The Name on the Marquee: Mid-South Wrestling (3.20.1982)

-Originally aired March 20, 1982.

-Your hosts are Boyd Pierce and…drumroll…the debuting Jim Ross. JR was actually calling rodeo for ESPN in the earliest days of that channel, so Boyd plays him up big-time and treats him like a “special guest star.”

-Boyd settles the suspense right now. Paul Orndorff gets the North American Title match this week, and Bob Roop will be barred before that bout can start. Bob Roop strolls in and expresses his surprise that Paul Orndorff got the pick over him. He assures us that he’s taking this setback like a man, but something weird has happened to Paul Orndorff. He had a cage match against Ted DiBiase at a house show. Orndorff lost clean in the middle of the ring, but Paul seemed really down and said afterward that he was tired of being embarassed on TV every time he faces Ted DiBiase. Right now, Orndorff’s not even in the building because he’s so despondent…

-Sooooooo, Bob reasons, since we promised the fans a title match, and since Paul Orndorff has apparently no-showed, maybe Bob Roop could have the title match? Boyd tells him no, saying he’s booked against Killer Karl Kox anyway, and it’s not Boyd’s call whether Bob Roop gets a match or not. Bob takes off to talk to Grizzly Smith about changing the booking for this week’s show.

-Jim Ross namedrops the world famous Dr. James Andrews and runs down his famous patients, now including Ernie Ladd. We go to actual footage of the surgery being performed, with JR giving some thorough details about the surgery, the devices being used, and what exactly the doctors are doing. Kinda gross, but also really interesting.

-We re-watch the assault on Ernie Ladd and Ernie’s follow-up promo, where he declares, “I might be a backstabber but I’ve NEVER been a coward!”

ONE MAN GANG (with Skandar Akbar) vs. BUDDY LANDELL
-Gang’s official debut. Weird to see Gang just wearing normal wrestling gear with a full head of hair. Somebody finally passed Gary Hart’s autobiography my way and he takes credit for suggesting Gang taking a more literal approach to his name and his look.

-Gang flings Landell across the ring and clubbers. Bodyslam and a big splash off the ropes finishes immediately.

KILLER KARL KOX vs. BOB ROOP
-Bob Roop frantically interrupts Reeser Bowden’s introductions and says he should be in the North American Title bout and that this one should be called off. Reeser says that as ring announcer, he’s not really in a position to do anything, so Roop is stuck with this match.

-Kox comes to ringside, high-fiving black fans as he enters, which is funny because the entire reason he chose that name for pro wrestling was for cheap heat from having the initials KKK. Roop attacks before the bell and tries to finish quickly. Roop fights back and hits the brainbuster, pinning Roop right there to end it. So Roop is hurt, he’s not going to get his title match, and Paul Orndorff is still missing.

SAMOAN WARRIORS (Tag Team Champions, with Skandar Akbar) vs. TERRY GIBBS & JESSE BARR
-Future perennial WWF jobber Terry Gibbs has a Mike Brady perm here. Barr dropkicks Afa down and rolls up up for two. Afa chops him down and tags in Sika. They double-team Barr, but Barr makes the hot tag and Gibbs cleans house until Sika gives him a chop to the belly and finishes him with the Samoan drop.

NORTH AMERICAN TITLE: TED DIBIASE (Champion) vs. BOB ROOP
-So it’s finally match time and Paul Orndorff STILL hasn’t shown up, so Grizzly Smith sends Bob Roop to the ring because it’s really his only choice at this point.

-Roop’s already hurt, so DiBiase smartly targets the neck and Roop is barely functional alreadu. DiBiase lights into him with forearms and elbows, and a bodypress gets two. The brainbuster from Kox has rendered Roop completely out of his league and he can’t even get anything basic going against DiBiase. DiBiase applies a side headlock, but Roop get free and they trade punches. DiBiase gets him back down on the mat and drops a knee for two. Front facelock by DiBiase. Roop slips out, but DiBiase powerslams him and applies the figure four. Roop uses the counter that he and Orndorff discovered together, and now DiBiase is at his mercy. Referee gets bumped as DiBiase fights his way free, and out comes the One Man Gang. Gang goes nuts on DiBiase’s leg, whacking it against the post over and over.

-Gang takes off and Roop re-applies the figure four as the referee revives. DiBiase passes out from the pain, and Bob Roop is the new North American Champion.

JUNKYARD DOG & MR. OLYMPIA vs. TULLY BLANCHARD & MIKE BOYER
-Wow, Tully as job guy. Mike Boyer has the most ridiculous white guy afro ever and he just became my favorite jobber of all time for it. Jobbers attack the stars right away, but the Forces of Push fight them off with ease. Olympia slams Boyer repeatedly, and the Thump finishes right away.

-As the match concludes, we see Paul Orndorff carrying his luggage and calmly headed to the dressing room without a care in the world. The commentators suspect he doesn’t even realize he missed his title match.

-After the commercial Boyd Pierce talks to Paul Orndorff. By god, no matter what you think of Orndorff, when he has a match, he SHOWS UP. He got in his car to come to the building but it wouldn’t start, and he suspects that DiBiase had something to do with it. Orndorff says he orchestrated the scheme with One Man Gang earlier, and that he walked from his house to the arena for this match, but now it doesn’t matter because he just found out that Bob Roop won the title, with the Gang’s help.

-So Orndorff decided to be a good sport and a good friend and says that during the commercial, he went to Bob Roop’s locker room to congratulate him, but he was in the shower. Orndorff suddenly felt really suspicious for some reason, he admits, and decided to go through Roop’s pants pockets, and take a look at what was in there…a set of spark plugs. Dun-dun-DUUUUUUN! And the show ends right on that revelation.

7.0

The final score: review Good

The 411

Nothing really special among the squashes this week, but a GREAT show-long angle makes this episode a keeper.