as he didn't add much intensity to me. SMothers wins to a big pop. Overall, I had high hopes for this given the time and what could have happened if all four competitors were on point but it was disappointing overall. (**1/4)

[GSR]

Four way elimination match to determine the first 'Beat the Champ' TV title holder between Tracey Smothers, Killer Kyle, Jimmy Golden and Tony Anthony. I thought that this was a decent match in what was effectively a gauntlet match for Smothers. Kyle is eliminated almost immediately as Smothers small packages him, and then Golden and the Dirty White Boy appear to decide to work together to eliminate Smothers (although Golden does all the work). Reading some of the comments here, Golden is definely someone who I struggle to watch when the in ring action commences as he is not the most captivating (even moreso when he doesn't have Robert Fuller by his side), but I thought that this was one of his better outings. Smothers gets rid of Golden after the Stud Stable member whips him into the turnbuckle and runs in after him, Smothers jumps up, hooks his legs under Golden's armpits and rolls forward and through to get the pin. On to the Dirty White Boy and he is controlling things at first until he charges at Smothers, who moves and Anthony takes a fall out of the ring. Poor old Ron Wright appears to be having a heart attack on seeing this! Anthony goes for a crossbody off the top, Smothers rolls through (a favourite finish in SMW!) and gets the final pin to become the first TV champion.

 

As I said earlier I thought that this was a decent match. Getting rid of Kyle early was for the better, it was one of the best Golden performances I have seen in SMW and we get a taster of Smothers vs Dirty White Boy. With the match starting so early in the show I was expecting it to go longer than it did, but it wasn't an issue to me. With Tim Horner now being moved on to a feud with Paul Orndorff it also clearly establishes Smothers as the top contender to Anthony's Heavyweight title with him getting the final fall on him.

 

In regards to Stomper and Sullivan from the same show, that match did nothing for me. Stomper looks far too old and unthreatening to be taken seriously and as this almost psychopathic madman.

[garretta]

This was sloppily booked and clumsily wrestled, but everything worked in the end.

 

The object of the match was to establish Tracy as SMW's new top face and also the top contender for Tony. This it did, because Tracy gave one hell of a babyface performance, the best I've seen so far by anyone in the promotion not named Ricky Morton. But given how the match was booked, Corny still blew it. Kyle was absolutely no factor at all, and other than a couple of miscommunication spots, Tony and Golden completely ignored each other.

 

So why squeeze everything into one bout? Have the same four guys, but spread it out over three weeks. The first week, Tracy beats Kyle, the biggest one, in record time, just as he did here. The second week, Tracy overcomes both Fuller (who's at ringside for his partner) and Golden, pinning Golden after about ten minutes. That sets up Tracy and Tony, both fresh and each looking for the money, as well as Tracy wishing to claim the number one contendership, both of which he does with a clean pin. Same outcome, same finishes (more or less), but more sustained drama.

 

As for the match that actually happened, I'd have subbed in Orndorff for Kyle and Horner for Golden, and told everyone to tag frequently so we could have seen some face vs. face and heel vs. heel interaction. The tag match they ran under similar rules a while back didn't tell as good a story as this match did, but it was a better overall match because the teamwork rules between the participants came into play. Without that element, there's no point in having this setup instead of a mini-tournament or individual matches.

 

They covered another hole I thought I'd found quite nicely: I wondered why on earth Tony, who was already heavyweight champion, would participate in a match for a lesser belt. Turns out that he wanted the thousand dollars, not the title. What could be a more heelish motivation than cold hard cash? The only thing missing was him saying that the money was to cover one of Ron's many future operations.

 

Dutch was tremendous, and I completely agreed with his and Bob's assertion that Tracy wrestled a dumb match. Why not take advantage of the "must accept a tag" rule after pinning Kyle and try to get rid of either Golden or Tony without having to spend any more energy than he already had? Of course, that would have made his performance considerably less heroic, which was the whole point of the match in the first place.

 

I loved Dutch insisting on being called "Dr. Mantell", and Bob plays right along without seeming any less intelligent and also without taking away from the action in the ring. This is why they're the best regular team on TV today. (JR and Jesse only work special events, and JR's leaving WCW soon anyway.) The stuff about Tracy not really being from the South was amusing, especially using goat cheese as an example of how Tracy's really from Wisconsin.

 

Under these circumstances, I have no problem with Tracy as a super Southern patriot. Not only is it a great babyface act for a small promotion such as SMW, but Tracy's explicitly doing penance to his friends and neighbors for the Young Pistols gimmick; it makes sense that he'd go a bit overboard (at least to non-Southerners) in an effort to prove his sincerity.

 

I didn't know Orndorff was still working SMW tapings; this match aired six days after his streetfight with Cactus in WCW. This match must have been taped back In December.