Mid-South Wrestling (10.16.1982) Review

-Originally aired October 16, 1982.

-Your hosts are Boyd Pierce and Bill Watts. Tracking on the master tape is really wonky on this one, unfortunately.

-Bill gets to hyping the Superdome card. Mil Mascaras and Gino Hernandez will be there!

COL. BUCK ROBLEY & TIM HORNER vs. TED ALLEN & MARTY LUNDE
-But look who’s here this week! The future Arn Anderson is making his debut in the territory. He looks only 46 at this point so this is really early in his career.

-Allen takes Horner down with a waistlock. Horner comes back with shoulderblocks and a slam. Armdrag into an armbar by Horner. Lunde tags in and it’s kind of a mindfuck to type the name Lunde. He gives Horner an elbow to the jaw and slams him down. Allen comes back in as Bill Watts once again explains the finer points of why TV matches look so different from house show matches. Pier sixer breaks out and Lunde gets caught in a fistfight with Tim Horner, which gives Robley an opening to knock Allen out with the cast for three. Interesting to see Single-M Single-L getting some shine and not taking the fall in his first go.

KAMALA (with Friday) vs. JESSE BARR
-Friday has the more familiar jungle attire now. Watts anticipates that Kamala is going to end up feuding with JYD at some point. Indeed they would, and Kamala said years later that he ended up paying cash for a new house based on how well they drew.

-Chops and back raking by Kamala, and the big splash finishes.

NON-TITLE: MR. OLYMPIA (Mississippi Champion) vs. TED DIBIASE (North American Champion)
-And it’s a fight right off the bat. Bodypress and armdrags by Olympia, and DiBiase gets the hell out. Back in, he drives a knee into the sternum and tries to finish Olympia immediately with a sleeper, but Olympia runs to the ropes and launches DiBiase to the floor. DiBiase shakes it off and heads back in, ramming Olympia into the turnbuckles. DiBiase tries an Olympia-style move, countering an Irish whip by dashing up to the second rope for a bodypress, but since Olympia knows the move, he rolls through and turns it into a cradle. DiBiase kicks out and Olympia tries a sleeper.

-DiBiase slumps into the ropes to break and starts attacking the legs. Olympia kicks him away on an attempted figure four and hits a neckbreaker for two. Powerslam by Olympia gets two. DiBiase goes into the tights and knocks Olympia out with a mystery weapon, then applies a sleeper to trick the referee, and sure enough Olympia is out, and DiBiase gets the win. It was just a pleasure to watch this.

MR. WRESTLING II vs. GRAPPLER #1
-Damn, this episode is like a Mid-South SNME or something. Get a glittering curtain and some cheesy music videos to New Orleans already!

-II gets an early takedown and #1 goes to the ropes to stall. II applies a side headlock while Bill Watts hypes one hell of a main event coming up in two weeks: Tag Team Titles, No DQ, loser leaves the territory, JYD & Olympia defending against DiBiase and Duggan. It’s scheduled as the first match on that week’s TV show, so they can use the entire hour if need be.

-#1 goes to the breadbasket with a forearm. They trade atomic drops and #1 ends up on the apron from the momentum. #1 takes over with a slam and a series of elbows for two. #1 slams II for a two-count, then goes to the mask, and dad gummit that just makes him mad. #1 dodges the knee though, and II crashes in the corner. #1 connects with his own knees. II hits the corner shoulder-first and goes for the armbar/bulldog finisher, but II slips out of it and #1 hits the corner, and now II connects with the knee to get the win, clean as a sheet, no drama, no shenanigans. II was just plain better. Another keeper!

LOUISIANA TITLE: IRON MIKE SHARPE (Champion) vs. HACKSAW DUGGAN
-Hacksaws are designed to cut iron, so I don’t like the champion’s chances here.

-They slug it out in hoss-like fashion to start. DiBiase charges at Iron Mike and goes flying when Sharpe turns it into a hiptoss, and Watts subtly implies Duggan impressed him on that bump, saying that in Mid-South wrestlers have to be MOBILE. Which is weird because I thought Alabama was a different territory.

-Armbar by Iron Mike. Hacksaw fights back and applies a chinlock. Sharpe gets free and starts hammering again. Duggan dodges a dropkick and slams him upside-down in the corner. Iron Mike tries to get a second wind and tries for the body vice, but he’s too worn out, and Hacksaw connects with the spear to get the win and take the title. Hot damn.

VLADIC SMIRNOFF (with Skandar Akbar) vs. VINNIE ROMEO
-Smirnoff would eventually get rebranded as Korstia Korchenko. Just a huge, bald goateed guy who comes from the Florida region of the USSR. Romeo surprises him with a sunset flip and a bodypress. Vinnie goes for a dropkick but Smirnoff just grabs his ankles and Vinnie falls right on the back of his head. Backbreaker finishes this one for the new guy.

GRAPPLER #2 vs. BOB STABLER
-#2 hiptosses Stabler around, and a clothesline off the second rope finishes it before TV time expires. Good work, Grappler #2!

8.3

The final score: review Very Good

The 411

Oh HELL YEAH, watch this episode.