Mid-South Wrestling (3.19.1983) Review

-The local station promo precedes this one, with Boyd Pierce decked out in his finest green plaid suit.

-Originally aired March 19, 1983.

-Your hosts are Boyd Pierce and Bill Watts.

-We get an encore presentation of Rat Pack vs. Atlas/Andre from a few weeks ago, when a variety of assorted hells broke loose and Kamala left Andre a bloody mess and bodyslammed him right on free TV. It’s worth noting that Andre didn’t learn his lesson about teaming up with Tony Atlas because he did it again 2 1/2 years later on a Saturday Night’s Main Event and got his ass kicked by fat guys again.

-Bill Watts reports that Mid-South levied a huge fine against Skandar Akbar for the whole thing, but apparently Akbar’s lawyer got a gag order against the promotion so the amount of the fine is a secret.

-And after all that, Bill Watts suddenly drops the bombshell that the Rat Pack just lost the Tag Team Titles.

-We’re back from commercial with the new champions, Mr. Wrestling II and Tiger Conway, Jr., who cut a gracious promo, with Conway saying it’s an honor for him to be a tag team partner to a living legend like Mr. Wrestling II. I don’t know the comprehensive history of Mid-South Wrestling, but shit, I KNOW this title reign can’t possibly be a long one.

-We go to eight nights earlier in Houston, Texas, for the closing moments. Pier sixer breaks out and Conway gets the pin over Borne to take the belts.

KAMALA (with Friday and Skandar Akbar) vs. MARTY LUNDE
-Marty’s on his way out the door to go to Georgia and get himself a new name and a push, but first, one more tour of job duty. Chops and chokes by Kamala. Big splash finishes.

JUNKYARD DOG vs. MATT BORNE
-Black Ninja shows up with the kendo stick. JYD grabs the chain and they have a stand-off while Matt Borne just makes popcorn on the apron and enjoys himself…and then Ninja leaves without incident and that’s the whole angle.

-Right hands by the Dog, and he snapmares Borne into a chinlock. JYD punches free as Bill Watts mentions that Ted DiBiase isn’t even in the building this week, so Borne is all alone. Borne throws a hook that knocks JYD surprisingly loopy, and he applies a chinlock of his own. JYD makes it to his feet and punches out, and a Russian legsweep wipes Borne out, and JYD pins him right there. This was fine for what it was.

THE BLACK NINJA & THE GOLDEN DRAGON vs. TIM HORNER & ART CREWS
-Weird commentary, with Boyd and Bill acting like the Golden Dragon has just been there all along and we’re just expected to go along with it. Dragon connects with some quick kicks. Jobbers both take the same strategy, clamping onto the arm and keeping him on or close to the mat. Jobbers avoid Dragon’s chops and Crews throws a dropkick. Dragon comes to life and tags in Ninja. Ninja goes to work with martial arts and tags Dragon back in, which is kind of like when you were a kid and your older brother finished the electric underwater level of TMNT for you and then handed the controller back.

-Crews tags in and backdrops Dragon, but Dragon goes to the eyes and backdrops him right back, and the thrust kick by Ninja knocks Crews out cold for the three-count. Good competitive match but randomly dropping a new guy in there felt like they were setting up for an angle and then nothing happened.

WILD BILL IRWIN vs. JOE STARK
-Irwin hammers Stark while Bill Watts regales us with an anecdote about his wife’s proficiency with a whip. So now we know what Bill Watts is into.

-Stark applies a hammerlock, but Irwin hammers out. Watts goes into Irwin’s background, acknowledging that Irwin used to be a jobber on Mid-South TV, but he got more experience from traveling around and training extensively, and now he’s a star. He immediately brings up Marty Lunde and basically announces that Marty is about to get promoted from jobber to star.

-Irwin goes for a backdrop, but Stark kicks him down and applies a chinlock. Irwin gets free and goes back to work with a knee. Irwin applies a side headlock. This match is going incredibly long for something that’s supposed to establish Irwin as a star. Stark throws a dropkick, but runs the ropes and Irwin catches him and finally finishes with a backbreaker.

HACKSAW JIM DUGGAN & SUPER DESTROYER vs. MIKE JACKSON & RANDY BARBER
-Hey, Mike Jackson! Good to see him here. Super Destroyer is Bill’s brother Scott Irwin dressed like Masked Superstar.

-Jackson just unleashes everything he has on Duggan with a fast early attack, armdragging and dropkicking him as Watts lets us know that Duggan is absolutely furious about this Bruce Reed fellow from Atlanta walking around calling himself “Hacksaw.” Barber tags in and Duggan turns him upside down and rams him from corner to corner. Destroyer heads in and pounds away, and the superplex finishes as TV time runs out.

5.9

The final score: review Not So Good

The 411

First half of the show was fine, second half just DRAGGED. Also, they debuted two new stars this week and neither one of them was particularly effective. Golden Dragon was particularly odd because, again, they just act like he's been there. It's such an odd segment.