In this Mid-South Wrestling 2/27/82 review, Ted DiBiase defends the North American title against The Grappler, Bob Roop sets his sights on Dusty Rhodes, and much more.
Let’s jump in.
- Show:Â Mid-South Wrestling
- Date:Â February 27, 1982
RINGSIDE: Boyd Pierce and Dusty Rhodes welcome us and hype the action. As mentioned on the previous episode, Dusty is the guest commentator this week.
Larry Higgens vs. Coco Samoa
A bit of a size difference in this one, to say the least. Higgens is about 6-foot-4 while Samoa is around 5-foot-11. Dusty is already great on commentary, and I do mean great. He’s breaking down the psyche of each wrestler and really getting into it. Awesome stuff. Back and forth match, but it’s Coco with the splash off the top for the win. (*)
Paul Orndorff vs. Frank Monte
Two of my Mid-South favorites here. Orndorff yells at Dusty before the match and wants a piece of him. Once again, Dusty is a national treasure with stories of Monte’s gym habits, his interest in the North American title, and more. Monte takes it to Orndorff in the early going, but Orndorff attacks Monte while he’s in the ropes.
However, Monte comes back with an impressive flying head scissors. Orndorff quickly regains momentum and hits the backbreaker and thinks about going for the pin before inflicting more damage. Then he hits a huge powerslam to notch the victory. (**)
The Grappler vs. (c) Ted DiBiase – North American Title
TITLE MATCHES ON TELEVISION. The Mid-South way. Dusty calls DiBiase one of the greatest young wrestlers in the game, and it’s hard to disagree based on what we’ve seen thus far in our review series. This is the big rematch given that DiBiase beat Grappler for the title, and Boyd hypes the timeline and backstory between these two.
DiBiase works on the arm, but Grappler takes control by stomping a mudhole in DiBiase in the corner. Then DiBiase hits a VICIOUS forearm that doesn’t seem to faze Grappler. More offense from Grappler until a sunset flip pin from DiBiase gets a near fall. The crowd is screaming for DiBiase to make his move, which leads to Grappler missing consecutive elbow drops.
DiBiase mounts his comeback, but Grappler uses the LOADED BOOT on DiBiase’s leg. Dusty is livid. In a terrific spot, DiBiase sells the knee and goes to suplex Grappler off the top, but the leg buckles as Grappler falls on him for the near fall. I totally bit on that one.
Grappler goes for the loaded boot one more time, but DiBiase has it scouted and hits the back suplex for the pin to retain the title. This was excellent storytelling and one of the best Mid-South matches I’ve seen to this point in our series. And Dusty was so, so good on commentary. (***1/2, Recommended)
RINGSIDE: We’re set for a match with Bob Roop and Bill Ash, but an angry Roop makes his way to the commentary booth. He wants true competition and says he’s gonna do something about it. Roop walks off, and Dusty brings up seeing Roop lose to The Junkyard Dog. Roop is pissed and challenges Dusty, who gets attacked from behind by Orndorff. But Dusty regroups and momentarily gets the upper hand, including a fake pin on Orndorff. However, the heels regain the edge and beat down Dusty and Ash. Eventually, Brian Blair and other babyfaces run Orndorff and Roop off. Hell of an angle with a hot crowd.
Ed Wiskowski vs. Mr. Olympia
Another matchup of two favorites. Boyd ponders Dusty being fined $2,500 dollars for leaving the commentary booth. Boyd is the best. This match is all about power, and they each showcase some nice offense throughout. However, it’s Olympia who ducks an attack from Wiskowski before rolling him up for the win. (**)
Bob Sweetan vs. Tony Torres
This seems like one of those standby matches that ends in a draw due to the show going off the air. But then again, it’s pretty clear that Sweetan is the more favored of the duo. Sure enough, he is and drops the knee on Torres’ face for the victory. (SQUASH)
The Samoans (w/Skandor Akbar) vs. The Junkyard Dog and Brian Blair
Boyd continues to push Mike George’s back injury after the attack from the Samoans during the memorable tag title match a few weeks ago (REVIEW). JYD comes out pissed off, but the champs work over Blair for the majority of the match. The fans are SALIVATING at the possibility of Blair tagging JYD.
Of course, he finally does, and JYD takes out frustration on both Afa and Sika. And here comes Akbar to cause the distraction, which allows Sika to throw Blair into the ring post on the outside. Afa and Sika just destroy JYD, and the referee eventually catches an inadvertent headbutt from JYD during his comeback.
More destruction from Afa and Sika until Olympia hits the ring and runs wild on Afa, Sika, and Akbar. We’ve got a BROUHAHA on our hands as JYD and Olympia send the champs reeling. The official decision is a DQ on JYD for the interference from Olympia. Yet another hot angle. (*1/2)
BLAKE’S TAKE ON MID-SOUTH WRESTLING 2/27/82
Overall Rating: 8.5/10
Thoughts: What a fun episode. The North American title match was fantastic, as it featured one of my favorite Mid-South matches thus far in our review series. DiBiase and Grappler were both excellent in their roles in that one, and they had the crowd into it from start to finish. Meanwhile, the show-closing angle was entertaining, and so was the Roop and Orndorff storyline with Dusty. Great stuff across the board.
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