[1993-05-08-SMW-TV] Jim Cornette, Bob and Steve Armstrong

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

Jim Cornette does an amazing promo, one of his best ever, furious and breaking a sweat, talking trash about Bob Armstrong and how he's sick of the Armstrong bias. He mentions that Scott Armstrong is Dixie Dynamite and has to wear a mask on his face out of shame. Dixie answers by unmasking and saying he is Scott Armstrong and that he has no shame, but that he wore the mask so idiots like Cornette wouldn't put out accusations of favoritism. Bob Armstrong comes out and says to leave family out of this and if Cornette has something to say, he should just say it. Cornette calls him the lowest form of human life he has ever encountered who has been trying to screw him since Day 1. He says he's like a police officer hiding behind his badge hiding behind the tie, because no one can hit him. Bob PULLS THE CLIP-ON OFF and says there's no tie now. Cornette crosses a line by calling Brian Armstrong a deserter during the Gulf War and things get heated. Cornette puts his hands on Bob and Bob pops him. This is tremendous!

[El-P]

Money promo by Cornette and Bullet Bob. Holly shit, wrestling seems so simple and efficient with these two around. Must-see segment.

[Kevin Ridge]

The sweat all over Cornette's face totally adds to this. Bob pulling off the clip on tie must be the equivalent of pulling down the tights strap. Jimmy goes too far calling Brian Armstrong a deserter and Bob pops good.

[PeteF3]

A redo of the famous Cornette/Watts knockout, but executed perfectly. Even Scott cuts a damn good promo, though Cornette and Bob are incredible. The Cornette/Armstrong feud is officially on.

[TRMD]

Cornette was god here. Bob knocking the shit out of him was awesome mostly because I wanted it so bad. Cornette was so good it surpassed the "wow, this is a great promo for cornette" thinking to "knock this mouthy asshole out, bob!" Absolutely amazing segment.

[WingedEagle]

Cornette ranting about Armstrong trying to screw the Bodies and being a fraud and then outs Dixie Dynamite as Scott Armstrong, who comes out and takes off his mask to reveal one hell of a mullet. Armstrong looks a lot better and actually imposing without the glasses. He finally slugs Cornette as we're building towards what feels like a a legit climax.

[soup23]

Wow was this super. First, Cornette does a great promo ragging on Dixie Dyanmite. Scott comes out and does a good promo of his own with a reasonable explanation of why he wears the hood and doing a great reveal. Finally, Bullet Bob lays it down with a fired up promo ending in him socking Cornette. SMW has had some wonderful angles this year.

[GSR]

Cornette says that Bob Armstrong has gone way too far this time. Ever since day one he's been against him, the Heavenly Bodies, everything he's tried to do and has done his best to try and run him out of Smoky Mountain Wrestling. That's okay because he's done the same to try and get him unseated as Commissioner. He is ashamed that Smoky Mountain has a stinking old redneck like him running it, but he's not the only one who is ashamed of him, even his own family is. He then says that Dixie Dy-No-Mite is Scott Armstrong, his own son and he's so afraid of him that he wears a mask to cover his face! He's ashamed to be a member of the Armstrong family, is ashamed to be associated with a crook like Bob Armstrong so wears a mask over his face like a criminal. Dixie then comes out, says he's ashamed of nothing and pulls his mask off. He's not afraid of his father, he loves him and the reason he wore the mask was to stop people like him running to the promotion claiming he was getting favouritism. He didn't want any favouritism off anyone, so wore that mask because he loves him. Bob Armstrong then comes out and tells Cornette not to talk about his family or these fans and if he's got something to say, have a little guts and say it to his face. Cornette says that Armstrong is the lowest form of human he's ever know, he says he's the Commissioner, he makes all these rules and tells people what to do. He's been trying to screw him since day one, but it hasn't worked and never will. He says he's like a drill Sergeant hiding behind his stripes, a police officer hiding behind his badge, he's got that Commissioner's tie on and is hiding behind that. Bob says that if the tie is bothering him so much let him solve the problem, and he pulls off the tie, unbuttons his shirt and tells him if he's got anything else to say lets hear it. Cornette tells him he that he's gone too far and it's the last time he'll try to best him. He then starts talking about his family again and when he refers to Brian as 'the World's biggest deserter' it is a step too far. Armstrong grabs him by the shirt and warns him that if he ever says anything about his family again he will knock him out. Cornette puts his hand on his shoulder, says that he can't talk to him like that and then he slugs him, knocking him to the floor.

 

Incredible segment and another master class from Cornette. He doesn't give himself a nosebleed like a promo last year, but works himself into a sweat and the intensity is off the chart. Bullet Bob is amazing and the coup de grace is him finally levelling Cornette. Even Scott more than holds up his own here. Must see segment and angle,

[garretta]

And so it finally begins after over a year of slow but sure build: the legandary feud between Corny and Bullet Bob.

 

There's so much greatness here that's already been touched on. But as great as Bullet Bob was, and as great as it was to see him finally slug Corny, it's the Louisville Slugger who's the star here. He's so worked up that he forgets to ne afraid, and the fact that he actually ​does ​get in Bullet Bob's face and put the badmouth on him is what makes this a classic. Too many people in Corny's position would have backed off, either out of cowardice or because they knew how much trouble they were about to be in. But Corny, not for the first time nor the last, lets Bullet Bob and the rest of the waiting world know exactly what he thinks Bullet Bob is, and even though he eventually crosses the line by talking about Brian and gets himself slugged, he's by no means bowed or defeated. In fact, he'll most likely use this as fuel to turn up this whole situation even higher. This is the best Corny has been on the mic in SMW, and it's one of his top three promos ever, which covers a lot of ground.

 

Bullet Bob doesn't really have to do or say much, but the moment when he actually has enough and slugs Corny is esquisitley done. You can tell that he's wanted to do it for a long time and is thrilled to finally have an excuse, much like Watts was when he and Corny finally got physical in Mid-South. This feud should be better, though; in Mid-South, Watts' victory over sissy Corny was inevitable; it was just a question of how long it would take. This version of Corny has been around a while, knows a lot more tricks, and isn't quite so easy to intimidate and back down. Plus, if this feud gets in the ring (which we know it will), Bullet Bob isn't exactly a spring chicken and could be facing as many as four rivals (the Bodies, Kyle, and Corny) at any one time.

 

Scott was here to set up the confrontation between his dad and Corny, and he did his job about as well as possible. It'll be interesting to see what role he has in the feud going forward, and also whether he'll still wrestle as Dixie Dyn-O-Mite now that he's been exposed.

 

Bob Caudle's facial expressions during the first part of Corny's rant were tremendous. He always came off as a bit dry in JCP and WCW, but he's really picked up his game here. In this situation, he knows that Corny's ranting may lead to trouble, but maybe if he lets Corny go, maybe he'll wind down and stop before all hell breaks loose. Of course, nothing of the sort happens, but his handling of Corny is so much more effective than treating him like a pain in the ass, like Memphis would have. I also liked Corny threatening to punch Bob in the face; it's at that moment where we as the audience realize that we're not just in for a typical hot-air fest.

 

Where was Dutch? I know he's not in every single segment, and we have more than enough people to deal with, but it would have been interesting to see his reaction to all this, considering his attitude toward both men.

[garretta]

Someone should edit the thread title. It should read "Jim Cornette, Bob and Scott Armstrong".