The SmarK Rant for Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling – 10.23.82
OK, gonna try Safari. Not my favorite browser but I can change.
AGAIN with the ads before the shows.
Taped from Charlotte, NC
Your host is Bob Caudle
Jimmy Valiant v. Ken Timbs
Hot young referee Tommy Young shows up again here, the Aubrey Edwards of 1982. Valiant tosses him to start and hauls him back in to beat on him in the corner before dropping the elbow for the pin at 1:12. And then Jos Leduc immediately charges in and attacks, but Valiant fights him off and then tears up Oliver Humperdink’s jacket for good measure. I’d say they’re even now for the smashed up boombox.
BREAKING NEWS: Jack Brisco has regained the Mid-Atlantic title from Paul Jones earlier in the week, and will be facing him in a non-title rematch later in the show.
Ricky Steamboat & Jay Youngblood v. Jim Dalton & Ben Alexander
They haul Dalton into the corner and threaten some double-team chops, but Tommy Young tells them to knock off the chicanery and they think better of it. Over to Alexander and Youngblood takes him down with a headscissors, before Steamboat comes in with a dropkick and works the arm. Alexander comes back with forearms in the corner and the heels double-team Steamboat in the corner, less concerned with the referee’s problems with it than the babyfaces were. Alexander works on Steamboat’s arm on the ropes, but Steamboat gets a bodypress for two and fights them off with chops. Back to Youngblood with more chops and a backbreaker on Dalton for two. Really hard chop on Dalton gets two. Back to Alexander, who takes over on Jay with slams and an elbowdrop for one, and he follows with a backdrop as Youngblood gets some heat on him. Dalton slugs away in the corner, but Youngblood comes back with more chops and brings in Steamboat for a double chop as they just beat on poor Dalton’s chest with those chops over and over. Steamboat slingshots Jay in with the splash for the pin at 7:21 and Youngblood never overshoots him on it. The man was EXCITED. I liked this match, it was a solid tag team match and they were just beating on the poor guys with those chops.
Ron Ritchie joins Bob at the desk, and he’s cool and confident headed into his match with Greg Valentine tonight. Ron sounds like he’s about to go play some pond hockey and get some Timmy’s and maybe pick up a two-four on the way. He’s very Canadian is what I’m getting at.
Greg Valentine v. Ron Ritchie
Ritchie works a headlock on Valentine, but Greg drops him with an inverted atomic drop and then goes to work on the leg before putting Ritchie down with a backdrop suplex. Valentine goes back to the leg and drops knees on it, and then holds a kneebar on the mat and makes Ron fight out of that. But then he gets another suplex, dropping Ron on his knee again, and puts him into another kneebar, and this time Ron submits at 5:51.
Sgt. Slaughter & Don Kernodle have already run out of challengers, and no one wants to face them in their sharp-looking suits! Also Greg Valentine once again accuses Wahoo of being scared to face him. Although at least this time he didn’t remind us about breaking his leg.
Wahoo McDaniel joins Bob at the desk, and we get footage of a match between Ric Flair and Roddy Piper from earlier in the week, as Piper is well in control of the match after a brawl on the floor, leaving him busted open, and Greg Valentine runs in for the DQ, with Wahoo trying to make the save and then also getting jumped and destroyed. So they’ve got a tag team match coming up! I remember back in school being king nerd of the wrestling nerds because I had some old wrestling magazines from the 70s that had photographic evidence of Ric Flair and Greg Valentine being NWA World tag team champions together. Other people smuggled dirty magazines into school, but not me, no sir. I had more important things.
Gerry Brisco v. Bill White
White tries a headlock and Gerry drops him with a suplex and then does some real old school mat wrestling on him, taking him down and passing White’s guard to get top mount. White makes the ropes and pounds on him with clubbing forearms, but Gerry facelocks him and SHOOTS THE HALF to get on top again for two. White fights out of that predicament and they do a test of strength, but Brisco monkey-flips out of it for two. White slugs away in the corner and gets a Perfect necksnap for two, but Brisco suplexes him and finishes with the figure-four at 5:22. Nice touch with White trying to fight it off and grabbing the leg to prevent the hold before succumbing.
Mike Rotundo joins Bob at the desk, once again threatening to blow up the camera with his electric personality and charisma. Once again, Mike is against wrestlers who are only in it for the money. Oh the irony.
Jack Brisco is here to wait for Paul Jones, but Jones demands that Brisco put up the Mid-Atlantic title because Brisco is a THIEF and a COWARD who doesn’t have the guts to face him for the title. So Brisco agrees to the title match, and now Jones declares that he’s also an idiot because last time they faced on TV, Brisco lost the title!
Mid-Atlantic title: Jack Brisco v. Paul Jones
They slug it out to start and Brisco wins that battle and hiptosses him out of the corner, so Jones calls for a time out in the corner. Brisco whips him into the other corner and drops a knee on him before going to the chinlock. He really cranks on it, like Moxley’s bulldog choke, while Jones looks like he’s regretting all the shit he was talking. Jones escapes, but misses a kneedrop and hurts himself, allowing Brisco to sink in the headlock again and really punish him. Jones escapes, but again misses his big move and Brisco goes right back to the headlock. Finally Jones breaks out with an atomic drop and goes to work on the back for two. Jones with a slam for two. Kneedrop gets two. He tries a slam and Jack reverses for two and makes the comeback before taking Jones down with the figure-four. Paul makes the ropes quickly and bails to the floor to escape while Humperdink distracts Brisco to let his man recover. Back in the ring, Brisco goes after the knee in the corner and drops a knee on him for two before giving him a pair of knee smashes on the mat and going to an STF. The move wasn’t even technically invented yet and Brisco is still better at it than Cena was. Brisco slugs away in the corner with a minute left, but Humperdink dives in with a trip of Brisco, as Jones falls on top for two. But the ref catches him and tells him off, allowing Brisco to get a dropkick from behind and get the pin to retain at 9:30. Humperdink lays out Jack with his ring, and Gerry makes the save, with Jos Leduc coming in for a wild brawl to end the show without even hitting the credits this time! Well that was cool and different!
I’m really, REALLY, enjoying the Dory Funk booking era of this show. Solid wrestling matches, lots of little different touches and tweaks, and characters I can get invested in. Another thumbs up show.