Mid-South Wrestling (2.4.1984) Review

-Originally aired February 4, 1984.

-Your hosts are Boyd Pierce and Bill Watts, and we’re kicking off the TV Title tournament. Winner gets a medal and $10,000 cash. And we’re keeping track of the brackets with the JANKIEST-looking handwritten brackets on posterboard. I mean, good for whoever made this for trying to make it look neat, but Bill Watts didn’t even spend money going to a print shop. Somebody sat down with a ruler and a magic marker and made this bracket that we have to look at for the next nine weeks.

-Bad news, though. Hacksaw Jim Duggan has been scratched from the tournament due to injuries suffered in a coal miner’s glove match. Bill Watts conducts an interview to Krusher Darsow, the man who dished out the injury. We watch video of the match (“limited highlights” according to Watts because the match was otherwise too violent to air on television0. Duggan gets the glove off the pole (nice effect, as they have strobe lights attached to the pole and they flicker when Duggan grabs the glove) and knocks Darsow out for the three-count. Volkoff attacks after the match, and just as it turns to a 2-on-1 attack, Watts has the tape shut off because it was after the match and there’s no reason to show it except for Darsow to brag. Darsow calls bullshit on that and the interview ends abruptly.

KRUSHER DARSOW vs. TOMMY HEGGIE
-Darsow’s wearing an “I LOVE RUSSIA RUSSIA #1” that looks like it was the second assignment of the night for whoever made the tournament brackets. Darsow whips and snapmares Heggie. Body vice finishes in extra-squashy fashion.

-We review the war between the Tag Team Champions and the Midnight Express. Bill Watts thinks dues need to be paid.

MAGNUM T.A. & MR. WRESTLING II (Tag Team Champions) vs. TOM LENTZ & JERRY GRAY
-Forearms and a backdrop by Magnum, and he’s wrestling angry this week. II tags in and there’s a little extra aggression in his offense on Lentz. Lentz tags out and Gray does a funny nervous glance at II before reluctantly tagging in. Champs beat him down too, with Magnum making a point to shoot an angry glare at the camera, so we know he ain’t havin’ it. Lentz tags back in and misses a corner charge. Kneelift by II, belly-to-belly by Magnum, and they get the win.

-We go to house show action in Oklahoma City, where Mid-South set an attendance record for wrestling with 12,000 fans. Ex-partners Jim Neidhart and Butch Reed are doing battle when Krusher Darsow throws a football helmet at Reed and Reed uses it to spear Neidhart. Reed does a football practice drill afterward, which is fantastic.

JIM “The Anvil” NEIDHART vs. LARRY SANTANA
-You can not be this shade of white and go by the name “Santana.” I think are are actual laws against it.

-Neidhart launches Santana across the ring and elbows him while Watts announces that Reed and Neidhart happen to be bracketed against each other in the TV Title tournament, so we’ll be seeing that match soon. Samoan drop gets three.

MASAO ITO vs. MIKE JACKSON
-Ito kicks and chops and kicks and chops and kicks and chops. Throat claw applied and the referee frantically calls for the bell. Hey, a win’s a win, congratulations, Mike! Sorry about the blood gushing out of your mouth!

-We go to a Terry Taylor music video. He had a photo shoot earlier today, and we get all kinds of shots of Terry at peak sexiness. I love how Bill Watts needed to have the whole idea of “blowjob wrestlers” explained to him three months ago, and he just INSTANTLY got the idea.

NIKOLAI VOLKOFF vs. JOE SAVOLDI
-Volkoff throws Savoldi around while Bill Watts explains that Volkoff now sings the anthem because he thinks Americans will respect him more if he’s a good singer. Savoldi tries to get something going, but Volkoff literally swats him away. Body vice into a shoulderbreaker, and a press slam/backbreaker combo for three.

TV TITLE TOURNAMENT, FIRST ROUND: TERRY TAYLOR vs. “Nature Boy” BUDDY LANDELL
-Taylor reverses an Irish whip and hiptosses Landell for a quick one-count while Watts commends Taylor and JYD for being “good-looking men who can fight.” Landell tries to get something going and they get a series of blocks and reversals until Taylor manages to do another hiptoss, and Landell bails out for a minute. Landell still can’t quite get any traction going, and Taylor easily five-arms him for the win to advance. Pretty one-sided match, surprisingly, but they were pushing Taylor pretty hard.

-We don’t have time for a standby match, so Watts declares that we watch the Rock ‘N Roll Express music video again, for the third straight week.

7.5

The final score: review Good

The 411

Must-watch just for the bracket alone.