wrestling / Video Reviews
The Name on the Marquee: Mid-South Wrestling (9.11.1982)
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-Originally aired September 11, 1982.
-Your hosts are Boyd Pierce and Bob Roop. And what luck, our first order of business is covering a major angle that happened on last week’s episode! Mr. Wrestling II was supposed to be the guest referee for last week’s tag team title match. Bill Watts dd an interview with Mr. Wrestling II before the match, and II guaantees a fair and square match….and then the REAL Mr. Wrestling II shows up and kicks the shit out of the other Mr. Wrestling II. The fake II runs away before the real II can rip his mask off. Bill Watts is all “WHAT’S THIS SHIT?” and Mr. Wrestling II tells us the story…
-He was wrestling in the Omni a few weeks ago and some fans asked him about wrestling in Mid-South. II had no idea what they were talking about until a telegram showed up in “his personal box for getting dates” from Grizzly Smith. II didn’t understand why Grizzly Smith would be sending him a telegram now, so he flew to New Orleans to see for himself, and sure enough, there’s some asshole running around in counterfeit Mr. Wrestling II gear. And he’s going to see to it that it never happens again!
-So we go to the main event from last week, JYD and Mr. Olympia defending the Tag Team Titles against Hacksaw Duggan and Ted DiBiase, with the real Mr. Wrestling II as the referee, and if you don’t already know where this is going, click “back” and find another highly entertaining pseudo-sport to devote your life to. Duggan’s spear sends Mr. Olympia AND Mr. Wrestling II out to the floor. Mr. Wrestling II starts to revive, but the fake II runs to the ring in his referee uniform. He stops for a moment to load his boot and kick the real II in the head, giving away his true identity, The Grappler…which technically, wouldn’t be his true identity, come to think of it, but anyway, the fake II/Grappler counts a pin for the heels, and Duggan & DiBiase appear to be the new Mid-South Tag Team Champions.
-But WAIT! After the TV show went off the air, Grizzly Smith announced that he wouldn’t book any matches at all for Duggan & DiBiase until Mid-South President Charlie Lay watched the episode himself. President Lay’s ruling turns out to be surprisingly complicated, because this is Mid-South Wrestling and they think of everything. He says that if the match had been a no-DQ match, the ruling would have stood because, hey, heels cheat, what are you gonna do? Furthermore, President Lay is actually kind of pissed at Mr. Wrestling II for refusing to reveal his face to ANYBODY because it makes it a lot more complicated to verify identities when he’s complaining about impostors, and that’s a pretty damn valid point. HOWEVER, watching the tape, regardless of who the real Mr. Wrestling II is, the video clearly shows that the referee who finished the match isn’t the referee who began it, so Charlie Lay is giving the belts back to JYD and Olympia.
“Captain Redneck” DICK MURDOCH vs. BILLY STARR
-Dusty-style elbows from the Captain. Roop tries to give Starr some credibility by mentioning he’s a contender for the light-heavyweight title, but he’s really not much smaller than Murdoch. Brainbuster finishes Starr in a hurry.
MR. OLYMPIA (Tag Team Champion) vs. RON CHEATHAM
-Olympia starts a criss-cross with Cheatham, then just sneaks around him and dropkicks his jaw off. Armbar by Olympia, but Cheatham gets good and mad, throwing punches and going after Olympia’s eyes. Hey, his name isn’t Ron Honestham! Cheatham hits the ropes and runs right into a sleeper, and Olympia puts him out cold.
JUNKYARD DOG (Tag Team Champion) vs. ONE MAN GANG (with Skandar Akbar)
-JYD takes OMG off his feet with a single headutt and snapmares him. Clothesline by JYD and OMG is just bumping all over the place for Dog like an ordinary jobber. JYD hits the Thump in under a minute and it looks like this is going to be an easy night, but Skandar comes in and comes to get him some. JYD clears him from the ring, and Killer Khan shows up. JYD kicks Khan’s ass, but by this point, OMG has made it back to his feet…so JYD just Thumps him again and gets the three-count. Holy shit, Junkyard Goldberg, everybody.
-Next, we flashback to Dick Murdoch getting screwed out of the North American Title because of Hacksaw Duggan’s interference two weeks ago.
TED DIBIASE (North American Title) vs. TIM HORNER
-Tim Horner has an ill-advised pedostache in this early appearance. DiBiase drives elbows and forearms into him. Powerslam by DiBiase, and the figure four finishes with ease.
MR. WRESTLING II vs. HACKSAW DUGGAN
-This appears to be the real II. II armdrags him and looks to make it a short night, but Duggan gets away from the knee and goes to the floor. II goes after the leg. Duggan wriggles out so II switches to a front facelock. Duggan gets fed up and throws right hands. But KNEELIFT OUTTA NOWHERE and Duggan tumbles out to the floor in a daze. Ted DiBiase comes to ringside for moral support and helps his friend back in the ring, but now Dick Murdoch shows up and chases DiBiase. DiBiase runs into the ring, right into Duggan’s path, and gets speared, and the II kneelift finishes the shocked Duggan for a three-count. That was fun.
THE GRAPPLER vs. VINNIE ROMEO
-Grappler beats down Romeo. Hard forearms and a boot to the gut by Grappler. Romeo gets fired up and throws a nice dropkick, but he goes for a backdrop and Grappler counters it with something similar to a Razor’s Edge, and Grappler, instead of loading the boot, gives Romeo a II-style kneelift to finish. Roop stirs some shit on commentary, suspecting that II is impersonating Grappler, but more likely, Grappler is mastering the kneelift because now it’s going to be REALLY hard to figure out who the real II is.
COL. BUCK ROBLEY vs. TONY ANTHONY
-The jobber, of course, is the Dirty White Boy, with poofy hair that makes him look like one of the Sweathogs. Clothesline and a slam by Robley. He drives elbows into the head. Kneelift and a big forearm drop finishes just in time to close the show.
