Mid-South Wrestling – September 8th, 1983

September 8, 1983

Your hosts are Boyd Pierce and Bill Watts

This week we will have Junkyard Dog vs. King Kong Bundy, Tim Horner vs. Buzz Sawyer, and Hacksaw Jim Duggan vs. Ted DiBiase, with DiBiase leaving Mid-South if he loses.

Watts talks about Butch Reed’s contract dispute with matchmaker Grizzly Smith as he is refusing to appear on TV until he gets some competition. Watts also alerts us that Skandor Akbar & Kamala are not here but is sure that Akbar has something planned.

King Kong Bundy vs. Junkyard Dog

Jim Ross is the ring announcer this week. Watts lets us know that Bundy will have to use the five count to win as he backs JYD into the corner. JYD decks Bundy as the crowd is behind him. Bundy prevents a slam then clubs the back with forearm smashes. JYD now blocks a slam and gives a forearm shiver as Watts talks about his new training routine. Bundy works a hammerlock as Watts says that Sawyer is also after JYD as Bundy now grounds JYD with the hammerlock. JYD finally escapes but Bundy goes back to the move. JYD now reverses and grounds Bundy and works that for a bit. JYD runs into a forearm smash in the corner then Bundy with the Atlantic City Avalanche but JYD kicks out at four and in the process Bundy lands on the ref. JYD then clotheslines Bundy and covers as a new referee runs in but Sawyer runs out to break up the pin and the match is ruled a DQ (5:56) *1/2. JYD then catches Sawyer and throws him down but Bundy gets up and attacks from behind. Sawyer holds up JYD for Bundy but JYD ducks and Sawyer gets drilled then after that JYD slams Bundy as the crowd goes mental. Missing Link now comes out and headbutts JYD from the top and its a 3 vs. 1 attack on JYD until Hacksaw Duggan, Magnum TA, and George Weingeroff run out for the save.

Thoughts: The action itself wasn’t great but they did establish both men as equals. However, the match was more about the angle that followed with JYD getting attacked 3 on 1 as Watts says this was likely a plan from either Akbar or DiBiase to take out JYD so he could not help out Duggan in his match.

Road Warriors vs. Rick Rood & Art Crews

The Warriors attack their opponents before the bell. Crews gets tossed outside then Rood dodges an attack by Hawk and works the arm. Crews tags in as Watts talks about DiBiase & Akbar likely planning to take out JYD so he can not help Duggan later on tonight. Animal tags as Rood works his arm as Watts says Reed will stop at nothing and wants to know where he is now. Crews is in and works the arm of Hawk until he gets rammed into the corner. Hawk takes Crews down with a knee lift as the Road Warriors take control of the match. The Warriors dump Rood outside then Animal puts Crews away with a powerslam (2:58).

Thoughts: This was a lackluster squash match from the Road Warriors and the reason was due to the fact their opponents spent most of the time on offense.

The Missing Link vs. Rip Rogers

Link whips Rogers into the corner then follows with a powerslam. Watts puts over how Akbar says Link’s name is “Max” and that he is not crazy. Link stays on the attack and targets the kidney area but ducks his head and gets kicked in the face. Rogers lands a few shots but Link sends him into the corner then follows with a suplex. Link then hits a backbreaker and heads to the middle rope for a knee drop and puts on the clutch for the win (2:00).

Thoughts: The Link character is still in its infancy as Dewey Robertson works out the kinks.

“Mad Dog” Buzz Sawyer vs. Tim Horner

The crowd is giving Sawyer all sorts of shit. Sawyer attacks Horner, who fights back. Sawyer tosses Horner to break up a side headlock but Horner hangs on the second time as he works the hold on the mat. Watts once again mentions how Akbar and Reed are not here as Horner stays in control. Horner ducks a leapfrog and follows with a pair of dropkicks as Watts compares pro wrestling to a game of chess. Next week, Dusty Rhodes and Larry Zbyszko will be here. Sawyer dropkicks Horner then applies a chinlock. Sawyer now grinds Horner’s face into the mat before going back to the chinlock as Watts says that Sawyer better get his “tentanus shot” because JYD is after him. Horner avoids a leg drop then fires away but tries a crossbody and gets caught with a powerslam as Sawyer picks up the win (4:08) **.

Thoughts: I thought this was a nice, little match. Horner was an underdog but at least looked competitive most of the time so fans could buy him as something of a threat. They are gearing up Sawyer for a match against JYD.

No Disqualification: Hacksaw Jim Duggan vs. Ted DiBiase

DiBiase attacks Duggan before the bell and hammers away in the corner. Duggan fights back until DiBiase rakes his eyes. DiBiase knocks Duggan down then yells at the crowd. DiBiase scoops up Duggan for a slam then hits falling back elbow drop from the middle rope in a spot that did not look good at all. Duggan fights back and they slug it out with Duggan winning that battle. DiBiase bails for a breather as Duggan is yelling for him to get back inside. Duggan hammers away as soon as DiBiase returns. Duggan clotheslines DiBiase then beats on him in the corner. DiBiase fights back but Duggan reverses an Irish whip and hits a back drop. DiBiase bails so Duggan goes out and chases him around but gets decked returning into the ring. DiBiase roughs up Duggan on the mat then chokes him out on the ropes. Duggan tries a running knee smash in the corner but misses as DiBiase now works a figure four. Duggan tries to turn it over and finally does as the crowd goes nuts. However, the Road Warriors run in and beat on Duggan. They hold him up for DiBiase, who slaps Duggan around. Magnum TA and Rick Rood run out but are quickly tossed outside. DiBiase then loads up his glove as Animal holds up Duggan but JYD Runs out and beats on the Road Warriors with a 2×4. The Road Warriors finally overcome JYD and hold him up as DiBiase has the 2×4 but as that happens Duggan spears DiBiase then takes the board to beat on the Road Warriors with help from Duggan then uses the 2×4 to put away DiBiase and send him out of Mid-South (8:34) ***. The Road Warriors then carry DiBiase away as the others celebrate with Duggan.

Thoughts: The chaos at the end was excellent and elevated the match, which was simply “fine” beforehand. All show long we heard Watts tells us about Akbar, Reed, and DiBiase and their motives. Plus, we saw JYD get beat down and when the Road Warriors came out it seemed that Duggan was doomed but JYD ended up making the comeback and ran down to help out Duggan as DiBiase is gone. In reality, DiBiase was leaving for a tour of All-Japan Wrestling and this was a way to write him off of TV.

Krusher Darsow vs. Johnny Rich

Watts talks about DiBiase now leaving Mid-South and puts over the courage of JYD and Duggan as he appears to have just about lost his voice. Rich lands a few shots but Darsow overpowers him in the corner. Rich then bounces off of Darsow before he is taken over with a hip toss. Darsow sends Rich down with a back elbow smash as Watts sells the emotions of the past match and believing DiBiase would pull off another stunt to win. Rich fights back but Darsow picks him up and rams him into the corner twice before the slam then drops an elbow before the backbreaker submission gets the win (2:47).

Thoughts: A cool-down match to sell the effect of the previous match. Darsow is not getting any heel heat whatsoever with this act.

Doug Vines & Boris Zurkhov vs. Magnum TA & George Weingeroff

Weingeroff grounds Vines to start. Vines then tosses Weingeroff out from the corner but Weingeroff comes back with a monkey flip. Magnum tags in and hits a crossbody for two. Magnum follows with a tag then Zurkhov tags and Magnum slams him too. Weingeroff is back in and he works a side headlock on the mat. Pierce tells us that “Cowboy Will Watts” has lost his voice from the Duggan/DiBiase match as Weingeroff is in trouble. Weingeroff breaks free and tags out then Magnum runs wild. Weingeroff is back in and he clears the ring with Magnum before Magnum puts Vines away with a belly-to-belly suplex (3:33).

Thoughts: A bit odd to see Magnum, one-half of the Tag Team Champions, slum it with these three but then again this was not completely out of the ordinary for Mid-South. The face side looked good while the heels are just not very good.

Final Thoughts: The big news was DiBiase leaving and he was being slowly phased out to set this up for the past month or so. They are trying to push new acts on the heel side since they have JYD and Duggan as the top two faces but the results have been mixed. The midcard remains stagnant though and no longer having DiBiase around is going to be a problem as there is no other replacement for him in the promotion.