[1990-07-28-USWA-Memphis TV] Jerry Lawler & Bill Dundee vs Eddie Gilbert & Dirty White Boy / Jerry Lawler, Bill Dundee, Tessa, Eddie Gilbert & Dirty White Boy

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

Highlights of what looks to be a GREAT match. I love them going crazy with the baseball bats right away, and Dundee's top rope kneedrop is terrific and the finish is outstanding. Awesome heat. Probably would have been on my top 100 in full, maybe even near the top. The post-match continues the excitement, with handcuffs, baseball bats and back and forth brawling repeatedly finding their way into this. Jeff Jarrett finally runs off the heels. There's no way this isn't one of the best matches of the year.

 

Back in the studio, Dundee sends in a taped promo from Texas hyping the next match. But this time, have a Texas Tornado Bunkhouse Match. I want complete matches, damnit! Tom Burton won't just be handcuffed, he'll be shackled. Then, he'll have Tessa handcuffed to his left hand and Dirty White Girl handcuffed to his right hand. No problem with this feud continuing whatsoever, but the repetition in the booking, and how they keep baiting and switching with Dirty White Girl getting any comeuppance from Tessa, would already be old if the performances weren't so good.

 

Gilbert and Dirty White Boy keep teasing coming out during Lawler's promo, but Lawler has two baseball bats in his hand and is holding them at bay. Photographer Sam Lowe gets bullied by Gilbert in what I take as a copy of the Randy Savage/Jimmy Suzuki angle. We'll see him again later. Gilbert throws coffee on him and sends him on his way, because he took a picture of the heels in a compromised position. DWB shows off a picture of his woman.

 

Four great workers and great talkers -- this feud has it all.

[PeteF3]

This is easily, even in clip form, the Memphis MOTY, and could easily be a low-level MOTYC or better in full. Crazy start with baseball bats going everywhere, and an incredibly tense finish that gets over the babyfaces as decisive winners, keeps the heels looking strong, and doesn't make you feel ripped off about the stips. The post-match brawl actually has its own control segments and transitions and all of that, as Tessa is again prevented from stripping the DWG but this time the babyfaces counter what looks like another long beatdown when they regain the baseball bats. Poor Tom Burton eats a baseball bat from Anthony after having been repeatedly piledriven and having fire thrown at him. The heels get the numbers advantage again until Jeff Jarrett makes the save.

 

Now this week it's another Texas Death Match, but this one with tornado/bunkhouse rules. Tom Burton will be shackled to a ringpost with both valets handcuffed to each hand, presumably as some sort of make-good for all the abuse he's had to suffer as the DWB designated whipping boy. Lawler talks about all this and the heels consider coming out again, but are wary of another surprise Dundee appearance and leave Lawler be.

 

The heels are still paranoid about Dundee lurking about and Burton actually checks to see if he's hiding in Dave Brown's coat. Gilbert accuses a photographer who sullied the good looks of Eddie Gilbert by making him share film stock with Jerry Lawler, so Anthony throws coffee at him and Gilbert takes his camera. Gilbert says he's been asked why he gave up a six-figure salary with Turner to return to Memphis: he wants Jerry Lawler to pass the torch to him the way Jackie Fargo passed the torch to the King.

 

Another great, long Memphis segment that's barely digestible. However, at some point the Kimberly/Tessa thing needs to come to a conclusion. The T&A part of this angle is far less compelling than everything else. It seems they're more or less promising that the DWG's getting nekkid this week much like Sting promised a legitimate conclusion at the Bash, so hopefully that's the case.

[soup23]

Yeah the clips from the match looked really good.

 

I wanted to mention in last weeks segment comments but DWB has really grown just in the few weeks we have seen him.

 

I really like this whole angle with everyone involved and the baseball bats as the ultimate weapon.

[shoe]

I'm loving this program. I'm even thinking this is better than the Snowman stuff.

[Kevin Ridge]

Dundee and Lawler bring their bats and win the first fall easily. Good start. Big flying knee by Dundee. Burton is wearing some tape on his face from the fireball. Gilbert choking Lawler with a power cord. Gilbert wins second fall with a fist drop. Lawler goes to take down the strap but he’s already taken down both. Doesn’t stop him from getting fired up. Dundee and Anthony both down. First man to his feet wins. Lawler grabs the ropes preventing Anthony from getting up while Dundee gets to his feet. Too bad we didn’t get full match as looked fantastic from what is shown. Tessa takes a while to strip DWG. Heels make a comeback and stop things.

 

Dundee talks about another rematch. Looks like the girls will be handcuffed to Tom Burton. Also, all four men will be in the ring. Lawler details it more for us.

 

Gilbert and the Dirty White Boys are hanging behind the curtain. They are not buying Dundee being in Texas.

 

Lawler leaves to allow interview for Gilbert and company. Gilbert takes offense to a ringside photographer who was taking pictures of Lawler. The photog gets some coffee in the face courtesy of Tony Anthony. Gilbert wants Lawler to pass the torch to him like Fargo did to Lawler. Tony Anthony has a picture of his woman in bra and panties to show off.

[garretta]

They definitely need to quit teasing a stripping if they're nor going to follow through with it. They can also stop with the "winner's girl gets a chance to beat up the loser's girl" routine. It's always Tessa getting slapped around and her clothes ripped off, so what's the point? Maybe if they stopped teasing Kim getting stripped, it would be a big deal if and when it happened.

 

The match was good from what I saw. We saw enough to appreciate the general chaos of the situation, and that's all they really wanted. I don't quite see how some people are getting a Match of the Year candidate out of what little we saw, though. That doesn't mean it's impossible; I'm just saying that it's tough to tell.

 

Eddie finds another non-worker victim, this time one of the photographers. That's why he was one of the most hated heels in Memphis; he could beat the hell out of anyone at any time, whether they were part of the action or just on the periphery of it. I liked Anthony's line: "How does he like his coffee?"

 

Tessa's improving slightly on the mic, but she has to be getting sick of constantly playing the victim. Lawler and Dundee should be sick of it too, but they're more used to it than Tessa is.

 

I loved Burton's reluctance to be handcuffed to the girls. Believe me, Tom, I know where you're coming from. Anthony's suggestion that he headbutt Tessa was definitely not needed.

 

Let's hope we break the pattern of the last few weeks with this upcoming match one way or the other before this feud turns from superb to monotonous.

[drew wardlaw]

Wow what a scene. Some of the bat shots look really brutal actually. Really frustrating to only have a clip here, but it's still great and it gets the job done.

[GSR]

Highlights from the Texas Death tag match at Mid-South Coliseum and from the clips it looks like it was an excellent match. Lawler is concealing two baseball bats under his robe and as soon as they get in the ring he throws one to Dundee and they attack Gilbert and the Dirty White Boys. ‘The King’ whips Tony Anthony into the ropes and as he’s rebounding off them back towards him, swings the bat straight into his mid-section. He then drives the bat down into him to get the first fall in under 30 seconds. Great DDT/bombs away knee drop to the head combination from Lawler and ‘The Superstar’. Piledriver on the Dirty White Boy, but Eddie Gilbert is in there to break up the pin. Gilbert chokes ‘The King’ with a cable from ringside and that gives the heels their first advantage in the match. Fist drop off the top by ‘Hot Stuff’ on Lawler for another fall. The two of them are both busted open and ‘The King’ jumps to try and tag in Dundee but is caught in mid-air by Gilbert and driven back. An awesome moment when ‘Hot Stuff’ is unloading on Lawler and ‘The King’ goes to pull down the strap but then realises it’s already down, and just fires back on him anyway! Tag to Dundee who goes wild on his opponents and all four of them are in the ring. ‘The Superstar’ gets a pin on Anthony, but Gilbert immediately nails him with a piledriver. Neither man is able to beat the ten count, and Jerry Calhoun announces that there has to be a winner, so first man to his feet wins. Both are still down on the canvas and their respective corners are cheering them and encouraging them to get to their feet. When the Dirty White Boy grabs the ropes to help him up, Lawler starts shaking them, and the distraction is enough to allow Dundee to get to his feet and his team be declared the winner. Really liked this finish especially when Lawler started shaking the ropes.

 

Jerry Calhoun uncuffs Tessa and she’s off on her way round to the Dirty White Girl to try and get some pay back. They uncuff her from the turnbuckles, ‘The Superstar’, shoves her into the ring and they re-cuff her to the top rope. Tessa briefly pulls her dress down to expose the White Girl’s bra, before Tony Anthony grabs her to stop her from stripping his wife anymore. Lawler and Dundee are down at this point and Gilbert uncuffs Kim and drags Tessa over to handcuff her to the tope rope. Dundee does his best to try and prevent it, but to no avail. Tom Burton has been freed from his handcuffs at this point so it’s three on two to the heels, with the Dirty White Girl doing a very poor job of trying to rip off Tessa’s blouse. Anthony grabs the baseball bats from ringside and goes to clobber Lawler but he moves and hits Burton instead. The action continues and the White Boys somehow get hold of the bats (the camera was focused on Tessa and the White Girl) and beat on Lawler and Dundee until a suited Jeff Jarrett runs in to make the save.

 

Back in the studio and Lawler is out and on his way to the announcing desk carrying two baseball bats with him. He says that there is a big return match this week and wishes that Bill Dundee and Tessa were here with him to talk about it, however they’re in Dallas again, but have sent in a video.

 

Taped Bill Dundee and Tessa promo. ‘The Superstar’ isn’t going to deny that Tony Anthony, Eddie Gilbert and the Dirty White Girl are tough, because they are, and it took them about half an hour to beat them up last time they were in the ring with them. Every time they were whipping them though Tom Burton would be in there to help them out. This week he’s not going to be an issue, as he’ll be shackled to the turnbuckles by his feet, and then Tessa is going to be handcuffed to his one arm, and the Dirty White Girl to the other. He won’t be going anywhere! It’s a Texas Death match bunkhouse rules, and that means all four of them will be in the ring at the same time. One of them is not going to answer the bell, and when that happens Tessa is finally going to get her hands on the Dirty White Girl. Tessa says that Tom Burton has always been the factor that has prevented her from doing what she wants to the Dirty White Girl. This week when Bill Dundee and Jerry Lawler beat the Dirty White Boys (sic), she’s going to rip every stitch of clothing off her like should’ve happened a long time ago, and there is nothing Tom Burton can do about it.

 

Back to the studio and Jerry Lawler again goes over the stipulations for Monday night, and as he is explaining them the backstage curtains open and a hesitant Eddie Gilbert and the Dirty White Boys watch on. Lawler invites them out, but Gilbert tells him that they know Bill Dundee is probably back there somewhere and they aren’t falling for that again. He finishes off running down the rules for the Texas Death bunkhouse match (that all four men will be in the ring, that it can’t be stopped for blood or broken bones and the only way it can be stopped is when someone can’t answer the bell) and promises everyone that when Eddie Gilbert or Tony Anthony can’t answer the bell, everyone will get to see what type of woman the Dirty White Girl really is.

 

Lawler heads to the back (stopping to have his photo taken by Sam Lowe as he leaves) and Gilbert and the Dirty White Boys tentatively make their way over to Dave Brown, finally convinced that Bill Dundee isn’t there and that ‘The King’ isn’t going to attack them with those bats. Gilbert checks that Dundee isn’t stood behind the announcer’s desk (because he’s small!) and then calls over cameraman Sam Lowe. He says that he sees him every week at the matches taking pictures and noticed that he was just taking some of Jerry Lawler. Gilbert threatens him and tells him that he doesn’t want his face, Tony Anthony’s, Tom Burton’s or the Dirty White Girl’s on the same roll of film as Jerry Lawler’s. To prevent it from happening he then steals Lowe’s camera, and when he tries to get it back Anthony throws coffee in his face and shoves him down. Gilbert says that it’s time to get back to business and he gave up a six figure salary to return to the USWA. The reason he is back is so that Jerry Lawler can pass the torch to himself, just like Jackie Fargo did to him. He wishes Fargo was here today, first so that he can punch him in the mouth, and second so that he can tell Jerry Lawler that it is ‘Hot Stuff’ Eddie Gilbert’s day! He starts to go over the stipulations for the match on Monday, but Tom Burton is a bit concerned about having to be handcuffed to these two girls who don’t like each other. Tony Anthony tells him not to worry, pulls out a scantily clad photo of the Dirty White Girl and tells him ‘look who he’s going to be handcuffed too, and if the blonde bimbo gets in the way, give her a head butt!’ He holds the photo up to the camera and tells everyone to take a look at what a real woman looks like (the Dirty White Girl is in her underwear here, although) and jokes how horrifying it would be to see Tessa in something like this! He and Eddie Gilbert are going to get mean and nasty on Monday. They’re going to bust Jerry Lawler and Bill Dundee’s skulls whether they like it or not and are walking out the winners!

[dawho5]

It's really something when you get counter promos to Lawler's that are just as good. When he's not asked to carry the whole thing himself it gets that much better.

[Willninho]

Gilbert and the DWB’s peeking their heads out the curtain and the cuts to them just looking around scared were amazing and made me laugh out loud multiple times.