The Name on the Marquee: Mid-South Wrestling (6.19.1982)

-Originally aired June 19, 1982.

-Your hosts are Boyd Pierce & Bob Roop. Roop touches on Ted DiBiase’s recent claim of a hand injury, and that DiBiase is now wearing a glove when he wrestles. Roop refuses to wrestle DiBiase next week unless he sees an X-ray first.

“Dr. Death” STEVE WILLIAMS vs. MIKE BOND
-There don’t seem to be microphones anywhere but the announcers’ table this week. We can’t hear the fans or impact on the mat, which takes a lot of the wind out of watching wrestling. Bond tries mat wrestling, but Williams just lifts him and plants him on the top turnbuckle. He works the leg as Roop complains about Williams getting favorable treatment from Mid-South. Stampede finishes with ease.

-We flash back to Bob Roop winning the North American Title from Ted DiBiase, with some help from the One Man Gang. Bob Roop cuts a funny promo afterward, saying it’s been long enough since the match that Mid-South can’t legally do anything now, so yeah, he totally screwed over DiBiase.

-Ted DiBiase, now wearing a white glove, promises that if he can’t win the North American Title next week, he’ll leave Mid-South.

TED DIBIASE vs. BILLY STARR
-DiBiase dropkicks Starr and armdrags him around. We get my favorite kind of wrestler trash talk, the line that probably sounded better in his head, as Roop says that DiBiase “thinks of me every time he looks at his wife.” Powerslam by DiBiase gets an easy three. DiBiase got the win without using the gloved hand, but Roop still has his suspicions.

KILLER KHAN (with Skandar Akbar) vs. KING COBRA
-Khan strangles Cobra and rips at his face. The air conditioning in the building his so strong that Akbar’s kefiyah nearly flies off his head at ringside. Nasty-looking backbreaker by Khan. Cobra fights back with headbutts and right hands, but Khan attacks his arms to stop the punches. Cobra works around that by dropkicking him, but Khan just shakes it off and gives him a knee off the second rope to finish it.

LOUISIANA TITLE: JUNKYARD DOG (Champion) vs. THE GRAPPLER
-Grappler tries a side headlock, but JYD just lifts him and launches him across the ring. Bodypress by JYD gets two. JYD just lights into Grappler with a tackle and a clothesline, and Grappler goes to the floor for a breather, which Roop says is proof that the Grappler is a heady wrestler. I hear he’s chockful of heady goodness.

-Grappler starts getting it together, hitting a backreaker for a one-count. Suplex on the Dog gets two. JYD fights back, but the referee gets knocked out of the ring and you know shit’s goin’ get cray-cray now. Okay, so Grappler gets knocked out of the ring on the opposite side. Assassin runs down and tells Grappler to stay on the floor, then loads his own mask and gets ready to make trouble. JYD brings him in and just kicks the crap out of him, but punches Assassin while his mask is still loaded and injures his hand. He recovers and throws Assassin to the floor, and the referee’s like “WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?!” and while the referee is dealing with Assassin, One Man Gang runs to the ring and tries to break JYD…but that brings out Ted DiBiase, swinging JYD’s chain at everyone and clearing ringside as the referee gives JYD the win by DQ. JYD thanks his friend for the favor afterward.

JESSE BARR vs. HANGMAN HARRIS
-Dropkick and an armdrag by Barr. They collide on an awkward shoulderblock, and then another one. Chinlock by Harris, but Barr lunges forward and rams him into the corner to break. Barr goes for a Thesz press, but Hangman turns it into a stungun and then finishes with a neckbreaker.

ERNIE LADD vs. RANDY BASE
-Only Base is in the ring to start. The referee runs to the ring and announces that, for some reason, Ernie Ladd is refusing to wrestle this match. Jesse Barr is exhausted and injured after the last match, but he’s game for another match. He works the arm over and gives Base a shot right between the eyes. Slam gets two. Cradle gets another two. Overhead suplex and Base lands right on his fucking neck. I actually yelled “Oh Jesus” and recoiled from the TV watching this, and the referee looked horrified by it too. Base rolls out of the ring afterward and looks fine, but it’s a miracle he can walk after that finish. Jesse Barr wins, but at what price for Randy Base, dammit?

THE ASSASSIN & ONE MAN GANG (with Skandar Akbar) vs. TONY TORRES & MIKE HUDSPETH
-And now the jobbers are MIA, but there’s enough TV time left that everyone just decides to wait for them.

-And then out come Ernie Ladd and JYD, so that mystery is solved. But once they’re in the ring, Akbar and his men get the hell out of the ring and leave us without a match.

6.4

The final score: review Average

The 411

Another great "To be continued..." week of booking that has me more than ready for next week's title match.