The SmarK Rant for Mid-South Wrestling – 01.29.83

The SmarK Rant for Mid-South Wrestling – 01.29.83

LAST WEEK: North American champion Stagger Lee was scheduled to defend against Ted Dibiase but was a mysterious no-show, but this week he’s guaranteed to be there!

Taped from Shreveport, LA

Your hosts are Boyd Pierce & Paul Boesch

Tim Horner v. Tom Renesto Jr.

Horner controls with an atomic drop into an armdrag, and he does some fancy kip-ups to keep Renesto from escaping and goes back to the arm again. Once again I must voice my dislike for Boesch and his monotone delivery, which DESPERATELY needs a color commentator to break up the droning call of the action. It’s very much out of the 60s TV presentation playbook and it doesn’t work at all on a relatively modern show like this one. Horner survives some jobber offense and finishes with the Thesz Press at 3:21.

Kamala v. Iron Mike Sharpe

So this is from Houston, with Skandor Akbar on commentary for this one, and Kamala attacks in the corner with chops and tosses Sharpe for a beating out there. Back in the ring, they slug it out and Sharpe comes back with a dropkick and Kamala bites him and throws more chops. I’d call this a MEAT match but presumably Kamala would take that too literally and things would get awkward. Kamala beats on him with chops again and chokes him out, but Sharpe won’t go down, so Kamala throws another running chop and we get more choking. Sharpe is now busted open and Kamala keeps choking him out, as Sharpe bumps to the apron and Kamala gets a taste of the blood and gets all excited. Geez, I was just joking about the cannibal stuff, take it down a notch. Sharpe tries to fight back and Kamala clotheslines him down and then slams him to set up the giant splashes to the back to finish at 6:30. This wasn’t really a squash even though it was one-sided destruction, and it was actually an interesting match. Sharpe had enough fight to keep it intriguing.

North American title: Stagger Lee v. Ted Dibiase

Dibiase brings the Rat Pack with him to keep things fair, but Grizzly Smith shows up and announces that Stagger Lee is a no-show AGAIN, but Junkyard Dog would like a rematch with Dibiase since he’s here.

Ted Dibiase v. Junkyard Dog

The Rat Pack attacks and Dog is quickly bailed by Wrestling 2 and Tony Atlas, and it’s no match. Guys I’m thinking that we might have seen the last of Stagger Lee.

Tony Atlas v. Don Bass

Bass attacks and Atlas tosses him out of the corner and follows with a backdrop before slugging away and adding a standing dropkick. Big splash finishes at 1:24.

Kelly Kiniski & Marty Lunde v. Buddy Landel & Tony Torres

Oh my god, could we be about to witness Lunde finally getting his first TV win? Lunde tries a headlock on Buddy, but gets taken down and stomped. Kelly comes in and puts Buddy down with a knee to the gut before beating on him with forearms and going to a chinlock. They keep switching off on the chinlocks and Torres tags in to give it a go, and Kelly beats on him and uses more chinlocks before beating on him in the corner. Boesch has this whole thing about how Kelly is working a “rough” style to distinguish himself from his father, but there’s really been no sign of that until now, as he’s mostly been presented as a scientific babyface. Torres gets double-teamed in the heel corner as they continue working him over with forearms and Kelly chops him down for two. Back to Buddy, who runs wild for about 2 seconds before going back to Torres, and he quickly gets hammered by Kelly again. Boesch points out how stupid Torres was to ask for that tag, and Kiniski finishes with a back suplex at 6:00. LUNDE WINS! LUNDE WINS!

Chavo Guerrero v. Matt Borne

But first, Dibiase rants about this Stagger Lee-JYD thing and promises to investigate the conspiracy all the way to the top. It’s pretty suss, you have to admit. Borne and Chavo fight for the takedown. Isn’t it kind of weird that there were so many Guerreros in the wrestling business for so many years and now the entire family tree seems to have dried up? I don’t know if Shaul Guerrero is still around but she was pretty much the last one. Borne slams him and misses an elbow, but he tries to roll out and Chavo follows him to the apron and drops his own elbow to keep him in the ring. Chavo with a dropkick for two, but Borne splashes him for two. Borne with a chinlock, but Chavo fights out with forearms and Matt bumps to the apron, and back in for a suplex from Chavo that gets two. Chavo misses a bodypress, but the ref is bumped to the floor while Borne gets a full nelson. But Jim Duggan tries to run in and hits Borne accidentally. They still double-team Chavo until Tony Atlas runs in to save and that’s a DQ at 6:06.

Mr. Wrestling II & Art Crews v. Tug Taylor & Joe Stark

I’m assuming this was taped at a point in the show before Taylor’s disastrous attempt at shooting on Tony Atlas. Wrestling II works headlocks on the heels and takes Tug down, and Crews comes in with his own headlock before getting worked over by the heels in their corner. Tug actually gets a dropkick and drops an elbow on Crews, but the ref passes the time cue and 2 gets the hot tag and quickly runs wild on Crews and pins him with a slam at 3:47 as we’re out of time.

Mostly filler matches this week but the Kamala match was actually decent and I’m pretty sure next week we’ll get this Stagger Lee thing straightened out for good. And ANDRE THE GIANT! Yeah!