Mid-South Wrestling (1.19.1985) Review

-This one’s actually not on WWECock, but I’m able to review this episode anyway. How did I find it? Well, I have my secrets, but let’s just say “I went to other websites that have videos on them and entered search terms that led me to finding this video easily.”

-Originally aired January 19, 1985.

-Your hosts are Boyd Pierce & Bill Watts. We have TWO title matches this week. The Tag Team Title is on the line with two referees present, and Brad Armstrong is defending the North American Title AGAIN, this time against Dr. Death.

-We go to the ring, where Jim Ross is standing by with Hacksaw Jim Duggan, clad in a white tuxedo with old timey white gloves and his handsome cufflinks. His wife is in the ring, too, and just to complete the scene, he gives her a dozen roses.

-Steve Williams, Ted DiBiase, and Skandar Akbar all surround the ring, and Ted DiBiase rattles off a flurry of insults to try to provoke Duggan, because “a gentleman wouldn’t want to fight.” And right as all hell looks to break loose, Duggan reveals he’s no idiot, as he has a concealed pipe in his shirt, and the heels take off when he whips it out.

-The pipe.

TAG TEAM TITLE, WITH TWO REFEREES: ROCK & ROLL EXPRESS vs. ALAMO BUSTERS
-The Busters have a big surprise in store for everyone, as they’ve hired a new manager to provide them with guidance in this title match: JIM CORNETTE! Ah, I didn’t think we were going to see him again. Cornette comes out wearing a sombrero and a matador’s jacket, and it doesn’t look less ridiculous than it sounds. And Chavo cuts a hilarious promo before the match about how annoying it is that Mid-South hired two referees for this match, but couldn’t be bothered to make one of them a Mexican referee, so there’s an obvious built-in bias. To thank Jim Cornette for offering to help, the Guerreros present him with a large sack filled with gold coins.

-Chavo and Robert start as Bill Watts clarifies that Cornette is here for one night only because the Midnight Express are now the American Tag Team Champions in Dallas and managing them is a full-time job. Ricky armdrags the Guerreros, and the Express clears the Busters from the ring.

-Guerreros take over by double-teaming Robert as Bill Watts offers a shout-out to “the insider fans” who enjoy Mid-South Wrestling. Action is going faster than I can recap it as these teams are both going 100 MPH and have incredible chemistry to go with the speed.

-Hector suplexes Robert, and the Guerreros work the arm, and we get a bit of a change in the routine, as Robert hot-tags Ricky. Ricky dropkicks the Guerreros all over the place but accidentally takes out the referee with a dropkick. Second referee tends to the first referee as Jim Cornette passes the sack of gold coins to Chavo. Chavo knocks Ricky cold, with the coins spilling all over the ring for a great visual, and Hector gets the three-count. We have NEEWWWWWWW Tag Team Champions.

-Hey, a house show promo! Don’t get this on Peacock! Terry Taylor and Butch Reed team up to face Dr. Death & Sheik Hercules at the UNO Lakefront Arena. Butch Reed is ready for “Doctor Doofus” and promises to take ’em out on January 28.

-Back from commercial, JR has the “gold coins” that Cornette and the Guerreros left behind, and it turns out they’re not even gold coins, they’re gold-painted lead washers. The two referees from the previous match have a conference, with Ronnie West, the referee who got wiped out initially saying he recovered in time to see the weapon being used, but he couldn’t communicate that to Carl Fergie, who made the count. Because of that, the decision is being reversed and the Rock & Roll Express retains by DQ.

SHEIK HERCULES HERNANDEZ & “Dr. Death” STEVE WILLIAMS (with Skandar Akbar) vs. JOSH STROUD & JIMMY POWELL
-Herc slams Stroud down as Bill Watts boasts that Stroud has a tryout with the USFL next week. Stroud gets to shine a little bit, working Herc’s arm, but Powell tags in, which is the major error committed by the team in this particular match.

-Sheik tags in, with Dr. Death telling him to “Take care of ’em, Ray!” Big clothesline by Herc, and Dr. Death tags back in to hit the Oklahoma Stampede for the three-count, which makes me happy because it means not trying to type the name of Hercules’ finisher.

ICEMAN KING PARSONS vs. DALE VEASEY
-Veasey gets a bodypress for one. Parsons works the arm over. Veasey tries turnbuckle shots but gets headbutted down. Clothesline off the second rope finishes for the Iceman.

-Just signed for that house show at UNO Lakefront Arena, a non-title Lights Out match between the Rock & Roll Express and the Guerreros! Guerreros are pissed off about this. They finally win the Tag Team Title, the belts are taken away two minutes later, and they get a rematch under Lights Out rules, which means no titles on the line. What kinda crap is that?!

NORTH AMERICAN TITLE: BRAD ARMSTRONG (with the drum from a washing machine hanging over his shoulder) vs. TED DIBIASE (with Skandar Akbar)
-DiBiase is here to WIN and unloads a ton of offensive strikes right away. Brad ducks an elbow and dropkicks DiBiase. Kneelift gets two. Armstrong applies a side headlock and DiBiase turns it into an attempted roll-up for two. Armstrong sticks to the side headlock until DiBiase makes it back to his feet and back suplexes him. DiBiase chokes Armstrong and clamps on a chinlock.

-Armstrong fights to his feet and rams DiBiase into the corner. Armstrong has his second wind and applies a sleeper on DiBiase. DiBiase dives to a corner and rams Brad into a turnbuckle to break the hold. DiBiase goes to the floor and posts the leg over and over again. Back in, DiBiase goes for the kill with a figure four, and Armstrong submits! The building actually goes silent from the surprise when the bell sounds because when have you seen a title change by submission in this territory? DiBiase is the new champ after a pretty good match. I can understand why promoters liked Brad so much, but he just wasn’t the guy, no matter how much they tried.

-Butch Reed enjoys visiting children’s hospitals on his day off.

-Breaking news: That Duggan/DiBiase match on at the UNO Lakefront Arena, is now a title match. Little detail that I like: Not only does Mid-South not try to maintain the pretense of a live show, they actually call attention to the fact that the show is pre-taped and use that to their advantage for the house show promos. The Guerreros started their promo by telling us “Now that you’ve seen what happened in that title match…” and now DiBiase is out here, wearing a stylish suit with the North American belt, talking about what he just proved in the match we watched.

JAKE “The Snake” ROBERTS vs. TIM HORNER
-This week’s show is definitely winding down and you can feel it. Horner rolls up Roberts for a quick one-count then dropkicks him. Jake comes back, but TV time actually runs out before we get a finish. That’s pretty much a win for Horner.