From that moment to his late 1985 babyface turn, DiBiase used the loaded glove to knock out a veritable who’s who of Mid-South wrestlers. Even after he regained fan acceptance after Dick Murdoch’s Nov. 1985 attack on him, he won the first round of singles matches against the now-hated Murdoch by loading the glove and nailing Murdoch.

CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD

Mid-South wrestlers had signature objects, and were also willing to use whatever was at hand on each other. Junkyard Dog had his chain, Killer Karl Kox (and, later in 1982, Dick Murdoch) used a Marine Corps entrenching tool, and Nikolai Volkoff used a hangman’s noose to choke the life out of his hated American rivals (and once laid out Dusty Rhodes with a bag of wheat!).

The Mid-South star with the largest collection of offensive items, however, had to be “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan. Although he is best known for his use of 2-by-4 boards, the lumber was just one piece of Duggan’s gallery of items. As a member of the Rat  Pack in 1982, Duggan wore a mysterious metallic helmet that he used to interfere with matches and add devastating power to his spear maneuver. Later, as a patriotic babyface, he unveiled the coal miner’s glove, a glove with metal studs on the knuckles that made a punch a lethal maneuver.

STOPPING THE MADNESS

The year was 1984. Summer was here, and the time was right for bashing other people with chairs, boards, racquets and chains. After a particularly savage attack by Hercules Hernandez with a chair  on Sonny King, Mid-South outlawed used of chains, chairs, racquets and boards. These items would not only bring a DQ, but a $10,000 fine for the user. 

The first person to get hit with the fine was Koko Ware. As half of the Pretty Young Things tag team, Ware was involved in a feud with Cornette’s Midnight Express. One post-match brawl saw involvement from Cornette bodyguard Hernandez, the man who started it all. The PYTs were overwhelmed until Ware brought in a chair and wore out Hernandez with it. Ware and partner Norvell Austin found themselves indefinitely suspended from Mid-South when they told company President Bill Watts they couldn’t afford the fine.

About a month later, a contract signing between the Fantastics and the Midnights ended with Cornette ordering his team to launch a series of debilitating chair shots onto Tommy Rogers and Bobby Fulton. When Watts levied the fine, the wealthy Cornette paid without a second thought, reveling in the damage he had caused his foes. Cornette also noticed that the coal miner’s glove was not among the objects banned, and bought the glove for Hernandez to use from Krusher Khruschev, who had taken it from Duggan months before.

A few months later, Mid-South rescinded the ban, but the objects never became quite as prevalent as they had been during that insane summer of 1984.

NEXT MONTH: 

In observance of Black History Month, we’ll look at some of the great African-American athletes who helped make Mid-South what it was.

Please email me with comments, compliments or complaints at rocksays@prodigy.net.