Mid-South Wrestling (4.13.1985) Review

-Originally aired April 13, 1985.

-We get the warning that this is presented in the most complete form possible, although oddly it’s four minutes longer than last week’s episode.

-Your hosts are Bill Watts and Boyd Pierce. And Bill Watts has some things to say about Vince McMahon and Titan Sports! Vince McMahon is full of shit for claiming that wrestling is more popular than ever because wrestling started booming in the Mid-South area in 1970 and it’s as strong as it’s ever been, so Vince hasn’t accomplished anything.

-And while we’re at it, let’s be clear…Bill emphasizes that there’s a difference between athletics and showbiz. When you take an actor or Mean Gene Okerlund and throw them into main event slots, that’s BALONEY! And guys like Dusty Rhodes hang out with celebrities like Willie Nelson and ZZ Top, but you know what? They hang out with Dusty because they like him, it’s not like the celebrities who show up at WWF events because they’re PAID TO.

-Good luck following that, Edcar.

BRICKHOUSE BROWN vs. EDCAR “Boo” THOMAS (with “Dr. Death” Steve Williams)
-Brown’s new gimmick is that he comes to the ring with a boom box blaring his entrance theme. Looking forward to Bill Watts’ thoughts on the Rocksteady Crew.

-Brickhouse takes Boo down to the mat and applies an armbar. At least tell us why we’re calling this guy “Boo.” “Dr. Death” doesn’t really call for an explanation but when you share a nickname with the pale, reclusive basement dweller in To Kill a Mockingbird, I think we need to know why.

-Brickhouse whips Boo into the corner, and Boo loses his footing and collapses into the middle turnbuckle on impact. Dr. Death tries to interfere again, but like last time, Brickhouse just gets dropkicked down afterward like nothing happened. Brickhouse comes off the second rope with a headbutt, and that’s enough to pin Edcar clean and easy. Williams tries to interfere but accidentally drops an elbow on Edcar. They seem to be laying a lot of groundwork for an Edcar Thomas babyface turn.

TV TITLE TOURNAMENT, FIRST ROUND: PRIVATE TERRY DANIELS vs. “Dr. Death” STEVE WILLIAMS
-Williams does a series of takedowns as Watts suddenly lays out a story regarding the last match, with Dr. Death trying to mentor Brickhouse Brown at the start of his career and Brickhouse blowing him off and insisting he could do it himself, and Williams is mad about being dismissed like that. Considering Williams has been in the business for less than three years, I can understand that–but man, if executed properly, THAT would actually be a great heel character. A rookie who has a way, way inflated sense of his own experience and six months into his career, he tries to “mentor” some other heel. Every indy show I ever ring-announced had at least one guy in the locker room who could play that role.

-Williams works the arm, but Daniels comes back with a bodypress for a quick two-count. Daniels has a really tentative look right before every offensive move he does. Daniels goes for another bodypress, but this time, Williams is expecting it, and he turns it into a stampede for three. Glorified squash.

ROCK & ROLL EXPRESS vs. THE BARBARIAN & JAKE “The Snake” ROBERTS
-Ricky starts with the Snake. Ricky hiptosses him and Jake decides not to stick around, tagging in the Barbarian, and Ricky vs. Barbarian is a match made in heel heaven. So Barbarian shoves him and Ricky goes across the ring. Barbarian shoulderblocks Ricky down and stunguns him.

-Jake tags in now that he’s sufficiently Mortoned up for him, but Ricky surprises him with a drop toehold and tags Robert in. Express switches off and works the leg over. Jake manages to slip over to his corner for a blind tag, and Barbarian pounds on Robert while Bill Watts reminds us that we aren’t watching “some kind of combine in New York” or the AWA or the NWA. You’re watching fully-independent Mid-South Wrestling.

-Heels take turns slamming Gibson, but when Jake goes for the kill, Gibson armdrags him and makes a blind tag. Double dropkick on both heels. Ricky charges at Jake, but he charges too hard and gets his neck tangled in the ropes. Dirty White Boys rush out and yank on Ricky’s legs to hang him, and faces rush the ring to rescue him. Barbarian and Snake lay waste to the Tim Horner, Steve Casey, and Jim Duggan, with Jake giving Duggan the DDT to leave him out cold, and there are bodies all over the ring as the heels leave triumphantly, although disqualified. Good stuff!

STEVE CASEY vs. JACK VICTORY
-Bill Watts cannot believe what we have just eyewitnessed and muses about the damage done to Ricky Morton’s windpipe by that assault while Casey applies a wristlock Victory escapes. Victory gives Casey a shot to the solarplexis, or gut, if you’re normal. Casey comes back with a drop toehold and quickly switches it into a surfboard for a submission. Again, Casey is good, but charisma-wise he just comes off as British Backlund.

GENERAL EDDIE GILBERT & THE NIGHTMARE vs. ROCKY MONTANA & TIM HORNER
-No reliable info anywhere on Rocky Montana, but he bears a strong resemblance to the Jeffers brothers/Mod Squad. Gilbert and the Nightmare are both debuting in this territory. Nightmare is Moondog Rex under a mask, although the rumor is he was quickly recognized by fans who chanted “Moondog” during his matches, so he had to be replaced by Moondog Rex.

-Gilbert and Horner trade work on the arm, and Gilbert is just instantly unrecognizable from the bland semi-jobber that he had been only a year ago in the WWF. Bill Watts explains that Nightmare is just what they’re going to call him for now, because Eddie Gilbert won’t tell them what his name is. I love professional wrestling because, #1, you can hold a job and collect paychecks without revealing your identity to the people paying you, and #2, if you withhold your identity, they give you a kickass name like Nightmare. It makes me feel bad for that masked jobber in the AWA who apparently refused to disclose his identity to Verne, so he had to go out there with the name Bun Boy.

-Gilbert hammers and knees Horner aggressively with blows that “aren’t painful but are certainly stunning” according to Bill. Gilbert goes to a chinlock. Horner fights out but misses a dropkick and gets out while he can. Nightmare headbutts Montana in the stomach and piledrives Montana, a move that somehow hurts Montana despite his profound lack of neck, and it gets the three-count. Gilbert came out of this a full-blown star, Nightmare just comes off as a guy in a mask.

KAMALA (with Skandar Akbar) vs. STEVE BRINSON
-Skandar Akbar wishes to address the crowd pre-match. Yes, he’s lost the services of Friday, so he took Kamala to Haiti, he doesn’t elaborate on what the hell happened in Haiti, but he now has full control over Kamala as a result of the trip to Haiti.

-Kamala chops away at Brinson. Then Kamala kicks away at Brinson. Then Kamala chops away at Brinson. Then Kamala splashes Brinson and wins.

DIRTY DUTCH MANTELL vs. STONEY MONTANA
-Ah, okay, for sure the “Montana” brothers are the Jeffers brothers because Stoney is the other one. The necked one. This is Dutch’s debut in the area, and the fans are doing wolf howls at him to mock the out-of-control body hair.

-Mantell attacks right away while Bill Watts goes off on this tangent about how America screwed up Vietnam by going in there to negotiate a settlement instead of trying to win and now America’s children don’t know what it looks like to go into a war and win, and he basically advocates for going into a war to get our win back. Hey, we pretty much did that a few years after this!

-Mantell kicks and snapmares Montana. Gourdbuster by Mantell gets the win as Watts points out that JYD only has tough matches once in a while now, but he went to New York because they give him easier competition up there.