wrestling / Video Reviews
The Name on the Marquee: Mid-South Wrestling (12.25.1981)
Image Credit: WWE/Peacock
Loading...-From this point forward on the Network, the dates for Mid-South get really weird. This one has an airdate of Friday, December 25, 1981, which I somehow doubt. It could be a tape date, but would you really do a TV taping on what was generally considered a designated day for a huge-ass house show?
-Your hosts are Boyd Pierce and Cowboy Bill Watts.
MIKE GEORGE & CARLOS ZAPATA vs. JERRY NOVAK & RICK FERRARA
-Bill Watts says that this was supposed to be Mike George and his regular partner, Junkyard Dog, but JYD’s knee is injured as a result of all the guys gunning for his title, so George got a substitute partner.
-George gets caught in the bad corner and the jobbers attack. Novak tangles him in the ropes and Ferrara unloads on him with punches. George is actually getting completely destroyed by the jobbers here. Zapata tries to help but gets dumped on the floor. Novak beats on Zapata on the floor, and then the jobbers resume the two-on-one attack. Attempted doule-team goes wrong and George makes his comeback, clearing Novak from the ring and pinning Ferrara with a dropkick. That’s as thorough a story as a two-minute match can tell, and it was really engrossing.
$1,000 PERSIAN CLUBS CHALLENGE
-Picking up where we left off last week, Paul Ellering did 50 reps with the Persian clubs, which means the Iron Sheik must now do 100 reps or cough up $1,000, which led to Skandar Akbar vamping to run out the remainder of the TV hour.
-So we’re back in the ring now and Sheik goes right to the clubs and gets to work, and in a payoff that you’d never ever expect for an angle like this, he does the 100 reps and does it easily. But Paul’s decided he wants another shot at it. He grabs the clubs and makes it to 52 reps until Sheik has had enough and attacks Paul Ellering, just like the Ayatollah would attack an embassy! That topical bastard! Sheik clamps on the camel clutch to punish him, but Ellering powers out of it, and the two just beat the hell out of each other until Akbar pool-cues Paul with the Iranian flag. Sheik destroys Ellering and then takes off. Good angle!
BRIAN BLAIR vs. PAUL ORNDORFF (with Bob Roop)
-Both men start in a “dogfight,” which is a pretty badass way to describe the opening lock-up where both guys just go back and forth and neither guy has an advantage. Blair applies a headscissors on Orndorff. Orndorff tries to take control but misses an elbow and gets caught in an armbar. Orndorff backdrops out, but Blair turns that into headscissors again and Orndorff is being pretty thoroughly outwrestled here. Orndorff blocks a sunset flip attempt and starts putting the boots to Blair, but Blair gets aggressive right back and turns it into a fistfight. He gets caught in a powerslam and Orndorff tries to finish with the figure four, but Blair kicks free and suplexes Orndorff.
-Blair applies his own figure four, but again, Orndorff has mastered the reversal at turns it over. Funny scene at ringside, as Mid-South Wrestling is so stringent about rules that a second referee comes to ringside and DEMANDS that Roop sit in the designated manager chair instead of walking around. They argue about that until the referee abruptly calls for the bell. Blair did not submit, however, the referee is awarding the win to Orndorff due to concerns about Blair’s safety. Really solid match.
TED DIBIASE (North American Champion) vs. MIKE BOYER
-These guys just plain wrestle, there’s no other way to describe it. Smooth-looking hold by DiBiase, who counters an attempted hiptoss by just deadweighting on Boyer and turning the move into an armbar. Chops and forearms by DiBiase. He powerslams Boyer into position and applies the figure four, and Boyer gives in.
BOB ROOP & BOB ORTON JR. vs. FRANK MONTE & MIKE BOND
-Roop and Bond do an amateur exhibition while Bill Watts calls out Orton for wrestling a ridiculous number of tag team matches for a guy who holds a singles title. Monte applies a side headlock on Orton and shoulderblocks him down. Roop tags in and Monte has mastered flying headscissors and throws Roop all over the ring with a series of them. Roop gets the hell out of the ring. The Bobs double-clothesline Monte to stop him in his tracks and Roop suddenly feels brave enough to tag back in. Monte cradles him but Roop manages to tag while being pinned. Bond, the jobber, cleans house, but the Bobs pull off another sneaky pin, and Roop gives him a knee to the head from behind. Decapitator by the Bobs, and Orton finishes with a doozy of a piledriver. Another great squash, as Monte appeared to totally have Roop’s number and the stars had to work around that to pull out a win.
ED WISKOWSKI vs. TOM RENESTO JR.
-Wiskowski slams Renesto down and drives knees into the back. Bill Watts goes on a dissertation about how it’s foolish to blame a referee for anything that happens in a wresting match because there’s only so much a referee can do, and besides, if you’re a good wrestler, you should be good enough not to get yourself into a position where the referee can cost you the match. Backbreaker by Wiskowski gets the win.
IRON SHEIK (with Skandar Akbar) vs. DON SERRANO
-Sheik attacks before the bell when all of a sudden, Paul Ellering runs to ringside all pissed off and lights into the Sheik.
