The SmarK Rant for Mid-South Wrestling – 07.10.82

The SmarK Rant for Mid-South Wrestling – 07.10.82

Feels like a Mid-South kind of night tonight.

So my neighbor texted me the other day because she was wanting to sell her Oculus Quest 2 that she had bought from Best Buy for $450 (Canadian) and was wondering about selling it because she already was not using it, and she asked if $300 would be a fair price to ask for one. SOLD, I replied, and ran over to get it. Because hey, it’s only money. So this leads me to my million dollar idea of the week, because there’s always these Twitter threads about “Which wrestling match would have loved to be ringside for?” and it occurs to me that medical science must have advanced enough now that we can do a VR recreation of, say, Wrestlemania VI and allow nerds like myself to have a virtual ringside seat. And if not, we should make it happen. MONEY ON THE TABLE.

Taped from Shreveport, LA

Your hosts are Boyd Pierce & The Assassin. Oh geez, Jody Hamilton was never exactly a promo that lit the world on fire so this might be painful.

BREAKING NEWS: Killer Khan has won the Louisiana title tournament after it was vacated by Junkyard Dog.

Meanwhile, Precious Paul Ellering is once again teaching groups of children about America being the land of the foot long hot dog. Maybe being oiled up and wearing a speedo isn’t the best time to be teaching them that. Anyway this week’s exercise is chin-ups, as he gets these kids to hang six feet in the air while doing them, and then demonstrates himself while having a kid hang from his waist. OK this was weird.

Precious Paul Ellering v. Billy The Star Child Starr

The Star Child is growing on me. Ellering was coming back from his latest injury and was pretty close to calling it a career and moving into managing the Legion of Doom in Georgia. Ellering works a headlock in between struts, and hits Starr with a dropkick before taking him down and working the arm. Starr tries to beat on him in the corner, but Ellering tosses him with a hiptoss. Starr works the abs, but that gets him nowhere with Ellering, and Paul takes him down with an armbar again. Ellering with a backdrop and neckbreaker to finish at 4:44.

Ted Dibiase v. Jesse Barr

So this is the second week for evil champion Dibiase, and now his loaded glove is BLACK so that the subtext is just plain text now. They trade hammerlocks and Ted takes him down and works a headlock. They do a really slick reversal on the mat as Barr tries to switch to a hammerlock and Dibiase actually retains a facelock and rolls with him to stay in control. That was cool. Barr tries to suplex out of the facelock, so Dibiase runs him into the corner, but Barr comes back with a monkey flip. But then Dibiase punches him with the BLACK GLOVE and Barr is knocked silly in the corner, allowing Dibiase to put him down with the powerslam. And then he drops the patented Dibiase fist on him and finishes with the figure-four at 4:34. I’m digging evil Dibiase.

The Grappler & Billy Ash v. Junkyard Dog & Mr. Olympia

Dog slams Billy Ash and so Grappler comes in and Olympia clears the ring with hiptosses. Ash takes over with a kneelift but walks into the sleeper, and it’s BREAKING LOOSE IN TULSA as Grappler saves. But then the heels take over while we see Skandor Akbar and his new henchman, Hacksaw Duggan, watching over in the corner. Grappler with a brainbuster for two and the heels double-team Olympia in the corner for a bit until Dog breaks that up. Grappler with a backbreaker on Olympia for two. But then Ash comes in from the middle rope, and instead of just landing on Olympia’s foot, Olympia monkey flips him on the way down. Yeah! Finally someone does a version of that stupid spot that actually works! And Dog gets the hot tag and finishes Ash with the THUMP at 4:40. Fun little semi-squash win by the tag champs.

Hacksaw Jim Duggan v. Vinnie Romeo

Romeo was better known as Vinnie Valentino, which is also a better wrestling name. Duggan beats on Romeo in the corner to start and runs him into the turnbuckles rather aggressively, while Assassin runs down Duggan’s football career. Romeo makes a comeback and Duggan beats his ass again and then hits him with a shoulderbreaker for two. Duggan cranks on the arm and drops a knee on it, but Vinnie comes back with a dropkick and slugs away in the corner. But then he tries a crossbody out of the corner and THAT goes rather horribly wrong, but Duggan recovers the situation by catching him and hitting him with a pair of Oklahoma Stampedes in the corner and then a backbreaker to finish at 5:06. This was a much different version of Duggan than we’re used to seeing, more like Bruiser Brody in terms of his style. This felt like what they wanted Dr. Death to be.

Killer Khan v. Buddy Landel

Khan won the Louisiana title in a tournament on July 6 apparently, although he doesn’t have the belt here. Khan beats Buddy down and chokes him out on the ropes before putting the boots to him and dropping him on the top rope. Buddy tries to fight back and Khan is like NOPE and just no-sells a bodypress by chopping him down. Khan goes up and finishes him with the flying knee at 2:38.

The One Man Gang v. Coco Samoa

Man I hope Gang starts cutting his hair soon, the long greasy hair is bugging me. Gang tries the clubbing forearms and Samoa fires back with chops. So Gang pounds him down again. Samoa tries a dropkick and literally lands 2 feet short, as Gang was nowhere near his mark, so Gang just drops an elbow on him and pins him at 2:11. I’d like to say that was Gang doing a Samoa Joe type of spot there, but no, he was just terrible in 1982.

Bob Roop & Hangman Harris v. Ernie Ladd & Buck Robley

This feels like the Roop jobbing tour continuing unabated. Roop gets a slam on Robley, but Buck hangs on and rolls through it, and then brings in Ladd. Ernie hurls the heels around the ring and throws Harris into Roop, and Bob takes a bump off the apron and lands on the floor as a result. Robley comes in with a neckbreaker on Harris for two. Harris manages to drop a knee on Robley to take over and Roop comes in with a facelock to keep Robley in the corner. But then Robley runs away and makes the tag to the Big Cat, who beats on the heels by himself until they manage to tie him up in the ropes. But then he still kicks their asses with his boots, and legdrops Harris for the pin at 4:00. A motivated Ernie Ladd was something else.

Next week: Mr. Olympia defends the Mississippi title against Bob Roop! I don’t like Roop’s chances there either. Another fun show and Hacksaw Duggan looked surprisingly great early in his career.