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Colling It In The Ring: Legends of Mid-South Wrestling Disc 1

January 31, 2014 | Posted by Bob Colling
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Colling It In The Ring: Legends of Mid-South Wrestling Disc 1  

I watched a preview video on YouTube for the set and purchased it months ago. Considering the wrestlers that went through Mid-South, I had to spend the $20 to purchase it and learn about Mid-South Wrestling. It’s a three disc set. A final grade will be given after the third disc is reviewed in the upcoming days.

North American Heavyweight Champion Ted DiBiase vs. Paul Orndorff – December 1981
This is a non-title match. Orndorff nearly wins with an inside cradle in the opening minute of the match after they ran the ropes. DiBiase sits down on a sunset flip attempt for a near fall of his own. They are focusing on some mat wrestling with DiBiase getting the better of Orndroff with a hammerlock. Orndorff fought back with back elbows and rams DiBiase head first into the top turnbuckle to get out of a go behind. DiBiase hits a dropkick and a running knee lift. Ted hits a powerslam and locks in the figure four but Orndorff rolls over! DiBiase won’t give in as he has been in the hold for about a minute and a half it seems like. The bell sounds as TV time runs out. (*1/2. An odd choice to put on here as they went seven minutes and ended in a TV time limit draw. I’d imagine they are on here because of their name recognition. DiBiase was really close to the ropes, so why he didn’t grab the bottom rope, I don’t know. That made it look kind of silly.)

Andre the Giant, Dusty Rhodes & Junkyard Dog vs. Afa, Sika & Big Cat Ernie Ladd – January 1982
This was a dream match that the fans asked for, apparently. Dusty and Afa kick off the match with Afa delivering a few headbutts that don’t have much impact. Junkyard gets the tag to knock Afa off his feet with a forearm. Here comes Andre to hammer away on Afa. Sika enters but they are sent into each other by Andre. Sika runs into a butt bump from Andre. I never would’ve figured to see that. Ladd gets in the match and shoved into his corner. Andre chops Ladd and controls with a headlock. Andre gets triple teamed in the corner when Dusty gets a shot in, but the attack continues. Dusty gets the tag and jabs away on the heels. Rhodes works over Ladd’s right knee with an elbow drop. JYD gets involved hitting a falling head butt. Andre enters the match again but Sika tags in. Andre big boots Sika for a near fall as Ladd hit a leg drop on Andre. All six men are in the ring as the Samoan’s powerslam Andre and Ladd gets a near fall. Again all six men are going at it. Andre goes to the middle rope, which was a struggle, and hits a big splash on Ladd for the win. (*. I was cringing as Andre went to the middle rope and couldn’t get a good footing. Andre jumping off the middle rope just shows how much agility the guy had when he was healthy. The fans enjoyed it, though it wasn’t a masterpiece or anything.)

No Disqualification, North American & Mid-South Tag Team Championships on the line:
[champions]Junkyard Dog & Mr. Olympia vs. [champion] Ted DiBiase & Matt Borne – October 1982

JYD and Olympia send the heels to the floor early on as the fans are 100% behind the tag champs. If DiBiase loses he is gone for 90 days and thus loses the North American title. DiBiase and JYD kick off the match legally trading right hands and JYD nearly wins with an inside cradle. Ted bails to the floor as JYD continued to get the better of him. Borne and Olympia tag into the match with Olympia hammering away on Borne. Olympia backdrops Borne and follows up with arm drags. All four men go at it with JYD punching DiBiase to the floor. JYD blocks a scoop slam by Borne with a head butt. Olympia decks DiBiase to help JYD. There was a quick shot of someone in a gorilla costume. Borne hip tosses Olympia but that offense doesn’t last long. JYD tags in to work over DiBiase. DiBiase pulls Borne out of the ring to regroup as the heels have not gotten anything going for themselves.

JYD hammers away on DiBiase and Olympia tags in. DiBiase hits a back suplex on Olympia, which may be the first impactful move for the heels and we are six minutes in. Borne gets his offense going on Olympia with a scoop slam and knee drop. Ted hits a back breaker on Olympia for a near fall. Olympia is being double teamed and JYD isn’t helping his partner though he legally could. Olympia runs into a double clothesline and continues to be double teamed. Borne leaps off the top to hit a sit down splash! DiBiase nearly wins with a powerslam but JYD makes the save. JYD gets the tag and cleans house. DiBiase has a loaded glove, but JYD blocks it. JYD gets the glove and hits Borne as he leaps off the top. Jim Duggan was in the gorilla costume as he slams Olympia on the floor! Duggan spears JYD! DiBiase punches JYD with the loaded glove to win the tag titles after eleven minutes of action! (**1/2. I enjoyed the match, though it seemed like they forgot about the no DQ stipulation. Nonetheless, the action was good and the heel double team work on Olympia was enjoyable. Borne is a bumping machine and so underrated.)

Coal Miner’s Glove Steel Cage Tuxedo Loser Leaves Town Match:
Hacksaw Jim Duggan vs. Ted DiBiase

Former allies collide in perhaps the biggest gimmick match in Mid-South history. Duggan hammers away on DiBiase and hits a clothesline as DiBiase tried to get a cheap shot. DiBiase tried to bail to the floor, but he can’t leave! Duggan mounts Ted with several right hands. DiBiase is trying to get a timeout and instead is able to pull Duggan into the cage face first. Ted sends Duggan face first into the cage for a second time and has been busted open. DiBiase is trying to get the tuxedo off of Hacksaw, as well. DiBiase attempts to get the glove on a pole, but Duggan prevents that from happening. Duggan starts to choke DiBiase with his shirt but misses a shoulder block in the corner. DiBiase follows up with a piledriver! DiBiase is yanked off the middle rope as he was going for the glove again.

Duggan continues to work over DiBiase by sending him into the cage. Duggan is losing a good amount of blood. It looks like DiBiase is busted open as well. Duggan climbs the pole and gets the glove! DiBiase throws powder in Duggan’s face! DiBiase has the glove but misses a right hand. Duggan hits an atomic drop and they both go down after a double shoulder block. Duggan is slamming Ted’s right hand on the top turnbuckle. Duggan has the glove now! This bloody Duggan looks crazy! DiBiase is sent into the ropes and is met with a right hand! Duggan gets the win. (***. Yeah, I enjoyed this brawl of a match with both men getting color. An enjoyable match that the crowd was into from bell to bell.)

Mid-South Tag Team Championship Match:
[champions] Ted DiBiase & Matt Borne vs. Andre the Giant & Tony Atlas – February 1983

Borne and Atlas start the match with Atlas fighting off both DiBiase and Borne early on. Andre press slams Borne and scoop slams DiBiase. The heels bail to the floor as Andre stands tall in the ring. DiBiase holds Andre in a full nelson and Borne tries to hit Andre, but that doesn’t work out so well. Atlas tags back in to hit a snap suplex on DiBiase. DiBiase gets control of Atlas with a scoop slam and knee drop. Andre big boots DiBiase and takes care of Borne with a head butt. DiBiase and Borne are sent into each other by Andre before Atlas tags in. Borne misses a left hand and knocks the referee out of the ring.

Andre is distracted by DiBiase on the floor when Jim Duggan comes out to attack Andre and Atlas. DiBiase hits Andre with his loaded glove but Andre fights the heels off and has a bear hug on both men! Kamala comes out to hit Andre with a 2×4 several times! Atlas barely dropkicks Kamala. This match has been thrown out. After the match, Kamala scoop slams Andre! That just happened. Mr. Wrestling II and Junkyard Dog come out to help a busted open Andre and Atlas. (*1/2. Not all that bad for six minutes. I couldn’t believe that Kamala of all people slammed Andre. My generation remembers Kamala as a comedy act, for the most part. Hulk Hogan doesn’t look so special anymore. The first match that the crowd wasn’t overly excited for.)

Mid-South Tag Team Championship Match:
[champions] Magnum TA & Mr. Wrestling II vs. the Midnight Express – March 1984

The losing team will get five lashes each with a leather strap. TA and Dennis kick off the match Dennis missing a knee lift as Eaton held TA. Dennis accidentally hits Eaton with the knee lift on the apron. TA continues his offense with arm drags and Eaton enters to experience the same. They say that five minutes had gone by, but my watch says three. TA dropkicks Eaton and Wrestling II tags in. Eaton hits a hip toss but Wrestling hits the knee lift sending Eaton to the floor and the crowd erupts! TA misses a right hand for Dennis and punches Wrestling on accident. Wrestling seems to understand the mistake. Dennis counters a springboard headlock with a back suplex on TA. TA gets worked over by Eaton. TA is worked over by the Express behind the referee’s back.

TA gets atomic dropped to his corner, but Wrestling II wasn’t in the corner. The focus of attack is on TA’s left arm or shoulder area. TA got to the corner again but Wrestling was on the floor distracted by Cornette. Eaton hits TA with a tennis racket as Wrestling II left the ringside area. TA is pinned. (**. Well, not too bad of a match. The turn by Wrestling II got a good reaction and the Express get a good win here.) After the match, TA has to get the lashes. He gets 15 of them. Terry Taylor comes out to try and put an end to the lashes. Taylor decides to step in and take the other lashes.

North American Heavyweight Championship Match:
[champion] Mr. Wrestling II vs. Magnum TA – May 1984

This match has been joined in progress. TA hip tosses Wrestling and hits a scoop slam for a near fall. They collide and the referee goes down as well. TA rolls to the floor where Wrestling sends TA head first into the ring post. Wrestling wants the referee to count TA out. TA has been busted wide open. Wrestling delivers the knee lift but doesn’t go for the cover. TA avoids a splash in the corner and explodes with offense. Wrestling gets the abdominal stretch on TA, but can’t get the submission. TA breaks free but the referee gets knocked down. TA fights off Wrestling’s knee protégé. TA avoids a knee lift and rolls Wrestling up for the win. (It was a clipped match, so I can’t rate it, but the fans went nuts for the win. TA was clearly way over with the Mid-South crowd at this time.)

For well over 4,000 other recaps that could soon be posted here, please head over to my blog WRESTLING RECAPS . Feel free to e-mail me any suggestions you have for reviews as well!

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The 411: A couple of good matches on the first disc, but for the most part the matches weren’t all that great. At the time the fans were into everything, so the angles must have been presented well. Matt Borne’s performances stick out as he bumped really well. I can’t believe Kamala scoop slammed Andre on TV the way he did. The other two discs have some stronger matches lined up so hopefully those make up for a weak first disc.
 
Final Score:  5.0   [ Not So Good ]  legend

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