[1994-10-08-SMW-TV] The Gangstas video / Interview: Rock & Roll Express / Interview: Ole & Bryant Anderson / Interview: The Gangstas

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Kevin Ridge]

I see our segments are being combined into one post for the month of October.

 

Gangstas want to show the world where they come from. Some of the participants in the video and really playing up being on camera. Pretending to beat each other with clubs. Check out that cell phone. Gangstas drive their corvette over the grass. They show off their tag team titles. New Jack says SMW didn’t want a black man to be their tag team champion.

 

Bob Armstrong with Rock & Roll Express. So this reversed decision was then reversed again. Gangstas got themselves a big attorney to fight this decision and end up getting the tag titles awarded to them. If they were going to give the Gangstas the title they should have just kept the original finish of them cheating to win the title.

 

Bryant gets in a sentence before running laps as Ole does all the talking. They are coming to SMW for Tracey Smothers. Bryant has a special hold also for him.

 

Brief interview by New Jack before Robert Gibson shows. Several wrestlers come out to break things up. This had little intensity and the pull apart by everyone was weak. Lance Storm was probably the least convincing.

[Loss]

The Gangstas are ON LOCATION in the hood to show that the Rock & Roll Express wouldn't last five minutes in their neighborhood. New Jack shows up in his Corvette, which he drives onto the grass. The n-bomb sneaks its way on television again. He points out that they are the first black champions in SMW. I actually really liked this segment, because they look more like tough guy heroes entering enemy territory than the way they were normally portrayed. Al Sharpton called to congratulate them on the win! Great segment.

 

Bob Armstrong is with the Rock & Roll Express. Bob rockin' the ICOPRO tank top! They show a clip of the match where the Gangstas won the SMW tag titles and Mark Curtis restarted the match leading to a Rock & Rolls win. The Gangstas got attorneys on that one, and they ended up with the tag belts. I actually side with The Gangstas here. The restart was discrimination! How many white heels in this territory have won belts by cheating? Please. Now Bob Armstrong wants to do whatever he can to help the Rock & Rolls get the belts back. Yeah, no collusion there. The Rock & Rolls are willing to agree to whatever terms The Gangstas set in order for them to get a rematch. Morton is awesome here.

 

Next, Bryant Armstrong continues to get ready for his SMW debut. Ole hypes his amateur credentials.

 

Finally, The Gangstas cut a promo in front of the live crowd at a TV taping. Robert Gibson jumps them and them we have a lot of wrestlers stepping in to try to separate them.

[Exposer]

The Gangstas are in da hood! This segment is tremendously hilarious. Although, they definitely come across as heroes here. New Jack is fucking great as always. Loss has a point too. How many times has a white wrestler gotten away with cheating? Bob Armstrong is good in his promo and Ricky Morton is even better asking for a rematch for the tag belts. We get Bryant Anderson running his mouth along with Ole. That was okay. Then New Jack cuts a good promo in the studio calling out Robert Gibson. Gibson shows up and there's a big pull apart brawl to close the show. Great stuff all around.

[soup23]

Gangsters video was awesome with all the reaction shots. Morton gives an inspired program vowing revenge. The anderson's talk some more without too much to add to what they said last week. Gibson actually has a spirited pull apart with new Jack and does a great job emptying out the locker room. Good SMW episode.

[El-P]

My issue with the Gangstas video, which is fun nonetheless : it makes all black people heels. Seriously, that was bad heat at this point.

[PeteF3]

Gangstas music video interspersed with on-location promos from the NEW SMW Tag Team Champions. New Jack and Mustafa return to the 'hood to show off their newfound swag, while gloating about how things have changed--now they get to be seen AND heard. Al Sharpton personally phoned them with congratulations! Lots of shots of guys brandishing nightsticks, open containers, and a guy smoking a joint. Nice to see an almost-jovial New Jack in a new kind of setting, even if this really isn't any different from the WWF portraying all of Japan as heels, as El-P alludes to.

 

Bob Armstrong and the Rock 'n Rolls follow to explain what's up. The Gangstas enlisted a civil rights lawyer and threatened a racial discrimination suit unless the original Tennessee Valley Fair result was allowed to stand, and SMW had to either award them the tag belts or face bankruptcy. Morton goes for the, "Pointing out racism makes YOU the real racist!" card but otherwise cuts a fine promo, basically vowing to leave wrestling if they can't regain the belts. Robert Gibson stands nearby.

 

Ole and Bryant continue to talk over each other while threatening Tracy Smothers. I don't know if Bryant's heart was really in the business or if Ole eventually talked him out of it, or if he simply had no actual in-ring talent once the bell rang. But from these very short promos he certainly seems to have lots of promise. Of course this shtick isn't exactly conducive to getting a job in the Big Two or even ECW in their contemporary environments.

 

New Jack and Mustafa are out in the studio and Robert Gibson is actually getting some face time (???) as New Jack cuts a promo directed at him. Nice to see Robert acknowledged for once.

[GSR]

Bob Armstrong & Rock & Roll Express (iv) - Bob says that everyone saw on TV last week what took place at the Tennessee Valley Fair, it’s embarrassing for everyone but something unprecedented happened and the Rock & Roll Express are no longer the SMW tag team champions. Rather than explain everything, he plays the footage of the end of the match so that every can see it for themselves. After the footage has finished the Bullet says that in the past week they had to give the belts to The Gangstas. It was the Commissioner who asked him to watch the match and when he saw The Gangstas cheat he went down to ringside and told the referee what happened. The referee then restarted the match like he should, and the Rock & Roll Express ended up winning. The Gangstas got upset about things saying that they won the match first, although conveniently forgetting about their cheating in the process. They went down to Atlanta and got themselves a civil rights lawyer who had connections in New York and California and threatened Smoky Mountain Wrestling with all kinds of lawsuits unless they could prove that they weren’t discriminating against them. He’s seen the papers and we’re talking about millions of dollars. While they could go ahead and bankrupt the company they don’t want to do that, they want the Rock & Roll Express to have a shot at getting their belts back. The Gangstas are walking around all proud after having the belts handed to them, and rather than fight this he’s leaving it up to the Rock & Roll Express to do what they want to do. Although he was only doing what the Commissioner asked him, he does feel partly responsible and will do whatever he can to help them get the belts back. Morton says that they don’t blame him, they blame the Gangstas. Over their career they have been World tag team champions, US tag team champions, SMW tag team champions, Southern tag team champions, Mid-South tag team champions and every time they’ve lost the belts it was in the middle of the ring, no-one has ever just come and took the belts from them. The only way to get even with The Gangstas is to fight their way and on their terms. If they had won the titles the way The Gangstas did he wouldn’t be able to show his face around Smoky Mountain Wrestling, he’d be too embarrassed. Robert and he are going to return to the way that the Rock & Roll Express used to be, when they’d take that rule book and throw it out the window because they don’t care anymore. They got cheated out of the SMW tag team titles and before it’s over they’re going to have more than respect for the Rock & Roll Express.

 

The Gangstas video - they are giving us the privilege of letting us hang out with them for a minute, showing us how gang bangers and head splitters do it! They’re in an area of town where you’re liable to see some old women cutting her husband up for doing something wrong, where you’re liable to see a drive by as they see it every day, Ricky and Robert couldn’t last five minutes in an area like this!

 

Interesting little point is that on the TV show the interview with The Bullet and the Rock & Roll Express aired prior to The Gangstas video.

[GSR]

Ole & Bryant Anderson (iv) Bryant says that Tracey had a week to think about things and does he remember him yet as he sure remembers him. Bryant goes back to running up and down the hill and Ole says how he’s had Bryant in amateur wrestling programs since he was five years old. When he got to high school he was the high school champion, the state champion and was on the junior national team. He was 171lbs when Tracey saw him in college, now he’s 250lbs and knows, lives and breathes Anderson wrestling. Bryant says he’s coming and he’s going to do it the Anderson way, it’s not pretty but it works. He’s been working on a special hold for Tracey Smothers and when he clamps it on he’ll never be the same. Tracey Smothers should start sweating because the Anderson’s are coming to Smoky Mountain Wrestling.

 

The Gangstas (iv) New Jack says he told Robert Gibson that he’s nothing without Ricky Morton. He’s lucky they pulled him off because he was going to try and kill him! He knows that this isn’t the end of it and if he’s man enough, Robert will come back out and face the music. If he doesn’t get him tonight he’ll get him in the next few days as he’s got some surprises in store for him. Gibson runs back out and jumps at The Gangstas and the three of them start fighting again. The show goes off the air with Brian Lee, Lance Storm, Mike Moraldo, Steve Skyfire, Boo Bradley and The Infernos all trying their best to keep them apart.

 

The Gangstas interview comes off the back of a TV Battle Royale that came down to Robert Gibson and New Jack. Shitty ending (what in SMW, never?) saw the bell just start ringing as the two of them were exchanging punches. Mark Curtis tried to separate them both but just got thrown down, then Mustafa was out to help his Gangstas partner double team Robert. All the participants in the Battle Royal then came rushing back out to try and keep the three of them apart.