wrestling / Video Reviews
Mid-South Wrestling (2.1.1986) Review
Image Credit: WWE
Loading...-Cold open: We rewatch the entire Dick Slater interview segment from last week, culminating in Dark Journey taking the DDT.
-Originally aired February 1, 1986.
-Your host is Joel Watts.
-Jake “The Snake” Roberts has comments about last week, and he coyly hints that he knew it was Dark Journey and MAYBE he DDTed her on purpose, and maybe I’m reading too much into it, but that seems like a way of paving over the fact that the execution of the move got screwed up.
-Jim Ross is in the ring with Dick Slater, who vows to break Jake’s neck and rip his heart out.
NO DISQUALIFICATION, NORTH AMERICAN TITLE: DICK SLATER vs. JAKE “The Snake” ROBERTS
-From Houston, where it’s Peter Berkholz calling the action and not Paul Boesch, so I’ve decided I’ll sit through this.
-Slater comes out of the starting gate with lots of punches, just furious and ready to kill Jake. Jake fights back but he gets busted open shockingly early in the match and Slater goes for the kill, piledriving him, but Jake gets a foot on the rope. They slug it out and Jake starts mounting a comeback. Slater cuts it off with a Russian legsweep for two. Slater goes extra-dirty, strangling Jake with tape, but Jake removes his boot and uses it as a weapon, because a boot on the hand hurts more than a boot on the foot, any idiot knows that.
-The fight goes to the floor and that goes Jake’s way. Crowd is frantically chanting “DDT” as they head back into the ring, and Jake tries to give them what they want, but Slater backdrops out. Jake lifts the boot, but fumbles it. Slater bends over to pick it up, and that leaves him in prime position for the DDT, so Jake does it, looks like a genius, gets the three-count, and wins the North American Title. Good match, but I love-love-loved that finish in particular, and as a bonus, there’s a really funny story about why the match went this way. Jake had given notice at this point and he’s on his way to the WWF. A local sportswriter reported that Jake was headed to the WWF, so fans shouldn’t plan on seeing him win a title match. And Bill Watts, guardian of kayfabe, turned right around and changed the finish of the match so that Jake would win the North American Title, just to fuck with the sportswriter.
-We get an Al Perez music video, followed by a live segment in the ring where he demonstrates the German suplex on a dummy to explain the finer points of executing the move. Buzz Sawyer comes out and laughs at Perez for acting like he’s hot shit for beating up a dummy. And they pretty much agree to settle things at some undetermined date in the future.
BRUISE BROTHERS VS. BROADWAY JOE MALCOLM & J.R. HOGG
-Brothers clear the ring. High backdrop by Cash, and Malcolm is seeing stars. Jobbers get whipped into each other, and a big splash by Boyd gets the three-count.
-We get words from the Sheepherders, who warn Mid-South fans that they’ve already held titles in 34 countries, which strikes me as a funny boast because that would mean you’re bragging about really, really short title reigns or you’re admitting to being incredibly old.
TERRY TAYLOR vs. SEAN O’REILLY
-Taylor gets his arm worked over. Taylor comes back with a side suplex. O’Reilly fights back with aggression, but he charges into a boot, and the five-arm gets the win.
THE FABS vs. BRETT WAYNE SAWYER & RICKY GIBSON
-Stan Lane jams elbows into Sawyer, Sawyer responds with a slam and the faces start working on the arm. Commentary is building up a Rock & Roll Express vs. Fabs series, which amazes me considering that they just buried the NWA Champion on commentary a few weeks ago and pretty much wrote off the entire group. Fabs work over Sawyer for a stretch. Collision on a shoulderblock gives Sawyer the opening he needs, and Robert Gibson’s Brother comes in and TCBs. Gibson attempts a pin, but the pin gets broken, and again, they actually enforce that rule and the Fabs get DQed. But the Fabs weren’t really in this for the win anyway, and they destroy Gibson to send a message to his brother.
MASKED SUPERSTAR (with Dick Murdoch) vs. STEVE DOLL
-Superstar lays a beating on the youngster, then sends him out to the floor, where Murdoch pounces. Back in, Superstar locks on the shinnin no make, since Humungous is gone, and Doll submits.
TED DIBIASE & “Dr. Death” STEVE WILLIAMS (Tag Team Champions) vs. GUSTAVO MENDOZA & ROB RICKSTEINER
-Mendoza has switched to a Fidel Castro cosplay look and it works a little better.
-DiBiase hiptosses him right out of the ring as JR very clearly calls him “Gestapo Mendoza.” I knew I remembered him being called that, and it seems like they were having trouble making up their minds.
-Ricksteiner tags in and gets a waistlock takedown on Williams, and the fact that they even allowed that should tell you that they saw a future in this guy. Williams pulls his arms apart to break the waistlock and tags DiBiase back in. DiBiase gets clotheslined down as Ricksteiner continues tiptoeing to stardom. Mendoza works over DiBiase illegally while Ricksteiner distracts Williams. Mendoza tags in and eats a double-tackle. Stampede by Williams gets the duke.
-The Fabs show up post-match, claiming to be the inventors of the Stampede and they want a match. The champs accept, and then the Fabs are like “Nevermind.”
-We get a Hacksaw Jim Duggan music video, set to “The South is Gonna Do It Again,” featuring highlights of Duggan, who is from upstate New York.
