wrestling / Video Reviews
Mid-South Wrestling (2.2.1985) Review
Image Credit: WWE/Peacock
Loading...-Originally aired February 2, 1985.
-Your hosts are Boyd Pierce and Bill Watts.
-It’s a Butch Reed music video, and Bill Watts doesn’t shy away from the nepotism at all, freely admitting that the other people in the music video are his sons and their friends, which gives us our historic first glimpse of Erik Watts on a professional wrestling telecast. And he has a mustache. AND HE’S POP-LOCKING. Stop the show, we’re already done.
ROCK & ROLL EXPRESS vs. TERRY ELLIS & GOLDEN TERROR
-Gibson hiptosses Terror as Bill Watts marvels that a few years earlier, he could never believe that two guys this size could become stars. That’s one thing to give Bill credit for, he definitely had his way of doing things, but when he saw something outside that bubble that worked, he went for it. Double dropkick gets a quick win as Watts reminds us that wrestlers don’t get paid by the hour.
-Ted DiBiase is out here in a tuxedo, complete with gloves, top hat, and fancy cane. DiBiase cues up a music video that he commissioned himself, set to “Bad Reputation” by Joan Jett (with WWECock politely giving us a suitable knockoff so it still kind of works). It’s a montage of DiBiase ring highlights, just to prove you’re BORN with the class he has, you can’t just buy it like Duggan tried to with his rented tuxedo. You guys, call me crazy, but I think pushing DiBiase as a snob who always wears a tuxedo might just get over. DiBiase issues a challenge to Duggan for a contest in two weeks where the fans will vote on the best-dressed man in Mid-South Wrestling.
HACKSAW JIM DUGGAN & TERRY TAYLOR vs. “Dr. Death” STEVE WILLIAMS & BUDDY LANDELL
-DiBiase hasn’t left the ring yet, so Duggan accepts the challenge and throws a punch. DiBiase takes a swing with the cane like you knew he would eventually, but the swing misses and Duggan knocks him totally out of the ring and steals the top hat and cane. Before the bell even rings, the faces knock Williams out to the floor, and then they go even further than that and just knock Buddy Landell out cold. Duggan poses with the hat and cane while Landell is dragged unconscious back to the locker room.
-We go to commercial while we try to figure out if we even have a match. Steve Williams rushes to the ring and the referee declares that he has exactly sixty seconds to return to the ring with a new tag team partner. Williams dashes to the back and returns with Ted DiBiase, who has already changed into his tights and he’s ready for revenge. Duggan and Taylor are totally ready for him and go right to work. DiBiase gets pinballed in the corner, a spot that I will never ever get tired of.
-Taylor goes for a roll-up, but Williams clotheslines him from the apron and then tags in and attacks him a more legal fashion. DiBiase comes back in and applies a chinlock. Duggan can’t see his way to tagging in, meanwhile the heels are tagging frequently and dishing out all they have. Bearhug by Doc, and hey guys, did you know Dr. Death was a four-time All American? First I’ve heard of this.
-Terry Taylor claps his hands and makes the hot tag as Buddy Landell hurries back to ringside and pulls the top rope down as a pier sixer erupts. Landell pulls the rope down so Duggan tumbles out to the concrete. DiBiase wallops Duggan with the loaded glove as Landell jumps up to the apron. It’s Taylor and Doc in the ring, but Taylor dodges an attempted tackle and Landell takes the full brunt and falls to the floor. DiBiase slips back into the ring and applies a figure four, but by this point, Duggan has fully recovered, so he drops an elbow to break the hold. Landell re-enters the ring and the referee’s not really sure wat to do with that at first, but Landell WAS the guy signed for the match, so he just lets Landell stay in there, and Duggan spears Landell and rolls him up, and the referee counts three. Fun match with a crazy finish so wonderfully representative of this promotion.
SHEIK HERCULES HERNANDEZ (with Skandar Akbar) vs. RICHARD DYE
-Breaking: Skandar Akbar will be barred from ringside during Kamala’s match next. And within seconds of typing that, Hercules knocks out Richard Dye with the…screw it, the SNM.
ICEMAN KING PARSONS vs. KAMALA (with Skandar Akbar & Friday)
-Akbar refuses to leave ringside until an army of referees–two of them–show up. Parsons bee-stings Kamala, but Kamala fights back with the nurpilizer. Watts emphasizes that Kamala is “cunning, but has the instincts of his heritage.” Kamala chops Parsons and returns to the nurpilizer. Parsons fights out and a pair of dropkicks puts Kamala on his back for a two-count. Kamala kicks out so hard that Parsons flies off and crashes on top of the referee. A second Friday hurries to ringside and attacks Parsons, ramming him into the post and knocking him out. Referee recovers in time for Kamala to hit a splash and get the three-count. Post-match, Friday II unmasks and reveals himself as Hercules, and holy crap, the bigger shock of this when Hercules is wearing the Friday costume is that he has some BONY legs inside those wrestling boots. Seriously, he’s never done a lick of work on his calves. It was also a weird angle because it didn’t really necessitate wearing a disguise. The referee was out cold. Hercules could have just shown up as Hercules and attacked.
ALAMO BUSTERS vs. JASON WALKER & TIM HORNER
-Horner has a nice sequence with Chavo to start. Walker tags in and Hector has no trouble with him, dropping the leg and bringing Chavo back in for a monkey flip. Splash by Hector, and a German suplex gets three.
JAKE “The Snake” ROBERTS vs. SHAWN MICHAELS
-Michaels armdrags Jake. Jake blocks a roll-up and turns to the camera to point to his head, but this time Shawn gets the roll-up for two and Jake is unnerved by that. Jake manages to get Shawn on the mat and applies a front facelock. Shawn hangs in there, but Jake unleashes the short clothesline! First time I think we’ve seen that from Jake. DDT finishes.
-We close the show with a look at the newest team arriving in Mid-South Wrestling, the Dirty White Boys.
-Oh, hold on, we have extra time, so Bill Watts invites Jake to the table and asks why he had so much trouble beating Shawn Michaels. Jake says he was distracted thinking about that TV Title shot that Hector Guerrero is getting instead of Jake, who’s already held TV Titles in other territories and he wants to know what that’s all about. Watts concedes that Jake is qualified for a title shot and he really can’t give a good answer to why Jake isn’t getting this shot.
