MEMPHIS CHAMPIONSHIP WRESTLING
13 July 2001

Open.

David Jett welcomes very special edition of MCW. He explains the wrestler situation - a lot of them where signed by the WWF to developmental contracts and assigned them to Memphis. Recently, they decided to relocate seven of them to Cincinnati, Ohio and release the remaining guys from the contracts. "In other words, they fired them." Jett explains that they'll see a lot of people leaving and a lot of people coming. Tonight, we'll take a special look at some of the guys who will be leaving. Jett had a chance to sit down and talk to them about their stay in Memphis Championship Wrestling. Some sit down interviews, later tonight. Also, in the ring, we'll have a no DQ between Steven Richards and Steve Bradley. All that and much more coming up on this Very Special Episode.

Jett talks to Island Boy Ekmo. 
Jett: "So, you were in Memphis at one point, with Power Pro Wrestling, but you weren't doing much wrestling, right?"
Ekmo: "Right."
J: "So, what was the situation there?"
E: "It was, um, that was, like, really my first time in the business, you know. Coming up here to help my brother and stuff you know, doing little spots here and there. So I got that opportunity and took advantage of it, you know. I never really got a chance to work in front of an audience before till I came up here for Power Pro Wrestling and we had a good little, uh, run there. You know, I'm a real wrestling - I love wrestling. That's all I wanted to do. That's just something I love. I don't complain about it, or nothing; I don't let nothing stop me from doing what I got to do. You know, if I got to go out there and perform in front of two people, I'd do it. That's just cause I love wrestling. The thing I liked the most about Memphis Championship Wrestling is um, I really love the the guys out here are tremendous. They're real great guys, you know. Terry Golden is a real great guy. He's just - he's really down to earth about what he likes to do. As far as helping us out, he did a heck of a lot. I learned, uh, to entertain. I especially learned a lot about, uh respecting one another out here. This is like a family. I really liked it. This is what I'm gonna miss about Memphis Championship Wrestling.
J: What's the thing you're gonna miss the most about Memphis?
E: The fans! All you Memphis fans out there, keep going - I'm gonna miss all you guys. And don't forget, MCW is #1!

Island Boy Kimo's turn.
K: Ever since me and Ekmo started our career as a tag, we've always, we've always been able to get a pretty rise out of the fans, whether them hating us or liking us, but we've seen us taking grasp to the fact that people cheer us on. I don't know if they like the Aloha shirts or the fact that we're 360 pounds or 420 pounds, whether we're two big guys in there dancing, I don't know, all I know is that I enjoy every minute of it. If we can get out there and make a few kids have a better time. That's what are we are all about [clip] Number one, I'm gonna miss the few guys who are Memphis Championship Wrestling. It's, it's definitely got to be one of the best promotions that I've been around. And I've been around a lot of them. All the way - Big props to Terry Golden, all the way down to you, to the ring crew, to everybody. To the boys - great competition, everyone works hard towards one  goal, the absolutely best show that a promotion can give. I can't pinpoint one thing that I'm gonna miss out of Memphis because there are a lot of things many things. Secondly, I'll miss the barbeque. You guys got good barbeques.
J: Who has the best barbeque in Memphis?
K: I can't really pinpoint one there either - but, um, I'll be safe and say Corky's. They've got some damn, some damn good ribs.

Short Break.

American Dragon.
American Dragon: I probably went straight from my training school to the territory. It wasn't that much different than Shawn's, except we wrestled a lot more, which is we really needed to do. It was a fun experience because, uh, we took a lot crap from a lot of people for it but eh, what can you do? [clip] 
Working in a southern territory after, uh, patterning, pattering yourself after Japanese wrestlers isn't really easy. There's uh - when you get heat from a lot of guys on wrestlingobserver.com, you know, for not, uh, cheating. I thought I cheated when I had to, you now I didn't, uh, I didn't think anything of it really, it's just a different kind of wrestling really, I'm not a big fan of southern wrestling but there's aspects of southern wrestling that are good. So, I mean, it's different, it's not really my cup of tea, but it's still wrestling nonetheless. [clip]
It's kinda embarrassing watching my tapes from Texas now, because it's like "uh, what is that guy doing?" And especially learning from guys like Steven Regal and Tracy Smothers and, uh, just working so much I've got a whole lot, you know. And having the experience, you know, working with a lot of the other quality talents and working with guys who just came into training school themselves, it's a real good learning experience [clip]
I'm not too disappionted in the WWF handles the light heavyweight division, because when I got in, they weren't doing anything with it. I mean, I was disappionted when WCW folded, because they really pushed the light heavyweights, but I never thought I'd get a job with the WWF anyway. So, I always pictured myself wrestling in Japan when I started, but it just turned out that a got a shot with the WWF, so it kinda worked out. But I'd love to go back to Japan, but they like big Americans too. So, I'm screwed on both ends of the spectrum there.
J: So what are your future plans right now?
AD: Now I'm gonna be going back to college. I'm gonna be going to Grace Harbor (sp) Community College and living with my mother. And I'm gonna be wrestling with ECCW up in the Pacific Northwest, they run about twelve shows a month. So I'll be wrestling, I'll be going to school, I'll be trying to find a job, I'll be paying of my car payments and all that kind of stuff. So that's what I've got going. Hopefully I'll be an English teacher once I'm done. In four or five years, you know. Major in English, minor in something like business, or something funnier than business, so I don't what I'm gonna do. 
J: Um, you're - you're of kind giving wrestling a bad name.
AD: Yea, yea, I know
J: Are you too smart for wrestling?
AD: (smiling about it) You know, I don't think I'm too smart for wrestling. I'm think I'm just, I'm just, I'm just not the stereotypical wrestler, although, from the guys I talk to, most of these guys aren't the stereotypical wrestlers. You know, I'm, they're funny guys. They're not gonna talk, um, Ann Rynd with you or anything. But they're all real witty, real funny guys, so I mean, they're all smart in their own way. [clip] 
So it's just that, you know, it's the kinda of thing where I'm gonna wrestle for fun now. So I'm not gonna be too worried about making it or anything like that. I'm just gonna go do what I like to do. [clip] 
If I just have a message to anybody, it's to this girl Betsy, who I had a lot of fun with for two weeks, but then she ditched me once I got fired. (laughs) But uh, I mean, it's uh, cool, you know, didn't want to get too attached thing, and that's cool.

American Dragon and Jerry Lynn vs Christian York and Joey Matthews - We come in right after York and Matthews have entered, with Lynn and Dragon jumping them mid entrance. Dragon and Lynn beat the down their opponents in consecutive corners. Charlie Miller is your ref. Matthews is whipped out to Lynn by Dragon. Lynn puts Joey in a full nelson, Dragon charges, Joey gets his legs up to kick Dragon away and then reverses the full nelson into an armdrag. Double team whip by York & Matthews, double dropkick for Dragon, double dropkick for Lynn! Jett mentions that the Rock and Roll Express have always been an inspiration for York & Matthews. Joey with a right, whip, Dragon slides under, take down, tries to turn York over into a crab but Joey gets a bodyscissors and spins him away. Corner whip, reversed, Joey gets a boot up. Dropkick. Dragon kips up! Dropkick again, Dragon kips right back up again! Joey opts to backdrop Dragon this time, and that works better. Armdrag, armdrag, armbar. Tag to York, York goes to the second rope as Joey snap mares Dragon to the ground by the arm and gives him a stomp. Joey going up too - York drops his own partner with a top rope flapjack on Dragon, then follows with a second rope senton and a cover for one two kickout. York pulls Dragon up, and Dragon gets in an eye poke. Tag to Lynn. Armbar by Dragon, so Lynn can get an elbow in. Armbar, crank. Bending the left arm around the top rope. Whip, reversed, Lynn kips up, York springboards off the second rope with a twisting cross body but no cover. Jett talks about having followed Lynn for a long time, back to the days he was in Minnesota wrestling some guy named Sean Waltman. Armdrag. Kick, whip, reversed with Lynn trying a short clothesline, York ducks under, another kick to the midsection and now they have a pair of wristlocks locked in, but are battling for leverage - York with a modified reverse neckbreaker one two kickout. That was kinda like Regal's neckbreaker. York pulls Lynn up, right, whip, reversed, Dragon with a kick from the outside and York stumbles into a DDT. Stomp to the back. Stomp to the back. Right. Tag to Dragon. Front facelock so Dragon can kick the midsection. Turnbuckle smash. Right kick to the midsection, left kick to the midsection, right kick to the midsection, snap mare, hard kick to the back. Cover one tow kickout. Pulling York up by his hair, tag to Lynn but York with right right right to Dragon's midsection, Lynn's right putting a stop to that. Right. Slam. Lynn waves his hand towards Dragon - I think he was just telling him to come in and that wasn't a really bad tag, but I'm not sure. Lynn puts York in the bow and arrow and Dragon comes off the top rope with a knee to the throat. Dragon covers (guess it was a tag) one two shoulder up. Dragon argues the count. York takes advantage with a right, right, right, Dragon gets in a good right to knock him down. York reaches for his corner from his knee but Dragon pulls him up and whips him into the corner - running jumping forearm smash connects. Northern Lights Suplex one two Joey has to break it up. Dragon yells at Charlie to go yell at Joey for coming in, which allows Lynn and him to do the double team stomping. (Two for each!) Dragon and Lynn make the clapping tag sound, and Dragon goes out. Forearm. Whip, York comes off with a (slightly slow) crucifix roll up for one two shoulder up. Small package, but Dragon's in to object to York's inability to hook the move on correctly (I guess) so there's no count before Lynn escapes. Whip by York, reversed, Lynn lifts York up and mule kicks him on the way down. Miller is still talking to Dragon so he misses the low blow. Joey didn't and he wants into argue about or maybe get a piece of Lynn. Lynn goes back to work - Liger bomb! One two shoulder up! [clip]
Dragon, Lynn and York all in - stomp by Lynn, double whip, double clothesline misses, double springboard back elbows do not. Tag to Joey! Joey ducks a clothesline, right, right, whip, Dragon's thrown down by the back of the neck. Clothesline for Lynn! Clothesline for Dragon! Clothesline for Lynn! Forearm in the back by Dragon stops that. Right, right, corner whip, reversed, Dragon walks up the corner and flips out and over Joey. Clothesline misses, reverse neckbreaker by Joey does not. Jacknife cover one two kickout. Double whip, double hiptoss into (slowly) a double powerbomb. Hey, Lo Down's old move! Cover by Joey, Lynn tries to make a save, York with a right to stop him but Lynn still manages an elbow drop - on his own partner. Joey stops the cover - right by York on Lynn. Right by each for Dragon, double whip, double clothesline misses, standing enzuiguri for Joey while Lynn pulls out York. Dragon and Joey slowly pull themselves up while Lynn pops back in the ring, probably having taken care of York for the time being. Lynn reaches in his tights and pulls out a tube of some powder. Dragon pulls Joey into a waistlock while Lynn empties the powder in his right hand. "Jerry, behind you! Behind you!" Jerry doesn't listen, though, and it's York knocks Lynn's hand meets Lynn's face, blinding him with the powder he meant for Joey. (Miller is standing here watching all of this. Joey must've managed a mule kick during this, because he's bent over and tossed to Lynn. Lynn, probably thinking it's someone else, gives the cradle piledriver (!!) to Dragon and rolls out to celebrate. Joey covers - one two three. (9:11 shown) Lynn gets the powder out of his eyes, turns back around, sees the situation in the ring, and is very confused. 

Christian York: Well, um, me and Joey Matthews, we used used to be a tag team in ECW, which is Extreme Championship Wrestling, which is owned by Paul Heyman, who people might know as the announcer on Monday Night Raw. Well uh, ECW went under, they went out of business, or whatever you want to call it, and, uh, we needed somewhere to go to and the WWF ended up picking us up, sent us down here to Memphis Championship Wrestling, to develop. [clip]
Um, it was really educational because we did get to train a lot. Got to do a lot of things I didn't get to do back home, wrestling all the indies and stuff. I wrestled every weekend. The best experience - is that what you really wanted to know?
Jett: Yea.
CY: is the guys who we've met here, and the friends that we've made is the most importantly thing that we've gained from this. Because there's a bunch of good guys, there's not one bad guy out there.
J: What are your plans now, for the future? What are you guys gonna do?
CY: Right now, we're gonna take it easy and just try to work the indies as long as possible, and hope we get another chance with the World Wrestling Federation. And, um, if they take us in Japan or Puerto Rico or something, we'll try to some stuff like that, trying to get some experience like that. But right now, we're just gonna look at going back to the indies and going back home and getting everything straight.
J: Where's back home?
CY: Annsas (sp), Virginia, it's right out of DC. [clip]
It's like, I wonder if what I've done here is all worth it but I think it shows that we've majorly gotten -  in such short time, we've worked for all three major companies but the time we're 23 - by the time he's 21. And um, this is, I feel everything I've been able to do is an opportunity, and if I pass it up, I don't want to be a 'would've should've could've what happened what could've been' when I'm 60 years old or I'm 30 years old It's not really crossed my mind to hang up and stop - I want to keep on going and keep on fighting. [clip]
What I've like to stay to the fans, thank you for supporting us, thanks for always coming to the shows, and we wish it could've lasted, but this is how it goes in this business. Thanks, and we hope we'll see you sometime soon, if not later.

(Note: I've officially given up getting every single "uh" and "you know" from here on out. Not that I got all of them above.)

Joey Matthews: Memphis wrestling was a big part of my life growing up, child hood and everything. I watched guys - everyone's face from Memphis, everyone who was anyone came through Memphis.
J: Who was some of the guys, growing up, who you idolized or patterned yourself after?
JM: From the Memphis region, actually, liked Randy Savage was I one of the guys I just lived, idolized. From other territories, Ricky Morton, Rick Steamboat, Shawn Michaels later on and just guys like that. Guys who could go out there and make people believe and make people believe in them. [clip]
There's different types of wrestling styles. ECW was a lot of blood and guts and hardcore wrestling. But It was hardcore with weapons, or just hardcore just wrestling. MCW there is more storytelling involved, and it's a slower pace, but it's what I fell in love with and why I wanted to be a wrestler in the first place, because of the story, capturing the audience's attention. In Memphis, you get a great opportunity to do so. [clip]
In MCW, there's smaller venues, smaller towns, and it's more intimate. You can really feel the people and you have a close interaction with the people. I've enjoyed my time. [clip]
To the people in Memphis, I just want say, thanks whether if you cheered for us, booed us, chanted our name or said "York & Matthews suck." We were a part of your lives, you were a part of ours, and we want to thank you for your support, and not only for us, but for supporting this business. Cause without you, really it sounds cliché but, none of this would be possible, so thank you. [clip]
It's frustrating. You put all your emotions, all your physical, all your mental, 100% into something and then to be let down is the most disappointing thing in life. There's been times, me and Christian been in the car crying, up and down the road all night, and talking the whole time "is this right? is this what we want to do?" As long as you don't let the business beat you and you keep fighting and you just refuse to lose, things will work out. You will get in what you point in. So, we'll be back.
J: Anything else you want to say, like women you messed around with you want to say hello to?
JM: No comment.

Break.

David Jett welcomes back to the show and reminds us about that big No DQ show. But now, he sets up the next interview

Joey Abs: It was a big disappointment. I thought I had everything in the palm of my hands, I thought I everything was going good for me. Pretty much got taken of World Wrestling Federation programming, to re-train and to find something that was marketable so I could make them money and make myself money with. And I wasn't too - our crew has changed a lot and I've got to meet a lot of really good guys and got to wrestle a lot of really good talented athletes and a lot of good friends of mine. I wouldn't trade it for anything, I had a good experience in Memphis, it was a good learning experience and no matter what comes from this, I've learned a lot. Maybe I've learned humility, if nothing else, that nothing is guaranteed in this world, just, take every day as it comes. 
J: Do you ever get discouraged, where you think you are going to hang up the boots?
JA: Yea, it's very discouraging to, somebody who's been doing it for seven years, and I thought I was ready, and it gets discouraging. And I don't know what my options are, continuing on with this business. I mean, there's not many companies to work for. Overseas, I'm gonna to go to Japan with some of my friends, some old partners - the Dupps, they're back on the same track I am, looking for work, Joey and Christian, of course, they're good kids and we're gonna work it out for something, something will come up. I'd like to go out on a better note than getting told that I can go home, I'd rather that to be my decision than someone else's [clip]
And I'm gonna be moving back to North Carolina at the end of this week, I dunno, I dunno what...
J: What do you do in North Carolina when you're not wrestling?
JA: I'm gonna work for my dad, same thing I was doing for ten years when I was trying to make for it. Work in a body shop, fixing cars, driving a wrecker, doing whatever. We've got nice trucks and I can always work for him, I won't starve, but I'm just not be doing what I intend to do for the rest of my life, if I was ready to quit. I wasn't ready yet, so, I don't think I'm gonna hang up the boots right away. I think I'll give it a shot, see what opportunities come up. [clip]
The guys that are going on, continuing on, I've just got to offer them - I've tried to give everybody a little bit of me, so they could remember me and could have something to go with and maybe they learned something from me. I hoped everyone learned something, whether it was good or bad, that they could take something from my experience and incorporate into their working style or whatever, it's great. Lance, I was originally saying, he's gonna take my suplexes and take my forearms and do all of that stuff, and you know, take my moves and stuff that I do. I think I do, it'll be a little piece of me that he'll remember every time he's out there. And someone will remember, 'hey, he used to work with Joey Abs - maybe he got that from him.' [clip]
There's a lot of good guys here - I'd like to thank you, you've always worked hard for us [mumbling] doing all the stuff. Terry Golden's a good guy, and he tried his hardest at getting us all out of here. At first, we were kinda against Terry, thought he was a slave driver or something, but he always had our best interest at heart, and some time it takes [mumbles] And the fans of MCW, who came out, whether there were 50 of them or a 1000 of them at the big shows. We had tornados, we had all kinda of stuff, and sometimes we had freezing cold and a hundred degrees, you never know what you're gonna get with this little towns, and I'll remember this for a long time, and all the guys behind the scenes who make this thing work. [clip]
J: There's one guy we don't have the ability to interview for this program, who was down here for a long time - Pete Gas.
JA: My roommate here for a long time, my roommate for over a year. We moved down here, started down here with the posse thing, that broke up but we remained best friends throughout the whole thing. Pete's a great guy, I learned a lot and I hoped he learned a lot from me. We talked every night around the shows, and find out what we needed to do, what he was missing, what I was missing, what he liked about what my matches, what he wanted to try to incorporate into this style, He was a good wrestler, a good listener, he took criticism well, that's a lot of guys problem, they don't take criticism well. That's a lot of guys problem, they don't take criticism well. Pete was always good and I missed him, and wished him the best, and I was probably one of the first guys he called when he found out he was coming home too. He messed up his life and went to Puerto Rico and all that, and I really wish he would've gotten a different opportunity, I don't think that Puerto Rico thing was what he needed right then, but what do I know; I've been fired from every territory there is, take it from Tracy Smothers. [clip]
Lance Cade (yelling from off camera): Joey Abs couldn't tie my boots!
JA: Shut up, I'm in here trying to do an interview, you a[bleep]!
J: Lance Cade, tell me about Lance Cade
JA: Lance Cade, one of the young up and comers! He's apparently going on to Cincinati. Wish him the best, he's a good kid and he'll do well.
J: Is he as dumb as he looks?
JA: I'm afraid to say he is. [clip]
J: Joe, I've understood you've mellowed kinda out since you've been here in Memphis Championship Wrestling?
JA: (angry) You think that I've mellow- What are you talking about? Don't sit over there with that stupid looking grin on your face, Jett!
J: Well-
JA: Just because I've put you over once and said you were a  good 'tape editor', don't get an attitude with me - what are you looking at? I'll take that chair and shove it straight up your ass! You little skinny [bleep]! You damn drunk! What's wrong with you? Don't sit over there and smile at me! I'll be the hair off of you, jack[bleep]ss! This interview is over! 

Short break.

Charlie Haas: It probably took a good three months for me and my brother to really feel in sync and like we could compete with everyone else here. It was an experience and it will be something we'll always cherish in our hearts. It was a life long dream to get here, and I think it really made us grow not only as wrestlers but as individual wrestlers as well. [clip]
Oklahoma, the amateur wrestling is probably the biggest wrestling. It outdraws football, basketball, from high school to college. It's just an unbelievable sport, but I think, it's really why Russ and I dig down deep in professional wrestling, because of that sport. [clip]
We knew we were going to move to Memphis and we thought in our time here that we'd get called up and we'd go elsewhere to where we'd settle and make that our home, but now we're moving to Cincinnati and we're not sure how long we're gonna be there. It could be three to six months. Right now, it's difficult, you tend not to invest your money into all the furniture and home appliances you need, so we're just pretty much living out of our suitcases or our cars, so that one day we'll be able to find a place that we call home. [clip]
J: Do you always wear sunglasses?
CH: No (starts to take them off) actually, no, I just bought this sunglasses, so I think I'm just gonna wear them. 

Russ Haas: My brother and I grew up with pro wrestling. And that's all we did. And around fifth grade, my brother wanted to see wrestling, and he went into the wrestling room, and he asked my dad "Where's the ring?" He thought it was pro-wrestling. That's how he got back to amateur wrestling, I just happened to follow his footsteps - we thought we were getting into pro-wrestling.
J: When you were in amateur wrestling, did you ever want to pick up a chair and hit someone?
RH: I wouldn't mind using a DDT on someone or a clothesline on someone. But, can't do that. [clip]
If it wasn't for the fans, us wrestlers wouldn't have jobs. So thank you fans. I'd like to thank Terry Golden. I'm gonna miss him. I'd like to thank you for everything you do. I'd just like to tell the boys that I'm gonna miss some of the guys here, and hopefully, later down the line, we'll hook up and wrestler, somewhere someplace else. [clip] 
(flashes a "W" hand signal to the camera) That's Water Grove - I've got to say what's up to Water Grove. I'm gonna miss a lot of people here. 'cause everyone's so tight, and we go out there and kill our bodies, and now some guys are leaving and some guys are going on. It sucks. 

Steven Richards vs Steve Bradley (already in progress) in a no DQ match (for the Southern Heavyweight Title?) - Lockup, battle for position, Richards backs Bradley in the corner, Richards breaks to get a right. He celebrates. Steven loads up the boot - Steve is confused and people boo. Maybe I should go with last names, huh? Lockup, Richards wins again, break for a right no it's blocked and Bradley hits his own. Lockup, Richards pushes Bradley in the corner for the right, but again Bradley blocks and hits his own. This time follows up with a turnbuckle shot, corner whip, powerslam on the rebound cover one shoulder up. Turnbuckle shot. Whip, back elbow. Bradley points to the corner - oh, he's pointing towards a shopping cart of weapons he brought with him. Bradley goes for the weapons but Richards meets him there and chops him in the back. Right. Thrown back in. Richards grabs a chair and brings it inside. Steven takes his shirt off! He doesn't exactly get a Hardy Boyz reaction. He's till got the tie on. Richards unfolds the chair in the middle of the ring, chop for Bradley, whip, reversed, drop toe hold into the chair. Bradley sets the chair back up, sits Steven on it, right right right, messes with the tie, off the ropes, dropkick. Richards rolls out to recover by Bradley with him.  Jett remembers "Dancin' Stevie Richards." Bradley throws Richards over the rail. [clip]
Bradley and Richards are battling in the stands. Right by Bradley and he pulls Steven downstairs. Steven stops the hair pulling with a right, whip into a wall but Bradley reverses it and Richards goes in. Richards stumbles away but manages a kick, whip, reversed again and Steven goes into a railing.  Pulling Steven around by the hair - back over the main railing into the sopping car. Bradley removes a garbage can out of the car puts Steven in -  there's a right there. Bradley warms the cart up - rammed into the guar rail. "Like a hardcore trip to Walmart!" Bradley dumps Richards out of the cart and throws him back in. Bradley walks around the outside. [clip]
Bradley sets up a table in the corner of the ring, and then grabs Richards in a standing headscissors - does the crowd want him to do it? Maybe, but Richard backdrops out of whatever so eh escapes. Stomp. Jett brings up Steven Richards wrestling in MCW's predecessor, Kick Ass Wrestling. Steven with a first in the air - (jacknife) powerbomb! Cover one two kickout. That move never works! Richards with a kick but Bradley back with a right, right, right, right, right misses and Steven hits the Stevenkick! Cover one two shoulder up! Whose finishes does Steven have left? Steven chokes Bradley in the corner while yelling at him. Steven points to the table - corner whip, reversed and Steven goes back first through it! Both men are down. Bradley pounding the mat to get the crowd behind him. Both men getting up. The table broke really clean. Stevenkick #2 is caught, Bradley spins him around, Steven lunges with a clothesline but Bradley ducks under and Charlie Miller gets it. Superkick from Bradley! No one is there to count! Bradley covers anyway, but it's not gonna do any good. Bradley yells at Charley to get him up.  Steven getting up - forearm to the back. uppercut. Scoop and a slam. Is Richards going up? He is! Very very very slowly. He gets to the second rope and Bradley gives him a low blow - Iconclasm! But Bradley is slow to cover and the ref is still out. Here comes - Seven? Short Powerbomb for Bradley! Why would Seven help Steven Richards? Seven puts Steven Richards on top. One slow two, slow shoulder up! This match must continue. That was weird. Both men slow up, Steven trying to go for a suplex, but Bradley reverses it - Last Rights! Cover one two three (9:34 shown) Seven tried to make it back to the ring but he was too slow. He didn't stick around after, I notice. Oh, no, he's staring at Bradley from outside the ring - there's gonna be more to this. This feud and this show.

Spanky: Actually, coming straight from Shawn Michaels' school to Memphis was scary for me. Scary for the four of us. Dragon, Shooter, Lance and myself. We'd only be wrestling for six months, including three months of training, we didn't have much a feel for the business. We moved from all over the country, Dragon and I from Washington State, Shooter from St. Louis, and Lance from Nebraska, we all moved to San Antonio, then moving to Memphis. We all just - It was nerve raking, moving around not knowing what what future had in store for us. [clip]
My plans now, I guess, are to do whatever I can to get some international experience. I guess with [mumble] so I'll do whatever I can, make some calls and send out some videos, try to get to Japan or England, made some calls to both of those. already booked to do some in AAA here in Mexico, so I'm doing the best I can to get overseas or whatever I can, international experience. [clip]
My family up in Olympia, Washington, but can't go back there. Might go northeast, might move to Atlanta, might go to LAs, but the goal is to get out of the country. 
J: You can't back to your house? You can't go back to your family - have a problem? Trouble?
S: No, no, the reason the I can't go back to my house - I don't have any trouble, it's just to easy. I worked really hard to get here and I just feel like - I don't want to be a failure. [clip]
J: Anything you want to say to the Memphis wrestling fans out there?
S: (with tears and a crack in his voice) Um, to the Memphis wrestling fans, we all thank you from the bottom of our hearts, and hopefully some day we'll make it. Hopefully you'll see us again some day. Thank you. 

Short break.

David Jett welcomes us back. Unfortunately, MCW was not able to get comments from Victoria (who's moving on), Shooter Shultz and Rodrageous (who are not.) Jett wishes them all luck and hopes to see them back one day in Memphis. Next week, we'll hear from Steve Bradley and we'll get to see clips from his earliest wrestling - from a promotion that he actually ran. Plus, Bradley vs Joey Abs in a no DQ ladder match for the Southern Title.

Lance Cade: You think to yourself, why am I in this business, but for me, all you got to do is pop in a tape from ten years ago, and I can picture myself sitting there as a little kid, watching all these matches, rooting on my favorite wrestlers, being a little kid and being a professional wrestling having a dream and it all comes back to you, and it's all worth it. All the traveling and all the small towns, and putting up with the wrestling business because it's a bunch of men and a big soap opera and a lot of egos, but once you go back to old tapes, for me, it reminds me why I got into the business. [clip]
Everyone probably knows, the whole crew of Memphis Championship Wrestling knows that Joey Abs was kinda sent as a test from Memphis Championship Wrestling and probably the World Wrestling Federation to see how tough I am, to see if Lance Cade is tough enough. I learned a lot from Joey Abs and he's one of my best friends in the best wrestling business, because of the beatings I've taken from him in the ring. I respect him. I really look forward to working with him down the line. [clip]
Yea, it's really gonna be tough to going on to Cincinnati and leaving Memphis because I came here with the four of us from Shawn Michael's Wrestling Academy and I'm not leaving with the four of us. The four of us are leaving. I always thought that was how it was gonna be, but the wrestling business changes and that's how it's gotta be. When I came to Memphis, I didn't have the friends - The Texas Wrestling Alliance wasn't a family the way Memphis Championship Wrestling is - it's gonna be really hard. But I know, later down the road, I'm gonna run into all of these guys again. And hopefully, we'll all be wrestling on RAW in a couple months. Couple years, whatever it takes. [clip]
I'm gonna miss everyone in Memphis. I'm gonna miss the town of Memphis and I'm gonna miss the Memphis Championship Wrestling fans. 
J: Even the ones from Manila who yell out "Lance Cade sucks?"
LC: Well, I had to put up with a lot of crap in Paragold (sp) and Marmaduke (sp) and Manila (sp) and-
J: Why don't people in Arkansas like you?
LC: I dunno, I can't figure that out. Everyone in Tennessee and Mississippi don't have a problem with me. It's these guys here in Arkansas. Assclowns, take it up the butt. I don't know. I can't change the world, man.

Break.

Close.

I hate the WWF right about now. I hate people who string others along on promises they never plan on following through. I hate people who ignore what's in the ring in for what measurements people are. I hate uncreative people who can't see past those measurements. I mostly hate that some guys gave a year or more of their life to a dream they wanted their whole lives, worked hard to accomplish that dream, and had it  taken from them.

More or less, I hate this business.