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Mid-South Wrestling (11.12.1983) Review

August 16, 2020 | Posted by Adam Nedeff
Mid-South Wrestling 9-3-1983 Road Warriors, Dark Side of the Ring Image Credit: WWE/Peacock
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Mid-South Wrestling (11.12.1983) Review  

-Instead of the usual opening montage, they replay the finish of the title match a few weeks ago, with Dusty Rhodes counting three and raising Junkyard Dog’s hand.

-Originally aired November 12, 1983.

-Your hosts are Boyd Pierce and Bill Watts. Watts announces that Butch Reed has been fined $500 for painting King Cobra.

-We go to a Junkyard Dog highlight reel, showing him doing meet & greets with fans and some in-ring highlights. The gist of the video seems to be “we’re going back all-in with Dog” after the past few months of trying other stuff.

-Jim Ross is back! Again. When does JR actually STAY, I’m wondering. He’s in the ring with Butch Reed and Jim Neidhart. Reed refutes allegations that he’s painted a puppy’s back yellow to taunt JYD, and to prove it, he pulls a terrified puppy to prove that no harm’s been done. JR mutters “the dog is wet,” insinuating that they hastily washed all the paint off before the segment started. This was an odd segment, as the implication seems to be that Reed was painting the dog for his own pleasure in the locker room, while also doing it while in view of mortal enemy the Junkyard Dog, who told everybody else in the locker room that Reed was doing it, even though logically they all would have seen it too, so Reed washed off the puppy before coming out to give an interview to refute an allegation that the fans would never have known about if Reed hadn’t said anything.

HACKSAW BUTCH REED & JIM “The Anvil” NEIDHART (Tag Team Champions) vs. GEORGE WEINGROFF & RANDY BARBER

-Weingroff has some luck with mat wrestling, but Anvil puts on the brakes to block a hiptoss and turns it into a backbreaker. Reed tags in and they take turns missing elbows before Weingroff tags out. Barber gets thrown around by the champs. Samoan drop by the Anvil gets three.

-We re-watch the finish of the Tag Team Title match last week, and the attack on Dusty Rhodes, which I pray means we’re getting a replay of Dusty’s promo….

-Awww.

KRUSHER DARSOW vs. NIKOLAI VOLKOFF

-Nikolai Volkoff has brought an audio tape of the Soviet anthem and demands that it be played before the match starts. They play a good chunk of it, but they fade it out early to sound the bell. Nikolai turns his back to complain, which allows Darsow to make an opening attack.

-Volkoff fights back with boots and headbutts as the USA chant gets rolling in the Irish McNeil Boys’ Club. Volkoff charges off the ropes but Darsow lifts him in the air for a bearhug, which is a hell of a show of strength. Volkoff slides his arms through to break and reverse it, then rams him into the corner.

-Volkoff sends him into the ropes but Krusher surprises him with a shoulderblock. Volkoff gets fired up and rams him into the corner, and Volkoff is so pissed off that he screams while dishing out offense now. Huge boot to the face by Volkoff. Press slam/backbreaker by Volkoff gets three, clean as a sheet. This will always just fascinate me about Territories vs. WWF; it’s the same two guys, but if I watched Prime Time Wrestling with Smash vs. Nikolai Volkoff, it would never, ever look like this. They busted their asses for five minutes and crammed a good match into that time frame.

ROAD WARRIORS (National Tag Team Champions) vs. MIKE BOND & ART CREWS

-I love this trend of Bill Watts working with Georgia while just constantly shitting on them. Case in point, he says that being the National Tag Team Champions puts the Road Warriors in line for a shot at the Mid-South Tag Team Title.

-Warriors maul the jobbers and Animal gets the win with big-ass clothesline.

-Reeser Bowden explains the concept of “specialists” in sports, or coaches. So Reeser is here with Mr. Wrestling II, who explains that he’s had an eye on Magnum TA for a while and has concluded that Magnum is a good wrestler, but he just needs a coach. Not a MANAGER, he emphasizes, but just a coach, passing on all of his knowledge to Magnum while continuing with his own wrestling career, in exchange for a little financial consideration. Reeser wraps up by asking Magnum if he’ll teach Magnum how to throw a perfect kneelift, but II is evasive.

MR. WRESTLING II vs. PAUL GARNER

-Side headlock by II. Garner tries to punch free but II just dodges it and releases the hold. Watts plants some seeds, as he spends II’s match rattling off a lot of Magnum’s career accomplishments so far and marveling at how the fans are getting behind him. Kneelift by II finishes Garner quickly.

MIKE JACKSON vs. JEFF SWORD

-Sword goes to the mat right away but Jackson elbows out. Sword hammers back and slams Jackson, but he misses an elbow as Watts’ commentary is all over the place, looking for anything else to talk about before eventually drifting to the subject of Russia, which Watts is apparently not in favor of. Unexpected finish, Sword gets the win with a neckbreaker. Huh. I kinda thought Jackson had this one, because…I mean…I don’t know why.

TONY TORRES vs. JOHN KING

-So we’re running out the clock with this while Boyd Pierce announces that he’s taking a vacation to go pheasant hunting and Jim Ross and Buddy Nichols will be guest-hosting in his place for a while. And they pretty much just do stuff in the ring until the bell sounds.

8.0
The final score: review Very Good
The 411
Lots of seeds planted this week!
legend

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Mid-South Wrestling, Adam Nedeff