Tracking the Territories 1984- Volume Three

by Liam Byrne

  The two men end up trading punches, with another standing dropkick by Bellomo rocking Valentine enough to allow an attempt at a figure four leglock. He is unsuccessful, though does get a two count off of a crossbody. Valentine halts Bellomo with a reverse atomic drop, before struggling to apply the figure four leglock as Bellomo wriggles about. When it is finally locked in, that is enough for a Valentine victory in a surprisingly competitive squash, though one that felt Bellomo was occasionally taking too much or making things too difficult for Valentine.

  Rather than Gene Okerlund, we have Freddie Miller – acquired when McMahon bought Georgia - doing the shilling for the Boston Garden, alongside Paul Orndorff initially as he is due to face Tito Santana for the Intercontinental Title. There is some nice continuity by Mr Wonderful as he talks about how Santana allegedly won the belt, playing off that fact that there is no footage. Orndorff talks about how people have been getting carted out of the ring following his piledriver, with Santana not being man enough to defeat him.

  The ‘Ladies Tag Team Match’ is up next as Velvet McIntyre and Princess Victoria defend their titles against Despina Montages and Leilani Kai. This is a non-title match, with Victoria starting the match with two armdrags on Montages as Mosca Sr. makes it clear he wouldn’t want a date with her. McIntyre manages to power through some strikes by Montages to keep an armbar locked on, though she does end up sending her back into her own corner for a tag to Kai. Two shoulderblocks by Kai lead to a hiptoss and shoulderblock by McIntyre, with Kai one of the noisiest wrestlers move to move I’ve watched. Victoria and Montages are in the ring next, with a nifty takedown by Victoria sending Montages into the ropes. A second takedown has the referee breaking the hold due to a claim of a handful of hair.

  The heels do end up getting McIntyre into their corner eventually, with several hair mares by Montages to follow as Mosca Sr. wonders if she does that to her husband at night. McIntyre manages to fight her way out of the corner, leading to all four women being in the ring and a heel colliding after stereo Irish whips. No tag is made, but Victoria is in the ring and ‘on the warpath’, yet as she hits the ropes, Montages grabs a handful of hair and Kai hits a splash for a three count that gets no reaction from the crowd. It is almost as if they aren’t aware the match is over until the heels raise their hands in victory. A decent match with a very abrupt ending that went over most of the fans’ heads.

  More Miller shilling now as Freddie Blassie is alongside the Iron Sheik to talk about a match that’ll see Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff team up against the Sergeant Slaughter and a mystery partner. Blassie doesn’t care who the mystery partner is, whilst the Iron Sheik mentions about how America won lots of Olympic medals only due to all the teams that didn’t turn up, before Miller suggests that perhaps the partner could be Andre the Giant. This still doesn’t faze Sheik or Blassie as they believe they will get the job done.

  Tito Santana is against Jerry Valiant in our next match with the Intercontinental Title not on the line. A wild swing after a break leads to the two men trading a single punch each after a second break. Valiant takes control with a side headlock and a punch, with several turnbuckle smashes and strikes to add to the beat down. However, it isn’t long before Santana fights him off with a couple of punches of his own before a reset. Both men collide mid ring, but as they get up it is Santana who sends Valiant into the turnbuckle head first. We get another reset, before Santana takes over with a trip and a side headlock. Valiant slips out and has control of Santana’s wrists whilst placing a knee in the back. With the crowd behind him, Santana reverses the hold into his own version, though he uses his boot rather than his knee. This spot looks like it is about to be repeated, but Valiant uses the rope to help with leverage. Santana backs his way into the turnbuckle, following this up with two flying headscissors, a leapfrog and a flying forearm for the win. Another more competitive match than might have been expected, but probably better than an inconsequential squash.

  Weirdly, Miller has changed to Gene Okerlund as he talks to Rick McGraw. McGraw is wearing a suit and giving generic platitudes about the promotion in an incredibly boring voice. He speaks about how he is known for his fire, likening himself to Clark Kent – when the glasses come off, he is ready for action. Following McGraw, we get another video with Sergeant Slaughter asking for donations in the name of Lady Liberty, before it cuts to the WWF Update, which this week focuses on the tag team champions, Adrian Adonis and Dick Murdoch. We are shown footage of them getting booed as they head down to ringside, before McMahon mentions that there are a lot of teams queuing up to take them on.

  Depending on what listings you have access to, this is sometimes listed as a Piper’s Pit with Kamala and Freddie Blassie, though I’ve got a version of the show with Piper talking to the WWF Vice President, Jack Tunney, instead. Piper talks about how tiresome all the fan mail he receives is, only for Tunney to say that the fan mail he reads doesn’t quite match up to what the ‘Rowdy’ one is saying. Tunney goes further by suggesting that whilst Piper might be the most controversial, Hulk Hogan is the most popular. Piper not only questions Tunney’s eyesight, but also whether he is actually the Vice President. A fun little Pit is unfortunately cut off before it comes to its conclusion.

  Considering Rick McGraw was spotlighted earlier, his tag team with Nick DeCarlo against The Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff doesn’t fill me with much hope of a push for Quickdraw. Volkoff impresses McMahon by vaulting to the outside to allow the Sheik to start off against McGraw. Quickdraw surprises the Sheik with a crossbody coming off the ropes, but the referee is out of position so this doesn’t even end up with a one count. The team of DeCarlo and McGraw have the Sheik in trouble, with an atomic drop by DeCarlo and a dropkick by McGraw, with McGraw even managing to fight his way out of the heel corner. However, Volkoff rakes DeCarlo’s eyes to halt the team’s momentum and with nary any significant offense, Volkoff lands his press slam into a backbreaker for a three count. An odd match as the heels did nothing really until the finish.

  What follows is further interviews that are or are not on the show, depending on what website you use for information. Junkyard Dog and Iron Mike Sharpe shill matches with Bob Orton Jr. and Sergeant Slaughter respectively, before Wendi Richter talks about her upcoming rematch with the Fabulous Moolah. The second selection of wrestlers who come out to promote their matches include B. Brian Blair talking about how he isn’t scared about how much bigger Big John Studd is than him, Freddie Blassie inviting all of his Hollywood friends to join them in Inglewood, and finishing off with Hulk Hogan making it clear that all the standards and values that Gold’s Gym helped instil in him will allow him to defeat Jesse Ventura.

  None of the matches on this show felt particularly conventional. Sometimes, like Valentine versus Bellomo, it didn’t work, whilst with competitive squashes like Valiant versus Santana, it was a success. On balance, the show stands out primarily for putting on four matches that felt in some way novel, whether due to the participants in the ring or the structure of the match.

  Mid-South Wrestling 20.9.84

  It is Jim Ross and Joel Watts this week at the commentary desk as Watts unveils that Terry Taylor versus Hercules Hernandez for the Television Title is our main event, whilst Ross runs down other people who will be on the show, including Magnum TA, the Midnight Express and ‘Exotic’ Adrian Street. Ross then reminds us of the events of last week surrounding Master G and Butch Reed, which ends up with G bloodying Reed with multiple punches to the face.

  The first match of the evening is due to see The Midnight Express take on Rick McCord and Steve Miller, but as we come back from commercial, it is Jim Cornette, Hercules Hernandez, Butch Reed and Buddy Landell who are standing in the ring. Reed takes the microphone and complains about G’s attack from the previous week, whilst Landel throws feathers out of a big bag, with the two heels threatening to repeat the tarring and feathering they dished out to Junkyard Dog. Reed throws out an open challenge to G before leaving to allow the tag team con
test to take place.

  Eaton and McCord start the contest, with Eaton luring McCord in with a fakeout of a handshake that instantly puts the Express in control. Condrey lands a slam, whilst Eaton cuts off a brief McCord fight back with a punch to the face and a back elbow off of an Irish whip. Condrey drops McCord throat first across the top rope, though then helps him tag out to Miller. Two backbreakers and a backbreaker/second rope knee combination is enough for the Express to pick up a victory that was never in doubt from the opening exchange.

  Mike Jackson and Adrian Street are due up next, yet it is Butch Reed and Buddy Landell who are once again in the ring. Landell is brilliant as he just continues to rile up a furious Reed whilst also chucking a number of feathers across the ring. Street gets his full entrance as per usual, with a mixed reaction once again from the fans in attendance. Skipping around the ring, Street has Jackson unsettled before the opening exchanges, with the Exotic One then using multiple forward roles to escape an arm wringer. Street uses his legs to take Jackson down to the canvas and block off the referee to allow him to manipulate the finger joints of his opponent. Jackson always is competitive though, blasting Street with an enziguri and a dropkick, before grabbing a one count off of a backslide. Having had enough, Street rakes the eyes to stop Jackson in his tracks, and then uses a gutbuster after three European uppercuts to set him up for a pinning cradle that earns him the three count before he can actually bridge into it properly. A decent enough squash, as it usually is when Jackson is the opponent.

  Brickhouse Brown and Johnny Mantell take on Dale Veasey and Don Saunders, with a match finally able to take place without the interruptions of Reed and Landell. It is Brown and Veasey in the ring first, and the two men end up in a test of strength that sees Brown use some nifty footwork to take Veasey to the canvas. A whip into the ropes sees Saunders hit an illegal knee to the back of Brown, though as soon as he enters the ring he is wiped out by a flying body attack by Brickhouse. This allows Mantell to enter the fray, dropping Saunders with a European uppercut and a bodyslam. A butterfly suplex allows Mantell to tag Brown back in, who hits a pretty looking gutwrench suplex and two dropkicks, setting up for a Mantell Russian legsweep for the win. Whether they’ll do much as a team, Mantell and Brown worked pretty well together and were dynamic enough to keep things interesting for this brief period of time.

  Reed and Landell are back out before a Magnum TA versus Art Crews match, with Reed also throwing some barbs at TA in the process. Boyd Pierce’s reactions also add to these little segments, as he is clearly exasperated with being disrupted so often. We’ve not seen TA in competition for over two months, so it is good to have the North American Heavyweight Champion back in action. TA keeps Crews down on the canvas, forcing him into the ropes for a break, before grabbing an arm and holding onto it even through an attempted hip block and body slam. The two men trade hammerlocks, though TA is soon back in control with an overhand top wristlock. After a show of grappling, both TA and Crews tee off with punches after ending up in the ropes, only for this to rile up the champ as he leapfrogs over Crews and drops him with a straight right hand. One dropkick and a belly to belly suplex follow, earning TA a win in his first match in two months on Mid-South television in a reasonable enough showcase of his talents.

  The Television Title is on the line next as Terry Taylor defends against Hercules Hernandez, though we are told that Steve Williams tarnished the medal so Taylor is having it cleaned as we speak. Taylor controls the early going with a side headlock, before grabbing a one count off of a Thesz Press after an impressive leapfrog by Hernandez to avoid an initial attack. An attempt to send Taylor into the ropes fails, but Hernandez just lifts him up and drops him on the back of his head instead. The head and neck becomes the target as Hernandez uses a swinging neckbreaker before slapping on a rear chinlock, with a handful of hair helping him maintain the hold just as it looked like Taylor was due to escape.

  Hernandez drops Taylor with a big knee as Ross on commentary announces that Master G has accepted Reed’s challenge from earlier, though only if Landell is barred from ringside. As the focus returns to the title match in the ring, Hernandez misses an elbowdrop, only for Taylor to knock the referee out after missing his flying forearm. Taylor does finally hit the forearm, but there is no-one to count the pinfall, whilst Steve Williams then hits the ring to attack the champion. A second official comes out to wave the match off, before an American football tackle by Williams collides with Hernandez instead. It looks as though Taylor might have avoided a beatdown, only to get smashed upside the head by Williams and his football helmet. Taylor ends up busted wide open as Williams just wails away on him with the helmet, with an initial attempt by Steve Miller and Rick McCord not enough to halt the attack, not unsurprisingly. Magnum TA and Johnny Mantell do, however, finally save Taylor from a pretty brutal beatdown. The match was fine for what it was: the backdrop to the post-match shenanigans.

  Following the commercial break, Butch Reed and Buddy Landell are back in the ring with Boyd Pierce, with Reed threatening to go backstage and drag Master G to the ring in order to bow down at Reed’s feet. Pierce introduces Reed, with a referee forcibly removing Landell from ringside as per the stipulation. G hits the ring but is immediately jumped by Reed. However, G overpowers Reed as the two trade punches, whilst a clothesline has Reed stumbling all over the place. As G hits an awkward looking dropkick, Landell comes down to the ring to cause the disqualification. The numbers are in the heel’s favour, but a second rope football tackle hits Landell rather than G. Reed is incapacitated at ringside by getting sent into the guard rail and then blocked off by Magnum TA and Johnny Mantell as G (after smashing the bottle due to his inability to open it) tars and feathers Landell. It is a very enjoyable finish to a show long storyline that has the heels talk big, but the babyface come out on top. Wrestling 101.

  The last two minutes are taken up by the Rock and Roll Express music video that heralds their imminent return to the territory.

  A show where the extra-curricular activities outweigh the in-ring matches, but every match at least offered something enjoyable. Mid-South don’t do the huge studio brawls or angles in the same way that Memphis does, but when they do, it is rare that they don’t succeed in producing some captivating television.

  CWA Championship Wrestling 22.9.84

  Lance Russell and Dave Brown are together again after each had taken their respective break, with Russell immediately announcing a CWA Tag Team Title contest – Dutch Mantell and Tommy Rich defending against the Nightmares, the team they had defeated in an impromptu title match last week. In addition to this, Brown mentions we have the Dirty White Boys, Ric Rude and King Kong Bundy, The New Generation and ‘Hot Stuff’ Eddie Gilbert all in potential standby matches.

  As we return from the commercial, Russell announces that Dutch Mantell surprised Eddie Gilbert by taking the International Heavyweight Title from around his waist at the Coliseum on Monday. We are shown highlights of the match, with Gilbert initially grabbing the win with a trip and a rope-assisted pin. Mantell grabs the belt and won’t accept the decision, which seems to be enough for the referee to restart the contest! A roll-up by Mantell instantly puts Gilbert down on the mat – Gilbert too busy arguing with the referee - for the three count and a new International Heavyweight champion. He doesn’t have long to enjoy it though, as Gilbert brutally assaults him with the title after the bell until Tommy Rich hits the ring to run off his old partner to save his new one.

  The Nightmares are in the ring waiting for the tag team champions, but as Mantell comes out, he joins Russell and says that they haven’t been able to contact Rich as of yet. He requests they move the match further down the card, though Russell makes it clear that the thirty minute time limit on the contest means they are limited as to how late it can go on. Unsurprisingly, Jimmy Hart is apoplectic, calling for a forfeit which he inevitably doesn’t get.

  Unlike many of the other Memphis episodes I have, this one is on the Louisville feed (
if I’ve done my research correctly), which means it ran a week later than those I have covered before. This means the show includes interviews with wrestlers promoting shows in the local markets, rather than those at the Mid-South Coliseum. The first case of this is Ric Rude, King Kong Bundy and Jimmy Hart promoting a match against Jerry Lawler and Randy Savage for a Wednesday night.

  Back in the studio, Eddie Gilbert is now out alongside Hart, with Gilbert giving a present to his manager to show his affection for everything Hart has done for him: a jacket that celebrates The First Family. As Hart puts it on, Gilbert turns his attention to Mantell, claiming that Mantell and Rich clearly put together a plan so that they didn’t need to defend the tag titles on the show. Gilbert goes a step further by talking about how Mantell’s grandfather was hung for being a horse thief. With Rich not here, Gilbert challenges Mantell to a match for the International Heavyweight Title, but knows he won’t accept it because he is a coward. This naturally brings out Mantell as he squares up to Hot Stuff, though this sees him take a slap around the face as Gilbert tries to goad him into putting the belt on the line. The men trade slaps, then punches and the Nightmares make it a three on one beatdown until the New Generation run off the First Family, saving Mantell from serious injury.

  In a rare moment for Memphis television, they show a replay of action from the previous week rather than the Coliseum, focusing on the Dirty White Boys beating up Mark Reagan the previous week in a match that saw them beat Reagan and Ken Raper. According to Russell, Reagan got into wrestling due to his uncle being Rufus R. Jones, with Jones being the man who convinced Reagan to use his dancing to stand out. A handicap match is up next, with Reagan joining Russell as the Dirty White Boys wait in the ring. Reagan spoke to his uncle after the events of last week and is the reason he is going to get revenge in a handicap match tonight.