The Name on the Marquee: Mid-South Wrestling (6.26.1982)

-Originally aired June 26, 1982.

-Your hosts are Boyd Pierce and Bill Watts and get comfy because they have a lot of stuff to explain to us to start the hour. So…(deep breath)…

-On June 21, Ted DiBiase was scheduled to wrestle Bob Roop at a house show in New Orleans, with Roop putting the North American Title on the line. JYD wrestled another match earlier in the card. An altercation broke out, and Ted DiBiase ran in to make the save, preventing the Dog from getting injured but hurting himself in the process. Grizzly Smith pulled DiBiase from his own match due to the injury, but dammit, he promised the fans a title match, so he put JYD in the ring against Bob Roop, and by golly, Junkyard Dog won the North American Title from Bob Roop.

-Well, okay, so the Dog already holds the Louisiana Title and it’s been already announced that a man cannot hold the North American Title and a state title simultaneously, so JYD must vacate the Louisiana Title immediately, with a tournament in Baton Rouge on July 6.

-Oh, and one other piece of business…Remember how Ted DiBiase demanded a no-DQ match putting his own career on the line against the North American Champion? The champion that was originally Bob Roop? Well…DiBiase was promised that match after all, and this whole thing started because DiBiase was upset about Mid-South not giving him opportunities that he felt he earned, so the no-DQ career vs. title match is still happening today. DiBiase’s just going to be wrestling his best friend in the world instead.

-JYD cuts a gracious promo promising to adhere to the rules of Mid-South Wrestling, and surrenders his Louisiana Title while promising to go around the world and defend the North American Title to the best of his abilities.

-Ted DiBiase admits to having doubts about wrestling his best friend, but hey, his best friend doesn’t pay for his house or his food…wrestling does. And DiBiase is going to do his best to win.

-We go back to JYD because Bill Watts noticed he didn’t say anything about facing Ted DiBiase in his previous promo. JYD admits that he doesn’t like the thought about wrestling his best friend and doesn’t really want to say anything about it. But he will say that DiBiase is a fair man, so it’s nice for him to go in the ring knowing that for once, he doesn’t have to watch his own back.

-And here’s Bob Roop, and he’s annoyed about losing a title to a man who had no contract and no match promised. He challenges JYD to match right here, next week, on TV, for the North American Title. He knows it’ll be a title match because he knows what both men are capable of and there’s no way DiBiase is winning this week, to be clear.

“Dr. Death” STEVE WILLIAMS vs. JEFF SWORD
-Williams tackles Sword and follows with a waistlock takedown. Backdrop and another tackle by Dr. Death, and Sword doesn’t get that Williams wants his finisher, so he just stays there slumped in the corner while Williams crouches with his arms outstretched, and Williams finally just has to grab him and slam him to end it.

BIG JOHN STUDD & SUPER DESTROYER (International Tag Team Champions, apparently) vs. ERNIE KIRKLAND & DAVID PRICE
-Crowd thinks the champs are babyfaces, but the commentators explain that they’re coming to the territory for a piece of JYD and Mr. Olympia. Watts proceeds to take an amazing cornfed shit all over Georgia Championship Wrestling, saying that Studd and Destroyer consider themselves a top tag team because they’ve dominated their competition on Atlanta TV, but that’s only because GCW is where guys wind up after they get chewed up and spat out by the superior competition in Mid-South.

-Studd slams Kirkland, who tries to protect himself on a slam by straightening his arm and bracing it against the mat on impact. He tags in Price and spends the rest of the match clearly tending to his hurt arm on the apron while Super Destroyer superplexes Price, and Studd finishes with the body vice.

NORTH AMERICAN TITLE, NO-DQ: JUNKYARD DOG (Champion) vs. TED DIBIASE
-If DiBiase loses, he must leave the territory. The best buddies shake hands before the match as Bob Roop sits in for guest commentary, promising not to interfere because if he does, it might give DiBiase an excuse to weasel out of the leave-the-territory stipulation if he loses. They have a good clean battle to start with holds and counters. Roop lays out a angle they did the previous year in Atlanta where DiBiase was injured and JYD took all of his bookings to help his best friend make a living.

-JYD snapmares DiBiase, but opts not to do the fist drop because it’s his best friend lying on the mat. DiBiase gets so flustered he throws a punch. JYD punches him back, and Ted seems to feel bad and they shake hands before resuming the match. DiBiase goes for a bodypress but JYD catches him and tries to turn it into the Thump. DiBiase resists so JYD turns it into a Russian legsweep instead. JYD comes off the ropes and DiBiase catches him in a powerslam for a one-count. DiBiase goes for a spinning toehold, but JYD kicks him over the top rope (no DQ!) and DiBiase writhes on the floor. JYD is so concerned he goes out there and checks n his friend, helping him back into the ring. Once DiBiase is back in and JYD starts to climb back in himself, DiBiase reaches into his tights, puts something into his glove, and punches JYD right in the face, knocking him out cold. DiBiase gets the three-count, takes the North American belt, and walks off, calm as can be. Daaaaaaamn. On commentary, Roop is in shock as he realizes that the glove was intended for his own head. Great heel turn, and a good story behind the scenes too, as Watts had actually asked DiBiase to recommend someone outside of the territory to bring in for a main event run against JYD and DiBiase just suggested going heel himself. It worked pretty well for him too.

-And now we go to New York for an interview conducted by Vince McMahon, Jr. Well I’ll be damned. Vince is in an empty arena with Andre the Giant, who shows off the massive scar on his foot now that his leg is completely rehabilitated, and he’s ready to face Killer Khan, the man who broke that leg to begin with. Vince takes us back to an incident that happened several weeks ago on television….

-Vince welcomes Andre to ringside. He’s still on crutches and wearing the cast. He announces that the cast is coming off tomorrow, and suddenly out comes Classy Freddy Blassie, complaining about Vince wasting TV time on the “palooka” with the bad leg. Andre wallops Blassie with his crutch and collapses on the floor, and Killer Khan sees an opening and attacks Andre with his own crutch. Andre tries to run toward them, but he’s in too much pain to move.

-Back to the empty arena interview as Andre discusses his feelings about the full arena interview. Andre warns Khan that all he did was anger a giant…an undefeated giant.

-Back to Bill Watts, who ties this all together and explains why we’re watching WWF angles. Shortly after that incident, Skandar Akbar bought the contract of Killer Khan from Freddy Blassie. Andre still wants revenge, so he’s headed down to Mid-South for a few weeks to take on Khan for a house show run.

KILLER KHAN (with Skandar Akbar) vs. JOE STARK
-Khan screams and kicks and screams and stmps and stomps and screams and kicks and chops and kicks and screams and slams and wins.

BUCKLEY CHRISTOPHER GEORGE ROBLEY III vs. BILLY STARR
-For whatever reason Buck Robley got introduced with a comically long name, but he’s a grizzled-looking mofo with a cast and a “NOBODY CALLS ME YELLOW” t-shirt. He hammers away at Starr and gives him a neckbreaker for one. Kneedrop gets two. Sleeper finally puts him away.

ERNIE LADD & TOM JONES vs. ONE MAN GANG & GRAPPLER (with Skandar Akbar & The Assassin)
-Four minutes left in the show so this ain’t going to an ending. Oh, and we even have an angle to fill the time. Assassin calls out Ladd for the incident with JYD last week and demands that Ladd find JYD and bring him back and let’s make this a six-man tag to settle this. Matchmaker Grizzly Smith shows up and agrees to the challenge if they can get JYD to show up. They go to the locker room and bring out Buck Robley instead, and we just have a mini-battle royal to finish out the hour.

7.6

The final score: review Good

The 411

Another solid week with an all-time great angle with some classic angles and Bill Watts bringing the extra salt on commentary.