Mid-South Wrestling (9.3.1983) Review

-Eons ago, before WWE Network was ever a thing, I reviewed a batch of episodes of “Mid-South Classics,” packaged reruns of the show that were syndicated around the time that the UWF withered and died. This week’s episode is actually an episode that I reviewed at the time, about ten years ago.

-Originally aired on television.

-Your hosts are good-but-not-yet-old JR and Bill Watts. Bill says that Skandor Akbar pricked his curiosity about The Missing Link. Pretty sure he meant “piqued.” He says there’s something familiar about the Missing Link but he can’t figure out what just yet.

-This leads to Bill Watts interviewing Skandor Akbar. Akbar insists that everybody call The Missing Link by the name “Max.”

MAX THE MISSING LINK vs. TIM HORNER
-Horner rams Max into the turnbuckle and Max just does it to himself. JR joins in the marveling about how the Missing Link looks familiar but he’s not sure why. Horner Irish whips Max and meets him in the opposite corner with an atomic drop. Bodypress gets a two-count. Max rams Horner into the turnbuckle and Irish whips him. Kneelift by Max and he puts the boots to Horner. Another trip to the turnbuckle and a powerslam gets a two-count. Horner starts throwing desperate punches and dropkicks Max a few times. He misses a dive and hits the ropes. Falling headbutt by Max and he drops Horner throat-first over the top rope. Elbowdrop and another falling headbutt put Horner out of his misery, and mysterious Max the Missing Link takes the win.

NON-TITLE MATCH: ROAD WARRIORS (International Tag Team Champions) vs. MAGNUM T.A. & HACKSAW JIM DUGGAN (Mid-South Tag Team Champions)
-That’s one hell of a match to give away for free. Four-man brawl erupts during the ring intros and the hometown boys clear the Road Warriors from the ring. Hawk & Magnum start things formally and Magnum gets the upper hand quickly. Magnum & Hacksaw switch off to work the arm. Amateur takedown by Magnum and Animal tags in to try his luck. Kneelift and a stomp by Animal to take control. He rams Magnum into the turnbuckle but misses a corner tackle. Hacksaw returns and tries to take on both Road Warriors, but gets overwhelmed quickly and they double-team him. They toss Duggan to the floor and turn their attention to Magnum and toss him to the floor, too. Duggan makes it back into the ring to fight Animal while Hawk KOs Magnum on the floor for good measure. Duggan holds his own and tackles Hawk hard enough to send him to the floor. Another tackle takes down Animal and Duggan goes for the pin. Hawk tries to break it with a splash off the top rope, but Duggan moves and Animal takes the blow. The referee decides he’s had enough and DQs the Road Warriors. Would this have compelled me to buy a ticket for the rematch? Hell yeah! Great little TV match!

-We take a look at a local news story about Junkyard Dog visiting a boy in the hospital.

JUNKYARD DOG vs. BORIS ZHURKOV
-JYD promised that little boy that he’d beat the crap out of a commie just for him. Zhurkov starts things with a bearhug and gets hiptossed immediately. A kneedrop compels Zhurkov to take a breather. Back in the ring, Zhurkov tries a few kicks to the stomach but gets dropped by a forearm. Headlock by JYD as Bill just totally ignores the match and has spent the entire bout recapping the Dog’s life and significant angles from his Mid-South run. Clothesline and the Thump put the Red Menace out of his misery.

-Buzz Sawyer destroys cinder blocks with a chain and eats raw meat, demonstrating equal parts madness and dogness.

“Mad Dog” BUZZ SAWYER vs. JOHNNY RICH
-It’s Tommy’s cousin. Sawyer attacks in the corner but misses a charge and meets the post shoulder-first. Rich works the arm from that. Sawyer locks in an armbar and won’t let go. Sawyer kicks him away and snapmares him. He misses an elbowdrop and Rich goes back to the arm. Sawyer escapes and a flying forearm sends Rich through the ropes and onto the floor. Back in the ring, Sawyer chokes Rich, who tries to fight back with punches and kicks. GREAT dropkick by Rich gets a two-count. Sawyer sucker punches him and follows with a suplex. He misses a falling headbutt and Rich mounts another comeback, but Sawyer catches him coming off the ropes and powerslams him for a three-count. Freakishly good by squash standards.

-We look at the closing moments of Magnum TA/Steve Williams vs. King Kong Bundy/Ted DiBiase. DiBiase uses a loaded glove to KO Magnum and that brings out Jim Duggan, who gets his hands on the glove and KOs both heels to turn the tide.

-DiBiase demands a loser-leaves-town match with Duggan. I find it a little funny that one of DiBiase’s big complaints here is that Duggan’s match interference has been costing him money.

KING KONG BUNDY vs. ART CREWS
-Bundy overpowers Crews quickly and knocks him down with an elbow. Clubbing forearms by Bundy and not much else for the duration of the bout. Kneedrop and a headlock by Bundy; he follows with a bodyslam and goes back to the clubbing arms. Crews tries to fight back but Bundy no-sells and kicks him down to the mat. More clubbing and an avalanche give him the three-count…er…five-count.

KRUSHER DARSOW vs. GEORGE WEINGROFF
-Weingroff deserves a little attention here for being a rather amazing story. He excelled in amateur wrestling before moving on to the pro-wrestling ranks…despite being legally blind. Clean break off the lock up and Darsow decides that’s not his style and kicks him. Shoulderblock by Dawsow, but Weingroff connects with a pair of dropkicks Irish whip by Weingroff, but Darsow catches his jaw with an elbow. Bodyslam and a backbreaker give Darsow a one-way ticket to the pay window. That’ll teach you to be handicapped.

RICK ROOD vs. RIP ROGERS
-This is for the short-lived World Alliterative Title. Rood (Ravishing Rick going by his real spelling) is making his debut and has committed the classic rookie error of showing up without his physique. He’s billed as 230 pounds and I’m going to call bullshit on that right now; he can’t be more than 190.

-They jockey for a takedown and switch off with headscissors and side headlocks. Rood gets the upper hand and keeps the headlock going for a while. Bodypress by Rood gets two. Bodyslam and a dropkick gets two. Back to the side headlock as Rood seems determined to keep this one pretty basic. Back suplex by Rogers and he puts the boots to Rood. Snap mare gets two. Backdrop is countered by a sunset flip for two. Inside cradle by Rood gets another two. They fight for an Irish whip and Rood wins that battle, following with a monkeyflip. Hiptoss and a dropkick by Rood; backdrop and a neckbreaker give the new guy the big win. Not great, but Rood definitely had potential here.

ONE MAN GANG (with Oliver Humperdink) vs. MIKE DAVIS
-Courtesy of Mid-Atlantic Wrestling. David Crockett actually calls the Gang George Gray. Shoulderblocks by Gang to get the point across that he’s a large man. Davis tries a dropkick but it’s no-sold. Gang picks him up and powerslams him, and that’s it!

-And that IS it, I guess, because JR signs off immediately, without explaining any reason that we might have needed to see that.

8.0

The final score: review Very Good

The 411

This was a Mid-South CLASSIC, you definitely couldn't knock it for false advertising.