The Name on the Marquee: Mid-South Wrestling (5.15.1982)

-Originally aired May 15, 1982.

-Your hosts are Boyd Pierce and Bill Watts.

COCO SAMOA vs. THE GRAPPLER
-Samoa does a spiffy looking flip during a criss-cross but just runs right into a slam. Grappler hurts himself on a kneedrop, but rallies with an elbow and a shoulderbreaker. Armbar applied by the Grappler. Grappler goes for a backdrop but Samoa counters with a headbutt. Corner charge misses in spectacular fashion, and the Grappler does his bulldog-on-the-arm finisher to take it.

SPOTLIGHT
-Hey, a new feature. We recap the shitty fortunes of Paul Ellering, who injured his knee in a match last June and had surgery performed by Dr. James Andrews to repair it. After rehabilitating and making it back into wrestling, on January 5, Ellering injured the knee again. He’s heading back to the ring for active competition real soon, so we go to Reeser Bowden interviewing Ellering in the ring, surrounded by a bunch of kids, and Ellering promises to train them in the ring. This is such a weird segment, as Ellering is supposed to be a babyface, but he’s a condescending dick to the kids, talking about how they all wish they could be him and look like him. He has the kids do sit-ups, and then does sit-ups of his own with 135 pounds of weights on his chest. He has Jesse Barr and Buddy Landell come off the top rope and double-stomp his stomach to show that it has no effect on him.

-NEXT WEEK: PUSH-UPS!

NON-TITLE: MR. OLYMPIA (Mississippi Champion) vs. ONE MAN GANG (with Skandar Akbar)
-Gang launches Olympia across the ring with a flying mare. Olympia comes back swinging and applies a sleeper, but Gang just swings himself around and flings Olympia off. Right hands by Olympia as he just won’t give. Irish whip and Gang’s impact moves the ring, but he counters Olympia’s charge with a boot. Olympia gets desperate and tries the sleeper again, but for the second time, Gang just easily breaks Olympia’s finisher. Dropkick takes Gang off his feet and Olympia tries to finish right away, but Gang kicks out at one. Olympia tries the sleeper for a third time but Gang rams him into the corner to break. Gang tries to end it with a splash but Olympia moves and Gang crashes. Olympia tries a missile dropkick, which sends Gang tumbling over the top rope and crashing to the floor.

-Gang is about to get counted out, but Akbar runs in to protest, insisting on a DQ, since Gang went over the top rope. Olympia hands Akbar his ass until Gang sneaks up and attacks from behind, and a big elbow by Gang finishes. Great stuff, as Olympia has been getting pushed as a wrestling machine, so it really means something when he faces an opponent who just shakes him off like nothing, and Olympia suddenly looks pretty vulnerable now.

“Captain Redneck” DICK MURDOCH vs. KIM DUC (with Skandar Akbar)
-Story here is that Kim Duc is not actually an active competitor in Mid-South, he’s here solely as a “bounty hunter” for Skandar Akbar. WWF fans will recognize him instantly; it’s Tiger Chung Lee.

-Side headlock by Murdoch. Duc tries working the arm and uses a handful of hair to get Murdoch down on the mat. And Duc makes himself quite comfortable down on that mat. Murdoch finally gets free, but Duc chops him and chops him repeatedly. Murdoch comes back to life and Akbar runs over to Murdoch’s backpack and grabs his trenching tool. He takes a swing at Murdoch, but hits Duc instead. Murdoch gets his hands on the trenching tool and knocks Duc out cold in full view of the ref, but the ref condones it (karma prevails, I guess) and counts the three.

IRON MIKE SHARPE vs. BILLY STARR
-Forearms by Starr. Sharpe comes back with dropkicks and armdrags Starr. He works the arm until Starr goes to the eyes while Watts mentions some guy named Steve Williams who might be debuting in Mid-South soon. Sharpe makes a comeback with a high backdrop, and a big bearhug almost finishes, but Starr sticks with what works and rakes the eyes. Sharpe gives him a shot to the gut and tries a body vice now, and that’s enough for Starr to give up.

TED DIBIASE & ERNIE LADD vs. THE ASSASSIN & BOB ROOP
-Perfectly logical follow-up from last week’s angle.

-Ladd slams Roop and he tags out right away. Assassin tentatively steps in and Ladd snapmares him, and likewise, Assassin doesn’t want to stay in there with an angry Ernie Ladd and gets the hell out. DiBiase tags in and goes to work on Roop’s arm. Ladd tags back in, bearhugs Roop, and rams him into the corner. Assassin tags back in and connects with a hell of a dropkick. He tries another one but DiBiase catches his feet and makes it a Boston crab. Assassin powers out, but DiBiase throws a dropkick of his own and Assassin tags out.

-DiBiase starts working Roop’s leg and applies the figure four, but Roop has mastered the counter…but aha, DiBiase keeps his hands planted on the mat and has his arms perfectly straight to anchor them there, so DiBiase has discovered a counter to the counter and Roop is trapped in the hold! All four men end up in the ring and the hold is broken, and in the chaos, the Assassin loads the mask. But Ladd gives him a foot to the face. Referee gets dumped as DiBiase and Assassin take it out to the floor. Assassin is rammed into the post so hard that he’s out. One Man Gang runs in, but Ladd & DiBiase fight him off with shocking ease as “The Assassin” returns but it’s screamingly obvious that it’s the Grappler wearing the Assassin’s mask. Hint #1, he’s wearing tights with GRAPPLER printed along the leg. He loads the boot and knocks DiBiase out with a kick, which is how Watts figures out it’s the Grappler, and the referee revives, but he’s daze, sees a masked guy covering DiBiase, and counts the pin. Really well-booked, fast-moving battle.

THE TURK vs. BUDDY LANDELL
-It’s like they couldn’t think of a stereotype for Turkey and just decided “Screw it, call him The Turk.”

-Shoulderbloks by Landell, but The Turk fights back with kicks. Landell hits a bodypress for two. He goes for another one and Turk slams him. Landell turns a backdrop into a sunset flip for two. Turk gives him shots to the throat, but Landell cradles him for two. More right hands by Buddy and another cradle gets another two…and TV time is gone.

7.0

The final score: review Good

The 411

Solid storytelling all the way through this week's show. Mid-South is just a master class for effective booking.