Mid-South Wrestling: September 1980

In September 1980, JYD’s feud with the Freebirds winds down, two title changes, Ernie Ladd and Killer Karl Kox return & more!

Here are the SPOT Ratings for the month.

COMINGS AND GOINGS

Newcomers to the territory this month are babyface Killer Karl Kox and heels Ernie Ladd, Mark Lewin, the Mexican Angel and the Turk.

Kox had been wrestling in Central States and East Texas. Ladd returned here for the first time since April; he toured for All Japan over the summer but was also making shots in numerous territories.

Lewin had been in Georgia, then started working both here and East Texas. After 3 weeks here he disappears and isn’t wrestling anywhere for about a month, so he may have had his run cut short due to injury. The last couple of months of the year seems him wrestling mostly in Houston, with occasional other bookings in Texas. 

The Turk (aka Ali Bey) had last been seen in Central States at the end of ’79; I can’t find any records for him in 1980 until he starts here this month. The Mexican Angel (aka Francisco Flores among many other ring names) had been in Puerto Rico in the spring after wrestling in the Pacific Northwest as Yaqui Joe earlier in the year.

Leaving the territory during the month was heel Killer Khan.

Khan went to Georgia; he would return here in June 1982.

Other wrestlers not listed in the SPOT Ratings: Mr Wrestling II, who came in for a title shot against DiBiase early in the month in Monroe.

CH-CH-CHANGES

The Grappler defeated Ted DiBiase to win the North American title on September 19th in Shreveport. Clips from the match were shown on TV, and it was the first time that Grappler used the “loaded boot” gimmick here. House show ads over the weekend still listed DiBiase as champ, as did an article promoting the September 23rd show in Baton Rouge. An ad for September 25th in Greenwood MS does list Grappler as champion.

JYD & Terry Orndorff defeated the Freebirds (Gordy & Roberts) to win the Mid-South Tag Team titles on September 15th in Chalmette. The Freebirds were finishing up their run here and dropping the belts was part of the natural progression of that.

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Here are the FEUD Scores for the month.

ANATOMY OF A FEUD

This month we'll look at the second leg of the feud Junkyard Dog and the Freebirds, looking at all of the known matches between them with stipulations noted where available. The matches are arranged chronologically by city, so you can easily see which cities had multiple matches between them and follow the progression of the feud.

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.

NEW ORLEANS/CHALMETTE
8/2/80 (N.O.) Dog collar, steel cage match: Junkyard Dog vs Michael Hayes
8/11/80 Buck Robley & Junkyard Dog vs Buddy Roberts & Terry Gordy
8/18/80 (N.O.): Buck Robley & Junkyard Dog vs Buddy Roberts & Terry Gordy
8/25/80 Bill Watts & Junkyard Dog vs Buddy Roberts & Terry Gordy
9/1/80 Bill Watts & Junkyard Dog vs Buddy Roberts & Terry Gordy
9/8/80 Elimination match: Bill Watts & Junkyard Dog & Terry Orndorff vs Buddy Roberts & Michael Hayes & Terry Gordy
9/15/80 Mid-South Tag Team titles: Buddy Roberts & Terry Gordy vs Junkyard Dog & Terry Orndorff
9/22/80 Buddy Roberts & Terry Gordy vs Junkyard Dog & Terry Orndorff
9/29/80 Buddy Roberts & Terry Gordy vs Junkyard Dog & Terry Orndorff

BATON ROUGE LA
8/3/80 Steel cage match: Buck Robley & Junkyard Dog & Wahoo McDaniel vs Buddy Roberts & Michael Hayes & Terry Gordy
8/19/80 Buck Robley & Junkyard Dog vs Buddy Roberts & Terry Gordy
8/26/80 Hayes handcuffed to ringpost: Buddy Roberts & Terry Gordy vs Junkyard Dog & Steven Little Bear
9/23/80 Mid-South Tag Team titles, loser leave town: Buddy Roberts & Terry Gordy vs Junkyard Dog & Terry Orndorff

LAFAYETTE LA
8/3/80 Dog collar match: Junkyard Dog vs Michael Hayes
8/17/80 Mid-South Tag Team titles, Hayes handcuffed to ringpost: Buck Robley & Junkyard Dog vs Buddy Roberts & Terry Gordy
9/14/80 Bill Watts & Junkyard Dog vs Buddy Roberts & Terry Gordy
9/28/80 Loser leave town: Buddy Roberts & Michael Hayes & Terry Gordy vs Junkyard Dog & Killer Karl Kox & Terry Orndorff

THIBODAUX LA
8/4/80 Jim Bowie death match: Junkyard Dog vs Michael Hayes

SHREVEPORT LA
8/8/80 Lights out, no dq, dog collar, steel cage match: Junkyard Dog beat Michael Hayes
8/15/80 Mid-South Tag Team titles, Hayes handcuffed to ringpost: Buck Robley & Junkyard Dog vs Buddy Roberts & Terry Gordy
8/29/80 Bill Watts & Junkyard Dog beat Buddy Roberts & Terry Gordy
9/5/80 Jim Bowie death match: Junkyard Dog vs Michael Hayes
9/12/80 Mid-South Tag Team titles: Buddy Roberts & Terry Gordy beat Bill Watts & Junkyard Dog by disqualification
9/19/80 Elimination match, loser leave town: Bill Watts & Junkyard Dog & Terry Orndorff beat Buddy Roberts & Michael Hayes & Terry Gordy

ALEXANDRIA LA
8/9/80 Lights out, no dq, dog collar, steel cage match: Junkyard Dog vs Michael Hayes
8/23/80 Mid-South Tag Team titles, Hayes handcuffed to ringpost: Buck Robley & Junkyard Dog vs Buddy Roberts & Terry Gordy
8/30/80 Alexandria: Bill Watts & Junkyard Dog vs Buddy Roberts & Terry Gordy
9/27/80 Mid-South Tag Team titles: Buddy Roberts & Terry Gordy vs Junkyard Dog & Terry Orndorff

MONROE LA
8/10/80 Jim Bowie death match inside steel cage: Junkyard Dog beat Michael Hayes
8/24/80 Mid-South Tag Team titles, Hayes handcuffed to ringpost: Buddy Roberts & Terry Gordy beat Junkyard Dog & Paul Orndorff (sub for Buck Robley)
9/7/80 Bill Watts & Junkyard Dog vs Buddy Roberts & Terry Gordy
9/21/80 Elimination match, loser leave town: Bill Watts & Junkyard Dog & Terry Orndorff vs Buddy Roberts & Michael Hayes & Terry Gordy

JACKSON MS
8/13/80 Dog collar match: Junkyard Dog vs Michael Hayes
8/20/80 Elimination cage match: Buck Robley & Dusty Rhodes & Junkyard Dog vs Buddy Roberts & Michael Hayes & Terry Gordy
8/27/80 Bill Watts & Junkyard Dog vs Buddy Roberts & Terry Gordy
9/3/80 Mid-South Tag Team titles: Bill Watts & Junkyard Dog vs Buddy Roberts & Terry Gordy
9/10/80 Elimination match, loser leave town: Bill Watts & Junkyard Dog & Terry Orndorff vs Buddy Roberts & Michael Hayes & Terry Gordy
9/17/80 Jim Bowie death match: Junkyard Dog vs Michael Hayes

BILOXI MS
8/16/80 Lights out, dog collar, steel cage match: Junkyard Dog vs Michael Hayes
9/13/80 Bill Watts & Junkyard Dog vs Buddy Roberts & Terry Gordy

HOUMA LA
8/17/80 Junkyard Dog vs Michael Hayes
8/31/80 Buddy Roberts & Terry Gordy vs Junkyard Dog & Ted DiBiase
9/14/80 Buddy Roberts & Michael Hayes & Terry Gordy vs Junkyard Dog & Ted DiBiase & Terry Orndorff

GREENVILLE MS
8/21/80 Dog collar match: Junkyard Dog vs Michael Hayes
9/4/80 Elimination match: Buddy Roberts & Michael Hayes & Terry Gordy vs Junkyard Dog & Ted DiBiase & Terry Orndorff
9/18/80 Texas tornado match: Buddy Roberts & Michael Hayes & Terry Gordy vs Junkyard Dog & Ted DiBiase & Terry Orndorff

GREENWOOD MS
8/28/80 Jim Bowie death match: Junkyard Dog vs Michael Hayes
9/11/80 Hayes handcuffed to ringpost: Buddy Roberts & Terry Gordy vs Junkyard Dog & Terry Orndorff

LAKE CHARLES LA
8/31/80 Jim Bowie death match: Junkyard Dog vs Michael Hayes
9/9/80 Bill Watts & Junkyard Dog vs Buddy Roberts & Terry Gordy
9/28/80 Mid-South Tag Team titles: Buddy Roberts & Terry Gordy vs Junkyard Dog & Terry Orndorff

LORANGER LA
9/6/80 Dog collar match: Junkyard Dog vs Michael Hayes

YAZOO CITY MS
9/20/80 Dog collar match: Junkyard Dog vs Michael Hayes

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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.

9/6/80 Loranger, LA
Dog collar match: Junkyard Dog vs Michael Hayes
Louisiana Heavyweight title: Ken Mantell vs Paul Orndorff
Mid-South Tag Team titles: Buddy Roberts & Terry Gordy vs Steven Little Bear & Ted DiBiase
Ron Cheatham vs Tommy Wright
Frank Dusek vs Terry Lathan

9/9/80 Lake Charles, LA
Ken Mantell vs Paul Orndorff (Orndorff allowed to wear football helmet)
Bill Watts & Junkyard Dog vs Buddy Roberts & Terry Gordy
Johnny Mantell vs Terry Orndorff
Frank Dusek vs Steven Little Bear
Paul Ellering vs Terry Lathan
Dick Anderson vs Jake Roberts
Gerald Finley vs Ron Cheatham

9/17/80 Jackson, MS
Jim Bowie death match: Junkyard Dog vs Michael Hayes
North American title: Ted DiBiase vs Terry Gordy
Special challenge match: Johnny Mantell vs Terry Orndorff
Jake Roberts vs Paul Ellering
Frank Dusek vs Tommy Wright
Ron Cheatham vs Steven Little Bear

9/28/80 Lafayette, LA
Elimination match, loser leave town: Buddy Roberts & Michael Hayes & Terry Gordy vs Junkyard Dog & Killer Karl Kox & Terry Orndorff
Grappler vs Ted DiBiase
Ken Mantell vs Paul Orndorff
Jake Roberts vs Paul Ellering
Dick Anderson vs Ernie Ladd
Terry Lathan vs Turk