Aug 13, 1984
Even though the match was in the middle of the card, the Rock n Roll Express vs Phil Hickerson and the Spoiler was arguably the match of the night. Hickerson and the Spoiler (Frank Morrell) were the defending Southern tag team champions. In recent weeks they had successfully defended the belts against some good talent: Dutch Mantell and Eddie Gilbert, The Fabulous Ones, Eddie Gilbert and Tommy Rich (Fabs II), as well as the Rock n Roll Express.. On this night, Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson captured the Southern tag team titles.
Another big match saw former partners Tommy Rich and Eddie Gilbert face off in a vicious match. Eddie had turned on Tommy the previous week and their feud was off and running. This first match ended in a double countout.
Jerry Lawler got disqualified in his match with Rick Rude. I believe that the King may have thrown fire on the Ravishing One who could not return for the main event he was scheduled to be in.
That main event featured Steve Keirn and Jackie Fargo challenging the enormous King Kong Bundy and Rick Rude’s replacement, Nightmare #1. Not real sure if Bundy and Rude had previously injured Stan Lane (which explained the inclusion of Jackie Fargo), but that sounds right. At the end of the match, Keirn and Fargo got the pinfall.
Others on card included Dutch Mantell going over Keith Roberson, Tojo Yamamoto chopping down Mr. Ito and New Generation going to a draw with the fast Nightmares.
The summer time crowds were still coming to the weekly matches and attendance was 9,018. The Fabs II were over forever and Eddie Gilbert’s first heel run was going strong. King Kong Bundy was still the Southern heavyweight singles champ.
Aug 20, 1984
Summer was over and the kids were back in school. However, the action was still hot in the Mid-South Coliseum.
The Rock n Roll Express got to defend their newly won Southern tag team titles against the Nightmares who were managed by the mouth of the south, Jimmy Hart. The only problem was they lost the match and the belts to the challengers.
Jerry Lawler’s feud with Rick Rude continued to escalate. In the main event of the night, the King won by DQ when someone interfered for Rude. This of course sets up a huge rematch the following week.
Tommy Rich and Eddie Gilbert’s match didn’t resolve their dispute. The two repeated their match from the previous week and were both counted out by the referee.
Steve Keirn and Jackie Fargo continued to fight King Kong Bundy and his new partner, Kurt Von Hess. New partner, same result as Bundy and his new partner came up short and lost to the modified Fabs.
Some other matches had Randy Savage and his brother Lanny Poffo winning over the New Generation and the Spoiler was disqualified against Dutch Mantell. With school starting back, the attendance took a little hit and was down to 7,096. To the fans, this was somewhat of a disappointment in that the only Keirn & Fargo got a pinfall. Lawler’s match was a DQ finish and the Rock n Roll Express lost their “just-won” Southern tag titles.
Aug 27, 1984
The main event featured the end of the singles feud between Jerry Lawler and Rick Rude. It was a “No DQ” cage match. Rude was constantly having others run in during his matches with Lawler, so the King requested a cage match to keep everyone else out and the 2 of them in the ring. At the end of the night, the King emerged victorious.
Stan Lane returned to team with his partner Steve Keirn and they brought in Tony Atlas to take on the Road Warriors and Precious Paul Ellering. While not getting the pinfall the Fabs and Atlas did get a “win by DQ” over the massive team.
The Tommy Rich – Eddie Gilbert feud continued to grow. This match had Rich’s International title on the line. For the first time in their feud, there was a pinfall victory when Eddie Gilbert got the win against Tommy Rich. With the win, Eddie became the new International champion.
In the Southern heavyweight title match, champion King Kong Bundy continued his domination of the area by defeating Dutch Mantell. The Southern tag team title match saw the Rock n Roll Express winning by DQ over the champions, Jimmy Hart’s Nightmares.
Finally, in a fun match for the fans, Jackie Fargo defeated Jimmy Hart.
I’m guessing the attendance at around 9,000. It was a pretty good card all around. The definite highlight would have been the Lawler-Rude cage match. King Kong Bundy was looking nearly unbeatable at this time as well, and he had taken over the lead heel role from Rick Rude.
Next week: We take a break from 1984 and hit a hot August from…
----Mark James is the author of “Memphis Wrestling History – Cards, Matches, Results, Newspaper Clippings” Vol 1 and "Vol 2: The Programs 1972 - 1976" James also is the webmaster to the BEST Memphis Wrestling site in the area – www.memphiswrestlinghistory.com - Click on his site and order his books!!
