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Mid-South Wrestling (2.8.1986) Review

May 4, 2023 | Posted by Adam Nedeff
Mid-South Wrestling 1.25.86 Ted DiBiase Steve WIlliams Image Credit: WWE
8.7
The 411 Rating
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Mid-South Wrestling (2.8.1986) Review  

-Cold open: A Koko B. Ware music video, set to “The Bird” by Morris Day, highlighting his run in Memphis. They missed the clip of him slapping the hell out of that jobber though.

-Originally aired February 8, 1986 and holy crap, they’re using the opening again, this is the first time I’ve seen it since they left Irish McNeil.

-Your host is Joel Watts.

-Jim Ross is in the ring with Oliver Humperdink, Eddie Gilbert, and Oliver’s newest charge, Taurus Bulba of Outer Mongolia. You sure it’s outer Mongolia? Because I’m pretty sure it’s somewhere in St. Canard.

TAURUS BULBA (with Oliver Humperdink & Eddie Gilbert) vs. PERRY JACKSON

-Bulba hammers Jackson down, and a piledriver finishes quickly.

-Post-match, Humperdink cuts a promo warning all the faces to look out. Eddie Gilbert interrupts and says he has something for Humperdink, and Bulba immediately turns on Humperdink and beats the hell out of him! And YEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSS Eddie Gilbert finally recaps the entire past year of his career and points out that his dealing with Humperdink made no sense, and indeed, he’s been biding his time and plotting, and the surprise ass-kicking was his revenge on Humperdink for railroading him last year. Ten thousand stars!

-JR chat with Dick Slater & Dark Journey, who want Jake kicked out of Mid-South for his reckless assault on Dark Journey. This is weird, because there’s a referee standing in the corner of the ring holding the North American Title belt for the entire promo, and they never acknowledge that.

RICKY GIBSON vs. DICK SLATER (with Dark Journey)
-They’ve made a neat change to the ring, with the portion of the mat in the heel’s corner painted red and the face’s corner painted blue. It…kinda makes the entire ring look like a beer logo, but it’s a good, distinctive look.

-Ricky Gibson applies a headscissors. This leads to a really nice mat sequence with Slater trying to counter and winding up in an armbar over and over again. Slater gets to his feet and just knees his way out. Gourdbuster by Slater gets the win.

-Buzz Sawyer gets in the ring for a match with Al Perez, but due to “transportation problems,” Al Perez isn’t in the building. Sawyer wants to fight SOMEBODY, and Hacksaw Jim Duggan qualifies as somebody, so he marches to the ring with 2×4 in tow, ready to fight. And suddenly, Buzz Sawyer decides to call it a night.

KOKO B. WARE vs. BROADWAY JOE MALCOLM

-It’s funny how so much of the “Birdman” persona seems straight outta Titan Sports, but he’s about 75% there with the Mid-South version of the gimmick, with the theme music, the dance, and the bird mannerisms during the match. He even has the B, and before I started watching Mid-South, I would have bet that was a WWF thing.

-Malcolm get some token offense, but Koko comes back with an armdrag and the best damn dropkick in the world. Malcolm fights back with a whip and a series of forearms. He whips Koko again, but Koko just springs up to the second turnbuckle and connects with a missile dropkick for three.

SHEEPHERDERS vs. STEVE DOLL & BRETT WAYNE SAWYER
-Luke beats on Steve Doll as JR declares that the Sheepherders ask no quarter and give none. Numismatists hate them! Double stomachbreaker gets the fast win.

TV TITLE: JAKE “The Snake” ROBERTS (Champion) vs. GUSTAVO MENDOZA

-Continuing the weirdness earlier, Jake is billed only as the TV Champion, with no mention at all of the North American Title or any explanation of why a referee had the belt earlier.

-Jake works the arm but gets caught in a side headlock. Jake twists his way out and slams Mendoza. And we get a WEIRD moment where Jake goes for the DDT and…does it, but Mendoza intentionally goes down really slowly, so there’s no impact, and then he slides out of the ring. And Jake looks absolutely DISGUSTED.

-Back in, we get some more token offense, and Jake does the hand signal, then the DDT, and Mendoza steps back into the ropes and won’t allow him to do it. And the commentators are reeeeeeeeeally puzzled by that.

-Mendoza throws punches and an elbow for two as these guys are actually cooperating aside from all the DDT weirdness, and I’m starting to wonder if the DDT stuff is an F-You at the request of Mr. Watts.

-We go to an extended side headlock. Jake turns it into a hammerlock but Mendoza elbows out. Jake goes for a backdrop, Gustavo leapfrogs him, but Jake spins him right around and DDTs him right there, no confusion, no ambiguity, a firm DDT into the mat, and a three-count to retain the TV Title. What a weird match.

-JR is in the ring with Dr. Death and presents him with his plaque for PWI’s Most Improved Wrestler of 1985.

TED DIBIASE, “Dr. Death” STEVE WILLIAMS, & HACKSAW JIM DUGGAN vs. DICK MURDOCH, MASKED SUPERSTAR, & ROB RICKSTEINER

-Buzz Sawyer storms into the ring and decides that NOW is the right moment to take up Hacksaw Jim on that offer to fight him, and Duggan just beats the hell out of Sawyer and sends him out to the floor.

-Sawyer is so mad he comes back in and demands satisfaction, and everyone else signed for this match stands on the apron and just watches. Duggan knocks him around again and…Sawyer….tags out? So I guess the idea is that Rob Ricksteiner took off after Sawyer showed up so Sawyer is taking his place. It doesn’t matter, TV time is gone and oh by the way the Rock & Roll Express will be at the next TV taping so get your tickets!

8.7
The final score: review Very Good
The 411
Great ENERGY to this week, with a lot of different stuff going on and everyone being super-motivated.
legend

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Mid-South Wrestling, Adam Nedeff