wrestling / Video Reviews
Mid-South Wrestling (10.30.1982) Review
Image Credit: WWE/Peacock
Loading...-Wooooo doggies we’ve been waitin’ for this one…
-Originally aired October 30, 1982.
-Your hosts are Boyd Pierce and Bill Watts. Boyd mentions that the Louisiana State Fair is in town and Irish McNeil’s Boys Club is right in the middle of the fairgrounds, so we have a whole bunch of extra fans in attendance this week.
-So our big match for this week will be a No-DQ Tag Team Title bout, with Junkyard Dog and Mr. Olympia defending against Ted DiBiase and Hacksaw Duggan. Not only are the titles on the line, but the wrestler who loses the fall is out of Mid-South Wrestling. And to make sure the pesky TV time limit doesn’t cause us any trouble, it’s scheduled to be the opening match…(record scratch) Or is it?
-Bill Watts and Paul Boesch are in the stands greeting all of the kids in attendance this week, and he makes note of a nutty fan wearing a gorilla costume. Bill announces that Ted DiBiase called Grizzly Smith in a panic. Hacksaw Duggan has been detained, possibly because of a bar fight. So Duggan is NOT here tonight, but by god, we were promised a title match. So DiBiase has called his friend Matt Borne in Portland, and Borne has flown in to substitute for Duggan. However, the stipulations still apply.
-Well, by god, Bill, we were also promised it would be the opening match so the clock wouldn’t run out, and now we’re going to house show footage from Texas. In fairness, it’s a bitchin’ six-man tag: Andre the Giant, JYD, and Mil Mascaras vs. Killer Khan, Gino Hernandez, and Tully Blanchard. So, of all people ANDRE is the face-in-peril, as his ankle injury in the WWF was touched on in the build for this match, and the heels are just relentlessly going after his leg so hard that you can almost hear Andre yelling “My leg!” like a gag on “Spongebob Squarepants.” But a hot tag by Mil Mascaras saves the day, a pier sixer breaks out, and in the middle of it, Mil Mascaras gets the pin. And if you think that’s something, Mil Mascaras will be in the Superdome on Thanksgiving night.
KAMALA (with Friday) vs. TED ALLEN
-I thought Mid-South was a promotion that kept promises, Bill. We were assured that the tag team title was jerking the curtain this week. You know what I call a wrestling promoter who breaks promises? A COMMUNIST. Kamala chops Ted Allen down, and the splash finishes.
NO-DISQUALIFICATION, LOSER OF THE FALL LEAVES TOWN FOR 90 DAYS, TAG TEAM TITLE: JUNKYARD DOG & MR. OLYMPIA (Champions) vs. TED DIBIASE & MATT BORNE
-It’s a brawl before the bell and the ring is cleared. Referee gets order, which is important for a no-DQ tag match as always, and it’s JYD and DiBiase in there. JYD gets a near-fall right away and DiBiase goes out to stall. Everyone tags and Olympia hammers down on Borne. Olympia flings Borne around with armdrags so good, even Ricky Steamboat would say “Damn, nice armdrags!” and in comes JYD with an arm wringer. Headbutt by JYD, and the Dog does an armdrag that would make even Ricky Steamboat say “Wow, that really sucked!”
-JYD and Olympia switch without tagging behind the referee’s back–honestly, it’s a dead horse at this point, I’ll shut up–and Olympia armdrags DiBiase all over the place again. All four men end up in there and the heels just get mauled. DiBiase and Borne retreat to the floor, and Boyd suggests that as long as there’s a break in the action, they take their chances and pause for a commercial now.
-Back from the break, JYD connects with “the four sisters on Thumb Street” on DiBiase’s face. Olympia tags in and gets suplexed, and the heels get to work. Borne slams Olympia and drops a knee for two. Chinlock by Borne. There’s something wrong with Bill Watts’ equipment and it sounds like he’s calling the match on the drive-thru speaker at Burger King.
-Backbreaker by DiBiase nearly finishes, but JYD breaks the pin. Borne heads back in and reapplies the chinlock. DiBiase and Borne double-team Olympia since there are no DQs. Whoopee cushion by Borne, and Watts is breaked out about the possible sternum injury. JYD just steps in and drags Olympia to the corner to force the hot tag. Borne gets cleared from the ring and DiBiase loads up his glove, but JYD slams him and steals it away…and the gorilla sprints out of the stands and hits the ring. “WHAT’S THAT GORILLA DOING?” Bill Watts asks in a moment that’s right up there with “With God as my witness, he’s broken in half!”
-The gorilla beats down Olympia on the floor, then hits the ring and reveals himself as Hacksaw Duggan. Spear on JYD, but it’s JYD so it merely dazes him, but it gives DiBiase enough time to retrieve the glove and load it up, and a right hand knocks JYD out cold. We have new tag team champions, and JYD is leaving Mid-South for a while. Great match all around with a classic finish.
“Mr. USA” TONY ATLAS vs. GRAPPLER II
-Atlas overpowers Grappler while Bill Watts is suddenly toned down a couple octaves and ruminates on how wrestling has changed and you never used to see tactics like that back in the day.
-Dropkick, flying headscissors by Tony. Atlas press-slams him “like a sack of feed” to get the win.
GORGEOUS GINO HERNANDEZ vs. JESSE BARR
-Paul Boesch takes over commentary to remind us that success in wrestling does not translate to competency as a commentator. Barr with armdrags and dropkicks on Hernandez as Boesch explains that Bill Watts is too affected by what happened to JYD to call commentary adequately. Okay, Paul, so what’s your excuse?
-Gino goes for a backdrop, but Jesse punts him in “his jaw which is always stuck out with arrogance and pride.” And then Gino takes over and just hits the backward falling elbow right away to win. Not a star-making performance for Gino in Mid-South. Weird match.
-Duggan, DiBiase, and Borne come out to gloat about their shenanigans and chicanery and their shenanery. They got rid of the Dog, mwa-hah-hah!
MR. WRESTLING II vs. MARTY LUNDE
-Paul Boesch’ssssssss excruciatinnnnnnnnnngg, uh, commentary continuuuuuuuuuuuuues as Mr., uh, Wrestling IIIIIIIIIIIIIIII the popularrrrrrrrrrrr….uh…masked man….from Atlanta…uses his knees tooooooooooooooo get the win.
HIRIO MATSUDA & YOSHI YATSU vs. VINNIE ROMEO & TIM HORNER
-The evil Japanese work the leg with toeholds and legbars. You know, martial arts. Boesch notes the interesting strategy they’re using, in which Matsuda works the leg of Horner, and then Yatsu tags in and works the same leg. Holy crap, no wonder Japan is so far ahead of us. That’s so cunning! “Japanese bodyslam” finishes, and mercifully no more commentary from Paul Boesch.
