No, critics, you are quite right... Mr. Severn isn't exactly flashy or wordsy. One thing he IS, however, is dangerous. This match was an excellent match, with Mr. Severn dominating the younger and smaller Bobby Blaze. Blaze held his own surprisingly well until Mr. Severn hooked an arm bar submission hold that forced Bobby Blaze to submit. This match alone showed WHY Dan Severn is called "THE BEAST." And as NWA World Champion, I also would call him "THE BEST."

Ricky and Robert were supposed to face Tracy Smothers and Tony Anthony for the Smoky Mountain Tag Team Titles, but Ricky was fired from SMW for some behind the scenes ruckus. Robert came to the ring with Bob Armstrong and apologized to the fans and hugged Tracy and Tony. Jim Cornette showed up and challenged the T.H.U.G.'s to a title match with a "mystery" team of his. 

Tony and Tracy accepted readily at which point Edgar Winter's FRANKENSTEIN sounded on the PA system. They were BACK!!! The greatest team in SMW history... Dr. Tom Pritchard and Jimmy Del Ray... THE HEAVENLY BODIES!

Pritchard and Del Ray won the belts in a bloodfest that Abdullah the Butcher wouldv'e been proud of.

Before they were brothers, The Undertaker and Kane met at the Superbowl of Wrestling. Kane was called UNABOMB for this match, however, it was still a battle of big, agile men. Nothing spectacular, Undertaker won. Paul Bearer also showed up with the urn and the fans rose tot heir feet to witness two major WWF personalities in the sold out civic coliseum.

After all this excitement, how could it get any better? How about a WWF Intercontinental Title defense? You guessed it, Shawn Michaels, HBK, was in town to defend the IC strap against the current SMW champion. There was just one little problem... the SMW title was vacant at the time, due to controversy between Brad Armstrong and Buddy Landel. SMW officials (i.e. Cornette) determined that since Landel was the last man to hold the title before it became vacant, he would get the shot. This match was AWESOME. Two skilled young veterans duking it out for the second most coveted prize in Sports Entertainment. As I look back on this match now, Landel looks to be as good as he EVER was, including his heyday of the MACW/JCP era. Michaels proves he isn't all glitz and glamour as he matches Buddy hold for hold.

Matches like these are what wrestling is all about. Jim Cornette costs Landel his shot at being IC champ (starting Buddy's " face " turn in SMW). The match ends with Brad Armstrong coming to aid Shawn Michaels in running off Cornette's militia. Between this match and the Snow-Jannetty match, SMW proved to have SUPER matches for the SUPERBOWL.  Financially, a gambit like this was, as I said earlier "do or die."

Cornette did clean house on this show, but the losses of the previous months were too staggering to recover. Even as great as this show was (and it was, in my opinion, the best ever held by SMW) it was to be... The Final Countdown. Smoky Mountain Wrestling... God, I miss you.

NEXT MONTH:

A look at the year 1994 in review