Heath Mullikin

 

Hello wrestling fans! Mark here.  If you’ve been listening to the show, you’ve no doubt heard us discuss my DVD collection. At some point in the 90’s I began collecting and trading VHS tapes from promotions around the world. A few years ago I tried to convert the collection to DVD to some small success. Eventually, due to the fact that I didn’t own a VCR anymore, I parted with my old VHS tapes. It was a hard decision to make, but we needed the space the multiple boxes were taking up. fortunately, thanks to YouTube, WWE DVD releases, and now The WWE Network, I have access to most of the matches I want to see.

It’s in this spirit that we want to start a section on the website where we review Pro Wrestling DVDs, Pro Wrestling Books, Movies, etc. that I make you these promises:

1. I will never recommend that you purchase something that I do not own myself.
2. If I do not like a product, I will tell you.
3.  I will never suggest you buy something that I don’t think is worth spending your hard-earned money on, because I will have spent MY hard-earned money on it.

In all of these reviews we will include links where you can find the products discussed. Please click on those links. We get a kickback when you do. I won’t cost you any extra, and it helps up pay our bills. Believe it or not, we do have them. Somebody’s got to buy the Star Crunches and Mt Dew!

Now, let’s get to it! The first release I want to tell you about is WWE: Legends of Mid-South Wrestling. I have the Blu-ray version, so that’s what I’ll be discussing.  A content listing is provided at the end of this review. For the uninitiated, Mid-South Wrestling was a promotion ran primarily by Bill Watts. They operated in Oklahoma, Texas, Louisiana, and surrounding states. Mid-South wrestling was one of the first wrestling promotions to break away from the NWA and attempt to go national on cable TV. Upon going national the name of the promotion was changed to UWF, or The Universal Wrestling Federation.  This attempt to go national would fail and eventually Watts would sell his promotion to Jim Crockett. Crockett Promotions under the direction of Dusty Rhodes would see Dollar signs in one UWF rookie. His name was Sting. On this collection you will see Sting and his tag team partner, the man who would become The Ultimate Warrior.  It’s a short squash match against two jobbers, but it’s interesting to see Sting and Ultimate Warrior perform as heels in the Road Warriors rip-off team The Bladerunners. You’ll also see a good match between Sting and Terry Taylor. While Sting may have been the last Mid-South grown talent to perform in Main Events for Crockett or WWE, he was far from the first. The list of talent who started, or perfected their craft in Mid-South reads like a HOF roster. Let’s start with Jim Ross. Ross was one of Watts’ right hand men, and developed much of his Pro Wrestling philosophy during his tenure here. With all due respect to Gordon Solie, we all know Ross is the greatest play- by- play man in wrestling history. Ross provides commentary on most of the matches on the collection. In many cases, Ross re-recorded the commentary tracks for matches where the audio was not up to par. I challenge you to find the find which are original audio and which are re-recorded.  Are you a Magnum TA fan? If so you’ll see Allen as a rookie, before his time in JCP. Included on this set are many of the matches leading up to, and the aftermath of his famous angle with Mr. Wrestling 2. This angle is often discussed by fans as one of the greatest heel turns in wrestling history. Wrestling 2 takes a young Magnum under his wing and begins to teach him the ins and outs of the wrestling business.  To tell you anymore would deprive you of the pleasure of watching a great story unfold.  The Junkyard Dog was one of MSW’s biggest stars and a huge draw in Louisiana. If you are a JYD fan (and who isn’t) you need this collection. Dog will probably never have a WWE produced DVD set released on this career, which alone makes this set worth owning. JYD’s match with Hacksaw Butch Reed, while not five star, is a hard hitting match. It proves Watts’ theory that “personal issues draw money”. The crowd heat during this match is so hot, you’ll feel it in your living room.  Around this time, two tag teams, and one outspoken manager were beginning a feud that continues on the indy scene to this day. The Midnight Express with Jim Cornette vs. The Rock-n-Roll Express rivalry is legendary. That rivalry had its genesis in MSW. As Ricky Morton tells it, upon one of his visits to the territory, Ric Flair watched one of their matches. A few months later, Flair returned, this time with Jim Crockett. Crockett walked up and said to Morton and Gibson, “I’m here to watch your match”. The rest is history. Three matches between the two teams are included. You’ll also see The Midnight Express vs. Bill Watts and Stager Lee. Stager Lee is JYD under a mask .If you know the story of the Midnight Rider, you can probably figure out this one out.  If you don’t, watch the DVD to see another great story unfold. How about The Fabulous Freebirds? They’re here too. If you listen to the show you know how much I like Terry Gordy. Gordy and his frequent tag team partner Dr. Death Steve Williams are legends in Japan and The US. Here you’ll see them face off in singles completion, along with Gordy vs. Jim Duggan. Two very stiff, very hard hitting matches that fans of strong style wrestling will enjoy. If that’s not enough see the famous angle where Muhammad Ali clears the ring and Jake ‘The Snake” Roberts ‘no sells “his punches. When questioned later about why he didn’t go down when Ali punched him Roberts stated “I’ve got to work here next week, he don’t”. Other stars featured are too numerous to mention, but include a very young HBK Shawn Michaels, Andre The Giant, Dusty Rhodes, and “Bigcat” Ernie Ladd. The two gems of the release focus on Terry Taylor and Ted Dibiase’s encounters with Ric Flair. Taylor’s story about Flair’s demeanor before their match is a must see.  His description of the Flair that showed up in the dressing room and the Flair that walked through the curtain will entertain any fan of Naitch.  Finally, on our greatest heel turns show, we discussed the story of Dick Murdock turning on his protégé Ted Dibiase. The Dibiase babyface turn as well as his valiant effort against Flair is worth the price alone. You’ll see why Flair is the greatest of all time in two great matches.  In closing, This is a phenomenal set that every fan of old school Southern Wrestling will enjoy. I give it my highest rating with 5 out of 5 steel chairs!

Disc 1

The Beginnings

Ted DiBiase

Ted DiBiase vs. Paul Orndorff
Mid-South Wrestling • December 10, 1981

Junkyard Dog

Andre the Giant, Dusty Rhodes & Junkyard Dog vs. Afa, Sika & Big Cat Ernie Ladd
Mid-South Wrestling • January 14, 1982

Rat Pack – DiBiase & Borne & Duggan

North American & Mid-South Tag Team Championship No Disqualification Match
Junkyard Dog & Mr. Olympia vs. Ted DiBiase & Matt Borne
Mid-South Wrestling • October 28, 1982

Coal Miner’s Glove Steel Cage Tuxedo Loser Leaves Town Match

Hacksaw Jim Duggan vs. Ted DiBiase
Houston, TX • March 22, 1985

Travel of the Territory

Tony Atlas Benches 500 Pounds
Mid-South Wrestling • January 1983

Mid-South Tag Team Championship Match
Ted DiBiase & Matt Borne vs. Andre the Giant & Tony Atlas
Mid-South Wrestling • February 10, 1983

Magnum TA

Announcement of Magnum TA’s Manager
Mid-South Wrestling • November 1983

Mr. Wrestling II Conducts Workouts with Magnum TA
Mid-South Wrestling • December 1983

Magnum TA & Mr. Wrestling II vs. The Midnight Express
Mid-South Wrestling • January 27, 1984

North American Heavyweight Championship Match
Mr. Wrestling II vs. Magnum TA
Mid-South Wrestling • May 17, 1984

 

Disc 2

Hacksaw” Butch Reed

A Painted Dog
Mid-South Wrestling • May 1984

A Tar & Feathered Dog
Mid-South Wrestling • May 1984

Ghetto Street Fight
Junkyard Dog vs. “Hacksaw” Butch Reed
Mid-South Wrestling • June 16, 1984

Midnight Express & Rock n Roll Express Rivalry

Mid-South Tag Team Championship No Disqualification Match
The Rock N’ Roll Express vs. The Midnight Express
Mid-South Wrestling • May 24, 1984

Jim Ross Interviews The Rock N’ Roll Express
Mid-South Wrestling • October 1984

The Rock N’ Roll Express vs. The Midnight Express
Jim Cornette in a Straight Jacket

Shawn Michaels Learns from Ted DiBiase

Shawn Michaels vs. Ted DiBiase
Mid-South Wrestling • December 1984

Terry Taylor’s Big Match against Ric Flair

NWA World Heavyweight Championship Match
Ric Flair vs. Terry Taylor
New Orleans, LA • June 1, 1985

 

Disc 3

Muhammad Ali

Mid-South Television Championship Match
The Snowman vs. Jake Roberts
New Orleans, LA • June 1, 1985

Ted DiBiase Becomes a Good Guy

NWA World Heavyweight Championship Match

Ric Flair vs. Ted DiBiase
Mid-South Wrestling • November 15, 1985

Mid-South Goes National

Rob Ricksteiner vs. Nick Patrick
Power Pro Wrestling • August 3, 1986

The Bladerunners vs. John O’Reilly & Ken Massey
Universal Wrestling Federation • March 1986

“Hacksaw” Jim Duggan

UWF Heavyweight Championship Match
Terry “Bam Bam” Gordy vs. “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan
Universal Wrestling Federation • August 6, 1986

The Fabulous Freebirds

Lumberjack Match
Ted DiBiase & Dr. Death Steve Williams vs. Michael PS Hayes & Buddy Roberts
Universal Wrestling Federation • August 31, 1986

Terry “Bam Bam” Gordy

UWF Heavyweight Championship Match
Terry “Bam Bam” Gordy vs. Dr. Death Steve Williams
Universal Wrestling Federation • September 29, 1986

One Man Gang

UWF Heavyweight Championship Match
One Man Gang vs. Big Bubba Rogers
Universal Wrestling Federation • June 1987

Steve “Dr. Death” Williams

UWF Heavyweight Championship Match
Steve “Dr. Death” Williams vs. Big Bubba Rogers
Oklahoma City, OK • July 11, 1987

 

Blu-ray exclusive content

Mid-South Tag Team Championship Match
The Rock N’ Roll Express vs. The Midnight Express
Mid-South Wrestling • April 19 1984

UWF Heavyweight Championship #1 Contenders Match
Sting vs. Terry Taylor
Universal Wrestling Federation • June 13, 1987

Ted DiBiase gets his tires slashed

North American Heavyweight Championship
Junkyard Dog vs. Ted DiBiase
Mid-South Wrestling • June 25, 1982

Superdome

Steel Cage Match
Ted DiBiase & Steve “Dr. Death” Williams vs. Jake “The Snake” Roberts & The Barbarian
Mid-South Wrestling • August 9 1985

Buzz Sawyer

“Hacksaw” Jim Duggan vs. Buzz Sawyer
Mid-South Wrestling • November 11, 1985

Jim Cornette’s Favorite Moment in Mid-South

Cornette Gets Caked
Mid-South Wrestling • March 30 1984

Bill Watts Needs Help
Mid-South Wrestling • March 1984

Last Stampede Match
Bill Watts & Stagger Lee vs. The Midnight Express
Mid-South Wrestling • April 22 1984

Lessons on elevating talent

Dusty Rhodes Travels with Boyd Pierce

Bill Watts tells a story about Ernie Ladd’s Father

[Tweet  “Would love @MDMTedDiBiase opinion on our MidSouth DVD Review.”] look back @sting start in Mid South.”]