Mid-South Wrestling: August 1980
Here's a look at Mid-South Wrestling in August 1980: JYD returns to face Michael Hayes in the Superdome in front of 28,000 fans; they then battle throughout the rest of the loop with major stipulations & more!
Here are the SPOT Ratings for the month.
Here are the SPOT Ratings for the month.
COMINGS AND GOINGS
Newcomers to the territory this month are babyfaces Bill Watts, Dusty Rhodes, Gerald Finley and Jake Roberts and heels Dick Anderson, Paul Ellering and Ron Cheatham. In addition, Junkyard Dog and Michael Hayes returned to in-ring action.
JYD returned from his “injury” while Hayes was back in-ring after being used primarily as a manager for Gordy & Roberts. JYD faced Hayes in the main event of the Superdome show on 8/2 that drew a reported 28,000 fans paying $183,000. The match was a dog collar match (JYD’s specialty) inside a steel cage. Other bouts between the two in the territory had similar stipulations and sometimes had “lights out” and/or “no disqualification” stips. In Lake Charles they used the “Jim Bowie death match” stipulation that saw both men wearing hoods so they couldn’t see.
This was Watts’ first in-ring action in the territory since January. He returned to the ring for about a month. Dusty is technically not a “regular” here, but had just enough advertised bookings to be included in the roster (not to bore you with details, but I have a strict formula I use to separate full-timers from part-timers, and it’s done in such a way that occasionally a part-timer will make the cut). Roberts returned from Japan. Gerald Finley worked as a preliminary wrestler between 1979 and 1985 in the southeast.
Ellering came in from Memphis. He had been wrestling for a couple of years at this point, with prior stints in the AWA, Florida and Georgia before going to Memphis in December ’79. This appears to be Cheatham’s debut as a pro; he bounced around territories in the south for a few years in the early 80s. I don’t have any information on Dick Anderson aside from his stint here which lasted a few months.
Leaving the territory during the month were babyfaces Buck Robley, King Cobra, Mike Miller and Ray Candy and heels Mike Kelly and Pat Kelly.
Robley works at least once in St. Louis and then does a few shows for McGuirk later in the year. Cobra wrestles in Memphis and Georgia on a part-time basis in September and returns here later in the year. Miller goes to work for Gulas briefly. Candy goes to Georgia for a week and then to Japan for AJPW. Identical twins Mike & Pat Kelly’s next full-time stint anywhere appears to be Central States starting in January ’81.
Other wrestlers not listed in the SPOT Ratings: Andre the Giant, the Assassin, George Wells, the Gladiator (identity unknown), Hulk Hogan, Mr Wrestling II, Ole Anderson and Wahoo McDaniel. Andre, Assassin, Hogan, Wrestling II and Wahoo all worked the Superdome show on the 2nd, with Hogan and Wahoo working some additional shows around that time as well. Wells was advertised on two shows in mid-August, but I don’t think he actually appeared on either of them. Ole was advertised against Dusty on August 9th in Alexandria.
CH-CH-CHANGES
Role Changes: The primary opponents for Gordy & Roberts during the months were first the team of Robley & DiBiase, then Robley & JYD, then after Robley left Watts took his spot as JYD’s partner.
Title Changes: On August 7th in Greenville, Mississippi, a one-night tournament was held to fill the vacant Mississippi Heavyweight title. The tournament was won by the Grappler. The other three titles in the territory stayed intact through the month, with Ted DiBiase holding on to the North American title, Terry Gordy & Buddy Roberts retaining the Mid-South Tag Team titles, and Ken Mantell continuing his run as the Louisiana Heavyweight champion.
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Here are the FEUD Scores for the month.
ANATOMY OF A FEUD
This month we'll look at the feud between Killer Khan and Steven Little Bear, looking at all of the known matches between them with results and stipulations noted where available. The matches are arranged chronologically by city, so you can easily see which cities had multiple matches between them.
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.
8/1/80 Shreveport LA: Killer Khan vs Steven Little Bear
8/3/80 Baton Rouge LA: Killer Khan vs Steven Little Bear
8/12/80 Baton Rouge LA: Killer Khan vs Steven Little Bear
8/19/80 Baton Rouge LA: Killer Khan vs Steven Little Bear in a no disqualification match
8/4/80 Thibodaux LA: Killer Khan vs Steven Little Bear
8/6/80 Jackson MS: Killer Khan vs Steven Little Bear
8/13/80 Jackson MS: Killer Khan vs Steven Little Bear
8/20/80 Jackson MS: Killer Khan vs Steven Little Bear in a no disqualification match
8/10/80 Monroe LA: Killer Khan defeated Steven Little Bear
8/24/80 Monroe LA: Steven Little Bear defeated Killer Khan
8/17/80 Houma LA: Killer Khan vs Steven Little Bear
8/18/80 New Orleans LA: Killer Khan vs Steven Little Bear
8/23/80 Alexandria LA: Killer Khan vs Steven Little Bear
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Here is the calendar of known house shows.
SELECT 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.
8/2/80 New Orleans LA
-Dog collar steel cage match: Junkyard Dog vs Michael Hayes
-Double bullrope match: Buck Robley & Dusty Rhodes vs Buddy Roberts & Terry Gordy
-Andre the Giant vs Hulk Hogan
-North American title: Mr Wrestling II vs Ted DiBiase
-Ken Mantell vs Paul Orndorff
-Grappler vs Wahoo McDaniel
-Killer Khan vs Ray Candy
-Assassin vs Steven Little Bear
-Frank Dusek vs King Cobra
-Johnny Mantell & Ron Cheatham vs Mike Miller & Terry Orndorff
-Terry Lathan vs Tommy Wright
8/8/80 Shreveport, LA
-Lights out, no disqualification, dog collar, steel cage match: Junkyard Dog vs Michael Hayes
-Double bullrope match: Buck Robley & Dusty Rhodes vs Buddy Roberts & Terry Gordy
-North American title: Grappler vs Ted DiBiase
-Ken Mantell vs Paul Orndorff
-Killer Khan vs King Cobra
-Johnny Mantell vs Steven Little Bear
-Frank Dusek vs Terry Orndorff
-Mike Miller vs Tommy Wright
-Ron Cheatham vs Terry Lathan
8/16/80 Biloxi, MS
-Lights out, dog collar, steel cage match: Junkyard Dog vs Michael Hayes
-Football helmet vs headgear: Ken Mantell vs Paul Orndorff
-Mid-South Tag Team titles: Buck Robley & Ted DiBiase vs Buddy Roberts & Terry Gordy
-Judo jacket match: Killer Khan vs Terry Lathan
-Grappler vs Steven Little Bear
-Frank Dusek vs Terry Orndorff
-Johnny Mantell vs Tommy Wright
8/23/80 Alexandria, LA
-Mid-South Tag Team titles, Michael Hayes handcuffed to ring post: Buck Robley & Junkyard Dog vs Buddy Roberts & Terry Gordy
-North American title: Grappler vs Ted DiBiase
-Louisiana Heavyweight title: Ken Mantell vs Paul Orndorff
-Killer Khan vs Steven Little Bear
-Johnny Mantell vs Terry Orndorff
-Paul Ellering vs Tommy Wright
-Frank Dusek vs Gerald Finley
8/31/80 Lake Charles, LA
-Jim Bowie death match: Junkyard Dog vs Michael Hayes
-Mid-South Tag Team titles: Buddy Roberts & Terry Gordy vs Steven Little Bear & Ted DiBiase
-Louisiana Heavyweight title: Ken Mantell vs Paul Orndorff
-Johnny Mantell vs Terry Orndorff
-Paul Ellering vs Tommy Wright
-Jake Roberts vs Ron Cheatham
-Frank Dusek vs Gerald Finley
