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The Brad Armstrong Memorial was held at the historic Chilhowee Park Homer Hamilton Amphitheater in Knoxville, TN.
Father's Day was a fitting date for an event held to raise money for Brad's daughter Jillian Haley. There were 700 in attendance and approximately $4000 raised.
An impressive lineup of Tennessee legends and local stars gave their time to pay tribute to the man Tracy Smothers called the most underrated wrestler of all time, and the funniest human God ever put on this earth.
On a night when the wrestling was secondary to honoring a great wrestler and raising money for his family, the babyfaces went over in every match.
The national anthem was botched due to technical issues. It turned into a nice moment of humor when rock music started blaring over the PA.
The introduction of Bullet Bob and Steve Armstrong got things back on track. Bullet said Brad was not only his son and Steve's brother, he was their partner and friend. Bullet thanked the fans for coming and thanked the wrestlers for donating their time.
Bullet introduced Terry Landell and Bob Orton Jr. as the two individuals responsible for putting the event together. Bullet said he had to knock them out when he was still wrestling, but their relationships changed when his son died.
Landell pointed out that the fans were in the presence of two WWE Hall of Famers. Landell, decked out in a ridiculous pimp daddy outfit - pink hat, pink vest and pink tie -- said he was donating his hat to the cause via a raffle. Landell referenced the giant banner picturing Brad and said Brad was smiling on us.
All of the wrestlers came to ringside to honor Brad with a 10 bell salute.
(1) Shane Williams and "Lychan Assassin" Cerebus (Wolfie D) defeated Sigmon & Elliott Russell (with David Young) in 7:45. Knox County Mayor Tim Burchett was the first of many special referees. Burchett went into business for himself before the match and gave Young a bionic elbow. Young tripped Williams to give the heels the upper hand. They triple teamed Shane when the mayor wasn't looking. Shane hit a tornado DDT and tags were made. Young passed an invisible foreign object to Russell. Mayor Burchett cut Russell off and he was pinned after a Cerebus rack drop and Williams fist drop. A solid opener.
(2) Ric Cannon & Kendall Cannon & Hillbilly Joe defeated J.T. Coalminer & Angus Coalminer & James Bryan in 9 minutes. Roan County Commissioner Randy Ellis was the special referee. The crowd was losing interest in watching inferior talent. Ring announcer Joel Lawson sped up the "10 minutes gone" call to send them home. Lawson did a stellar job all night long. Joe rolled up JT.
(3) Tim Horner & Tom Prichard (with "Bullet" Bob Armstrong) defeated Bob Orton Jr. & George South (with "Dirty White Boy" Tony Anthony)in 12:50. Orton got a kick out of Bullet doing his signature "Bad to the Bone" Knox County Sheriff JJ Jones was the special referee. Anthony is quite large these days. Horner looked rusty. That said, I have no doubt he could easily whip some of the goofs that passed for pro wrestlers on this show. Bullet chopped South as he was stumble bumbling around ringside. South and Orton were having problems. South kept mouthing off and eventually tried to sucker punch Orton. Not a good idea. Orton, age 62, his hair pure grey, gave South a middle rope superplex and walked out. Prichard then pinned South with a side Russian legsweep in honor of Brad. The legendary cast of characters was more than enough to make this an entertaining match.
(4) Gladiator & Super Mario & Dillon Van Dam defeated Pandhandling Paul & Keith Michaels & Vengence in 5 minutes. Dr. Tom Young from University of Tennessee Hospital was the special referee. More indytastic hijinx. Van Dam pinned Michaels while Mario sat on his back.
(5) Davey Rich & Stan Sierra (with Johnny Rich & The Amazing Maria) defeated Jimmy Golden & Tojo Yamamoto Jr. in 9:30. Johnny looks like he ate Tommy. Golden and Tojo heeled on Davey for most of the match. Davey was bumping and working hard. Tojo rumbled into the corner, ate the turnbuckle, and Sierra rolled him up.
(6) KC Thunder & Cerebus defeated Kid Kash & Stan Lee (with Tasha Simone) in 15:45. Kash did his usual fan baiting routine. Knox County Trustee John Duncan was the special referee. Kash and Cerebus provided the best wrestling of the night. They teased a dual of chairs. Duncan was getting a little freaked. Cerebus chokebombed Kash but Stan broke up the pin. Lee took a reverse atomic drop for his troubles. All four in. Finish was a double pin - rack drop by Cerebus on Kash and Thunder stunned Stan.
Postmatch, Kash's prime target in the crowd tried to take a swing at him with a chair. Landell came out to cool the guy off.
(7) Wild Eyed Southern Boys (Tracy Smothers & Steve Armstrong) & Doug Gilbert (with Super Mario) defeated NWA National Champion Vordell Walker & The Original Storm Trooper & "Nature Boy" Paul Lee (with Terry Landell) in 12 minutes. Paul said they were missing something and called out "Mr. Knoxville" Terry Landell. Smothers' mic work was one of the high points of the night. He said Brad was an honorable man, a great father, son and brother. Smothers put Walker over huge, pointing out that he was the new NWA National Champion and talked about him beating up Rick Steiner. Landell took the mic and heeled on Brad (at Bullet's insistence). The highlight of the match was a spirited exchange between Smothers and Walker. Walker got in Smothers' face calling him an old man. They traded stiff blows and out of nowhere, the match had the feel of a real fight. The finish saw the heels Irish whipped into a three way collision, and the babyfaces piled on top of Storm Trooper.
NOTES: Jim Cornette and Robert Fuller were not at the Memorial for obvious reasons based on their history with Terry Landell. When Fuller ran his "K Town Smackdown Series" at Chilhowee Park in 2000, Landell ran free shows in the parking lot across the street in opposition. Cornette, who was bringing in talent from OVW to work Fuller's shows, took except to this. He paid Landell a visit and ended up surfing on the hood of Landell's car. A warrant was issued for Cornette's arrest, and for several years, Cornette was persona non grata in the state of Tennessee. Ironically, the ring Landell used for the show was Cornette's old SMW ring...Brian (Jesse James) and Scott Armstrong could not be there because they were booked for the WWE PPV...Brad's wife and mother were in attendance...Advertised but not appearing were Jerry Stubbs, Buddy Landell and Matt Riviera...Ron Wright didn't make it but his brother Don was there...Tony Peters fell ill the day of the show causing the cancelation of his pre-show gospel music performance...Other notables in attendance were Lisa Funk (SAW) and Mac McMurray (referee for Southeastern Championship Wresting and many others)...Joe Wheeler assisted Joel Lawson at the announce table....Tennessee Mountain Wrestling will be at Eddie's Auto Parts on June 22 featuring an appearance by Tracy Smothers.
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