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Post: #1076393
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This message was edited by garretta on April 14th, 2024 01:34 GMT
I've been working on a series of threads on other boards based on the YouTube page of a user named Job Guy that celebrates some of the sport's most famous preliminary guys. The vast majority of the footage came from the WWF, but there were also some matches from JCP, Florida, Memphis, and Mid-South,
The two Mid-South guys featured on the page are Tony Zane and Art Crews. All of the matches aired in 1983 on the Shreveport Mid-South TV show.
We'll begin with Zane's first match on Mid-South TV, as he battles a young Tim Horner:
1. Tim takes Tony down right after the opening lockup, but doesn't get a count before Tony kicks out,
2. Bill says that this is the third standby match, which meant that the main event had to be relatively short.
3. Bill mentions that Ted DiBiase and Mr, Olympia won the Mid-South tag team title earlier in the program. Does anyone know when this program was taped?
4. Tony knocks Tim down with a pair of shoulder blocks off the ropes, but Tim takes him to the mat with a drop toe hold.
It's easy to get caught up in Bill's masterful one-man discussion about the implications of the tag title switch and forget about the match at hand. No announcer in the business, not even Gordon Solie, did a better job at breaking down angles and discussing their repercussions than Bill did,
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Post: #1076400
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This message was edited by garretta on April 14th, 2024 02:01 GMT
5. With a little over a minute left in the hour, a decision seems very unlikely. At the moment, Horner's in control with a side headlock.
Meanwhile, Bill previews the following week's card. which features a main event of Mr. Wrestling II vs. The Black Ninja, plus a midget tag team match.
I seem to remember seeing a midget match once on a Mid-South DVD I bought, and while there were still some comedy spots, it was presented as a competitive contest. and even the comedy came from the athleticism of the performers. They didn't kick the referee in the pants or do some of the real off-the-wall stuff that was a staple of the midget matches up north.
6. Horner slams Zane off of a lockup and hooks the leg, but only gets one. He snaps Zane over and again hooks the leg, but can only get another one-count, A small package gets a solid two, Tim hits a forearm, sends Tony in for the ride, and hits a dropkick, but can only get one and a half.
7. As the bell rings to signal a draw, Tony hooks Tim for a sunset flip, but Tim falls down on top.
These two have a rematch later in the comp,
8, On commentary, Bill says that he likes to pit up-and-comers against each other in televised matches so the fans have a better idea of which ones are learning the sport and have the potential to become stars.
No other promoter that I know of shared that philosophy; the only reason that the WWF showed jobber matches on TV was because they needed to fill two hours on Prime Time Wrestling every week.
Next: To be determined.
Thoughts?
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Post: #1076401
PT: #3/16
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Have always been kind of fascinated with Tony zane, have only seen his matches on TBS in the early 80s,.....also interesting that Bill Watts would even use the midgets given his booking philosophy
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Post: #1076402
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I guess he felt he needed an attraction for the smaller kids, Eater. Plus, it was a nice payday for the little guys, as Mid-South drew some huge houses back in the day.
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Post: #1076406
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This message was edited by Eater of the Dead on April 14th, 2024 05:31 GMT
Quoted from: garretta, April 14th, 2024 02:05 GMTI guess he felt he needed an attraction for the smaller kids, Eater. Plus, it was a nice payday for the little guys, as Mid-South drew some huge houses back in the day.
Makes sense, I certainly don't object to him using the midgets, I was just surprised that he did..... and it's funny sometimes how the posts work on this board, I actually made my comment about the midgets right after you stated that they were advertised for the next week....the rest of your post had not yet loaded when you talked about it being a competitive match without the outrageous comedy spots.. which was a good answer to the point I was making, but an answer which I had not yet seen since it hadn't yet loaded when I made my point :-)
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Post: #1076530
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This message was edited by garretta on April 16th, 2024 02:41 GMT
Now it's time for the rematch between Zane and Horner:
1. This is another expiration-of-time match, so I'm not expecting a definitive finish.
2. As Tim and Tony exchange holds, Bill hypes next week's main event: DiBiase and Olympia defending the tag team championship against the Junkyard Dog and Hacksaw Jim Duggan (pronounced by Bill as "DOO-gan").
3. The highest impact move so far has been a headscissors from Zane which lasted all of about two seconds.
4. Tim grabs a side headlock, but Tony shoots him off. Tim knocks him down with a shoulder, and Tony drops down, looking for Tim to run the ropes. Instead, Tim runs over the top of him, stops, and takes him back down with a headlock.
Meanwhile, Bill talks about why it's legal for guys like Mil Mascaras and Harley Race to come off the top rope in Mid-South, where coming off the top is explicitly punishsable by disqualification.
Apparently, Mil and Harley simply dive off the top, rather than coming down with a knee or fist. Diving is legal, striking a blow isn't. (In other words, two guys whom Bill seldom books can use the ropes all they want, but those who make a day-to-day living in his promotion better watch out.)
Bill also talks about how Mil insists that pulling his mask should be treated by the referees as if his hair was being pulled. Is Mil coming into the area for a few dates or is Bill just filling time that could be used talking about the match going on in front of him?
5. Tony takes Tim over with a hiptoss, but Tim kicks out and goes right back to the side headlock. Tony shots him off and catches him with an elbow as Bill promotes an upcoming appearance by Dusty Rhodes.
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Post: #1076531
PT: #7/16
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That explanation of why it's legal for Harley and Mil to come off but not other guys is really really strange. I do recall hearing some kind of variation of that explanation, but it had to do with whether the opponent was prone on the mad or not, in other words if the guy was standing and you came off with a flying body press, that's different than coming off the top rope when he's prone on the mat. Still pretty weak, but it made some sort of sense. Bill's explanation here makes no sense whatsoever
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Post: #1076532
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This message was edited by garretta on April 16th, 2024 03:00 GMT
6, Tony and Tim start to mix it up with punches, and you can see the referee telling them to use forearms instead. Tim shoots Tony in and catches him with a backdrop, then drops a knee on his head, hooks the leg and gets the three-count,
As the tape cuts out, Bill reminds us that only the shoulder blade needs to be down for the pin to be counted. Sure enough, most of Tony's shoulder seemed to be up, but I guess enough of the blade was down to make a count possible.
7. I've noticed that Bill's already getting on JYD for being out of shape, talking about problems he had with quickness and foot speed in a match against Bob Roop and saying that he'd better get himself together for his matches against Butch Reed.
I can understand Bill's concerns and his need to warn JYD that he was headed the wrong way down a one-way street, but does anyone else think that being publicly criticized in that manner by his boss may have led JYD to seek friendlier (and more lucrative) pastures even if Vince hadn't come calling? He'd have been a great fit in JCP and World Class, just to name two,
Next: To be determined.
Thoughts?
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Post: #1076534
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This message was edited by garretta on April 16th, 2024 04:23 GMT
Bill had a reputation as a straight from the shoulder commentator who called his product like a real sport, but that reputation's overblown, to say the least.
I don't think even Vince at his cheesiest ever came up with a reason like that to explain why a rule wasn't really a rule. Bill would have been better off saying, "Mil requested that the top rope rule be waved in his matches, and we've decided to grant his request so you fans can see him at his best,"
As for Harley, I can't recall him being booked in Mid-South once Bill bought the territory, certainly not as NWA World champion. Why even bring him up? (If I'm wrong and Harley wrestled for Watts, especially as NWA World champion, let me know.)
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This message was edited by garretta on April 17th, 2024 02:48 GMT
Next up for Tony: a match against George Weingeroff.
1. The on-screen graphic spells George's name "Weingroff", but I went with the spelling I've seen on this board.
2. Bill puts over George's amateur credentials at the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga.
3. Tony's from Rome, Georgia. Was he close with fellow Rome native Marty Lunde, who we all know as Arn Anderson?
4. George applies a side headlock, which Tony tries to get out of with an atomic drop. But George stops the move before Tony can get his knee in position, keeps the headlock and takes Tony down to the mat with it.
Meanwhile, Bill's talking about how George maintains his wrestling career despite being legally blond, much like Bill's mentor Leroy McGuirk did,
5. Tony uses the hair to shoot George off, drops down, then tries for a hiptoss, but George manages to reverse it, then goes right back to the side headlock.
This is another match that goes to expiration of time, so whether we'll see a fall or not is anyone's guess.
6. Tony again uses the hair to back George up and shoot him off, but George leapfrogs him, then takes him down with a sunset flip for about one and a half.
7. Tony misses a wild swing, and George hits him with an atomic drop that sends him to the corner. After a right hand to the referee's blind side, George sends hm for the ride, but puts his head down and gets caught with a boot to the head.
George shakes it off and snap mares Tony over, partially by the hair. He drops an elbow to the chest, then uses a pinning combination that Bill calls the banana split to take Tony down and score the three-count. It's a cradle takedown from abdominal stretch position, if that makes more sense.
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Post: #1076591
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This message was edited by garretta on April 17th, 2024 03:03 GMT
8, Even when Bill means to pay someone a sincere compliment, his words can get in the way. While he's putting George over, he talks about how George asks no special favors from the promoters and the other wrestles; he wants to win and lose just like everyone else.
That's a noble sentiment, but what possible accommodations can be made for a legally blind professional wrestler? Would his opponent have to say (loudly enough to be heard over the crowd, of course), "George, I'm going to hiptoss you"?
How about, "Okay, George, I'm going to knee you in the groin now"?
Or my personal favorite: "Come on over, George, It's time for me to take this chair and hit you in the head. Twice oughta be enough to knock your lousy brains out!"
Next: To be determined.
Thoughts?
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Post: #1076595
PT: #12/16
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I don't usually correct my misspellings after the fact, but I have to make an exception for this one.
In my review I accidentally referred to George as "legally blond". The word should have been "blind".
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Post: #1077042
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This message was edited by garretta on April 24th, 2024 02:59 GMT
In our next match, Tony takes on Ken Woodby.
1. This match is an expiration-of-time match and takes up about three minutes of tape, so I don't know if we'll get a decision,
2. Tony and Ken exchange arm-wringers early, then Ken gets an armbar.
Bill takes an opportunity to brag about Mid-South's ratings in his home market of Shreveport, where it commands a 48 share. A moment later. he announces that the promotion's contract with KTBS-TV (Channel 3) has been renewed for two more years.
3, Tony gets a couple of shots in, but Ken reverses a whip to the corner and catches Tony with a backdrop, then takes him over with an armdrag.
Tony tries to get out with a slam, but Ken holds on to the arm and takes him back over.
4. Tony wins an exchange of holds and gets Ken down for a one-count. Aftar a lockup, he hits Ken with a forearm on the ropes, then snap mares him over and applies a reverse chinlock.
Boyd Pierce, who seldom if ever opens his mouth while Bill's on commentary, delivers a warning to people who might be coming to house shows not to throw things at the wrestlers.
The warning was necessary, especially given the rowdiness of the typical Mid-South crowd, but why was Boyd delivering it instead of Bill?
5. Tony grabs a side headlock. Ken shoots him off, and Tony knocks him down with a shoulder block. Ken puts his head down for a backdrop, and Tony catches him with a boot to the chin. He quickly follows up with an elbow drop, hooks the leg, and gets the three-count.
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Post: #1077046
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This message was edited by garretta on April 24th, 2024 03:15 GMT
6. As is his wont, Bill turns the discussion of proper crowd behavior into one about competition and manhood, saying thar if he was a wrestler, he wouldn't want to win a match with the help of an object thrown by a fan, and that any wrestler who does win that way should change places with the fan who threw the object.
I know what Bill's trying to put across, but I wonder if he considered that some idiot who heard that might try to sneak an object to a wrestler, not only to help that wrestler win his match, but to try to get a leg up in the wrestling business. Sounds preposterous, you say? Of course it does, but it only takes one idiot.
7. I forgot to add up above that this was Tony's first win in Mid-South.
Next: To be determined.
Thoughts?
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Post: #1077204
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This message was edited by garretta on April 26th, 2024 02:27 GMT
Now it's time for Art's first match, as he takes on Tom Renesto Jr:
1. Bill isn't doing commentary for this match; a sports director for one of the Louisiana stations in the Mid-South network named Buddy Nichols is taking his place. I'm not sure which station; Boyd mentions it elsewhere on one of the comps, but not in this match.
2. Art takes control with a fireman's carry, then turns it into an armbar. It looks like Tom slaps Art in the face to try to break the hold, but it doesn't work. He then tries a slam, but Art hangs on.
3. Tom pushes Art back to the ropes, shoves him off, and catches him in the chest with an elbow. Art drops down, then catches Tom coming off the ropes with another arm drag.
I know that jobbers aren't supposed to stand out, but did both of these guys have to wear black? If Tom hadn't chosen to wear a singlet, the fans would have had a hell of a time telling these guys apart,
4. Tom pushes Art back to the corner and goes to work with a series of blows culminating in an elbow to the top of the head, then takes Art to the opposite corner and rams his head into the top turnbuckle.
Tom finally shoves Art off, but Art knocks him down with a shoulder block. Tom drops down, expecting Art to go over top of him. Instead, Art turns around and catches him with a dropkick, then takes him over with an arm drag.
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