wrestling / Video Reviews
The Name on the Marquee: Mid-South Wrestling (8.21.1982)
Image Credit: WWE/Peacock
Loading...-Originally aired August 21, 1982.
-Your hosts are Boyd Pierce and Bill Watts. Watts leads off with the news that Paul Ellering injured his knee for the third time in one year and gives this really half-assed well-wish for a speedy recovery, and you can see from the look on his face that Watts is thinking “His ass is finished.”
-In other news, JYD is still boycotting the TV show, BUT Grizzly Smith might have a solution. JYD wants a North American Title match, but DiBiase has made the compelling argument that since he defended the title against the Dog in the Superdome and retained, JYD isn’t entitled to a rematch. BUT DiBiase will agree to a rematch anyway IF the Dog and Mr. Olympia are willing to put up the Tag Team Titles against DiBiase and Jim Duggan. So Grizzly Smith has signed the match. If JYD and Olympia retain, JYD gets a North American Title match. That would have taken a 15 minute promo on Raw and Bill Watts just neatly laid it out and put a bow on it in one minute.
KEVIN VON ERICH vs. BILLY STARR
-Bill Watts refers to the Von Erich family as “The Dallas Dynasty,” which would be the best spin-off ever or the worst. Chyron guy spells it “Von Erik” though.
-Starr windmills the arm, but Kevin slips out and dropkicks him. Starr tries a top wristlock, but Kevin counters with a drop toehold. Starr moves onto a test of strength and gets overpowered. Gorgeous dropkick by Kevin. Slam and a splash by Kevin finish Starr off.
TAG TEAM TITLE: JUNKYARD DOG & MR. OLYMPIA vs. TED DIBIASE & HACKSAW JIM DUGGAN
-JYD hiptosses Duggan to start. JYD demands that Duggan tag and DiBiase refuses to come in, giving Duggan a pep talk instead, and JYD is so annoyed he tags out himself. Olympia dropkicks Duggan down and he retreats to the corner, and NOW DiBiase is willing to tag in. Bodypress by Olympia gets one. DiBiase gets thrown around by Olympia, but Olympia makes the tag and DiBiase hauls ass to the corner and tags out.
-JYD tries to work the arm, but DiBiase distracts him and Duggan takes advanage with a hard right. Duggan stomps and hammers, and NOW DiBiase is willing to tag in. And JYD immediately comes back to life and slams DiBiase down. So DiBiase tags out AGAIN, and Dog tags Olympia in to save his own energy for the opponent he really wants. Fist fight between Olympia and Duggan. Olympia gets the upper hand, but JYD sort of loses his own logic and tags back in to work the arm. DiBiase gives JYD a knee to the apron, and a kneedrop by Duggan gets a one-count. DiBiase sprints in again and slams JYD for two.
-Duggan misses an elbow and it’s hot tag Olympia. All four men brawl until the referee restores order and get Duggan and Olympia in there. Olympia turns around to tag JYD and Duggan spears Olympia RIGHT as he makes the tag. Dog is knocked off the apron, and Duggan and DiBiase don’t realize that Olympia made the tag before JYD got knocked off, so they gang up on Olympia while the referee is counting the Dog out. DiBiase applies the figure four as the Dog makes it into the ring at nine. Dog breaks the figure four and Thumps DiBiase to get the three-count and retain, and JYD has his rematch. Good booking all around.
“Captain Redneck” DICK MURDOCH vs. TUG TAYLOR
-Taylor goes right on the offensive, but Murdoch fights back and applies a side headlock. Taylor hammers his way free, but Murdoch comes back with bionic elbows and a dropkick. Brainbuster gets three.
LOUISIANA TITLE: KILLER KHAN (Champion, with Skandar Akbar) vs. IRON MIKE SHARPE
-Iron Mike with an arm wringer. Khan fights back with a front facelock. Iron Mike slips out and goes back to the arm wringer. Khan goes to the leg. Sharpe goes to the arm. These guys are not finding a rhythm. Khan misses an elbow drop, but knocks Sharpe right back down. And then misses a knee. Akbar distracts Sharpe and Khan attacks from behind. Shot to the throat by Khan, and the knee from the second rope gets the…oh, no, wait, Skandar Akbar orders him to break the pin and piledrive Sharpe to injure him. Khan obliges, but Iron Mike backdrops out. It looks like another piledriver for Akbar, but the referee gets knocked to the floor and Akbar takes full advantage. A 2-on-1 assault by Akbar and Khan ensues, but Buck Robley hits the ring and knocks Akbar to the floor as the referee heads back in, and Sharpe cradles him for the three-count to capture the belt. Match sucked but the finish was classic Mid-South crazy fun.
MR. WRESTLING II vs. MIKE BOND
-II is returning to the territory while Bill Watts puts over his credentials as a Georgia champion, an abrupt change from Watts’ usual “Fuck Georgia” diatribes. II works the arm while Bill Watts tells us that Buck Robley is facing One Man Gang in the next match, so I betcha we have an angle before the end of this hour. Forearms by Bond, and he goes for the mask, which gets II all riled, and he starts throwing punches. Hey buddy, your name ain’t Mr. Punching II, come on now. Kneelift by II gets the win.
COL. BUCK ROBLEY vs. ONE MAN GANG (with Skandar Akbar)
-Akbar shows up in his wrestling gear and tells Gang to take the night off. Everyone agrees to the terms, so Gang heads to the floor as Akbar attacks Robley from behind. Robley goes to work with elbows and Gang is already getting up on the apron. Robley is distracted while Akbar prepares a fireball, but Robley anticipates and deflects it with a dropkick. Killer Khan shows up and it’s 3-on-1 on Robley until Mr. Wrestling II, Dick Murdoch, and Iron Mike Sharpe storm the ring.
-Bill and Boyd talk to DiBiase and Duggan to close out the hour. DiBiase calls it a ripoff, saying he’s protesting the decision because there was no tag made and Olympia was the legal man. But hey…DiBiase points out he already signed a match against Dick Murdoch for next week. DiBiase pledges to honor it, but points out that he’s only obligated to defend the belt every 30 days, and he implies that he’s planning on just making the Dog sit and twist for 37 days before he gets the title shot. Bill Watts jumps in to clarify something DiBiase said about the JYD/Olympia tag not being legal, and DiBiase says that, why yes, he WOULD like the tape double-checked and he is formally protesting the decision. Watts promises to look into it and follow up on it next week.
