Mid-South Wrestling (TV #159)
September 25th 1982
Irish McNeil Boys Club: Shreveport, LA.
Boyd Pierce & Bill Watts opened the show from the announce desk; Boyd ran down the card and hyped Buck Robley vs. One Man Gang in a Lumberjack match, plus Ted DiBiase & Hacksaw Duggan in tag team action and a singles match with the Junkyard Dog. Watts put over the Lumberjack match by quoting JYD and said “you gotta bring some to get some” then hilariously added that, “you don’t go to the ring like a cabbage.” – I died. Watts noted that if Robley could beat the One Man Gang then he would get Skandor Akbar next week in a singles match. After hyping up the Lumberjack match, Watts talked about it being “Superdome time” again and said everyone was gearing up for the big show on Thanksgiving night. He stated that one of the newest stars on his way to the Mid-South area would be at the Superdome: Kamala the Ugandan Warrior. They showed the famous vignette again of Kamala traipsing around Jerry Jarrett’s backyard in Tennessee then Watts noted that Kamala would make his debut next week on TV. Watts then spoke about the deal last week with the two masked Grapplers and we got a replay of Mr Wrestling II fighting off both Grapplers. – Hey look, a wrestling show that not only tells you what to look forward to in the future, but also one that reminds you of all the important stuff that happened in the past!
The Grapplers vs. Tim Horner & Johnny Rich. – Grapplers over in 5:02. Solid win for the heels, who made the young babyfaces look good in defeat. The carpenter faces got some shine and actually looked pretty good while they were on offence. Grappler #2 had enough and hauled off with a big closed fist to Horner to start the heat. Grapplers beat up Horner with some good old fashioned heel tactics then did the same to Rich. Horner made a short comeback but Grappler #2 cut him off with a Shoulder Breaker and Grappler #1 hit Mr Wrestling II’s Knee Lift then used his running Fujiwara Armbar to get the pin. – Tony Anthony did a pretty good job under the Grappler #2 mask; he obviously wasn’t as polished as Len Denton but he certainly held up his end of the deal.
JYD (Mid-South Tag Team Champion) vs. Billy Starr. – JYD over in 1:13. Dog completely steam-rolled Starr and didn’t give him anything. JYD hit an Atomic Drop and hit the Thump for the finish. – This shouldn’t need explaining, but this is how you book a top babyface that is limited in the ring.
Mr Wrestling II vs. Larry Clark. – Wrestling II over in 3:26. Dull squash win for Two. Watts put Two over as a grizzled veteran and said nobody knew his real age but if you checked the record books you could see how long his career had spanned. He then speculated that Two’s longevity was down to the “elasticity of his ligament structure.” It was probably more likely down to the fact that Two worked the super old-school style and never took any crazy bumps. Two won with his famous Knee Lift.
Lumberjack Match: Buck Robley vs. One Man Gang w/Skandor Akbar. – Robley over in 7:10. Lumerjacks were, Iron Mike Sharpe, Dick Murdoch, Mr Wrestling II, Jesse Barr, Tim Horner, Johnny Rich, Vinnie Romeo, The Grapplers & Killer Khan; naturally the heels and faces were on opposite sides of the ring. Gang beat up Robley then tossed him outside a couple of times and the Lumberjacks did their job. Gang missed a corner splash and Robley made a comeback; Gang rolled outside to try take a break but the Lumberjacks were right there and sent him back inside. Robley got a near-fall with a Front Chancery of all things. Gang took over again; it was pretty uneventful. Robley came back again and sent Gang over the top rope with a Dropkick; once again the Lumberjacks earned their pay – and by all accounts of Watts‘ pay-offs, it probably wasn’t all that much. Robley hooked the Sleeper but Gang dumped him over the top; you know the deal by now. Finish saw Gang miss a big splash off the second rope then Robley Dropkicked him into the turnbuckle and came off the top rope with his loaded forearm brace to Gang’s head. Obviously this was a no DQ match so Robley coming off the top rope went unpunished by the Watts regime. Crowd went nuts for the finish and Watts hyped Robley vs. Akbar next week. – The match itself wasn’t particularly great, however the Lumberjack stip made it pretty enjoyable. In modern pro wrestling I can’t stand Lumberjack matches, as they have been overdone to the point of parody, however it was so rare to see a gimmick match on 1982 Mid-South TV that it made for a fun spectacle. On a completely unrelated note, Dick Murdoch was wearing an old yellow All Japan t-shirt, despite having just come back from a tour of New Japan.
Ted DiBiase (North American Heavyweight Champion) & Hacksaw Duggan vs. Jesse Barr & Vinnie Romeo. – DiBiase & Duggan over in 3:20. Watts talked about DiBiase & Duggan being stripped of the Mid-South Tag Team titles after their scheme to dethrone JYD & Mr Olympia was overturned by president Charlie Lay. Barr got a close near-fall early on DiBiase by countering a Sunset Flip, which the crowd popped big for and Watts put Barr over for coming a long way in a short amount of time. DiBiase cut off Romeo and the heels worked him over for the heat; no comeback from the faces. Duggan landed his spearing NFL headbutt on Romero then DiBiase finished him off with his Powerslam to get the pin. – Good decisive win for DiBiase & Duggan to keep their tag team feud with JYD & Mr Olympia on the boil.
Back with Boyd & Watts at the desk and Watts talked about the Mongolian Stomper coming to the Mid-South area very soon. There was a commotion going on off-screen and Watts noted that DiBiase & Duggan had refused to leave the ring during the commercial break. Jack Curtis (subbing for regular ring announcer Resser Bowden, who apparently was on vacation) told DiBiase & Duggan they had to leave, but instead DiBiase ranted about being stripped of the Tag Team titles by the “office.” DiBiase demanded another shot at JYD & Mr Olympia and said that he and Duggan could beat them at any time. Mr Olympia hit the ring and told the heels he had no control over the decisions made by the Mid-South office. Olympia noted that JYD was taking a shower after his match but he said he would go put his gear on, get the Dog and comeback out to defend the Tag titles. DiBiase & Duggan jumped Olympia from behind as he went to leave the ring and laid him out when Duggan hit a Backbreaker and DiBiase came off the top with a Knee Drop (sort of like the Demolition Decapitation, but with a Knee Drop instead). A bunch of babyfaces hit the ring to run-off DiBiase & Duggan and they helped Olympia to his feet. Watts threw to a video sent from Florida of the Mongolian Stomper in a handicap match. – The beat-down angle on Olympia was awesome; as soon as he said that JYD was taking a shower you knew exactly what was coming and it was still great.
Mongolian Stomper vs. Two Jobbers (From Florida TV). – Stomper over in 3:01. Don Carson was on commentary with Gordon Solie and put over his man, the Stomper, at every opportunity. Stomper beat up both unnamed tomato cans with ease and put one of them to sleep with the dreaded Shinni nu Maki. The other geek tried to attack Stomper afterwards but he got his ass kicked as well.
Back at the desk again with Boyd & Watts. Watts noted that JYD was out of the shower and they had taken Olympia upstairs to the locker room to check him over. He added that DiBiase & Duggan had returned to the ring and were “challenging everybody.” Boyd threw to a commercial break while they tried to restore some order.
After the break, DiBiase & Duggan were pacing around in the ring. Watts said that JYD’s music had been cued up so he was definitely coming out, but nobody knew who the Dog would bring out to fight with him. JYD showed up with Dick Murdoch and an impromptu tag match broke out.
JYD & Dick Murdoch vs. Ted DiBiase & Hacksaw Duggan. – TV Time Limit Draw at 2:45. Everybody brawled early on and JYD & Murdoch cleared the ring. JYD & Murdoch stood back-to-back then moved at the last second, causing DiBiase & Duggan to bonk into each other – it was a great little spot. It was basically a Texas Tornado match with all four guys brawling in the ring. The heels isolated JYD briefly but Murdoch came back and they took over again. JYD & Murdoch hit a couple of double team shoulder tackles and pounded on DiBiase & Duggan until the TV time limit expired. The bell rang, however they kept brawling as the show went off the air and Watts yelled that they could ring the bell all they wanted because it wasn’t going to do any good. – My goodness was this tremendous. First the set up with Olympia letting everyone know that JYD was in the shower was a great little detail as to why he didn’t come help his tag team partner. JYD bringing out Murdoch made all the sense in the world, as Murdoch was DiBiase’s mentor and had been disgusted with DiBiase’s actions ever since he returned from Japan.
What a lovely spot
This was a very strong episode of Mid-South TV. The tag matches with the Grapplers and DiBiase & Duggan was really solid stuff, the Lumberjack match was a fun spectacle and there was that awesome angle/impromptu match with JYD & Murdoch against DiBiase & Duggan. As always, the storytelling and booking of the key talent was pretty much second to none.
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