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Mid-South Wrestling (8.24.1985) Review
Image Credit; WWE
Loading...-Originally aired August 24, 1985.
-Your hosts are Jim Ross & Joel Watts.
-Right before the TV show went on the air, an odd videotape was delivered to the building. It turns out to be a video of a masked man sitting at a campfire, and he introduces himself as The Midnight Rider, a man with the power to overcome evil, and to plagiarize a gimmick in a time with no one in wrestling territories gave any regard to trademarks. The Midnight Rider is unmistakably Bill Watts, wielding silver dollars and overcoming evil wherever he goes.
HACKSAW JIM DUGGAN vs. MIKE SCOTT
-Scott’s look and body language indicate that he was probably doing Duggan’s entire act at outlaw mudshows before getting booked at this taping. JR declares him raw-boned as they go to the mat. Duggan connects with elbows and sends him into a turnbuckle. Big clothesline by Duggan. Spear gets the three-count, and Duggan is WALKING TALL.
TV TITLE: HACKSAW BUTCH REED vs. JERRY GRAY
-Oh, hold on, Jake and the Barbarian are here. Jake admits that he and Reed get along well and they even share locker rooms sometimes, but money means more than friendship in the wrestling business. Barbarian got a win over Butch Reed before Reed won the TV Title, so why not give Barbarian a title shot?
-“Shut up, Honky!”–A fan
-Reed says he’ll agree if Barbarian goes to Grizzly Smith first to make it official, and Jake & Barbarian resist because it would require being in the same room as Grizzly Smith, and who the hell wants to do that? Jake and the referee pry the men apart even though both of them are pretty clearly in agreement about wanting this match. Jake & Barbarian agree to leave to get the match officially signed to a contract, and Reed goes ahead and takes the match that he already agreed to for this week.
-Kneelift by Reed. SOUPBONE by Reed and a front facelock is clamped on tight to wear Gray down. Backdrop and an axehandle by Reed. Press slam by Reed gets three.
JAKE “The Snake” ROBERTS & BARBARIAN vs. BRUISER & KARL STILES
-Jake takes down Bruiser and applies a chinlock. Barbarian tags in, which “adds pain to his opponent.” Barbarian slams him repeatedly while Joel notes that Jake wears a t-shirt with the slogan CRUEL BUT FAIR, which he concedes actually sums up Jake’s entire character really well.
-Russian legsweep by Barbarian, and the commentators are blown away by the sight of an actual hold. Jake tags in, and a DDT finishes.
“Dr. Death” STEVE WILLIAMS & BRUISER BOB SWEETAN (Tag Team Champions) vs. MARK RAGIN & WENDELL COOLEY
-Two star jobbers, so this should be decent. Cooley clears the ring right away and the champs are befuddled. Cooley bodypresses Williams for a one-count and tags in Ragin. Dropkick by Ragin gets another one-count.
-Williams has had. enough. of. this. Back suplex by Williams stops Ragin right there, and he tags in Sweetan, who asks no quarter and gives none. No, from the sounds of other wrestlers’ memories, Sweetan usually asks for a fifth and an eighth.
-Williams applies a bearhug to drain Ragin of “oxygen, the athlete’s gasoline,” but Ragin breaks and tags in Cooley. Williams fights off Cooley’s offense. Sweetan works the arm and tags Williams back in. Cooley comes off the second rope but meets raised knees, and Cooley makes the tag. All four men are in the ring and it’s a brawl until Sweetan “karates him in the throat” and Williams stampedes Ragin for the three-count.
SUPERSTAR BILL DUNDEE vs. DALE WILLIAMS
-Dundee takes Williams to the mat and applies a toehold, but here comes Bobby Fulton to watch the action, and Dundee’s disturbed by the unwelcome visitor. Dundee elbows Williams and splashes him for three. Post-match, Fulton announces he has a surprise for Dundee, and it turns out to be Little Coco, who got a pinfall win over Dundee last week, wearing a Dundee-style outfit to taunt him. Dundee picks a fight with Fulton, and suddenly Dutch Mantell shows up for a surprise attack, so Tommy Rogers hurries to the ring to rescue his partner.
AL PEREZ vs. BRODY CHASE
-Perez has his forehead bandaged because of last week’s laceration at the hands of The Nightmare. Perez takes Chase down while JR notes that Perez is showing more intensity in the past few weeks, likely because he has main events in sight and he doesn’t want to mess up his opportunity. Right hand by Perez knocks Chase out cold and Perez gets the pin, and Chase just lies there dead and motionless after the bell to put over the punch.
-We watch the Midnight Rider’s debut video again, and the commentators aren’t even hinting at Bill at all.
FANTASTIC TOMMY ROGERS vs. DIRTY DUTCH MANTELL
-Rogers clears Dutch from the ring right away. Mantell hustles back in and bars the arm. Rogers gets free but misses a corner charge and lands balls-first on the top turnbuckle, which is enough for Mantell to get a two-count. Powerslam gets another two.
-Rogers comes back with a dropkick. Dutch misses a dropkick of his own, and Rogers gets a sunset flip for two. With TV time running out, Bill Dundee comes to ringside for moral support, and for jerking the top rope down so Rogers tumbles out to the floor. Dundee attacks him until Bobby Fulton makes the save and WE ARE OUTTA TIME GOODNIGHT!
