International Wrestling Alliance 5/13/1989

International Wrestling Alliance 5/13/1989

This is from Nashville.

Barry Cuda does a promo. He says to call him Cuda. He said he has been all over the world, been Mr. USA, wrestled overseas and has been a marine. He says he has come to the IWA for the belt and says he wants everyone in the IWA to know he is coming.

We get a car commercial with Dr. Squash.

Cohen on the left, Curry on the right. Cohen is not an alien, it's just the picture quality

Dick Curry and Roger Cohen are our announcers. They say a lot has been happening in the IWA. They say Nick Gulas has joined forces with the IWA and will be a major force. We are told Nashville proclaimed May 11th as "IWA Day".

Texas Hangman does a promo. He says he will come into Tombstone's life and make it a living hell. He said he will string him up with a rope and see how long he survives and does a funny mean voice while doing it.

Texas Hangman vs Karate Kid

The footage for this is super dark. Hangman has a major size advantage here. Kid kicks him and his a flurry of chest kicks. Kid then spin kicks him in the chest and Hangman rolls out. Hangman pushes him in the corner and chops him then takes a monkey flip. Hangman lariats him and hits a back elbow for 2.

Kid comes back with kicks and a back elbow. Hangman then slams him for 2. Hangman then hits a spinning neckbreaker and wins it.

This was short and it was fine with the Kid hitting kicks and getting some babyface offense in before his doom.

Hangman puts his noose around Kid's neck and pulls after.

We are told the Interns are on the Prowl with Dr. Squash. They are driving around in a car with very heavy accents. They do a bad job of hitting someone with a car then jump him. They then hold him up and stomp him together. They then do a weak slam on the guy on grass and throw him into the car. This had horrible execution but was campy and hilarious.

We then see the Interns and Dr. Squash do a commercial for a laundromat. This was hilarious the Interns spinning their heads around with the laundry in the machine and goofing off.

The announcers discuss whether the last match was a wrestling or karate match. Cohen says the Hangman isn't known for being a bad sport and Curry says Kid just ticked him off. They say the next match is a powerhouse match.

We get a "tune into the IWA" line from an unknown wrestler. 

Steve Sawyer vs Doug Masters

Steve hits some armdrags on Doug and dropkicks him. Doug then rolls out and the announcers tell him there's no time for a break. Steve starts a "Go Steve Go" chant. Steve hammerlocks him and Doug ropebreaks. Steve headlocks him and shoulders him over. Steve then hiptosses him and Doug begs off. Doug hits a lariat and takes Steve down then euro uppercuts him. Doug hits a hard back elbow then suplexes him for 2.

Doug flying clotheslines him then Steve hits a twisting crossbody off the 2nd buckle. Steve then dropkicks him out. They knucklelock and Doug kicks him to get an advantage. Steve monkey flips him then hiptosses him. Steve works his leg then slams him. Steve then goes up top and sunset flips him for the win.

It wasn't anything special but did end at about the right time. Just real simple stuff here minus the finish which was kind of a big move for 1989.

We see the ceremony for IWA Day in Nashville. Cohen says the IWA is deadset against drugs and they say we will have some PSA's against drugs. Nick Gulas, Joe Silva and Dr. Squash are on hand for the ceremony and they talk about the IWA being willing to go against drug abuse.

The announcers said they were told by fans that they wanted to see the match between Danger Zone and the Interns. They say it is 22 minutes long.

Barry Cuda and Gentleman Jim Corbett tell people to tune into the IWA. 

Danger Zone (Barry Cuda & Gentleman Jim) vs The Interns with Dr. Squash

 

Danger Zone of course comes out to the Danger Zone song. Cuda has like an Elvis type of jacket on and Cuda is pretty ripped. The announcers say The Interns are "The bad guys of wrestling". We are told the Interns were employed by New York psychiatric hospital but were fired due to frequent brutality with the patients.  

Jim gets a side headlock on Scalpel and Scalpel hurts his head on a shoulderblock. They do the spot where the ref doesn't see the face tag and we have all kinds of clips and cuts for this match. Jim is thrown out to the floor and Cuda accidentally nails the ref with a forearm when one of the Interns ducks. Cuda gets mad and back body drops an Intern then Cuda grabs Dr. Squash. Squash is brought into the ring but the Intern hits Cuda from behind. Squash then helps the ref and the ref counts the pin for the Interns.

This was heavily clipped and we saw maybe 3 minutes of a 22 minute match. I'm not sure if the promotion did that or if the person who recorded this did that.

We were told Danger Zone will keep their belt due to Dr. Squash still being in the ring.

The announcers then close the show.

Overall thoughts: The announcers were likeable and the commercials were really funny. The wrestling wasn't that great, but it's 1980's Alabama indy wrestling and little should be expected. I thought it was a simple but fun little show and I'd legit rather watch this stuff than most wrestling on TV today despite its issues.