Thanks to Troy, Malice Lover, Victory Roll, and Emperor Norton for the comments!"Emperor Norton" (Mark T), I have had matches between the lower card guys before that have gone on a long time but thankfully, this one was a reasonable length. After a memorable Independence Day Bash, the next two episodes of USWA Championship Wrestling were very newsworthy! July 8:• After the results of the
Independence Day Bash main event, it was confirmed that “The Gamesmaster” Kevin Sullivan will make his next defense of the USWA World Heavyweight title against Mad Dog Vachon! This battle between two vile individuals will take place in the main event on August 7 at the Civic Coliseum in Knoxville! Vachon was interviewed in-studio, flanked by Doctor X. He said that if he had challenged Sullivan at the
Bash, he would have done what the Patriot couldn’t do and win the title! Lance Russell asked Vachon about his and X’s attack on Billy Black Lyons after Lyons’ match with Red Bastien on July 4. Vachon said that he and X had agreed that Lyons had been “getting soft” and had not been doing well in matches the last few months. He said that once he accepted Bastien’s handshake, that proved there was “no hope for him”! He said that he and X are going to refocus on winning championships, making money, and beating bums! He said that they are currently scouting talent around the world to see if anyone is “worthy” to join them!
• The Patriot and Tommy and Eddie Gilbert were interviewed in-studio. Eddie apologized for interfering and possibly costing the Patriot the title in Bowling Green but he said that lost his temper after Kevin Sullivan and Sir Oliver Humperdink’s constant cheating. The Patriot, wearing a bandage over one eye from Sullivan’s spike, verified that he was not mad at Gilbert and he doesn’t blame him for his action. The masked man said that he hopes that the fact that Sullivan blatantly cheated will get him another shot at the title in the future. Jerry Calhoun came into the WMC-TV Studios and apologized to the Patriot and Eddie for not catching Sullivan using the golden spike. He said that had he seen it, he would have disqualified the champion right away. He said that he is going to put in support for the Patriot to receive another World title shot soon!
• Commissioner Bob Armstrong had more title matches to announce. He said that for the third year in a row, the USWA and BTW (Big Time Wrestling) from the Michigan/Ohio region will co-promote a card! That card will take place on August 14 in “Flag City, USA”—Findlay, OH! Findlay is located about 40 miles south of Toledo, down Interstate 75, and is a regular site for BTW cards. Normally, the BTW promotes cards at Green Mill Roller Rink at Riverside Park. However, expecting a larger crowd, due to USWA having faithful fans that make long road trips to all USWA cards, this card will be held at the Hancock County Rec Center, located off of Main Street and just north of Hillshafer Drive! The commissioner announced that he and BTW Promoter Ed Farhat have signed a huge double main event. First, The Syrian madman The Sheik will defend the BTW U.S. Heavyweight title against the popular Angelo Poffo! Poffo has been trying desperately to win the title from Abdullah Farouk’s man but the Sheik has managed to retain the title. Will this be the night Poffo takes home the gold?
• The other main event will be for the USWA World Tag Team titles. The Uptown Boys will challenge for the gold, as a result of their non-title win at
Independence Day Bash! They will challenge either the current champions The Heavenly Bodies or two-time former champions Steve “Dr. Death” Williams and Terry “Bamm Bamm” Gordy, depending on the result of the next card’s main event in Lexington!
• Speaking of the World Tag Team champions, the Heavenly Bodies were in-studio, with Jim Cornette and Curtis “The Cat” Hughes. Lance Russell asked what the Bodies thought about their chances with two big challenging teams upcoming. Dr. Tom Prichard said that their plot helped the Midnight Express win the titles from Williams and Gordy and then they (the Bodies) drove the Midnights out of the USWA. So, by “process of elimination,” the Bodies will beat Gordy and Williams! Chris Candido then said that the Uptown Boys only beat them at
Independence Day Bash because Dan Severn “screwed up things.” Lance then asked Cornette if Curtis Hughes was his new bodyguard. Cornette said that Lance needs to show respect and that this is
Mr. Hughes! He said that Hughes’s toughness, strength, and meanness have impressed him and he contacted him about coming to the USWA and being his new bodyguard. He said that Severn has been losing matches and disappointing him in his performance lately, so it was time for someone new to watch his back!
• Another title match was made for one of Cornette’s men, although the opponent is not for sure at this time! “Exotic” Adrian Street will defend the USWA Southern Heavyweight title on July 24 at annual summer card at the Nashville Fairgrounds. His opponent will not be known until the card starts, as Street will defend against the winner of a
10-man Battle Royal that will start the card! Nashville fans witnessed a similar card format in August 2006, when Giant Baba won an 11-man Battle Royal and challenged then-Southern champion the then-“Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase in the main event on the same night. Cornette was back in studio with Street and Mr. Hughes later in the show. He said that this is just another of Bob Armstrong’s conspiracies to try and take titles and money away from him and his men. He said that it doesn’t matter who challenges Street because Street is the toughest wrestler in the USWA! Street added that not only is he the toughest but he’s also the prettiest! He said with his combination of looks, style, and strength, he is going to keep the Southern title for a long time and keep the Southern title belt looking good for a long time!
July 15:• Highlights of a “Press Conference” will Bill Apter from
Pro Wrestling Illustrated aired with Red Bastien and Billy Black Lyons. Apter asked Bastien what lead him to continue to offer to team up with Lyons time-after-time after their battles over the last year, including Lyons injuring Bastien. He said that he always enjoyed teaming up with Lyons and that one thing that he hasn’t done in wrestling is win the USWA World Tag Team titles with Lyons. He said that he knows that Lyons was very loyal to Doctor X but he believed that X wouldn’t always be loyal to him if things got tough. Apter reminded Lyons how he held a “Press Conference” with him in March 2016 after he lost his Double X mask to Bastien and at that time, Lyons said that he knew the true identity of Doctor X. He said that if he was going to reveal that identity now that the two were not allies. Lyons said that he’s not going to just tattle on him but rather, he wants to win X’s mask, just as Bastien won his! He said that he and X had success, winning the World Tag Team titles twice but as Bastien said, X gave up when things got tough. He said that he is excited for the reunion of the Flying Redheads. He said that he suffered some minor injuries in the attack by X and Mad Dog Vachon but the Redheads will have their reunion in a few weeks. Apter asked if using the Redheads’ name was an indication that Lyons was going to be Billy Red Lyons again and Lyons confirmed that was true! He and Bastien shook hands to end the interview. Read the full transcript of this “Press Conference” in this month’s
Pro Wrestling Illustrated on newsstands everywhere right now!
• Another interview aired, this one from Big Time Wrestling in the WXYZ-TV studios. Bob Finnegan of BTW interviewed Bobby Fulton! Fulton congratulated the Uptown Boys on their non-title win over the Heavenly Bodies and earning the title shot in Findlay. He reminded the wrestling fans of his three-match series with Tommy Rogers last summer and was hoping that he could wrestle the Uptown Boys in a tag team match this summer. In walked “Flying” Fred Curry, who has been teaming with Fulton in BTW the last few months and the team has racked up some big victories. He said that since the Uptown Boys are challenging for the titles in the main event on the Findlay card, he and Curry wondered if they could get a match on a USWA card!
• The Uptown Boys responded in the WMC-TV Studios. Marty Jannetty said that he and Rogers have watched Fulton and Curry’s matches and they both agree that they are a talented tag team. He said that he and Rogers would love to wrestle them and that the fans will be the true winners! Rogers said that he talked to Commissioner Armstrong and that this match will take place one week before the Findlay card, on August 7 at the Civic Coliseum in Knoxville!
• Speaking of that combined USWA-BTW card on August 14 in Findlay at the Hancock County Rec Center, more huge match-ups were announced for that card!
o A third championship match was announced, as Ray “The Crippler” Stevens will defend the USWA Mid-America Heavyweight title against Tommy Gilbert! Gilbert has piled up an impressive win-loss record since debuting in the ring in December. He is a tough competitor and could be the one to take Stevens’ Mid-America title!
o A fourth championship match was added to this already huge card and this will involve a third promotion! In a special attraction, the current NWA World Jr. Heavyweight champion and a former USWA Texas champion Danny Hodge will defend against one of his top challengers Jerry Brisco! These two amateur greats have had some competitive matches in Championship Wrestling from Florida but so far, Hodge has held on to the gold. While the BTW recognizes their own World Tag Team champions, as were seen on last year’s combined card in Toledo, they do recognize the NWA World Heavyweight, Jr. Heavyweight, World Women’s, and World Midget championships and often feature these champions on their cards, against regular BTW wrestlers and challengers from other promotions.
o The Patriot will be in action against the wild George “The Animal” Steele! Steele, a Detroit native, is a wild brawler, and is one of Abdullah Farouk’s charges. This will be an interesting match-up!
• The commissioner also had some big updates for the July 24 at the Nashville Fairgrounds!
o Before he challenges “The Gamesmaster” Kevin Sullivan for the World Heavyweight title, Mad Dog Vachon will battle again with two-time former World Heavyweight champion “The Boogie Woogie Man” “Handsome” Jimmy Valiant. Vachon earned this shot by pinning Valiant in a non-title match back in April in Jonesboro. He has since scored another victory over “The Boy from New York City.” Another victory could give the Algerian brawler some momentum going into his title match with Sullivan!
o “Hot Stuff” Eddie Gilbert is back in the USWA with a vengeance! He has joined the Patriot as well as his father Tommy in their mission to find out the identity of The Dark Patriot! Gilbert will get his chance when he faces the masked man one-on-one at the Fairgrounds!
o Speaking of The Patriot, he will have a big challenge ahead of him in another masked man—former Southern Heavyweight and World Tag Team champion Doctor X! The Patriot is looking to get back on track after his tough bout with the World Heavyweight champion Kevin Sullivan at
Independence Day Bash.
o Ivan Koloff and Mr. Saito remain undefeated in the USWA. They will have a good test ahead of them in Nashville when they face Brad and Brian Armstrong! The Armstrongs have built up a good win-loss record this, including challenging for the World Tag Team titles two months ago in Knoxville. Can the Georgians be the one to knock off the House of Humperdink team or will “The Russian Bear” and the Japanese Olympian continue their dominance?
o Commissioner Armstrong announced the 10 participants for the Battle Royal that will kick off this card and that will determine “Exotic” Adrian Street’s challenger for the USWA Southern Heavyweight title in the main event:
• Billy Gunn
• Colt “Boom Boom” Cabana
• Red Bastien
• “Superstar” Bill Dundee
• Hillbilly Jim
• “Classy” Freddie Blassie
• King Kong Bundy
• Mid-America Heavyweight champion Ray “The Crippler” Stevens
• Bobby Shane
• Tyler Black
It’s interesting to see that “The Mouth of The South” Jimmy Hart managed to get three of his First Family members into this match! Should one of his men win and go on to challenge Street, it would be the first ever match-up of a member of Hart’s First Family against one of Jim Cornette’s charges! Blassie is the only former Southern champion in this Battle Royal. It will be interesting to see if Mid-America champion Stevens can add a second title to his collection and to the First Family!
The USWA comes back to the Rupp Arena in Lexington on July 17! • Ivan Koloff and Mr. Saito will tangle with S.D. and S.T. Jones! The Joneses have been an impressive duo since teaming up at the start of 2017 but they will have a tough battle against these powerhouses. Which duo will prevail in Lexington?
• Doctor X will tangle with “Mr. USA” Tony Atlas! X, Mad Dog Vachon, and now Billy Red Lyons defeated Atlas, “Superstar” Bill Dundee, and Red Bastien in a six-man tag team bout last month at the Mid-South Coliseum in short fashion, as X used the ropes to score the pin on the powerful Atlas. Can Atlas avenge that loss or will the Doctor find another way to pull out a victory?
• In a “rubber match,” Colt “Boom Boom” Cabana will take on Tyler Black. The host of
The Art of Wrestling defeated Black in April in Nashville but the Iowan won the rematch the next month in Evansville. Both men are looking for a win and some momentum, especially prior to next week’s Battle Royal in Nashville for the Southern title shot. Who will win this latest chapter?
• Harley Race continues his impressive winning streak. He will face a formidable opponent in former Texas and World Tag Team champion Red Bastien! Bastien has scored a lot of upsets in singles competition over the years, most recently with wins over “Classy” Freddie Blassie. Can Bastien be the one to stop Race’s streak or will the former Southern and NWA World champ reign victorious again?
• The feud between Mad Dog Vachon and “Superstar” Bill Dundee will be reignited again! Dundee picked up a huge win over Doctor X at
Independence Day Bash and hopes to do the same against Vachon, especially before Vachon challenges for the World Heavyweight title. Can the Aussie drop the Superstar Bomb or will it be “Dog eat dog!”?
• The main event will be a huge tag team bout for the top tag team prize in the South—the USWA World Tag Team titles. The Heavenly Bodies will defend the gold against two-time former champions Steve “Dr. Death” Williams and Terry “Bamm Bamm” Gordy. Back in April in Nashville, Chris Candido, Dan Severn, and Jim Cornette got involved in Williams and Gordy’s defense against the Midnight Express, leading to the Midnights winning the belts but then losing them to the Bodies at
Derby City Stampede. This will be Williams and Gordy’s first shot at the belts since losing them. The powerful fan favorites are gunning for the gold and for revenge for having the belts taken in a controversial fashion. While Williams and Gordy have the power advantage and Williams is an adept pure wrestler, Candido and Tom Prichard are great at double teaming and have Cornette and now Mr. Hughes at ringside with them. Who will leave Lexington the champions?
All these huge bouts, plus “Classy” Freddie Blassie takes on Hillbilly Jim! Plus, the singles return of “Hot Stuff” Eddie Gilbert! As well as “Scrap Iron” Adam Pearce and the team of Jake “The Milkman” Milliman and “Sodbuster” Kenny Jay in action!