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Mid-South Wrestling (12.25.1982) Review

August 24, 2019 | Posted by Adam Nedeff
Mid-South Wrestling 12-25-82 Gino Hernandez Image Credit: WWE/Peacock
9.5
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Mid-South Wrestling (12.25.1982) Review  

-Originally aired December 25, 1982.

-Your hosts are Boyd Pierce and Bill Watts. Did Liberace break into Boyd’s house? He’s just been wearing a plain navy blue suit for weeks now. It’s so boring. Of note, Bill Watts finally dubs the DiBiase-Borne-Duggan collective “The Rat Pack.”

MR. OLYMPIA vs. TUG TAYLOR

-Taylor comes out strong with a slam early on, but Olympia fights back and dropkicks him to the floor. Back in, Olympia applies a side headlock. Taylor gets free and drops a knee to the head. Olympia comes fighting back and applies a standing front facelock. He turns it into a cradle for two while Bill Watts warns us that Paul Boesch will be on commentary later. Olympia slams Taylor and applies a sleeper to put Taylor away.

NON-TITLE: HACKSAW DUGGAN (Louisiana Champion) vs. CHAVO GUERRERO

-Duggan refuses Chavo’s handshake while Bill Watts tells us that Duggan walked to the ring laughing and pointing at Chavo. Chavo applies a waistlock and Duggan is surprised that he can’t just break it, so he has to get to the ropes. Side headlock by Duggan, but Chavo takes his leg out while Watts reminds us that Danny Hodge is incredibly short too, and some of these guys need to learn that you can’t just dismiss short wrestlers as weaklings. Duggan is learning that right now, it appears.

-Chavo comes off the ropes and Duggan catches him a big slam. Chavo springs right back up so Duggan does a backbreaker to stop him cold. Chavo fights back with rights and a monkeyflip. Chavo works the arm and connects with a series of uppercuts, and Duggan is visibly dazed. Moreso. Duggan swings back and leaves Chavo laying with a well-placed right. Kneedrop misses and Chavo picks his target, throwing kick after kick after kick at Duggan’s leg. Duggan throws punches because it’s pretty much the only thing that’s worked for him in this match, but Chavo stays on his feet this time and Duggan starts getting tired.

-Chavo tries an Irish whip. Duggan reverses and spears Chavo…but Chavo leaps over him and Duggan goes face-first into the post. Chavo turns it into a sunset flip for three, and Duggan is shocked. He’s also a bloody mess. Holy crap, that was honestly one of the best Jim Duggan matches I’ve ever seen. There was a story all through this and it was just total action from beginning to end!

-Flashback: The Rat Pack costs Tony Atlas the Louisiana Title.

HANDICAP MATCH: “Mr. USA” TONY ATLAS vs. JOHN & RICK DAVIDSON

-Boyd clarifies that the jobbers will be required to tag in and out for this one. Tony overpowers one Davidson out of a standing wristlock. The other one tags in, and the Davidsons finally decide they’ve had it up to here with your stinking “rules” and try double-teaming Atlas. Atlas fights out of two wristlocks at once. They try two armbars and Atlas whips them into each other. One of the Davidsons retreats to the corner, but now Atlas is just mad so he slingshots him back into the ring and noggin-knocks them. Press slam by Atlas, followed by a headbutt, and then a “jive headbutt.” Splash finishes.

KAMALA (with Skandar Akbar & Friday) vs. TONY TORRES

-Torres is wearing a mask because Akbar is paying him to. And Bill Watts puts 2+2 together and says it’s a Mr. Wrestling II style mask and somebody’s been sending those masks to II with threatening messages, so somebody has a big collection of those masks…is it Akbar? It’s so obvious I really hope that’s not the payoff.

-Kamala finishes quickly, chopping Torres around and splashing him for three, then ripping the mask off. For a nice effect, Kamala is adding every mask he rips off to his spear.

-Mr. Wrestling II hits the ring as Kamala and Friday are leaving. Akbar denies sending the threatening letters, but II doesn’t believe him and gives Akbar a beating. Friday and Kamala hastily return to rescue him. II knees Kamala out to the floor and then goes after Friday and starts to pull his mask off, but Kamala comes off the top rope with a big splash, and II is flat as a pancake. Akbar’s group starts to pull the mask off, but Stagger Lee & Mr. Olympia make the save.

TAG TEAM TITLE, NO DQ, LOSER LEAVES TOWN: RAT PACK (Champions) vs. MR. WRESTLING II & STAGGER LEE

-Well, obviously, after the last segment, we have a problem. Mr. Wrestling II was carried to the locker room during the commercial break, so in the ring, DiBiase and Borne are demanding that the match be called in their favor via forfeit.

-So Stagger Lee struts to the ring with Mr. Olympia, who you might remember as JYD’s tag team partner when he lost the belts and had to leave town. The masked men clear the ring right away. Stagger Lee takes on both opponents by himself. Olympia heads in and the most satisfying moment ever happens as all four guys gradually realize it’s no-DQ and just start brawling in the ring. Referee breaks it up and forces Borne and Stagger Lee to their corners, under threat of absolutely nothing happening because it’s a damn no-DQ match.

-Olympia applies a sleeper on DiBiase. Borne heads to the top and tries to break it, but Stagger Lee slams him off. It’s another melee, and in the middle of it, Duggan runs to the ring and knocks Olympia out with the suspicious hood, and DiBiase pins him to retain the belts, and Olympia must leave town for 90 days. Now, if Bill Watts has a sense of humor at all, next week, Jerry Stubbs should just debut with his bare face showing and try to pass himself off as a new guy, and DiBiase and Borne will be forced to try to prove he owns a mask to get him suspended for one year.

GORGEOUS GINO HERNANDEZ vs. TIM HORNER

-Hernandez throws Horner to the floor and brings him back in right away for a Russian legsweep to finish it in seconds.

9.5
The final score: review Amazing
The 411
Find a better hour than this. I dare you.
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Mid-South Wrestling, Adam Nedeff