The final of the trilogy of Midnights/Fans matches on this set, this one emanating from the Dallas Sportatorium.

The Fans do their gimmick of getting hugs and kisses at ringside, while the Midnights wait in the ring. This is for the American Tag Team Titles. Eaton starts with Rogers, which is probably the best combination. He’s tentative, and as usual Rogers begins to out-do Eaton. Eaton traps Rogers in his corner and they try to double team, but Rogers fires back and Bobby Fulton comes over. The Midnights cower, a slower start, but an interesting one. Five minutes gone.

Condrey comes in on Rogers, and Rogers schools him. Condrey bumps great for him, and then Fulton comes in for an offensive spurt. The Midnights stooge and bump for Fulton, and then it’s right back to Rogers. Condrey comes up with a killer clothesline on Rogers, who doesn’t know there was a tag. The Midnights go to work after generously giving up the first ten minutes of the match. As always, the Midnights utilize quick tags, cutting off the ring, and double teams. All of it is really good stuff. Eaton does a backbreaker/powerslam combo that’s out of this world. The crowd is on fire for the nearfalls as they cheer on the struggling Rogers. The crowd really came alive rooting on Rogers to come back. Of course he does. Fulton clears the ring with punches off the tag. Awesome false finish with Cornette tripping Fulton and Eaton pinning. The kick out was huge and unexpected. Right at the fifteen minute mark Cornette comes in with the tennis racket and hits Bobby Fulton, who has rolled up Eaton. Ref Manning sees it and DQs the Midnights, but they retain the belts.

This is a really hard thing to argue, but I’ll toss out there that the Midnights vs Fans trilogy may be the pound-for-pound best in ring series on the set. Freebirds/VEs and DD/VE have a lot more matches, and therefore a few clunkers. None of the Mids/Fans stuff on the set was weak. Obviously we aren’t seeing every match in every series, but I’m try to put over how good I think this series is. As for this match, another solid and good-to-great effort from all four wrestlers. The Christmas Day match was the tightest, but shorter, with a simple story. The second match from 1/11/95 they stretched out what they wanted to do with The Fans getting more of the front of the match, and the Midnights getting a longer heat segment. This was similar to the second match, but may have been slightly more impressive in an offensive sense. The midnights gave up almost exactly 2/3 of the match, and still you wouldn’t think this was an unbalanced squash or anything. The story was certainly still there, with the Midnights giving away the first ten minutes then roaring back by doing their classic stuff (cutting off the ring, double teams, quick tags). Everything from the Midnight control on is amazing. Eaton pulls off a backbreaker/powerslam combo. I really thought the near fall where Cornette trips Fulton was the finish. Great false finish. The actual finish was so heated that even with it being a DQ, you still felt like the bad guys didn’t get away with their evil plan, and the right guys got their hands raised. I enjoyed this. 3 ½ stars and 7/10

The rematch from the wonderful and smooth tag title match from Christmas Day—won by the Fantastics.

Cornette fires up the Midnights on camera “I don’t want nothin’ but belts!” Rogers controls the early going, a neat moment being Rogers kicking at the tag attempt Eaton makes from the apron. Bill Mercer on commentary is as always hilarious. “Condrey’s nickname is loverboy. That may not be a nickname.” You’d have to hear the way he says it to fully grasp the gay undertones. Roger’s does a headscissors on Eaton while keeping Condrey in a headlock, then takes them both over as the Fantastics clear the ring. A solid opening two minutes. Eaton comes in and bars Rogers arm, a nice bit of work for a run of the mill move. The Sportatorium crowd is really live for this one. Rogers ends a good sequence with two stellar drop kicks to run off Eaton. Five minutes gone.

Fulton finally tags in for a quick explosion that ends in both Fantastics giving the Midnights monkey flips. They clear the ring again. Back in, Fulton slows it down with a headlock on the mat, and Eaton continues to try and turn it into a pin. Eaton has some great bumps and moments of selling in this. Cornette is disgusted on the outside. Ten mines gone.

Condrey pulls Fulton’s hair and Eaton gives him a knee to the back. The Midnights wear out Fulton quickly with quick tags and fast moves. Words can’t do justice to how good the Midnights are at eating up opponents with offense and getting crowd heat. Fulton gets a hope spot, and Eaton just walks over to Rogers on the apron and punches him. No tag yet, and Fulton pays the price. Eaton freezes the match with a seated chin lock/camel clutch. Fulton has another hope spot that ens in a vicious clothesline on him. Fifteen minutes gone.

Fulton double crossbodies the Midnights then rolls for the hot tag to Rogers. Rogers goes wild as the Midnights bump for him. Condrey tries to toss Rogers out of the ring, but Rogers smashes into ref David
Manning for a believable ref bump. Midnights get contro, and look for the double whip from the corners for a Fantastics collision. Fans reverse and Rogers gets a visual pin on Eaton, who kicks out at one when ref Manning gets there. They go to the ropes where Midnight Exp. Manager Jim Cornette wacks Rogers with the tennis racket he carries around, Rogers falls to the mat, and Eaton covers for the three count. The Midnights win the tag belts in seventeen minutes.

It’s been said before, but I’ll say it again: The Midnights are amazing at what they do. The economy and efficiency of moves. The cheating, the stooging, the bumping and selling, down to the persona. They also had good teams to work with, and Tommy Rogers deserves the lion’s share of credit. He was tremendously under-rated, though I think after the Mid South set there was more credit being given to him. Tough match to judge against their Christmas Day match. I thought that match was more compact and in some ways a tighter story, but in this match allowed the participants to spread their wings and show their skills. It’s like they were given the extra five minutes to sink or swim on how good they were. They succeeded in my eyes. Very little to nitpick or complain about in this one, and I liked the heel finish. This will end up even higher than the Christmas Day match for me, though a comparative rewatch is probably in order. 3 ¾ stars and 7.3/10

The greatness of tag teams featured in the Mid South Diaries finds its way to Dallas on Christmas day. It’s the Midnights vs the Fantastics.

The Fantasics come off as pretty gay with their outfits, throwing out Candy Canes to the audience from their top hates (Yes, top hats). Hey, if it was cool in the eighties to wrestling fans, then… never mind. Cornette is with the Midnights. The Fantasics are WCCW American Tag Champs. Bobby Eaton and Tommy Rogers start out. It’s very smooth stuff. Cornette is animated and Rogers gets on him. The crowd is noisy. Great atmosphere. Rogers is hitting all the moves while Eaton is creating a lot of movement and bumping. This is above the level of Ice Man King Parsons and Chris Adams, and even Jimmy Garvin, who are all mainstays in this territories matches. Bobby Fulton and Dennis Condrey go at it. Condrey is not as good as Eaton, but he’s damn good, and he makes Fulton look like a million bucks. Fulton holds up his end. A lot of stooging from the heels. Condrey/Eaton do the “gay hug” spot to a fan reaction. Five minutes gone as smoothly as possible.

The quick and efficient way the Midnights sway this match with a double team and low tactics is poetry to my eyes. So good. Eaton takes over, but these guys are masters of quick tags, double teams, and cutting off the ring. We get all of that in the next minute as Rogers sells. Condrey with some big backbreakers. This stuff is little power, but totally tight finesse. The back elbows and kicks from the Midnights look perfect. The crowd is into the idea of Rogers tagging out, but he’s taking a beating. They don’t even do a rest hold until almost ten minutes in, and that gets big heat for its placement. A Rogers hope spot ends with a sick clothesline by Condrey. Ten minutes gone.

More and more a frustrated Fulton charges the ring after a taunt or injustice, only for Ref Lubich to back him up while fleet of foot Midnights double team Rogers. Condrey even does a double stomp to Rogers’s abs. Somehow Rogers sunset flips both Midnights—makes it look good—and gets to his corner in believable fashion for the hot tag to Fulton. The midnights feed the Fulton rally, all four men in the ring. Midnights gain the advantage for a moment, but Fulton ducks a double clothesline, Rogers grabs Condrey’s leg from the outside, and Fulton crossbodies Eaton for the pin. A perfectly executed final stretch to a pretty amazing thirteen minute match.

This one wasted no time. I have a feeling I might be slightly higher on this than most, but I don’t think anyone will have this in their bottom half. Where to begin—the crowd was good for this to give it that small extra bump, the character played their part incredibly well (even what little Cornette did was good stuff). The timing, I can not say enough about the finesse, execution, and timing of this match, right down to the perfectly executed finishing sequence. From the way Rogers outwrestled Eaton in a slick opening two minutes, to the way they glided right into the Midnights control segment, through all of that great selling by Rogers and good choice of moves from the Midnights—I’m very happy to have seen this match. Back elbows and backbreakers for everyone. 3 ½ and 7.3/10

Cornette and the Midnights are already in the ring doing mic work and getting heel heat to start the festivities. I love this heel move on Cornette’s part, and I’ve seen it on this set a few times. It’s very cool. I’d like to see something like this more often in modern wrestling, and I can say that LAX was doing it in TNA in ’06 and Larry Sweeney in ROH more recently. Rock N Rolls are out dancin’ around, being all babyface for 1985.

I watched the last match these two had on the set (1/21/85) again. I was hard on it, and wondered if perhaps I’d seen too much of the formula, both against each other and as separate entities. Well, it had a good heated heel heat segment with Morton playing Morton, but I feel my assessment was correct. I think at 3 ½ stars I’m being very fair with that match, and I don’t think it needs to be shoved up the ranks. There’s just too much great stuff in these 150 matches, and with so many high end matches the ranking between a #12 and a #32 could be razor thin.

Eaton puts the match into theatric “stall ball” right away. Robert Gibson ready to lock up, but Condrey takes a while to get on the apron, and then they consult. Then Cornette strategizes with Eaton and THEY hug. Face off – strategy session with Condrey. Face off – but Bobby tells everyone to wait. More strategy with Condrey, who is doing well working the crowd. I’m enjoying the nuances of this rivalry.

Lock up. Eaton misses a punch, but Gibson doesn’t. Beautiful Bobby literally runs to his corner and puts his head between the ropes. Then he does it again when he’s threatened a moment later. Very entertaining early stuff. I really enjoy the small things before we get to the meat and potatoes in this style of match. Eaton actually tells the ref to watch the fist from Gibson, and he says it with a pouting straight face.

Kick ass moment ensues. First Eaton gets caught in a head lock, and tries to get out with hair. Veteran move as he turns Gibson’s body anytimes the ref comes close to seeing the hair pull. Second is a play off a classic heel/MNX sequence where Bobby would throw a guy off the rope in the corner so he’s forced to run the ropes into the MNX corner. Condrey would then either give a high knee to the back through the ropes, or a fist to the face. When Eaton throws him here Gibson simply slows down, taunts Condrey, then moves out of the way. Eaton is coming from behind with a kick, but it goes (legit stiff) into Condrey stomach on the apron. Then we get dropkicks and a powder out to the floor as the MNX regroup with Cornette.

Ricky Morton in and he gets the happy crowd into more a frenzy. Eaton is hesitant and flustered. Morton takes care of Eaton with some great exchanges and the heels regroup again. Condrey is not happy, and the ref gets a mouthful. Then Eaton gives him some tips too. The fans get into it as Eaton starts asking them if his hair was pulled! Each side gives heat till he points the ref to Condrey, who agrees the RNRs pulled the hair. AWESOME. If this match has great heat segments and works in drama, it’s the full course meal, because it’s fun and well wrestled so far.

MNX try to trap Morton in the corner, but he’s to quick, and they retreat. Gibson and Condrey in, and Dennis is scared. He’s also no match for the headlock. He gets out and starts a shoulder block convention. Even gives Bobby a look and a dance after the third before hitting the rope for a fourth. But he’s out quicked and smarted again. Great heel whiney. The spacing of the men is great. The bumps and the moves are all crisp and solid. The verbal participation and character stuff is on, and all this makes me as happy as the crowd.

About ten minutes in we get a test of strength that shows how over the match is. The crowd gets into the test of strength struggle, and the men are barely doing anything. Only thing better would be huge heat for a rest hold on about the 4th hope spot before a comeback. Smart and fun stuff, again. Oh, and Condrey wins the test of strength Morton simply money flips him out. A second later they do a call back with Eaton Monkey flipping his own partner. It’s a bit silly, but perfect for the match, and as they roll out Cornette is pissed at Eaton for it, so I’m fine with it.

The Midnights finally outnumber the RNRs and Condrey trips Gibson in a wonderful looking turn of events. Choking him right away the fans act like they’ll riot. Eaton illegally off the top rope with a nice looking Alabama Jam, then swears it was off the second top. Everything in this match is done so the fans know exactly what’s being felt, said, and argued in the moment. The emotions are raw here. More choking from Eaton, moving Gibson so the ref can’t quite catch it again. Morton can’t take any more of this, but while he drags Eaton off, Cornette hits Gibson with the tennis racket, then walks away with a “who me?” face. The ref does go out to talk to him, but now you got a double team in the ring. The heels are the definition of cheating with the numbers advantage. 15 minutes gone by.

Gibson fights for the corner only to get cut off a second time by Eaton, and they utilize there third or fourth tag in and out here. Why isn’t cutting off the ring, holding the opponent, and fresh tags more a part of modern wrestling, since we still often use the hot tag formula. It’s just not as sports oriented. Surgical, in a way.

I need to mention its Robert Gibson selling here, and its formula busting. I love this match, and Gibson is really doing his job fighting off a Condrey’s hammer lock as he crawled for Morton. Crowd is on fire as Gibson is inches away from the tag, but Eaton cuts it off by hitting Morton. Then they double team when Morton is sent back to the corner for coming in. Crowd eats it up.

More choking. Another cut off by way of grabbing the tights, and Eaton even hits a suplex. He looks so weak doing any power moves, even a simple one. Gibson is fighting him with all his might and the crowd wants the tag so bad. Big hope spot and Eaton ends it with a clothesline. Eaton goes up top but gets superplexed off, and that just does not happen in 1985. They strain and milk the hot tag. Here it is! It’s Morton who because the house of fire! He’s punching everyone in sight. Only part of the match that sucks is here, as he puts the abdominal stretch on Eaton in the middle of the big finish. Why!?

Robert Gibson tosses Cornette in, and though he holds Morton to get punched, it’s Cornette that Eaton socks. Crowd is jumping up and down screaming. Looks like the heels might win as Eaton is leaning over and punching Gibson, but Ricky Morton runs in the ring and sunset flips Eaton. 1-2-3. The Rock N Rolls finally (for this set) beat the Midnight Express!! Great way to bring this around, even if they had beaten them clean in the past.

I loved this match. It wqas dinner AND a movie. Well, more like Dinner, the movie, fly to France for desert, and all the sex afterwards in the finest hotel. It had everything you want as a fan, from funny to serious, goofy spots to technical beauty. Great story telling. A satisfying finish. I’ve gotta go back to see the my #7 through 9 matches, as seven is a MNX vs RNR match, eight is Fans vs Guerrerros, and nine is the classic angle of Rat Pack vs JYD/Olympia with L.L.T. stip. This match may be in that realm of lower top ten matches, and I might have said top 20 perhaps even halfway through the match. It just grows on you as the whole puzzle is shown. 4 stars and 8.3/10.

Match Discussion Here

Be prepared for ALOT of Mid South 80s content here over the next two weeks, but don’t neglect our ROH, Chikara, and other match coverage. Thanks!

Match # 46: Rock and Roll Express/Butch Reed vs Dr. Death/Kamala/One Man Gang 2/25/85

Butch Reed as a face? When did this happen? Research time.

Well, according to Wikipedia (which gets a bad rap but it’s correct 90% of the time) Reed was switched shortly after JYD bailed on Mid South for the WWF without giving notice. Skandor Akbar had been brought in as a heel manager and was building a stable. He apparently presented sometime Reed tag partner Buddy Landell with a gold rolex watch. The watch wasn’t actually for Landell or Reed, but someone else Akbar was recruiting, and was “being held” by Landell. Reed gets angry, smashes the watch, and gets beat down from Landell, Ted Dibiase, Steve Williams, and Hercules (this was actually Akbar’s faction). Apparently longtime foe Duggan came out to even the odds. The two Hacksaws bonded – “hey, you know how we fought over our nickname? Lets both be Hacksaws. K? Yeah! Friends? Friends!” – and feuded with the heel stable until Kamala ran Butch Reed out of the territory.
Alright, that was interesting enough, but seein’ is believing, and luckily the first Extras disk has this angle, so I’m on it.

So here’s the angle. Boyd Pearce is in the ring with Akbar and Buddy Landell. Akbar is demanding “results” from Buddy. Buddy looks hilarious in his pink robe. He wants more money to help Akbar out. Landell isn’t bad as a hustler here. Akbar gives him a “solid gold rolex watch valued at 10 to 12 thousand American dollars”. Landell likes the incentive, and he will deliver next week. I’m guess he is supposed to deliver Reed to sign/align under Akbar.

Akbar reminds us all that Dibiase and “The Rat Pack” is back. I’m guessing this was Dibiase and Steve Williams under the old faction name that he had a good run with (Borne and Hacksaw Duggan). In this case he’s threatening Duggan.

Now it’s a week later. Jim Ross is in the ring for a “press conference” with Gen. Akbar, Hercules, Buddy Landell, and Jim Cornette in a mask. I forget why Cornette is in a mask, but it’s an amusing angle. Akbar has purchased the contract of Hercules from Cornette. The detail work here blows away modern wrestling and makes me sad. Oh well, I appreciate that they use to do it. Akbar has given Hercules one of his head dressings and made him an honorary Sheik.

Landell cuts Akbar off. “I gottem’ for ya baby. I told ya. I got him”. Landell is patting them both on the back. Funny stuff.

Akbar admonishes Landell. This is the Akbar I remember from WCCW that I both feared yet loved as a kid. He’s just worthless during the actual matches. Once again, watching the angles adds anywhere from a half to a full point to voters scores, I’ll bet you any money. I’m not being bullied on my ballot, don’t you worry you two people reading this. Stay strong.

Akbar notices the watch on Landell. He demands his get what he wants. Landell tries to play it cool like a used car salesman and says he’ll deliver today. Really good subtle and NATURAL stuff. Nothing like the obvious over scripted stuff today, but just as effective I’m sure. The entire faction leaves.

Now it’s later in the show. Jim Ross is announcing the next match. Butch Reed is in the ring and Landell grabs Ross’ attention. He says over the mic he has business to discuss. He talks to Reed but just off mic, which is awesome, cause all you get is Reed’s reaction.

“Wha..What? I AM the man, boy. Don’t you know who I am?”

Reed was awesome on the mic and episodically I can see his matches were much better seeing this stuff week to week and being at the shows live as he yelled at opponents. He says he ran JYD out of Mid South and beat up Master Gee. Reed says he stands alone and in effect turns down the Akbar deal, and Landell is comparable modern times to Larry Sweeny during a deal falling apart. His last ditch effort is the watch, which he gives to Reed. Reed is insulted. Oops! Reed broke it. Landell freaks and shoves him, and Reed’s shove back results in an awesome bump from Landell.

Akbar, Hercules, and Dibiase are out. Akbar talks business. Great mic work. Reed turns down the final offer and fights all the men. He gets the crap kicked out of him. Jim Duggan is out with a 2×4. Place explodes. I’m trying to this of the modern equivalent, and the best I can do is HHH saving HBK to reform DX two years ago.

Back from commercial Butch is still recovering, but he and Duggan are at the announcers table as Bill Watts sets the stage. Duggan says after this he and Reed need to sit down and talk. Get things straight. He says the two don’t agree with everything the other does, but after years of fueding, there is respect. They’ll keep an eye on each other, but should be focused on the terror Akbar is bring to Mid South with his stable. Reed’s turn to talk. Reed likes the idea of respect. He’s fired up and wants to fight. They agree to unite. Very Watts-logic Man’s Man angle.

So now I’ve gotta watch this match, but I think the angle is a lot more interesting than this will be. We’ll see.

Reed’s jawing at Akbar from the start. Tells him to fight his own battles. I love that the Rock and Rolls and Reed are supposed to be pals. That’s like one of the New Jack being buddies with Kendrick and London. Kamala has his handler KimChee, which was always silly to me. Kamala was a one trick pony gimmick and the definition of a middler heel that would only main event at places like the Mid South Coliseum in Memphis to put Lawler over. The quintessential crappy Mania opponent for Undertaker to squash. And then we have the One MN Gang, who looks like an even more out of shape Tim Sylvia. How depressing that Doc was put with these goofs when he wasn’t with Dibiase or feuding with Gordy.

We start with a six man brawl. Total disorganization, BUT NO ONE CARES. Crowd pops and the faces stand in the ring and pose. Heels regroup. Kamala is way to self aware to be a savage. Why does no one mention that.

Morton and Williams to start. This should be great. Kamala is in the wrong corner “because he’s confused”. Ugh. Williams is very bother by “Rock and Roll” chants. I know this reminds some voters of their happy childhoods, and maybe if it were other competitors I’d find this all cute or smart, or whatever, but it’s just mind numbing. I like old school, but this is forced.

Finally they lock up. Williams is powerful but Morton is too fast. He gets the better of Doc and OMG. They regroup. Great heat for the regroup. Why does every face do a stupid leg dance in this time frame. No wonder Mick Foley loves that crappy dance.

OMG is in to box with Butch Reed. It ends badly. He wants Kamala, and tells us all. Doc stays in. Robert Gibson is in and beating Doc. Interesting. Reed really wants Kamala so he goes after him in the ring, disrupting the match. In fairness Kamala was breaking up a pin. See, he doesn’t know how to pin a guy, but he understands the dynamics of tag team wrestling strategy. There’s comedy wrestling and “that’s wrestling for ya”, and Kimala is neither. He’s just insulting crap. Of course WWE fans love him.

Reed really slugs it out with Kimala, which hurts his team, as in the mayhem OMG catches Morton’s back with a kick. Williams with some good power move work on the back. Kimala with some savage beating stuff. Kimala’s whole “I don’t know where I am” gimmick still distracting from the match as he climbs the ropes. OMG with a bear hug to match the one Williams did. Morton’s selling for the big men is very good here. Mid- to- late 90s HBK.

Morton breaks free of a bear hug for a hope spot. Kimala and OMG beat Morton till OMG does a very rude slap tag to Kimala’s back, and Kimala responds with chops to his partner. The Morton drop kick that is suppose to knock Doc into Gang and then Kimala is all screwed up, so the whole spot looks like crap. I know, I know, I don’t “get it” cause the fans did react, but if that’s my gauge for ranking matches like this, then all Hogan matches are the greatest of all time, and I officially would not enjoy wrestling any longer. So no, the comeback was botched, and I don’t care that it was everyone’s darling Morton who did it.

Somehow in the typical hot tag 30 seconds to finish part Morton pinned Doc for the win. He must have skipped the tag Robert Gibson portion of the formula. Oh well.

Look, it’s not horrible. Everyone in the match gave a lot of effort and played there characters. The match was decent, and the crowd heat was very hot. The layout was fine (though I get tired of it, this was very good Morton since he sold for big men), and Akbar was at his best at ringside. I just wasn’t into the details and side show stuff here. The guys just didn’t m ix well for me with the gimmicks, both face and heel, and the only interesting part of Reed’s face persona and quest to get at Akbar’s guy. 2 ¾ and 5/10.

For more on this match, Click here.

I’m at a loss as to who Young is, but Reed was deep into a major heel run in Mid South by this print.
This is a solid NOTHING match. That’s right – solid, yet nothing. Reed is a good, but not great, heel. Good in the ring, but nothing masterful. Good but not great presence. He talks a decent game, and understands how to work a good heel mid card match with a “plucky” or “fiery” babyface.

Young is capable enough to be in the match, but there isn’t to this. Reed carries the early part with his mouth, both talking trash to Young, and arguing rules and calls with ref Carl Fergie.

Young just jumps around a lot, and Reed stays deliberate and moves away. Sometimes Young wins an exchange, and Reed complains to the ref. The complaints are the best part.

Otherwise, they show solid basics and iffy other stuff. Finish is nothing with Reed gaining an advantage, hitting a press slam, and that being sold as a death move. This gives Reed time to hit a sloppy elbow from the second rope for a clean pin. I mean the man did a goofy wobble sell and buck bump for a rough grinding headlock. Even adjusting selling/style/movement to the times, it’s silly. There’s also a loose chin lock and leverage rope sequence that somehow was horrible.

Chalk this up as another instance of me not seeing eye-to-eye with the other votes. It isn’t the first and it won’t be the last. I give links to the DVDVR mess board so you can get other opinions and thoughts from both first time viewer along with old M.S. fans who watched it at the time, on have extremely watched territory stuff.

This difference of opinion falls in with “Walking Tall” Bill Watts 4/84 and the Christmas ’83 cage match. I just don’t get it no matter how I try to look at it. 2 stars and 3/10

Match # 31: Fantastics vs Midnight Express (No DQ) 9/28/84

The match they had earlier in the set really grew on me, thought I thought the ending was a bit off. I’m totally sold on the original Midnights, which you know if you’ve been reading. I’m also eager to see more of the Fantastics, as I’ve seen a lot more R&R and know their shtick/rep, while I wanna see just what the Fantastics have by comparison, History has always said R&R greater than Fans., but I’ve been impressed with the Fantastics.

No disqualification starts with the old “throwing robes” blinding trick by the faces! They clear the ring, clever young guys. And here I thought those were just for looking gay.

A hot first three minutes of brawling, and a hot last few, but not enough to make this stand out. The Midnights were good, but not great as far as their jobs here. Don’t get me wrong, they got the fans crazy with heat (Cornette was great in a bright green suit and Lucha mask), but in the context of the set, it was less than the earlier match against the Fans. The Fans, well, I think I’m joining the old guard on this point: the Fans were not as good in Mid South as the R&Rs.

Good hard core for the times with fury and effort. Spills outside then in again. Fantastics sell pained fists after delivering punches. Eaton sells “broke noses” after punches well. These are some positives.

Negatives are portions of the Fant. offense, and them not knowing what to do with a guy after grabbing him at times (hit him? Ask the crowd? Well just stand there then). They end up dancing around all goofy, nodding their heads, and just throwing punches. I realize it’s a no DQ match, but it wasn’t like they were on an intense attack in the ring. There’s a lot of non-legal man coming the apron and just standing around in the case of Bobby and Tommy. That puts a lot of pressure on the Midnights to carry the match with selling. IMO, it was good but not the MNX best work.

Five minutes gone by announced like a cue, as the Midnights immediately go on offense and beat down the arm. Better on second viewing, but not as compared with the entire set.

I go back and forth on the “better wing man” Fans vs. R&R Exp. argument. Robert Gibson or Bobby Fulton? I was leaning against purists (Gibson) until this match. Fulton does quite do it in the role of selling, but he’s not really as good as Tommy Rogers offensively or hot tag wise either.

Side note: Midnights know just when to give a guy a little comeback, get the crowd hot for a tag, and snatch it away. Life a fisherman giving slack on a line.

Fulton ruins the match for me by busting loose at the wrong time, then hitting the ropes numerous times instead of tagging out. Rogers looks like he’s annoyed, and so do the MNX. Rogers just comes in anyway and a minute later it all turns to crazy brawls. Lots of spot whispering.

Ref bump. Visual fall. Cornette does something to a face. Timing way off and the heel covers the face for about 30 seconds before a count. It was good but not a top vote getter. Mid Exp retain titles. 3 stars and 5/10

It would be fair to say I liked this more than Fans/Duggan vs Midnights/Corny, but less than their last tag meeting. Khan vs. Adams was better.

Nice. Watching the last match I was hoping for a straight tag without Duggan/Cornette. We get an arena match-up to boot.

Random thought. This is at what looks to be an Oklahoma arena. A smaller one, but legit 6,000-10,000 seat arena. The floor is full and small parts of the stands, but a lot is empty. Funny promoters didn’t learn until years later to consolidate the rest of the building and curtain it in half. Many fans are alot farther away than they need to be and setting up in farthest corner gives you 3 elevated bleacher sides.

House show matches have such an advantage when it comes to the initial feeling out process. The time is there for extended “story” spots and heel shenanigans.

Bobby Eaton and Dennis Condrey could move really move for two guys who don’t look naturally athletic. They were! Great running the ropes/drop down stuff and a heel/face sped up shoulder block challenge.

When the Midnights could find an opening they’d really jump on their heel cue and isolate the opponent/body part. They got to work quickly and it really did look like a “game plan”. In this match they really hit everything snug and hard, which I love. They also had a great habit of selling like that baby who was a bully on the playground, yet cried to his mom.

Great segment when the heels gain control of Dennis in particular taking apart Tommy Rich’s back. A guy asked me this week what my favorite Midnights teaming was. Until recently, I’d say the star Lane version. Now – well it would take about 5 good to great lane matches to get me back to that.

The Fantastics are overly gay. I don’t mean that in an anti-homosexual way either. But they are the ultimate ambiguously gay duo and I’m shocked Southern fans never picked up on it.

Their work is solid if not dry at times. They were muscled up shorter guys who could work, but not as flashy as the R+Rs. Not the bumps, fire, or drop kicks of R+R or Midnights. Not the selling of Morton, not the crowd favorite in the same way. Yet they were good at it all and added up, were terribly underrated.

I know I’m verbally blowing the Midnights, but they got great heat by drawing the faces into the ring after double teaming the partner in peril.

There’s an odd minute in the match where the Fantastics play heel and switch without a tag. Purists may have disliked it, but I thought it was refreshing for the era.

Story of the second half is Tommy Rogers trying to make the tag and getting cut off. They work his back with heel moves/tactics until he makes the tag when the crowd really is really for it. Built well minute to minute in feeling the crowd build to excess.

Okay, I’m taking points off for the finish. Awkward as the other part. (I think its Steve Kiern) cleans Louise. Condrey tries to tape his hard, but never gets there. Then he and Bobby try a double clothesline, but never use the fist. Cross body (bad spacing) on Condrey, and then a bad fast count pin. I’m being a picky mark, cause the fans loved the faces winning, but my job is the overall work and ranking. ¼ deducted.

I need to reassess my star and ten point system at about 75 matches – half the voting set. I thought they’d bring more clarity, but that’s only true in a micro version, and not macro. Too much separated by nothing on my list. A second viewing of all 3 ¼ and higher rankings is necessary. As nothing is breaking out, and nothing I feel okay with putting at 4 stars or above has shown up. This was pretty good. Glad to see a straight tag without Duggan or RNR in there with the Midnights. 3 ¼ and 6/10.

I’m not doing a big write up for this. Sometimes I feel I must for a match; sometimes I enjoy it, and sometimes it just happens. But the point of this journey through the Mid-South is exploration and fun, and I just don’t think a full write up would be worth it.

Simple notes. The gimmick is Cornette is finally gonna get his. Not only from his teams new rivals, the Fantastics, but from the top babyface, Hacksaw Duggan.

Match works this way: Eaton in, does work, and gets shown up by a Fantastic. Then he gets the advantage, tags in Corny, who does two moves to REAL heat. Then the face gets up and Corny runs away. He gets heat on the face, the pure definition of it, and then they tease him getting beat up. His boys, the Midnight Express, protect him through both Fantastics and Duggan. Barely.

Then the second rope breaks. What a surprise! We’re in Houston. Where was I? Oh, The Midnights get heat on the faces and it’s awesome. The entire match is slower but well paced, like a WWE PPV midcard match. Unfortunately, this match ends with interference.

Duggan kills everyone, gets Cornette in the ring alone, and Hercules Hernandez comes down to protect him. Well, I guess it protects Corny in a booking sense. Whatever.

I don’t rate this highly. I get the gimmick, I thought they did it well, but even a gimmick gets a match that bored me a half star of extra credit. That’s just how I feel. Not horrible, but won’t be in my top 100. 2 1/2 stars 4/10.

First of all, they clipped ten seconds “down” points here and there, so the flow is messed up. It’s small, but it really makes you feel like you are watching a home movie with jump cuts. Pulls you out of the moment at times.

Midnights and Ladd come down to legit old timer heat, unlike most old territory stories of heat and sell outs, these are visually for real.

They tease Ladd and Hacksaw from the onset, including a stare down, and this time the crowd (Tulsa?) really buys in. Again, the Midnights talk him out of it.

The match is very similar, but not a full copy, of the match a month back. The ideas and segments are in the same order, but the moves and spots are mostly new ideas.

For instance, Morton gets in early and gives both Eaton and Condrey fits, but the heels hitting each other spot is new. Also, Gibson makes an early appearance, taking some of Morton’s early faces prevail against the odds stuff for his own. The Midnights are still all over, selling like crazy, as always.

Ladd gets in to beat on Gibson and he’s a lot more agile tonight. We’ll get several double leg drops throughout the match.

Same Duggan vs Ladd showdown is built up. Some Duggan is superman stuff here. Ladd’s bitch tits are really distracting. I swear at times the heels aren’t tagging, expecting the ref to kick them out, but he doesn’t Maybe I’m crazy.

Same Duggan kills both Midnights segment, including each man trying to pin him And getting pressed multiple times.

Morton gets tagged in to play the face in peril. Condrey and Morton fly around the ring hard until Condrey holds the rope and Morton misses a drop kick. The Midnights and Ladd begin the three man beat down portion of our show.

Just like last time the heels taunt the faces and cut off the ring. Lots of hope spots for Morton and near tags. Ladd is specifically great in this stretch.

This match is from a one-shot ringside camera, and though the camera work at times is weak, you get an amazing idea of how hard and physical these men were. The portions of the tag teams in there are unbelievable, but I know from sitting ringside at modern ROH shows that this DVD doesn’t do justice to the crowd heat, aura, and effort you’d see and hear live. Great stuff.

Finish comes, like last time, with Morton making a hot tag and the match breaking down. All four men in. Robert Gibson with the roll up on Eaton. Ladd pulls out the knux he used in the first match to KO Gibson. Ladd pins him.

I can’t put this match above or below the match from a month back. Same match with similar work. A different finish, but the crowd reaction was similar, and in this case I don’t know if people hated the finish. Nowadays we have matches like HBK vs HHH from Royal Rumble years back where everyone hates it because it was a great match and a bad finish. That doesn’t apply here. Same score, as I liked parts of each match differently. 3 ½ and 7/10.

Another fun experiment on this disk – a six man tag where the first meeting (at least on the disk)and the second meeting are a month apart. It’s similar to the TA/Dibiase matches to start the set, but not the same day.

I’m a fan of “trios matches” – three-on-three. Maybe it’s a deep seated love of the Freebirds, but a more practical excuse is I love when a booker intersects storylines with faces and heels going on at the same time. In this case it’s a tag team feud and two singles who may or may not be feuding.

I love that the fans know and love these characters and their stories because they are so familiar with them. While I wasn’t watching during the weekly territory primes, it is something I experienced with “the last territory”, ECW. Same story here. The Midnights and RNRs are on top of a great tag team division, feuding for months. Hacksaw Jim Duggan had become a majorly over face, most notably through a feud with Dibiase. Then we have the Big Cat, Ernie Ladd. Ladd has bad knees and is in the twilight of his career. The stage is set. Lets get to the action.

I love the early feeling out process because all six men are so over that they can each go through the pairings (all nine), take their time, and tell a story with a less is more approach.
Lots of teases as to who starts out. Ladd wants it, but they talk him out of it. Eaton starts. A lot of psychology with the facials and gestures. Eaton took ONE bump.

Condrey vs Morton. Condrey gets pulled into the faces corner and beat up. Even Bobby Eaton runs in to take another bump. They are teasing the giant big man, Ladd, but not giving us him yet.

Condrey and Eaton isolate Morton, and we get Morton vs Ladd. Awesome stuff here that makes me think of Taker vs HBK. HBK probably watched a lot of RNR during his Rocker days. Same thing.

Ladd picks him up twice ad drops him. Morton bumps a few times, but uses his speed to figure out the giant. Ladd takes one good bump. Smart worker. Ladd isn’t as awkward as Giant Baba, but he’s not graceful either. He takes two arm drags and a crossbody. Smart detail as he kicks out at one. Then he blows my mind with a double leg drop that isn’t half bad.

Duggan and Eaton. Christ, Duggan is already acting like the retard he became in WWF. Eaton sells his ass off before tagging out. Great camera shot of Cornette giving Eaton advice after he’s out of the ring. Eaton and Condrey do the subtle gay/caring wuss brother stuff so well.

Duggan and Condrey segment is good because both Midnights bump their asses off for Duggan. I’m amazed these guys weren’t killed off sooner, but then with Cornette I guess they always got their heat back. Duggan is doing the chest puffed out/hands on hips thing. LAME! I know there’s a segment of old timers who love his work here, but I want the Duggan I saw here with and against Dibiase in ’82-83. Duggan becomes invincible and the bumps get more cartoonish.

Ladd vs Duggan. It all builds to this. Place explodes, and they milk the interaction before the contact like Hogan would. Gestures and facials. My God, Ladd got up to take a back drop!! More Duggan playing super hero.

Very awkward moments as Duggan wants Ladd whipped into the ropes, but Ladd is supposed to put “brass knux” on his hand first. The result is a stalemate until the ref pulls them apart, and then we do get two poorly executed knux shots. Guess we get Duggan selling. He must have replaced JYD as the territories top face at this point.

12 minutes in I realize Robert Gibson is actually on the babyface side as he protests the knux with Morton. Eaton helps Ladd do another shot, and now we get big crowd heat. All the heels walk in and out of the ring beating on Duggan, and yet he hulks up.

14 minutes in. Fast paced stuff when you least expect it as Gibson gets in, so we get Midnights and RNRs back and forth. Faces save Morton from chair shots on the outside. Unfortunately for him, he’s rolled in and all three heels beat the shit out of him. Hacksaw keeps trying to run in, only to distract the ref.

The last few minutes have been so hectic and present a real fight/drama feeling. Great heat segment that draws you in as a fan. These fans clap, stomp, and chant “Rock & Roll”. So many near tags and cut offs. Every heel gets in 3-4 times. 19 minutes in. Condrey and Morton collide. Ref does double count. Morton fights to his feet, where Eaton is between he and his corner. Running start and Morton leaps over him to tag Duggan. The place explodes with the hot tag. Then the ref comes over, having not seen it, to hold back Duggan as Morton is dragged away. Just great stuff there, a lot of which was the crowd buying in. It works like a well done false finish, and we still could have one of those.

20 minute sin. It breaks down. All six men in the ring. Cornette rushes in as everyone is working their asses off. Ricky Morton turns as Cornette is about to spray him in the face with an aerosol can. Cornette panics, falls down, and rolls away. Luckily for Morton he picks up the can. He sprays Eaton and rolls him up for the babyface win.

Post-match the Midnights, Cornette, and Ladd destroy the faces with the help of the tennis racket. Great heat, much like the 2/10/84 Houston post-match beatdown on TA and Wrestling II. Midnights lose yet stay over. Very good stuff.

The match made Duggan and Ladd look so much better than they really were at the time. It also showed how great the original Midnights and Morton were. Gibson was just sort of there, but what little he did was good.

Now I have the task of defining the match in terms of overall quality and rank it. Crap! I’ll use the disk one rankings. It’s better than Cash/Dundee vs Midnights. Better than the ’83 Christmas cage match. It’s better than Dibiase vs Duggan (No DQ), though not by a huge margin. So we’re closer. I think it’s on par with Reed/Landell vs RNRs, which I had at 3 ½ stars.

I put this one at 3 ½ and 7/10, above Landell/Reed vs RNRs. I enjoyed the second TA vs Dibiase slightly more though, for what it’s worth. Now, can the match a month later elevate this set to a new level? We’ll see.