wrestling / Video Reviews
Mid-South Wrestling (1.29.1983) Review
Image Credit: WWE/Peacock
Loading...-Originally aired January 29, 1983.
-Your hosts are Boyd Pierce and…sigh…dammit. Paul Boesch.
TIM HORNER vs. TOM RENESTO, JR.
-This appears to be a baby step toward the first push for Tim Horner. Horner starts with a hiptoss and an armdrag into an armbar. Boesch says that Horner’s skill is that he learns wrestling moves in the gym and then applies them during his matches. Woah, woah, woah, don’t give away ALL of a man’s secrets.
-They trade arm wringers, with Renesto repeatedly yanking Horner down by the hair and Horner doing rapid-fire kip-ups . Horner works the arm and Renesto starts throwing punches in frustration. Backdrop by Renesto, but he goes for it again and gets booted down. Dropkick by Horner, followed by a flying forearm for two. Thesz press finishes. Horner looked pretty strong here.
-Suddenly Paul Boesch is gone and here’s Skandar Akbar with footage of a match he thinks we should see.
IRON MIKE SHARPE vs. KAMALA (with Friday)
-From Houston. Kamala charges at Sharpe and unloads with chops before throwing him out to the concrete. Kamala follows him out and mauls him with more chops, sending him into the post. Back in, Sharpe tries to get something going with punches, but Kamala ignores every one of them and chops some more. Sharpe throws a weak dropkick and Kamala doesn’t even budge. Kamala sinks his teeth into him. Iron Mike is bleeding, and Kamala stops to TASTE HIS BLOOD before going back to work with more chops and choking.
-More chops and choking in the middle of the ring. Iron Mike is a mess but Kamala just refuses to actually finish this. Akbar’s commentary is great too, reminding us that Sharpe once gave him a piledriver and injured his neck, and he’s so quietly pleased with how the match is going. He chops Iron Mike into the apron and bites him more as we get the 5-minute announcement from the commentator and Iron Mike hasn’t gotten a damn thing accomplished yet.
-Kamala whips him into the ropes and chops him down again, targeting the throat this time. Slam by Kamala, and the big splash fi–nope, a second big splash finishes. Iron Mike is DEAD. And keep in mind how consistently pushed he’s been and that he’s held a title belt, and Kamala just treated him like it was his first night in the business and took everything out of him. Kamala looks absolutely dangerous now.
NORTH AMERICAN TITLE: STAGGER LEE (Champion) vs. TED DIBIASE (with Hacksaw Duggan & Matt Borne)
-First order of business, the referee orders Duggan and Borne to leave before he’ll even allow Stagger Lee to come down the aisle. Duggan and Borne take off…and then match maker Grizzly Smith shows up and asks for the mic. Oh shit, he’s gonna make this a tag team match with The Undertaker, isn’t he?
-Grizzly Smith announces that Stagger Lee hasn’t shown up, but that another wrestler has asked for a match with Ted DiBiase, so he’s booked an alternate opponent…and it’s the Junkyard Dog, who’s not even dressed to wrestle. JYD starts to beat down DiBiase, but Duggan and Borne show up for a three-on-one attack, which brings out Mr. Wrestling II and Tony Atlas to even the score, and the Rat Pack gets out of Dodge. I can’t wait to see these six do battle when Mid-South comes to my area!
“Mr. USA” TONY ATLAS vs. DON BASS
-Bass attacks at the bell with fists and forearms. Atlas fights back with shots to the throat and heaves the heavyset Bass across the ring. Backdrop and a slam by Atlas. Double axehandle and a splash by Atlas finish quickly.
KELLY KINISKI & MARTY LUNDE vs. BUDDY LANDELL & TONY TORRES
-Touch of realism: we’re only about 20 minutes into the 42-minute episode, and this is billed as a “standby match.” Because that title match that never got started would have been a one-hour time limit, ya see.
-Landell leapfrogs Lunde and stomps right on his face. Kiniski comes in and gets armdragged down. He catches Buddy bouncing off the ropes with a kneelift and gets him on the mat for a chinlock. Torres tags in and Kiniski works the lower back with forearms. Torres gets caught in the chinlock too, and Lunde heads in with a bodyslam (or “crotchhold”). Heels have the ring cut in half and Landell is so frustrated that he just runs in and attacks from behind. Heels shrug that off , but Torres finally makes the tag. Landell dropkicks Kiniski and tags out immediately, which the commentators aptly declare to be a stupid decision. BAD miscommunication on a backdrop, and Kiniski finally just calls it a night with a back suplex for three.
-Ted DiBiase is back in the ring and he’s pissed off about Stagger Lee no-showing two straight title matches even though Junkyard Dog was here this week and dammit they’re the same person, so why didn’t he get his title match?! He’s lawyering up and demands a title match next week, or else Mid-South is going to have big problems in court.
CHAVO GUERRERO vs. MATT BORNE
-Whip and a snapmare by Chavo. He works the neck over, but Borne gives him a right hand. Weird spot as Chavo just bull charges right into Borne’s balls, Borne grabs onto him like he’s going for a piledriver, and then nothing happens. Borne knees Chavo down and rams him into the turnbuckle. Chavo throws punches back and suplexes him for one. Chavo throws a hundred more punches, but Borne goes to the eyes. Chavo calls a spot right on camera and crashes on a second rope bodypress attempt.
-Borne slams Chavo, and Chavo’s stray leg knocks the referee right out to the floor. Borne applies a full nelson, and Hacksaw Duggan heads to the ring to offer his help, but he accidentally spears Borne. A 2-on-1 battle breaks out, but Tony Atlas shows up to make another save, and Chavo and Atlas clear Duggan and Borne from the ring. I can’t wait to see these four do battle when Mid-South comes to my area! Surprising absence of chemistry here, actually.
MR. WRESTLING II & ART CREWS vs. TUG TAYLOR & JOE STARK
-Crews hiptosses Stark and snapmares him down as the commentators sing the praises of Crews’ trainer, Ron Hutchinson. II tags in and applies a side headlock on Stark. Tug Taylor tags in and II gives him the side headlock too. Boyd announces that Andre the Giant is booked for next week’s show and they hint that an Andre/ Kamala feud is coming as Crews heads in and gets mowed down by Taylor. Taylor and Stark gang up on him. Stark looks like Larry from Three’s Company.
-II tags in and goes nuts on Larry with speedy rights and lefts. A slam gets three and the commentators are surprised that that’s our finish. But the clock has run out on the TV hour and we’re done, folks.
