Early stuff is typical Tiger Mask, and Eddie Gilbert is agreeable. Odd seeing the young Gilbert here, as he reminds me of late 70s Ted Dibiase visually. Bizarre moment early when Tiger Mask got a leg lock and just stood there for a while. Even Gilbert was relaxed, looking back in the hold like, “are we going or what?”

Crowd is tentative at first, but they get won over, which is nice to see given that Philly would later bore ECW. Dick what’s-his-name is a great local bumpkin announcer, and Gorilla is typically middle of the road for my tastes. They blend fine together. The casual talk of the $200 masks from Mexico was gold. The running ropes portions with these two wrestlers are really great, and I definitely feel like Gilbert gave a lot to this match. Mask was so damn quick – I love it. Gilbert’s head scissors and the way he achieves a hold is nearly as impressive as Mask’s. I loved when Mask did a spin kick that didn’t fully land, Gilbert sold for a second, then got right up and stalked him with a clenched fist. There’s a lot of little things in this match I’m loving.

There are times when it feels a little empty (not quite slow, but there gaps where there seems to be miscommunication or a question as to where they are going), but it’s slight. The finish was so quick that it didn’t seem like the announcers were sure who won (Tiger Mask). Overall great stuff, and more importantly, a fun match.

Joined in progress from the Mid South Coliseum. Crowd is hot, but you can see they are way down. There are seats and sections everywhere with no people in them. Memphis was slowly dying as an arena attraction at this point.

Each man does a promo tease involving fire at the start. Well, I guess we had to have a match based around fire. It’s a prerequisite for Memphis and Jerry Lawler. I’ve never gotten the babyface throwing fire first for no reason, and I’ll state that up front.

Early story is Gilbert keeps losing the lock ups to Lawler and fears the King going to his tights to throw fire. Even when he lands a punch he runs away and almost gets counted out. Missy Hyatt is with him and she looks the best I’ve seen her in over a decade. A young Missy was like Tammy Sytch in 1996.

Gilbert gains the advantage after a while and beats down Lawler. Nothing to write home about but they both knew how to throw punches and pace everything. The big spot is Gilbert tying Lawler’s neck to the turnbuckle and punching the crap out of him. That was pretty cool. Lawler pops the strap after that and Gilbert does cartoonish bumps off the famed Lawler punches. I’m not really into that style of bumping, especially in a more serious match like this, but it was decently effective.

Here’s where they lose me. Lawler gives Gilbert the piledriver because it’s no DQ. That should be a KO. But them Gilbert moves out of the way of the fist drop from the second rope. He’s fine. No ill effects. Meanwhile Lawler stays down like he’s dead from the fist drop miss. WTF? I know they were stalling for the fire spot, but get it together quicker guys. Even worse was the fact Gilbert wanted one of Missy’s shoes, but some guy stopped that from happening, and that took over a minute of standing around. Flash paper and a lighter should take about 10 seconds. What’s the hold up?

Lawler throws the fire, and at least that looks decent, and wins by count out when Gilbert and Hyatt leave after he’s burned. What a babyface. What a finish. What-EVER! 2 ½ and 5/10.

Match Discussion Here

Lightfoot does a Native American gimmick, for those wondering. Not sure who is playing Mr. Wrestling here. I’m getting a little sick of Street on this set, but in a six man he’ll play his role more usefully – I hope. Eddie Gilbert versus the Poffos rules in theory. We shall see.

Savage is all over the place on the outside apron, as you’d expect. Supposedly Tommy Gilbert is playing Mr. Wrestling, and the knowledgeable Lance Russell tells me this. Lightfoot does a great headscissors on Mr. Wrestling. Savage does his hat and chain bit, steal from the same guy in the front row again. Street is stalling on Savage again. The heels grab Savage and Street pounces, so Savage is gonna sell the body of this. All three heels cleverly get in on the beatings, while the other babyfaces run in to try and even the odds. It gets more interesting when Gilbert is in. Savage’s selling and playing for sympathy is great stuff. I get bored a bit with what the heels do from time to time, but it’s all by the books logical wrestling. The work mostly centers on Savages leg, and his near tags are real fun.

Lightfoot gets the hot tag and clears the ring. Eddie Gilbert yells at the fans for cheering. That gets a good reaction. We’re all equal again. Great moment where Gilbert suckers Lightfoot in and Mr. Wrestling takes out the knee. A second heel heat segment commences on Lightfoot.

You know, Tommy Gilbert was a pretty decent worker. Nothing to flashy, and he knew his psychology. Hot Stuff Gilbert was a great cocky heel. He draws the crowd in for some Lightfoot hope spots.

Sweet ending where the Gilberts stuff pile drive Lanny Poffo, but Savage comes off the top and KOs Mr. Wrestling for the pin while Eddie Gilbert tries to pin Poffo. Solid 15 minute match, though I got bored at times. 2 ¾ and 6/10.

Match Discussion Here

Garvin is the National Heavyweight champion and your babyface here. Jimmy Hart leads Hot Stuff Eddie Gilbert into this one. Studio match with Solie and Russell on the commentary.

The early lock ups and exchanges have a real legit feel to it that is missing in a lot of these Memphis matches. Maybe legit isn’t the word, but it’s more of a sport-like feel then the Memphis brawl I’ve become bored with. Eddie fakes a knee injury to get the advantage, but it’s not a cartoonish fake, so I dig this match early.

The pin falls in this match have been pretty realistic. Garvin always kicks out at one very solidly, and Gilbert kicks out at two with purpose. Lots of roll ups in this one. Gilbert has Garvin tied up in the ropes and he goes ape shit on him. The match picks up, then cools off. Gilbert has a real feel for pacing a match. Crap, a minute later Garvin gets a single crab submission and Hart’s heels (Hickerson) hit the ring. Another good one ruined, just like the last match. 3 and 6/10.

Mantell takes advantage of a Gilbert miss, and Gilbert bounces around hard for the guy. Great stiff action. Hart interferes and Eddie Gilbert gets the pin with his feet on the ropes. Controversy reigns supreme. Paul Morton restarts the match. Dutch rolls a distraught Gilbert up for the quick 1-2-3 win.
He retains his International title. Gilbert DDTs him and beats him with his own belt. Had I seen the first five minutes this might have gotten even more love. 3 ¼ and 6.5/10.

Match Discussion Here

It’s Memphis and Falls Count Anywhere, so you know it starts with a brawl. Rich and Gilbert, as talented as they are, aren’t as fluid as the original Fabs. Gilbert comes off better then Rich though, as Rich never seemed to work on cardio, body, or be a natural athlete.

Rich/Gilbert makes the PYT look silly for a few minutes before Gilbert gets caught being other anxious and they work him over. Similar to their last match, but they brawl outside from time to time. In fact, the Falls Count Everywhere stip is almost irrelevant until after the heat and hot tag by the faces. Then it gets good.

They brawl out to the tunnel. Rich and Austin end up on a stage and Gilbert/Ware in the crowd. Great brawling and they knew how to play to the crowd here. Rich/Austin win the brawl but lose the match. The feud continues. I was bored or disinterested in much of this before that brawl, but part of that could be Lance Russell not announcing. Also, I don’t have much emotional connection to these two babyfaces, so that plays into my ranking. 2 ½ and 5/10.

Match Discussion Here

Gilbert and Rich are the (ill suited) new Fabulous Ones. Fab originator Jackie Fargo did an interview from his living room couch (no joke) explaining that Stan Lane and Steve Keirn wanted to go all over the place and not stay in Memphis, so he stripped them of the Fabs monitor. In their place he’s found two new young men to wear the top hats and kiss the girls at ringside. Enter Tommy “Wildfire” Rich and Eddie “Hot Stuff” Gilbert. Not my idea of perfect for the gimmick, but they are good workers.
Tonight’s test is the PYT of Norvell Austin and Koko Ware. Ware was last seen in an awesome team with Bobby Eaton, but now he’s got one of the original Midnights at his side in Austin. This one is straight from a spot show on what looks like two hand held cameras.

Rich and then Gilbert dominate the heels early with lock ups and hard punches/shoves exchanged. It’s built slowly so you can feel everything simmer until Gilbert gets into a punch ware with one of the heels (Austin I believe). Austin/Ware complain about the punches after having gotten the better of them early, which is always funny.

Lots of Fargo strutting as the babyfaces outsmart the heels early on. Acceptable stalling from the heels after every crowd pleasing moment. Arguments that end in hugs get them some heat.

Rich goes over the top rope off a missed punch and gets beaten down right in front of the candy guy. Bummer. The heels switch on and off on him, cheating a good bit, while the fans get whipped into a frenzy. Good heat for the match and really simple stuff to the ten minute mark. Nothing blow away in the simple department, but simple-good.

Hope spots and grounding Rich for the next few minutes until Gilbert gets the tag. He goes wild for a moment but gets outnumbered. Rich gets in and gets an awkwardly long and goofy looking pin for the victory. Okay match that didn’t have anything that wrong with it, but never really captured me. Went to the heat in unspectacular fashion and was to short for the opening it gave, but maybe I’m being too picky. 2 ¾ and 6/10.

Match Discussion Here

This is an AWA Southern Tag Tile return match from a handheld camera at a spot show in Jonesbouro, Arkansas. Gilbert and Morton are your babyface challengers. No disqualification and two out of three falls wins it.

The quality of this match footage isn’t pristine. It’s grainy and far away at times, but you get the basic flow of the match even when you can’t tell what pairings are in the ring. All four men are good enough workers that it doesn’t really match. They slow build the first five minutes excellently, relying more on charisma, facials, and subtle moves then any high spots. Everything is worked around trading arm wringers. Stan Lane starts off the cheating with a hair pull to get Morton down, but gets it back. Finally Gilbert has enough and runs in to violently pull Lane off by his hair, but while the ref is distracted Koko comes in to do the same. Great stuff.

Koko shows off some speed and a great vertical with his drop kick, but is smart enough to get heat from the crowd rather than jump to another move or two. He shows off a second rope missile drop kick soon after. A good slow pace as the men stare at each other, regardless of pairing, after everything. And Morton gets him back by ground him.

Supposedly Lane and Koko have a chain, but it’s not visible on this shot yet. It’s teased early though, so you know they’ll get back to it. Koko misses and kicks his own partner to big crowd reaction, and then the ref checks for the chain at the fans insistence. Awesomely built first ten minutes, as the announcer (who I can barely hear) reminds us the chain is totally legal.

The jig is up! Koko punches and chokes Gilbert with the chain. They ground it down and make the crowd get into it more using the headlock to get the fans going. Gilbert out of nowhere releases off the ropes and slides into a pin for the first fall. The slide move was a Gilbert special of the day that would never work today, or at least would be modified by the Hardy Boyz.

Stan Lane in for the first few minutes of the second fall. Lots of headlocks and then Koko gets in there. These people really give Koko the bad mouth. I’m guessing in the Memphis territory in the early eighties it was a lot of racial stuff. Either the listing is wrong or Koko was once called Sweet Brown Sugar. I’ll guess they are one in the same. He’s using the chain again, but the ref keeps checking for it. A great distraction move by Lane sets up a huge punch with the chain. Every time Gilbert runs in the ref stops him (no idea why) allowing the heels to get busy with some cheating. Koko sends Morton over the top rope twice to huge heat. Great big bumps from Morton! Classic Morton selling. Koko and Lane in complete control working over Morton.

Ricky Morton hulks up for the big comeback. They give you the roller coaster as he gains then loses the advantage. Gilbert in off a hot tag and he’s brought down by outside interference. 1-2-3 Lane/Koko win the second fall after Lane kicks Gilbert right after the hot tag. Great ideas here.

Third fall the faces take over with punches. Lots of great selling by Koko bouncing between the two. Gilbert gets in and Koko gets beat to the outside again. Stan Lane gets in and gains the advantage with a low blow. Koko sends Gilbert over the top rope. He uses the chain again. Over the tope rope again. Not a move is wasted without a rule break. Glorious!

Stan Lane rolls up one of the faces for the pin (something happened, but it’s unclear), and the heels win. Jimmy Hart is in for a beatdown. Tojo is in too. Big heat. Very Midnight Express type stuff here. Afterwards they do mic work to set up a return match. Also, Randy Hales interviews Gilbert/Morton. Very good realistic Southern style interview.

I’m a little let down by the finish, though it was probably an issue with production. A very well wrestled match with good to great heat. A hidden gem. 3 ½ and 7/10.

Match Discussion Here

This is fascinating for a few reasons. First off, the Tupelo Concession Stand Brawl is something of legend. It was ECW before there was an ECW. Hardcore before the name was given and the marketing of it began. Next, Onita is a future death match champ and this was his first well known brawl. Maybe just as interesting, you’ve got Ricky Morton who would go on to fame as a member of the Rock N Roll Express teaming with Eddie Gilbert. Gilbert would go on to be a very solid heel worker and manager, and a fertile wrestling mind, before his death in 1995.

Gilbert gets a hot tag was we start in the middle of this match and he looks nothing like he would just a few years later. This looks like we’ll be judging it mostly on the brawl itself for the edit. Fuchi pins Gilbert when Tojo screws with Gilbert. Morton grabs the Singapore cane and kills the heels with it. Fun fact: Paul Heyman had guys selling the cane 10x more then they sold it in this match. Sandman would hit a guy and he’d go down. Here it’s a minor annoyance.

They brawl to the concession stand outside the ring. They go into the concessions. Some men bleed. Some men are covered with mustard. Lots of stiff shots. I’m reminded a lot of my teenage love of classic ECW in the 90s. Not much else to say about the action.

Some will argue this was the genesis of hardcore, or part of their childhood, or “done right”. I can only speak for myself in saying this is good hardcore that doesn’t really register much with me because I don’t know or care about whatever feud is going on here. It’s an isolated clip of an excellent post-match brawl to me. I see a ton of non-selling. I will say it’s awesome hardcore and Tojo almost fighting some woman is great for any time, but this is not my cup of tea any longer. 2 ¼ and 4/10.

Match Discussion Here