Newsgroups: rec.sport.pro-wrestling From: hekunze@jeeves.uwaterloo.ca (Herb Kunze) Subject: Wrestling TidBits - 08/18 Message-ID: Sender: news@watdragon.uwaterloo.ca (USENET News System) Nntp-Posting-Host: jeeves.uwaterloo.ca Organization: University of Waterloo Date: Fri, 19 Aug 1994 04:12:49 GMT Lines: 936 As everybody reading this knows, I attended Smoky Mountain Wrestling's Fanweek from 08/05 through 08/13. As a result, I'm a little behind on the wrestling happenings in the rest of the world - I came home to lots of mail and videos, but regular work took precedent (a quick thanks to those of you that sent me quick congratulation notes regarding my successful PhD comprehensive examination). I kept a log of events, which I usually updated in the middle of the night when the day's activities had finally concluded. This week's TidBits will be unique. I will be presenting a lot of my Fanweek log here, obviously leaving out any details that could cause trouble if I reported them. 08/05/94: Total transportation is four hours; I switch flights in Cincinnati. Tonight is the "Night of Legends," hoped by Jim Cornette to be the biggest card in SMW history. R.s.p-w native, Clay Breshears, picks me up at the airport and after the hotel check-in we head for lunch. En route, the car behind us starts honking madly. Turns out it's Bruiser Bedlam honking at the car in front of us...driven by Chris Candido. ;-) At 12:30am, I get home from the "Night of Legends." There are 53 people here for Fanweek, including three from Canada (me and two Montrealers) and one from Japan! At the introductory meeting, I hooked up with a guy from South Carolina named Jason and a guy from New York named Jim. We got to the Knoxville Coliseum at 5:30pm (show starts at 8:00pm). While milling about, I met the Japanese fan, Masanori Horie, who wore a great Bruiser Brody T-shirt ("I'll never forget you"). There are eleven ECW fans here, most regulars in "Murderer's Row" ringside in the ECW arena. I met Tracy Smothers. He's a really nice guy. Although he was exhausted today, he still took the time to chat with a small group of us. We got here so early because we were allowed to be part of the legend party. They had free potato chips, cheese sandwiches, and pop for us and then some of the Knoxville legends arrived. I have little interest in collecting autographs, but I did get Dory Funk Jr. and Ricky Morton to sign my program. Funk was in another world most of time; unfortunately, Terry didn't come out to meet us. Ricky Morton was another really nice guy, taking the time to ask autograph seekers their names, etc. We sat in the front row of the balcony. I would guess the crowd was around 5500, which would be a record for SMW (previous best is 4100 or so). The crowd was responsive; they got into everything and never chanted "boring" or anything else of that nature. Here's the match run-down: 1. Conan Chris Walker pinned Richard Slinger with a beautiful high cross body block off the top after 7:00. Conan can't do anything (except the body block apparently) and looked juiced to the gills. Slinger worked well and got over a bit. He did a simple plancha and lots of stiff kicks that got our section popping. * 2. Doug Furnas pinned Killer Kyle with a failed Frankensteiner in 8:30. This was a nothing match. The finish was strange: instead of a head scissors, Furnas got a body scissors and did a Frankensteiner. *1/2 3. The Gangstas did a wild interview. You could cut the tension with a knife. I thought the guy working the mic, New Jack, was just super. "You silenced Martin Luther King, you silenced Medgar Evers, and now you've silenced Arsenio Hall." Amidst the fun was the requisite "Kiss my ass!" One of the bodyguards kept his hand in a bag to imply he had a gun at the ready. They challenged the Rock'n'Roll Express. "I'm gonna beat you like I own you." This *will* draw. 4. Ronnie Garvin & The Mongolian Stomper DDQ with Bob Orton & Dick Slater in 12:00. After an initial face romp, it turned into a heat segment on Garvin. Garvin can't work but the fans sure love him. This match might seem better than it is because of all the heat. Orton was very good. ** 5. The Rock'n'Roll Express regained the SMW Tag Titles when Morton pinned Brian Lee after Chris Candido was thrown into Lee in a failed cross body attempt after 14:00. Candido did lots of nice stuff, including being launched over the top rope and doing a somersault tope on Brian Lee in the process. Afterwards, Lee broke from the team but Tammy mended things. Lee had no tattoos on his forearms. Our section joked that we should enjoy whatever work Lee does since we'll probably not see any from him in the WWF. The Rock'n'Roll Express are *over*. *** 6. Legends ceremony, 40:00 long and boring for us. They had no table cloth and just had the plaques in a cardboard box. 7. Chris Jericho pinned Jimmy Del Ray with a surprise roll-up after 15:00 so the Thrillseekers beat the Heavenly Bodies. Jericho's right hand was broken coming into the match. He did *nothing* with his right hand; he didn't even touch the ropes. They got heat on Jericho, who hit a gusher, presumably with his left hand. They worked on him for several minutes and he was *covered* in blood. The Bodies and the referee were covered in blood too; it was extreme. Finally, the ref stopped the match. Jericho convinced him to let it continue, though, and Del Ray was schoolboyed for the pin. There was blood everywhere afterwards - surely Jericho needed stitches. *** 8. Terry Gordy was DQed, allowing the Dirty White Boy to retain the SMW Title in 11:00. Conan Chris Walker ran in post-match to double team DWB and the Rock'n'Roll Express saved. Gordy hasn't regained his previous form. He did some of the same things, only slower. They traded headlocks and some other simple moves, but Gordy couldn't complete a suplex. Our section was numb afterwards. DUD 9. Bob Armstrong & Tracy Smothers & Road Warrior Hawk beat Terry Funk & Dory Funk Jr. & Bruiser Bedlam in a "coward waves the flag match" after about 18:00 (time may be a little long). Terry Funk is great. He nailed Tracy with a chair early, drawing blood. Tracy finally tagged Hawk, who cleaned house. Hawk even did a dropkick on the floor. Bedlam doesn't really fit in. The finish saw Jim Cornette throw powder at Ron Wright (the face flagbearer). Cornette then bent down and waved the flag from Wright's corner (a previous flag match finish). Before the ref could see (he was busy with the 3-on-3 brawl in the ring), Wright decked Cornette and was ready to continue the attack. To hold him off, Jim waved his flag at Wright's head, losing the match with a nifty finish. **1/2 Although there was nothing very spectacular on the show, it was still a very entertaining show, with some very good wrestling spots. The production will be tremendous and it will look like a great show on video. Jim Ross was the special guest commentator. Afterwards, I had the chance to meet Chris Candido and Jimmy Del Ray; both seemed nice. Candido is involved with Tammy Fytch. He's debuting with All Japan in September and was a bit of a character. Tomorrow (today!) we have lunch with the faces. 08/06/94: Lunch at "Hooters" - a place like this would not be accepted in our neck of the woods. We're lucky enough to have Fanweek organizer Brian Hildebrand (aka referee Mark Curtis) sit with us. Only Tracy Smothers, Robert Gibson, and (legend) Ricky Gibson are here. Smothers (bandaid on forehead of course) again impresses me as being extra nice. He complains about all the suplexes he took last night during the heat segment. With the blood in his eyes and the constant suplexes, he was dizzy. He says that lotsa blood runs to the head when you blade there - makes sense. Tracy says that the only way he could tell Terry and Dory apart last night, thanks to the dizziness, was that Terry was always swearing his ass off in the ring. I tell Tracy that my mom is his biggest Canadian fan and he laughs. He says that he sold more gimmicks than expected last night, probably because his table was worked by a very attractive blonde. We high-five at the thought. Brian says the gate last night broke $40K; he has no attendance figures yet. This is an SMW record. All right Jim! Chris Jericho broke his arm practising the Shooting Star Press before the card yesterday. He still worked the match as best he could and was in the hospital for surgery; he had to have a steel plate and some screws put in. He said he would still work tonight (vs. Bodies again), but that seems sort of crazy. We mentioned that Brian works very hard as a referee. The refereeing in the legends match was done by a legend ref and was noticeably poorer. Brian says that Ronnie Garvin is a tricky guy to work with in the ring; he sometimes gets his own ideas. Last year, Brian reffed a tag match involving Garvin that was booked to go 30 minutes. Five minutes into the match, Garvin whacked Brian's head into the turnbuckle. Brian took a bump and looked up wondering what the hell to do, seeing all the wrestlers standing there wondering what the hell he was going to do. Partway into our babyface lunch, New Jack of the Gangstas arrives at the door to Hooters and is headed off by Brian. They talk and New Jack leaves and Brian comes back to our table. New Jack thought he had an autograph session today. We give him credit for coming out. Brian tells us that New Jack was a bounty hunter before getting into pro graps. The Gangstas have only been on TV once and have already gotten the company a ton of heat from all kinds of places besides relatively unimportant newsletters. There was a story about a tag match at the fair last year. Dirty White Boy was in the ring in a headlock spot when a fat woman got up and walked off. DWB yelled "Stampede!" and everybody in the ring laughed. Masanori has a photo album with him today. He has pictures of himself with everybody from Aja Kong and Kyoko Inoue to Giant Baba and Mitsuhara Misawa to Tatsumi Fujinami to Chris Benoit to Barry Horowitz. This guy is a serious fan. Brian tells us that Ricky Gibson was targetted for the NWA Title in the 1970s but the injury toll was too much and he was overlooked. Chris Candido will work the All Japan tour in September as Richard Slinger's tag team partner. It sounds like he has hopes of this becoming a regular gig, which would mean his role here gets reduced, I guess. After lunch, we have an arduous bus ride (something goes wrong with the bus and we travel at about ten mph for what seems like eternity) to get to Freedom Hall in Johnson City for "Fire on The Mountain '94." There's probably just under 2000 fans. The night starts with Lance Storm coming out and telling us his Thrillseekers partner, Chris Jericho, was injured "in a motorcycle accident" and reinjured last night by the Heavenly Bodies. Lance says he'll take on either Body in a singles match. Jim Cornette comes out and says that the Bodies are a tag team, that Lance "couldn't whip cream with an outboard motor," and that if he's stupid enough he can face the Bodies 2-on-1 tonight. Jim says that it isn't quite two men against one man, it's two men against one Canadian. Watch it, Jim. 1. The Gangstas beat Anthony Michaels & Steve Starfire when New Jack pinned Starfire with a second rope rocket launcher in 12:13. Before the match, the Gangstas informed us that we "better get used to it, 'cause there goes the neighbourhood." When the referee wants to check them, the Gangstas "assume the position" as if they were being frisked. The Gangstas are quite entertaining and did a couple of nice wrestling spots, but they didn't show all that much. The Rock'n'Roll Express ran in post-match and the Gangstas said they'd be sorry for getting in their "bidness." Ricky Morton says, "Oh yeah, I'm gonna bust your head off and shit down your neck." The crowd pops large for the R'n'R Express. * 2. Bob Orton vs. Doug Furnas ended after 19:28 of inaction that almost made a WWF squash look pretty good in comparison when Doug countered a superplex attempt with a sunset flip off the top rope. Crowd in our section: "We Want Piper!" Orton: "Me Too!" DUD 3. Dirty White Boy pinned Dick Slater after about 20 minutes. Slater had pinned DWB after using an object, but the referee figured it out and DWB used the object and got a quick pin. Conan Chris Walker ran in and DWB got destroyed. * 4. Lance Storn & Tracy Smothers beat the Heavenly Bodies when Lance pinned Tom Prichard after Jim Cornette accidentally nailed Tom with the tennis racquet after 15:30. The referee ignored Lance's cheating - low blows - since Lance was outnumbered. Lance has much potential but he still works very light. Out section bowed to Jim Cornette when he came out and he returned the bow and smirked. The heat was phenomenal and the Bodies are absolutely fantastic workers. At 12:00, Smothers came out to help Lance. *** 5. Brian Lee & Chris Candido regained the SMW Tag Titles when Candido pinned Ricky Morton after about 20:00. The match had many nice spots, including Candido getting launched into a plancha on Lee this time. The special stipulation was that Morton would have his head shaved if his team lost and Tammy would have her head shaved if her team lost. The finish saw Morton have Candido rolled up, but the referee was distracted by the others. The Gangstas came out and Mustapha banged Morton's head into New Jack's head to set up the pin. Morton said he'd go through with the hair cut, but Candido kept slapping and insulting him. A brawl erupted and Candido's hair was trimmed a little. The fans *love* the Rock'n'Roll Express and they didn't complain at all about the stipulation being broken. Jim Cornette's theory is that you always deliver the stipulation when the heels get embarrassed (eg. Stan Lane leaving SMW) but you don't have to if it's the babyface since the fans don't want to see it. It seemed right on here, as the Express was cheered like mad afterwards. Candido & Lee continued to show dissension after the match. Tammy does a good act riling up the crowd with her "Don't I look gorgeous tonight?" shtick on the microphone (our answer, "Yeah!"). *** 6. Bob Armstrong & Tracy Smothers & Road Warrior Hawk beat Terry Funk & Dory Funk Jr. & Bruiser Bedlam in a Texas death match. We slavishly cheered Terry Funk. Jim Cornette announced that the Funk brothers had never lost this kind of match and that their father invented it. Some good brawling early on, leading to Tracy taking a piledriver on the floor from Terry and removing the bandaid. Tracy gave up the first fall after a butterfly suplex from Dory and the second fall after Terry pounded him on the floor. Tracy got a suprise roll-up on Terry before making the hot tag to Hawk. Hawk did little this time out, but did get a pin on Dory after a top rope clothesline. Tracy got the equalizer on Dory after a splash. Bob finally came in and had his leg taken out by Funk's branding iron. Dory got a pin out of a spinning toehold. Ron Wright, meanwhile, attacked Jim Cornette and the crowd loved it. Ron nailed Terry with an object and Bob draped over Terry for the pin. Bob answered the count, but Terry didn't. Give the Funks credit for taking all of the falls while guesting on this circuit, leaving Bruiser Bedlam protected. Bruiser did get in the ring this match and he's not that good in this company. *** The second half of the matches were good. Losing Jake Roberts killed the established issues around the SMW Title and has hurt the title matches' importance. Still, this was another very hot show. During the intermission, I talked with Tracy Smothers, who continues to impress. He signed a bandana to my mom and gave it to me for free. It only sells for $5 but it's still a gesture he didn't have to make. It's 12:15am before we get on the road home in a new bus. It will still be a long drive home. Some of the fans, especially those from ECW, are very annoying, IMO. Our slogans for the night are "Intelligence, it's not for everyone" and "Stupidity, it's not a secret any more." Ron Hed, JR Benson, and their pals are freaks, unless girls with pierced tongues and navels are your thing. I'll avoid them. 08/07/94: We're off to Beckley, West Virginia, today for what should be the longest drive of my stay here. The bus ride took 5.5 hours; how do you justify an 11 hour round trip for a two hour spot show? The show starts with an announcement that Bob Armstrong was injured last night in Johnson City and won't be able to work tonight. The fans will get to pick the substitute partner for Tracy Smothers. After that, they do a similar thing to last night, with Lance Storm explaining why Chris Jericho won't be working tonight. Jericho is here tonight with his arm in a cast and a sling. The end result is that Lance will face the Heavenly Bodies 2-on-1 and Jericho will be in Lance's corner. 1. The Hornet pinned Jumping Jay Edmonds (name may be wrong) with a superfly splash after about 15:00. This was a pretty lame opener, funny for some because JR Benson managed the Hornet (Brian Keyes). 1/2* 2. Lance Storm & Dirty White Boy beat the Heavenly Bodies when Lance pinned Tom after about 14:00. Jimmy Del Ray was super in this match. He imitated Sabu's leg sweep and pointing at the ceiling. He gave the crowd the finger a few times. The Bodies inroduced Jim Cornette as "the manager of the next WWF Tag Team champions." Many of the spots were similar to last night, including Storm low-blowing both Bodies and the referee ignoring it. Jimmy pulled his trunks away from his belly to make sure the gigolo equipment was all there and then rubbed it a bit through his tights. What other profession allows this kind of stuff? When Jericho was taken out at ringside, DWB came down. Jimmy Del Ray missed a moonsault and almost took out the overhead spotlight. Lance hit the hot tag and things got chaotic, with Lance getting dumped out of the ring. Lance came in with a sunset flip on Tom, who got decked by Jericho's cast and went over for the pin. After the match, Del Ray and Jim Cornette attacked Ron Hed, who was filming things from ringside. *** 3. Chris Candido & Brian Lee retained the SMW Tag Titles against the Rock'n'Roll Express when Ricky Morton was DQed for using Tammy's hair spray at 18:00. Tammy was handcuffed to the corner post and the referee took her purse away. Candido wore a white hood over his head so the crowd would think he was completely bald after Johnson City. You get a feel for how these guys put sequences of moves together after seeing them several nights in a row. Tonight, Candido tried a top rope Frankensteiner on Morton, who held on, and Candido ended up taking a nasty looking bump on his head. *** 4. Bruiser Bedlam & Killer Kyle & Jim Cornette vs. Tracy Smothers & Dirty White Boy ended with Tracy pinning Cornette after about 15:00. DWB was the substitute for Bob Armstrong. Earlier, he had come to the rescue of the Thrillseekers and taken a racquet shot for his trouble to set him up as the likeliest choice. Tracy called the heel team the "Melancholies" because Bruiser & Kyle have heads that look like melons and Cornette has a face that looks like a collie. Tracy got the crowd to chant "HIV" at Cornette. Considering who was involved, it was surprising that they kept things interesting. Cornette was very funny in the ring, missing a second rope leg drop at one point. They blew several spots. The finish saw Tracy cover Jim, Bruiser go for a second rope splash onto Tracy, Tracy move, and Bruiser hit Jim. Bruiser didn't get out of the way quickly, so Tracy just covered both guys and got the pin. *1/2 This show probably drew 150 to 200 fans, not bad for Beckley I would guess. After the grueling bus ride, when we entered the arena, Tracy Smothers was the first to greet me, shake hands, and ask how things were going, etc. The girl at the concession stand is from Mississauga (15 minutes from my parents' house). I decided to meet a few more of the people joining us. The women who came are intriguing. Lisa Marie came up from Tampa and was nice, although she had some unbelievable tales about her ex-husband the baseball player. Another woman told me a story about meeting up with some other female fans in Memphis, who discussed which wrestlers they'd like to give blowjobs to, and Jerry Lawler sticking his hand down one of their pants. Ron Hed looks like he's strung out on cocaine most of the time. Besides JR Benson, his peer group includes a guy who tells us he's in a heavy metal band and blades on stage every night and Sensuous Stacy, the mysterious pierced woman (she had at least 6 piercings - ears, tongue, navel, nipples - and we're betting on 7). You get the impression that they think their lives are wresting angles. Bob Magee always has his hands on his hips and preaches every cause, from the racism of the Gangstas to the homophobia of the "HIV" chants to the tastelessness of the "Joey Marella" jokes. After the show we re-boarded the bus and our leader and demi-God Jim Cornette greeted us. He came on the bus and said, "Hi everybody. ECW sucks!" I was laughing hysterically. He looked worn out from burning the candle at both ends. He said he wanted to chat but he still had to plan the TV taping tomorrow night. One final story: word is that Tammy Fytch showed up at an indy show shortly after advertising in the Observer that she wanted stuff on Chris Candido. It turns out she wanted Chris Candido. She was just another gorgeous girl at ringside trying to meet Chris and he was interested, leading to her eventually getting behind the camera here in SMW. 08/08/94: The TV taping is in Saltville, Virginia, today. It's a 3.5 hour bus ride, but Jason decides that he wants to drive from now on. The 11 hours on the bus with the ECW mutants put him over the edge. We arrive at Saltville's public school gum at 4:45pm - the taping starts at 7:00pm. The gym is small and hot as hell. Tracy Smothers, Robert Gibson, and Dirty White Boy are shooting hoops. Details are handled at the last minute - the crew asks us where we want the folding chairs. Here's the run-down of the taping: 1. Anthony Michaels beat Dan Dubiel with a fisherman suplex in a good little warm-up match. TV Week 1 1. Interview with Rock'n'Roll Express re: Gangstas 2. Gangstas beat Steve Starfire & Brian Logan (Brian Keyes) with a top rope head butt. After the match, they put an "X" on Brian's forehead. To quote New Jack, "There's a new nigga in town." 3. Interview with the Gangstas. Mustapha eats watermelon and spits it all over the place, while New Jack says that eating watermelon is what the TV audience expects. 4. Interview with the Thrillseekers re: Knoxville. Chris Jericho will be out 6 to 8 weeks due to the arm injury. He sported a bandaid on his forehead too. 5. Interview with Bob Armstrong & Tracy Smothers re: beating Jim Cornette's team. 6. Dirty White Boy beat Chris Hamrick with a choke slam. 7. Interview with Dirty White Boy re: running Jake Roberts out of SMW. He says that Conan Chris Walker is gone too after seeing how Jake fled. Yep, looks like Conan is history, explaining the missing DWB vs. Conan match in Beckley last night. 8. Interview with Jim Cornette & The Heavenly Bodies & Killer Kyle & Bruiser Bedlam re: Conan leaving, Bedlam vs. DWB, who's the new SMW commissioner? 9. Bruiser Bedlam beat Dan Dubiel with a stomach claw. DWB ran in post-match to start an impromptu match vs. Bedlam, which DBW eventually won. Maybe they'll only show the run-in and go to commercial while "order gets restored." 10. Rock'n'Roll Express regained the SMW Tag Team titles from Brian Lee & Chris Candido after pinning Brian with the double dropkick. Brian lay there cross-armed like an Undertaker victim, which was pretty funny. 11. Interview with Tammy Fytch & Chris Candido & Brian Lee re: losing the tag titles. Tammy fires Brian ("No, I quit!") and Candido and Brian start to fight. Tammy sprays Brian, he gets pummelled, and then rallies. During this Brian whips his hair out of his face a la the Undertaker. TV Week 2 1. Interview with Jim Cornette & The Heavenly Bodies re: R'n'R Express. They challenge them; R'n'R come out and accept challenge, but Bob Armstrong will manage them for the match. 2. Gangstas beat Chris Hamrick & Dan Dubiel with the top rope head butt. New Jack wears a shirt with a racing car on it and the words "Pray for OJ" and tells people "fuck you" during the match. Hamrick takes one of his brutal bumps over the top rope. 3. Interview with the Gangstas. In case the R'n'R Express haven't figured it out yet, they "gonna beat you like they own you." 4. Dirty White Boy beat Killer Kyle with a roll-up. Bruiser runs in and demolishes DWB; Tracy Smothers & Bob Armstrong save. 5. Interview with Chris Candido re: breakup with Brian Lee, losing his hair, and having a new tag team partner "who's even bigger, stronger, and stupider" than Brian. Tammy comes out with a fat Moondog-style wrestler whose name I missed. He's apparently from Larry Sharpe's school. I'll call him Dog (although that's not his name) until I find out more. 6. Lance Storm beat Chris Candido to win the Beat The Champ TV Title. Candido misses the top rope Frankensteiner, landing on his head again. His new partner, Dog, runs in and distracts the ref. As Chris tries for a suicide superplex, Brian Lee runs in, lays Chris out, and sets up the top rope splash pin. 7. Interview with Brian Lee re: Chris Candido. 8. Rock'n'Roll Express (with Bob Armstrong) beat the Heavenly Bodies (with Jim Cornette) with a double pin with two flying body presses after Bob decked Cornette. A second very good match for this TV week. 9. Interview with Dirty White Boy re: Bruiser Bedlam. TV Week 3 1. Tracy Smothers pinned Brian Logan after the jawjacker. 2. Lance Storm retained the TV Title, beating Chris Hamrick with a vertical suplex into a power slam. 3. Interview with Tammy Fytch & Chris Candido & Dog re: Lance Storm & Brian Lee 4. Interview with Dirty White Boy re: Bruiser Bedlam. 5. Doug Dalton got a DQ win over Bruiser Bedlam when Bedlam refused to release the stomach claw after an initial win. 6. R'n'R Express beat the Gangstas when Ricky Morton got a surprise roll-up on Mustapha with the aid of a Gibson dropkick. New Jack wore a "May 95" T-shirt with a picture of Mike Tyson on it. After the match, the Gangstas and two bodyguards destroyed Morton (who juiced) with billy clubs. The beating lasted for many minutes and will look brutal on TV. 7. Interview with the Gangstas re: R'n'R Express. "We're the wrong niggas to mess with." TV Week 4 1. Chris Candido beat Steve Starfire with the suicide superplex. Candido did a spot where he stood as Starfire was leapfrogging him, catching Starfire on his shoulders and dropping backwards, all in one fluid motion. This spot looked tremendous. 2. Interview with Chris Candido re: Lance Storm. 3. Lance Storm vs. Brian Logan for the TV Title didn't take place as Dog ran in and destroyed Logan. Instead we got Lance vs. Dog. The Dog is surprisingly okay. He did some good spots, including a top rope leg drop and an over the top rope leg lariat. Chris Jericho and Chris Candido run in and Jericho was carefully destroyed. Jericho wasn't wearing a bandaid any more (this is week four of TV, after all) and there was no scar. This makes us think he must have bladed above the hair line. 4. Interview with Lance Storm re: Chris Candido. 5. Gangstas beat Anthony Michaels & Doug Dalton with the top rope head butt. 6. Interview with the Gangstas re: R'n'R Express. 7. Interview with Jim Cornette & Bruiser Bedlam & Killer Kyle re: Dirty White Boy. 8. Killer Kyle & Bruiser Bedlam beat Tracy Smothers & Dirty White Boy when Bruiser pinned DWB after a Cornette racquet shot and a splash. A brawl erupted afterwards and Bob Armstrong ran in to clean house with his baseball bat. 9. Interview with Tracy Smothers & Dirty White Boy & Bob Armstrong re: Bruiser Bedlam & Jim Cornette. That's it. The tapings ran fairly smoothly. The only problem came at the start of every week when the ring announcer needed us to pack in tightly to look like a larger crowd (there were only 150 people, if they're lucky). The natives never got the idea and seemed unresponsive to the suggestion. At one point, the announcer said that they had to make it seem like a lot of people were there and one kid yelled "The whole town's here!" in exasperation. The ECW guys were pretty annoying, acting up a storm at ringside. The wrestlers did well to respond to them, though. To Del Ray, "You suck!" Del Ray back, "I've got something for you to suck on!" To New Jack, "You suck!" (you get a sense of their creativity). New Jack back, "Fuck you, you fat queer!" They tell me if you go to the ECW arena you get 1000 fans just like them. That kills any chance of me ever going to the ECW arena. There's one guy in the group (Ken Taylor) who claims that he wrestled in Japan on an independent card featuring Atsushi Onita, Mitsuhiro Matsunaga, and Cutie Suzuki, among others. He looks like Butch Miller or Luke Williams and claims his Japanese name was the Brutal Bushwhacker. He says he wore Fritz von Erich's title belt to the ring. I'm skeptical about this because he says this happened six years back when he had the body mass to work in the ring, but there were no Bushwhackers back then. He says he has pictures, but I never saw them, and claims somebody in Florida has a handheld of the show. Everybody here lies to be a celebrity, so I don't believe anybody. Before the show in the locker room, one of the kids that's here (he's only 14) was trying to be friends with Jimmy Del Ray. Jimmy was relaying an interesting story about looking terrible in Japan because he had Abdullah & Kamala II to work against. In mid-story, the kid just blurts out, "Hey Jimmy! Bungee!", in reference to the bungee jump match last year. Jimmy says, "Bungee my dick, you fucking little shit." Lance Storm says he and Chris Jericho are going to hold out for a Japanese invitation from New Japan or All Japan. They've been invited as a team by other promotions. Jericho accepted a tour because the booking sheet had him teaming with Bob Backlund and he thought that would be fun. 08/09/94: Today we had the cookout with the heels. The cookout was in Panther Creek State Park and was scheduled to start at 1:00. We drove there, arriving on time, and nobody was around, so we hung out at the entrance to the park. Around 2:00, Bruiser Bedlam drove up. Try to picture this guy driving an open jeep with just a pair of shorts on. What a sight. He's humongous and became really nice when I told him I was down from Toronto. "I'm from Hamilton!" He works in SMW for two weeks and then returns to Hamilton for two weeks. He runs a gym in Hamilton. He says he made good money on his three-year run with the WWF as Johnny K9. Eventually, Jim Cornette and the wrestlers arrive. The bus driver took a wrong turn and they have no idea where he went. Somebody has gone to track them down. Fine by us, since we get to talk with Jim Cornette for 20 minutes by ourselves. Details will follow. Jim Cornette, The Bodies, Chris Candido, Bruiser Bedlam, and Tammy Fytch all came to the cookout. I managed to chat with all of them and get a little insight into things. Apologies if things are disjointed from here on, but I'm gonna relay some stories now. First off, Dog from the tapings is a childhood friend of Chris Candido named Boo Bradley (think of Boo Radley from "To Kill A Mockingbird"). Cornette: "Imagine what kind of childhood he had!" He's John Rickner from Larry Sharpe's school. Jim says that before the show in Johnson City they went over to Sears and bought a brand new electric razor that should have been able to shave Candido's head. The sweat must have caused problems - the plan was to shave Candido bald in the ring. He jokes about Candido having hair of steel and about SMW suing Sears for selling faulty equipment, but you could tell he was upset that that angle wasn't delivered. I asked Jim about the heat that the Gangstas are getting him. He says he just gives them the issue to get over in the interview (as he does with everybody) - eg. "R'n'R Express" or "SMW censoring you" - and New Jack does his own thing. The Gangstas brought fried chicken and watermelon to the TV taping on their own and asked Cornette if they could take it out during an interview. Cornette gives them guidance (ditto everybody) saying they shouldn't go out and eat the stuff, they should go out and say that that's what the people would like to see. He says that some locals will think bad things when they pass a Black man in the street but now they can just go see the R'n'R Express try to beat the Gangstas instead of thinking about whacking some innocent Black dude. He also said that having them do those "in yo' face" style interviews is no worse than anything rap groups do. Rap groups are labelled a necessary backlash to increase awareness and bring about change, yet somehow Cornette is racist for letting the Gangstas do their act. Turns out all of the video segments in woods were taped in Cornette's backyard! Yes, that's Central Park, Central America, and the Smoky Mountain woods. In fact, the Tree of Woe is 60 feet from his back door. If he needs a vacation, he can step out the back door and be anywhere in the world. Knoxville drew 5000, "enough to pay for the last four WCW PPVs before Orlando." We have a show later this week in Barbourville, Kentucky. Barbourville has many equally tiny neighbours on the map, so what made Jim pick it initially? Jim says they got a call from a guy named Dennis who said he wanted to promote an SMW show there and did a great job, getting crowds from 500 to 1000. On one show in Barbourville, a fan was swearing at Jim and got him upset. They ended up getting into it when the fan wouldn't back down (Cornette is adamant that the heel can't back down from a fan). Jim whacked the guy with the tennis racquet. The guy filed assault charges. Dennis told Jim not to worry, that he should come up and face the music and just go with the flow. Jim showed up and when he entered the court room the crowd popped. The sheriff is wrestler Billy Travis' father. Jim pled guilty and the judge fined him $100 and demanded that he make a public apology...at the SMW show the next night. The newspapers ran the story and the house was up $400 the next night. Jim's apology: "I'm really sorry. Really sorry to have to be here tonight with all of you rednecks..." He also mentioned Wade Keller and Bruce Mitchell calling Terry Gordy mentally incompetent, etc., and criticizing Jim for using "the wrestler who was once the great Terry Gordy." This really upset Jim because it will make Gordy feel terrible to read this when things could have been more tactfully presented. Jim says you can't put total stock into what newsletters report in these cases and that he wanted to help Gordy out because they go back a long way; besides, he needed a name and Gordy means something in Knoxville. If a good wrestler comes back from a hiatus (due to a broke arm or leg, say), don't you give him a chance even if you've heard he's not up to par? He says he called Mitchell at 2:30am after finally getting home from the taping yesterday and reading his mail. He left a scathing message on the answering machine and says that if Mitchell and he ever cross paths, one of them will end up severely hurt. A while back, Wade Keller suggested that he could mail out SMW merchandise catalogues for Jim using the Torch mailing list. Jim only had to cover postage. They tried it and they got some orders. When they did it again, Keller said he wanted to make some money out of it. Jim said he'd give him the postage money and then give him other money - $250 was agreed upon - when they got some orders. No orders came in. Keller mentioned in his newsletter that Jim had "outstanding bills," which pissed Cornette off. Tim Horner was in charge of the books at this point and things were a mess. Brian Hildebrand does the books now and things run smoothly. With Horner gone, this gave me some strange thoughts. Jim has since sent Keller the money and says that Keller can fuck off from here on in. He says it's fine when somebody reports that they don't like something in a product and credited Meltzer with giving a balanced view almost all of the time, but he's upset with the petty personal attacks that the Torch has made against him. The cookout starts with Cornette saying something nice about Brian Keyes (Brian Logan, the Hornet) and Keyes saying he wants a tape of it. Cornette says Keyes is already four guys in the promotion and if he holds out long enough, he'll be the whole promotion. ;-) Jim Cornette wasn't sure if Chris Walker was reliable enough and Walker was to prove himself by working Friday thru Monday but he no-showed Sunday in Beckley without word, so he's history. Years back, Dennis Condrey was driving Cornette & Bobby Eaton to the hotel after a card, dropped them off, and then disappeared for nine months without word. He abandonned his wife and newborn kid. Nine months later he called Jim up acting like he'd never run out. When working for the Crocketts years back, Jim, Bobby Eaton, Stan Lane, and Dick Murdoch were flown into Chicago's Midway airport. Jim had made reservations at a hotel near O'Hare airport since he assumed that they'd arrive there. Murdoch said not to worry since he knew a good hotel near Midway called the Airliner. The place had four rooms free, one without a TV and one without a lock. They each went to their rooms, but Jim, Bobby, and Stan didn't sleep a wink. Dick slept like a baby, saying that he's been in hotels where he's fallen asleep and awakened with four inches of snow on top of him. Jim says Bobby once entered a hotel room and found a Black couple having sex and was worried about staying in seedy hotels ever since. He told a very elaborate story about all of the things that were wrong with the hotel. Jim went to the White Castle next to the hotel. Paul Jones was there and called him over saying, "Ahhh, Jim, don't order the hamburger. I think the meat is spoiled." Jim says, "You've never been past North Carolina. That's how their supposed to be here!" Tom Prichard likes to keep to himself. At the cookout, he was surrounded by four groupies most of the time, each of them stroking some exposed part of his body. Even on the road, he gets his own room and Jimmy Del Ray says he only sees him in the ring. Prichard says the WWF deal is a day-to-day thing and that he doesn't know if they'll be called in for Summer Slam. Masanori mentions that Jimmy got bad reviews because of his All Japan match with Abdullah & Kamala II. Jimmy says that Tom got worked over the whole match and was suppsed to make a hot tag and Jimmy was then supposed to do all of his spots. But when Tom tagged him in, Kamala just fell to the mat. Jimmy says, "I kicked that fat piece of shit as hard as I could and said, `Get up!' He said, `I can't.'" Jimmy was very upset about it hurting his value in Japan. Del Ray is a "class clown" type. He spent $500 at the Mouse's Ear strip club the day before. He was always razzing the young kid from New Jersey, who's admittedly quite annoying. "When you grow some pubic hair, then you can talk." Jimmy did a show where the promoter's girlfriend was his valet because she liked him. Later, she came by his room and he said to her, "if you come in, I have no interest in talking," so she came in... I sat with Bruiser Bedlam, Chris Candido, and Jimmy Del Ray for a while. They made some remarks about it being the Jim Cornette comedy hour where the crowd was. Candido seems very hopeful about his All Japan tour. He rightly seems to think that ability should be the key to success and was a little perplexed at pushes of people with little ability. He also values improvisation skill in the ring. He talked about Edouard Carpentier needing to write down a detailed booking of a match and never veering from it (Ed wrestled Candido's grandfather, Chuck Richards). Bedlam made some negative remarks about the direction the WWF has taken. Masanori mentioned Jimmy Del Ray's Japanese sweetheart, Yumi. Jimmy says she's the perfect woman: she takes him to fancy restaurants and pays the tab. Cornette made a joke about her being very popular and men saying, "You?...Me?" In Barbourville, Bruiser was working out in the gym and bench pressed 585 pounds, but the bench legs were to weak and broke underneath him. Jimmy Del Ray talked about living with Brian Hildebrand when he came to town. Think about the frugality involved. Candido and Del Ray talked about teaching Lance Storm and Chris Jericho respect for hard work in the ring. When Jim Cornette came over, Candido disappeared and Jim took his place on the picnic table. The crowd followed. I will be in the video on this because I was the only fan on the picnic table which everybody else faced. They talked about Bruiser being able to break Canadian beer bottles on his head. At a TV taping, he told Jim he'd do it in an interview. They got an American beer bottle - thicker! Bruiser wanted his fellow Canadian to confirm this, so he gave me his beer bottle; yeah, that's thicker. Bruiser tried to break it three time. For the next hour of the taping, he had to wear a cap to hide the goose eggs on his head. Cornette talked about getting kicked by a fan years ago and hitting him in response. He knew he could get in trouble, so he whacked his leg with a tennis racquet so he'd have a wound to show the police should they question him. That's when all of the guys working with him *knew* he was crazy; to that point, they'd only suspected. Bruiser told me some fan was crowding the heels' car and had his foot run over. The resulting broken toe was led to a lawsuit against SMW. Cornette talked about parking his car in New York in a no standing zone amidst many other cars on the day of WrestleMania. When they left MSG, the car was gone. He said New York should provide an English to New York dipshit dictionary if they are going to redefine words. After all, everybody knows that "standing" means something for people and "parking" means something for cars. He ripped up the tickets because he'll never drive in New York again. Vince can pay from now on. Tammy Fytch was there with her 9-week-old pet cat. The cat is 11% Bengal tiger and was adorable. Insert requisite "pussy" joke here. Actually, Del Ray said that Tammy should know "it's illegal to keep pussy on a leash." Tammy was sort of disinterested in the whole thing. She's 21 and very attractive, but she does look better on camera. She said she hates the bugs and dirt of the South and was a little bitchy. And yes, I did play with her pussy cat a bit. They brought the title belts along for pictures. They were made by Reggie Parks in Arizona for $3000 each. They showed super workmanship. Two of the larger ECW fans had their pictures taken with Cornette and the tag belts. He called them the "Nutrisystem Express, the Tank brothers, Sherman and Septic." Somebody referred to the Ricky Morton beating as a "Rodney King" incident. Cornette said that a bunch of guys beating up one guy is hardly a unique wrestling angle. If you infer more from this incident, then it's inside you. Much later I was making my Southern experience complete at the Mouse's Ear and got Brian Hildebrand to open up a bit and verify that Chris Jericho bladed at the hair line - an inch long cut, a quarter inch deep. Hildebrand has a second job stocking shelves overnight. They all realize the value of a buck and money is a little tight in between big weeks. Before leaving, I told the ECW guys that if they get a girl over to their table and she needs something to balance herself while dancing and says, "Give me a chair," they shouldn't throw it at her. One of the "Septic brothers" spit beer clear across the club in response. 08/10/94: Today was a free day, capped off by the Question & Answer session with Jim Cornette. He fielded questions for about 3.5 hours. At least 6 camcorders filmed it. It will be impossible to summarize everything we talked about. Jim says he thinks both the WWF and SMW have benefitted from their relationship. When the Bodies are done "up north" they'll return. He'd also like to have Bob Holly come back to SMW. They have spoken on the phone and Bob is sad that he didn't establish himself in SMW and go to the WWF under his real name. Instead, he's Sparky Plugg. Cornette also said a lot of nice things about Owen Hart. He always liked the mummy character when he was a kid and that's what he tried to recreate with Prince Kharis. When it didn't work after two TV tapings, he did one run of Kharis putting Dirty White Boy over at the houses and then killed the character. Darrel van Horne probably won't be back. Friday in Knoxville was hell. Jericho came up and asked Jim if he could practise stuff in the ring. Somebody came and told Jim that Jericho had broken his arm. He thought it was a joke. The backstage area was chaotic the whole day in preparation for the big show. He once again bashed Wade Keller and Bruce Mitchell. He says the Gangstas were doing their thing in North Georgia and wanted to come into SMW and do a strong gimmick; they want to go over the top. Keller called him racist for not having any Black employees. Well, what Black referees, ring crew, announcers, etc., are there? As for wrestlers, he likes Koko B. Ware, but can't use him. Junkyard Dog? Thunderbolt Patterson? Ice Train? Ron Simmons is too expensive. 2 Cold Scorpio has never worked a territory and has no clue how it works to get paid on the house. He called Memphis after leaving WCW and asked for $700 a night. When Jerry Jarrett told him that he'd work 5 nights a week, Scorpio dropped his price tag to $500 a night. Jim Cornette didn't bother to return his call. He told stories about hitting fans, not getting served at fast food restaurants, and other stuff. Jim loves realistic wrestling angles. While saying this, he had to mention the Royal Rumble. He was told he'd be needed at the PPV and didn't know what was planned until he got there. He has no friends in RI, so he either had to leave or stand in the corner and earn $2000. Which would you do? He said he didn't get the angle with the Undertaker (ie. that is wasn't realistic). "Now, if they'd have killed the guy..." He agreed with what Bill Watts was doing - looking at a wrestler being paid $160K and comparing that to what he was bringing in. Watts had no time to fix the wrestling product and didn't even start on that; he was just trying to fix the finances first. Even now, guys like Bobby Eaton get their $160K a year for sitting at home three weeks a month. Why would they go elsewhere? Cornette earned $110 a week before hooking up with Bill Watts. He earned $900 his first week with Watts and made $100K that year, so he soaked in as much as he could to learn what Watts did that made things so successful. Ric Flair is too unselfish, giving so much to a company that never gives back. He makes every one of his opponents at his own expense. Hulk Hogan has no need to put anybody over, so Jim doesn't expect it. Jerry Lawler is the best babyface ever, says Jim, because he's been on top for most of the past 20 years in his territory. He was so successful because he did realistic stuff. He talked a bit about comparing SMW and ECW, saying it's pointless. Each wouldn't sell in the other's region. Sabu wouldn't sell in SMW territory - heels can't do great moves and get over here. Early on, Candido did a plancha to no reaction. Cornette told him instead of doing the plancha when he dumps his opponent out of the ring, he should grab his ears and pretend the noise bothers him. Bingo! Big reaction. Ricky Morton is the best worker of the past 12 years, according to Jim. He has no massive body, doesn't give good interviews really, yet he's always gotten over on charisma and work in the ring. Cornette joked that the promotion is on the verge of closing every week - he's joking! - but somehow straightens out when the weekend is over. This was better than last year's Q&A and I'd recommend getting a copy of the video. I'll be getting a very clean copy filmed on an expensive Ricoh machine (there were some junky camcorders in the house too) in the next few weeks. Prior to the Q&A, we watched the SMW TV show that will air this coming weekend. They aired the entire Bodies vs. Thrillseekers match from Knoxville despite all of the blood. It was great to hear Jim Ross do commentary on old-style realistic wrestling. Everybody in the room made some sort of comment to that effect. Finally, word has it that Tammy Fytch had cramps at the cookout yesterday. "PMS Damage Control" or truth? Who knows? 08/11/94: We hit the Jefferson County Fair in Jefferson City around 5:30pm. We had been told that the wrestling started at 7:00pm, but it turns out that it starts at 8:00pm. Highlights of the fair: free tobacco samples and petition signing from the National Smokers Alliance (to quote Vince, "unbelievable"), the county's largest pumpkin, the 11 foot long steer, square pickled eggs, and hillbilly bluegrass music. The wrestling takes place in the middle of the demolition derby track. 1. The Mongolian Stomper beat Killer Kyle in 8:00 when the referee reversed the decision after Kyle got a pin using the ropes. Slow and plodding. DUD 2. Steve Starfire pinned Dante the Disco Inferno in 12:00 with a superkick off the top rope followed by a cover. Dante enters to "Burn Baby Burn, Disco Inferno" and failed despite my loud cheers. Best bet is he was Brian Keyes. DUD 3. Interview with Tammy Fytch re: Chris Candido teaming with Killer Kyle tonight. She said that the R'n'R Express won the tag belts in Saltville on Monday night and she fired Brian Lee as a result. This was some of the best microphone work I've heard from Tammy. 4. Rock'n'Roll Express beat Killer Kyle & Chris Candido in 15:00 when Robert Gibson pinned Killer Kyle with a sunset flip and Ricky Morton clotheslined Chris Candido for a quick pin. This was all comedy, with Kyle & Chris miscommunicating at every turn. The match was for the tag titles with the stipulation that the R'n'R Express would bungee jump if they lost and Tammy Fytch would bungee jump if her team lost. Others might rate comedy highly, but I was stuck giving this at most *1/2. They announced Ricky Morton would be in charge of dragging Tammy Fytch to the bungee later. 5. Perhaps the worst Battle Royal I've ever seen was next. It involved the Stomper, Steve Starfire, Dante the Disco Inferno, Chris Candido, Killer Kyle, Ricky Morton, and Robert Gibson. Starfire went out first, followed by Dante. With my favourite gone, I started to lose interest. They must have sensed this, since the mass exodus began immediately. In less than a minute, Robert Gibson, Ricky Morton, Killer Kyle, and Candido were eliminated in that order leaving the Stomper to win the $1000 in Monopoly money. The whole match went 1:30. DUD We made out way over to the bungee jump. Ricky Morton led Tammy Fytch to the site, while Candido looked on. A little kid yelled, "You suck, Candido!" and Chris yelled back, "Shut up, you fat little bastard!" Candido wasn't in character and someone said, "Chris, how come you aren't trying to save you girlfriend?" Chris grabbed the local cop and said, "I would but this fine officer keeps stopping me," while pulling the cop in front of him and pretending he couldn't get by. Tammy did an ankle jump. 08/12/94: Tonight's show is in Barbourville, Kentucky, but we don't think we're going to go. It's another long drive and we're talking about going out for a nice dinner instead. We haven't eaten all that well since getting here. We end up going to a nice Italian restaurant for the best meal of my stay in Knoxville. 08/13/94: It's my last full day in Knoxville. Tonight's show is the Morristown "King of the Mountain." Before the show, they'll have a training session where any of us can get in the ring and learn a little bit. I know I'm letting Akira Hokuto down, but my neck can't take the in-ring movement and bumps, so I'll just be an observer. We drive to Morristown but have trouble finding East High School, where the wrestling is scheduled, so we stop at a gas-stop convenience store. I ask where the school is and the older woman behind the counter says it's just two blocks away. "Are you all going to the wrestling matches?" "Yes." "I'm going too. Gonna do some cheering tonight!" "Well, we'll be cheering with you." "I dunno. I'll be cheering for the good guys all night." Apparently, I have "heel fan" stamped on my forehead. We get to watch them put up the ring in the athletic facility building; the whole process takes about 1.5 hours. During this time, I get a chance to read the ring announcer's (Tommy Noe) Torch and conclude that Bruce Mitchell is an idiot. Mitchell's column says that SMW is on the verge of closing and that Jim Cornette is desperate. He can't have ever been down here for an "inside" look and have that opinion. Everybody down here that reads this column shakes his head during it and afterwards. Chris Jericho arrives wearing a cool WAR shirt. It's black and yellow with "Wrestle And Romance" written on it. Scuttlebutt has it that Ricky Morton is unmarried with four kids and a stripper girlfriend. Three of his kids are at the show tonight. Tracy Smothers has a four-year-old son. He's writing down items to consider for a video resume, saying he really just wants to have something to show his son. I ask how he got his All Japan stint a while back without a video resume. He says Joel Deaton got the gig when Joel needed a partner (Billy Black gets ousted from yet another promotion) and that he (Tracy) hadn't returned to All Japan because, well, Joel was in jail. Prior to the show, any interested Fanweek members could get in the ring and learn simple moves (running the ropes, standard bump, etc.). Six to eight people are interested including JR Benson and Sensuous Stacy. Those two have a singles "match" where they trade slaps (he hits her *hard*) and then disagree on who will call the next spot. She storms off swearing, her face quite red from the slaps. The gym fills with maybe 300 people. Here's the rundown: 1. Lance Storm & Dirty White Boy beat the Heavenly Bodies when Lance pinned Tom after about 19:00. This was pretty much the same routine as in Beckley. Jericho clocked Tom with the cast to set up the pin. After the low blows this time, Jimmy held his tights open and Cornette fanned him with the tennis racquet. *** 2. Bob Armstrong beat Jim Cornette & Killer Kyle in 15:00 when Kyle elbow-dropped Cornette by mistake and Bob pinned him. Bob called the match loudly ("hit me from behind"). Mostly comedy. DUD 3. The SMW King of the Mountain match was next. After establishing an order of entrance with the traditional draw before the show, the first two guys hit the ring for a match. The winner of the match stays in the ring and must face the next entrant in a match. This continues until all of the entrants have wrestled. The final winner is the King of the Mountain and gets $5000 in Monopoly money. The first guys are Ricky Morton and Jimmy Del Ray. Tom Prichard leaves the building as they enter the ring and Jimmy yells, "You son of a bitch" at him and smirks. Jimmy thinks he's Dusty Rhodes for a few seconds this time around and does the "flip, flop, and fly" elbow smash with the twirling hands and crotch grab. After 10:00 of good work, Morton gets the pin with a sunset flip. Killer Kyle is next in the ring and gets schoolboyed after a lacklustre 4:00. The local fan next to me yells things that are unrepeatable. Chris Candido is next out, along with Tammy. All the guys focus on Tammy's spring dress, hoping for an upward draft. After a mere 3:00, Candido loads his head mask and hits the loaded head butt, thus eliminating Morton. Robert Gibson is in next, much to the delight of the pissed off crowd. Candido goes for the loaded head butt again, this time diving head first into the corner, but Gibson moves and Candido hits the steel of the turnbuckle and gets schoolboyed in less than 5:00. Tracy Smothers comes out next for a face vs. face match. Tracy points at the celing a la Sabu. After some nice action, Tracy pins Robert with a sunset flip. Bruiser Bedlam is in next. This ain't too bad. They get into the ropes and Cornette goes for a racquet shot that doesn't land right, so Tracy doesn't really sell it. Instead of immediately setting up another racquet shot (obviously the planned finish) they do a few more spots first. With Tracy gone, the DWB comes in as the last man. Bruiser gets tape knuckles out of his trunks and nails DWB to become the King of the Mountain. The whole match took about 50:00 and was very entertaining. The crowd in Morristown was incredibly hot. The R'n'R Express got a fantastic reaction. One understands why they didn't bother to go to WCW for a guaranteed $150K, opting instead to stay here and make less and spend more time with their families. When the place clears, I get a chance to say bye to everyone. I've already said bye to Tracy Smothers (who was super friendly again, hoping I had a good time and wishing me well) and Tina, the concession stand girl from Mississauga. I get a chance to say bye to Chris Candido, who thanks me for coming, and I wish him well in All Japan, which seems to touch him and he gives a very sincere thanks. Bruiser Bedlam asks if I had a good time and if the trip was worth it. I say, "yes," and he says, "all right, man, good meeting you." Finally, Jim Cornette says, "The next time you come down from Canada, bring some goddamn air conditioning." 08/14/94: I'm on the flight home now and thought I'd write some final thoughts. Being down here for a week, going to all the shows, and talking to the guys really gives a feel of what running a territory is like. It's substantially different from running a national promotion. While it's true that this week was uncharacteristically busy for SMW, the grind for "on" weeks like this is tremendous. The finances are run on somewhat of a shoestring, but this isn't unexpected. A lot of damage has been done to the wrestling business and it will take a little time or perhaps even a lot of time to re-establish a loyal fanbase. Already, though, there are some very good cities for the promotion. The gate and crowd in Knoxville may well be larger than all other non-PPV, non-Clash, non-AAA shows in North America in August. From year to year, the highest high and lowest low both get higher. The regular fans are rabid for the "old-style wrestling" product and go nuts even when Bob Armstrong faces Killer Kyle. Jim Cornette has a vision, knows his audience, and has no intention of expanding anywhere until he's built up a regular following of strong crowds in all of his usual cities. Along the way, he may take specific detours, trying things he think he might fly (eg. Prince Kharis) or making deals that help during the tougher times (eg. the WWF). In the end, any businessman wants to make money and surely that's a primary goal of Cornette. But one senses that a love of realistic wrestling is strong motivation too. That makes the whole exercise fun and doing domething you enjoy while hopefully earning enough money to get by is all any of us could hope for. I hope that everybody that got this far into the travel log enjoyed it and the TidBits will return in usual form next week. Herb...