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Mid-South Wrestling (10.26.1985) Review

February 8, 2023 | Posted by Adam Nedeff
Jake Roberts Mid-South Wrestling 5-4-1985 Image Credit: WWE/Peacock
8.1
The 411 Rating
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Mid-South Wrestling (10.26.1985) Review  

-Originally aired October 26, 1985.

-Unusual start to this show, as we just go straight to house show footage of Dick Murdoch vs. Butch Reed in New Orleans. Reed gets a roll-up and a clean three-count to become the new North American Champion.

-And with that, we go to the “actual show” with hosts Boyd Pierce & Bill Watts joined at the commentary table by Butch Reed. We get footage of the post-match celebration, with the babyfaces pouring beer on Murdoch’s head. Jim Duggan’s contribution is pretty funny, as he just pours a few drops on Butch and then chugs the beer. Butch Reed says that the North American Title is a pretty big step for his career, but he warns Ric Flair to watch his back.

-Bill Watts warns Butch that there may be some cause for concern. At a recent house show in Houston, a cameraman went into the locker room to tape an interview with Ric Flair. We go to the footage, as the cameraman shows up a few minutes too early and catches Ric Flair having a conversation with Dick Slater and Dark Journey. Next to them: an open briefcase filled with money. Oh please, it’s an ’80s wrestling locker room. That could just as easily be somebody’s child support payment, let’s not all jump to conclusions.

WILDCAT WENDELL COOLEY & AL PEREZ (Tag Team Champions) vs. LARRY CLARKE & BROADWAY JOEL MALCOLM
-But first…

-Here are Ted DiBiase and Steve Williams to make their case that they didn’t really get a fair shot at the Tag Team Titles because of Mid-South dumbassily scheduling the match for the end of the TV hour, and they should get another title shot. Al Perez offers a rebuttal, and I like this just because it’s kind of nice when a babyface is smart…Al points out that DiBiase and Williams are both in street clothes, not wrestling gear, so they clearly can’t wrestle right this second. They’re only out here as a show of bravado so they can look good without actually having to back it up. And I also like it when heels are just insufferable douchebags, and we get a nice bit of that, as DiBiase insults the champs by calling them “Starsky and Hutch,” and Williams does a big exaggerated laugh in response to that, like it’s the most clever joke he’s ever heard in his life. At this point, we kind of reach an impasse, so the heels leave and the champs begin their scheduled match.

-And it’s a short one. Perez and Cooley work the arm over. Double backdrop by the champs, and a German suplex by Perez gets the three-count. Pfft. The guy who calls himself Broadway couldn’t even make the match last three minutes. It’s always nice to see new stars, but there’s just no “click” between Cooley and Perez.

BRUISE BROTHERS vs. JERRY GREY & TONY FAULK
-WWE’s choice of music dubbing is just marvelous, as they’re clearly going for a “Soul Man” knockoff here, but instead it sounds like the Bruise Brothers are coming to the ring to the theme from The Cosby Show. Bill Watts explains that they don’t have as much technique as Wendell Cooley and Al Perez, they’re more inclined to use “ghetto-style street tactics.” I think Bill Watts would be the biggest fan of a stand-up comic who had a routine like “Check this out, white guys always wrestle like this…but black guys, they always wrestle like this!” Bruise Brothers get the win with a ghetto-style vertical splash and ghetto-style lateral press.

HUMUNGOUS (with Oliver Humperdink) vs. STEVE CONSTANCE

-Humungous beats the hell out of Steve Constance while Bill Watts rails on former Mid-South jobber Tim Ashley, who’s such a candyass that he actually quit the wrestling business after one little concussion. Baby. Shasta No Moxie gets the submission.

JAKE “The Snake” ROBERTS vs. DIRTY DUTCH MANTELL

-Jake has something to say, and it builds off a point that Watts was making on commentary in the previous match. Humungous’ mask is suspicious AF, but Mid-South is reluctant to take action because Humperdink is just going to lawyer up and drag this out, and even if they ban the mask, Humungous will probably show up with some new piece of bullshit after that as part of his ring gear and this is going to start over again. Jake acknowledges that he’s one of the guys who’s been riding Mid-South management’s ass to take action, and I for one and shocked to learn that Jake has a contentious relationship with Grizzley Smith behind the scenes. Jake understands the hesitance, so he’s been toying with something in his spare time and cryptically warns Humungous that he has a way around it.

-Jake and Dutch jockey for position. Jake goers for a DDT and Dutch slips free, then manages to get Jake in a chinlock. Jake fights back but crashes on an attempted knee in the corner. Jake un-babyface-ily runs away from Dutch, and Dutch chases him around the ring and back in, but Dutch’s body as he slides back into the ring is the perfect position for the DDT, and Jake is a genius.

THE FANTASTICS vs. DIRTY DICK SLATER & BUZZ SAWYER (with Dark Journey)

-And it’s another JR nightmare match, with everybody wearing red tights. Tommy throws a right hand and Buzz Sawyer does a great bump off that, as his knob is turned to “want to KEEP my job” for this week’s taping. Heels get the edge over Bobby Fulton and dump him to the floor, where Journey gives him a stomp, and Bill Watts goes on a rant about how wrestling is MAN’S BUSINESS and if Dark Journey wants to be involved with guys, eventually someone will start treating her like a guy. If people were treating Dark Journey like a guy, I guess that means Bill Watts was gay.

-Bobby makes the hot tag to Tommy, but Sawyer connects with a beautiful flying forearm, and the crowd is stunned speechless as he gets a three-count, squeaky clean. Decent match that reminded you what Buzz was capable of when he had his head on straight.

HACKSAW JIM DUGGAN vs. EL CORSARIO

-Hacksaw Jim Duggan brings an attractive woman to the ring with her, but being 1985, “attractive” also means she has so much product in her hair that the hole in the ozone layer is at least 3% her fault. Duggan explains he doesn’t have a valet because a woman can lend her support to a man without getting dragged to ringside to get physically involved and do dirty work for him. Dark Journey isn’t a real woman. A real woman is one who stays home or stays in the bleachers during a match.

-So Dick Slater and Dark Journey come out, and Dick tries to fend his lady, but Duggan says Dark Journey is no lady, and the brawl is on. Buzz Sawyer comes in to make it a 2-on-1 attack, and Duggans girlfriend can’t stand to just watch two men brutalize her man, so she gets involved, and Sawyer mashes her in the corner and drops an elbow. Duggan is rendered a bloody mess as the assault continues. Faces and referees clear the ring, and Duggan recovers fairly quickly, but Duggan’s girlfriend is pretty much in a coma.

8.1
The final score: review Very Good
The 411
Great week with a lot of stuff being set up and some fun stuff in the ring.
legend

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Mid-South Wrestling, Adam Nedeff