Mid-South Wrestling: April 1980

Here's a look at Mid-South Wrestling in April 1980: JYD becomes a champ champ ... champ (three belts!), several key players from the immediate aftermath of the Watts/McGuirk split finish up & more!

Here are the SPOT Ratings for the month. Instead of showing each week separately, I am now showing one chart for the month which contains all of the weekly numbers.

COMINGS AND GOINGS

Newcomers to the territory this month are babyface Steven Little Bear and heels Stan Stasiak, Buddy Roberts, Mike Bowyer, Frank Dusek and Bob Owens.

Little Bear (aka Steve Kovac/Kovacs) returned to the area for the first time since December 1978. I don't have any information on his whereabouts in between the two stints. Stasiak came here from Portland. Roberts had most recently been wrestling for Southwest as Dale Valentine. For now, he's wrestling as a single in the lower portion of the cards, but we know his role here will change soon enough. Bowyer returned from his IWE Japan tour.

Leaving the territory during the month were babyfaces Iron Mike Sharpe and Ricky Fields and heels Bob Sweetan, Mike George, Tank Patton, The Gladiator and Bob Bouchard.

Sharpe and Sweetan both went to Georgia. Fields' next known whereabouts are at the end of 1980 in Southeastern. Mike George goes to Japan for a tour with IWE and then to Georgia in the summer. Patton goes to Mid-Atlantic for a few weeks and then goes on a tour for All Japan. 

Other wrestlers not listed in the SPOT Ratings: Austin Idol, Dusty Rhodes, Ernie Ladd, JC Wingo, Jerry Oates, Jose Lothario, Nick Kozak, Tommy Rich, Tony Atlas, Wahoo McDaniel, midget wrestlers Billy the Kid and Lone Eagle and women wresters Joyce Grable, Judy Martin, Leilani Kai and Wendi Richter.

As we've seen often since the split between Watts and McGuirk, Watts occasionally loaded up his shows (generally on the weekends) by bringing in outside talent from Georgia, Florida and East Texas. Dusty was advertised here for several defenses of his Southern Heavyweight title (Florida version) at the end of April. Billy the Kid and Lone Eagle came in for two weeks early in the month, while the women came in together for about a week at the end of the month. The women generally worked in tag team bouts with Martin & Kai teaming against Grable & Richter. In addition to these wrestlers, Masao "Tiger" Hattori is billed as Killer Khan's manager in several house show ads.

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Here are the "Apter-mag style" Rankings for the month.

WHO'S HOT AND WHO'S NOT

Hot: Babyface Paul Orndorff and heels Ken Mantell and Killer Khan.

Orndorff and Mantell both move up the cards and begin a big feud against one another. Mantell had been cutting a lock of hair off of his opponents as a way of "branding" them after defeating them. Following a TV match where Orndorff defeated Mantell, Ken attacked him and cut off a portion of his hair. Khan was moved up the cards and given a big push after the TV angle last month where he "injured" Ted DiBiase.

Not: Babyface Buck Robley and heel Bull Ramos.

As the tag team feud with Robley & JYD vs the Freebirds winded down, Robley moved down the cards during April. He feuded with Killer Khan as part of Khan's push. Ramos was moved down the cards after his feud with Iron Mike Sharpe. He works against Steven Little Bear frequently during the month and is on his way out of the territory.

CH-CH-CHANGES

Role Changes: Even though they won the Mid-South Tag Team titles during the month (see below), Junkyard Dog and Buck Robley are positioned primarily as singles wrestlers on the house shows this month.

Title Changes: Junkyard Dog becomes a triple-champ for at least a couple of weeks. Already the Louisiana state champion, Dog & Robley beat Hayes & Gordy on April 6th in Monroe LA to win the Mid-South Tag Team titles. He then defeated Bull Ramos to win the Mississippi state title, with title history sites listing the switch on April 9th in Jackson MS. JYD would lose the Louisiana title to Terry Gordy, but the exact date of that switch is unclear (with the two most likely possibilities being 4/22 in Baton Rouge or 5/2 in Shreveport). Ted DiBiase, who is "injured" in storyline (but is actually working for All Japan), remains North American champion.

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Here are the FEUD Scores for the month. As with the SPOT Ratings, I am now showing just one chart for the entire month which contains all the weekly scores.

ANATOMY OF A FEUD

This month we'll dissect the tail end of the feud between Buck Robley & Junkyard Dog and Michael Hayes & Terry Gordy, looking at all of the known matches between them with results and stipulations noted where available.

Keep in mind that some newspapers didn't list details, so just because a match isn't specified as a title match we don't necessarily know for a fact that it was non-title and the same can apply for stipulation bouts. Also, "Wrestler A defeated Wrestler B" doesn't necessarily mean it was by pinfall or submission.

April 1 Baton Rouge LA: Buck Robley & Junkyard Dog vs Michel Hayes & Terry Gordy (if Robley's team wins he gets five minutes alone with Hayes)
April 6 Monroe LA: Buck Robley & Junkyard Dog beat Michael Hayes & Terry Gordy to win the Mid-South Tag Team titles
April 7 New Orleans LA: Buck Robley & Junkyard Dog beat Michael Hayes & Terry Gordy
April 16 Jackson MS: Buck Robley & Junkyard Dog vs Michael Hayes & Terry Gordy in a title match
April 21 New Orleans LA: Buck Robley & Junkyard Dog beat Michael Hayes & Terry Gordy
April 27 Lafayette LA: Buck Robley & Junkyard Dog vs Michael Hayes & Terry Gordy in a title match

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Here is the calendar of known house shows:

HOUSE SHOW LINEUPS
(unless stated otherwise, these lineups are from my own personal research)
Stipulations listed when known; keep in mind that some matches not specified as title matches may have actually been title bouts and the same can apply for stipulation matches.

3/31/80 Chalmette LA (source: wrestlingdata.com and Mark James' Mid-South/UWF 1979-1987 results book)
-Bob Sweetan vs Junkyard Dog
-Iron Mike Sharpe vs Killer Khan
-Steven Little Bear vs Tank Patton
-Bob Bouchard & Bull Ramos vs Mike Bowyer & Terry Orndorff
-Billy the Kid vs Lone Eagle
-Ben Alexander vs Tommy Wright

4/1/80 Baton Rouge LA
-Buck Robley & Junkyard Dog vs Michael Hayes & Terry Gordy (if Robley's team wins he gets five minutes alone with Hayes)
-Killer Khan vs Terry Lathan
-Billy the Kid vs Lone Eagle
-Iron Mike Sharpe vs Ken Mantell
-Mike George vs Steven Little Bear
-Ben Alexander vs Ricky Fields

4/2/80 Jackson MS
-Junkyard Dog vs Terry Gordy (if JYD wins, Buck Robley gets five minutes with Michael Hayes)
-Iron Mike Sharpe vs Ken Mantell
-Bull Ramos & Mike George vs Paul Orndorff & Terry Orndorff
-Killer Khan vs Ricky Fields
-Billy the Kid vs Lone Eagle
-Bob Sweetan vs Steven Little Bear

4/3/80 Greenville MS
-Mississippi state title: Bull Ramos vs Iron Mike Sharpe
-King Cobra vs Mike George
-Killer Khan vs Terry Lathan
-Billy the Kid & Igor Putski vs Lone Eagle & Tommy Wright

4/3/80 Lafayette LA
-Elimination match: Bob Sweetan & Michael Hayes & Terry Gordy vs Buck Robley & Junkyard Dog & Paul Orndorff
-Ken Mantell vs Ricky Fields
-Bob Owens vs Steven Little Bear
-Ben Alexander vs Terry Orndorff

4/4/80 Shreveport LA
-Special challenge match: Ken Mantell vs Paul Orndorff
-Buck Robley vs Killer Khan
-Mike George vs Steven Little Bear
-Non-title match: King Cobra & Terry Orndorff vs Michael Hayes & Terry Gordy
-Buddy Roberts vs Tommy Wright

4/5/80 Alexandria LA
-Dog collar match: Bob Sweetan vs Junkyard Dog
-Buck Robley & Paul Orndorff vs Michael Hayes & Terry Gordy (if Robley's team wins he gets five minutes alone with Hayes)
-Ken Mantell vs Terry Orndorff
-Killer Khan vs Ricky Fields
-Buddy Roberts vs Terry Lathan
-Ben Alexander vs Igor Putski

4/5/80 Loranger LA
-Bull Ramos vs Steven Little Bear
-King Cobra vs Mike George
-Billy the Kid vs Lone Eagle
-Bob Owens vs Tommy Wright

4/6/80 Baton Rouge LA
-Special challenge match: Ken Mantell vs Paul Orndorff
-Bob Sweetan vs Steven Little Bear
-Bull Ramos vs King Cobra
-Gladiator vs Igor Putski
-Mike Bowyer vs Mike George
-Ben Alexander vs Tommy Wright

4/6/80 Houma LA
-Bull Ramos vs Steven Little Bear
-Bob Sweetan vs King Cobra
-Lights out match: Mike Bowyer vs Mike George
-Ben Alexander vs Igor Putski

4/6/80 Monroe LA
-Mid-South Tag Team titles: Buck Robley & Junkyard Dog vs Michael Hayes & Terry Gordy
-Jerry Oates vs Killer Khan
-Billy the Kid vs Lone Eagle
-Buddy Roberts vs Terry Orndorff
-Bob Owens vs Terry Lathan

4/7/80 New Orleans LA (source: wrestlingdata.com and Mark James' Mid-South/UWF 1979-1987 results book)
-Buck Robley & Junkyard Dog vs Michael Hayes & Terry Gordy
-Ken Mantell vs Paul Orndorff
-Bob Sweetan vs Tony Atlas
-Bull Ramos vs Steven Little Bear
-Killer Khan vs King Cobra
-Buddy Roberts vs Terry Lathan
-Mike Bowyer vs Terry Orndorff

4/9/80 Jackson MS
-Mississippi state title: Bull Ramos vs Junkyard Dog
-Michael Hayes & Terry Gordy vs Paul Orndorff & Terry Orndorff
-Killer Khan vs Terry Lathan
-Ken Mantell vs Tommy Wright
-Ben Alexander vs Bob Owens

4/10/80 Greenville MS
-Lights out match: Bull Ramos vs King Cobra
-Buck Robley & Paul Orndorff vs Michael Hayes & Terry Gordy
-Killer Khan vs Tommy Wright
-Ben Alexander vs Bob Owens

4/10/80 Lafayette LA
-Dog collar match: Bob Sweetan vs Junkyard Dog
-Ken Mantell vs Steven Little Bear
-Buddy Roberts vs Terry Orndorff
-Billy the Kid vs Lone Eagle
-Mike Bowyer vs Terry Lathan

4/11/80 Greenwood MS
-Junkyard Dog & King Cobra vs Michael Hayes & Terry Gordy
-Bull Ramos vs Terry Lathan
-Ben Alexander vs Mike Bowyer
-Gladiator vs Tommy Wright

4/11/80 Shreveport LA
-Ken Mantell vs Paul Orndorff
-Buck Robley vs Killer Khan
-Bob Sweetan vs Steven Little Bear
-Billy the Kid vs Lone Eagle
-Buddy Roberts vs Terry Orndorff
-Bob Owens vs Igor Putski

4/12/80 Biloxi MS
-Dog collar match: Bob Sweetan vs Junkyard Dog
-Buck Robley & Paul Orndorff vs Michael Hayes & Terry Gordy (if Robley's team wins he gets five minutes alone with Hayes)
-Bull Ramos vs Steven Little Bear
-Killer Khan vs Terry Lathan
-Ken Mantell vs Terry Orndorff
-Billy the Kid vs Lone Eagle
-Buddy Roberts vs King Cobra

4/13/80 Houma LA
-Mike Bowyer vs Steven Little Bear
-Killer Khan vs King Cobra
-Gladiator vs Igor Putski
-Buddy Roberts vs Tommy Wright

4/13/80 Lake Charles LA
-Dog collar match: Bob Sweetan vs Junkyard Dog
-Buck Robley & Paul Orndorff vs Michael Hayes & Terry Gordy (if Robley's team wins he gets five minutes with Hayes)
-Billy the Kid vs Lone Eagle
-Ken Mantell vs Terry Orndorff
-Bull Ramos vs Terry Lathan
-Ben Alexander vs Bob Owens

4/14/80 New Orleans LA (source: wrestlingdata.com and Mark James' Mid-South/UWF 1979-1987 results book)
-Ken Mantell vs Paul Orndorff
-Buck Robley vs Killer Khan
-Junkyard Dog & King Cobra vs Michael Hayes & Terry Gordy
-Mike Bowyer vs Steven Little Bear
-Buddy Roberts vs Terry Orndorff
-Ben Alexander vs Tommy Wright

4/16/80 Jackson MS
-Mid-South Tag Team titles: Buck Robley & Junkyard Dog vs Michael Hayes & Terry Gordy
-Ken Mantell vs Paul Orndorff
-Killer Khan vs King Cobra
-Mike Bowyer vs Steven Little Bear
-Buddy Roberts vs Tommy Wright
-Bob Owens vs Terry Lathan

4/17/80 Greenville MS
-Junkyard Dog & Paul Orndorff vs Ken Mantell & Killer Khan
-Buddy Roberts vs Terry Orndorff
-Ben Alexander vs Terry Lathan
-Bob Owens vs Igor Putski

4/18/80 Shreveport LA
-Lumberjack match: Ken Mantell vs Paul Orndorff
-No disqualification: Buck Robley vs Killer Khan
-Nick Kozak vs Stan Stasiak
-JC Wingo vs Steven Little Bear
-Bob Owens vs Terry Lathan

4/19/80 Alexandria LA
-Special challenge match: Ken Mantell vs Paul Orndorff
-Austin Idol vs Tommy Rich
-Buck Robley vs Killer Khan
-Buddy Roberts vs Steven Little Bear
-Stan Stasiak vs Terry Orndorff
-Mike Bowyer vs Terry Lathan

4/19/80 Loranger LA
-Junkyard Dog & King Cobra vs Michael Hayes & Terry Gordy
-Ben Alexander vs Tommy Wright
-Bob Owens vs Igor Putski
-JC Wingo vs Nick Kozak

4/20/80 Houma LA
-Ken Mantell & Killer Khan vs Paul Orndorff & Steven Little Bear
-Joyce Grable vs Leilani Kai
-Buddy Roberts vs Terry Lathan
-Mike Bowyer vs Terry Orndorff

4/21/80 New Orleans LA (source: wrestlingdata.com and Mark James' Mid-South/UWF 1979-1987 results book)
-Dusty Rhodes vs Killer Khan
-Austin Idol vs Tommy Rich
-Buck Robley & Junkyard Dog vs Michael Hayes & Terry Gordy
-Ken Mantell vs Paul Orndorff
-Joyce Grable & Wendi Richter vs Judy Martin & Leilani Kai
-Jose Lothario vs Stan Stasiak
-Mike Bowyer vs Terry Lathan
-Ben Alexander vs Steven Little Bear
-Buddy Roberts vs King Cobra

4/22/80 Baton Rouge LA
-Ken Mantell vs Paul Orndorff
-Louisiana state title: Junkyard Dog vs Terry Gordy
-Joyce Grable & Wendi Richter vs Judy Martin & Leilani Kai
-Stan Stasiak vs Terry Orndorff
-Buck Robley vs Killer Khan

4/23/80 Jackson MS
-Grudge match: Ken Mantell vs Paul Orndorff
-Junkyard Dog vs Killer Khan
-King Cobra vs Stan Stasiak
-Joyce Grable & Wendi Richter vs Judy Martin & Leilani Kai
-Buddy Roberts vs Igor Putski

4/24/80 Greenwood MS
-Mississippi state title: Junkyard Dog vs Killer Khan
-Buddy Roberts & Mike Bowyer vs Terry Lathan & Terry Orndorff
-Leilani Kai vs Wendi Richter
-Bob Owens vs Tommy Wright

4/25/80 Shreveport LA
-Southern Heavyweight title: Dusty Rhodes vs Stan Stasiak
-Louisiana state title: Buddy Roberts vs Junkyard Dog
-Buck Robley & Paul Orndorff vs Ken Mantell & Killer Khan
-Austin Idol vs Tommy Rich
-Michael Hayes & Terry Gordy vs Steven Little Bear & Wahoo McDaniel
-Joyce Grable & Wendi Richter vs Judy Martin & Leilani Kai
-Ben Alexander vs Terry Lathan
-Mike Bowyer vs Terry Orndorff

4/26/80 Alexandria LA
-Lights out match: Austin Idol vs Tommy Rich
-Louisiana state title: Junkyard Dog vs Killer Khan
-Dusty Rhodes vs Stan Stasiak
-Ken Mantell vs Paul Orndorff
-Buddy Roberts vs Terry Orndorff
-Michael Hayes & Terry Gordy vs Steven Little Bear & Wahoo McDaniel
-Joyce Grable & Wendi Richter vs Judy Martin & Leilani Kai
-Frank Dusek vs Terry Lathan

4/27/80 Lafayette LA
-Southern Heavyweight title: Dusty Rhodes vs Killer Khan
-Mid-South Tag Team titles: Buck Robley & Junkyard Dog vs Michael Hayes & Terry Gordy
-Ken Mantell vs Paul Orndorff
-Joyce Grable vs Judy Martin
-Bull Ramos & Ernie Ladd vs Steven Little Bear & Wahoo McDaniel
-Bob Owens vs Stan Stasiak
-Frank Dusek vs Terry Lathan
-Mike Bowyer vs Terry Orndorff

4/27/80 Lake Charles LA
-Southern Heavyweight title: Dusty Rhodes vs Ernie Ladd
-Special challenge match: Ken Mantell vs Paul Orndorff
-Buck Robley vs Killer Khan
-Leilani Kai vs Wendi Richter
-Bull Ramos & Michael Hayes & Terry Gordy vs Junkyard Dog & Steven Little Bear & Wahoo McDaniel
-Bob Owens vs Stan Stasiak
-Ben Alexander vs Tommy Wright
-Buddy Roberts vs Igor Putski

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