Mid-South Wrestling (5.26.1984) Review

-Originally aired May 26, 1984.

-Your hosts are Boyd Pierce and Bill Watts. Weirdness, they’re back on the old set this week. Bill Watts has the $50,000 check at the desk for the title match.

-BREAKING NEWS: We head off to Tulsa, Oklahoma on May 13. Mr. Wrestling is defending the North American Title against his former pupil, Magnum TA. They actually give us quite a bit of action here, with referee Carl Fergie getting bumped TWICE. Second time around, Mr. Wrestling II shows up to provide the distraction while Mr. Wrestling loads his knee with a weapon, but Mr. Wrestling accidentally knees II off the apron, and TA rolls him up just as Fergie revives and counts three, and Magnum TA is the NEWWWWWWWWW North American Champion.

-Bill Watts is here with Sonny King, who asked to come to TV today to talk about an incident that happened in Memphis recently. Okay, SO, JYD got booked in the weekly Monday night Memphis house show against Ken Patera. To hype the match, he appeared on the Memphis TV show over the weekend, and we roll the tape!

-Lance Russell is interviewing JYD in the studio when Buddy Landell shows up with a huge paper bag. JYD is distracted and doesn’t see Butch Reed sneak out. Reed knocks him out with one punch, then they cover him with syrup and feathers. JYD revives and vows to chew on Reed’s bone. Or something.

-Back to Bill Watts and Sonny King, as Sonny is oddly in charge of articulating the whole gist of the angle. As he lays it out, Butch Reed demands to be known as the #1 black wrestler in the world, and he’s insecure because he’s afraid he can’t be #1 if JYD is around, which is ridiculous because, King points out, there’s enough room in the wrestling business for EVERYBODY who wants to make a name for themselves. Wait, hold on, what year is this? Ah, yes, 1984. Yeah, Sonny’s right, there’s a zillion wrestling promotions in America and that’s not likely to change any time soon.

-Butch Reed storms out to tell Sonny to mind his business, and Bill Watts steps between them and throws it to commercial. I trust this company to give us a payoff, but right now it seems really weird that they’ve recruited a third party who’s in charge of describing the storyline to us.

TAG TEAM TITLE vs. $50,000, NO DISQUALIFICATION: ROCK & ROLL EXPRESS (Champions) vs. MIDNIGHT EXPRESS (with Jim Cornette)
-A group of fans stops the Rock & Roll Express on their way into the ring and presents them with new vests to replace the ones that got destroyed by the Mr. Wrestlings. Before the referee calls for the bell, he calls for a second referee to come to ringside, and Carl Fergie comes to ringside, snatches the tennis racquet out of Jim Cornette’s hand, and walks off with it, to Cornette’s utter disbelief.

-Dennis Condrey gets worked over by the Rock & Rolls. Condrey breaks free with a handful of hair, because hey, it’s legal, why not. But the Midnights figure, hey, this is ALSO legal and they step in to double-team Condrey. Morton clears the ring, throwing Condrey over the top rope because again, he can. Cornette demands a time-out and Watts throws it to commercial while we have an opening to do that.

-Back from the break, Ricky misses a dropkick and Eaton attacks Powerslam by Eaton. Condrey tags in and applies a chinlock while Robert Gibson, in a no-DQ match, stands on the apron, in a no-DQ match, and helplessly leads the crowd in a “Go Ricky Go” chant, in a no-DQ match, because obviously, in a no-DQ match, there is absolutely nothing more that he could be doing to help his partner who is trapped in a hold, in a no-DQ match.

-Condrey gets his revenge for earlier by throwing Ricky over the top rope. Back in, Morton dodges a clothesline and hot tags Gibson, magically penetrating the invisible barrier that had prevented Robert Gibson from previously entering the ring in A GODDAMN NO-DQ MATCH, and Gibson fights the world until Cornette pulls down the top rope and causes Gibson to crash to the floor. Eaton goes outside to pounds and Gibson rams Eaton into the post, busting him open. Cornette is concerned as Condrey continues trying to fight both opponents. He charges at Gibson but Gibson throws him over the top rope, and that leaves the battered and bloodied Bobby Eaton.

-Robert Gibson applies a sleeper hold but the world’s most suspiciously incompetent referee, Carl Fergie, manages to get bumped. Cornette pulls out a rag and a can of ether, soaks the rag, and sneaks in the ring to smother Gibson. Good thing the referee is knocked out or else Cornette couldn’t have done that in a no-DQ match. Referee revives as Eaton rolls over and pins Gibson to capture the Tag Team Titles. The match was fine, I guess, but all no-DQ tag team matches have the same glaring logic hole that you can drive a truck through, and it’s hard for me to really get into them as a result.

MARK RAGIN vs. “Nature Boy” BUDDY LANDELL
-Bill Watts explains Ragin’s gimmick by saying “He gets off on Michael Jackson,” about a decade before that would suddenly take a different tone. By the way, I moved from West Virginia to Los Angeles 13 years ago, and if nobody else gives you a heads-up, I will: within the county boundaries of Los Angeles, if you make any joke or other remark even remotely insinuating that Michael Jackson was guilty of anything, you will be shot on sight.

-Anyway, Landell attacks Ragin and throws him over the top rope, getting himself DQed immediately, but Sonny King charges to ringside and beats the hell out of Landell. Reed comes in for a two-on-one attack, but he accidentally takes out Landell, and King easily clears the ring.

-Jim Ross talks to Mr. Wrestling II, who is now the #1 contender for the North American Title. JR points out that the last time a protege of Mr. Wrestling was declared #1 contender, it caused a ton of drama, but II cuts JR off and surprises us by showing a LOT more backbone than Magnum showed, saying Mr. Wrestling got beaten and what he thinks is of no concern to II.

-Bill Watts closes the show by promising an update regarding Sunshine’s nervous breakdown in WCCW.

7.5

The final score: review Good

The 411

Logic flaws aside, it's still a fun show.