Mid-South Wrestling – July 1st, 1982

July 1, 1982

Boyd Pierce and Bill Watts are your hosts

This week, Mr. Olympia will defend the Mississippi Heavyweight Title against The Grappler and Bob Roop squares off against the Junkyard Dog

Jeff Sword & Doug Vines vs. Iron Mike Sharpe & Jesse Barr

Barr works over Sword to start things off. Watts talks about the Louisiana Heavyweight Title tournament and JYD is only left with one-half of the Tag Team Titles. Vines then makes a blind tag in to break up a reverse rollup as he hammers away. Sword & Vines work over Barr but Vines has his suplexed reversed then Barr makes the tag. Sharpe overpowers Vines then puts him away with a backbreaker submission (3:46).

Thoughts: The action here was fine. Sword & Vines had matching robes here and these two would actually teamed as the Dog Catchers in USWA during the early 90’s. Sharpe does remain miscast as a babyface. He’s dull and has a look better served for a heel. They also talked about JYD and how he not only lost the North American Title but vacated the Louisiana Title because he was the North American champion and is down to just one belt.

Watts talks about last week’s North American Heavyweight Title match and how they researched DiBiase’s glove, which Roop claimed was loaded. We see a clip from two weeks ago where DiBiase gave an interview where he claimed his glove was not loaded in response to Roop saying he is a cheater. We then see clips of last week’s JYD vs. DiBiase match as Watts says DiBiase maintains innocence but it doesnt matter as it was a No Disqualification match anyway. Watts then tells us JYD said he had been hit many times in his life but nothing rattled him like that. They are still planting a tiny seed of doubt to whether or not DiBiase did in fact load his glove. They also stressed it was a No DQ match too so it was all in the context of the rules.

Ted DiBiase vs. Tom Jones

A mixed reaction here for DiBiase, who takes control to start the match. He works the arm for a bit and stays one-step ahead of his opponent. Jones dodges a dropkick then hits a slam as Watts puts over the prestige of the North American Heavyweight Title. Jones has DiBiase in a chinlock but DiBiase breaks then attacks Jones right after a break. Jones fights back and hammers away in the corner. He staggers DiBiase with a pair of headbutts then grabs something from his tights to load his glove as the ref backs Jones off. DiBiase then decks Jones and after that puts him away with the piledriver (3:56) *. After the match, DiBiase shoots the crowd a dirty look as Watts screams about his defiance towards the fans.

Thoughts: Well, its now official that DiBiase does in fact load his glove, even against guys like Tom Jones here. DiBiase is now a full-fledged heel.

Bob Roop vs. Junkyard Dog

JYD wins a slugfest to start. He chases Roop around and hits a clothesline then no-sells a few kicks to the chest as he is determined. JYD hits a forearm smash as Watts talks about how he is channeling from when he was growing up in poverty then puts Roop away with a powerslam (1:36). JYD immediately leaves the ring as Roop is out on the mat.

Thoughts: Wow. JYD destroyed Roop, who was the North American Champion just nine days prior. This was a complete squash by JYD as he is focused on getting revenge on DiBiase.

Mississippi Heavyweight Title Match: The Grappler vs. Mr. Olympia (c)

Mr. Olympia is sporting a new mask here. He grabs a headlock as Watts wonders if JYD can even trust Olympia, his own tag team partner, at this point. The Grappler comes back with a flapjack as Watts says Ernie Ladd vs. Killer Khan is on standby for today. The Grappler gets two with a knee drop then uses a bearhug. Olympia fights out Grappler attacks him then goes after the mask. Olympia fights back then hits a dropkick as he is now trying to unmask Grappler as Watts tells us its against the rules and the same as pulling hair. The Grappler dodges a crossbody then loads the boot but misses a stomp as Olympia catches him with a sleeper. Olympia then rolls up the Grappler and gets the win (5:01) *1/2.

Thoughts: This was very dull until the last minute. I expected more action from these two as they were good in the ring.

Killer Khan w/ Skandor Akbar vs. Ernie Ladd

Watts says he has no idea how Akbar got Khan away from Freddie Blassie. Khan cheap shots Ladd in the corner then hammers away. Watts once again puts Khan over as the only man to hospitalize Andre the Giant but Ladd fights back. He chokes out Khan on the ropes but Khan fights back and hits a Mongolian chop. He stomps away on Ladd as the announcers talk about Khan screaming for a psychological advantage and that it tightens your opponents muscles when they hear loud noise. The ref gets bumped outside after Ladd boots Khan then Akbar comes up on the apron with a chair. He holds its up in the corner but Ladd reverses an Irish whip and Khan is sent into the chair. Ladd drags Akbar inside and yanks off his head dress but that allows Khan to whack Ladd in the head. Khan then hits a thrust kick as the ref gets back inside and puts Ladd away with a top rope knee drop (4:19) 1/2*.

Thoughts: Ladd could barely do anything at all here. His body was broken down at this point of his career. It had good heat at the beginning and the end but there was a rough spot in between. Ladd’s feud against Akbar continues.

Hangman Harris vs. Buck Robley

Watts wonders what Dick Murdoch thinks of what DiBiase has done, citing he was really close to DiBiase’s father Iron Mike DiBiase. Robley works the leg but Harris gets out and beats him down. Watts talks a bit about next week’s show as Harris puts Robley in the Hangman hold. Robley flips out then adjusts his arm brace to whack Harris on the head with an elbow then he drops an elbow on him for the win (4:10) 1/2*.

Thoughts: Bad match but the real story his DiBiase as Watts talks about how disappointing it is to see him act like this now.

We now see a clip from Southwest Championship Wrestling as Hacksaw Jim Duggan defeats Frank Monte as Duggan will be on Mid-South next week. A good way to hype up Duggan for his match.

Final Thoughts: Overall, a solid show. The action was disappointing but they really got over the DiBiase turn and put JYD out as a madman looking for revenge. The other top feuds were pushed and we did get a title match too. It will be interesting to see where the JYD/DiBiase storyline goes next.

Here is my schedule for the next several days:

Sunday: WWF Prime Time Wrestling 9/11/89

Monday: WWF Superstars of Wrestling 9/16/89

Tuesday: WWF Wrestling Challenge 9/17/89

Wednesday: EVOLVE 79 2/25/17

Thursday: RF Video Shoot Interview with Eddie Guerrero

Friday: WWF Superstars of Wrestling 9/23/89

Sunday: Mid-South Wrestling 7/8/82