Corey Maclin welcomed everyone to the show and said, "We've got a dandy of a day, coming up, today on Memphis Wrestling!" Corey is at Minglewood Hall, again, this week. Jerry "The King" Lawler is not with him, but Corey will be talking to him, later, about WrestleMania. I can't wait! About to leave for Houston. Woooooo! Speaking of WrestleMania, Corey will have a special one-on-one sit down interview with "The Birdman" Koko B. Ware on this Saturday's April 4th edition of Memphis Wrestling, the same day he will be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.
Corey announced that coming up on the show, we'll see "Exotic" Adrian Street and "Boogie Woogie Man" Handsome Jimmy Valiant in action. Also, we'll hear from Dave Millican about his production of championship title belts.
Memphis Wrestling returns to Minglewood Hall on Thursday, April 16th. 7:30 bell time. Minglewood Hall is located at 1555 Madison Ave. To purchase tickets: Box office is open from 10-4, Mon-Fri or by calling, toll-free 866-609-1744. You can also visit minglewoodhall.com.
Corey said a few words about "Exotic" Adrian Street. He compared him to Boy George.
Opening the Vault classic match, featuring "Exotic" Adrian Street teaming with "Hot Stuff" Eddie Gilbert with Miss Linda and "The Mouth of the South" Jimmy Hart in their corner against "Macho Man" Randy Savage and his brother Lanny Poffo, before he became a Genius. Mr. Wrestling ran in to attack Savage, leading to the disqualification. Joe Lightfoot made the save and cleared the ring.
Corey said they should have the card finalized and more info on the Minglewood Hall show, next week.
Corey shared a funny story about "The Birdman" Koko B. Ware when he was on a plane with Koko B. Ware, headed to the XWF tapings in Orlando. Corey recalled, "I'm sitting there and the stewardess is on the microphone, been doing the introductions about the seat belts and the safety and the life jackets and all this sort of thing. And then, all of the sudden, she says, "Is there a Koko B. Ware on the plane?" And I look and he raises his hand. He pushes the buzzer for the stewardess, the airline stewardess. She says, "Yes, Mr. Ware, are you still going to be needing a wheelchair to go wrestle, tonight?" Jimmy Hart had set them a message to get Koko a wheelchair. It was the funniest thing I ever seen in my life."
Classic Footage of "The Birdman" Koko B. Ware in action as Stagger Lee in the P.Y.T. Express, alongside Norvell Austin. They battled The Fabulous Ones, "Wildfire" Tommy Rich and "Hot Stuff" Eddie Gilbert edition in a wild street fight that spilled into the crowd, to the dressing room and concession stands. Here's a video of that match.
Following the highlights, Dave Brown spoke with the P.Y.T. Express and Jimmy Hart in the studio. They were rocking the Michael Jackson look. They even wore the glove. They were asking where Tommy Rich and Eddie Gilbert were. Well, they got there answer, soon after, as Rich and Gilbert stormed on the scene, chasing off the P.Y.T. Express.
Corey thanked everyone for tuning in and announced that they have some terrific dates of wrestling, coming up. Some all-star action is on the way to Memphis, Tennessee. They made a big deal with AutoZone Park and the Memphis Redbirds, this past week. They will be giving us that date for AutoZone Park, real soon. Also, Delta Fair and Music Festival coming up, again, soon. They'll be telling us about that.
We hear from Dave Millican from Tennessee, that actually crafted almost every belt that we've seen in Memphis Wrestling, from the Southern Heavyweight Title, to the Southern Tag-Team Titles, all the way to the Mid-America belt and the Cruiser Title, as well. Growing up, Dave said he remembered when he used to make belts out of cardboard and whatever else he could get his hands on. He credited Reggie Parks, as the man that got him in the belt business. Jerry "The King" Lawler got Dave his first dose of television exposure for his work. Jerry asked him at television if he could take those tag-team belts and make them look a little better. He took them home and about a week later, brought them back to "The King" and "The Superstar", which met their approval. Dave gave us a quick tour of his collection of wrestling memorabilia, that included one of "The King's" crowns and capes, The Fabulous Ones' ring jackets, Tojo Yamamoto's wooden shoes and Kerry Von Erich's jacket from where he won the World Heavyweight Championship from Ric Flair. Dave said when he started doing this, there was no real outlet, unless you were in the wrestling business or knew someone in the wrestling business, you couldn't get a hold of these things as collectibles. Now, it's actually not that hard to do. Come see Dave at DaveMillicanbelts.com and he will tell you how to get your own real World Heavyweight Championship belt. Again, Dave invited everyone to visit him at DaveMillicanbelts.com
Classic video package, featuring "Boogie Woogie Man" Handsome Jimmy Valiant. This featured a promo with Jimmy talking about an upcoming tar and feather match with the Dirty White Boys. "Ravishing" Rick Rude was by his side during the interview. Valiant went on to make quick work out of his opponent, The Invader. The late, great Gordon Solie called the action. Next, came a promo with "Handsome" Jimmy talking about "Iron" Mike Sharpe. Valiant finished the interview by kissing Lance Russell. Another clip, featuring "Handsome" Jimmy, successfully, defeating Big Lou Winston with the sleeper hold. Referee Jerry Calhoun had to get Jimmy to wake Winston up. Jimmy woke him up, alright. Valiant sent him flying over the top-rope.
We heard from Jerry "The King" Lawler who talked about the unfortunate incident that took place between "Nature Boy" Ric Flair and Chris Jericho on Raw. He explained the reason why he didn't help Flair. Jerry said the last thing that Flair would have wanted would have to be saved. Lawler continued, "Had I helped Ric Flair, he would have been appreciative, in a way, but in a way, he would have resented it because it's almost like, "Hey, you're not man enough to fight your own fights." Jerry said we will hear from some WrestleMania participants in a couple minutes.
Jerry talked about the big show, coming up on Thursday, April 16th, at Minglewood Hall. Jerry said that following the hardcore match between "Dangerous" Doug Gilbert and Brian Christopher, Doug Gilbert decided to call "Wildfire" Tommy Rich to come back on April 16th. Lawler showed some footage of his main memory of Tommy Rich, to help explain the reason why he volunteered to be Brian Christopher's partner on April 16th. He showed video of when Tommy Rich hid under the ring and interfered in Jerry Lawler's cage match with Austin Idol, which resulted in "The King" losing his hair. During the match, Referee Jerry Calhoun took a piledriver from Idol. Paul E. Dangerly threw powder in the eyes of Lawler. Lawler piledrived Idol. Rich ran in and gave Lawler two piledrivers. Rich and Idol gave Lawler a posting, pulling his legs into the steel ring post.
Following the clip, Jerry said that posting resulted in a couple of surgeries. Jerry's always felt like there's some payback that's owed to Tommy Rich. Since "The King" hasn't seen Tommy Rich in a long, long time, he wondered what he looks like, now. Lawler did a little asking around in the WWE, last week and got some different responses. Some people said he looks great. Some people said, not so great.
Here's what JBL had to say about "Wildfire" Tommy Rich: Look, King! You know JBL always shoots straight and let me tell you this. What Ponce de León was looking for, Tommy Rich has found! That man has turned back the clock. You think Dick Clark looks the same? Tommy Rich looks better than ever. King, you're a great warrior. You're a great wrestler, but you could tie him to a tree and not beat him in a week. That man is coming for you, King! Sorry to tell you that, but that's coming from JBL.
Downtown Bruno had this to say about Tommy Rich: I tell you what, Tommy was always an excellent competitor in the ring. Always looked good. Had a good body. I mean, really great athlete. Great wrestler. Good looking guy, young guy.......uh? What's that? Oh, Tommy Rich! I thought you said Tom Prichard. Oh, Tommy Rich! Oh my god! Last time I seen him, he looked like a fat, alcoholic with no money and no teeth. Well, then again, the first time I saw him, he looked that way too. So, you know, what could I say?
Here's what Santino Marella had to say about "Wildfire": Jerry "Stupid" Lawler! You're, obviously, not too smart. Have you seen Tommy Rich, lately? He looks like he's sculpted from a marble, like a Greek god! Hahahaha! You don't have a chance, Jerry! Tommy is going to get you!
Finally, Triple H said, "King, wait til you see what Tommy Rich looks like, today." (Silently says, "Whoa!", while shaking his head)
We hear from Lawler's tag-team parner for the April 16th show at Minglewood Hall, "Grandmasta Sexay" Brian Christopher. Christopher said, "Doug Gilbert, Dangerous Doug Gilbert. So dangerous that I guess it got too extreme last time there at Minglewood Hall that you had to go out and you had to make a phone call. You had to call one of your long lost buddies and it's a real long lost buddy when you gotta call somebody like "Wildfire" Tommy Rich! I mean, you gotta dig way back in your little black book to find "Wildfire" Tommy Rich's number. Well, I tell you what, you bring him down there to Memphis. You bring yourself down there to Memphis, my backyard, my hometown, Mempho, Tennessee! It's gonna be easy for me to find a tag-team partner! I mean, it's going to be real easy. I'm just gonna have to drive down the streets of Memphis, drive right over there, around near Walnut Grove to a friend of mine called "The King"! That's right! He's gonna be my tag-team partner and we can't wait to get our hands on you, right there at Minglewood Hall! My hometown! "The King's" hometown! Mempho! Be there, Punks!"
Corey Maclin reminded everyone that, next week, there will be a one-on-one interview with Koko B. Ware on the day of his induction into the WWE Hall of Fame. Corey will be looking for you to join him.
Credit: D-Rock @ www.wrestlingnewscenter.com
