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Mid-South Wrestling (11.1.1984) Review

June 18, 2021 | Posted by Adam Nedeff
Mid-South Wrestling Adrian Street Bill Dundee Image Credit: WWE/Peacock
7.7
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Mid-South Wrestling (11.1.1984) Review  

-Well, let’s deal with the Peacock in the room. This is the first review I’m writing in the brave new Networkless world….Happily, I found a shit-ton of third-generation copies of Mid-South Wrestling shows, so those reviews are going to continue uninterrupted. I have something else in the chamber planned too, since we don’t have Wrestling Challenge on Peacock yet.

-Originally aired November 1, 1984.

-Your hosts are Jim Ross and Joel Watts. Ernie Ladd is standing there with the title belt and chews them out for taking too damn long running down the card when they should be talking to the champion. Ernie Ladd declares himself “the old man of wrestling” and says that Magnum might be stronger and faster, but he’s not smarter than the old man. Honestly, I think the sole reason that Ladd is getting a run as champion is because the belt looks like it’s the right size when he has it.

-We recap The Passion of the Hacksaw from last week, with Duggan’s five-star promo before he’s dragged off to the hospital.

“Dr. Death” STEVE WILLIAMS vs. GARY CORTINELLI

-You know the jobber better as NWA legend The Italian Stallion, and according to Cagematch, this is his one and only Mid-South match. Williams backdrops Stallion, Stallion goes for a sunset flip, but Stallion punches him between the eyes and clothesline him for two. Williams demands that Duggan get down there before clamping on a bearhug.

-Stallion punches out and hiptosses Williams, but he goes for a bodypress and Williams simply catches him and makes it a powerslam for three. So there, Steve Williams actually CAN beat the Italian Stallion in under 15 minutes.

HERCULES HERNANDEZ (with Jim Cornette) vs. THOMAS IVY

-Ivy has his hair cut exactly like Mr. T, and since his first name starts with T, I have a wild guess about the name he was probably using for outlaw mudshows before Bill Watts made him go by Thomas Ivy. Cornette grabs the mic before the bell and cryptically tells Skandar Akbar to please talk to him, because he knows what Skandar is up to.

-Ivy wrings the arm but gets punched down as they’re still trying to make “Hercules Unchained” a thing. Herc wrenches on a chinlock, then locks on the Skinner’s Not Mookie for the submission.

-Boyd Pierce is in the ring with Skandar Akbar and Buddy Landell. Akbar scolds Landell because for whatever deal they made, Landell hasn’t presented him with results yet. Landell coyly holds him up for a little more money than what Akbar has already paid. Akbar gives him a “$12,000 gold watch” and Landell is so impressed that he promises to have his end of the deal next week.

HACKSAW BUTCH REED & “Nature Boy” BUDDY LANDELL vs. STEVE BRINSON & MIKE JACKSON

-Reed and Jackson exchange words as they’re still playing up their issue from weeks back. Landell insists on starting the match and gets tossed around to and fro. Jackson applies a side headlock. Landell punches out and Brinson tags in, applying his own side headlock.

-Jackson tags back in and they do a really wonky bodypress spot. Landell goes to the ropes and absolutely refuses to tag for some reason. Jackson runs the ropes and runs right into a knee by Reed. Landell takes over from there until Jackson makes the hot tag, and Brinson is a veritable house of warmer-than-average hot plate until Reed FINALLY tags in and press slams him. Landell drops a big elbow for three. Jobbers looked like a million bucks. Speaking of which…

MASTER G vs. TED DIBIASE (with Skandar Akbar)
-And losing the Network for Mid-South is already paying dividends, as I’m hearing the magnificently awful entrance theme Master G was really using, which is “Rapper’s Delight” with original Master G-centric lyrics dubbed over it.

-G and DiBiase lock up as Reed comes to ringside to observe, and he ends up observing DiBiase getting his ass kicked and going to the floor for a respite. DiBiase tries to get something going and goes straight to a piledriver, but G turns it into a backdrop and follows with a dropkick. DiBiase targets the leg and goes for the figure four, but G kicks him away and kicks so hard that DiBiase tumbles over the top rope and crashes to the floor. G goes out there and takes a shot at Reed, but the distraction takes long enough for DiBiase to load up the famous glove, G is out cold, and DiBiase uses the figure four as a pinning hold for the three-count.

-DiBiase refuses to release the hold because the goal here is to break the leg while G is unable to fight out, so the referee reverses and gives the win to G, but DiBiase still won’t release until Bill Dundee, Brickhouse Brown, and Magnum TA rescue.

MAGNUM T.A. vs. THE MISSING LINK (with Skandar Akbar)

-TA gets the advantage early, and Link goes out to the floor and headbutts the ring steps repeatedly to show that he has the hardest head in wrestling. Damn it, I have to add a Missing Link line to the Headbutt Intensity Chart?

-Akbar tries distraction, but Magnum sees what’s coming and gets out of the way of Link’s charge, and Link knocks Akbar off the apron and Magnum quickly belly-to-bellies Link for the three-count. I guess they wanted to keep Magnum’s heat after losing the title last week, but what an odd way to do it, because they were just starting to rebuild the returning Link and Magnum beat him EASILY.

TV TITLE: EXOTIC ADRIAN STREET (Champion, with Miss Linda) vs. SUPERSTAR BILL DUNDEE

-Quick reminder from Joel Watts that most wrestling that you see on cable TV consists of boring mismatch after boring mismatch, and here we’ve just had three consecutive main events. Yes, and an Italian Stallion match, Joel!

-Dundee slingshots Street into the top turnbuckle. Forearms by Street, but Dundee keeps up the fight and tosses Street to the floor and straight to the barricade. Joel points out that they’ve added microphones around ringside while Dundee tries to finish with an airplane spin. Referee gets wiped out and Dundee doesn’t notice, which leads to a clever finish as he goes for the pin and Linda slaps the mat three times, and Dundee, thinking he got the pin, gets up to celebrate and Linda blinds him with perfume. Referee recovers, and Street gets the pin. Good match, fun ending.

Next week, Jim Duggan WILL be here!

7.7
The final score: review Good
The 411
Some fun finishes this week!
legend

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Mid-South Wrestling, Adam Nedeff