The SmarK 24/7 Rant for Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling – November 18 1981
– Oh my. With the run of TNT coming to an end, they decided to replace it with yet another awesome hour of NWA action from the early 80s. I don’t know why they started here, although this might be the point they moved into the new studio in Charlotte or something.
– Your hosts are Bob Caudle and David Crockett.
Ricky Harris v. Jay Youngblood
And what do you know, Harris would actually go on to greater fame as Black Bart from 1984 onwards. Youngblood controls with a headlock and keeps him on the mat with it, fighting off a couple of escape attempts. Harris powers out, so Youngblood chops him down for the pin at 5:10. Nothing much here.
Sgt. Slaughter hears about a “big fat Indian” calling him out for a US title match, and we get the clip of Wahoo McDaniel (WITH HAIR!) basically calling him a coward. Slaughter has the contract and he’ll wrestle him right here and now for the belt if he has to, but first he’ll beat up some punk in the ring.
Sgt. Slaughter v. Ken Hall
Slaughter wrestles Hall down and then throws knees to the gut, followed by a gutbuster. For fun, he drops the poor kid on the top turnbuckle in a gutbuster move, then goes to an armbar and cranks on that. Slaughter Cannon and cobra clutch finish at 2:30. Good squash for the Sarge.
Bob Caudle brings out Sandy Scott, who announces a new incentive to bring talent to the area: A 1982 Cadillac to be won in a tournament or battle royale or something. One piece of talent already signed: Tommy Rich. Let’s go to the tape.
Tommy Rich v. Tony Russo
Rich gets a bodypress for two, but Russo powers him down and works on the leg. Rich takes him down with a headscissors, but Russo ties the leg up in the ropes and stomps it. Rich slams him for two and finishes with a Thesz Press at 4:00. You can totally tell he wants that car.
Roddy Piper, the Mid-Atlantic heavyweight champ, interrupts and he’s good and coked up. He, Slaughter and Ole Anderson all argue over who deserves the car most. Sandy Scott shows a tape of King Kong Mosca to counteract their claims of being #1 in the territory.
Ricky Steamboat and his good buddy, Jake Roberts (who is doing more of a Sam Elliot cowboy thing at this point), are looking for Roddy Piper and Ole Anderson, in that order.
Jimmy Valiant v. Dick Rivers
Elbow and elbow finish before I can even start the timer.
Roddy Piper comes out to retort to Steamboat’s challenge, and of course he’s got footage with him. Steamboat gets pinned by a masked guy after cheating, so Piper says “No title shot!” Tough but fair.
See, now the local drop-in is weird, as it’s advertising a show for February 7 1982, and Jimmy Valiant has already won the Cadillac and he’s putting it up against Ivan Koloff’s TV title. Oh, and Barry Windham has a promo as Blackjack Mulligan Jr. Where did this show come from, I wonder?
Ricky Steamboat & Jake Roberts v. Super Destroyer & The Grappler
Steamboat and Roberts switch off and work the leg of Super D (who looks too big to be usual suspect Bill Irwin), and then Grappler comes in and gets kneedropped by Roberts for two. Steamboat works a chinlock on Grappler and then catches him with the sleeper, but Grappler tags out to the Destroyer to break. Destroyer elbows him down, but Steamboat chops him in the throat and brings Roberts in. Kneelift sends Destroyer back to his corner and Grappler comes in, but he eats a kneelift as well. Jake holds a facelock, but goes after Destroyer and gets caught in the masked corner as a result. Super D pounds him down and drops a knee for two, then Grappler comes in with a faceplant for two. Destroyer goes to the bearhug and Grappler pounds him on the mat. Destroyer hangs Jake in the Tree of Woe, as Roddy Piper and Ole Anderson join us at ringside for some de-motivation. Grappler drops an elbow for two, but Jake hits the DDT out of nowhere (not yet his finish, though) and it’s hot tag Steamboat. Chops for everyone! Piper pulls out Grappler to save him and it’s a DQ at 9:12. ***
Steamboat is PISSED, and he shows the rest of the footage from earlier, as Piper’s masked man actually fails to beat him because the ref is out, and Steamboat comes back to win after all. So he deserves that title shot! I knew that Piper was a lying liar!
Yeah, I’m adding this one to my regular rotation. God I love this channel.
