Mid-South Wrestling
Date: November 16, 1984
Location: Irish McNeil Boys Club, Shreveport, Louisiana
Commentators: Jim Ross, Joel Watts

Another week, another Mid-South as the WWE Vault is actually trying to air something regularly for a change. The good thing is that it’s one of the best weekly shows ever, with Jim Duggan and Butch Reed coming together to fight Skandor Akbar and the eternal battle between the Midnight and Rock N Roll Expresses. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Before the show went on the air, Buddy Landell was in the ring to complain about Butch Reed attacking him last week. Landell gave him the chance of a lifetime and today, he’s going to embarrass Reed on TV.

Ted DiBiase vs. Magnum TA

Skandor Akbar is here with DiBiase, who works on Magnum’s arm to start. Some dropkicks send DiBiase outside to vent the early frustration. Apparently Butch Reed just hurried out of the building as DiBiase is back inside so Magnum can punch him in the jaw. Magnum grinds away on a headlock but gets reversed into a belly to back suplex.

DiBiase chokes and knees away but the piledriver is reversed with a backdrop (as usual, DiBiase does a great flipping bump). The comeback is on with the belly to belly connecting but DiBiase gets the foot on the rope. Cue North American Champion Magnum TA for a distraction though and DiBiase loads up the glove. The right hand knocks Magnum cold for the pin at 5:43.

Rating: B-. They didn’t have a lot of time here but it definitely felt like one of the bigger matches on the show in the last few weeks. Magnum definitely had that charisma to him that made him feel like an absolute star and he was against one of the biggest villains in the promotion. I would assume they had far longer matches on the house shows, but this was a nice little preview.

Apparently Butch Reed’s brother has been in an accident so he had to go deal with everything. As a result, the match isn’t happening, but here is Brickhouse Brown to volunteer to take Reed’s place.

Buddy Landell vs. Brickhouse Brown

Brock avoids a charge into the corner to start and hits a crossbody for an early two. Landell misses a charge into the corner and Brown hammers away, with a middle rope…we’ll say fist getting two. Landell avoids a charge though and drops the wind up elbow for the pin at 2:30. Well that was quick.

It’s time for the football helmet match but Ted DiBiase comes out to challenge Jim Duggan, who he accuses of living in the past. DiBiase wants to face Duggan man to man right now Cue Duggan, who throws his helmet away and we’re ready to go.

Ted DiBiase vs. Jim Duggan

Duggan slugs away to start and fires off the shoulders in the corner but DiBiase stomps him down. The flying headbutt drops DiBiase and Duggan chokes away but here is Steve Williams in full football gear. Duggan, ever the genius, hits Williams in the pad and injures his hand. Hercules Hernandez comes in to jump Duggan as well and it’s a DQ at 1:20.

Post match the big beatdown is on, with Williams looking ridiculous in his full gear, and a bunch of wrestlers (including Shawn Michaels) making a failed save attempt. Some bigger names rune in for the real save.

Master G. vs. Hercules Hernandez

Hercules looks…odd as a Sheik and has Skandor Akbar with him. They trade some shoves to start as commentary talks about Williams and company destroying Duggan. G. misses an elbow and Hernandez’s crossbody gets two. Back up and some slams send Hernandez begging off in the corner, followed by a collision to put them both outside. Hernandez wraps the knee around the post a few times, followed by a shinbreaker. The half crab makes the referee stop it without G. giving up at 3:45.

Rating: C+. There was something fun about these two beating on each other, with Hernandez looking like an absolute monster. That’s the entire point with someone like him (his name is HERCULES after ll) and the ending made him look even more devastating. I can go with G. not giving up, as it keeps him protected while having the referee cut it off for his safety.

Rock n Roll Express vs. Jim Horton/Thomas Ivy

Non-title. Ivy gets knocked down by Morton to start so it’s off to Gibson, who takes Horton over for the tag on purpose. The double dropkick finishes Ivy at 1:10. That’s a long match for the Express.

Post break Butch Reed is back…because apparently there was no accident with his brother. Now he’s back and found out that Jim Duggan was attacked by “them three stooges and a camel jockey”. Revenge is promised.

TV Title: Adrian Street vs. Bill Dundee

Street, with Miss Linda, is defending. Dundee starts with an early headscissors but Street takes him down by the leg without much trouble. Street pokes him in the jaw a bit, only for Dundee to come back up with some stomping. Back up and Street forearms him into the ropes and uses one of them for a choke. A rollup gives Dundee a quick two but they collide for a double down. Street hits a piledriver but Dundee is right back up (oh we’re certainly not in Memphis) for some shoulders in the corner. A middle rope crossbody gives Dundee the quick pin and the title at 5:11.

Rating: C+. This was a nice quick title change and made Dundee look like quite the star. He’s not the biggest guy in the world but, in his words, he wrestled big and that was showing here. I liked what we got here and Dundee basically caught him at the end, meaning we might be seeing this one again. I’ve heard worse ideas.

Chavo Guerrero/Hector Guerrero vs. Lee Ramsey/Art Crews

Crews and Ramsey actually start fast with some early dropkicks but we settle down to Chavo vs. Crews. A snapmare takes Crews down and it’s off to hector for a butterfly suplex to pin Ramsey at 1:33, though it doesn’t seem to have gone as planned.

Post match the Guerreros beat them up some more…and that’s a reversal for the DQ so Ramsey and Crews win.

Magnum TA is at the commentary booth and wants either Ted DiBiase or Ernie Ladd in a cage match next week.

Roll credits.

Overall Rating: B-. You can feel things building up here and the stories might be slightly predictable but that’s not always a bad thing. The interesting thing is I’ve been watching for about a month now and already feel like I know everything I need to know about this show. That’s an impressive sign and makes it so much easier for fans to join in. I’ll definitely keep looking at this stuff, as it’s a good example of how to do this week to week.

Results
Ted DiBiase b. Magnum TA – Loaded right hand
Buddy Landell b. Brickhouse Brown – Wind Up Elbow
Hercules Hernandez b. Master G. via referee stoppage
Rock N Roll Express b. Jim Horton/Thomas Ivy – Double dropkick to Ivy
Bill Dundee b. Adrian Street – Middle rope high crossbody

 

 

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Mid-South Wrestling
Date: November 9, 1984
Location: Irish McNeil Boys Club, Shreveport, Louisiana
Commentators: Boyd Pierce, Bill Watts

Apparently this is something that is being released weekly, at least for the time being and I can think of worse things. You never know what you’re going to get on something like this but the first few weeks have been rather good. There have been some rather good stories taking place, with the biggest being Jim Duggan’s attack at the hands of Ted DiBiase two weeks ago. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Again this is presented in its most complete form. This show is a few minutes shorter and I’d bet on a music video of some sort missing.

Opening sequence.

Commentary runs down the card and explains that we can write in via postcard to pick the main event we want to see on TV. I don’t buy it as legit but that’s a cool idea as a way to tie the fans into the show. This is what is edited out of the WWE Vault version.

Commentary recaps the Rock N Roll Express’ issues with the Midnight Express, featuring Ricky Morton putting Robert Gibson in a straitjacket to demonstrate what they had planned for Jim Cornette. They really earned the beating that Cornette (still in a mask) and the Midnights put on them as a result.

Back in the arena, commentary talks about how brave the Rock N Roll are before throwing it to Jim Ross (who gets a nice bio of his own) to reveal the real stipulation.

Ross and the Rock N Roll are on top of a scaffold (uh oh) and want the match up there so Cornette can’t interfere. Ricky Morton admits that he’s scared as Robert Gibson throws a melon down to the floor for quite the visual.

Jack Victory/Dale Veasey vs. Rock N Roll Express

Non-title and the double dropkick finishes Victory at 27 seconds.

Here are Skandor Akbar, the masked Jim Cornette, Buddy Landell and Hercules Hernandez for a chat. Akbar gets right to the point: he has purchased Hercules from Cornette (this just keeps happening to him), who is happy with the deal. As a bonus, Hercules can even be a sheik, but he has to wait on the harem.

Hercules was Cornette’s bodyguard to protect Cornette from Jim Duggan but Duggan was beaten up so Cornette feels safe. Landell tries to take credit for this but Akbar tells him to stay out of it. Oh and why is Landell wearing that watch when he hasn’t delivered as promised yet? Akbar promises that he and his army will crush everyone because he is now Mr. Mid-South. Good, logical way to get Hernandez away from Cornette and on to something else.

Butch Reed vs. Jim Horton

Hold on though as here is Buddy Landell to talk to Reed. That doesn’t work for Reed, who rants about being the man. Reed doesn’t need anyone because he is the #1 man in Mid-South. Landell says he taught Reed everything he knows but Reed only let Landell hang around out of pity.

Landell offers Reed the watch, which sends Reed even further over the edge. Reed throws the watch down and stomps on it, sending Landell into hysterics. Landell shoves Reed, who drops him with a big right hand. Skandor Akbar and company come out to talk in peace, with Akbar talking about how he should have talked to Reed man to man. He is ready to give Reed the offer of a lifetime but Reed says he stands alone.

Akbar makes it clear: Reed is either with them or against them so Reed starts swinging. The brawl is on and Reed is beaten down, with poor Horton getting beaten up for standing in the wrong place. Jim Duggan makes the save with the 2×4 to a ROAR. So I guess we’re not going to have a match. How rude.

Post break Duggan and Reed are at the commentary desk and say they need to talk to each other. The reality is they both want to stand alone but Duggan respects Reed after years of fighting him. They’ve given each other everything they have and come back for more. They have to do something to stop Akbar and even if they’ll keep an eye on each other, they can do it together.

Reed returns the respect and shouts about how something has to be done, with Duggan saying he doesn’t need the board. Instead he needs a fired up Hacksaw Butch Reed. OUTSTANDING stuff here as this was a crazy hot promo, with both guys coming together after a long time fighting. In other words, standard wrestling booking with people the fans cared about and respected. That’s why Mid-South worked so well.

Hector Guerrero/Chavo Guerrero vs. Shawn Michaels/Mike Jackson

Michaels, with short hair and in black tights and an MTV shirt, debuted less than a month before this was taped so he couldn’t have had more than a handful of professional matches. Chavo works on Jackson’s arm to start and hands it off to Hector (my goodness does he look like Eddie) to stay on said arm.

The take turns on the arm with Hector hitting a splash but Jackson manages to trip him down for an elbow drop. It’s off to Michaels, who is snapmared down and gets in a single right hand to no avail. A dropkick and double back elbow sets up a spinning splash to give Hector two. Michaels fights out of the corner and hands it back to Jackson for some dropkicks before Chavo avoids another one. A full nelson brings Jackson down and Chavo adds a Swanton for the pin at 3:22.

Rating: C. It says a lot when Jackson, who had one of the longest in-ring careers ever, is the least interesting person in a match. Obviously the appeal here is a 19 year old Michaels and he looked like a 19 year old who had been in the business for about a month would look. There was nothing at all to him here and no reason to believe he would one day become a huge star. You also have the Guerreros, who are a totally underrated team who was doing stuff that no one could pull off at this point. Quite the fascinating match here, for a bunch of reasons.

Ted DiBiase vs. Lee Ramsey

DiBiase hammers away to start and gives him a slam, followed by a backdrop. The powerslam and Figure Four finish Ramsey at 1:32.

Master G./Brickhouse Brown vs. Midnight Express

Jim Cornette handles the Midnights’ entrance (of course) and we’re ready to go. The Midnights jump them on the way in but get sent outside for some yelling from Cornette. Eaton and Brown start things off with Eaton’s right hands not getting him very far. A backdrop puts Eaton down and it’s off to G. for the running shoulders.

Condrey comes in off a blind tag and stomps on G. as the Midnights get to take over in the corner. G. fights out of trouble though and it’s back to Brown as everything breaks down. Cornette trips Brown so Condrey goes up top, with the referee not letting him dive (as it’s illegal). Like a good villain, Eaton uses the distraction to drop a top rope elbow for the pin on Brown at 4:03.

Rating: B-. The more I see of Brown, the more I like him. The more I see of G., the more it makes me want to see Brown. On the other hand you have the Midnights and they really are as great as they’re advertised as being. There is such an amazing teamwork between them and stuff like that ending made them look like they were smart to go with athletic. Very fun stuff here.

Ernie Ladd/Buddy Landell vs. Tony Falk/Bill Dundee

Hold on though as Magnum TA comes in to take Falk’s place so Ladd walks out, refusing to face Magnum and let him try to steal the title back. Dundee is down to face Landell one on one but Landell walks out instead. No match.

Here’s how to pick your dream match again.

Steve Williams has his football helmet and accuses Jim Duggan of being a coward for bring out his 2×4. Williams wants to face Duggan next week if Duggan isn’t a coward.

Roll credits.

Overall Rating: B+. The wrestling here was your usual collection of squashes, plus that snappy Midnights match. That’s not the important part here, as this was all about the Duggan/Reed/Akbar stuff, as Duggan and Reed gave some of the best fired up promos you’ll ever see. I barely watch this promotion and I want to see them get their hands on Akbar and company in a big fight.

That’s what you should want from a big face turn and my goodness did it work. Definitely check out some Duggan and Reed from this era as they’re two big guys who could fight but now they’re fighting a common enemy. Really fun show here and I’ll be watching whatever they put up from Mid-South.

Results
Rock N Roll Express b. Jack Victory/Dale Veasey – Double dropkick to Victory
Hector Guerrero/Chavo Guerrero b. Shawn Michaels/Mike Jackson – Swanton to Jackson
Ted DiBiase b. Lee Ramsey – Figure Four
Midnight Express b. Brickhouse Brown/Master G. – Top rope elbow to Brown

 

 

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6