Mid-South Wrestling (10.2.1982) Review

-Originally aired October 2, 1982.

-Your hosts are Boyd Pierce and Bill Watts. Boyd’s suit looks like he’s wearing parquet flooring.

CROWN MATCH: JUNKYARD DOG (Guy with Crown) vs. NICK BOCKWINKEL
-Off to Houston to start. This was taped on September 21. You might recall a few weeks ago we saw only the entrances for JYD vs. Bockwinkel, with JYD putting up his crown and Bockwinkel putting up five minutes with Bobby Heenan. JYD got the win and this is a return match. The confusing part is that a check of Cagematch.net confirms that Nick Bockwinkel was the AWA Champion at this point; he had title matches before and after this event. Yet, he doesn’t have the title belt and he’s not introduced as AWA Champion. Bobby Heenan is banned from ringside for this one.

-Nick starts a fist fight and regrets it immediately, but he goes after JYD’s neck. They collide on a double clothesline. Bockwinkel rams JYD throat-first into the turnbuckles. JYD fights him off with headbutts and gives Bockwinkel the Thump. JYD is so pissed off at Bockwinkel that he Thumps him a second time and pins him clean as a sheet. Short match but they made it good. Bill Watts just sort of mentions “Oh, yeah, BTW Nick is the AWA Champion” as a total afterthought at the end. Either this was a non-title match (which Cagematch seems to indicate) or this was fall one of a three-fall match.

COL. BUCK ROBLEY vs. SKANDAR AKBAR
-Killer Khan and One Man Gang are both barred from the arena this week.

-Robley decks Akbar with his arm brace and then works Akbar’s arm. Akbar goes after the ribs with right hands. Front facelock by Akbar, but Robley cradles him and forces Akbar to release the hold to stop himself from getting pinned. Fisticuffs are engaged in, and Robley applies a sleeper, but the Mongolian Stomper runs in and stomps on Robley to rescue Akbar and draw the DQ, and we have the newest member of Akbar’s stable. Stomper applies the shinin no maki afterward, and an army of jobbers show up to attempt the rescue, but Stomper fights them all off.

KIMALA (with Friday) vs. TIM HORNER
-Spelling it this way is going to drive me crazy I have a feeling. Friday is wearing military camo and smoking a cigar in this first appearance, so he looks more like a masked Fidel Castro than a safari guide.

-Kimala chops the crap out of Horner and chokes him out. Big splash finishes in an instant.

THE GRAPPLERS vs. VINNIE ROMEO & JESSE BARR
-Jobbers manage to cut the ring in half and trade off with side headlocks. Dropkicks by Barr and Romeo, but Barr misses a corner charge and seems to injure his arm, so the Grapplers go right to work attacking the arm. Barr punches his way to freedom and makes the hot tag. Romeo lights into #2 with forearms and a slam. #1 runs in and Romeo takes on both Grapplers. Grappler gets out of the way of a charge and then gives Romeo a shoulderbreaker. And the Grappler Twist finishes.

MR. OLYMPIA (Mississippi Champion) vs. HANGMAN HARRIS
-Reeser surprises us in the ring intro with the announcement that Olympia got the title back from Killer Khan at a house show.

-Olympia drives elbows into Harris’ face. Snapmare by Olympia. Harris fights back with a slam and a fist drop Corner charge misses, and the missile dropkick by Olympia leads to a sleeper to put Harris away.

-Back to Houston Wrestling, where Pete Birkholz announces that Tony Atlas is on his way to Mid-South territory to help his good friend Junkyard Dog.

-We watch the closing minutes of a bout from Houston pitting Atlas against El Gran Markus. Watts says with a straight face that we’re joining this in progress at the thirty minute mark. Markus connects with a headbutt, using a loaded mask, and Watts suddenly decides, “Nah, this is the 40-minute mark.” High dropkick and a headbutt by Atlas, and a splash gets three.

TED DIBIASE vs. MIKE BOND
-Waistlock takedown and a shoulderblock by DiBiase. DiBiase goes for a sunset flip and Bond sits on him for two. Worth noting DiBiase hasn’t shaved this week, so the DiBiase we knew is becoming the DiBiase we know. DiBiase backdrops Bond and finishes with a powerslam.

MR. WRESTLING II vs. BOB STABLER
-But first! DiBiase is still in the ring, complaining that Mid-South shows favoritism. Mr. Olympia had to be carried out of the building last week, and JYD and Murdoch ran to the ring for the rescue. DiBiase says Mid-South edited the video so that the show closed with Murdoch and JYD cleaning house, when what actually happened was DiBiase and Hacksaw Duggan kicked their asses.

-Mr. Wrestling comes to the ring for his match and DiBiase demands a match right now, telling the jobber to take his ass back to the locker room.

MR. WRESTLING II vs. TED DIBIASE
-II shoulderblocks DiBiase down and boots him out to the floor. DiBiase heads back in, but II kicks him right back out to the floor. II armdrags DiBiase all over the ring and goes for the knee, but DiBiase bails. Back in, test of strength leads to a monkeyflip by II, and he turns that smoothly into an armbar. Bill Watts freaks out as he realizes TV time is running out and demands that we let this match go to a finish, instructing the director to keep the video machine rolling. II is still beating on DiBiase as we sign off, but the bell doesn’t sound for the time limit draw, so indeed it appears everyone is following Bill’s lead and letting the match to go a finish. See you next week!

8.0

The final score: review Very Good

The 411

It's amazing how 41 minutes can feel like 15 sometimes.