Weekend Wrestling!

Welcome to the first edition of a new take on reviewing some classic wrestling action as well as capturing a little bit of the time period it happened in!

For the last few months I’ve been reviewing episodes of WWF All American Wrestling and noticed there was really some interest in the commercials left in the old recordings that had been uploaded. A lot of the shows were on the weekend or at the tail end of a Saturday morning block. So, it’s going to be a mix up of wrestling, adverts and some of the programming that you would find on at about the same time.

This weekend it’s some USWA action from late 1991 plus a quickie review of an animated show that debuted that year, Super Mario World. Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XlrcgSICeI

Hosted by Dave Brown and Corey Maclin from the WCM Studios in Memphis.

Prerecorded promo from Jerry Lawler about a tournament in Japan that probably didn’t happen. At this point they’re trying to ape the WWF with chroma keyed backgrounds, so he has one that’s a medieval castle with “King” written on it. The main focus is on Jerry teaming with Jeff Jarrett while Jeff is simultaneously focusing on taking the “world championship” from him.

Rebuttal from Jeff, who’s normally smooth but stutters and gulps through it. Couldn’t they have gone for take two?

Vignette for the Spirit of America. A lot to work through here. It’s a guy called He-Man Randy Lewis, who was around and about during the era but never took off. He’s in red, white and blue gear with tassels made from the ribbons you curl with scissors to put on presents. His big deal is that he thinks to show your pride in your country you should go out in your spare time and pick up rubbish, which he’s got a big red, white and blue bin to do. Eric Embry, who looks like a Moondog at this point in his career, turns up to heckle him with his driver Tony Falk and then they empty a bin in the park all over the ground. Spirit just sighs. “That’s the kind of trash I’m talking about!” I have no idea what they were going for, but it was so lame it couldn’t walk. Lewis also had a terrible run at the same time as a babyface Lord Humongous, which I think I covered in a review a few years ago.

The Spirit of America vs. Tony Falk

Back in the studio we’re getting almost the blow off. Spirit’s tights are up higher than Hawk’s. Falk runs right into a pair of clotheslines and almost immediately gets powerslammed for the Spirit win, then gets put in the can. Eric Embry runs out to rant and rave about it but gets run off. I bet he was wishing for Percy Pringle and Devastation Incorporated from better years gone by.

Vignette previewed by Nate the Rat, doing a Willard gimmick with a cleft lip and covered in rats, for the Gravedigger, a complete Undertaker ripoff. Phantom of the Opera music and a long hooded robe instead of the funeral dirge and black hat to minimally differentiate it. The guy does a brief speech about every man having a date with his grave with vocoder effects, not sounding much different than Corey without it.

Corey interview Billy Joe Travis backstage ahead of facing Jeff Jarrett, Travis asking who he beat and brandishing a guitar several years before Jeff.

USWA Top Ten time:

10. “Young Gun” Mike Mitchell

9. Kimala (Kamala)

8. Spirit of America

7. The Sand Man (the Sandman of ECW)

6. Jeff Gaylord

5. Gravedigger

4. Bill Dundee

3. Dutch Mantell

2. Tom Prichard

1. Southern Champion Eric Embry

Corey speaks to Jeff Jarrett backstage, asking if he’s going good or bad with his attitude changing lately, with Jeff saying he’ll do everything he can to match Jerry Lawler

Jeff Jarrett vs. Billy Joe Travis

Former partners in action against one another. Travis uses the hair to get a half nelson on the mat but gets taken down into an armbar. Travis keeps it up with the hair to get a headlock. Hip toss from Jeff to get out, so Travis claims a tights pull and gets a sucker punch. He actually had a fairly decent gig as a WWF job guy in the eighties, even doing a separated shoulder injury submission for George Steele, but conned Andre the Giant of all people out of some money and split and got himself blacklisted. Later died after doing a bump of coke and going on a sunbed, sending his heart into overdrive and dying of an attack. He gets a punch on a break and stomps away. Total heel, in work and life by the sounds of it. Another moment of infamy was getting arrested live on the air (by arrangement and agreement) for not paying child support. Travis gets a big shot for two and goes to a rear chinlock. Jeff comes back with a clothesline that spins Billy in the air like he’s Marty Jannetty on coke… wait, let’s just go Marty Jannetty and leave it at that. The referee gets knocked down after a Jarrett slam, allowing Embry to come out and whack Jeff with the guitar. While Billy recovers the neighbour, Jeff recovers and wraps a chain around his fist for the knockout punch for the win. Good little match, with both guys being masters within their roles (and the other way too). Good bit as they go to a commercial with Billy coming back to his feet… and collapsing again.

Preview of the Monday Night Tag Team Tournament:

• Spirit of America and Bill Dundee vs. The Super Team, which is Jeff Gaylord and somebody else in Superman pyjamas by the looks of it. Dave throws to words from Spirit and Bill, with Bill looking embarrassed until he gets going himself.
• Billy Travis and Gravedigger vs. Dutch Mantell and Robert Fuller. Fuller offers words for his team and it’s hard to hear him as himself after he was Colonel Rob Parker for so long.
• Kamala and Eric Embry vs. Tom Prichard and Jimmy Valiant. Embry, coked up and sounding like he’s slobbering, speaks for Kamala and himself. Kamala would’ve sounded more coherent.
• Bart Sawyer and Doug Masters vs. Jerry Lawler and Jeff Jarrett. Tag champs Sawyer and Masters, formerly of Don Owen’s promotion, get their time to speak. Sawyer is blonde, muscular, tanned and eloquent. Masters is blonde, pale, washed out and hick-like.

Gravedigger vs. Chris Frazier

Gravedigger comes out with Nate the Rat (with rat), a wheelbarrow full of earth and a spade. Blue gloves instead of grey. He looks about twenty and Dave likens him to the Sheriff of Nottinham. Choke into the corner leads to a slam off them. Slam and elbow as he tries his best to do some Undertaker spots without an iota of the ability or presence. Bad powerbomb, seeing as he can’t do the tombstone. Frazier doesn’t even sell like he’s out, but gets pinned with his arms crossed. Absolutely terrible. Nate throws in a body bag to put Frazier in. The heels seal it up and then put the rat in. The audience gave it nothing, so I imagine he was doing a job for Lawler and Jarrett soon and gone before Thanksgiving.

Back from a break and Dave tells us Eddie Marlin came out and told Nate to take the rat out of the bag. “Let’s talk about something else!”

Spirit of America vs. Eric Embry

Spirit was happy to accept Embry’s challenge earlier in the show, so we get more of the goof. They wrestle with the bin in the ring. Spirit tries to slam Embry into the bin from the start, so Tony Falk runs in to stop him and then put him in it, so Bill Dundee makes the save. Nothing match to set up another match down the line.

Vignette for Kamala from years ago. The Ugandan Giant was a bit more than 385 pounds at this point than in the video. He’s also still got the broken egg facepaint on his head rather than the striped pattern across his nose.

Promo from the Superteam, with Billy Joe Travis asking for Jeff Gaylord to kill Bill Dundee. Be careful, he might accept if the price is good enough.

Promo for Travis and Gravedigger. Nate does the talking while Gravedigger tries to imitate Undertaker’s scowling and looks like he’s trying not to be sick.

Promo from Handsome Jimmy Valiant, who’s wearing shades with only one lens. At this point he’s got no weight on him and is covered in tattoos and looks like the sort of guy you wouldn’t want to use the shower after.

Respective promos from Jerry Lawler and Jeff Jarrett again. I think they might be the same ones from earlier, actually.

Bart Sawyer and Doug Masters vs. Bill Dundee and Robert Fuller

Could be another good one to balance out the two or three bad ones today. The champs have gone for matching tights, but not matching robes. Everyone knows how big Fuller is, but he’s much bigger than Masters, who he shoves down multiple times. Masters get a slam, though. Glacial pace to start as Corey drops the hint that it’s an expiration of TV time match, giving away the finish. Fuller gets a slam, drawing in Sawyer, who gets slammed too. Sawyer gets the tag in, as does Dundee, who controls with an armbar. Sawyer always had a good look and is possibly best known for being the Rock’s first tag team partner, but didn’t really go anywhere. I believe he’s a nurse today. Fuller comes back in, sweating like a pig, with Masters to take a short arm scissors, but gets hit behind the ref’s back by a similarly drenched Sawyer who gets a nice flying clothesline. Heads smack, knocking Fuller right into Dundee for the tag. Bill gets a cradle for two and then a spinning toehold. Sawyer stalls his way out of further attack to regain the advantage and get a powerslam for two. Masters back in with a kneedrop for two, called as a legdrop by the terrible Maclin. Sawyer with his own pair of kneedrops onto Dundee’s left leg as Dave Brown rings the bell for the end of the show. Good match, but couldn’t have been more obvious if they’d run a ticker underneath.

Dave and Corey sign off by reminding us of the Monday night tag tournament.

Well, it was a half good, half terrible show, but the bad stuff was so much more terrible than the good stuff was great.

No commercials included, so here’s the trailer for the sleeper hit of 1991 cinema.

I never understood why he was an intergalactic warrior and his name was something as ordinary as Shep Ramsey. I always thought the fat biker had a good line when threatening action against him (“This is the nineties – we’re gonna sue you!”). The bending steel into a bunny rabbit shape and “My mom can stay on (a skateboard) longer than that!” jokes were good, but I think the Undertaker will want you to forget the scene where he rockets through a floor into a ladies’ room and walks around with a toilet on his head.

And here’s a quick bit of Super Mario World, adapted from the awesome SNES game. This episode is called The Yoshi Shuffle, as Yoshi was featured as more sympathetic than Mario or Luigi and was far more annoying than any Orko or Snarf at their very worst. The artwork is incredibly lacking in detail and the storyboards probably looked better. Luigi gets turned into an egg by a Koopa Wizard (with Jewish comedian characterisation) and Yoshi runs off with it thinking it’s a football. Two of the Koopa kids take it and Yoshi and Mario prisoner. The smaller Koopa kid takes charge while King Koopa has a nap. This leads to a football match where Mario and Yoshi win the egg back. A better show would be one with the Koopa kids.