DVDVR Mid-South/UWF Matches of the 80's - Disk #1

My thought on Disk #1 (Ranked in order of best-to-worst):

Cream of the crop:

1. Junkyard Dog & Mr. Olympia vs. Ted Dibiase & Matt Borne (Loser Leaves Town) (10/27/82) - Whoever loses the fall must leave town. This was supposed to be Hacksaw defending the belts but he couldn't make it so Portland Matt Bourne took his place. DiBiase/Bourne make a good heel tag team. Really fun tag match with an ending so awesome if made it my #1 for the set.

2. Ted DiBiase vs. Hacksaw Duggan (Street Fight) (7/29/83) - Super Awesome. Don't know how the feud started but apparently these guys really didn't like each other.

3. Mr. Olympia vs. Chavo Guerrerro (6/24/83) - Somehow Mr. Olympia had turned heel and apparently screwed over Chavo as this is the grudge match. Great match with Mr. Olympia being a bastard heel and Chavo doing good moves to a hot crowd.


Very good too:

4. Mr. Wrestling II & Magnum T.A. vs. Midnight Express (2/10/84) - If anyone wanted to know what the Midnight Expresses was all about, this might be the match to show them. Nothing mid blowing but sheer brilliance in working the crowd. How Jim Cornette was never beaten to death in a fan riot I'll never know.

5. Mr. Olympia vs. Bob Roop (7/15/82) - Sweet match here. Almost like the stereotypical heel Vs. the stereotypical babyface. Both guys stock goes up for me in this match, especially Mr. Olympia who does a running dive to the outside on the concrete. Good stuff, but again since it's TV too short to really place high for me.

6. Mr. Wrestling II & Junkyard Dog vs. Matt Borne & Ted DiBiase (2/16/83) - The revenge match with Mr. Wrestling II taking the gone Mr. Olympia's place. Good tag match.

Good:

7. Junkyard Dog & Mr. Olympia vs. Ted DiBiase & Hacksaw Duggan (8/18/82) - Fun tag match. I like the DiBiase/Duggan team and Mr. Olympia continues to be great, reminding me of classic babyfaces like Tito Santana.

8. One Man Gang vs. Buck Robley (Lumberjack Match) (9/15/82) - Never seen Buck Robley before but he looks like a mix of Necro butcher and 70's George Carlin. I'm also guessing Robley didn't have to have testosteroe theory in his later years like everyone else. OMG is a pimp sized bump-master here! For a guy who weighs 8,000 pounds, man he was thowing his body all around the ring and to the outside. Also the entire match the commentators keep saying how much they like Robley and how sad it is that there's no way he can win. They basically start making funeral preperations for him. Which makes his comeback so much better at the end. Just a fantastic small guy/big fat guy story. Lumberjack Dick Murdoch was standing with his back to the camera with a "All japan" T-shirt on which was pretty neat.

9. Midnight Express vs. Bill Watts & Stagger Lee (4/22/84) - You wanna talk about fucking crowd heat? Jesus Christ the crowd shaking the entire building during this match. After getting tarred and feathered by the Midnights, Bill Watts brings in a ringer. The dangerous shooter, the masked Stagger Lee. In the unlikely event of his team losing, Jim Cornette has to wear a diaper after the match.

10. Bob Roop vs. Mike George (12/16/81) - pretty cool opening match on the set between two guys i've never seen before. Mike George played a good heel and Bob Roop was awesome with his heel-ishness.

11. Mr. Wrestling II & Magnum T.A. vs. Butch Reed & Jim Neidhart (Cage Match) (12/25/83) - I've seen this match highly praised by everyone over at DVDVR but I can't understand why, and not just best on Disk #1 but a top pick for the entire set. It's a really good match but I dunno, nothing amazing to me. Both Magnum and Mr. Wrestling II have to make big comebacks in an attempt to win the tag titles. Reed looked good here.

Good to OK

12. Mr. Olympia vs. Paul Orndorff (2/3/82) - Never seen Mr. Olympia before. He's the Mississippi Champ here. Mr. Wonderful looks alot more mobile and quick here than in the WWF. Good match, wished it had been longer.

13. Midnight Express vs. Bill Dundee & Porkchop Cash (4/6/84) - ha I liked the team of Porkchop Cash and Dundee. Formulaic Midnight Express match, which means it's good.

14. Stagger Lee & Mr. Olympia vs. Ted DiBiase & Matt Borne (12/18/82) - Sadly Mr. Olympia's partner couldn't be here, so he got a great replacement in the masked Stagger Lee.

15. Butch Reed v. Iron Sheik (4/8/83) - It's almost weird seeing how unbroken and mobile Sheik was here, doing neck bridges and taking bumps around the ring. There's one memorable part where the ring crew really should've tightened the ropes/turnbuckle more. Plus Shiek was a master at evil heel cliches.

16. Bob Roop vs. Ted DiBiase (4/2/82) - Cool Roop again with his old school heel work. Roop defends his N.A. title. The plus here was some really great mat work you don't see anymore.

OK but ain't no Top 20 or nothin:

17. Midnight Express vs. Rock N Roll Express (No DQ: Tag Titles vs. $50,000) (5/23/84) - Dream match between the soon to be long-time rivals. R N R Expess put up the belts against Jim Cornette's momma's $50,000. Good match but nothing fantastic.

18. Nick Bockwinkel vs. Dusty Rhodes (5/20/83) - Bockwinkle defends the AWA World title here. Pretty OK match, nothing special.

19. Buddy Landel & Butch Reed vs. Rock N Roll Express (3/28/84) - I'm guessing the R n R Express was new here, as it seemed to be a spotlight for their team. Jim Cornette is at ringside taking notes.

No Sir. I Didn't like it:

20. Junkyard Dog vs. Nick Bockwinkel (6/11/82) - Gah! Didnt like this one at all. And this from a JYD fan growing up, plus Bockwinkle/Heenan are one of the greatest twosome ever. If Bockwinkle wins he get's JYD's crown. If the JYD wins this one he gets bump master Heenan in the ring after the match. Too slow here.

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Thought fo' Disk #1:

- Bob Roop was pretty good. A classic heel but who also had a nice technical background.

- Mr. Olympia was awesome, either as a good guy or heel. How come I never of him?

- Hacksaw Duggan's spear is to be feared.

- The tag team matches in Mid-South are great.

- One should not worship false idols. But as far as wrestling goes, Cornette IS a demi-God.

- How the FUCK aren't the Midnight Express in the Hall-of-Fame!?!??

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Floyd's Ongoing Mid-South Top 10:

1. Junkyard Dog & Mr. Olympia vs. Ted Dibiase & Matt Borne (Loser Leaves Town) (10/27/82)
2. Ted DiBiase vs. Hacksaw Duggan (Street Fight) (7/29/83)
3. Mr. Olympia vs. Chavo Guerrerro (6/24/83)
4. Mr. Wrestling II & Magnum T.A. vs. Midnight Express (2/10/84)
5. Mr. Olympia vs. Bob Roop (7/15/82)
6. Mr. Wrestling II & Junkyard Dog vs. Matt Borne & Ted DiBiase (2/16/83)
7. Junkyard Dog & Mr. Olympia vs. Ted DiBiase & Hacksaw Duggan (8/18/82)
8. One Man Gang vs. Buck Robley (Lumberjack Match) (9/15/82)
9. Midnight Express vs. Bill Watts & Stagger Lee (4/22/84)
10. Bob Roop vs. Mike George (12/16/81)

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