Mid-South Wrestling (4.7.1984) Review

-Originally aired April 7, 1984.

-Your hosts are Boyd Pierce and Jim Ross.

MR. WRESTLING (North American Champion) vs. JOE SAVOLDI
-Savoldi snapmares Old Mister around a little bit, but Mister yanks the hair to get away. He gets Savoldi on the mat for headscissors, but Savoldi flips free, and the commentators give the edge to Mister Wrestling on technique, but the edge for speed to Savoldi. Mister tries a side headlock, and they go back and forth until Savoldi catches him coming off the ropes with a hiptoss.

-Mister finally just throws a punch to daze Savoldi to take over, and JR is dismayed because it’s not like the guy’s name is Mister Punch. Savoldi backs him into the ropes and instead of a clean break, Mister punches him down, and Savoldi just gets fed up with this bullshit and punches back, lighting into Mister’s ribs with lefts and rights, but Mister cuts him off and backdrops him. Million-dollar kneelift gets the win for the champ. Good match, with the champ getting a convincing win while Savoldi got the spotlight for a bit.

MIDNIGHT EXPRESS (Tag Team Champions, with Jim Cornette) vs. JEFF YOUNG & MIKE JACKSON
-Bobby Eaton locks up with Young, and JR expresses curiosity about how Cornette scouted this match for his men, because there’s plenty of film of Mike Jackson to review but we don’t really have anything on Jeff Young. On cue, Young throws dropkicks and Cornette has an instant freak-out. Mike Jackson tags in and cradles Eaton snugly enough for a two-count. Eaton tries for a backdrop, but Jackson does a sweet tumble-and-roll off Eaton’s back to counter it.

-Young tags in and applies a side headlock as Cornette is starting to bug out a bit. They finally get Young in the opposite corner of the ring and that’s the Express’ winning strategy, as JR expertly lays out. Condrey just drops Young right on the top rope. Eaton arrogantly throws Young into his own corner and demands a tag…and Jackson immediately starts beating the hell out of him until he crashes on an attempted dropkick, and the Midnight Massacre gets three, and Cornette instantly gets in there and celebrates like it was an easy win. Another really good squash!

TERRY TAYLOR vs. JOHN KING
-Lock-up goes onto the ropes, and King just rears back and knocks Taylor flat on his ass, and everyone is shocked. Taylor looks like King just got him mad, and he applies an armbar and will NOT let go no matter what. Armdrags and a wringer by Taylor until King yanks the head to force the break. Meanwhile, Boyd Pierce gives us a heads-up that the Mid-South TV Title tournament finals will be next week! Don’t miss it!

-King whips Taylor across the ring and charges, but Taylor meets him with a forearm and slams him down. Five-arm gets the three. I’m rather liking the whole trend this week of the jobbers looking good but still being decisively beaten by the better man. That’s a tough formula to do. What happens a lot is the jobber gets SO much offense that the guy who’s supposed to be a star looks like he got the win by accident, but no, every match, the jobbers are getting enough offense to make it interesting, but the star who wins the match deserved the win.

ROCK & ROLL EXPRESS vs. HACKSAW BUTCH REED & “Nature Boy” BUDDY LANDELL
-Heels attack, but they make the famous heel mistake of Irish-whipping the faces into each other and you know how that goes. Robert Gibson and Landell formally start the match and Landell just takes a beating, first from Gibson then from Ricky Morton, who gets him trapped in a side headlock. Reed tries to intervene and Morton turns it into a double-headscissors. Reed & Landell bungle an attempted double-team and Landell gets wiped out by a punch to the face…

-And suddenly Jim Cornette shows up at ringside, taking diligent notes, which makes sense, as JR lays out: since the ex-champs are no longer a team, the Rock & Roll Express are logically the #1 contenders for the tag team titles, unless Stagger Lee & Bill Watts get the gold first.

-So Reed & Landell take control. Reed drives an elbow into the jaw and tags Landell back in. Referee gets distracted while the heels double-team more successfully So Ricky Morton is in peril and all is right with the world, as he takes the ass-kicking as only he can, and all the girls in the crowd are freaking out. It really is a thing of beauty, as Morton keeps doing little things for a bit of hope, like ramming a shoulder into Reed, but then Reed blinds him with an eye rake. Morton is lucky enough to reverse an Irish whip, but he just runs right into a boot.

-Reed press slams Landell on top of Morton for 2 1/2. Heels double-team some more and Gibson can’t stand this anymore, so he runs in to help and Cornette suddenly jumps up and pulls the rope down, causing Gibson to fall to the floor. Morton nearly gets the win by himself with a cradle but Reed kicks out. Landell tags in while Reed loads up something in his hand and knocks Morton out with one punch, and Landell gets the winning pin, and the fans are heartbroken. Great little detail afterward, as Gibson is still laid out on the floor clutching his head, and Landell just walks on him like a floor mat as he heads back to the locker room.

HACKSAW JIM DUGGAN vs. RUSSIAN INVADER
-It’s just a total fight to start with punches and knees. Invader refuses to break cleanly when the fight reaches the ropes, and that gives the Russian the evil advantage. Duggan fights back with a big clothesline and a slam, and the spear finishes with ease, as the hot new Russian threat turns out to be no challenge at all.

NIKOLAI VOLKOFF & MASAO ITO vs. LEAPING LANNY POFFO & GEORGE WEINGROFF
-Volkoff & Weingroff have a slugfest to start; Poffo tags in with a bodypress, but Volkoff powers out of the attempted pin. Ito tags in and slams Poffo down, following it with a legdrop. Weingroff tags in and manages to get some sort of an edge, applying an abdominal stretch on Ito, but Volkoff just steps in and boots Weingroff right in the head; he crumbles and Ito gets the pin.

MAGNUM T.A. vs. BOB OWENS
-Owens attacks from behind before the bell, slamming Magnum down. Magnum gets fired up, whipping and backdropping Owens. Dropkick and the belly-to-belly get the win for TA.

-We finish up with a music video set to something by Billy Joel that’s been dubbed out, highlighting the fun and excitement of Mid-South Wrestling in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, a great, great wrestling city.

8.0

The final score: review Very Good

The 411

Great week for just straight-up wrestling, with action-packed squash matches nearly from start to finish.