The SmarK Rant for Mid-South Wrestling – 11.16.84

The SmarK Rant for Mid-South Wrestling – 11.16.84

Originally written 07.02.26, on the best day of the week, MID SOUTH THURSDAY!

https://youtu.be/KPl6C-s_6Tc?si=AJmorI_ZtGZA0jLE

Taped from Shreveport, LA

Your hosts are Jim Ross & Joel Watts

Buddy Landel joins us to start with IMPORTANT WORDS for Butch Reed and everyone else. Apparently no one should ever put their hands on him, so now he has to publicly embarrass Butch, today, on TV. I’m sure Reed is terrified.

Ted Dibiase v. Magnum TA

Well this is quite the match to kick off the show! I literally had no idea they ever wrestled. They trade takedowns to start and Dibiase misses an elbow, allowing TA to backdrop and dropkick him to take over. Dibiase bails and regroups on the floor, while we hear from Joel that Butch Reed has just booked it out of the arena in a hurry for some reason. Back in the ring, Magnum squeezes a headlock on him, but Dibiase suplexes out of that to escape. Dibiase with a back elbow and he chokes TA out while taking it all the way to the five count, because as Bryan Danielson has reminded us year after year, you have until five to break. Dibiase goes for the piledriver and TA backdrops out of it and makes the comeback before slugging away in the corner. But then Ernie Ladd wanders down to ringside to observe, while TA hits the belly to belly for two. TA goes after Ladd, allowing Dibiase to load up the ISOTONER OF DEATH, and sure enough TA is all discombobulated by Ernie and Dibiase knocks him out and pins him at 5:50. TA is looking like kind of an idiot babyface on the way out of the promotion. This was a really good TV match, though.

Meanwhile, JR informs us that Butch Reed’s brother was hospitalized with a serious medical condition, so Reed has left the building to deal with the emergency. So Buddy learns about this news in the ring and declares that Reed needs to either return to face him, or else lose by forfeit. This brings out Brickhouse Brown instead, and they’re gonna have the match.

Buddy Landel v. Brickhouse Brown

Buddy attacks and Brown hits him with armdrags and a dropkick, and a bodypress gets two. Buddy slugs him down and puts the boots to him, but misses a blind charge and Brickhouse backdrops him to take over. Brown goes up with a flying fist for two, but Buddy is in the ropes. Brown continues beating on him, but Buddy drops him with elbows and blocks a monkey flip in the corner. And the Corkscrew Elbow finishes at 2:27.

Football Helmet match: Hacksaw Jim Duggan v. Steve Williams

So we try it again, but Ted Dibiase interrupts the ring intros and wants Duggan to come out and face him RIGHT NOW. So Duggan obliges and they immediately brawl and it’s a HOUSE OF FIRE, with Duggan beating on him in the corner until Dibiase gets a cheapshot and puts the boots to him on the ropes. But then Duggan hits him with the spear headbutt and slugs away on the mat, at which point Dr. Death runs in, in his full football gear, and then Hercules, and they beat the shit out of Duggan together. Like a company retreat bonding exercise for villains. Well good for them.

Sheik Hercules v. Master G

I love the low budget cultural appropriation of Hercules putting a white towel on his head and suddenly claiming to be a Sheik. Low effort, big heat. They fight for the lockup and Herc gets a bodybpress, but G rolls through for two. G with a backdrop and they collide, with Herc bumping to the floor off that and then tripping up the Master and wrapping the leg around the post to take over. Back in, G charges and hits the corner with his knee, and Hercules puts him in a half crab and submits him at 3:39. Joel clarifies that in fact Master G did not submit, but rather the ref stopped the match for his own safety because he’s just too tough to submit.

The Rock N Roll Express v. Jim Horton & Thomas Ivy

Robert controls Horton for a bit and it’s over to Mr. T wannabe Ivy, but they hit him with the double dropkick to finish at 1:00.

Butch Reed joins us at the desk after returning from the hospital to see his dying brother. But, PLOT TWIST, it turns out his brother was never hurt and Buddy just paid off the referee to lie about the medical emergency and get out of the match. So now Butch is REALLY pissed. I’m pretty sure someone else did that gag before but it’s a classic.

Mid-South TV title: Exotic Adrian Street v. Bill Dundee

Rematch from a couple of weeks ago here, as this kinda feels like its own little universe outside of all the other crazy angles happening elsewhere on the show. They fight for the arm to start and do some wrestling on the mat, but Street beats on him with forearms until Bill slugs him down and puts the boots to him to take over. Adrian chokes him out on the ropes, but Bill punches him down and cradles for two. They collide for a double down, but Street is up first and hits him with a piledriver, but Bill pops up and makes the comeback. Bodypress out of the corner finishes at 5:18 and Dundee is the new TV champion. How about that, the booker wins the title.

Hector & Chavo Guerrero v. Art Crews & Lee Ramsay

The Guerreros as the heel “Alamo Busters” is such a tremendous piece of business. What isn’t tremendous is Ramsay wearing a giant confederate flag on his jacket and on his ass. But I guess it was 1984 and Dukes of Hazzard was all the rage with the kids. The jobbers get some offense, but Hector cuts them off and drops a leg on Crews for two, and Chavo gets a suplex. Over to Ramsay and they quickly finish him with a double arm supelx at 1:45.

Magnum TA joins us at the desk to wrap it up and he wants a CAGE MATCH next week with either Ted Dibiase or Ernie Ladd on TV to settle things, and he doesn’t care which one he gets.

Mid-South 84 is CRAZY, yo! Keep in mind what the other guys were putting on TV at the same time by comparison and this stuff is like light years ahead of everyone. Thank you to the WWE Vault for providing this bounty of riches.