Pro Wrestling Chronicle

How can you NOT read this edition of Mid South Diaries?! We’ve got Dibiase in all his glory, a very famous hot angle, a loser is leaving town, and a Paul Boesch guest appearance. Did I mention one of these men was the original Doink the clown? Come on!

Match # 8: JYD/Mr. Olympia vs Dibiase/Borne (Loser Leaves Town) 10/27/82

Angle Alert: This starts with Bill Watts in the crowd with legendary Houston promoter Paul Boesch. They mention the Louisiana State Fair going on outside. Watts says hi to a kid and casually mentions a gorilla in the background. It’s a man dressed in a gorilla suit with a cowboy hat there to “entertain kids” from the fair. I think I’ve heard of this angle, so I’m excited.

Boesch puts over this next match where the loser of the pinfall must leave Mid South. He’s backing JYD and they put him over as a king of wrestling in Houston (perhaps the crown he won referenced in the Bockwinkle match).

Dibiase is still North American champion, the heel, and centerpiece of the promotion as the man to be chased. He’s playing HHH’s modern heel role, of Flair’s in his day. Duggan is his Batista (Evolution) or his Arn Anderson (Horseman), while JYD still has Mr. Olympia backing him. I wonder if they let Olympia do promos?

Angle is Dibiase contacted matchmaker Grizzly Smith (no G.M./owner roles yet) to say Duggan had been detained. They play up Duggan as a crazy man from what I’ve seen in the two the instances. Seems like he’s Dibiase’s pawn. So Dibiase has flown in Matt Borne from Atlanta (the Georgia territory) to be his partner. I love that they tip there hat to other territories, but only because I am a wrestling history dork.

Watts and Boesch put over Matt Borne’s dad, Tony Borne, and Matt’s big top rope move, which would be illegal usually (I think), but is legal in this no DQ match. So it’s no DQ and its loser of the pinfall itself leaves town for 90 days.

JYD comes out to “Another One Bites The Dust” and it seems like the Dibiase – JYD issue only got hotter with fans. Tag champs hit the ring and we get a match-appropriate brawl. Watts perfectly puts this over as bigger than the tag or North American title belts, it’s for “the balance of power”. If Dibiase loses he’s gone for 90 days and stripped of the belt. This has a big match feel.

Duggan’s toughness is questioned on commentary for him not being there. He apparently won the Louisiana title recently. So we have a Louisiana and a Mississippi belt. Is this where we get Texarkana titles from? Leave your answers in my comments section below.

I do like how they start out their TV matches generally, but they are often worked like they’re going 20-25 minutes and they always go less than ten. When do the heels get the heat in the ring on the faces? Is it only at house shows? Comebacks happen five seconds after a hope spot and only about 20 seconds after the face’s last advantage. The heel must get all the heat in his promos or angles or squashes, but I can’t tell. Perhaps there’s a context I’m missing, and I would be very appreciative if it were explained. Was being a mouth just enough to get you a match with a face, and then if you weren’t beaten right away that gave you heat? If so, that was the easiest thing EVER! Still, I’m enjoying the hell out of this because they’re such bite-sized matches with well framed purposes.

Gorilla is shown as Olympia has the advantage. I didn’t like that as it should have been a less obvious shot, and that was a total give away. Dibiase totally has the main eventer powder out and pace/regroup thing down to a science. It’s a small thing, but it adds to my viewing pleasure. All falls under the category of Presence.

Borne sells for the heels. Dibiase projects his character to the crowd well, and the heat here is the reward. We get a commercial break.

We come back to find Dibiase trying to figure out a way to stop JYD. He can’t! My God, the punches to the stomach that were in vogue at the time are horrible (whip to the ropes and punch to the stomach).

Heels finally get heat on Olympia so they can build to JYD getting the hot tag. The heels work well as a team here, with quick tags and cutting off the ring. I notice at this moment that the match is no disqualification, yet isn’t completely out of control. The stip is just used to get certain moves/spots over, which hopefully gets the match over. Speaking of which, Matt Borne does his usually illegal top rope move, “Bombs Away”. JYD saves his partner with a usually illegal headbutt. The stip gets the big spots over. Perfect.

Hot tag to JYD who finally gets Dibiase. Here’s where it comes together. JYD clears the ring. Dibiase loads his black glove (a signature of his heel Mid South character I’ve read), but JYD gets the object. He tries to hit Borne, coming off the top and does – in pretend land. It missed by a mile. It was annoying but forgivable it other spots, like the punch to the stomach which had a lot of daylight, except now it’s during a big spot. Then the gorilla suit man attacks. It’s Duggan! He spears JYD. They call it a spear anyway, as it’s nothing like what Goldberg or later Edge do. That, or Duggan is retarded. Dibiase pins JYD and he’s gone for 90 days. Wow, Duggan and JYD screwed up what otherwise was a great angle for me. A lot of rose colored glasses on this one from older fans, I’m sure, but parts of that looked ugly.

Promo with Hacksaw Duggan, Borne, and Dibiase with the Louisiana, tag, and North Am. Titles. Good promos.

When I factor in the angle and execution with the wrestling, I come out happy. 3 ½ stars and 7/10 overall.

Get even more perspective on this match at Death Valley Driver Message Board