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Mid-South Wrestling (5.19.1984) Review

January 4, 2021 | Posted by Adam Nedeff
Mid-South Wrestling 5-19-1984 Image Credit: WWE/Peacock
8.6
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Mid-South Wrestling (5.19.1984) Review  

-Originally aired May 19, 1984.

-Your hosts are Boyd Pierce and Joel Watts.

-And it seems like everyone decided that this new-fangled “contract signing in the ring” thing they tried a few weeks ago worked well, so they’re going to do it again. We go into the ring, where Jim Ross is standing by with matchmaker Grizzly Smith, the Rock & Roll Express, the Midnight Express, and Jim Cornette. NEXT WEEK, these two teams will do battle, with the Rock & Rolls putting up the belts and the Midnights putting up $50,000 cash; one fall, no DQ. And we get a glimpse into the kayfabe-business end of pro wrestling, as we learn that three copies are made of every contract for a wrestling match. Everybody involved has to sign all three copies, Grizzly has to sign all three copies as matchmaker, and a third, well, fourth party has to sign as a witness. In this case, Jim Ross has to sign all three contracts as the official witness. Everybody signs their contracts and cuts their promos, and the segment ends without incident.

-Onto more important matters: Super Date at the Superdome! As much as we gripe about WWE Network wiping out and replacing music on these old shows, the people at WWE Network deserve some credit for finding just the right stock music for every occasion. We get the video package again with Jim Ross rattling off the official rules, and whatever the music was originally, it’s been replaced by the cheesiest synth-pop piece, complete with a chorus of voices going “Wuh-wuh…wuh-ooooooooh” through the whole thing, and it sounds every bit like the music you’d hear in some John Hughes movie as the kids get ready to do something totally rad.

MARK RAGIN vs. JERRY GRAY

-Oh! All of a sudden, a Prime Time Wrestling match from 1989 makes a lot more sense. A while back I reviewed an ’89 show where Rick Rude wrestled some jobber, and not only did the jobber get some shine, but they booked a really slick finish where Rude basically lucked into the right position for the Rude Awakening and hit it out of nowhere, and the win looked like a total fluke. Well, here we are five years earlier, and the “jobber” is a new debuting star complete with entrance music and a white cowboy hat for his entrance, so you KNOW someone sees something in him.

-Ragin dances and dances once he’s in the ring. Gray gets fed up with waiting, so Gray tries to attack just to start the match, and Ragin just punches him out to the floor and keeps dancing. Based on his entrance outfit and the moves he’s doing, it’s pretty clear that he’s “the Michael Jackson guy.” Hiptoss and some high flying headscissors by Ragin, and he’s wearing a shirt with “THE THRILLER” spelled out in studs on the back. Bodypress by Ragin gets three.

ROCK & ROLL EXPRESS (Tag Team Champions) vs. MASAO ITO & “Nature Boy” BUDDY LANDELL
-Gibson takes on both opponents with no trouble, as Ito the Oriental killer who can just will a man to start gushing blood any second is suddenly half of the cannon fodder in a tune-up match for next week’s feature. Landell gets whipped and hiptossed. Gibson misses a splash in the corner and Ito tags in, kicking and chopping Gibson and lifting him in a bearhug. Ito tries to finish with a diving headbutt but misses, and a double dropkick finishes Ito…even though he kicks out at two and bounces right up after the referee calls for the bell, totally no-selling the champs’ finisher.

-Commentators throw it to commercial, but Mr. Wrestling I and II head into the ring and demand a title match right now, but Ricky Morton says they they just finished wrestling, and they’re going home for the week. I and II reveal that they swiped the Express’ entrance vests from the ring attendants and tear them apart. Express runs back to the ring, and the Wrestlings hastily exit.

MAGNUM T.A. vs. MR. WRESTLING II (with Mr. Wrestling I)

-#I demands to know why they didn’t get a Tag Team Title match in the previous segment, and JR is like, “Uh, you left when the champs came back to the ring” and #I doesn’t really have a good answer for that. #I skulks out of the ring so they can get started with this match.

-Punches and elbows by TA. Slam and a legdrop as TA is wrestling with extra piss and extra vinegar. #II fights back with some aggressive boots and knees. Slams and an elbow by #II get a two-count. He goes to a bearhug, but TA won’t say die. II bounces off the ropes for something, but TA catches him in a belly-to-belly out of nowhere. #I hastily comes up to the apron to stop him from interfering, but TA is ready for a fight and lays a beating on him while #II ties a weapon around his knee and knocks TA from behind, Referee spots it, though, and Magnum gets the win by DQ. The masked men beat him down until the Rock & Rolls make the save. Hot little match.

“Dr. Death” STEVE WILLIAMS vs. NIKOLAI VOLKOFF

-Williams still has the TV Title medal hanging around his neck and taunts Volkoff as he heads into the ring. And then he hands it to the ring attendant. So Volkoff could just beat up the ring attendant and then give the medal back to Krusher, which seems like that would be easier than this match.

-Volkoff wastes NO time, hitting a piledriver less than a minute into the match but only getting a two-count from it. Somersault splash by Volkoff! He goes for a second one but Williams rolls out of the way and follows with a tackle. Stampede by Williams finishes clean as a sheet. Short, but they crammed everything they could into the time.

TERRY TAYLOR vs. THE SHADOW

-Taylor Thesz presses Shadow as soon as the bell sounds, and Shadow barely kicks out before three. Taylor rolls him up and Shadow makes the ropes. A slick version of the headscissors by Shadow, as even the commentators are acknowledging that whoever Shadow is, he’s pretty unmistakably SOMEBODY with a lengthy background going by a new identity. I appreciate them acknowledging that. The guy has a middle-aged body type and he moves around the ring really well, and it would just be silly to put up an act like he’s a mysterious newcomer. He’s pretty obviously a mysterious grizzled veteran.

-Taylor works the arm and slams Shadow. Shadow tries a dropkick but crashes. Five-arm by Taylor gets the win. Decent squash match.

TV TITLE: KRUSHER KRUSCHEV (Champion) vs. HACKSAW JIM DUGGAN

-Krusher attacks as Duggan enters and rams him right into the post. Back in, Duggan reaches down deep and charges at Krusher, but Krusher moves and Duggan hits the floor hard. Duggan reaches in, grabs Krusher by the leg, and rams it over and over into the post, and NOW Duggan’s got something going. Spear by Duggan looks to finish, but Volkoff and Butch Reed hit the ring for another surprise attack. And Reed has shaving foam, as they’re going to finish the job they started with the beard a few weeks ago, and they’re going to shave his head bald. Terry Taylor, Steve Williams, and the Rock & Roll Express run into the ring to stop it.

8.6
The final score: review Very Good
The 411
Ito's active resistance to being in a squash match left me cold, but the rest of the hour was what I've come to expect from these folks.
legend

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Mid-South Wrestling, Adam Nedeff