Mid-South Wrestling – August 18th, 1983

August 18, 1983

Your hosts are Boyd Pierce and Jim Ross

This week we will see Butch Reed vs. Jim Duggan in a “Battle of the Hacksaws” with the stipulation that if Duggan wins, he gets five minutes with Skandor Akbar.

We see Akbar with Reed. He continues to call Duggan a “hippie” and stresses how if Duggan wins he gets five minutes but that will not happen. Reed says that if you need a job done you have to pay for high-priced equipment then refers to himself as just that to hype the match.

Boris Zurkhov & Rip Rogers vs. “Dr. Death” Steve Williams & Magnum TA

Ross talks of knowing a lot about Williams’ career at Oklahoma. Isn’t that the truth. Ross says Williams might sign with the Oklahoma Outlaws of the USFL as he slams Zurkhov. Magnum almost puts Zurkhov away with a reverse rollup then works a side headlock. The match now breaks down then Magnum catches Rogers with a belly-to-belly suplex for the win (3:15) *1/2.

Thoughts: Good showcase for the faces. Magnum had a strong showing and the crowd is becoming more receptive of Williams with each passing week.

“Hacksaw” Butch Reed w/ Skandor Akbar vs. “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan

Duggan attacks Reed before the bell. He stays on the attack as Ross calls this a main event in any arena in the country. Duggan works a chinlock but Reed fights out and takes control. Reed hammers away as Ross puts over his football background. Reed beats on Duggan in the corner and chokes him out on the mat. Duggan starts fighting back but Reed cuts him off. Duggan mounts another comeback then takes Reed down with a shoulder block for two. Reed regains control after reversing an Irish whip into the corner. Reed now works a front facelock then drops Duggan with a forearm smash. Duggan ducks a chop then fires away. Duggan hits a double chop then throws some punches but accidentally shoves Reed into the referee, who spills outside. Duggan then hits his spear and covers but the ref is out. Akbar now heads in and blows a whistle but gets slammed. Kamala now runs out with Friday and beats on Duggan as the ref gets in and calls for the bell (6:06) **. Reed and Akbar hold down Duggan as Kamala hits a splash then hits another splash from the top rope. Art Crews and George Weingeroff run in but get tossed then Junkyard Dog, Mr. Wrestling II, and Magnum TA run out and clear the ring. Now that the match was ruled a DQ, Duggan gets five minutes with Akbar.

Thoughts: It was clear this was going to happen when Akbar announced the stipulation and the fact they hinted at a Duggan/Kamala feud last week too. However, we now will wait to see the aftermath as Duggan will be out for revenge on Akbar and Kamala.

Back from break, an extremely confident Akbar wants Duggan to come back out and starts taking off his shirt. Akbar is laughing as he talks about always being one step ahead. We learn that Duggan is unable to wrestle as this match is now scrapped.

King Konng Bundy & Ted DiBiase w/ Skandor Akbar vs. Mr. Wrestling II & Tim Horner

Mr. Wrestling catches DiBiase with an atomic drop before working a side headlock. Bundy tags in but Mr. Wrestling works his arm and uses quick tags with Horner to maintain control. Bundy drops Horner with a punch then with a back elbow smash before tagging out. DiBiase tags out after hitting a slam then trips Horner. Mr. Wrestling II runs in to hit Bundy with a power knee lift. Horner dropkicks Bundy then Mr. Wrestling II hits another knee lift but the ref orders him on the apron then DiBiase hits Horner with his loaded glove as Bundy hits a splash for the win with a five count (3:14) *3/4.

Thoughts: All action for the brief amount of time they had as they are trying to establish Bundy & DiBiase as a pairing.

Back to the desk, Ross says we will learn more about the Missing Link, including his name. We then see Akbar with Missing Link and says Link is named “Max” and not crazy but just different. Akbar says Link can cause us to all have split personalities. So, this was actually Dewey Robinson first time being the Missing Link. He left from Central States because he was not making any money and his wife was selling her own jewelry just to pay the bills. A friend of Link told him to shave his head and go to Texas and be a “Mongol” but Ernie Ladd called him up and said they needed someone to work Magnum TA and he flew to New Orleans. After the match, Link said that Ken Mantell was there and they called him the Missing Link. Watts told him to paint his face then Link eventually grew his beard and used fur on his elbow and knee pads.

The Missing Link vs. Johnny Rich

Akbar is not out with Link. Rich hits a pair of arm drags then a couple of dropkicks as Link bails. Link then pulls down Rich and attacks his legs before re-entering the ring. Link kicks out of a small package at one but Rich comes back with a crossbody. Rich hits an atomic drop then runs wild until he whiffs on a dropkick. Link now attacks the kidney and gets the win with a headbutt to the kidney (2:10) *. However, Link attacks Rich after the match and gets disqualified as Rich is now the winner but Ross tells us that Link does not care.

Thoughts: Link is supposed to be crazy despite the fact Akbar says he is not but the Link character is still in its infancy and its not working.

Mike McGhee vs. Junkyard Dog

McGhee cheap shots JYD but ends up getting destroyed and put away with a powerslam (1:09).

Thoughts: An easy win for JYD and an excuse to get him on TV.

Krusher Darsow vs. Art Crews

Darsow has the gimmick of a guy from the outdoors. Crews lands some shots but Darsow hits a slam then uses a backbreaker submission for the win (0:49).

Thoughts: Darsow gets an easy win his debut. However, he barely did anything here. At least he has size going for him. According to Darsow himself, he got into Mid-South due to Ole Anderson. Darsow was teaming with Stan Hansen against the Road Warriors in Georgia and since he was inexperienced Ole wanted him to learn how to work under Watts.

We are shown a clip of Andre the Giant getting attacked by DiBiase, Duggan, and Kamala from 2/10/83. Ross kept talking about Duggan being a member of the Rat Pack then after the break we are shown Andre’s interview where he is bleeding and irate as he wants revenge. They tried to tie this into the Kamala/Duggan storyline. It came off weird to be honest.

Doug Vines & Randy Barber vs. Mike Jackson & Joshua Stroud

Ross says these are all young wrestlers. Jackson works over Barber to start and looks quite good in the process. Stroud tags and press slams Vines as Ross calls him a “great young black athlete. Jackson is back in and works over Vines then runs wild before tagging out as Stroud puts Barber away with a powerslam (3:28) *1/2.

Thoughts: Jackson looked awesome but the rest were not good. Stroud had a great look but was mechanical in the ring. He did enhancement work in several places throughout the 80’s including the WWF. Barber was a thin guy with a bad look and Vines was a subpar worker.

Final Thoughts: The big news was setting up a Duggan/Kamala feud. Besides that they continue to push Williams and we saw a debut in Darsow even if it was not all that memorable. We are getting newer talent in the midcard but the results have been underwhelming.