Mid-South Wrestling (4.20.1985) Review

-Originally aired April 20, 1985.

-Your hosts are Jim Ross & Joel Watts.

KAMALA (with Skandar Akbar) vs. THE MASKED MARVEL
-Marvel appears to be me under a mask, so I’m curious to see how I perform in this match. Kamala chops away at his doughy opposition and finishes with a big splash. Man, I sucked in there.

Post-match, Kamala refuses to obey Akbar when told to get away from his opponent, an early indicator that he doesn’t have the level of control he claimed to have over the Ugandan Giant. Hacksaw Jim Duggan storms into the ring, and Kamala’s not exactly intimidated, but he seems compelled to leave when he sees Duggan entering the ring.

HACKSAW JIM DUGGAN vs. THOR
-Akbar returns to ringside and offers Thor a wad of money before the bell, so Thor accepts the money and then attacks Duggan. Watts is amazed at how improved Thor is as a wrestler as of late, and right on cue, Duggan clotheslines him down and drops a knee. Duggan just beats on him, apparently doing more than he really needs to just to send a message to Akbar. Spear finishes. Duggan is still doing that spear the way he’s done it from the beginning, and whoever told him to switch it to a clothesline on impact deserved a nice bonus.

BARBARIAN vs. STONEY MONTANA
-Jobber’s name is like a Flintstones parody of Scarface, and The Flintstones should be rebooted just so they can do that. The drug slang would even work unchanged, he’s selling rock!

-Tackle by Barbarian, and a full nelson finishes.

DIRTY WHITE BOYS vs. BRICKHOUSE BROWN & ROCKY MONTANA
-Odd combo on the babyface side. Brickhouse clears the ring by himself to start, laying the groundwork for Rocky to screw this up. Tony Anthony rams Montana into the corner. Len Denton tags in and slams him with authority. Dirty White Boys hammer on him and Denton almost finishes with a Samoan drop…but he suddenly throws Rocky to the corner and demands Brown tag back in because he wants to get the winning pin on HIM. Brickhouse is ready for that challenge and fights both Boys. An attempted double-team backfires and Denton knocks Anthony out to the floor. Brown capitalizes with a headbutt that knocks Denton out cold, and he scores the pin! Nice plot twist here.

TV TITLE TOURNAMENT FIRST ROUND: STEVE CASEY vs. JAKE “The Snake” ROBERTS
-Jake tries a hiptoss early on and Casey turns it into a cartwheel. Jake boots him down and throws him to the floor, but Casey lands on his feet, bounces back in, and dropkicks Jake. Jake ends up on the floor now. Back in, Casey keeps him grounded with a chinlock. Jake makes the ropes, so Casey brings him to the middle of the ring for a side headlock. Words of wisdom from Joel: “Self-made men often worship their creator.”

-Casey goes for a monkey flip. Jake resists it and Casey crashes, but Jake can’t capitalize, missing an elbow. So Jake finally tries cheating, using a handful of tights for leverage to send Casey into the corner. Casey mounts a comeback but misses a bodypress and falls out to the floor. Casey is out of it, and a DDT finishes and allows Jake to advance. Oddly one-sided, especially given how it turned out.

TIM HORNER vs. DIRTY DUTCH MANTELL
-They trade slaps to start off. Dutch works the arm while riding Horner like a horsey. Side suplex by Mantell (“a strange unorthodox bodyslam” per Joel) gets two. Horner makes a comeback but runs right into an elbow. Horner tries one last approach, a second-rope bodypress, but he crashes and a gourdbuster gets three.

GENERAL EDDIE GILBERT & THE NIGHTMARE vs. PRIVATE TERRY DANIELS & STEVE BRINSON
-General battles the Private for a bit before bringing in the Nightmare. Nightmare heaves Daniels into the corner and Gilbert tags back in, rubbing Daniels’ face into the mat and telling him “Now we go to school!” Daniels throws a punch and escapes, tagging Brinson in. Gilbert shoos him away with a kick and brings the Nightmare back in, and a piledriver by Nightmare gets the win.

7.6

The final score: review Good

The 411

Fun show with a few good angles and a surprise ending to one match.