wrestling / Video Reviews
The Enlightenment: Mid-South/UWF Wrestling Vol. 9
Error #1: Last week’s tape should have been labeled “Mid-South/UWF Tape #8”. It was the 14th Enlightenment (just something I do to keep them in order.) I regret the error.
Error #2: Reader Chris Corridan:
“…you wrote that Gary Young was big in World
Class. I know he was there in 1988 or so (after
working with Cactus Jack in Memphis) but are you
suggesting that he had some WCCW success before his
UWF days? News to me.”
My mistake on the timeline. Young was briefly in WCCW before jumping to the UWF, but he was hardly “big.” He would make a name for himself in the UWF and then jump back to WCCW and become a bigger star.
Other mail:
“I wanna say that The Enlightenment series on the UWF and Mid-South and Houston wrestling is probably my favorite read on 411. I love reading about old stuff like this that I didn’t have the privilege of seeing. It’s easy to follow because so many of the names ending up being pretty prominent in other places. Watts’ booking style is so great. It’s so straightforward and easy to pick up on. I wish WWE could do shit like this. Hell, I wish WWE could even book like TNA some times. Keep pumping out stuff in this series, I wanna know what happens next, dammit!”
Mark Satrang
Outside of a few small indy sites dedicated to old school, the territorial days seem to have been forgotten. That’s why I do the Enlightenment. : )
I loved your review of this tape. Damn near killed myself laughing at the “why not tell everyone she left her front door unlocked” line at the end. It’s funny reading this, as I recall watching a lot of this back when it was on T.V. Sorry to show my age, but man, Houston was a hot spot for some great wrestling. A favorite angle back in the day was Tank Patton, who had a “broken arm” just like Iron Mike Sharp did with WWF. He wore the plaster cast and used it on everyone (i.e. Wahoo McDaniel, Ivan Putski) in San Antonio. In Houston, he had a huge match against Andre the Giant, where Andre ripped apart the cast in the ring enroute to administering an asskicking to the Tank.
I remember watching when Duggan “valiantly” battled against Gordy for the new UWF belt. Hell, I used to watch Chavo Guererro Sr. wrestle every Friday night at the Los Angeles Olympic Auditorium, defending the Americas Title against Race, Piper, Crusher Verdu, Black Gordman, Keith Franke (later to be known as Adrian Adonis). But as good a face as he was at that time, he was(and still is) an even better heel.
Love the column,
Mike in Austin, Tx
See, now I’m all nostalgic. I hope WWE 24/7 expands soon, and Vince decides to take advantage of his non-WWE footage from the 1980s.
Other stuff:
Go give a great big welcome to Mike Novak. He provides a point-of-view you won’t often find online.
Also, over at IP, Gordi Whitelaw has an excellent interview with former Mid-Souther Matt Bourne.
(I should point out that this is right around the time Terry Taylor started booking UWF shows). We’re JIP to Gordy covering for a nearfall. Gordy hits a swinging neckbreaker. Taylor fights back, but gets caught in a sleeper. Tommy Gilbert checks Taylor’s arm, but it only drops twice. Taylor elbows out, but winds up in the sleeper again. Taylor’s shoulders are down, but he keeps rolling one up at a two count. Taylor fights out again, but Gordy delivers a Snake Eyes on the ropes. Taylor fights back with punches and gets a helping of frosty justice with a Snake Eyes of his own. Taylor takes the Bret-bump off an Irish Whip reversal. Gordy suplexes Taylor from the apron to the ring, but Gilbert refuses to count it because Gordy didn’t let Taylor get back in fairly. I guess that makes sense. Taylor avoids a fist drop but Gordy catches him with a stiff lariat to finally finish him off at 9:29 (shown). Taylor was pesky, but didn’t get in much offense. ***
JIP. Chavo knocks Sawyer out of the ring. Sawyer gets back in and offers a handshake. Chavo refuses, so Sawyer backs him into the corner and bites his neck. It’s no DQ, so Sawyer grabs a chair from outside and hits Chavo over the head with it. Sawyer takes over from there, biting and headbutting Guerrero at every opportunity. Chavo fights back with a stiff blow to the forehead that cuts Sawyer open. To the outside, Chavo grabs the chair now, and blasts Sawyer with it. Back in, Sawyer starts swinging wildly. Chavo ducks one of the swings and hits a reverse elbow for the pin at 7:50 (shown). Another solid match. **ѕ
Buddy Roberts is a complete tool, but at least he was better than Jimmy Garvin. Roberts hiptosses Taylor and delivers a dropkick. Taylor tosses Roberts over the top, but it wasn’t intention so the match goes on. Roberts hangs Taylor in the Tree-of-Woe and stomps him. He pulls Taylor down and tries to whip him into the opposite corner. Taylor reverses it and puts Roberts in the Tree-of-Woe. Roberts turns the tide with an elbow drop and hits a swinging neckbreaker for two. Taylor gets a small package for two. Roberts goes for a piledriver, but Taylor backdrops out of it. Hayes hops up on the apron but Taylor kicks out of a rollup and sends Roberts into Hayes. Taylor schoolboys him for the win at 6:20. Felt like a long Velocity match. **
This is from a highlight package from the June 14 Superdome show. I just point it out because it shows how times have changed. This would be like Triple H vs. Hurricane main-eventing a PPV. JIP to the end where Morton hits Flair with a missile dropkick. One, two, thre—Flair gets his foot on the ropes. Morton grabs a sleeper and…the highlight ends. [NR]
Also from the Superdome. Dark Journey returns and costs Victory the match. Lady Maxine tosses Journey and says she wants a piece of Koko. DJ gets back in and tosses powder in Maxine’s face. [NR]
JIP to much chaos. The Fantastics are jabbing something (ring wrenches?) into the Sheeps’ heads. Joel Watts tells us it got much too violent to be aired on television. Now that’s showmanship.
For those who don’t know, the Missing Link was just a big guy who had the front of his afro shaved and used his head as a battering ram. He actually was quite a good mat wrestler and even helped train Val Venis. He delivers a front slam to Mendoza and finishes him with a diving headbutt. ј*
Sawyer runs from Kamala to start, then tags to Ken Massey who gets squashed under 400 lbs. of the OMG. ј*
I kind of like Shadow’s costume. He bows to show he’s Japanese, but does it in such a way that we know he’s not Japanese. Koko finishes with the missile dropkick. ј*
comes out to challenge Gordy for the title. Hayes leaves the announce position to mouth off to Duggan. Duggan knocks him on his ass, triggering a big brawl between Duggan and Gordy. Hayes tries to sneak attack Duggan, but Ted Dibiase comes down and we have a four man brawl. And we’re outta time!!!
JIP to Ricky Morton beating on Buddy Roberts. Ricky is wearing a face protector. Robert makes the stupid decision to complain about Michael Hayes, thus distracting the referee long enough for the Freebirds to double-team Morton. Morton plays Ricky Morton. Gibson complains again and this time the Freebirds come off the top, which would normally be a DQ. Hayes jams Morton’s face into the mat, but it’s no-sold because Ricky is wearing the mask. Finally, Roberts gets shoved into Hayes allowing Morton to make the HOT TAG~! to Gibson. Gibson takes it to the Freebirds, but Hayes catches Morton with a clothesline and tosses him over the top rope. The ref catches him, though, and calls for the DQ. Typical great formula stuff from the R’n’Rs. ***ѕ
This is a carryover from the Guerrero vs. Buzz Sawyer feud. They exchange armdrags and Steiner complains about tight-pulling. Chavo starts kicking Steiner’s hamstring. Chavo works the leg further with a stepover toehold. Steiner gets to his feet, backs Chavo into the turnbuckle, and cheapshots him in the face while the ref is trying to separate them. Steiner hangs Chavo on the ropes and hits him with the Steinerline. Chavo avoids a charge and hits a jumping spin kick. They screw up…something. Chavo hits a pair of flying crosschops a few moments later to pick up the win. Solid match. **Ѕ
The Lybian is an attempt to cash in on the embassy bombings from around this time. They couldn’t even think of a name for him, he’s just — The Libyan. He’s big but doesn’t do much outside of your basic brawling moves. Taylor leapfrogs a backdrop and finishes the Libyan with a Fivearm. Ѕ*
This is the big showdown. The Miracle Violence Connection explodes! Doc tosses Gordy into the turnbuckle like a ragdoll. Gordy shoulderblocks Doc down, but gets tossed across the ring. Gordy tries to shove out of a headlock using the hair, but Williams holds Gordy’s hair to maintain the headlock. Great spot to get the crowd in it. Doc press slams Gordy, which is very impressive. Gordy catches Doc with a lariat to take the advantage. Gordy whips Doc into the turnbuckle, BREAKING THE RINGROPES! The crack UWF staff gets up and reattaches the ropes as Doc gets a suplex out of nowhere. He makes the big comeback, but misses a headbutt. Gordy starts throwing the back of Doc’s head into the turnbuckle. Gordy goes for the piledriver, but Doc backdrops him over the ropes. We go to commercial wondering if there will be a disqualification. Back from commercial, Michael Hayes is on the apron arguing that Williams should be disqualified. The match continues, says Tommy Gilbert. Williams whips Gordy into the ropes, but charges into a boot. Bill Watts runs down to the ring to bark words of encouragement to Doc. Crowd, by this time, is roaring. Williams ducks a lariat and hits one of his own. Williams shoulderblocks Gordy into Referee Tommy Gilbert, bumping him out of the ring. Hayes trips up Doc from the outside, prompting Watts to run over and knock Hayes on his ass. Williams hits the Oklahoma Stampede as Watts crawls in and counts the three. ***ѕ
Watts and Williams fight off all three Freebirds as Jim Ross and the crowd go ballistic.
The stipulations are that if Watts wins, he gets five minutes alone with Eddie Gilbert. If Sting wins, Eddie Gilbert gets to give Watts five lashes with Watts’ own cowboy belt. Sting’s makeup looks exactly like Golddust’s here. Sting tries a shoulderblock, but bounces off. Watts ties Sting up in the ropes and splashes him. Gilbert gets Sting out of the ropes, but Watts knocks Gilbert off the apron. Watts hits Sting with the Oklahoma Stampede. Gilbert comes off the top, trying to break up the count, but Watts moves out of the way and Eddie hits Sting. Referee Carl Fergie disqualifies Sting for outside interference. Not much of a match, but then it’s all about angles in the UWF. Ѕ*
Watts gets a huge smile on his face. He starts beating the life out of Gilbert and rips his clothes off. Gilbert bleeds as Watts starts whipping him with the belt. Cue ominous music: HERE COME THE FREEBIRDS! The Freebirds attack Watts as a receipt for his interference in the Williams vs. Gordy match. Sting joins in and we have a five-on-one. Gordy locks the Oriental Spike on Watts. Watts starts to spit up blood as Chavo Guerrero, Jim Duggan, and Terry Taylor all run down to brawl with the Freebirds. Ladies and gentlemen, this is one of the greatest angles of all time.
Mendoza demanded a rematch from their last match. Mendoza jumps Ware from behind and hits a high knee in the corner. Mendoza hits Ware with a hooking lariat and a rolling senton. Koko comes back with a stiff clothesline of his own. He finishes Mendoza with the missile dropkick. Ѕ*
Lady Maxine retired from wrestling because she was sick of all the crap involved. In Kayfabed terms, she was run out of the UWF by Dark Journey. We start the match as the closing credits roll. Victory chases Dark Journey, but runs into Missing Link’s head. Link finishes with a front powerslam. ј*
AND WE’RE OUTTA TIME!
Victory and Tatum jump Link and destroy him until he uses his head to come back. Dark Journey goes after Missy Hyatt and the men have to keep them separated. The heels leave and get counted out. No real match to rate, but it furthered the Hyatt vs. Journey feud.
One Man Gang interrupts and picks a fight with Duggan. Duggan clears him out of the ring. Hayes gets on the stick and says Duggan might beat the Gang, but he can’t beat Hayes. Taylor starts with Roberts and winds up dominating him. Hayes tags in and does a moonwalk, so Duggan tags in and does one of his own. This is the kind of goofy non-wrestling fun that you only see from Eugene nowadays. Funny spot as Hayes tries to leap over the ropes into the ring and Duggan pulls the ropes up, making Hayes fall on his face. Faces dominate forever until Roberts tosses Taylor out of the ring. Hayes and Roberts take over and unload their bag of cheap heat tricks on Taylor. Duggan gets the tag, but the ref’s back is turned. One Man Gang comes back down to brawl with Duggan and the Freebirds cheat to pick up the win over Taylor. Hayes and Roberts were really hitting their peak at this point. ***
Eddie Gilbert’s presence at ringside is only explained by Ross saying Gilbert found another anti-American. Sawyer hits a quick succession of moves, but the Libyan uses his brute strength to come back. Most of the match involves Sawyer holding a headlock to keep the big man grounded. The Libyan drops an elbow, but pulls Sawyer up at two. He does it again and again picks Sawyer up at two. I think we all know the rule about that one. Sawyer makes the fired up babyface comeback but runs into a Libyan elbow. The Libyan picks him up AGAIN, which Gilbert protests. Sawyer pops up and small packages the Libyan for the win. Gilbert is not happy. This was like watching an early Batista match. *
They exchange armdrags to start. Chavo gets a rolling leg drive. Hayes makes racists jokes about Guerrero. Chavo botches a Thesz Press, but finishes Massey with a Northern Lights Suplex. ѕ*
Gilbert tells the crowd he kept a souvenir from last week — Watts’ belt. Sawyer gets a few armdrags and a crossbody block. Sting backs Sawyer into a corner and accidentally knees him in the nuts. It ain’t easy bein’ green. Sting can’t seem to put Sawyer away, though. Sawyer hit’s a trio of dropkicks, but misses a flying crossbody. Sting finishes him with a press slam and a splash. Hmmm…that finisher looks familiar. ѕ*
Jim Ross brings up the fact that Akbar used to manage the Link. Kamala jumps Link early on and beats him about the head. Kamala misses a splash, though, and Link uses his head as a battering ram to knock Kamala out of the ring. Jack Victory, John Tatum, and Missy Hyatt come out and Tatum clobbers the Missing Link with his cowboy boot. Dark Journey tries to fight back against them, but Missy hits her with her loaded Gucci purse. Not much of a match, but a great way to introduce Tatum and Hyatt. ј*
What kind of international politicking is this? Libya and Cuba…together again? The Fanatastics whip the heels together and Fulton press slams Rogers onto Mendoza for the win. Ѕ*
The faces clear the heels out of the ring in a hurry. The Freebirds try to get back in, but the faces beat them down. Roberts starts with Dibiase and gets atomic dropped. Roberts crawls to his corner and begs for a tag. Gordy tags in, which brings in Duggan. Down goes Gordy! Down goes Gordy! The Freebirds swarm Duggan and get him into their corner. He fights back and makes Buddy Roberts his bitch. Poor Buddy gets tied in the ropes and Terry Taylor hits him with a few shots…and we’re outta time! Fun while it lasted. **ј
Dibiase brings Jim Duggan out with him to counter Gang’s presence and a big brawl erupts between all four men. The faces clear the ring. The heels come in again, but get more of the same. Kamala gets tied in the ropes and Akbar gets smacked around a little. Finally, the heels just leave for the dressing room. No match took place, but the brawl was fun.
Sting (w/Eddie Gilbert) vs. Jeff Gaylord. Oh great. Two of the greenest guys on the roster going at it. This is like Luther Reigns vs. Gene Snistky. A test of strength wind up in a stalemate as Ross recounts Gaylord’s football career. Sting finally wises up and starts cheating. Eddie Gilbert gets on the apron to distract the ref, but that ref happens to be his own father, Tommy Gilbert, who just shoves his son off the apron. Sting pulls Gaylord’s hair two or three times, and then starts complaining about it himself. Clipped to Gaylord holding a hammerlock. Eddie keeps teasing that he’ll put Sting’s foot on the ropes to break the hold and the crowd goes nuts each time. Gaylord hit’s a pathetic knee lift and follows it up with a few stiff forearms. He tries to press slam the Stinger, but Gilbert pulls his feet out from under him and Sting lands on top for two. Gaylord goes after Gilbert, enabling Sting to get a splash from behind and finish Gaylord with a splash. They tried out there, but neither man had a clue how to build a match at that point. Gilbert provided most of the entertainment. *
Crowd isn’t really big on Young yet, but they cheer him by default. Libyan does a lot of clubbing and elbows and forearms and…well, you get the idea. Young gets a sunset flip out of nowhere for the victory. ј*
Nice technical wrestling match. It’s too bad Mendoza never really became anything. Chavo finishes him with a Northern Lights Suplex. ѕ*
The Fantastics clear the ring and do some strutting. The Fans through the heels into one another. Tatum cheats to gain the advantage, but Victory tags in and gets his ass kicked. Victory and Tatum look to Missy for advice (“use spit, not KY jelly!”). Actually, it must have been something about cheating, because that’s what Tatum and Victory do to take over on Fulton. Fulton plays Ricky Morton for a while. Fulton blocks a suplex and reverses to one of his own. HOT TAG~! to Rogers. Rogers takes everyone out. Fulton goes up top, but Missy reaches in and rakes his eyes, drawing the DQ. Hot match. **Ѕ
Action continues after the match. Victory holds Rogers and Missy slaps him around a bit. This brings out Dark Journey and The Missing Link. Link clears the ring and Journey gets into a catfight with Missy until Tatum is able to pull Missy to safety. Missy is irate!
comes down and chases Hayes away with a baseball bat. He offers to stand guard so no one can interfere. Roberts dominates Taylor early, despite being freaked out by Watts and the baseball bat at ringside. Roberts hits a bulldog, but goes for a second one and gets tossed across the ring. Taylor delivers a suplex, but Roberts foot is on the ropes. Roberts gets a swinging neckbreaker, but Taylor is in the ropes. Roberts thinks he’s won, so he struts around giving Taylor a chance to pop up and finish him with the Fivearm. Quality stuff. ***
Duggan has healed sufficiently, I guess. He charges and destroys the Gang. Gang fights back and WE’RE OUTTA TIME!
Hayes is absent from ringside as is Bill Watts. Taylor gets a reverse monkey flip and locks in a headscissors. Roberts goes to the eyes to counter. Taylor gets tied into the ropes, but kicks Roberts away. Roberts falls back and gets tied into the ropes himself. Taylor gets in several shots, but tries a splash and Roberts gets out of the way. Roberts takes over on offense, which mostly consists of hitting Taylor and then jawing with the fans. Roberts tries to come off the second rope and gets punched in the stomach. Roberts climbs to the top (which I thought was a DQ) but misses an elbow anyway. Michael Hayes climbs in and the Freebirds doubleteam Taylor. Bill Watts runs down to even up the sides and they brawl until time runs out. Another solid match between these two. **ѕ
AND WE’RE OUTTA TIME! For the tape anyway.
Final Thoughts: If you don’t like this tape, you’re an idiot. There, I said it. Seriously though, the combination of Watts, Taylor, and Ken Mantell were red hot when it came to booking episodic television. Everyone worked harder for Watts. The Freebirds — THE FREAKIN’ FREEBIRDS! — were putting on great matches. Missy Hyatt was actually hot! Eddie Gilbert couldn’t not entertainment me if he tried. From a creative standpoint, this may be the best that professional wrestling has ever produced. It’s on par with the peak of the NWO and Austin vs. McMahon.
I cannot recommend this tape enough. If you can’t find it at Goldenboytapes try John Mcadam.
J.D. Dunn
