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WWE acquires the Watts video library


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Per Jim Ross

 

The Legends of Mid South Wrestling DVD which will be released by WWE on September 10 is eagerly anticipated by many including yours truly. It's where many of us got our start in the business under the watchful eye of the brilliant and often times bombastic Cowboy...Bill Watts.

 

The Chapter headings include:

The Beginnings

Ted DiBiase (Ted became a master craftsman in Mid South)

The Junkyard Dog (Biggest star ever in the territory)

The Rat Pack (An Amazing Faction)

Traveling the Territory (Talents averaged appx 2000 miles per week driving)

The Midnight Express vs. the Rock 'n Roll Express Rivalry (A tag team clinic)

Rookie HBK learning from the veterans (Shawn Michaels 1st territory)

Terry Taylor's quest to beat Ric Flair for the NWA Title (underrated rivalry)

Muhammad Ali in Mid South (The "Greatest" created a lifetime of memories in a week)

DiBiase become a fan favorite (The more one is hated, the more one can be loved)

Mid South goes National (It wasn't for long but it was memorable)

Hacksaw Jim Duggan (Carried the territory after JYD left..legit stud..serious, ass kicker)

The Fabulous Freebirds (Loved to be detested..no 3 man unit ever better)

Terry 'Bam Bam' Gordy (Greatest teenage wrestler I ever saw..a prodigy)

The One Man Gang (HUGE star w/ General Scandor Akbar..HOF level Super Heavyweight)

Dr Death (Doc grew up in Mid South..became a beast...was like family to many of us)

 

I will have a list of many of the matches that will be included on this long awaited DVD in the next few days. I plan on watching an advance copy of the DVD in the next couple of weeks.

 

There's tons of rare footage that never aired, either at all on TV or in its entirety, that will be featured on the DVD including me (long before the black hat days) attending a Muslim church service in Los Angeles as a guest of the great Muhammad Ali.

 

WWE Home Video personnel did hours of interviews with many of the stars who appear on the DVD who all tell their stories of their experiences wrestling in one of the most physically demanding territories ever in the business.

 

I voiced over several matches that never aired on TV including a 40+ minute classic between Flair and Taylor for the NWA Title in the Super Dome in New Orleans. Terry tells a great, behind the scenes story regarding the one and only "Naitch" that you will love.

 

When wrestlers talk about competing in a snug or stiff IE physical fashion one of the great examples of such is a bloodbath I called between Hacksaw Jim Duggan and Mad Dog Buzz Sawyer from the downtown, Municipal Auditorium in New Orleans.

 

Many younger fans likely won't have a clue as to how significant Mid South Wrestling was in the history of the pro wrestling business but they will hopefully check out this DVD which is loaded with historic information, memorable moments and, seemingly, countless, future Hall of Fame talents.

 

In many ways, Mid South Wrestling was 'extreme' long before ECW coined the phrase.

Sounds like this will be better than my first thought. The no doc part really turned me off originally, now I think I'll pick it up.

 

Sounds like there's one to me.

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Very big news. Is that the final piece of the jigsaw? Does WWE now effectively own US wrestling history?

They don't own Memphis, and likely never will, as most of those tapes are gone. They also don't own smaller territories like Continental or Portland. But they do own all of the major ones, and even some not-so-major ones like Smoky Mountain.

 

 

What happened?

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I do not have high hopes for the unearthed Flair vs. Taylor match. One thing I don't remember thinking during those endless clunkers was "Man I wish this had another 10 minutes tacked on".

That match is the one from the 80's set. It's unearthed as far as mainstream goes.

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Partial match list

 

Per Jim Ross. The don't have full match dates listed.

 

 

Ted DiBiase vs. Paul Ordnorff

Andre the Giant, Dusty Rhodes & JYD vs. The Wild Samoans & Ernie Ladd (1983)

Jim Duggan vs. Ted DiBiase (Coal Miner’s Glove, Tuxedo, Loser Leaves Town Match, 3/22/85)

Storyline: Mr. Wrestling 2 Mentoring Magnum TA

Storyline: JYD Tarred and Feathered

JYD vs. Hacksaw Butch Reed (Ghetto Street Fight, 6/17/84)

Rock ‘n Roll Express vs. Midnight Express (multiple matches)

Shawn Michaels vs. Ted DiBiase

Rick Steiner vs. Nick Patrick

Ric Flair vs. Ted DiBiase (NWA Title, 6/11/85)

UWF match feat. The Bladerunners, Sting & Rock aka Ultimate Warrior

Terry Gordy vs. Jim Duggan (UWF Title)

Ted DiBiase & Dr. Death vs. The Freebirds (Lumberjack Match)

Terry Gordy vs. Dr. Death (UWF Title)

Dr. Death vs. Big Bubba Rogers aka Big Bossman (UWF Title)

One Man Gang vs. Big Bubba Rogers (UWF Title)

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Yeah by the looks of the ML it's everything that we saw doing the set.

 

Rick Steiner vs. Nick Patrick is the most interesting match that made the set to me....so random and not even a good match.

yeah, off all the matches they could have chosen from how the hell did this make it on there?
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Here are the blu ray exclusives:

 

*Ted DiBiase talks getting his tires slashed by fans.

 

*1982 North American Title bout between JYD & DiBiase.

 

*Mid South history in the Louisiana Super Dome.

 

*1985 Steel Cage match, Ted DiBiase & Dr. Death vs. Jake the Snake & Barbarian.

 

*The Buzz Sawyer story.

 

*Jim Duggan vs. Buzz Sawyer 1985.

 

*Jim Cornette’s Favorite Moment in Mid South.

 

*1984 Cornette’s Birthday Party.

 

*Bill Watts seeks help to battle Midnight Express.

 

*Bill Watts & Stagger Lee vs. Midnight Express.

 

*Dusty Rhodes talks Boyd Pierce, evaluating talent and more.

 

*Cowboy Bill Watts talks about the late Ernie Ladd.

 

The WWE really wants people to buy a blu ray player with all the good hidden stuff they put on it

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Jim Ross announced the following Blu-Ray exclusives via his www.JrsBarBQ.com website:

*Ted DiBiase talks getting his tires slashed by fans.

 

*1982 North American Title bout between JYD & DiBiase.

 

*Mid South history in the Louisiana Super Dome.

 

*1985 Steel Cage match, Ted DiBiase & Dr. Death vs. Jake the Snake & Barbarian.

 

*The Buzz Sawyer story.

 

*Jim Duggan vs. Buzz Sawyer 1985.

 

*Jim Cornette’s Favorite Moment in Mid South.

 

*1984 Cornette’s Birthday Party.

 

*Bill Watts seeks help to battle Midnight Express.

 

*Bill Watts & Stagger Lee vs. Midnight Express.

 

*Dusty Rhodes talks Boyd Pierce, evaluating talent and more.

 

*Cowboy Bill Watts talks about the late Ernie Ladd.

Nothing too groundbreaking

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So now this is happening, I want to return to something I asked a year ago.

 

There was always going to be a lot of DiBiase and Ross on this, but how many of these guys actually ended up being part of the doc I wonder?

 

The documentary will be the best part of this because of all the people they have on hand to talk about it.

I was thinking about this yesterday and aside from Watts, Duggan, Dibiase and JR, who else do you think they could get? Mr. Wrestling II is in his 70s (but then so is Watts), here are some other names of reasonably prominent Watts guys who are still alive:

 

Bob Roop

Jerry Stubbs

Matt Bourne (legends contract as Doink?)

Butch Reed

Jim Cornette (highly unlikely?)

Bobby Eaton

Dennis Condrey (under WWE contract)

Ricky Morton

Robert Gibson

Killer Kahn

Chavo Guerrero

Hector Guerrero

Jake Roberts

Tommy Rogers

Bobby Fulton

Terry Taylor

Dutch Mantell

 

1. How many of these guys would be willing to be interviewed?

2. How many of the guys would the WWE BOTHER to contact?

 

Part of me thinks they'll just think "Oh, we've got JR and DiBiase, they are familiar to the modern fans, and we've got Watts so don't need anyone else".

 

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Have we confirmed that there is going to be a documentary on this? I thought it was going to be like Rey Mysterio or Shawn Michaels My Journey where they talk a little bit and then shows a match or two

 

As far as this talk about nothing being groundbreaking, besides maybe the Bret Hart Dungeon DVD has there been a WWE DVD with groundbreaking stuff. The fact that they are creating a DVD for a company that maybe 10% of the usual WWE fan base have seen unlike us, I think it is great. It is a nice starter DVD

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So now this is happening, I want to return to something I asked a year ago.

 

There was always going to be a lot of DiBiase and Ross on this, but how many of these guys actually ended up being part of the doc I wonder?

 

The documentary will be the best part of this because of all the people they have on hand to talk about it.

I was thinking about this yesterday and aside from Watts, Duggan, Dibiase and JR, who else do you think they could get? Mr. Wrestling II is in his 70s (but then so is Watts), here are some other names of reasonably prominent Watts guys who are still alive:

 

Bob Roop

Jerry Stubbs

Matt Bourne (legends contract as Doink?)

Butch Reed

Jim Cornette (highly unlikely?)

Bobby Eaton

Dennis Condrey (under WWE contract)

Ricky Morton

Robert Gibson

Killer Kahn

Chavo Guerrero

Hector Guerrero

Jake Roberts

Tommy Rogers

Bobby Fulton

Terry Taylor

Dutch Mantell

 

1. How many of these guys would be willing to be interviewed?

2. How many of the guys would the WWE BOTHER to contact?

 

Part of me thinks they'll just think "Oh, we've got JR and DiBiase, they are familiar to the modern fans, and we've got Watts so don't need anyone else".

 

 

Who know's. Goldberg came back and did some stuff for the WCW dvd, and they also got Kevin Sullivan and Harvey Schiller to do pieces's.

 

Shane Douglas did stuff for the last Mick Foley DVD.

 

Pretty much everyone is a possibility.

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No, it's WWF-era Jake. The Dibiase pic looks like late 87 or 88, WWF era as well.

 

Not sure about JYD, I've never seen that picture before.

 

I didn't want to bitch about the pictures not being era-specific, but since someone else brought it up.

 

Aside from that, the cover seriously kicks ass.

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