Thoughts on the DVDVR Mid South matches

[Tim Evans]

I've been watching the Reed/Murdoch feud and just watched Flair/Dibiase. Both matches are high on my list as you can see. Dick Murdoch has put some fresh air in this set as I was wondering if it was going to get any better after the rough 1984- early 1985 section. I can't wait to see babyface Ted Dibiase and more of the Freebirds. And Sawyer/Duggan almost tops the Rich/Sawyer feud in being so hate filled.

[floyd]

My thought on Disk #6 (Ranked in order of best-to-worst):

 

Cream of the crop:

 

1. Ted DiBiase vs. Ric Flair (11/6/85) [bW-8] - Moments before the match, a jealous wrestler posts Dibiase opening a cut that won't close. But DiBiase refuses to go to the hospital and give up his chance at the NWA World title.

 

2. Butch Reed vs. Dick Murdoch (9/22/85) [bW-1] - Classic babyface Vs. babyface match that goes nearly an hour. Instead of a brawl it's more an exhibition, at least at the beginning. Reed's awesome but its the Murdoch show here.

 

Very good too:

 

3. Hacksaw Duggan vs. Buzz Sawyer (11/11/85) [bW-10] - Barbaric match that continues long after the bell. 46 Police barricades were bent in this match.

 

4. Butch Reed vs. Ric Flair (10/11/85) [bW-4] - Good return match for the NWA World title.

 

5. Butch Reed vs. Dick Murdoch (10/14/85) [bW-6] - Another return match, this time with a winner.

 

6. Ted DiBiase vs. Bob Sweetan (Taped Fist) (10/11/85) [bW-3] - Old Vs. New School.

 

Good:

 

7. Butch Reed vs. Ric Flair (11/8/85) [bW-9] - Flair/Reed III which was all action o TV.

 

8. Jake Roberts vs. Ric Flair (11/24/85) [bW-12] - Milliseconds before the bell Flair gets knocked the F out by a DDT. After recovering he's forced to still defend the title. Another DDT and Jake's the World champ!

 

9. The Fantastics vs. Dutch Mantell & Bill Dundee (10/4/85) [bW-2] - Whip-on-a-pole match. Fun stuff.

 

Good to OK

 

10. Butch Reed vs. Dick Slater (11/22/85) [bW-11] - Reed's looking for revenge after Slater injured his neck.

 

11. The Fantastics vs. Buzz Sawyer & Dick Slater (10/27/85) [bW-7] - OK tag match.

 

12. Ted DiBiase vs. Bob Sweetan (10/13/85) [bW-5] - More Old Vs. New School.

 

***********************

 

Thought for Disk #6:

 

- Murdoch rules!

 

- Jake Roberts was crazy over.

 

**********************

 

Floyd's Ongoing Mid-South Top 20: (re-watched, re-vamped and re-ordered after 6 Disks)

 

1. Ted DiBiase vs. Hacksaw Duggan (No DQ, Loser Leaves Town, Coal Miner's Glove on a Poll, Tuxedo, Cage match ) (3/22/85) [bR-14]

2. Ric Flair vs. Butch Reed (8/10/85) [TSGDIA-10]

3. Junkyard Dog & Mr. Olympia vs. Ted Dibiase & Matt Borne (Loser Leaves Town) (10/27/82) [PTB-8]

4. Ted DiBiase vs. Ric Flair (11/6/85) [bW-8]

5. Ted DiBiase vs. Hacksaw Duggan (Street Fight) (7/29/83) [PTB-14]

6. Ric Flair vs. Terry Taylor (5/3/85) [RNRIK-3]

7. Mr. Olympia vs. Chavo Guerrerro (6/24/83) [PTB-13]

8. Terry Taylor vs. Ric Flair (6/1/85) [RNRIK-7][/b]

9. Butch Reed vs. Dick Murdoch (9/22/85) [bW-1]

10. Mr. Wrestling II & Magnum T.A. vs. Midnight Express (2/10/84) [PTB-16]

 

11. Rock N Roll Express & Hacksaw Duggan vs. Midnight Express & Ernie Ladd (6/8/84) [sDM-3]

12. Ted DiBiase vs. Jim Duggan (No DQ) (3/8/85) [bR-13]

13. Kerry Von Erich vs. Ric Flair (4/28/85) [RNRIK-1]

14. Ric Flair vs. Terry Taylor (4/28/85) [bR-17]

15. Rock N Roll Express vs. Chavo & Hector Guerrero (2/13/85) [bR-11]

16. Ric Flair vs. Wahoo McDaniel (7/12/85) [TSGDIA-3]

17. Dirty White Boys vs. Terry Daniels & Bill Dundee (5/11/85) [RNRIK-6]

18. Hacksaw Duggan vs. Buzz Sawyer (11/11/85) [bW-10]

19. Kerry Von Erich vs. Ric Flair (5/4/85) [RNRIK-4]

20. Magnum T.A. vs. Ted DiBiase (No DQ) (Tulsa 5/27/84) [sDM-2]

 

***********************

 

The Mid-South Marathon continues... It's like crack but the come-down isn't that bad.

[CodySave]

I can't be the only one that really dislikes the Flair vs. Taylor series. The mathes themsleves aren't terrible, but they fit in oddly with most of the rest of the set.

[Loss]

I don't agree with it, but you're definitely not the only one. People have been going pretty back and forth on those matches for a few weeks now. I just wish we could get to a point where there's more discussion on stuff like Doc/Gordy, and especially the Taylor/Adams matches, and some of the better stuff that exists later on the set.

 

I could watch Ric Flair formula a million times and never get sick of it, but I do understand why some people are so tired of seeing it. Because the formula has been so overexposed, it's easy to forget how great of a formula it really is. Begging off is good. Getting slammed off the top rope is a huge bump and a great spot. The figure four setup moves (kneebreaker, dropping his weight on his opponent's leg while propped up on the ropes, kneedrop) are all great. His chops were always amazing. The matwork he did, while outclassed by many people in wrestling history, was very good at keeping things moving in a way where they didn't get boring.

 

You can almost call the matches sometimes while watching admittedly, but I really like that Ric Flair just took the Ric Flair Show on tour as champion. Nearly everyone who had a match with him came out looking good, and he's only rivaled by a few at getting over the big picture. I also enjoy Flair matches as a way to compare two wrestlers, because you know what Flair is going to bring, so the differences between whatever two wrestlers you choose are pretty apparent.

 

When people criticize the Flair formula, I can understand it, even when I don't agree with it. It's overexposed as hell, not only by Flair, but by nearly every new heel who has come along since him being some type of ripoff -- Taylor, Hennig, Michaels, HHH, pre-WWF Austin, etc. It's made the heels who don't attempt to emulate him -- Bret Hart, Vader, Rick Rude (to an extent), WWF Austin, Undertaker, Eddy Guerrero -- look much more fresh.

 

Fresher versus better is kinda the key to Flair debates.

[Tim Evans]

It's not that the Flair/Taylor matches are horrible, just that they are basically the same. And I'm just wondering why there are 3 of them on the set? I'm going to have to watch them again when I get done with the whole set to see if there is a difference between the 3.

 

And I can't wait for the Taylor/Adams matches. I've seen one of them(The heel turn) and it was outstanding.

[goodhelmet]

All three are represented becasue I couldn't justify leaving off three 30+ minute matches that we all thought were worthy of inclusion for a 6 minute TV match that probably got cut. I also think that they have three different personalities. One is the leg getting caught in the rope match, you have the no leg work match and the finale at the Dome.

 

Also, I think Loss has been a little impatient. While we have been exposed to this stuff for years, many of the people who picked up the set are seeing it for the first time. I love reading their reactions and how there are a few matches that everyone agrees on (Stips match, 11/11/85) and then you have matches that people have extreme opposite opinions on... which happen to be the matches that the nomination crew had fights about. This has been a blast reading all of the reactions and making out like I did when I first picked up the Barnett Mid South set.

[Death From Above]

So I finally got my set today (hooray!) and I've wasted no time digging into it. I'm not watching the disks straight through exactly though, someone at DVDVR put up a list that more or less puts all the extras where they should be chronologically, so as I'm pretty new to Mid South I'm choosing to go at it that way for my own clarity's sake.

 

I'm taking my own notes as I go, I guess I might as well post them. I guess it's doubtful that I'll finish in time to get a ballot in but I still have been looking forward to getting in on this anyway. So I'll post my notes, maybe something will be interesting to somebody.

 

Fabulous Freebirds vs. Junkyard Dog & Buck Robley

So it finally begins! I'm choosing to do this all as close to chronological order as possible, so I actually begin here, on extras disk 2. Since I'm totally new to Mid-South, easing in with a couple extras isn't a bad way anyway to "get a feel" for things without diving in head first into instant rankings craziness.

 

Two very early first impressions: I really like Bill Watts as a commentator, in terms of how he puts over the action without SCREAMING WILDLY ALL THE TIME, which is a very pleasant throwback in itself to something wrestling has really gone totally away from in America. The other first impression is that, wow the Junkyard Dog sure looks radically different from how I am used to seeing him from later on. I’ve never really seen him in great shape before, but physically he's really impressive here and it helps put how I was used to him later in his career into some perspective. He looked quite impressive here, probably best displayed with a really good powerslam.

 

Although this is my first look at Mid South, I was aware right from the start this had to be the famous "JYD is blinded" angle I'd heard about, and I really liked it. Loved the way Dog sold it myself, I'm glad this was included because it is one of the most remembered Mid South Angles. The double clothesline finish after a 30 minute match seems kind of lame, but the angle itself looked really well done. Enjoyable enough beginning.

 

 

Fabulous Freebirds vs. Junkyard Dog & Bill Watts

I assume this is the eventual revenge match of the above? Probably. Hey, my first Bill Watts match! I feel more manly already~!

 

For a guy in a singlet, Watts sure is all about the punching and kicking people. Being as Stan Hansen is my second favourite wrestler, that sits just fine with me. Watts also brings the ~spitting in your face~, you cowardly heel sissies.

 

This one felt a little too brief even as an extra, but whatever.

 

 

Dusty Rhodes & Dick Murdoch vs. Wild Samoans

Hey, Dustry Rhodes was actually more "Shinya Hashimoto bulky" than "The Burger Keeeng, if you weeeel" here. Heel collusion! Heel collusion, by gawd! Dick Murdoch's all fucked up.

 

I really like angry Dusty Rhodes promos so I wholehearedly approve of this inclusion. Say what you will about his wrestling and his ego, the man knows how to talk. That promo was blood pumping good stuff. "The guiding light will follow the American Dream". The double Murdoch promos were interesting. The first one I guess they figured he didn't sell enough pain for a guy with busted ribs (which is what I was thinking), so they had him cut another. I still don't think it was that great, but the Dusty promo made the segment for me. Still enjoyed it.

 

 

Killer Khan - Ted DiBiase Brawl

I've had a Killer Khan soft spot ever since I saw his match with Choshu in All Japan, which really ruled. As for this segment... does exactly what it says on the label. Fun. Michael Hayes brings it nicely here on the mic, and the brawl was nice enough. Also Khan chopping through the board to get him over = win. Loved that. This segment was really good at showing the classic heel device that the heel has to feel justified in what he does, or it's just stupid.

 

I was trying to figure out what the hell about this seemed so familiar, then it hit me. Hayes sitting there, neckbrace, jacket with no shirt, oily body, working the mic, putting himself over as pretty and putting his people over as tough… was Joel Gertner ripping off Michael Hayes? Wow. That's... interesting.

 

Also, lol @ commentary "The little Jap manager". Indeed.

 

This was great.

 

Bob Roop vs. Mike George (12/16/81)

I've only seen Roop wrestle once before, an NWF title match in the late 70's againt Inoki in New Japan. It kind of sucked, but it was an Inoki NWF title match, so yeah that happened more than once. I'm willing to let that slide. George I've never seen before that I know of.

 

Roop as "wrestler that chooses to be an asshole"is apparently really fun. Scientific heels are a rare breed so it's a nice change from the usual heel shenanigans. The "fly onto the apron, run into the post" thing surprised the hell out of me too.

 

Okay opening match, nothing outstanding but a good start. Sets a nice enough tone. Both guys played their roles well.

 

Mr. Olympia vs. Paul Orndorff (2/3/82)

Another first for me, with this Olympia match.

 

Fun match. Watts does a good job putting over Orndorff's arrogance gimmick and pointing out a couple times when he tries to steal Dibiase and Orton's finishers, and how he shouldn't look past Olympia. Which of course bites him in the ass. This one had a nice pace to it, and I'm all for a submission finish time to time. Good enjoyable contest that got over Orndorff's overconfidence and Olympia's ability to strike quickly.

 

Killer Karl Kox News Feature

Uh... nice KKK vest. Or something. Otherwise nothing too exceptional though it is interesting to see these old news pieces that still at least sort of treat wrestling like a sport. Of course they still get in the â"ow you perform is at least as important as winning and losing" line.

 

Ted DiBiase vs. Bob Roop (4/2/82)

 

I didn't mind this but like a lot of Mid-South TV it feels a little short for my tastes. Still, what they do here is solid enough. I'm leaning towards saying I didn't like this match so much based on Roop's main point of attack being the leg, and the story basically being Dibiase shrugging that off entirely. I get that they're going for "he's really fired up and ready for Roop" But Roop didn't have much other offense so this came off like "champion gets squashed".

 

 

Precious Paul Ellering Workouts

I was totally unprepared for this one... words cannot describe these. Jesus Christ. I can honestly say I've never seen anything quite like this before, and I'm pretty sure every time someone watches this segment, an angel loses it's wings. I can't even begin to do this justice in words.

 

Completely awesome wrestling insanity. May it never happen again.

 

"POWERRRRRRRR…. YEAHHH!!!!~~~~~~~~~"

 

 

Junkyard Dog vs. Nick Bockwinkel (6/11/82)

Boy the fans are way into JYD’s entrance, aren't they? Good stuff.

 

Boyd Pierce's (I think it's Boyd Pierce, right?) ramble on the "Crowned uncrowned king of wrestling' was totally awesome.

 

Apparently Keiji Muto is a closet JYD fan, as JYD hits a huge Russian leg sweep and instead of going for the pin he... sits there, staring into the distance, which the fans pop for. Classic Muto I thought, but it's apparently true that ~everyone~ steals from Mid South! Anyway, this match has had a lot of dislike/apathy put on it at DVDVR but I’m not feeling it. I thought this was the best match so far, an enjoyable change of pace from the high speed Mid South studio matches. Besides, Dog's punches look pretty good and Bockwinkle plays chickenshit pretty well. Well, I liked it anyway. It’s not all time epic or anything hell it's not even "great", but it's a decent match and the flash pin on Bockwinkle drew a huge pop so obviously they did something right. Then Heenan does what Heenan does, and stooges, and then Brody kick ass and such. I may be in the minority but I rather enjoyed it. Of the first few matches that get ranked I liked this one best.

 

Best thing I saw in the bunch: The Khan/Dibiase brawl segment. And Paul Ellering being scary and awesome.

Worst thing I saw in the bunch: Dick Murdoch's "I hurt my ribs, I swear" promo #1, which apparently they promptly redid. And Paul Ellering being scary and awesome.

[Death From Above]

I've ripped through Disk 1 in two days. Let's hope I can hold that pace and I might actually still get a ballot in. I'm also trying to watch the extras in where they belong chronologically (thanks to whoever the guy was that posted a huge list of them in the DVDVR Extras thread) and I'm more or less counting those as part of the experience of each disk even if they aren't listed officially as such, because they add tremendously to my enjoyment.

 

So, my rankings and thoughts of disk 1:

1. Ted DiBiase vs. Hacksaw Duggan (Street Fight) (7/29/83) [PTB-14]

2. Mr. Olympia vs. Chavo Guerrero (6/24/83) [PTB-13]

3. Junkyard Dog & Mr. Olympia vs. Ted DiBiase & Matt Borne (Loser Leaves Town) (10/27/82) [PTB-8]

4. Mr. Wrestling II & Magnum T.A. vs. Butch Reed & Jim Neidhart (Cage Match) (12/25/83) [PTB-15]

5. Midnight Express vs. Rock N Roll Express (No DQ: Tag Titles vs. $50,000) (5/23/84) [PTB-20]

6. Mr. Wrestling II & Magnum T.A. vs. Midnight Express (2/10/84) [PTB-16]

7. Mr. Olympia vs. Bob Roop (7/15/82) [PTB-5]

8. Midnight Express vs. Bill Watts & Stagger Lee (4/22/84) [PTB-19]

9. One Man Gang vs. Buck Robley (Lumberjack Match) (9/15/82) [PTB-7]

10. Junkyard Dog & Mr. Olympia vs. Ted DiBiase & Hacksaw Duggan (8/18/82) [PTB-6]

11. Buddy Landel & Butch Reed vs. Rock N Roll Express (3/28/84) [PTB-17]

12. Junkyard Dog vs. Nick Bockwinkel (6/11/82) [PTB-4]

13. Mr. Olympia vs. Paul Orndorff (2/3/82) [PTB-2]

14. Butch Reed vs. Iron Sheik (4/8/83) [PTB-11]

15. Bob Roop vs. Mike George (12/16/81) [PTB-1]

16. Midnight Express vs. Bill Dundee & Porkchop Cash (4/6/84) [PTB-18]

17. Mr. Wrestling II & Junkyard Dog vs. Matt Borne & Ted DiBiase (2/16/83) [PTB-10]

18. Stagger Lee & Mr. Olympia vs. Ted DiBiase & Matt Borne (12/18/82) [PTB-9]

19. Bob Roop vs. Ted DiBiase (4/2/82) [PTB-3]

20. Nick Bockwinkel vs. Dusty Rhodes (5/20/83) [PTB-12]

 

MVP: I think this might be the hardest disk to do an MVP for, simply because chronologically it covers the largest time frame and there's just so many good wrestlers on this disk. I'm going to give it to JYD based on him being the guy everything was built around in the early days and doing a good job with it, and for basically showing me he wasn't always the lethargic embarassment I have seen elsewhere.

 

Stock going up: JYD. Also Jim Cornette, who is brilliant. I mean I've always known he was brilliant, but this is like brilliant +1. Seeing a young preppie Cornette rant and rave about how his Mommy is going to buy out Mid South so he can make Bill Watts a janitor, fuck over the Rock and Roll Express with an ether rag, get his face pushed into a cake followed by a hyperventalating/screaming fit that makes an otherwise ordinary segment fantastic, just his general energy... Cornette was the star of the Midnight Express to this point. He's just awesome, especially if you are watching extras in their apropriate context.

 

Stock going down: Dusty Rhodes. Has only one official match in the set through here, which I ripped on at DVDVR for basically being two guys "trying to do enough to make it not suck but doing nothing they don't do in every match they have", and it was the only match to this point I genuinely didn't like. He's clearly around more in this time frame as he crops up in the extras a couple times, but he isn't making the main set. I love Dusty's promos, I really do. But as a wrestler I don't think I'm a fan.

 

Other general thoughs: A disk into my first foray into the Mid South that I've heard about for years and I'm already a huge fan. a few matches in I have to be honest that I was a bit worried about where it seemed to be going, every match operating under a 10 minute studio time limit... you can only do so much in 4-6 minutes of work, even if it's top work in that time. But the variety of disk 1 actually is really something. You have an all out street fight, a Chavo/Olympia lucha-style grudge match, the great Loser Leaves Town match which is an example of excellent wrestling with the kind of classic angle that makes American wrestling tick, a fairly unique cage match, formula southern tag wrestling, high paced well executed studio singles matches... there's really so many diffrerent styles even on just 1 disk. And every one of those styles is being executed well. Right before doing this project, I was ranking a ballot for All Japan in the 1990's. Incredible wrestling. Incredible lack of style diversity to the point my head wanted to explode by the end. Watts seems to love some variety, and it really helps a lot for a project like this and shows why the product was so successful.

[Death From Above]

So, I certainly had a couple opinions on disk 2 that seem to be against the common collective brain machine, but that's just fine. After all there wouldn't be much point in doing ballots if we all thought the same way. Disk 1 was good. Disk 2 was great. This was so much fun, I was actually planning to pace myself a little more with my viewing of this but it's too good to put down.

 

Rankings for disk 2 only:

1. The Fantastics vs. Midnight Express (No DQ) (9/28/84) [sDM-11]

2. Butch Reed vs. Skip Young (9/23/84) [sDM-10]

3. Rock N Roll Express & Hacksaw Duggan vs. Midnight Express & Ernie Ladd (6/8/84) [sDM-3]

4. Magnum T.A. vs. Ted DiBiase (No DQ) (Tulsa 5/27/84) [sDM-2]

5. Killer Khan vs. Chris Adams (9/9/84) [sDM-9]

6. Brickhouse Brown & Master G vs. Butch Reed & Ernie Ladd (10/21/84) [sDM-14]

7. Magnum T.A. vs. Ted DiBiase (7/6/84) [sDM-5]

8. Magnum T.A. vs. Ted DiBiase (No DQ) (OKC 5/27/84) [sDM-1]

9. The Fantastics vs. Chavo & Hector Guerrero (10/12/84) [sDM-13]

10. Dusty Rhodes & Jim Duggan vs. Butch Reed & Hercules Hernandez (8/19/84) [sDM-8]

11. The Fantastics vs. Midnight Express (OKC 8/9/84) [sDM-7]

12. Rock N Roll Express & Hacksaw Duggan vs. Midnight Express & Ernie Ladd (7/2/84) [sDM-4]

13. Adrian Street vs. Chris Adams (10/10/84) [sDM-12]

14. The Fantastics & Hacksaw Duggan vs. Midnight Express & Jim Cornette (7/20/84) [sDM-6]

 

MVP: The Midnight Express. I was a bit down on some Midnights that others were up on, and vice versa, but pretty much universally in terms of the talk, somebody's got something the Midnights did here ranked pretty well up. I thought Dennis Condrey really steps it up on this disk. And Eaton is Eaton.

 

Stock going up: Butch Reed. Yeah put me in the "I knew he would be 'better than in Doom' but not this much better" camp. Very impressed with him so far. I can't wait until I get to his actual "good" stuff. ;-) Reed is going to be the breakout star of this set for all the people that didn't know Mid South before now, he just has that "it" factor around him here already, and apparently the best is still definitely to come.

 

Stock going down: I can't really say anyone stands out for this. This was a pretty solid disk with only one match I disliked, and even that involves six guys who otherwise you've got no reason to be down on. Eh, let's give it to Skandor Akbar for blatantly missing his cues from Killer Khan in the Khan/Adams match, for all the difference it made (which would be pretty much none). I really have no one else to give it to here. ;-)

 

General thoughts: A lot of my thoughts on the matches seem a bit out of line with the consensus, but this is still a really great disk. I just think it's great for different reasons than a lot of other people. I guess that says something about how good this stuff is: it's pretty hard to watch this stuff and not find something to love. I'm really in love with Mid South at this point, 2 disks in. It's already living up to the very large reputation. For years I heard about Mid South but never got into it because I simply didn't know where to start, and this set certainly took care of that and more. I'm not about to abandon my Japanese tape/disk collection that makes up most of what I watch or anything. But this stuff certainly is not ending up with my old WWF/WCW tapes collecting dust, Mid South is really fucking great.

[Death From Above]

Ted Dibiase doesn't have any great matches. I heard it on the interwebz, it must be true.

 

Rankings for disk 3 only:

1. Ted DiBiase vs. Hacksaw Duggan (No DQ, Loser Leaves Town, Coal Miner's Glove on a Poll, Tuxedo, Cage match ) (3/22/85) [bR-14]

2. Ted DiBiase vs. Brad Armstrong (2/10/85) [bR-10]

3. Ted DiBiase vs. Jim Duggan (No DQ) (3/8/85) [bR-13]

4. Rock N Roll Express vs. Chavo & Hector Guerrero (2/13/85) [bR-11]

5. Ted DiBiase & Dr. Death vs. Hacksaw Duggan & Terry Gordy (Texas Tornado Match) (1/21/85) [bR-9]

6. The Fantastics vs. Dr. Death & Jake Roberts (4/14/85) [bR-15]

7. Ric Flair vs. Terry Taylor (4/28/85) [bR-17]

8. Brad Armstrong vs. Ted DiBiase (1/16/85) [bR-5]

9. Buddy Landel, Chavo & Hector Guerrero vs. Brickhouse Brown, Bill Dundee & Jose Lothario (Elimination Match) (11/16/84) [bR-2]

10. Kevin Von Erich vs. Chris Adams (1/18/85) [bR-6]

11. Buddy Landel, Chavo & Hector Guerrero vs. Rock N Roll Express & Jose Lothario (1/18/85) [bR-7]

12. Rock N Roll Express vs. Dirty White Boys (4/15/85) [bR-16]

13. Rock N Roll Express vs. Midnight Express (1/21/85) [bR-8]

14. Ernie Ladd & Butch Reed vs. Magnum T.A. & Master G (Street Fight) (11/4/84) [bR-1]

15. Rock N Roll Express & Butch Reed vs. Dr. Death, Kamala & One Man Gang (2/25/85) [bR-12]

16. Adrian Street vs. Terry Taylor (Loser Leaves Town) (12/7/84) [bR-4]

17. Rock N Roll Express vs. Midnight Express (Scaffold Match) (12/2/84) [bR-3]

 

MVP: Ted Dibiase. Top three matches for me on the disk, and 4 of my top 5. I just have been so into his work every time he is on my screen.

 

Stock going up: Ted Dibiase. He just owns disk three, at least he did for me. He's got my new overall #1 with the stips match, and as of right now although I'm not posting my ongoing overall ballot I will say he's sitting in 4 of my top 5 (not all the same four as on this disk).

 

Stock going down: Robert Gibson. He's really starting to get on my nerves, the man made at least 90% of his career standing on the apron bringing the very skillful rythmic clapping and the "Rock and Roll" monodrone chants. The man could wear a cheerleader outfit and it wouldn't be terribly out of place. I like Morton, I like my fair share of Rock and Roll Express matches, but Gibson personally does nothing that couldn't have been done by someone else.

 

General thoughts: This disk was seriously all over the map. A handful of my favourites so far, and three of my bottom four, plus a bunch of middling stuff. There were parts of this disk that almost made me sleepy, and then you get Dibiase and Duggan making you want to jump around and celebrate the love of the glorious pro wrestling. Or something.

[Jkeats]

I got the set this weekend and I'm going through the first disc now. Just a fantastic collection. Just some brief observations.

 

I was surprised that there wasn't anything from the Mr. Wrestling II-Magnum TA "grumpy mentor" storyline. I guess that was more of a long build over a couple of months and would have been difficult to include. I was thrilled to see the infamous Loser Leave Town tag match that JYD lost after having only read about it in the Apter mags.

 

Mr. Olympia is awesome. I've never really heard much of him before (other than in the Total Extreme Wrestling sim) but he's great as a face or a heel. It's too bad he didn't become bigger.

 

Having looked at a couple of the extras, one of my favorites is the Dusty-Volkoff confrontation. I love Dustyisms and he has a doozy here. During his promo he screams "Russia is not in my repatenday!!" Repartoire? Repartee? Who knows what word he was going for! It was just pure Dusty promo goodness.

[Death From Above]

Some of the extras are really the flavour that make this set as great as it is. Definitely worth the little extra $ because as long as you watch them in the right spots it adds tremendously to the fun, I think.

 

Of course some of the videos are mind blowing cheese. The Fantastics second video "Gimmie All Your Lovin"... you really could dub the SNL "Ambiguously Gay Duo" theme over that. I almost fell out of my chair in the brief shot with the leg press machine, it was just too much to take with a straight (no pun intended, I think) face.

[Death From Above]

My I'm sure very important rankings, read by people from all corners of creation, disk 4 only:

 

1. Terry Taylor vs. Ric Flair (6/1/85) [RNRIK-7]

2. Ric Flair vs. Terry Taylor (5/3/85) [RNRIK-3]

3. Kerry Von Erich vs. Ric Flair (4/28/85) [RNRIK-1]

4. Kerry Von Erich vs. Ric Flair (5/4/85) [RNRIK-4]

5. Rock N Roll Express vs. Terry Gordy & Buddy Roberts (6/24/85) [RNRIK-9]

6. Rock N Roll Express vs. Ted DiBiase & Dr. Death (6/19/85) [RNRIK-8]

7. Dirty White Boys vs. Terry Daniels & Bill Dundee (5/11/85) [RNRIK-6]

8. Rock N Roll Express vs. Dirty White Boys (5/11/85) [RNRIK-5]

9. Rock N Roll Express vs. Jake Roberts & The Barbarian (6/28/85) [RNRIK-10]

10. Rock N Roll Express vs. Ted DiBiase & Dr. Death (5/3/85) [RNRIK-2]

 

MVP: Got to be Ric Flair. He's taken over my new #1 overall and has (in my opinion) raised the bar for non-bloodletting work on the set so far.

 

Stock going up: Dirty White Boys. These guys are pretty unknown to me but they seem like a constantly entertaining tag team here.

 

Stock going down: I'm drawing a blank. I hated nothing on disk four, even the 5/3/85 tag that a lot of other people disliked, I didn't think was bad though it's the least match on the disk. The Barbarian is greener than shit in his one match too but you can't really crucify a rookie and it still came out a decent match, so I say no winner for disk 4.

 

General thoughts: I'm just the biggest mark for this disk. Top to bottom I thought this was almost universally great, though not quite. Still I thought most of this disk blew away a lot of the early stuff and a lot of this is going to rank pretty well at the end. This whole thing felt pretty quality to me, and it's obvious Mid South in 1985 was really in full flow. So much fun here, and you basically have only two gears: the long Flair epic and the Rock N Roll Express formula. You can do far worse for a 1-2 punch than that.

[Guest joshe67]

Is there still a way to get this? I've had this recommended to me by a ton of people. I tried signing up at DVDVR but I've been waiting for over two weeks for an administrator to approve my account so I can post and such.

[delacroix]

Is there still a way to get this? I've had this recommended to me by a ton of people. I tried signing up at DVDVR but I've been waiting for over two weeks for an administrator to approve my account so I can post and such.

i had to come over here, too, for the same reason. pm goodhelmet.

[Death From Above]

Rankings and thoughts disk 5 only:

 

1. Ric Flair vs. Butch Reed (8/10/85) [TSGDIA-10]

2. Ted DiBiase & Dr. Death vs. Jake Roberts & The Barbarian (7/14/85) [TSGDIA-4]

3. The Fantastics vs. Bill Dundee & Dutch Mantell (9/22/85) [TSGDIA-13]

4. Ric Flair vs. Wahoo McDaniel (7/12/85) [TSGDIA-3]

5. Al Perez & Wendell Cooley vs. Dr. Death & Bob Sweetan (8/30/85) [TSGDIA-11]

6. Ted DiBiase vs. Butch Reed (7/25/85) [TSGDIA-8]

7. Ted DiBiase vs. Terry Taylor (7/3/85) [TSGDIA-2]

8. Jim Duggan, Dick Murdoch & Bill Watts vs. Kamala, Kareem Muhammad & Skandor Akbar (7/28/85) [TSGDIA-9]

9. Ted DiBiase vs. Jake Roberts (7/22/85) [TSGDIA-7]

10. Dick Murdoch vs. The Nightmare (7/14/85) [TSGDIA-5]

11. Rock N Roll Express vs. Midnight Express (6/30/85) [TSGDIA-1]

12. Dick Murdoch vs. Dr. Death (9/20/85) [TSGDIA-12]

13. Hacksaw Duggan & Dick Murdoch vs. Kamala & Kareem Muhammad (7/14/85) [TSGDIA-6]

 

MVP: Butch Reed's only in a couple matches, but a lot of this stuff didn't rank high for me and he had one match was my new #1 (until Dick Murdoch showed up in the very first match on disk 6 and did way more than Flair with the same opponent). That match was such a great Butch Reed showcase that I think it's enough to give him the nod.

 

Stock going up: Steve Williams. He's in a couple decent matches here and seems to be growing more into his role as time goes on.

 

Stock going down: Hacksaw Duggan. Earlier in one of my match reviews I said despite having Terry Taylor/Flair way up my list, I still don't think Taylor's a great wrestler, just a good Flair opponent. I pretty much am thinking the same thing about Duggan, for Dibiase. A lot of his other work is him bulldozing people, throwing one of the worst clotheslines in wrestling (I stand still and hold out my arm, please run into it now, thank you), and doing his taunts a whole lot. He's still "entertaining" enough but I don't know if I'd call it great wrestling.

 

General thoughts: This wasn't my favourite disk thus far, but the two matches up top were really good, and the last match on the disk at least helps it end on a good note. Flair vs.Wahoo is also fun, in a DEAN-approved stiff kind of way.

[Tim Evans]

Just wait till you get to the Sawyer/Duggan matches.

[Death From Above]

I'm actually looking forward to seeing what Sawyer can do... he's one of the guys that falls into the group of I've heard a lot about him but not really seen him much before now.

[Loss]

Sawyer/Duggan is really good and all, but I think the Sawyer/Dr. Death match is one of the best wrestling matches on the set, and will show you that Sawyer was more than just a one-dimensional brawler.

[Tim Evans]

Just finished Disc 7. It took me a while to get through because I was simply burned out on Mid South. GH and Phil and the rest of the nominating team do gods work trying to nominate the matches. I don't know how you do it. Here's my top 10:

 

1.Ted Dibiase vs. Jim Duggan (No Dq, cage match in tuxedos, loser leaves town, coal miners glove on a poll) (3/22/85)

2.Ted Dibiase vs. Ric Flair (11/6/85)

3.Ted Dibiase/Matt borne vs JYD/Mr. Olympia loser leaves town 10/27/82

4.Hacksaw Duggan vs. Buzz Sawyer (11/11/85)

5.Mr. Olympia vs Chavo Guerrero 6/24/83

6.Ted Dibiase vs. Dick Murdoch (JIP) (12/27/85)

7.Ted DiBiase vs. Dick Murdoch (12/31/85)

8.Jake Roberts vs. Dick Slater (1/24/86)

9.Mr.Wrestling 2/Magnum TA vs Butch Reed and Jim Neidhart 12/25/83

10.Mr. Olympia vs Bob Roop 7/15/82

 

As you can see, The star of the set has been Ted Dibiase. The Dibiase/Murdoch matches are the best. They rival Dibiase/Duggan. Late 85 was great but had some disappointments. I have Slater/Reed from 12/13/85 and Gilbert/Nightmare vs bruise Brothers in my bottom 5. Slater is really hot and cold on this set. Some matches he's on fire (Roberts/Slater) and some matches he just sucks(Reed/Slater).

 

And about Sawyer/Dr. Death, Loss is absolutely right. That match makes the "Buzz Sawyer is only a brawler" theory a myth.

[Death From Above]

Rankings and thoughts, disk 6:

 

1. Butch Reed vs. Dick Murdoch (9/22/85) [bW-1]

2. Butch Reed vs. Dick Murdoch (10/14/85) [bW-6]

3. Ted DiBiase vs. Ric Flair (11/6/85) [bW-8]

4. Butch Reed vs. Ric Flair (10/11/85) [bW-4]

5. Jake Roberts vs. Ric Flair (11/24/85) [bW-12]

6. Hacksaw Duggan vs. Buzz Sawyer (11/11/85) [bW-10]

7. Ted DiBiase vs. Bob Sweetan (10/13/85) [bW-5]

8. Ted DiBiase vs. Bob Sweetan (Taped Fist) (10/11/85) [bW-3]

9. Butch Reed vs. Ric Flair (11/8/85) [bW-9]

10. Butch Reed vs. Dick Slater (11/22/85) [bW-11]

11. The Fantastics vs. Dutch Mantell & Bill Dundee (10/4/85) [bW-2]

12. The Fantastics vs. Buzz Sawyer & Dick Slater (10/27/85) [bW-7]

 

MVP: Butch Reed takes this with his name in 3 of the top 5 (and 2 of my new top 3 overall). But wow this was one loaded disk.

 

Stock going up: Call it a near co-MVP for Dick Murdoch. Both the matches with Reed are awesome. Tremendous talent.

 

Stock going down: This is really kind of harsh, but of the available options Dick Slater I guess. His match with Reed didn't do much for me, and the 12th place tag is the only match on the disk I think is pretty blah. I know Slater can do better than this.

 

General thoughts: Wow, this disk pretty much rewrote my top 20. 5 matches landed in it, and Sawyer/Duggan is also in my top 30, so this disk was pretty awesome. Only the 12th place match really does nothing for me, everything else here has details that make it a fun match or better. What a great disk this was. Probably the showcase disk for the set, I assume. I mean if disk 7-10 top this one I'd be surprised, this is probably Mid South's peak for work.

[Tim Evans]

Finally finished the whole thing. This will be tough as hell to rank. Disc 10 really brought the greatness: Murdoch/Windham, Murdoch/Dr. Death, Taylor/Adams, Gordy/Gang. Tedi Dibiase was just overthrown by Dick Murdoch as the star of the set. When I get the money, not only am I getting the Memphis set, I'm getting the best of Dick Murdoch. Good job to everyone that helped out with the project. Very much worth the money.

[Death From Above]

This was the most fun I can remember having with US wrestling probably since I was in high school and the Monday Night Wars made actual regular conversation among normal people. Definitely some of the best shorter matches I can remember seeing, personally. And yeah Dick Murdoch is so awesome.

 

I was going to nitpick and re-rank a bunch of stuff but, eh, a few matches in to that everything that my first impressions told me was holding firm and I'm as confident in my first impressions to know what I like as anyone, so I sent my ballot in.

[goodhelmet]

Memphis should be just as fun and not quite as long. The set may be the same amount of discs but there will be fewer match discs and more extra discs.

[floyd]

Whewwwhhhhh. I'll be damned. I actually finished it by the deadline! :-)

 

Floyd's Top 20

 

1. Ted DiBiase vs. Hacksaw Duggan (No DQ, Loser Leaves Town, Coal Miner's Glove on a Poll, Tuxedo, Cage match ) (3/22/85) [bR-14]

2. Ric Flair vs. Butch Reed (8/10/85) [TSGDIA-10]

3. Ted DiBiase vs. Ric Flair (11/6/85) [bW-8]

4. Junkyard Dog & Mr. Olympia vs. Ted DiBiase & Matt Borne (Loser Leaves Town) (10/27/82) [PTB-8]

5. Ted DiBiase vs. Hacksaw Duggan (Street Fight) (7/29/83) [PTB-14]

6. Ric Flair vs. Terry Taylor (5/3/85) [RNRIK-3]

7. Terry Taylor vs. Ric Flair (6/1/85) [RNRIK-7]

8. Butch Reed vs. Dick Murdoch (9/22/85) [bW-1]

9. Mr. Wrestling II & Magnum T.A. vs. Midnight Express (2/10/84) [PTB-16]

10. Rock N Roll Express & Hacksaw Duggan vs. Midnight Express & Ernie Ladd (6/8/84) [sDM-3]

 

11. Chris Adams vs. Terry Taylor (5/3/87) [bITUSA-9]

12. Mr. Olympia vs. Chavo Guerrerro (6/24/83) [PTB-13]

13. Ted DiBiase vs. Jim Duggan (No DQ) (3/8/85) [bR-13]

14. Kerry Von Erich vs. Ric Flair (4/28/85) [RNRIK-1]

15. Rock N Roll Express vs. Chavo & Hector Guerrero (2/13/85) [bR-11]

16. Ric Flair vs. Wahoo McDaniel (7/12/85) [TSGDIA-3]

17. Dirty White Boys vs. Terry Daniels & Bill Dundee (5/11/85) [RNRIK-6]

18. Hacksaw Duggan vs. Buzz Sawyer (11/11/85) [bW-10]

19. Terry Gordy vs. Dr. Death (6/22/86) [bSUSA-3]

20. Buzz Sawyer vs. Jim Duggan (Dog Collar Match) (12/27/85) [JGP-6]

 

 

 

"And that's the end of that chapter"