The SmarK Rant for Mid-South Wrestling – 10.27.84

The SmarK Rant for Mid-South Wrestling – 10.27.84

Originally written 06.11.26

OH MY GOD MID-SOUTH IS FINALLY ON THE VAULT! I’ve been jonesing for this so bad ever since the Network died and I lost all access to it. And we’re starting at a point I’ve never reviewed, late 1984. So that will at least give me a couple of months of content to review before we run into the 85 era that I’ve already covered.

https://youtu.be/C-k753Y_uks?si=MvvpcJTG_yzKaCDU

Taped from Shreveport, LA

Your hosts are Bill Watts & Boyd Pierce. Bill announces that Terry Taylor will be gone for about a month due to something with his spleen. Sounds unpleasant. Also Bill fires back at critics who are tired of all the cheating and shenanigans from the heels, and he’s like “We can’t do anything about it so shut up.”

Steve Williams joins us and promises to bury Jim Duggan so deep into the football field that they’re need a shovel to get him out. And Duggan does a response with his own football helmet, bragging that he played in the NFL, not just the USFL like Dr. Death did.

General Skandor Akbar joins Jim Ross in the ring and he’s been scouting talent, and has now cast his eyes on young Buddy Landel, who is now the newest member of his army. This marked the debut of Buddy’s bleached blond hair and heel persona after a couple of years of being an underneath enhancement guy. Buddy notes that he always keeps his promises and “if he says a monkey can pull a boxcar, then hook it up!” That’s a pretty bold promise.

The Missing Link v. Mike Jackson

Jackson actually puts him down with a pair of dropkicks, but Link smashes him down and drops the headbutt on him and headbutts him out of the ring in a nice bump. Back in the ring, Link hits him with a powerslam and the goes to the middle rope and comes down with a headbutt from there for the pin at 1:25.

Football Helmet Match: Dr. Death Steve Williams v. Hacksaw Jim Duggan

Duggan is notably absent while Jim Ross does the ring introductions, so Williams cuts a promo on him, calling him a coward and a jackass. Finally Ted Dibiase comes out, with what appears to be Duggan’s helmet, and claims that Duggan attacked him in the parking lot, but he defended himself and knocked out Duggan with one punch and left him laying drunk in the gutter outside. JR is skeptical of this story, especially since Dibiase’s suit isn’t even wrinkled.

After the break, Cowboy informs us that they did find Duggan outside, and he’s in bad shape.

Meanwhile, Jim Cornette joins us and he thought that he had ended the career of the Rock N Roll Express, but they’re still here, so he’s got a blank cheque for $25,000 for them if they agree to put the tag team titles on the line against the Midnight Express.

Hacksaw Butch Reed v. Brickhouse Brown

Brown takes him down with armdrags, but Reed works a headlock on the mat and Brown reverses out of that. Brown reverses another headlock into a headscissors and Reed makes the ropes and stops to pose for us before offering a test of strength. Meanwhile, on commentary, Cowboy goes on a rant about TITAN SPORTS and how fans are sick of seeing crappy squash matches on their TV, which is why they put all the stars on Mid-South TV. Brickhouse takes Reed down with a wristlock to escape the test of strength and goes to work on the arm, but Reed just BLASTS him with a clothesline out of the corner to take over. Reed with a neckbreaker for two. Reed tosses him, but Brown trips him up and goes after Reed’s surgically repaired knee. Back in the ring, Brown goes after the knee and dropkicks Reed for two. Backdrop and he goes to the top, but he misses a missile dropkick and lands on his ass, allowing Reed to hit him with the gorilla press and legdrop for the pin at 6:24. What a good TV match! I really liked Brown’s run in Mid-South and it’s too bad he couldn’t get to the next level.

Meanwhile, a bloodied and beaten Jim Duggan is at ringside, and Bill Watts interviews him while Jim talks about getting hit from behind with a slapjack in the parking lot, and the only face he could make out was Ted Dibiase. But he told people he’d be here, and he’s here, even though he can barely stand up and the medical staff has to carry him back to the dressing room. This was awesome, the kind of stuff you didn’t really ever see before, with Duggan talking in his normal voice and really acting like he was about to die.

North American title: Magnum TA v. Ernie Ladd

Ernie takes him down with a wristlock, but Magnum rolls out of that and chases Ladd back to the corner. TA slugs away in the corner but can’t take Ernie down, so he throws a dropkick instead and follows with a back elbow. Ladd bails to the floor, so TA hauls him back in and goes to a facelock, but Ladd puts him down with a cheapshot behind the ref’s back and adds a slam to take over. Ladd with a headbutt, and he goes to a bearhug and follows with a big boot, but he misses a legdrop and TA fights back. TA throws elbows and puts Ladd down by force of willpower, and he follows with a backdrop. He goes up and hits a missile dropkick, but the ref is bumped by Ladd’s falling body and it only gets one. So Ladd throws TA into the ref to bump him again and pulls out a cable to choke TA down and out while another ref helps the first one recover. So Ladd picks up TA and tries a slam, but “falls backwards” and allows TA to get a two count to show that Magnum hasn’t been strangled to death. And then he drops a leg on TA and pins him to win the title at 5:30. DIABOLICAL. I think Magnum was gone to Crockett-Land pretty soon anyway.

The Rock N Roll Express join JR to discuss Jim Cornette’s offer, and in fact they’ve decided to accept and put Jim Cornette in a straitjacket as the stipulation. So Ricky stupidly decides to demonstrate by putting it on Robert and securing it so tight that no one could possibly escape. And then of course, the Midnight Express runs in and completely destroys them, beating the shit out of the helpless Robert and then triple-teaming Ricky and hitting him with a piledriver. “THIS HAS BEEN A DAY OF INFAMY IN MID-SOUTH!” notes Bill Watts. More like DAY OF AWESOMENESS.

Ted Dibiase v. Johnny Mantell

Dibiase attacks and beats on Mantell in the corner, but Johnny gets a brief comeback and then Dibiase puts him away with the figure-four at 1:20.

Next week: Dibiase v. Master G! Magnum TA v. The Missing Link! Bill Dundee v. Adrian Street for the TV title!

And Ted Dibiase stops by the desk to rant about Master G and remind us that he’s back in Mid-South and kicking ass again. YEAH HE IS!

This was an ALL TIMER episode of the show and should be watched immediately. By god I hope these keep getting posted every week.