[NWA] USWA Memorial Day At The Mid South 5/28/92

[Deleted]

Presents
Memorial Day At The Mid-South
Monday Night 5/28/92

Mid-South Coliseum
Memphis, Tenesee

The show kicked off with a young local female singer performing a rendition of America the Beautiful in honor of the holiday of course. No angle here, just a warm moment to get the night started.

Our first match of the evening was part of the USWA Jr. Heavyweight Title Tournament as Brian Christopher went one on one with Chris Hamrick. Fun little match, crowd was really into Brian as per usual. Finish see's Brian duck a cross body block from Hamrick and quickly follow up with a full nelson face buster at just 4:15.

More Round 1 Action followed as "Nightmare" Danny Davis battled the brash rookie Wolfie D. This one got a considerable amount of time when compared to Hamrick/Christopher. Fun little match with Davis leading Wolfie D to perhaps his best match to date here in the USWA. Ref gets floored on a Davis body slam, this allows Wolfie to grab hold of the spray paint, LUCKILY Davis is able to charge with a shoulder to the gut during this and force Wolfie to lose his grasp on the object, small package followed as a dazed referee counts the pin! "Nightmare" Danny Davis moves on at 10:34!

The tournament continues as "Suicide Blonde" Chris Candido w/ "Boston Bad Boy" Tony Rumble goes one on one with "Dixie Dynamo" Scott Armstrong. Back and forth encounter, man Candido fits like a glove here as he's got the Memphis style character work down but can work a really high spot influenced match when need be. We get some of that here, but in the end it's the WMV finish as Rumble sweeps the legs out from under Scott Armstrong as he's suplexing Candido back in the ring, allowing Chris to follow on top and pick up the tainted 3 count at 7:17.

Our final first round match pits Shaun Summers against Brickhouse Brown. Summers does some stalling, but it doesn't take Brickhouse Brown long to put 'em away off a second rope diving headbutt in just 3:30.

Semi-Final Action just before intermission as "Nightmare" Danny Davis goes one on one with his former tag team partner Brian Christopher. Remember just two weeks ago these two friends went to a 10 minute time limit draw on Championship Wrestling, but here tonight we've got 20 minutes to play with so hopefully that won't be the case. Started out slow, your standard face vs face affair at least at first, things broke down a bit near the end however. Christopher nearly took it at one point off a superkick, Davis did the same off a top rope cross body block. He goes to the well once to often and tries it again, but this time Brian rolls through and ends up with the pin for the hard fought victory at 14:48!

Post Match- It's a little tense at first, but we get ourselves a handshake between the former USWA Tag Team Champions, complete with Davis raising his buddies hand high in the air to a nice ovation.

Intermission

Our second semi-final contest brings us back from intermission as Brickhouse Brown goes one on one with "Suicide Blonde" Chris Candido w/ "Boston Bad Boy" Tony Rumble It's pretty back and forth, that is until...

Wolfie D

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Is out to ringside for the distraction. Brown's still able to kick up off a Candido bridging back suplex. Wolfie then makes a play for the ring, but the official is there to stop 'em. BUT yeah at this point a set of brass knux have been passed from Wolfie, to Triple B and now to Candido. Brown turns around and eats a loaded right hand, Candido stuffs the knux in his tights and covers for the tainted victory at 12:33.

Our big time over the top rope battle royal was up next for a shot at Eddie Gilbert's USWA Heavyweight Championship right here next Monday Night! Participants included: Bill Dundee, Don Harris, Ron Harris, Maxx Payne, Demolisher, Billy Joe Travis, Bodyguard Rod, Koko B. Ware, Bam Bam Bigelow, Brian Armstrong, David Young, Bobby Knight, Bad Crew Dog, Bad Crew Rose, Marcus Alexander Bagwell, Bobby Fulton & Tommy Rogers! Bodies were flying all over the place in there! In an odd moment, the Bruise Brothers end up getting into it with the Fantastics off Ron dumping Bobby Fulton as he worked over Maxx Payne, it lead to Rogers taking out both himself & DON HARRIS off a cross body just a few short seconds later! Both teams got into it on the floor a bit, but cooler heads ended up prevailing when all was said and done. Another highlight was BILLY JOE TRAVIS getting tossed out RIGHT AWAY by Bill Dundee and shedding quite a few tears over it. Your Final four? Bill Dundee, Bam Bam Bigelow & USWA Tag Team Champions: The Disciples. Bammer & Dundee worked quite well together as a team in there against the champs. Dundee however misses a cross body block on Payne and ends up falling to the outside, putting Bammer at a two to one disadvantage. Payne holds Bigelow for a Demolisher clothesline, but he breaks free leading to Demolisher accidently knocking his partner over the top! Bammer acts quick to sneak up from behind and toss Demolisher for the win at 19:32!

Bam Bam Bigelow is the No. 1 Contender For The USWA Title!

The finals for the USWA Jr. Heavyweight Championship followed as Brian Christopher FINALLY gets his hands on "Suicide Blonde "Chris Candido. These two worked a perfect blend of old school southern rasslin' mixed in with new age "Japanese style" Jr. heavyweight wrestling! A ton of near falls at the end, first off a Christopher superkick, then a superplex from Candido! Swandive style headbutt from Chris misses setting up the full nelson face buster, BUT CANDIDO GETS HIS FOOT IN THE ROPES JUST BEFORE 3!! Rumble's on the apron just moments after this for the distraction, Christopher grabs him by the jacket to a huge reaction! Candido charges, BUT CHRISTOPHER MOVES OUT OF THE WAY AND CANDIDO TAKES OUT RUMBLE! GERMAN SUPLEX FROM BRIAN CONNECTS FOR THE 3 COUNT! BRIAN CHRISTOPHER IS THE USWA JR. HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION AT 23:35!!!

And now it's main event time here at the Mid-South Coliseum. A rather cocky, and confident USWA Heavyweight Champion: "Hot Stuff" Eddie Gilbert & "Universal Heartthrob" Austin Idol are out first to boo's of course, and then the place comes unglued as the duo of Jerry "The King" Lawler & NWA World Champion: Ricky "the Dragon" Steamboat come out to a huge reaction. Awesome match from start to finish. The King & Gilbert get color in there, Ricky is solid as ever, and Idol is far more cutthroat then usual in there. We get a good long Jerry Lawler "baby face in peril" spot building to a hot tag to Steamboat. He cleans house. Gilbert & Lawler have the officials attention however on the outside as Ricky sets up on top, BUT THEN A CREW MEMBER, A FREAKING CREW MEMBER HOPS ONTO THE APRON AND SMASHES WHAT APPEARS TO BE A CELLULAR TELEPHONE OVER THE HEAD OF RICKY STEAMBOAT! THE DRAGON CRUMBLES TO THE CANVAS... AUSTIN IDOL QUICKLY COVERS AS THE REFEREE IS NOW IN POSITION... GILBERT HOLDS OFF LAWLER, AND AUSTIN IDOL HAS PINNED THE WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION! AUSTIN IDOL HAS PINNED THE WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION AT 16:22!

Post Match- As Idol & Eddie celebrate in the aisle with the crew member, the hat and sunglasses that were covering up his identity come off... it's....it's....

PAUL E. DANGEROUSLY!

PAUL E. IS BACK IN MEMPHIS, AND HE'S ALIGNED WITH EDDIE GILBERT & AUSTIN IDOL! THE KING'S GREATEST ENEMIES, PERHAPS OF ALL TIME, STAND HERE, TOGETHER UNITED AT THE MID SOUTH COLISEUM!

Quick Results:

USWA Jr. Heavyweight Tournament Round 1 Matches:

Brian Christopher defeated Chris Hamrick with a full nelson face buster at 4:15.

Danny Davis defeated Wolfie D via pinfall off a small package at 10:34.

Chris Candido defeated Scott Armstrong with a suplex reversal at 7:17.

Brickhouse Brown defeated Shaun Summers with a second rope headbutt at 3:30.

USWA Jr. Heavyweight Title Semi-Finals:

Brian Christopher defeated Danny Davis after rolling thru a cross body block at 14:48.

Chris Candido defeated Brickhouse Brown with a loaded right hand in 12:33.

Top Contenders Battle Royal: Bam Bam Bigelow won a top contenders battle royal last eliminating the Demolisher at 19:32.

USWA Jr. Heavyweight Title Finals: Brian Christopher defeated Chris Candido with a German Suplex at 23:35 to become the first ever USWA Jr. Heavyweight Champion.

Main Event: Austin Idol & Eddie Gilbert defeated Ricky Steamboat & Jerry Lawler when Idol pinned Steamboat with help from Paul E. Dangerously at 16:32.

[appstorm]

Paul E. with that huge phone and Idol can boast of pinning the champion? Dynamite! Can't wait to see Bammer and Gilbert go at it. Congrats to Christopher and to the furthering of Candido going after him.

Fantastic show.

[somethingsavage]

Just another awesome evening of action at the Mid-South Coliseum. Kicking things off with America the Beautiful was a nice touch. Ties everything together with a nifty little holiday feel. The tourney for the Juniors Title went pretty much how we expected it. No shocks or surprises. I'm cool with that, because all the pieces fit. It came together seamlessly like a puzzle, and the bigger picture is more accurate as a result of that. You honestly could have gone with either finalist as the initial champ, but it's a good nod to Christopher that he got the belt first.

Brian is looking like the junior equivalent of Lawler with this sort of booking. He ran through some stiff competition tonight, and he definitely earned his payday with some of the times clocked on those matches. Candido will always make for an entertaining foil, especially with Rumble at his side. Candido chasing Christopher should be some seriously fun stuff.

But yeah. You orchestrated the tourney just right. The brackets gave us the best possible bouts with the most worthwhile results. Kudos for that. Oh, and bonus points for all the dynamic pics you threw in throughout the show. Always a sucker for those things.

It was great to see Bigelow take the "W" in that big battle royal. With Bammer looming overhead now, the USWA Title scene just got a little more crowded. Should be an extremely interesting ingredient to add to the mix, too. Bigelow carries that no-nonsense demeanor with him that would translate to facing Eddie or even Jerry with ease. Hope to see Bam Bam thrive here.

It was cool to see the teased tension among some of the baby faces. The Fantastics & the Bruise Brothers are such stark contrasts to one another - you could easily see why they wouldn't get along, at the end of the day. So any possible altercation could quickly escalate. Liking the possibilities in that. The same thing happened with Davis & Christopher. Now that Brian's wearing the gold, you can bet that the Nightmare might think twice about just settling for being the good buddy all the time.

Great stuff in that main event. The King & Gilbert busting each other open (yet AGAIN) just shows the brutal nature of their rivalry. This thing's intense! Ricky played his role to perfection. Bringing in the visiting champ to drop the fall to Idol sets up a truckload of possibilities also. Austin is kept alive & at Eddie's side in convincing fashion now, because he won't feel cast aside or like a second-stringer. He'll have his own issues going on, boasting & bragging at every turn about pinning the Dragon. Smart move. Okay. Now I'm buying into the Eddie & Idol alliance - lock, stock, and barrel.

Dangerously seriously does some DAMAGE with that huge cell phone. No way in the world could that translate to today's society - with the iPhone & Droids. But hey. This was a crazy cool trip back in time, to see Paul E. pop up & clobber Steamer with that outdated device. Did he ever actually call anyone with that thing? ;D

Paul E. is going to add so freaking much to this war. It really does create a gripping story. All of Lawler's most heinous enemies have come together to rid Memphis of its King. That's the tale. And it's probably Jerry's biggest obstacle to date. This is how you present a Superman with a realistic challenge. Liking it a little more & more with every show, man. You're just piling on the problems for Lawler now.

[Chief]

Wow. Just wow. After a very hard, long weekend at work this show was just what I needed to relax with.

First off, the combination of Gilbert, Idol, and Paul E. is just amazing. Amazing. Idol getting the pin on Steamboat puts him in the NWA Title picture and now Jerry Lawler's back is against the wall. He's going to need more then Jarrett and Dundee to fight this trio.

That help could come in the form of the NEW #1 Contender Bam Bam Bigelow. I love him here in Memphis. I just feel like he fits but for some reason I can just picture him as fodder for Gilbert. I hope not because I think he could really add something at Lawler's side...OR with Gilbert & Friends AGAINST Lawler.

Speaking of the battle royal, I really enjoyed it. The tension between the Bruisers and the Fantastics should be explored down the road. I think having the tag champs be two of the last four really helped put them over in my mind. Nice touch.

Brian Christopher and Chris Candido did not disappoint in the slightest. I am going to enjoy the ride for the hopefully LONG feud these two will have. Wolfie D is really getting at Brickhouse Brown and I fully expect the two to come to head soon.

Also the Billy Travis spot in the battle royal was damn right hilarious. He is a very good comedy but heat getting mid card act.

This card was super fun. The Juniors delivered, most in part because you've built the division up over the last couple weeks making it seem important.

The main event was simply awesome and I've always been a fan of as somethingsavage said the realistic Superman against the dastardly villain with numerous obstacles in his path. Awesome stuff Drew.

[cdw]

Good show

I love the jr title tournament. Brian v Chris was great. Good show Drew

[wrestlingsickness]

First of all, hats off to you for a superbly done Junior Heavyweight Title Tournament. While Memphis always had a Juniors Title, it was never really given that high of a profile. Heck, there were only two to four Juniors in the whole division at any given time and the champ would normally spend most of his time wrestling (and losing) to the heavyweights. You, however, made a definitive statement by having the tournament almost singlehandedly carry the entire show, and on an MSC show as important as the Memorial Day Blowout, no less! The tournament took up the entire first half of the show by itself, and placing it in the same company as the number one contenders’ Battle Royal and the Main Event tag match went a long way towards establishing this title’s importance!

As for the actual matches in the tournament, the first round went down as one would expect (although I was expecting to see another Wolfie D/Brickhouse match). The semis saw the obvious players advance, but in matches I wouldn’t have normally expected. I would have pegged Candido to go over Danny Davis and Christopher to beat Brickhouse, but the logic of your booking was perfect. Davis/Christopher paid off the time limit draw between these two a few weeks ago, while Candido/Brickhouse gave Wolfie D the opportunity to be the deciding factor in the outcome. Either Christopher or Candido would have made fitting inaugural champions, and with the push he’s been receiving and the entertaining way in which you’ve portrayed him I would have bet money on Candido walking away with the belt. The fact that Brian Christopher won shows that you truly understand your territory. BC is the hometown boy, the fan favorite young heartthrob, and the son of the top star in the company, so OF COURSE he’s going to go over! You stayed true to the territory when most would not, and you deserve props for that!

On a side note, where did you ever find that picture of Brian Christopher holding the WWF Light Heavyweight Title? I don’t think he ever actually held that title in real life.

Congrats to the Beast from the East on becoming the new number one contender! You followed the tried and true Battle Royal formula of “two heels double team one face, one heel accidentally eliminates the other heel, and face dumps the other shocked heel,” and there’s a reason said has been used as often as it has......BECAUSE IT WORKS! Bam Bam Bigelow has only been in the USWA for a few days and already he’s set to challenge for the Heavyweight Title! I can’t recall the last time a wrestler has risen up the ranks that quickly, and such a push makes Bammer look even more like the monster that he is!

Only two words can adequately describe your Main Event...Awe-Some! We got blood, a Ricky Steamboat hot tag, and the surprise return of THE ALMIGHTY HEYMAN! As SS already stated, having Gilbert, Idol, and Paul E. all working together is the wrestling equivalent of the Superman Revenge Squad, and having to fight all of your greatest enemies at once is the perfect way to turn your Superman into your Underdog. Unless you’re Hogan in WCW, then you’ll beat them all in a Doomsday Cage anyway. Could this be the beginning of a new Dangerous Alliance in the USWA? I guess we’ll have to tune in to TV5 to find out!

[Grape Ape]

I knew I missed one somewhere in there. Too much stuff coming out of Memphis to keep track of. Anyway ... I finally got around to it.

Really nice show. Had Candido pegged as the Jr. Champ being the only bright spot in Triple B's stable. Still, both he and Christopher got to shine and I am sure there will be plenty more encounters between the two.

I like Bam Bam Bigelow here and coming out with the Battle Royal win jumps him right into the thick of things, where he belongs. As we've already seen (if you've read things out of order, like I have), Bam Bam is right in the middle of it all.

Jerry's troubles just got a wee bit bigger with Paul E. coming in. This is fun.