Re-View #120: USWA TV 2/1/92 (Austin Idol Shows Up!)

On Episode #120, The gang heads back to February 1, 1992 for an episode of USWA Championship Wrestling that somehow manages to cram “attempted murder”, a fake Richard Lee, Moondog destruction, Eric Embry insanity, Dennis Coralluzzo saying things that definitely wouldn’t make television today and the surprising return of the Universal Heartthrob, Austin Idol all into one Saturday morning wrestling show.

Things get violent immediately as The Moondogs make quick work of Chris Frazier and Brian Collins but the bigger story comes from the previous Mid-South Coliseum show, where Richard Lee pulls an old Memphis trick straight out of the Andy Kaufman playbook by sending a bandaged imposter into harm’s way while the real Richard waits for his moment to strike. The guys get a good laugh at Corey Maclin realizing halfway through the chaos that Jeff Jarrett has just piledriven “some kind of dummy or a mummy” instead of Richard Lee It’s exactly the kind of ridiculous but effective Memphis angle that works because everybody commits to it.

Jeff Jarrett responds by promising to get Richard Lee inside a steel cage with no referee in the ring and no Moondogs to save him. Along the way, Jeff somehow turns his promo into a history lesson about German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel and flanking maneuvers. Yes, really. The guys immediately wonder whether Jerry Jarrett handed Jeff some notes before he walked through the curtain and how Robert Fuller feels about people making failed attempts at matching his story telling abilities.

Meanwhile, the feud between Eric Embry and “Dirty White Boy” Tony Anthony takes a sharp turn into uncomfortable 90s “Crash TV”. After Dirty White Girl gets involved, Embry and company attempt to humiliate her by ripping at her clothes, leading Tony Anthony to promise revenge in a Texas Handcuff Match. Gene, Josh, and BT discuss both the ticket-selling logic behind an angle like this and just how badly portions of it have aged when viewed more than thirty years later.

But the headliner is Austin Idol... All show long, Richard Lee insists Idol isn’t coming (which wouldn’t surprise ANYONE). Jerry Lawler says he personally spoke to Idol and promises he is chartering a plane to Memphis. Then, during another Moondog attack, the Universal Heartthrob finally strolls in joining the fray using his metal suitcase as a weapon as this clothes and toiletries spill out all over the ring. Idol immediately joins the fight and then cuts one of the most ridiculous over