Mid-South Wrestling: Week of 1/14/80-1/20/80

For the week ending January 20th, 1980: "Big Cat" Ernie Ladd becomes the lead heel, lots of stipulation matches including two lights out matches and a "piledriver match", a look at the ages of some of the wrestlers at the top of the cards & more!

Here's a look at the talent roster along with SPOT ratings and FEUD scores for the week.

Other wrestlers advertised for shows this week but not listed in the SPOT ratings were midget wrestlers Cowboy Lang and Little Tokyo, who came in over the weekend and stayed through the following week.

There were no other changes to the roster this week. It should be noted that Ernie Ladd is splitting his time wrestling here and in Florida; based on the criteria I use to separate "regulars" from part-timers, he does qualify as a regular here, but just barely. He also leapfrogs over Mike George and The Freebirds to become the top-ranked heel; his SPOT Rating this week is higher than George's by a very slight margin. Ladd defeated Iron Mike Sharpe in Shreveport on Friday to win the Louisiana Heavyweight title. Sharpe is advertised for a title defense two nights later in Houma (and the ad ran the day of the show); I don't know if they acknowledged the title change at the show or if they waited until it was acknowledged on television.

Also seeing a big increase in SPOT Rating is Ted DiBiase, who jumps from a .61 last week to a .69 this week (and two weeks ago his SPOT was .54). There's definitely a movement towards younger stars in the upper portions of the cards. Looking at the ages of the top wrestlers here at this point in time, JYD and DiBiase are in their mid-20s. Hayes is 20 and Gordy is 18. Iron Mike Sharpe is 29 and Mike George is either 29 or 30, while Bob Sweetan and Buck Robley are in their late 30s and Bill Watts and Ernie Ladd in their (very) early 40s. Just four months earlier the top half of the roster skewed significantly older, including three other wrestlers in their 40s (Jose Lothario, King Kong Mosca and Mr. Wrestling II).

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Known house show lineups for the week:

Wednesday - Jackson, MS
-Lights Out match: Ox Baker vs Ted DiBiase
-No disqualification: Buck Robley & Junkyard Dog vs Michael Hayes & Terry Gordy
-Bob Sweetan vs Iron Mike Sharpe
-Bull Ramos vs Ricky Fields
-Charlie Cook vs Tank Patton
-Mike Bowyer vs Steve Hall

Thursday - Greenville, MS
-Mississippi State title: Iron Mike Sharpe vs Mike George
-Junkyard Dog vs Ox Baker
-Igor Putski & Ricky Fields vs Michael Hayes & Terry Gordy
-Ben Alexander vs Ted DiBiase
-Chris Curtis vs Mark Totten

Friday - Greenwood, MS
-North American title, no stopping due to blood: Bill Watts vs Mike George
-Bob Sweetan & Tank Patton vs Charlie Cook & King Cobra
-Cowboy Lang vs Little Tokyo
-Ben Alexander vs Ricky Fields
-Igor Putski vs Mark Totten

Friday - Shreveport, LA
-Louisiana Heavyweight title, no disqualification: Ernie Ladd vs Iron Mike Sharpe
-Texas Death match: Ox Baker vs Ted DiBiase
-Texas Tornado match: Buck Robley & Junkyard Dog vs Michael Hayes & Terry Gordy
-Bull Ramos vs Chris Curtis
-Mike Blood vs Sonny Driver
-Mike Bowyer vs Steve Hall

Saturday - Alexandria, LA
-North American title: Bill Watts vs Mike George
-Buck Robley & Junkyard Dog vs Michael Hayes & Terry Gordy
-Piledriver match: Bob Sweetan vs Iron Mike Sharpe
-Ox Baker vs Ted DiBiase
-Cowboy Lang vs Little Tokyo
-King Cobra vs Mike Blood
-Bull Ramos vs Chris Curtis

Saturday - Loranger, LA
-Indian strap match: Charlie Cook vs Tank Patton
-Mike Bowyer vs Ricky Fields
-Mark Totten vs Steve Hall
-Ben Alexander & Sonny Driver vs Igor Putski & Tom Price

Sunday - Houma, LA
-Lights Out match: Charlie Cook vs Tank Patton
-Louisiana Heavyweight title: Bob Sweetan vs Iron Mike Sharpe
-Non-title: Junkyard Dog & Ricky Fields vs Michael Hayes & Terry Gordy
-Mike Bowyer vs Ted DiBiase
-Chris Curtis vs Mark Totten