Memphis Championship Wrestling (MCW) is the WWF's AAA league - guys on the cusp of making the big time, if only a spot could be freed up for them, and others who got a shot and in need of a retooling. The combination of everyone trying to make an impression to get that call up, and the WWF's generally stocked farm system, there's some good results in the ring.

MCW (not to be confused with MCW (Maryland Championship Wresting) or MCW (Midwest Championship Wrestling) or probably some other MCW out there) is available nationwide, but only if your cable provider wants to have a channel but is too cheap to get one that isn't in constant infomercial mode. For other shows on American One (like NWA Wildside), the delay between local airing and the national broadcast only seems to be one week. Here, it's quite a few weeks more.

If you look in the right places, you can find an old recap of this promotion by me - things have changed so much in the promotion that's it's kinds pointless even to reference that show, other than to note the change in theme of the show in the opening alone; before, it was more about the tradition and legends of Memphis wrestling, now it's all about the new kids and their wild antics. But there still are plenty of WWF guys in the open.

Instead of doing lots of back story, we'll just handle the angles as they're presented.

David Jett opens the show as we see Seven walking to the ring. Jett says William Regal, Crash and Molly Holly will be on the show later, but we get to see clips from two weeks ago where Seven beat Bitty Little in a street fight (on an actual street but ending up elsewhere) for the MCW Hardcore Title. Bitty Little wanted a rematch but he's still not medically cleared. Instead, he got to pick Seven's challenger - we don't know who that is yet. Back in the ring, Seven looks like he has something to say, but says nothing (maybe music comes on to interrupt him and we can't pick up too well.) Out come Simon Diamond and Dawn Marie? This would be their debut.

Seven vs Simon Diamond - Jett keeps saying Seven is Hardcore champ but doesn't specifically say this is a title match and no one brought weapons so I'm guessing no. Circle, kick by Seven, laugh. Point, no Simon kicks him, headlock, headlock By Seven, off the ropes, shoulderblock. Off the ropes, armdrag. Jett says it's non-title, good. Diamond walks over towards Seven and gets a turnbuckle smash. Corner whip, clothesline, atomic drop, clothesline. Later today, William Regal vs American Dragon! Steve Bradley & Victoria vs Crash & Molly Holly! Lance Cade vs Joey Abs, no disqualification! Seven chokes Simon on the ropes. This ring seems small. Pick up, short clothesline, hold on, another short clothesline. a third one is ducked, reverse roll up cover one two kickout. I think Diamond was thinking about pulling the tights there, he had his hands there. Seven is up quick with a clothesline, and the out towards Dawn Marie. Dawn runs, Simon hides and ambushes Seven with a clothesline. Dawn - takes off her heels? Simon throws Seven back in and distracts the ref and Dawn's going to the top rope (huh? - nice camera angle), flying cross body hits! (And another nice camera angle.) Simon back in, waiting for Seven to get up, chop, chop by Seven, right by Simon, right by Seven, right by Simon, right by Seven, eye rake by Seven, whip, Seven jumps right into Simon's Sky Hi (short powerbomb) one two shoulder up. Dawn argues the count. Turnbuckle shot, corner whip, Seven reverses it and tries to hit his clothesline as Simon bounces out but Simon grabs the arm and hits a Russian legsweep, floatover cover one shoulder up. Right, right by Seven, right by Simon, right by Seven, right by Simon misses, Seven uses his own short powerbomb-esque move one two Dawn jumps the ref to break it up. Dawn looks at her wrist like she hurt it, not realizing Seven is behind her and kinda pissed - Seven grabs her by the hair and sets up for a piledriver but Simon hits a superkick cover one two kickout. Corner whip, reversed, Simon kips ups and Seven just hits him low. Seven sets up for a DDT but Dawn's back in and she kicks a low blow of her own. Simon uses the fireman's carry into a reverse DDT that was his finisher for the one two three. (5:20) 

Goodwill Ambassador and WWF Commissioner William Regal vs American Dragon - Regal's shaking hands on his way to the ring and somebody does the old Flair "pull the hand back and put it through my hair" trick, driving Regal mad. American Dragon has no cool mask any more and I am sad. Oh, wait, Regal has something to say. "Now look young man, I don't know if you know who I am, but I am the WWF Commissioner. Now, I can make or break you. Now [pause for the Regal sucks chant], now I know you're a young man and you're full of energy, so let me give you a chance right now to leave and save the embarrassment of getting beating by me. You've obviously got a hell of a career in front of you, you don't want to end it tonight in front of these pathetic people, do you? It's not worth it." "You know, William Regal, I really would quit, but, ah, unfortunately, I'm not a coward Britain." Regal is aghast (at the incorrect grammar.) So it's on, Lockup, and Regal pushes Dragon into the corner. Clean break! Wave to the crowd, Regal. Circle, lockup, Regal moves fast with non-traditional openings, moving from a butterfly attempt that Dragon escapes to a snap mare that won't go before finnaly taking Dragon down with an armdrag, all with in seconds. Wristlock on, Dragon up to his feet, rolling on the mat, bridge on the mat, kip up and reversed to an armdrag. Dragon was like a fish out of water, flipping every which way to try and get the leverage on his side. Regal is upset and his shoulder hurts. Regal slips below the lockup, waistlock, single leg trip, step on Dragon's left arm before putting the wristlock back on. Dragon again looking for an escape, roll on the mat, cartwheel the other way, and the wristlock is reversed. Regal gets to the ropes fairly quickly and shakes the feeling back into his hand. Lockup, no Regal hooks Dragon's right arm into a vice like hold, squeezing it type and maybe not leaving enough room for flips here. Regal off the ropes and armdrags it to the mat, still locked on. It's working like an armbar but looks more painful. Back to their feet, Dragon goes for a headscissors but can't get Regal over - Regal starts to head to the ropes but than just throws Dragon's legs off his head and to the mat. Arm vice is still on, with a knee pressed into the side of the head. Back to their feet again, Dragon grabs the ropes and uses it to flip himself, letting him out of the hold and hitting an armdrag in the process. Now he's got the arm vice, but on the mat where Regal can easily put on his own headscissors and they both let go for a clean break. Regal with a patronizing clap for Dragon and a stare for people in the crowd. Now he's shocked about something. Jett: "Welcome to the South, buddy. It ain't Blackpool"  Lockup, Regal goes back for that snap mare that he tried a half a page ago, getting it but Dragon landing on his feet, off the ropes and a flying headscissors. Side headlock takedown by Dragon, getting a one two count as Regal is on the mat. Both up, Regal steps on the back of Dragon's leg to cause him to let go and allow him to put on his own headlock, tightly. Dragon with forearms to the side, pushes Regal into the ropes, over with the leapfrog, under with the drop down and right through with the dropkick to the head. Cover one t kickout. Regal goes to the corner but Dragon follows, kick, corner whip, charge in and a monkey flip. Regal ends up in the far corner and Dragon calls for the forearm. Dragon runs at Regal and Regal through the ropes and all the way to the floor. He may have hit the ring post on the way out. While the ref administers a ten count, Regal waves to the crowd and does some muscle poses. Really. Dragon's crawling his way in at seven, but Regal stomps him back to the floor. Dragon back in again and stomped again. Regal picks him up, European Uppercut, forearm, forearm, forearm, forearm, forearm, forearm, right to the face (all really harsh looking.) Boot choke. Pick up, suplex no Dragon falls behind, jumping enzuiguri connects, cover one two kickout Whip, no quick reversed, butterfly suplex by Regal, cover one two kickout. Regal didn't hook the leg. Stomp, stomp, Dragon's not gonna get up if Regal keeps kicking him while he's down. Pulling him up by his hair might not be a good idea, Dragon with a right, right, oh what a right from Regal and Dragon's lucky if he can still hear in that ear.  Regal picks him up, European Uppercut knocks Dragon so hard, he bounces off the ropes and comes back with one of his own. Regal with another European Uppercut, Dragon with a harsh one of his own.. Repeat. Now European Uppercut with another and a forearm. Whip, back elbow. Regal back up quick, whipped into the corner, kick by Dragon, hard chop, hard forearm, corner whip, backdrop on the rebound. Regal escapes into the corner - running jumping forearm by Dragon! Butterfly suplex by Dragon! Dragon: "That's it!" Jett: "Wait a minute - any time anyone says 'That's it!', that's never it!" Dragon to the top rope, missile dropkick, cover one two three! (7:59) Dragon gets the huge upset but probably is feeling it, if the blood from his mouth is any indication. 

Southern Heavyweight Champion Steve Bradley & Memphis Commissioner Victoria vs WWF Light Heavyweight Champion Crash & Molly Holly - Crash and Bradley start this off. Lockup, headlock by Crash, off the ropes, shoulderblock by Crash, over, under, flying headscissors by Crash and Bradley rolls out. Extended crowd shot here - probably covering for an edit. When we look back at the ring, Bradley's back in at and both women want a tag. Crash makes the tag and now Victoria's not too sure about this. But she's in. Molly slides through Victoria's legs, knocking her down, then puts on an armbar. Hard twist. Stomp, pick up, chop, chop, Victoria's in her corner and not too happy. She's till going - lockup, armbar by Victoria. Twist. Yank, Molly cartwheels into a reversal - armdrag. Victoria's arm hurts, so she tags out to Bradley. In a minor surprise, Molly tags out to Crash as well. Bradley charges and misses a clothesline, punches by Crash, whip, clothesline. Slam, off the ropes and thrown through the ropes by Bradley. Bradley taunts Molly, which pulls the ref over so Steve and Victoria can borrow the X-Factor "run the guy crotch first into the ring post" spot. Crash is still down so Bradley goes to do more damage, but the ref shoos him away. Molly comes to check on him, because he's not moving at all. Victoria's over too and acting all concerned - until she's behind Molly so she can throw her in the ring while the ref checks on Crash. While Molly looks at Victoria, Bradley hits her with a forearm. Now that's a heel - not only is he beating up a women, but he sneak attacks her from behind to do it. Victoria's more than happy to come in now that Molly's down. Stomp. Stomp. Big right. Kick to the ribs. Choke on the ropes. Pulling her by the hair, snap mare. Cover one c'mon you aren't pinning Molly Holly with a snap mare. Victoria holds Molly and tag to Steve, who rubs Molly's face in the mat and is very proud of it. Crash is finnaly pulling himself up using the ring ropes, and he gets dropkicked back down by Bradley. Scoop and slam. Bradley sets up for the figure four, then pauses to yell something and Molly sneaks in a low kick. Bradley crawls over to make a tag, Molly would like to make a tag but there's no one there so that's not happening. Victoria in and pulls Molly back towards her corner. Snap suplex by Victoria. Standing moonsault! One two kickout. Scoop slam. Pulling her into position for something - oh, top rope moonsault (!) misses. Molly fires back - chop, chop, turnbuckle smash, Crash is still not there, Bradley knocks her down from behind. There's Crash (holding his crotch), and he knocks Victoria down from behind. Now it's a race to the tag and both people are actually there. Slow crawl. Tag to Bradley, tag to Crash. Crash right a right, right, leg drip for Victoria, whip, back elbow for Bradley.  Slam for Victoria. Crash celebrates and gets knocked down from behind by Bradley. If and when Bradley ever gets to the WWF (besides gimmicks that only make International Heat), I suggest he use a finisher where he attacks people from behind. It seems to work for him. Crash is thrown out and Bradley follows. Right misses and Bradley gets lifted and knocked crotch first into the post. Meanwhile, back in the ring, Molly's hitting the Molly Go Round on Victoria - one two three. (6:30) They hug and everyone's happy. Well, except the other team

Coming up soon, Joey Abs (on his way to the ring) wrestles, but let's get that last commercial break out of the way.

Stupid Obvious Comment: I don't think Grandmaster Sexay is going to appear on that MCW tour.

Joey Abs vs Lance Cade, no disqualification - They lockup the moment Cade gets in the ring, with Cade pushed hard into the corner. Abs almost gives a clean break, pushing Cade on the chest. Cade pushes back. Abs slaps Cade in the face. Cade slaps back. Lockup again, Cade wins that one, the ref tries to break them apart and Abs gets in a cheap shot. Whip, clothesline misses, Cade gets a right, right, right, headlock, off the ropes, shoulderblock. Off the ropes, over, Abs tries for a slam but Cade ends up behind in a waistlock, Abs runs to the ropes, Cade bounces back but hits a dropkick. Charging clothesline takes Abs to the floor. Abs is right back, in, kick, forearm to the back. Corner whip, charge in meets back elbow. Right, leg trip, toe hold but Abs pushes Cade off and into the corner. Right by Abs, forearm, forearm, chop, chop, Cade reverses in the corner, chop, chop, right, right, push for the ref, right, left, right, left. Stomp, push away the ref again, boot choke. The ref is pushed away again, which gives Joey time to take off the middle turnbuckle. Cade charges, and gets a drop toe hold right into the exposed steel. Abs yells - Cade is busted open. Abs uses punches to the wound to open it up further. Cade is thrown over the top rope out. Abs argues with the fans, while Cade gets a second wind and charges in to attack Abs from behind with punches. Off the ropes and right into Abs' first. Abs clothesline Cade out and follows this time. Hard kick to the ribs. Hard forearm to the back. Cade (who's face is now painted red) fights back, getting in a shot and an apron - whoops, Abs blocked it and hits his own. Abs goes looking for chairs, taking them from the announce table. One's thrown in the ring, one is jabbed into Cade's midsection. Hard shot to the back. Thrown in, and Cade tries to escape but he's chokes on the ropes. Cade (who was blond but is only partially now) gets blood on the camera. Shot to the back of the head. Snap mare. Abs takes off a chain from around his neck and wraps it around his fist - shot right to the forehead. And Again. And again. And ripping in to the forehead.  Joey mockingly tries to get the crowd behind him. Setting him up on the top rope, Abs takes hi time getting up there - superplex. Cade is totally out of it. Abs covers one two Cade gets a shoulder up! Abs though that was a three. Good that chair he never used is still sitting there in the ring. Abs gets a hold of it and hits a home run on Cade's noggin. That was not pretty at all. The hat got wrapped around Cade's skull.  Abs elects not to pin, but to mock Cade some more and yell at the fans. Now he's dragging Cade around and putting him back in the ring. Abs walks around the ring, and then finnaly covers one two shoulder up. Abs forget to hook the leg! Abs isn't sure how that happened, though, thinking it was three. Abs goes back to the chair - that ref won't be making any more counts tonight. Abs rolls out the ref, then turns back to Cade. Cade can't make it to his feet, but Abs helped him. Abs calls for the Absolute, gets him up, and Cade slips out of it. Cade pushes Abs in the corner and then hits a superkick when he pops back! Both men are down, and a new ref is in. Cade is pulling himself up using the ropes. Abs is staggered and gets a running clothesline. Whip, side slam. Cade looks at the chair but elects to cover, one two shoulder up. Cade uses the ropes to get back up, staggers around, corner whip, pause charge in and Abs moves out of the way. Forearm, right, chop, forearm. Abs gets the chair, sets it up in the middle of the ring, Absolute on to the chair? NO, Cade uses the ropes to stand up and get loose, elbows to the back of the head, right for Abs - second rope bulldog on to the chair! Cade up, fixes his knee pads, right, right to the head, Abs is busted open - clothesline takes them both out. Cade runs him into the ring post. And then to the other corner. Another ring post.  Pulling Abs by the ring post. Into the fourth ring post! I think Cade asked for the wrong type of match. Either that, or he's lost so much blood, he forget how he was going to win. Cade throws Abs back in. Forearm, forearm, whip, reversed by abs into to a kick to the midsection - Absolute again - and this time it hits.  Can Abs cover? He takes his time, one two KICKOUT. No one's ever done that before and Abs is better off just going home right now because nothing he can do works. What else can he do? He can roll out and get a table, I guess. The crowd pops big for Mr. Table. Abs sets up the table, gives Cade a couple forearm shots, then finishes with the table. Abs hoists Cade onto the top rope and then goes back to messing with the table. It's finnaly how he wants it, so he turns around, right into a boot from Cade. There's another. Cade is down from the top rope. Cade gets the chair and it connects with Abs' head. Cade sets Abs up on the table and calls to the fans. Going all the way up - Texas Jam! The table breaks and Abs can't get up - one two three. (15:27) Lance Cade gets his shot at the Southern Heavyweight Title next week (if he's in any shape for it) and really shouldn't stand like that with his back towards Abs or - uh oh, shot to the back. Abs has another chair. Shot to the back. Shot to the back. Shot to the back. Shot to the back. Abs was beaten but he's not stopped. The ref gets knocked down. Another ref thinks about coming in and smartens up. Picking up Cade - yep, another Absolute. And that's it for this week.

This was pretty good. I'm glad I got around to watching it.