The Bluegrass Brawl on April 1, 1994 was truly The Famous Final Scene. Jim Cornette's Heavenly Bodies wrestled Ricky and Robert for the SMW tag team titles in a steel cage match, and the loosing team had to leave SMW. As the Bodies were heading to the WWF, they did in fact drop the fall. The promo on television with Cornette, Prichard and Del Ray after the match was awesome. Cornette promised that some day The Bodies would get their revenge on Ricky and Robert, but I do believe this was the last match they ever contested with each other. Dennis Condrey and Bobby Eaton were a great team. Stan Lane and Bobby Eaton were good. Tom Prichard and Stan Lane were also good. But NO team Cornette EVER managed was as good as Prichard and Del Ray. I would love to see Ricky and Robert and Tom and Jim hook it up one more time, with Corny in the Bodies corner. I think they could STILL do it better than anyone in today's "wrestling."

Jake Roberts made several appearances for SMW as well. His feud with Tony Anthony was extremely good, due to his great promos and Tony's ability to work well with anyone he was matched against. Anthony, IMO, wasn't as solid as Jake was on the promos, he was just a "good ol' boy", but in the ring, Anthony was as solid as performer as you could ever hope to find and matched Jake move for move. The two veterans gave their all in matches across the SMW viewing area, until Jake left. Good feud, with solid "selling" by Tony Anthony as the guy who just wanted to "rassle" for the belt, but knew he HAD to play like a dirty S.O.B. to defeat "The Snake."

I covered the Night of Legends already in my debut column, but again, let me say, it was a truly great night of Professional Wrestling. To see a class act such as Jim Cornette pay homage to the stars of yesteryear was something truly special to see. Great action all around was saw by a sellout crowd, and the tributes to the legends was an act of class and dignity a certain wrestling promoter in Connecticut could learn from. 

The Fall of that year, a newcomer debuted. This young man had spent his whole life around wrestling, however, so he himself may have been new to the sport, but his father was known to all. Bryant Anderson came to SMW looking for Tracy Smothers. Bryant's father, world famous member of perhaps the greatest tag team of all time, The Minnesota Wrecking Crew, Ole Anderson, was at his side. The story line went Tracy had roughed up Bryant when Bryant was a student at UTC and Smothers was down there helping teach the kids to wrestle as a favor to the coach. Bryant Anderson, IMHO, looked so much like his dad did in the 1970's it was scary, complete with the "porkchops" as I call them ( long sideburns into a moustache.) Bryant more than held his own with Tracy, a very talented worker in his own right. After his feud with Tracy wound down, Bryant kind of left the area, and to my knowledge has not worked anywhere since then. It was told to me Bryant really didn't like the business, which is a pity, considering he was so good.

The Gangstas debuted in August of 1994 and shook up the whole area. Who else could make people actually CHEER for Jim Cornette? Threats of death followed New Jack and Mustafa everywhere they went in the SMW area, but they won the title belts from Ricky and Robert in a match in Morganton, NC and held them until Ricky and Robert (with JIM CORNETTE!!!) dethroned them at Christmas Chaos. Perhaps not the strongest team ever, perhaps not the most gifted in the ring, but WITHOUT QUESTION the most controversial tag team to EVER step foot in a wrestling ring.

Folks, SMW was a big part of my life in 1994, and Prince Kharis aside, I miss it dearly. It was great while it lasted and it ended way too soon. Jim Cornette and everyone associated with SMW... thank you.

NEXT MONTH:

The man behind SMW... James E Cornette and his SMW feuds.