Thanks to Troy, Neilybob, and Victory Roll for the comments!October 22, 2018
Card #561: Community Center in Cookeville, TN 1) Bill and Randy Mulkey made their USWA debut but had a rough welcome, as they lost to “Dastardly” Danny Doring and The Amish RoadKill in the opener. The Cookeville fans gave the Mulkeys a nice USWA welcome, as many of them have seen the brothers compete on
Georgia Championship Wrestling on WTBS from Atlanta. Bill put up a fight against Doring and RoadKill but wasn’t able to tag to his brother. “The Angry Amish Warrior” hit a diving clothesline off the middle part of the top rope and made a cover but Bill kicked out. Doring tagged back in and hit the Danaconda to score the pin in eight minutes. ¼*
2) Doctor X was victorious over Nacho Barrera in four minutes. The masked man largely dominated the Mexican grappler and made him tap out to the figure-four leglock. X hopes to get back in title contention now that he’s cleared from his concussion and having sent the Armstrongs out of the USWA. DUD
3) The Fantastics avenged their first loss by scoring a strong win over Ivan Koloff and Mr. Saito. Tommy Rogers and Bobby Fulton came out strong against the House of Humperdink team wanting to avenge their loss to them two weeks ago in Evansville when they were ambushed before the bout by the Tolos Brothers. They trapped the Japanese Olympian in the ring for several minutes. Fulton busted Saito open with a big right hand and then caught him in a small package for a near fall. A few minutes later, the Fantastics executed a combination press slam and splash, with Rogers tossing Fulton on top of Saito. Fulton made a cover but Saito kicked out. Koloff tagged back and regained control for his team for a few minutes. Saito was the legal man again but was surprised by a series of dropkicks from Rogers. Rogers knocked him down and went for a cover but Sir Oliver Humperdink distracted Tom Branch. Koloff tagged in again and took over on Rogers, getting him up in an over-the-shoulder backbreaker. Rogers fought hard for the ropes while up in the air and finally grabbed the top rope. He pulled the rope, sending him and Koloff crashing to the floor. Rogers took less impact from the fall and tossed “The Russian Bear” back into the ring. He tagged Fulton and the duo hit the Uptown Flip that Rogers used to use with Marty Jannetty when they were the Uptown Boys. Fulton made a cover and scored the pin on the former World Heavyweight champion after 20 minutes of action, while Rogers stopped an intervening Saito with a dropkick. The Cookeville fans erupted for the Fantastics’ big win over the next challengers for the World Tag Team titles! ***
4) Mad Dog Vachon picked up an impressive win over Chris Tolos in five minutes. While Tolos was irate over losing the World Tag Team titles last week in Knoxville with his brother John, perhaps his anger distracted him, as the Algerian brawler dominated much of the action in this one. Vachon hit the piledriver early but decided to dish out more punishment. He hit the Mad Dog Pounce and then followed with a second piledriver to pick up the pinfall. DUD
5) “Wildfire” Tommy Rich gained a measure of revenge with a submission win over Baron Von Raschke. The action was back and forth in this bout. Rich picked up some near falls in the middle of the match after a vertical suplex and later after a big right uppercut. Rich went up to the top rope and came off with a double sledge. Von Raschke sidestepped the move and caught Rich in the claw! Rich was in trouble, as he dropped to the mat but he managed to get to the ropes before “The Clawmaster” could secure the victory. von Raschke stayed in control, hitting an atomic drop for a two-count. The German grappler sent “Wildfire” into the corner but Rich caught him with a boot to the face when Von Raschke charged in at him. Rich regained control and caught Von Raschke in the sleeper a few moments later. Von Raschke fought hard for the ropes but Rich kept him in the center of the ring. Von Raschke dropped to the mat, Sam Platania checked his arm, and it dropped three times, so Platania called for the bell and awarded the bout to Rich after 12 minutes! Rich is now 13-0 overall in singles competition! ***¾
6) The new World Tag Team champions Ray “The Crippler” Stevens and Greg “The Hammer” Valentine gained a measure of revenge for suffering their first loss two weeks ago at the Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Coliseum by scoring a win over Eddie and Tommy Gilbert in a non-title bout after 22 minutes. The Gilberts double teamed “The Crippler” for the first few minutes of the bout, hitting a double clothesline for a near fall. Tommy hit the running knee lift and made another pin attempt but Stevens kicked out again. Stevens took over in a brawl outside the ring and then executed the piledriver back inside but only scored a two-count. “The Hammer” tagged in for the first time and the champs double teamed Tommy for several minutes until he made the hot tag to Eddie. The younger Gilbert hit his own piledriver on Valentine for a near fall and then followed up with the Hot Shot. He covered Valentine but Valentine was able to get his foot on the bottom rope for a break. The champions regained the control a few minutes later after Eddie missed an elbow drop on Valentine. They tagged in and out on “Hot Stuff,” cutting the ring in half on him. Eddie started to regain control and sent Stevens into the ropes. He set up for a dropkick but Valentine held on to his own partner from the apron so that Eddie crashed hard into the mat, hitting the back of his head. Stevens immediately went up top and came off with the Bombs Away. He covered Eddie and scored the pinfall, while “The Hammer” kept Tommy from saving his son. Jimmy Hart was definitely pleased with the new champions’ win over their rivals! ****¼
7) “Exotic” Adrian Street kept up his winning ways in his feud with “Superstar” Bill Dundee. The British glam rocker attacked the Aussie “Superstar” at the bell and was aggressive, trying for an early submission but Dundee quickly made the ropes. Street went for the crucifix a few minutes into the bout but Dundee kicked out. The “Exotic One” attempted another submission with the London Bridge leglock but again Dundee got to the ropes. Street whipped Dundee into the turnbuckle and charged in but the Aussie leapt straight up and caught Street with a hooking sunset flip to score a two-count. Dundee took control for several minutes but couldn’t keep the two-time former Southern champ down for the count. Street regained control and came off the top with a sledge right to the “Superstar’s” head, busting him open. Street caught Dundee in the crucifix again but Dundee kicked out. Street scored another near fall after a neckbreaker and then went for a third crucifix. Tommy Marlin went down to count and while it appeared that Dundee might have kicked out, Marlin counted the three, called for the bell, and awarded the bout to “Exotic” Adrian after 14 minutes. Dundee and the Cookeville fans were furious but Street and Jim Cornette were ecstatic! (Mr. Hughes might have been happy too but it’s hard to tell!) ***¼
8) John Tolos scored an impressive singles win over two-time former World champion The Patriot, albeit via controversial means. The masked American was hoping to avenge the Toloses attacking “Classy” Freddie Blassie during their World Heavyweight championship bout back in August in Tupelo. He was aggressive at the start of the bout and hit the Patriot Missile about five minutes into the match. Tolos was able to roll out of the ring before the Patriot could make a pin attempt. Tolos rallied back and used the corkscrew for nearly a minute. He immediately blasted the former World champ with a thumb to the throat and went for a quick pin attempt but the Patriot powered out. With big “USA” chants, the Patriot battled back and had Tolos in trouble. Chris Tolos made his way to ringside. The Patriot hit a standing dropkick and knocked down John. With Sam Platania checking on John, he did not see Chris get up on the ring apron and knee the Patriot in the back. The Patriot was hurting but was irate and reached through the ropes to try to get at Chris. John recovered and nailed the Patriot from behind. He hit a body slam on the masked American, then came off the ropes with the flying knee drop to score the pinfall after 12 minutes. The Toloses were berated with boos as they returned to the locker room! ***½
9) “The Fabulous” Jackie Fargo won his first USWA title match, defeating Mid-America Heavyweight champion Luke Harper…but did not take home the gold, as the win was via a countout. At the start of the bout, it looked as if the champion would make a quick defense of the title, as he dominated Fargo. Harper hit the big boot three separate times but Fargo kicked out. The action went outside the ring and Harper grabbed the Mid-America championship belt from the commentators’ table. He attempted to smash Fargo with it but Fargo sidestepped the attack and hit a drop toehold, sending Harper face-first into his own belt. Tom Branch did not disqualify Fargo, since Harper had attempted to use the belt first and the move was seen as momentum of Fargo’s counter. Fargo took the bout back to the ring but Harper tried to avoid him by leaving the ring shortly thereafter. Fargo smashed Harper’s head into the ring post. Harper was dazed and stumbled around. Fargo body slammed the big man on the floor. He noticed that Platania’s count was up to eight and rolled back into the ring. Harper was still down on the floor when Platania hit 10, so Platania awarded the bout but not the Mid-America belt to Fargo after 12 minutes. While Fargo was certainly disappointed in not winning the title, he was happy to have gotten a victory on the champ and the Cookeville fans showed their support! ***
10) The main event was a Triangle Match for the USWA Southern Heavyweight championship. Current and three-time champion “American Dragon” Bryan Danielson put the title on the line against former champion Mr. Hughes, as well as “The Monday Night Messiah” Tyler Black. Danielson had defended against both of his challengers in the last few months and in all cases (two shots for Black and one for Hughes), the challengers won via disqualification due to outside interference from Colt Cabana or the Uptown Boys. However, in all three cases, there had been outside interference first on the other end, from Black’s bodyguard Mid-America champ Luke Harper or from Hughes’s employer Jim Cornette. Because of those situations, Commissioner Teddy Long had ordered that no one would be allowed at ringside during the duration of this match.
Because of the coin flip prior to the match, the two challengers started off against each other. Black quickly gained the advantage and just as quickly tagged in Danielson. Danielson wasted no time going after his rival. He tried for the guillotine choke but Hughes blocked him. The champion transitioned into the LeBell Lock in the center of the ring. The bodyguard was trapped and tapped out to the hold just two minutes into the bout, eliminating him from the match!
Black seemed surprised by the quick elimination and entered the ring. The action was fast-paced, as Danielson quickly executed a German suplex for a near fall. Danielson went up top and went for a missile dropkick but “The Monday Night Messiah” dodged the attack and Danielson crashed hard. As the champ got back to his feet and Black blasted him with an enzuigiri. Black made a cover but the champ kicked out. Black missed a knee drop and Danielson went up top again, this time nailing the missile dropkick. Danielson kipped up to his feet and covered Black but only got a two. Black tried to avoid Danielson by rolling out of the ring for a breather but Danielson blasted him with a suicide dive. He tossed Black back in the ring and locked in the guillotine choke. Black managed to get a foot on the ropes. “Dragon” released the choke but as Black got back to his feet, Danielson took him down to the mat with an armbar, then locked on the LeBell Lock. Black fought hard for the ropes but couldn’t get there, so he tapped out after six minutes into the total bout! Danielson retained the Southern title against both of his foes in a fair fight with no interference! The Cookeville fans gave Danielson a big ovation as
“Flight of The Valkyries” played! **