Reed became disgusted, and basically turned heel during an in-ring promo when he told Reiser Bowden that being nice, "don't put no food on my table." Later, DiBiase would attack Dog and Reed would join him, cementing his heel turn.

Fans were shocked. They couldn't believe that Reed would do a thing to such a "friend" as the Dog.

The turn paid off. Just as Duggan benefited by feuding against arguably the top heel in the company, Reed benefited by turning against the number one babyface in the company. Reed and JYD would continue their feud for over a year, twice drawing crowds in excess of 20,000 fans for the large Superdome shows in New Orleans, and never failing to keep fans licking their chops for the next installment.

As exciting as those two turns were, the two men would also play a role in another "angle" that helped to catapult a young wrestler from Virginia into superstardom.

Becoming "Magnum":

When Terry Allen arrived in the Mid-South area, he was immediately christened with the nick name "Magnum T.A.," to play off of the wildly popular television series "Magnum P.I." with noted actor Tom Selleck.

Allen, who wrestled as an underneath guy in Southwest Championship Wrestling, and who had achieved a modicum of success tag teaming with Scott McGhee in Florida, was ready for big things in Mid-South.

He didn't get it right away. Sometimes he would win. others he would lose.  But, when he began using the belly to belly suplex, he nearly became unstoppable. His first major run with a Mid-South title came at the helm of the Mid-South tag team championship, which he won with Duggan over DiBiase and Mr. Olympia. As a member of the tag team champions, T.A. earned the respect of the Mid-South audience.

It would be Reed who would trade the next title with Allen. Reed stated that after he won the North American title, that he would be a fighting champion. He even let the fans pick the challenger. Except, it couldn't be JYD, because he had the Dog's "number," so to speak. Duggan was out of the running. So was everyone else. except T.A. Reed thought that T.A. was "easy pickings," and therefore, a night off. Furthermore, Reed wanted to hurt T.A. for the Mid-South tag title match later in the show involving T.A.-Duggan vs. Reed and partner Jim Neidhart. However, JYD was appointed special referee, and when the smoke cleared, T.A. was the new North American champion. The euphoria was short lived, as later on in the hour, T.A and Duggan would lose their tag titles to Reed and Neidhart. Still, T.A. tasted a title. and both he and the fans liked it.

T.A.'s first reign didn't last too long, due to the fact that he wasn't the actual person "signed" to the match. Both his win over Reed, and his subsequent loss of the title to Nikolai Volkoff were overturned by Mid-South Sports, and by the end of the year, T.A. was teaming with new "coach" Mr. Wrestling 2. The pair ended the year Mid-South tag team champions.

As many of you well know, T.A. would again hold the belt. and this time. seemed to work his way into being "the man." (More about the T.A. saga in two months' time)

Besides the turning of two perennial stars, and the slow build of another one, there was another shocking twist to Mid-South programming, in late 1983.

The Russians Are Coming:

Barry Darsow was known as "Crusher" Darsow when he entered the Mid-South area. At first he could have looked like typical "enhancement" type talent. 

Big and strong, Darsow was sure to make a name for himself. Boy would he!!! Darsow's only two television losses at the time were to Nikolai Volkoff, and to JYD. He was a star on the rise, so having wrestled both men would be a boon to anyone's career, much like his own. Darsow even showed his respect for JYD by saving him from a gang attack led by DiBiase. It came down to a JYD-Volkoff match for the North American title.

To spice up what was going on, Darsow was interviewed about an impending title match between Dog and Volkoff, and asked who he thought would win. 

Hands down, he said it would be Volkoff. He stated this because he had given JYD a tough time, but was basically squashed by Volkoff (You can see Watts' brilliance here). Darsow stated that he had never faced such power and strength as he had in Volkoff. and wanted to learn more. Slowly, Darsow would be enticed over to the side of the big Russian, changing his name from Crusher Darsow to Krusher Khruschev, when he turned against Oklahoma's own Steve "Dr. Death" Williams during a Williams-Volkoff match. The new Russian team would give many in Mid-South fits for months most notably Terry Taylor and Hacksaw Jim Duggan.

In closing, there are a ton of angles not yet touched on in 1983. But, we will get there. We will explore JYD's biggest challenge of all time. We also will take a look at people stepping in to create the would-be-kings of Mid-South.

NEXT MONTH:

We continue our overview of 1983 with a unique look at how Junkyard Dog fared in the ring. and out of it.