Mid-South Wrestling (11.22.1984) Review

-Originally aired November 22, 1984.

-Your hosts are Bill Watts & Boyd Pierce.

-Write in for the Dream Match contest! By the way, odd detail about the Dream Match contest that I haven’t touched on at all. They run a reel of match highlights while Jim Ross is rattling off the rules of the contest. Here are the matches they’re showing:
Ric Flair vs. Kerry Von Erich–the match in Japan where Flair wins the belt back
Magnum TA bodyslamming Kamala, who is in the WWF.
Ted DiBiase knocking out Tito Santana, who is in the WWF.

-Did Kerry Von Erich piss Bill off at some point?

HACKSAW JIM DUGGAN vs. DALE BURNETT
-Duggan is pissed about being assaulted by Steve Williams, who was wearing his full football gear, so he’s taking it out on Burnett, elbowing him out to the floor. Kneedrop gets two, and the spear finishes. It’s been two years or so now and I’m still not used to how non-lethal Duggan’s version of a spear looks. Switching his finisher to a clothesline was a stroke of genius.

MASTER G & BRICKHOUSE BROWN vs. ALAMO BUSTERS
-We continue Master G’s punishment for not getting over like he was supposed to. Bill Watts leads off by saying “The Guerreros aren’t your usual image of what you think of Mexicans, because…” and 10 seconds later, all you can do is nod and say “Okay, he could have taken that sentence in worse directions than he took it.” But for the record, Bill Watts confirms for us that neither one of them works on a farm.

-Brickhouse bodypresses the brothers simultaneously. Master G tags in and trades flying headscissors, including a bungled but kind of spiffy spot where his flying headscissors cause Chavo to fly into Hector, knocking him off the apron. Guerreros use some double-teaming tactics to take control, but Master G uses his “ghetto-style fighting” (he kicked the man, Bill) to escape danger and tag out. All four men end up in the ring, but G fucks things up for his partner AGAIN, as he argues with the referee while the Guerreros use a foreign object to knock Brickhouse out, and Brickhouse again eats a three-count while Master G stands there helplessly wondering what happened. It really is fascinating watching this de-push because there’s this weird palpable ANGER toward Master G in seeing how he’s getting booked now. You can’t just decide that a guy has to be your new Junkyard Dog, Bill!

“Dr. Death” STEVE WILLIAMS vs. LEE RAMSEY
-Williams does a series of three-point stance tackles on Ramsey and every one of them looks deadlier than Duggan’s finisher. Stampede gets the three-count. And in the plot twist that you knew was coming, Duggan storms to the ring in full football uniform and gear, and Williams runs away. Guess I’ll have to buy a ticket to an arena near me to see these guys actually go at it now.

-We get a nice local news story about the Rock & Roll Express visiting a young leukemia patient.

NON-TITLE: THE ROCK & ROLL EXPRESS (Tag Team Champions) vs. SHEIK HERCULES HERNANDEZ & TED DIBIASE (with Skandar Akbar)
-Hercules slams Robert Gibson down. Gibson springs right back up and armdrags him. DiBiase tags in and tries to work the arm, but it keeps getting reversed. Ricky Morton tags in and falls victim to a back suplex. Well, hopefully, this doesn’t lead to Ricky Morton taking more of an ass-kicking than he can really handle.

-So DiBiase and Herc just take turns dismantling Morton until he can make the hot tag. Gibson is a house of fire until Akbar pulls down the top rope and Gibson spills out to the concrete for the DQ. And with Morton all alone in the ring, Akbar heads in there and throws a fireball in his face, which will probably lead to some angle in the future where Ricky Morton cosplays as Buzzy Beetle for a future match and Akbar freaks out because he’s immune to fireballs now.

HACKSAW BUTCH REED vs. “Nature Boy” BUDDY LANDELL (with Skandar Akbar)
-And Reed is ready to kill people this week, as he goes after Akbar before he goes to Landell, and Landell begs for a handshake. Reed beats the hell out of him and heaves him out to the concrete. Back in, a bulldog by Reed as this is just absolute legalized murder on Landell. Clothesline by Reed, but he lets Akbar distract him, and Landell capitalizes.

-Reed fights back, but now Williams is in his football uniform and he tackles Reed down and drops a series of headbutts before Duggan runs out in just his tights and boots, but with a 2×4. Wait, dude, why did you change out of your football uniform? And you’ve already wrestled! Who the hell changes out of a football uniform and BACK into tights?

-A Terry Taylor music video, set to “Freeze Frame.”

TERRY TAYLOR vs. DALE VEASEY
-This is touted as a big return for Taylor after time off for an injury. Veasey gets him on the mat for a side headlock as Bill Watts hypes the impending debut of Cobra Corps member Terry Daniels. Shots fired back, Vince!

-Veasey slams Taylor, but Taylor hangs onto the arm and works it until Veasey fights out. Elbow misses. Five-arm and a slam by Taylor for the win.

MAGNUM T.A. vs. JACK VICTORY
-Magnum works the arm, slams Victory down, and drops a leg for two. Belly-to-belly wins it. After an underwhelming title reign, Magnum here really does give off the vibe of somebody who needs to figure out what to do now.

7.2

The final score: review Good

The 411

You can see a few cracks forming in the promotion, with guys like Magnum and Master G taking up airtime even though it feels like the company is just done with them. Show was fine, though.