In this Mid-South Wrestling 3/20/82 review, Ted DiBiase finds out his opponent for his North American title match, One Man Gang makes his in-ring debut, and much more.
Let’s jump in.
- Show:Â Mid-South Wrestling
- Date:Â March 20, 1982
RINGSIDE: Boyd Pierce welcomes the debuting Jim Ross. Boyd is wearing a bright green jacket, and it is something. Of course, the most noteworthy part of the segment is indeed the arrival of JR in Mid-South. Here comes Bob Roop, and he reveals Paul Orndorff will be getting the North American title shot. Roop then says Orndorff lost to Ted DiBiase in a recent cage match, and Orndorff has lost his confidence and doesn’t think he’ll show up. Boyd isn’t putting up with Roop’s shit and sends him packing.
JR then shares an update on Ernie Ladd, with Dr. James Andrews doing the surgery on Ladd’s knee. Apparently, we’re getting the actual operation video of Ladd’s surgery. Sure enough, that’s what we get, complete with the inside-the-knee video of the doctor scraping Ladd’s damaged tissue. This is wild and complete commitment to the storyline. JR notes Ladd will have a quick recovery time.
VIDEO: Replay of Ladd’s interview with Reeser Bowden from a few weeks ago (REVIEW) where he sends a message to Skandor Akbar about finding men to back him.
VIDEO: Back from break, and we see highlights of One Man Gang making his Mid-South debut during The Samoans’ destruction of Ladd. Then it’s highlights of Gang interfering in the Dusty Rhodes/Dick Murdoch vs. The Samoans match.
One Man Gang (w/Skandor Akbar) vs. Buddy Landell
Poor Landell returns on last week’s episode and draws the assignment of getting squashed by Gang on the next. Gang showcases his strength, then quickly hits the huge splash for the easy win. (SQUASH)
Bob Roop vs. “Killer” Karl Kox
Roop tells Reeser before the match he shouldn’t wrestle in case he needs to fill in for Orndorff later, but Reeser can’t do anything about it. Yet again, Kox comes out to a huge pop. Roop doesn’t care because he jumps Kox before he gets his jacket off.
JR is terrific on commentary, but you already knew that. Kox gets tied up in the ropes, and Roop thinks he has him. However, Kox clocks him, then hits the brainbuster to score the victory.
The Samoans (w/Skandor Akbar) vs. Terry Gibbs and Jesse Barr
A non-title match, so the Gibbs and Barr for tag champions campaign will have to wait. JR goes into the backstory of the Samoans’ tactics getting them suspended in another territory, and that’s a nice touch to push their savageness. Afa and Sika take it to Barr, and he eventually gets the hot tag to Gibbs. Sika doesn’t let him get going and hits the Samoan Drop for the win. (SQUASH)
Bob Roop vs. (c) Ted DiBiase – North American Title
Boyd reveals that Orndorff didn’t show, so Roop was right. Both Boyd and JR are curious about Orndorff’s status, and I can already guess that this should be storyline gold. Again, I’m watching these Mid-South episodes for the first time, so I have no idea which direction the story is headed in. But with Roop and Orndorff, it’s gotta be good.
As Watts has done during his commentary, Boyd pushes Mid-South having a title match on TV. DiBiase goes for the Figure Four and Roop escapes, with JR doing a fantastic job dissecting how each man can counter the other with that move. DiBiase hits a powerslam and locks in the Figure Four, but Roop reverses it. Seeing the crowd cheer on DiBiase is pretty great.
And now we get a ref bump after Roop kicks DiBiase into the referee. One Man Gang comes out and crushes DiBiase’s leg around the ring post. Roop then locks on the Figure Four and DiBiase is out of it as Roop wins the title. Fun match with a hot finish. (***, Recommended)
Tully Blanchard and Mike Boyer vs. The Junkyard Dog and Mr. Olympia
Our first look at Tully in this rewatch series, and he sells a JYD kick out like a true pro. The man nearly hopped out of the ring. Boyd pushes DiBiase having a knee injury after the previous match. JYD and Olympia quickly do their thing to earn the easy victory. (SQUASH)
RINGSIDE: The crowd gets distracted and it’s Orndorff walking in the front of the ring carrying his bag as he heads towards the locker room. HERE WE GO.
RINGSIDE: Back from break, and Boyd is with Orndorff. He is pissed because he had to run six blocks to get to the arena. Why? His car wouldn’t start. He thinks DiBiase was behind the ruse. Orndorff then says he had Gang ready to help him, and all is well since Roop won the title. But then Orndorff reveals he talked to someone in the locker room, who told him what Roop said to start the show. Orndorff then pulls out a pair of keys and a stolen car part that he retrieved from Roop’s bag. IT WAS ROOP!
BLAKE’S TAKE ON MID-SOUTH WRESTLING 3/20/82
Overall Rating: 9.5/10
Thoughts: This was tremendous. Just tremendous. The show-long storyline that started with Roop’s lie about Orndorff and ended with Orndorff revealing Roop to be the one behind his absence is excellent pro wrestling storytelling. Easily one of my favorite episodes of Mid-South Wrestling thus far, and JR’s debut on commentary made it even better.
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