Memphis….in Shreveport?

During one particular episode of Mid-South programming near the end of the year, fans were surprised to see Memphis wrestling megastar Jerry “the King” Lawler show up to do color commentary along with Boyd Pierce.  What fans couldn’t have known was the real reason for Lawler’s visit outside his home turf.  Bill Watts had asked both Lawler and Jerry Jarrett for help in evaluating his territory.  The two men quickly pointed out that while Watts had his share of bruisers, he lacked in “baby” faces.  Simply, Watts didn’t have a “GQ” type of attraction for girls to relate to, thereby potentially turning off half of his audience, except for Magnum T.A., who wasn’t near his drawing peak yet. 

With the Memphis territory overloaded with handsome stars, such as the hugely popular tag team known as the Fabulous Ones (Steve Keirn and Stan Lane), Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson were treading water.  They were put together for the purpose of headlining the “b” towns for Jarrett’s territory, or when the Fabs were booked in another city.  Terry Taylor was also kind of treading water, forming a short-lived tag team with Jerry Roberts (Jacques Rougeau), and generally wrestling mid-card matches.   

There was no shortage of great managers either.  Jim Cornette was just beginning his managerial career, but was greatly overshadowed by Jimmy Hart. With this much talent, Jarrett could afford to part with some of his talent….for some of Watts’ talent.   

Watts and Jarrett pulled off what could be called the trade heard ‘round the world.  Jim Cornette, Bobby Eaton, Terry Taylor, the Rock-n-Roll Express, and Bill Dundee for Rick Rood, Jim Neidhart, Masao Ito, and a couple of other guys.  Dundee was just returning to Memphis after setting record crowds across the territory in a series of loser leaves town matches against Lawler.  Dundee however, would not wrestle for a while.  Instead, he became the brand new booker for Watts.   

Eaton would join up with Dennis Condrey, and begin the run that most fans remember Eaton for with the Midnight Express.  And Morton and Gibson would remain as who they were. Terry Taylor and the Rock-n-Roll Express were given a huge build up before ever arriving in Mid-South.  With the help of Jerry Jarrett’s then cutting edge videos promoting them, Taylor and the R-n-R were partially “made” before they ever set foot in a ring.   

Then, as Taylor and Morton and Gibson made their way to the Mid-South, they were given the superpush.  While small men in size, they captured the hearts of Mid-South fans with their “heart” and their looks.  Taylor was put over Nikolai Volkoff and Krusher Khruschev, despite being outweighed by nearly 100 pounds.  Morton and Gibson were pushed similarly.  Mid-South was no longer just a “big man’s” playground.  Watts and Dundee both did something hugely important:  They made us believe that size didn’t matter.   Heart mattered.   

With smaller faces actually going toe to toe with the bigger heels, it was time for vice versa.  Enter Cornette with his men.  While first programmed with Magnum TA and Mr. Wrestling 2, the Midnight Express would have their first major run against two of the largest faces in Mid-South ..(more next month)   

Girls Gone Wild:

Along with his deal with Jarrett,  Watts had begun working with Fritz Von Erich together, and some of the World Class stars would make appearances in his towns, including Tulsa, New Orleans, and Houston.  One would think that with the Von Erichs-Freebirds feud at its peak,that any combination of those six men would help to draw a crowd.  One would actually be wrong.

Watts had used both Kerry and David Von Erich for his Superdome show, but neither one faced a Freebird.  Kerry faced off against the Missing Link, while David was continuing a spin-off feud with Kamala.  While that feud would help World Class in 1983, it didn’t help Mid-South draw tickets. 

Near the end of 1983, with the aforementioned wars raging, another war had caught fire beyond belief.  Chris Adams and Sunshine were having a feud like no other with Jimmy Garvin and Precious.  For many fans, this was the first time two valets were feuding with such violence.  The many American women’s matches with “real” wrestlers didn’t even look as legitimate as when the two ladies would go after each other.  While neither woman could cut great promos, both of their non-verbal communication abilities were second to none.  Adams was a greatly popular and handsome babyface, while Garvin was the cocky heel who tried to make life miserable for everyone.  When those four would make their way into Mid-South arenas either in singles matches or mixed tag matches, crowds would flock to see them.

Watts would use his “guest” stars smartly, as he would use them to draw the crowd, but use his underneath matches to generate future interest, underneath matches that would have some of his newer stars on them.  By the end of the year,  due to his deal with Jarrett, and co-promotion with Von Erich, seeds were planted that when fully bloomed, would lead to the biggest single year in Mid-South history.   

NEXT MONTH:

We will focus on the first quarter of 1984, including one of the biggest angles in Mid-South history.