[1994-05-21-SMW-TV] Tracy Smothers, Bruiser Bedlam and Jim Cornette

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

Cornette throws out challenges to construction workers, bouncers, ditch diggers and other Manly Men who think they're bad, to try to take on Bruiser Bedlam. They get in some good lines toward Tracy Smothers and his family. Smothers runs out and goes after Cornette but Bedlam hits him with brass knucks and does a number on him. Smothers juices. Job guys try running out to save him with no luck. They are building Bedlam up for Savage.

 

Later in the show, maybe just after a break, Smothers does a good, fired up promo covered in blood and being held up.

[Kevin Ridge]

Bedlam looks completely deranged standing there. Cornette talks trash about Smothers family and gets one in the face from Tracy. Bedlam destroys him and bunch of other guys who come down to try intervene. That was quite the beating. Smothers requests a Coal Miner's Glove match with Bob Armstrong agrees to.

[Exposer]

Corny and Bedlam shit talk Tracy's family and Tracy is offended and comes out to brawl with Bedlam. Bedlam gets some brass knucks and bloodies him with them. Once order is restored Tracy cuts a good angry promo asking for a Coal Miner's Glove match with Bedlam with The Bullet agrees to. Good stuff.

[soup23]

Cornette is trying really hard to build up Bedlam, but it just is not working that great. He gets in some good lines about Smothers, Smothers got some great color and I also loved bloody, fired up babyface promos when executed well. Tracy does a great job here and really looks and act like a star for the promotion.

[El-P]

I couldn't care less about Bruiser Bedlam. Yet another gimmick match ? Yawn. Cornette's booking really begin to show his limitation in the long haul.

[Cross Face Chicken Wing]

Cool segment. But someone should've taught Bedlam to not flash his crotch while digging for the brass knux.

[PeteF3]

I rather liked this segment, and even Bedlam looked decent even in a Paul Heyman "hide the weaknesses" kind of way. Tracey Smothers' mom saw so many visitors in her double-wide trailer bedroom that she put in a revolving door. That brings Smothers out but Bedlam decks him with brass knucks and opens him up. A bloody Smothers wants a coal miner's glove match, which is appropriate for this area of the country I guess. Pinning Randy Savage and taking out the #2 babyface is probably an overreach for a guy like Bedlam, but I do like Cornette in a relatively fresh setting feuding with someone besides the Rock 'n Rolls.

[GSR]

Bob Caudle wishes that Jim Cornette could’ve been out here earlier as he thinks Tracey Smothers has Bruiser Bedlam’s number. Cornette says that the only number he’s got is 911, because he’s going to be going to the hospital. That was the easiest $5,000 the Bruiser ever won in his life and he’s the undefeated TV champion. To anybody who thinks they’re big and bad, whether they are a professional wrestler, a truck driver, a bouncer, it doesn’t make any difference Bruiser Bedlam can kick your butt and is willing to at any opportunity. ‘Bullet Bob Armstrong is so noble, he’s on a mission, he’d get in the ring and take care of Bruiser Bedlam and all of his guys, but unfortunately he can’t resign as Commissioner because so many things need to be done around here. It makes Cornette sick to his stomach to see Bob Armstrong and Tracey Smothers on this campaign. If Bob Armstrong wants to get in the ring just resign as Commissioner, that’s all he’s got to do, but now he’s got Tracey Smothers doing his fighting for him. Cornette tells Smothers that he’s a hillbilly and the Bruiser says that hillbillies like to wear white shoes and have white flags so they can run fast and give up the fight. Tracey says that ‘The Bullet’ is like a second father to him, but Cornette wonders how he knows whether he is a first father or second father? From what he understands old man Smothers spent all his time drunk around Springfield staggering from one bar to the next, while Mrs Smothers had so many visitors to her bedroom she had to put a revolving door in the front of it.

 

Tracey rushes out and clubs Bedlam and Cornette. The Bruiser pulls brass knux out of his trunks and nails Smothers which busts him open and he takes a tumble over the announcing desk. Anthony Michaels, Chris Hamrick and Brian Logan try to help but the Bruiser sees them all off while Cornette continues to attack Smothers. The attack only ends when Bobby Blaze and Bob Armstrong come out and Smothers is left bleeding and helpless on the floor amongst the busted announcer’s desk.

 

We return from a break and Tracey is being held up by Blaze and Armstrong. He tells ‘Bullet’ Bob that this guy has got to be stopped and if he’s so big and bad why did he have to hit him with brass knux to put him down? He’s still standing and will still be standing long after he’s gone. He wants a ‘coal miner’s glove match’, that’s his match and that glove will just be like brass knucks and we’ll see how Bruiser Bedlam’s blood flows. Armstrong says that he doesn’t usually condone these kind of things, but after what just happened, he’s got that ‘coal miner’s glove’ match anytime he wants it.

 

Tracey was great here and I agree with soup's comments in that this is the first time I've really felt like Smothers is the true face for the company which others have touched upon in the past. It does appear that Cornette's answer to everything is a gimmick match of some sort, and after the Dirty White Boy winning the title in a chain match and now another coal miner's glove match it's all a tad repetitive. Not to mention in this TV show they also set up a 'piledriver match' between the Rock & Rolls and Candido & Lee.