Memphis Wrestling (4.3.1982) Review

-Originally aired April 3, 1982.

-Your hosts are Lance Russell & Dave Brown.

NORVELL AUSTIN vs. ERIC EMBRY
-Embry armdrags Austin and trips him up to apply a facelock. Austin gets back to his feet and wrings the arm, but Embry connects with an enziguiri, and the studio audience reacts like a group of people that definitely does not see enziguiris very often.

-Embry works the arm. Austin gets out but runs into a dropkick, and Embry clamps on a chinlock. Slam and an armdrag as both guys definitely get their assignments here. Embry is here to impress and Austin is doing a damn good job helping him. Austin gets his second wind with a backdrop and an elbow for two. Big right hand by Austin, and he gets on top of Embry and sticks a foot on the rope to get a tainted three-count. Not gonna complain about crappy booking here because Embry wasn’t just the stronger man in this match, he was DOMINANT, and Norvell getting a lucky shot and a foot on the ropes to win just kind of reinforced who the superior wrestler was.

-We rewatch Bill Dundee getting his shoulder destroyed by the First Family. Dundee says his doctors have told him the date that the sling comes off, and he’s intentionally keeping it a secret so he can surprise the shit out of Jimmy Hart on the day that the shoulder is back to 100%.

-House show promo reveals that Dutch still has the stolen belt, and he and the King are going to have what’s billed as their final match in a ring surrounded by barbed wire TUESDAY NIGHT in Louisville.

BEAUTIFUL BOBBY EATON & SWEET BROWN SUGAR (Southern Tag Team Champions, with Jimmy Hart & J.R. Hart Jr.) vs. TOM MALEY & RICK MCCORD
-McCord snapmares Eaton into a side headlock. Sugar tags in and clamps on a chinlock that Dave thinks looks suspiciously close to a choke. Eaton tags in and takes it to the next level with a blatant, unambiguous choke. McCord finally escapes, but Eaton throws cold water on the hot tag by hammering down on Maley. Sugar powerslams him, and a backbreaker finishes things for the champs.

-Jimmy Hart shows off a gigantic box of Cracker Jack and reveals the prize inside is the single of “We Hate School,” and Lance seems caught by surprise and busts up at that. Also, through 2024 eyes, that blows modern Cracker Jack prizes out of the water, and if I found a record in there today, it would turn the First Family babyface.

-Lance talks to Danny Davis. Jimmy Hart is going all over the territory bragging that he got a win over Danny Davis. Danny concedes that Jimmy Hart pinned him, but it took interference from Dream Machine to do it, and Danny is ready for a rematch next week.

-The Gibson Brothers are here, and Ricky is happy to announce that he exceeded doctors’ expectations and he’s cleared to wrestle again, and he’s coming for Jimmy Hart’s men.

DUTCH MANTELL & ROY ROGERS vs. TOJO YAMOMOTO & THE INVADER
-Hold up, why is Dutch teaming with a babyface? And the opposing team is equally weird, with a star/jobber combo.

-Rogers dropkicks Invader and tags in Dutch. Invader escapes as Lance finally clarifies this for us, and the non-kayfabe translation is that Dutch only hates Jerry Lawler, but other than that, he’s still a face and he gets along with other faces.

-Invader tags back in and gets beaten down by both opponents, and Rogers sunset flips Invader for the three-count.

EXPIRATION OF TIME: STAN LANE, DANNY DAVIS, & ROBERT GIBSON vs. THE ANGEL, CRAZY LUKE GRAHAM, & DREAM MACHINE (with Jimmy Hart & J.R. Hart, Jr.)
-FALL ONE: We have a little more than 10 minutes remaining, excluding the house show promo time, so this has potential.

-Lane & Machine duel for a top wristlock. Machine trips Lane down and boots him away on an attempted arm wringer.

-Davis and Angel tag in as Jimmy Hart goes to hang out at the commentary table because he’s so confident that his men have this one locked up without him. Davis dodges a corner charge by Luke Graham, but Graham gives him a right hand and brings the Machine back in. Davis reverses a backdrop and tags in Robert and the action is too fast to cover all of it.

-Faces take turns teeing off on Machine. Machine escapes and tags in Angel. Jimmy Hart calls for a time-out to give his men a pep talk, and it seems like it work because Angel hammers down Davis and seems to have things in hand until Davis kicks him to avoid an attempted backdrop.

-Machine attempts a bronco buster(???) and lands crotch-first in the corner. Robert Gibson applies a sleeper, which triggers the spontaneous battle royal as all the partners run in. Referee calls for the bell and declares that Jimmy Hart’s men started the brawl, so the faces get the win by DQ! Wow, usually you get the cop-out DDQ there…

FALL TWO: And we still have time left, so Jimmy Hart’s men, all good and pissed off about the verdict, manage to corner Robert Gibson and beat the hell out of him as if he just told everyone he actually liked that Pop-Tarts movie.

-Luke Graham hits Robert hard enough that he falls into his own corner and tags in Danny Davis. AWESOME spot sees Graham send Davis into the ropes for a clothesline, but instead Davis just uses the momentum to plancha onto Jimmy Hart on the floor! That triggers another brawl, and the referee calls for the bell and DQs the heels again, blaming them for instigating the brawl. Honestly…I’m kind of on the heels’ side this time. But that really was a cool spot.

7.7 The final score: review Good The 411 Good action and good stories all around this week.legend$(document).ready(function(){ $('.legend').on("click", function(e){ e.preventDefault(); $('.legend-container').slideToggle(); }); }) 0 - 0.9 Torture 1 - 1.9 Extremely Horrendous 2 - 2.9 Very Bad 3 - 3.9 Bad 4 - 4.9 Poor 5 - 5.9 Not So Good 6 - 6.9 Average 7 - 7.9 Good 8 - 8.9 Very Good 9 - 9.9 Amazing 10 Virtually Perfect

Memphis Wrestling (4.3.1982) Review

Memphis Wrestling (4.3.1982) Review

Memphis Wrestling (4.3.1982) Review

Memphis Wrestling (4.3.1982) Review

Memphis Wrestling (4.3.1982) Review