Pro Wrestling Chronicle

If you’ve read Pro Wrestling newsletters or internet think-tanks over the last ten years, you know that 1980sBill Watts’ Mid South Wrestling/UWF was/is considered one of the most well booked, logical, and talent laden territories of all time. I’ve enjoyed reading about the angles and personalities in Dave Meltzer’s Wrestling Observer and listening on shoot interviews to in ring and behind the scenes details of the time period. The Mid South/UWF was a tag team hotbed with a great focus on all it’s belts. For contemporary fans, Mid South was a great inspiration for the retro-booked Ring of Honor, which adopted Watts’ logical wrestling-as-sport presentation.

Recently a well known pro wrestling message board, The Death Valley Driver Video Review Message Board, produced a ten disk 150 match set after months of match suggestions, committee reviews, and nominations. The object of the set is to whittle it down to a top 100, and rank them via a ballot. If you participate you pay a fee for the cost of the disks, get the set, and watch some wrestling. It’s as simple as that. A few months down the road when you finish you send your ballot in and we find out the accumulated final Mid South Wrestling top 100 matches.

If you haven’t guessed already, I jumped at the chance to participate. Except, I’m not just watching and ranking, I’m keeping a journal of the adventure, and you are coming with me.

Starting this week I’ll be putting my stream of conscious reviews and thoughts of the set on this site. My goal is to get at solid top 25 and an overall great Mid South education. I also hope to entice the rest of you to get into some older wrestlings, because it’s alot of fun and you see the roots of what became todays indy and even major league work and structure. You also see great wrestlers and styles that became templates for your favorites of the 90s and today. Several of the men on this set influenced people like HBK or HHH, not to mention the Undertaker and a whole younger crop in TNA/ROH. Discover some of the pieces to the puzzle in a several month journey with me. Stay tuned for intro and introduction as we start the this Odyssey.