Carrying on with another one that’s been on the review pile for a while, the third DVD I picked up from http://universalwrestling.com/, as they sell off their inventory following the WWE buyout.
NWA World title: Ric Flair v. Ted Dibiase
This is repeated from the first Mid-South DVD I did, but is still worth watching again. Dick Murdoch turned on Dibiase and bloodied him up good because he’s jealous. Flair is more than happy to take the forfeit win, and we take a break. Back with Bill Watts in the dressing room, who reports that Dibiase is getting his gruesomely scarred face wrapped up in bandages, and he’s still gonna challenge for the belt. So if there’s children watching, parents might want to change the channel. So back to the ring we go, and Flair just kicks the shit out of Dibiase right away, throwing chops in the corner until Dibiase comes back with a backdrop. Fistdrop and Flair backs off, so Dibiase stomps a mudhole, but Flair clips him and goes to work. The bandage gets dislodged and Dibiase is a MESS. Backdrop suplex gets two and Jim Ross is having a heart attack. Now this is the match where you want to have JR on commentary. Flair pounds him in the corner and now Dr. Death comes out because even he is concerned for Dibiase’s well-being. Dibiase comes back and we get the Flair Flip, and a suplex back into the ring gets two. Dibiase wraps him up with an abdominal stretch into a rollup for two, but he’s so weak he can’t even hold the pinfall. Flair tries a piledriver and Dibiase backdrops out and throws down in the corner. Flair Flop, but the ref wants to check the cut. But Watts said they wouldn’t stop it for blood loss! Flair clotheslines him and goes up, but Dibiase slams him off. Powerslam gets two and again Dibiase can’t cover to completion. Dibiase tries a figure-four, but Flair is in the ropes, and he kicks Dibiase right over the top to break. And Dibiase is out due to blood loss, so he gets counted out at 7:20. And then Dick Murdoch returns and kicks Dibiase’s ass AGAIN, including a brainbuster on the concrete! Still one of my favorite matches of all-time, making Dibiase into a giant star and the biggest babyface in the territory. ***1/2
This DVD adds footage of Dibiase getting carted to the back on a piece of table and treated by EMTs.
Butch Reed cuts a promo with Jim Ross, showing off his giant swollen eye, which prompts Bill Watts to praise him for not being a “Hollywood actor or overweight pachyderm from Titan Sports”. OUCH.
Jake Roberts & The Barbarian v. Paul Brown & Richard Dye
The Barbarian would be of the Nordic variety, not the Sionne variety. Can’t say as I like Dye’s chances here. He gets worked over by Jake, and Barbarian comes in with a flying shoulderblock on Brown. A full nelson finishes for Barbarian at 2:44.
Bill Dundee & Little Tokyo v. Wendall Cooley & Little Coco.
Wildcat Wendall Cooley was a guy with a good look who just never escaped the southern territories for whatever reason. This is supposed to be a mixed match but there appears to be two midgets on the heel side. Usual midget stuff, but the ref is bumped and Dundee drops an elbow on Coco, leading to the Fantastics coming and laying out Dundee to avenge the midget…and Coco pins Dundee at 2:46! That’s pretty great, actually. * Afterwards, Dundee bitches about the Fantastics.
Ted Dibiase & King Kong Bundy v. Steve Williams & Magnum TA
There are two referees for this to prevent Dibiase from cheating, so you know that’ll just encourage him to try even harder. Dibiase slugs away on TA, but a crossbody gets two. Ted Dibiase with a child molester moustache is not a good look. Over to Bundy, but Magnum evades him and brings in Doc, who overpowers Dibiase and sends him running away. So Bundy comes in and neither guy can get the advantage until Dibiase cheapshots Doc and elbows him down. Middle rope elbow gets two. Bundy drops a knee for two. Another one misses and it’s hot tag TA, the role he was born to play. Sleeper for Dibiase, and it’s BONZO GONZO. Dibiase retrieves his foreign object from Skandor Akbar and puts Magnum down with it, but Jim Duggan steals it, knocks Dibiase out, and TA gets the pin at 6:05. **1/2
The Midnight Express v. Junkyard Dog & Jim Duggan
This is just the ending, as Dog collides with Condrey and Duggan gets the hot tag and everyone brawls. Jim Cornette throws powder at Dog’s eyes rather ineffectually, but Dog is nice enough to roll around in the powder to make it look better. Duggan beats on Cornette, but Hercules comes in and puts Duggan down with a loaded glove, allowing Eaton to pin him.
Football Helmet Match: Steve Williams v. Jim Duggan
Pretty self-explanatory, you’d think. Duggan is nowhere to be found, which brings out Ted Dibiase to explain that Duggan jumped him backstage and thus he had to knock out “that glass jaw Jim Duggan with one punch”. An incredulous Jim Ross recaps this ridiculous story like a good straight man. Ted Dibiase as a slimy heel is just the best. So they take a break and return with Bill Watts having found Duggan, absolutely covered in blood, mud and with a ripped up shirt, barely able to stand but still vowing to fight Williams anyway. I’m really disappointed that they show this stuff out of order and without the blowoffs because I really want to see these storylines through.
Art Crews & Mike Jackson v. Kamala & Kendo Nagasaki
Quite the freakshow on the heel side. Nagasaki uses his far east martial arts on the jobbers, but Jackson evades Kamala. Crews manages to fight back on Nagasaki and Jackson comes in with a dropkick, but walks into a superkick, allowing Kamala to finish with the splash at 3:02.
Nikolai Volkoff v. Mike Jackson & Randy Barber
The jobbers wisely double-team Volkoff and dogpile him for two, but Volkoff puts them both on the floor. Volkoff dogpiles the jobbers onto each other and pins them at 1:30.
Jim Duggan: The Video Retrospective. He drives trucks, beats people up, and loves America.
Jim Duggan v. One Man Gang
Gang beats on Duggan and drops him on the railing outside, but Duggan slugs away back in the ring. Gang bearhugs him and pounds away, but Duggan keeps fighting with a clothesline. Shoulderblock gets two, but Akbar gets involved for the DQ at 4:11. *1/2
And now we get the Ric Flair-Kerry Von Erich cage match where the Freebirds turned, which would have aired on Mid-South because Watts does the intro to it. Well there’s two classic angles on this disc for you.
Junkyard Dog v. King Kong Bundy
Dog tries a slam and gets nowhere, allowing Bundy to work the arm. Dog responds in kind, but Bundy powerslams him and gets…four. Dog kicks out and makes the comeback, but Buzz Sawyer runs in for the DQ at 6:00. *
Steve Williams & Jake Roberts v. Terry Daniels & Shawn Michaels
Yeah, that Shawn Michaels. Shawn rolls up Doc for two, which has the heels backing off. Daniels puts Jake down with a shoulderblock…and my disc glitches out. Well, shit, there was still another hour to go on the disc. Further attempts to get this thing to play on either the PS3 or Xbox fail, so I guess we’re done.
