Friday, August 6, 2021

Mid-South Wrestling 12-19-81 Review

Original Airdate: Saturday, December 19th, 1981

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They hype up a dream match that you can send in to your local TV station and they'll tally up the votes. Ted DiBiase is here too and says that he'd rather have his leg broken than give up. 

Tom Renesto Jr. vs. Brian Blair

Renesto gets absolutely no reaction and Blair gets a polite applause. Blair hits some arm drags and the ring is about 10 times louder than the crowd. DiBiase is even worse on commentary than he would be later on in WWF. If you love arm work, this is the match for you. Renesto hits an awkward back body drop. Renesto seems to sandbag Blair back on a suplex. Blair puts on the Figure Four and that's all. DiBiase's enthusiasm sums up how good this was. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Precious Paul Ellering cuts a promo about being back bigger and better than ever. I have never actually seen Ellering in this role before and it's bizarre. He looks like an old muscle head in a Halloween costume. He wants to challenge Iron Sheik in a challenge with his clubs. 

Paul Ellering vs. Don Serrano

The crowd couldn't be much less interested in any of the wrestling on this show. Ellering hits a Rude Awakening and that's all there is to say about this match. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Mike Boyer vs. Junkyard Dog

This crowd is hardly even cheering for JYD. He hits a big forearm and a body slam for the victory. At least all of this is short at least? I guess? 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Bob Orton Jr. & Paul Orndorff vs. Carlos Zapata & The Monk

Orton and Orndorff bring some life to this flat show so far with some quick tags and attacks on Zapata. Zapata gets a sunset flip, but Orndorff goes right back on the offensive. Orton hits a nice dropkick and Orndorff does the same. Orndorff hits a top rope elbow off the shoulders of Orton and then Orndorff puts on the Figure Four for the victory. They really had two guys use the Figure Four as a finisher within a half hour of each other? This was a lot better than the previous three matches, but a squash is still a squash.

Match Rating: 1/2*

Bob Roop vs. Mike George

Roop goes up to the second rope, but George is ready, so he comes down. If that doesn't sound exciting, I don't know what does. George hits an atomic drop and the crowd likes that. George starts getting aggressive and is relentless on offense. He hits a dropkick, but Roop kicks out at 2 and it sends George to the floor. They start fighting on the ring post and Roop sidesteps George and he hits his shoulder on the ring post. Roop hits a running knee and gets the victory. This was much more competitive, but not exactly thrilling stuff. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

Ed Wiskowski vs. Mike Bond

I'm at the point in this episode where I just don't care anymore. Wiskowski just looks like your drunk uncle pretending to be a wrestler. I didn't even see what move he used to win and don't care enough to rewind it. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

So the ring announcer sums up the interview earlier about this test of strength. Ellering does 50 reps and of all the things, this is what the crowd enjoys the most. Skandor Akbar says that Iron Sheik will do this after his victory.

Iron Sheik vs. Frank Monte

Sheik dominates except for a small little burst from Monte. He then hits a German suplex for the victory. It's always weird for me to see Sheik when he could walk. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Akbar keeps saying that Sheik wrestled a grueling match and shouldn't have to do his test of strength and then we run out of time. 

This was absolutely terrible television. I'm not sure if I can stomach another episode of this. There is just nothing to like here. Should I move up a year or two to see if it's any better? Either way, I definitely need to re-think covering this. 

Overall Rating: 24%

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