Mid-South Wrestling (3.5.1983) Review

-Originally aired March 5, 1983.

-Your hosts are Boyd Pierce and Bill Watts. Pierce is wearing a jacket so red, it’s a wonder Bill Watts isn’t punching it and cutting a heated promo against it.

-Bill Watts mentions that DeRidder, Louisiana recently gave JYD a key to the city, and we get a local news segment covering the Dog’s visit to an elementary school, where he spoke to the students and stressed the importance of a good education. Learn percentages so you know how much money you’re getting from action figures after you go north, kids.

-Next, Bill Watts tells us that director Oral Link has some disturbing video of the ring as it was set up when the video crew arrived in the building today. The ring was already put up, but somebody hung a Mr. Wrestling II with a noose around one of the ropes.

-Bill Watts backtracks and recaps the whole thing…Mr. Wrestling II began getting threatening messages from somebody. Kamala begins removing wrestlers’ masks and keeping them as trophies, and the theory at the time was that Kamala and Skandar Akbar wanted Stagger Lee’s mask. But II was suspicious that he was being targeted. II tried to resolve it back in December, but he was injured before match time and Mr. Olympia stepped in to take his place in a match where the loser would have to leave for 90 days, and shockingly, Olympia lost the match, so he ended up having to take three months off. This would seem to be a golden set-up for a Mr. Olympia heel turn, especially in light of the next thing Bill Watts does. He reminds us all of that Mike George guy that used to be JYD’s tag team partner until he got injured…and Dick Murdoch, who was JYD’s tag team partner until he got injured. And Mr. Olympia, who used to be JYD’s partner until they both got drummed out of wrestling for a while…gosh, it seems like bad things keep happening to JYD’s tag team partners.

KENDO NAGASAKI vs. JERRY CALDWELL
-Chops and a snapmare by Kendo. He applies a nerve hold as Bill Watts explains that Nagasaki doesn’t have male pattern baldness, he merely prefers to cut his hair that way. Crescent kick finishes for Kendo.

TED DIBIASE vs. RON ELLIS
-Waistlock takedown to start, and it appears that the wrestling match is the less interesting thing happening in the Irish McNeil Boys’ Club, as a slew of cops and what appear to be EMTs are huddled on one side of the ring. DiBiase makes short work of Ellis, finishing with the powerslam and the figure four.

MR. WRESTLING II & TIGER CONWAY JR. vs. RON KESSLER & KELLY KINISKI
-We have a substitute ring announcer this week and he’s just hell-bent on not disclosing the guys’ hometowns or what they weigh. Conway works the legs on Kiniski as Watts reminds us of both men’s pedigrees and that your daddy can’t win matches for you in Mid-South Wrestling. Conway stays on the legs as Bill Watts suddenly rattles off a slew of new stars debuting in the next few weeks in Mid-South, so apparently Bill Watts was as bored with the jobber spotlights as we were. Super Destroyer, King Kong Bundy, and Hacksaw “Bruce” Reed will be arriving soon.

-II tags in and keeps working the legs over before switching to headscissors. Kessler tags in and takes his licks. Watts, by the way, mentions that Hacksaw Duggan was upset when he heard that a guy named Hacksaw Bruce Reed was coming in because he wants to be the only Hacksaw in wrestling., Well, I’m sure those two men will learn out to share.

-Conway tags in with “short bodyslams” (Kessler sandbagging him and getting slammed anyway) and an I-don’t-even-know-what-the-hell-to-call-it by Conway finishes, as Kessler bungles whatever Conway was going for and takes the three-count from it.

MR. OLYMPIA vs. MATT BORNE
-Lock-ups go nowhere, but Olympia dodges a punch from “the left-handed southpaw” and backdrops Borne, then armdrags him around and applies an armbar. Borne escapes but gets dropkicked and caught in the armbar again. Borne keeps fighting it but keeps getting caught in the armbar, and damn if that isn’t the entire match.

-So this just keeps going until Borne finally breaks once and for all with a backbreaker. Ted DiBiase suddenly arrives at ringside to support his partner. Borne slams Olympia and heads to the top rope for Bombs Away, but the referee stops him and Borne climbs down to the second rope. That little bit of extra time gives Olympia a chance to recover and he counters Bombs Away with a lifted shin into the balls. Borne retreats to shake it off. Once he’s back in the ring, DiBiase reaches in and trips Olympia in plain view of the referee, drawing the DQ. Olympia clears the ring afterward to show everyone that he’s BACK, baby.

TIM HORNER vs. MARTY LUNDE
-Funny thing, as somebody at WWE Network doesn’t really get how Mid-South structured its TV shows, and the summary for this episode calls this match the main event.

-Horner applies a side headlock. Lunde fights back and applies a neck vice. Elbow off the second rope by Lunde gets two. With less than a minute left, it breaks down into a fist fight. Horner gets a backdrop for two. Cradle gets another two. And that’s it for TV time!

6.8

The final score: review Average

The 411

Kendo's not doing anything for me but the rest of the show was solid. Kinda wishing they'd just wrap up the Mr. Wrestling II mystery. Think about this. The storyline involved another guy having to leave the promotion, and now he's BACK and we still haven't resolved the mystery.