If You're Traveling in the Mid-South Fair, Where the Winds Hit Heavy on the Borderline, Remember Me to One who Lives There, for She was Once a True Love of Mine

Rock 'n' Roll Express v Ted DiBiase & Steve Williams (6/19/85)

I preferred the arena match from 5/3/85, but this went about the same amount of time yet was different enough that I have to give it some points. Plus, you know, it's good. RnRs have a few neat double teams early on, lighting Williams and DiBiase up with dropkicks and monkey flips. Williams grabbing Gibson by the throat and just chucking him into the corner looked nasty enough on its own, so much so that I had to rewind it a couple times, which is when I noticed DiBiase cracking Gibson in the back of the head at the same time he smashes into the turnbuckles. So that's a pretty fucking cool way to transition into a heat segment. It's also total Wattsville, in that, sure, Williams and DiBiase are heels and they're scumbags and they won't think twice about taking a shortcut, but they're also great athletes and wrestlers. Watts' booking would highlight shit like Williams' crazy strength and the Dirty White Boys' smarts and how Buzz Sawyer was a master of dog collar matches. Finish is hectic with the referee getting knocked all over the place and DiBiase loading gloves and Williams smashing Morton in the face with a fucking vambrace. Joel Watts' commentary orgasm almost puts Gary Neville's when Fernando Torres scored that one time against Barcelona to shame.


Rock 'n' Roll Express v Terry Gordy & Buddy Roberts (6/24/85)

Man, the Freebirds were a total blast in this. Hayes is always really animated and hyperactive playing manager duty, Roberts and Gordy are busting out all sorts of awesome offence, and Buddy is just the best weasel for the situation with his amazing Madonna perm. Gordy is throwing himself at Morton with cross bodies off the second rope and crushing him with running powerslams while Roberts is choking him and punching him in the throat and raking his eyes across the top rope. I'd still say he's the "weakest" of the three Freebirds, but nobody ever really talks about him as a first class stooge, and he kind of is. I've been wanting to re-watch a bunch of stuff from the Texas set for a while, and this has me pretty geared for when I eventually get around to it. And I'll assume the finish wasn't intended to be what it was, but fuck it, I'm pretty sure that's the first Ganso Bomb in history. 


Mid-South Project