Posted July 13, 200718 yr comment_5419293 North American Heavyweight Title: The Nightmare © vs. Magnum TA (6/11/85) This was Magnum's first match back in Mid-South in 7 months and shows his improvement as a worker since going to Jim Crockett Promotions. Nightmare works this like a big poor man's Randy Orton with rest holds and chinlocks, very slow and plodding and isn't real sharp on his knees to the body either. Magnum is pretty good being the face in peril and took a nice dive to the floor after a double axehandle to the back. Magnum's big comeback is nice as he goes Dusty with the jabs and has the fans with him especially when he blocked the piledriver and popped Hot Stuff. Nice finish with Nightmare loading up the mask while Magnum was hitting Hot Stuff then Magnum hit the mask with his hand before getting headbutted for the win. This was all Magnum and while a fair match not a DVD pick IMO. Hacksaw Duggan vs. Kamala (6/11/85) If Duggan wins this he gets 5 minutes with Skandor Akbar, so you know he is extra motivated for this. Duggan is still selling his eye being burnt the month before and is wearing a special cover over it but that doesn't stop Akbar from throwing this huge ball of powder 30 seconds into the match which covered Kamala making him look like a ghost. Kamala then goes for the eye of course before Duggan goes apeshit crazy on Kamala pounding the fuck out of him while the crowd & Jim Ross goes crazy. Duggan hits a sweet spear on Kamala knocking him to the floor before throwing Skandor Akbar in the ring and Pee Wee Anderson out of the ring prompting this match to be called a no contest. Mr. Kareem Muhammad then ran in the ring and they promptly beat the piss out of Duggan until Magnum TA made the save before he got destroyed. Not DVD worthy but still a fun wild brawl and could be used as an angle match to build up the bigger matches involved with Duggan & Kamala/Muhammad. Hacksaw Duggan vs. Kamala (6/9/85) This one was worked way differently than the first one as they just start the match beating the piss out of each other. It was really great stuff for the first few minutes then of course Duggan brings Akbar in the ring and starts beating on him then Gino Hernandez came in out of nowhere and got his ass beat as well. Duggan then chased Akbar out of the building. Fun while it lasted. Ted DiBiase & "Dr. Death" Steve Williams vs. The Barbarian & Jake "The Snake" Roberts (6/9/85) This was near the beginning of this great feud so there wasn't a lot of hatred going in but it was brewing throughout the match. DiBiase & Jake worked most of the match which was the wise thing to do although Barbarian's actions standing in the corner were great as he was all over the ref calling him a puke. Jake playing Ricky Morton was great to watch as DiBiase & Doc just kept tagging in and out working him over. There was a bad part to this as at one point Doc put Jake in a reverse chinlock right in front of the corner where the Barbarian stood and it was fun watching the Barbarian reach out for the tag but wouldn't reach all the way because he knew how close he was and that it wasn't time for him to come in yet. Good stuff leading to the finish will all 4 men brawling, a ref bump, a DDT, full-nelson, loaded armbrace, & a loaded glove. Pretty good little 10 minute match that could fall in the maybe file but there were better matches between these two teams. Dutch Mantell vs. Brickhouse Brown (6/9/85) These two worked well together and Dutch especially looked good here as a chickenshit heel working the crowd over. Brick's punches looked really good along with his dropkicks and you could tell he was motivated because he was in the middle of what would be one of the biggest pushes of his career that would end pretty soon though. Really loved Dutch's diving elbow and diving kneedrops as nearfalls as they looked really crisp. Brick's comeback was all punches which once again looked good and a monkey flip that had Dutch begging off afterwards but Dutch got the upperhand and used the MX for the win. I liked this one quite a bit and is definitely in the maybe file for me. Terry Gordy & Buddy Roberts vs. The Rock n Roll Express (6/24/85) This was your basic RnR formula match against random heel team they weren't feuding with and that's a good thing considering it's the RnR. Roberts was in the last days of being a good worker and had some nice headbutts here but Gordy on the other hand looked good as usual especially with a leap on the middle ropes after an irish whip with a 180 splash. Buddy hit a shitty looking bulldog that wasn't his fault as Morton dropped to his knees before he was supposed to go face first on the mat. Gordy & Morton worked well together which made me wonder how a feud between Gordy/Hayes vs. RnR would've gone. Terrible looking finish though as Gibson had Roberts in an O'Connor Roll before Gordy picked him for his weird looking piledriver that ended up being a quasi powerbomb but this time Gordy planted him and nothing hit the mat as Gibson landed on Gordy's knees. Fine match for what it was but not disc worthy. NWA World Heavyweight Title: Ric Flair © vs. Butch Reed (6/24/85) Flair & Reed always made an interesting matchup even going back to Florida back in 1982 as there was just something about when those two hooked it up. Reed's offense always looked great against Flair but Flair really looked strong here on offense as he got the time to work. Great back and forth action with Reed getting the signature babyface spots on Flair (backslide for a 2 count, sleeper hold, figure-four, press slam off the top rope) and Reed's punches were really good. Dusty finish though as Reed backdropped Flair over the top rope to the floor while the referee was down and Reed got a pin on Flair soon thereafter as the second referee counted and you know the rest. Good 30 minute match but we got other Flair/Reed matches in this section and I think this could be disc worthy but we'll see how this compares to the others.
July 13, 200718 yr comment_5419302 For Duggan-Kamala, that was a great angle that may be included in bonus form even if the matches do not get nominated. For Flair & Reed, I agree. They just worked well together. I don't think we need to be concerned if the same matchup appears more than once or twice as long as the match is good and DVD worthy.
December 17, 200717 yr comment_5425432 North American Heavyweight Title: The Nightmare © vs. Magnum TA (6/11/85) I didn't think this was all T.A. as Nightmare had some great looking punches, this would flucuate from good stuff to bad stuff, but not enough good to make a set. Hacksaw Duggan vs. Kamala (6/11/85) Hacksaw Duggan vs. Kamala (6/9/85) Both were way too short, it is too bad we don't have a signature Duggan v. Kamala match on this set. Ted DiBiase & "Dr. Death" Steve Williams vs. The Barbarian & Jake "The Snake" Roberts (6/9/85) This was fun, and had a great end run, but there are a couple better matches between the two teams. Dutch Mantell vs. Brickhouse Brown (6/9/85) This was way more Memphis then their other matches with each other and I was loving Dutch. Doesn't make a set, but it does make me excited to watch more Memphis NWA World Heavyweight Title: Ric Flair © vs. Butch Reed (6/24/85) Yeah this has to go on, I am not a huge fan of the Dusty finish, but it was well done here. I loved Flair jumping on Reed's knee, and the early hammerlock lifts. This isn't the best of these obviously, but this is such a great match up that it goes. Do we have the TV version of the second half? It is hurt a bunch by not being able to hear the crowd.
