Rather than focus on a single star or topic, this month we’ll be looking several different topics including a transformation in the booking style, an intriguing in ring incident, and some of the unsung wrestlers of the promotion. 

Mid-South Goes Memphis 

Mid-South had a solid 1983, but the promotion had hit something of a rut during the latter part of the year. Ted DiBiase had left the promotion and returned to Georgia. Hacksaw Jim Duggan was heading out of Mid-South to do a run in Florida. The November 1983 Superdome show drew a highly disappointing 8,000 fans despite a Junkyard Dog vs. Butch Reed headliner and the presence of Dusty Rhodes, The Road Warriors, and Kerry and David Von Erich on the card. Attendance around the territory had taken a dip. Something needed to be done to halt the slide. The Memphis promotion was at its peak drawing huge crowds and TV ratings so Jerry Jarrett and Jerry Lawler came in for a visit. They took a look around and made a suggestion that Bill Watts wisely took and that re energized Mid-South Wrestling. 

Jarrett and Lawler felt that Mid-South needed to follow the Memphis formula of spicing up the product. The method required an antagonistic manager, aerial wrestlers who could add a quicker paced style of wrestling to appeal to fans who wanted more than brawling, a youthful look to appeal to kids, and sex appeal to draw in the ladies. Memphis had a surplus of the above and was looking for some larger heavyweights along the lines of those populating Mid-South. The two promotions made a trade. Heading to Memphis were King Kong Bundy, Jim Neidhart, and a young Rick Rude. Heading to Mid-South were The Midnight Express and Jim Cornette who was stuck behind Jimmy Hart in the pecking order as well as The Rock n Roll Express who played second fiddle to The Fabulous Ones, and Terry Taylor. Perhaps the most important acquisition was Bill Dundee.