The SmarK Rant for Mid-South Wrestling – 12.11.82

The SmarK Rant for Mid-South Wrestling – 12.11.82

Just a couple of episodes left to wrap up 1982.

Taped from Shreveport, LA and SHIT HAS GONE DOWN.

Stagger Lee is the new North American champion, having beaten Ted Dibiase at the Superdome on Thanksgiving, and we also have a new Mississippi champion in the form of Mr. Wrestling II, having beaten Mr. Olympia in a scientific showdown in Jackson.

Your hosts are Boyd Pierce & Paul Boesch

Hacksaw Duggan joins Paul, and he has a bare shoulder because he’s only got one belt at the moment, the Louisiana title, and now he hears that Paul Boesch is bringing the Brass Knuckles championship back and he wants a piece of that action! Oh man, Tony Khan is gonna make a Brass Knuckles title one of these days, I bet. Duggan was really starting to show his weird charisma here that turnded him babyface before long.

Hacksaw Duggan v. Lester Parks

Hacksaw takes Parks down while Paul notes that Duggan stomping his foot is how he’s learning to count. Duggan beats on Parks in the corner and puts him down with a back elbow, and then slams him to set up the three point stance into the running headbutt to finish at 1:40. I assume he changed the three point stance to the clothesline early in 1983 because he was gonna knock himself silly doing that headbutt.

Mr. Wrestling II v. Mike Bond

As a reminder, Wrestling II is currently suffering from a stalker who is vandalizing his gear with a yellow streak but won’t reveal his identity. Bond works a headlock on the distracted II, but Wrestling II quickly puts him in a facelock to flatten him out on the mat. Bond tries some reversals on the mat and can’t shake him loose. Wrestling II just keeps rolling him over and reapplying the hold in different ways, and then suplexes him and finishes with the kneelift at 4:30.

Meanwhile, Paul Boesch talks with Ted Dibiase & Matt Borne, and Ted rants about how he unmasked Stagger Lee as Junkyard Dog at the Superdome, but it JUST HAPPENED that all the photographers and officials and even Bill Watts were all looking the other way and so there’s no actual proof of it. Sounds pretty crazy to me.

North American champion Stagger Lee v. Marty Lunde

Stagger is now wearing a JYD t-shirt, rubbing it in Dibiase’s face, and he hits Lunde with a familiar looking clothesline and goes to a chinlock. He slugs Marty down with a forearm and then hits him with a headbutt and pins him at 1:10. Poor Marty isn’t doing very well in Mid-South. He should go back to his family and find another line of work.

Mid South tag champions Ted Dibiase & Matt Borne v. Tim Horner & Buddy Landel

The babyfaces control with armdrags to start, as Buddy Landel playing “hot young babyface” is a weird fit. Dibiase tries a sunset flip on Buddy, but it’s blocked for two and Buddy dropkicks him to the floor. Horner comes in and goes back to the armdrags to frustrate the heels further and chase them to the floor again. Back in, Buddy fights them both off and hits Borne with an atomic drop, but Dibiase comes off the middle rope with an elbow on Buddy from behind to take over. Borne slams him and drops a knee for two. Buddy fights Borne off, but gets cut off with a facelock. Dibiase with a backbreaker for two. They trap Buddy in the corner and double-team him, and Borne gets a suplex for two. Finally Dibiase puts his head down and Buddy makes the hot tag to Horner, who cleans house with slams before colliding with Dibiase for the double down. But then Buddy foolishly goes after Borne and gets dragged out by the ref, allowing Borne to come off the top with the Bombs Away behind the ref’s back. And Dibiase finishes Horner with the figure-four at 7:30. This was a GOOD tag team match in what would normally be a squash situation, as the champs gave the new guys a ton of offense.

Tony Atlas v. Tug Taylor

Tony takes Taylor down with armdrags and dropkicks him out to the floor. Back in the ring, Taylor tries a full nelson and gets slammed by Atlas. Atlas tries a monkey flip in the corner and that goes incredibly wrong as this goes completely off the rails for a bit. So Tony just hits him with a press slam and then a diving headbutt and splash to finish at 3:50. I don’t know how this one went so badly so fast but it sure did.

Gino Hernandez v. Tony Torres

The Boesch influence and Houston crossover continues. Paul notes that he and Gino don’t get along or like each other very much. Or maybe they’re just trying to conceal a huge secret? Gino controls Torres on the mat with an armbar and then switching to a leglock on the mat and working on that. Gino with the spinning toehold, but Torres escapes from that, so Gino takes him down with a headscissors and then dropkicks him for two. Suplex and middle rope elbow finish at 5:15.

Chavo Guerrero & Mr. Olympia v. John & Rick Davidson

The Davidson Brothers attack to start and it’s BREAKING LOOSE IN TULSA already, but the babyfaces clear the ring. They work on Rick’s arm in the babyface corner and then time is about to expire, so Chavo quickly finishes with the Thesz Press at 5:00 and we’re done for the week.

This one felt particularly dry thanks to the commentary of Paul Boesch, who sounds like a throwback to the 60s here doing solo play by play with a lot of rather dull holds being exchanged on the show. I did really like the tag team match with the Rat Pack, though.