DOTT - MIDSOUTH (the Watts Way)

[olympia]

Welll, hopefully it takes Money to make money and the return you get at the gate next time will pay off...

 

But the show established everyone that it needed to establish as players (Ladd, II, Murdoch, Dibiase... Great job with Ernie Ladd with his promo... Boyd Pierce's days could be numbered....and the youngster Magnum TA improving in all these areas out of the gate has got to be great news

 

Thanks. I know Ladd used the "dummy" term when talking about "Andre the Dummy" but it seemed to fit the bill here.

 

likewise Moderndaywarrior: I was dismayed at Watts-Boyd. Funny how random things like that can happen.

 

Love your little dialogue between Watts and Dibiase too. You guys feel free to throw those in any time. Makes it kind of fun when different people play the roles of their favorite.

 

From all that I've read, it seems that getting a C show with a D popularity is good (if not unexpected). I had hoped Murdoch and 2 would have gotten a B or better. Maybe with time. The biggest disappointment was seeing Dibiase's momentum slide a notch (B+). Guess the D rated win hurt him. Hopefully the results are better next time out.

[Moderndaywarrior]

Hmm...only things I could think of that might have hurt Murdoch/II is if a)one guy got too tired or b)the "interference" finish didn't go over well....

 

No big deal though,your grades should pick up as the sotrylines get rolling.

 

I have to admit,one of my favorite things about my WS2 Arn Anderson diary is doing the commentary "in character" as Gordon Solie and Bill Watts.....Watts is classic...he cheers for the faces and gets upset at the heels but at the same time manages to put over Mid-South,and no matter what happens he makes sense of it;one of my favorites is once someone asked how he couldn't know the identity of a masked wrestler,didn't he have to cut the guy a paycheck,which HAD to have his real name on it?.....Watt's answer "Actually as part of his contract he has a special pay arrangement....each week I take his pay,in cash,put it in an envelope,and have it locked up in a P.O. Box at the Post Office....he sends someone he trusts around to collect it so we've never seen who he is without the mask."

[BHK1978]

Liked the first show my friend!

 

I loved the Junkyard Dummy line! I never saw all that much of Ernie Ladd but that line had me cracking up.

 

Quick question, I really do not know all that much about MidSouth (well it became UWF and a lot of starts came from there like Sting, Steve Williams, JYD, etc.) but wasn't Jim Duggan apart of the Rat Pack? I thought I read that somewhere, and I always found the thought of Jim Duggan as a heel to be weird.

[olympia]

Pro Wrestling This Week

 

Bill Apter and Joe Pedicino host the show that looks at wrestling news from around the globe:

 

 

WWF was in Worcester. Superfly Snuka defeated the Iron Sheik. Don Muraco was voted MVP after his win over Pedro Morales. 8913 paid

On their Tuesday Night Titans show - Wild Samoan Sika defeated Andre the Giant in major main event upset - c rated.

 

Central States: Bruiser Brody was MVP as he beat Roger Kirby in front of 1856 in SD. Best match was 6-time world champion Harley Race over Manny Fernandez (B) (editor note: Race's last 2 titles have not been won as of 4/83

PNW - 2000 fans see a wild brawl between Dutch Savage, Playboy Rose and Billy Jack. Rose was the star. Oliver pins Dean Ho in main event. C+

 

ICW saw wild night as rivals Garvin and Savage teamed up to defeat the Convertible Blonds (C+). Ratamyus whipped Lanny Poffo (D+). Show was rated C (other matches were Es). I never thought I'd see the day bitter rivals like Garvin and Savage would team up. The Blondes must have really pulled a dastardly stunt to unite those two!

 

Freebirds draw first blood in WCCW as Hayes beat David and Gordy beat Kerry. Kevin beat Jimmy Garvin to retain the American title. C show in front of 2000

AWA - Wahoo and Patera defeat Bockwinkle and Stevens. Hogan over Ventura. B- show in front of 9402.

our very own Ernie Ladd becomes head booker of Polynesian Pro Wrestling. They put on C show in front of 5467 in Hawaii. Maniac and Brody defeat Muraco and Snuka. Inoki beat Kevin Von Erich

CWA: new tag champs! Austin Idol and Moondog Spot team to win Southern tag titles from The Fabs (C+). Ventura upset King Lawler (B-). 2000 attended the C rated show

 

GCW: Ole Anderson and Mr Wrestling II defeat Road Warriors for National tag titles. 9059 watch the C+ show in Pensacola. GCW and MAC both sign PPV/closed circuit agreements

 

Jumbo Tsuruta declined an offer to jump to rival NJPW. They won't stop their pursuit, but AJPW is happy to retain the services of their golden boy

 

Web Poll Awards: Professor Boris Malenko was voted the "Best Manager in the World". Bobby Eaton received award for Best High Flyer. (in related news, Malenko is unemployeed)

 

INJURY REPORT

In NJPW, Tatsumi Fujinami defends International title vs Masked Superstar - but is injured in the match. He will be out of action close to 6 months with a ruptured achilles tendon. We're sure all the fans wish him a speedy recovery.

 

Now to Mid-South news:

The main matches scheduled for TV next week are:

Ted Dibiase vs Mr. Wrestling II

TV TITLE MATCH: Terry Taylor defends vs Kendo Nagasaki

Nicolai Volkolff vs Magnum TA

Kamala will also be in action. The last show drew .01 (no idea if that is good or bad for a small regional tv program only broadcast to one area. But it is something to build on)

 

and the matches signed for "The April Blowout"

Tiger Conway and Mr. Wrestling II © vs The Rat Pack (Dibiase-Borne) for Mid-South Tag team titles. D heat

North American champ JYD © vs Nicolai Volkoff (C- heat)

Hacksaw Jim Duggan vs Dr. Death Steve Williams (E+ heat)

Ugandan Giant Kamala vs Hacksaw Butch Reed (D+ heat)

Dick Murdoch will also be in action against TBA (at this time)

 

by putting the "heat" ratings out there now, I'm hoping to see them improve before the actual show with the TV angles. Haven't decided how to fill out the show yet. I'll firm up the show ahead of time, but giving you time to work on any projections.

[Moderndaywarrior]

Liked the first show my friend!

 

I loved the Junkyard Dummy line! I never saw all that much of Ernie Ladd but that line had me cracking up.

 

Quick question, I really do not know all that much about MidSouth (well it became UWF and a lot of starts came from there like Sting, Steve Williams, JYD, etc.) but wasn't Jim Duggan apart of the Rat Pack? I thought I read that somewhere, and I always found the thought of Jim Duggan as a heel to be weird.

 

Yes,Duggan was a part of The Rat Pack....probably his most well known moment was dressing up as a gorilla and prentending to be a mascot type character entertaining the fans,then rushing to the ring to deliver a beat down.He was actually not bad in the heel role.

 

The face turn came when Ted DiBiase started dealing with Skandor Akbar,the evil sheik who was intent on using his fortune to dominate and destroy the U.S.A. through professional wrestling(no,I don't know how that works either).Duggan,even though he was a bad guy,was still a patriot,and took exception with the leader of the Rat Pack doing business with the Anri-American Akbar....DiBiase assured him it was "just business" but Duggan couldn't stomach it,stood up for America,and was turned on during a match.....tht set up a long feud between Duggan and DiBiase and got Duggan over as a face in a major way.

[olympia]

Liked the first show my friend!

 

I loved the Junkyard Dummy line! I never saw all that much of Ernie Ladd but that line had me cracking up.

 

Quick question, I really do not know all that much about MidSouth (well it became UWF and a lot of starts came from there like Sting, Steve Williams, JYD, etc.) but wasn't Jim Duggan apart of the Rat Pack? I thought I read that somewhere, and I always found the thought of Jim Duggan as a heel to be weird.

 

thank you!! and yes - Duggan was part of the Rat Pack with Dibiase and Borne. It is hard looking at what he was in WWF and thinking he could have been a heel, but much the same could be said for Dusty Rhodes who was the most hated man for a long time. If I can find footage of Hacksaw as a heel, I'll post a link - unless someone beats me to it.

BTW, I may end up using the exact same angle to turn Duggan babyface (if and when the time is right). Unless I (we) come up with a better plan, it really seemed to work and should be fun to try here.

[BHK1978]

I forgot to say thanks for the Mike Sharpe shout out!

 

Also, I like the Pro Wrestling This Week that you just posted. It enhances the read for me, and I think it is cool that I as a reader can find out what is going on with the other promotions in your game world.

 

That is why I love talking to you and Moderndaywarrior, you both give me some great history lessons! I never knew Dusty was a heel! That I can not picture at all, I thought when he was in a tag team with Dick Murdoch they were fan favorites.

 

I have to say my all time favorite Duggan moment was when he found the WCW T.V. Title in the trash and he picked it up and started to defend it. Yeah it devalued a great title (that was my favorite title in the NWA/WCW) but it was still funny.

[Moderndaywarrior]

Crazy as it sounds, .1 is actually good for a regional show....once for fun I jacked up a promotion a few selected workers all the way up to the absolute max.....best TV rating i could manage was a little over 1.0

 

Random Trivia: The Southern Tag Titles won by Idol & Spot are actually one of the oldest and most prestigious titles in the Memphis promotion....for many years matches for The Southern Tag Titles were the Main Event match(as compared to now when tag team wrestling is at best,an afterthought)

 

EDIT: Yes,Dusty had Ric Flair levels of hatred going in Florida for about the first 6 years of his career,as an a loud mouth,arrogant heel....then one night an errant chop by his tag team partner,Pak Song(talented guy who died kinda young,reminiscent of Baba),led to a career defining turn.

[Oldschool]

Watt's answer "Actually as part of his contract he has a special pay arrangement....each week I take his pay,in cash,put it in an envelope,and have it locked up in a P.O. Box at the Post Office....he sends someone he trusts around to collect it so we've never seen who he is without the mask."

 

 

Thats Classic!!! Its stuff like this, that makes me hate wrestling today and crave the stuff from yesteryear

[olympia]

Also, I like the Pro Wrestling This Week that you just posted. It enhances the read for me, and I think it is cool that I as a reader can find out what is going on with the other promotions in your game world.

 

These are always one of my favorite reads in other's as well. Some of the crazy teams (Garvin and Savage!) and maniac pushes (Sika beating Andre!! Sika will likely be a singles champ soon). I may limit the focus to the other legacies on here (WWF, GCW, ICW, AWA - did I miss anyone) and then hit anything else that looks good to me (or ultra important). Or if there are any areas that someone is most interested in, I can include them each time too.

 

Here is a clip of the despised Texas Outlaws (Rhodes-Murdoch) vs Dick the Bruiser and Crusher.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otto9kqk20w&feature=PlayList&p=525D6F1C2C14D79D&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=54

 

The Southern Tag Titles won by Idol & Spot are actually one of the oldest and most prestigious titles in the Memphis promotion

Even with Lawler on top, Memphis still kept a ton of emphasis on tag teams. So many great teams started there (The Fabs were always considered the best team by local fans - despite the national attention Rock and Roll Express got). Mid-Atlantic was another area that gave the main event push to tag teams (until Johnny Valentine came in -- and then there was some guy named Flair who took it to a new level)

 

I loved that Watts quote on paying masked wrestlers. I saw that over the weekend and thought how original. I was trying to think of a way to work that in somewhere.

[BHK1978]

That was a great clip! How about the crowd that they used to draw back then!

 

I often wonder if the internet helped kill wrestling a little bit. I mean back then people thought it was real. Now we all know it is fake (well most of us do).

 

I remember seeing clips of the Jerry Lawler vs. Andy Kaufman and it was great when they would show show the crowds reaction. These people wanted to kill Andy! I have also heard many stories where the would riot and go after the wrestlers back in the 60's.

 

That is something you do not see anymore, because people know it is fake. Hell I would just like to see people throwing cups at the wrestlers again. That is no longer done.

[Moderndaywarrior]

That was a great clip! How about the crowd that they used to draw back then!

 

I often wonder if the internet helped kill wrestling a little bit. I mean back then people thought it was real. Now we all know it is fake (well most of us do).

 

I remember seeing clips of the Jerry Lawler vs. Andy Kaufman and it was great when they would show show the crowds reaction. These people wanted to kill Andy! I have also heard many stories where the would riot and go after the wrestlers back in the 60's.

 

That is something you do not see anymore, because people know it is fake. Hell I would just like to see people throwing cups at the wrestlers again. That is no longer done.

 

Yep,not many people know that for years and years pro wrestling sold out buildings like The Kiel,The Checker Dome,The Omni,The Mid-South Colliseum,Kobo Hall,The Dallas Sportatorium,and The Ampitheater all over the country;at times wrestling even sold out Candlestick Park and Comiskey Park.

 

The Internet did kill wrestling and it didn't...by the time of the internet,the WWF was already really opening up the business,that was did the major damage,the internet was more just like the final nail in the coffin.

 

Lawler/Kaufman was classic,alot of people know this one from the famous altercation on Late Night with David Letterman...the Andy sold the two piledrivers was crazy,he wore that neck brace at all times in public forever after that.Kinda funny when you see it now and the insane heat Kaufman got,at the time the angle was considered a marginal failure....what's even more out there is around the time of Lawler/Kaufman, Memphis was drawing an average crowd of 8,000-10,000 every single Monday night at the Colisseum.

 

I really don't get the deal with people ragging on wrestling...."you know it's all fake,right?"....Well d'uh,it's a TV show....Did Gil Gerard really go to the 25th Century? Was Lorne Greene really in charge of the Galactica searching for Earth? Was Shatner really in outer space on 5 year journey? Did George peppard and Mr.T really escape from a high security military prison to the Los Angeles underground and live as soldiers of fortune? Take it for what it is....entertainment.

 

The only thing dumber is WWE basically outright ackowledging the fake aspect....that would be like at the beginning of Star Wars, Vader comes out and takes off the mask..."Hi everybody,it's me.....James Earl Jones....this is just a big made up story about outer space,the spaceships are just models,sp don't bother getting into it cause it's all fake....".....I have feeling if they went that route the franchise might JUST have been a wee but less successful that way than if they did it the way they did....an engrossing story that gets you so into wanting to see what happens next you forget "it's just make believe"...wrestling is no different and until the business "figues it out again",I doubt you'll see another "classic" era.

[olympia]

That was a great clip! How about the crowd that they used to draw back then!

 

I often wonder if the internet helped kill wrestling a little bit. I mean back then people thought it was real. Now we all know it is fake (well most of us do).

 

I remember seeing clips of the Jerry Lawler vs. Andy Kaufman and it was great when they would show show the crowds reaction. These people wanted to kill Andy! I have also heard many stories where the would riot and go after the wrestlers back in the 60's.

 

That is something you do not see anymore, because people know it is fake. Hell I would just like to see people throwing cups at the wrestlers again. That is no longer done.

 

I lived thru Lawler-Kaufmann - it was INSANE! It was over the top at the time, but now the angle is legendary.

the stories I've heard of the riots back in the day were wild indeed. There was a local guy in TN (Ron Wright) who was shot, stabbed, and even had his private plane blown up:

http://www.kayfabememories.com/Interviews/ronwright.htm

I love the quotes from Terry Funk

 

The closest thing to a "riot" I've seen recently was again back in TN at a local indy show (can you have a real riot with only 20 people?). Anyway, Dr. Tom Pritchard was brawling in the crowd and some old guy acted like he wanted a piece, so Dr Tom grabs a chair, retreats to the safety of the ring, and eggs the guy on. Now the old guy was more clowning around than anything, he wasn't going into the ring. But oh my - his daughter went NUTS> She was kicking stuff, throwing chairs at Dr Tom, and yelling at the top of her lungs ("NO ONE IS GOING TO HURT MY DAD!!!!"). Some other regular old-timer pulls out his knife (he told me just in case things get hairy). He was probably involved in some of the old school riots in his younger years. Long story short, the wrestling promotion actually offered the girl a JOB the next week! lol She was working the crowd into a frenzy better than any of the kids they had in the ring.

 

Aside from knowing the action is "staged", I think one major issue is today's heels don't want any real heat. They want to be cool, sign autographs, and sell their merchandise! The heels want to be cheered! many fans oblige and cheer the wrong guys "because its cool". Four Horsemen aside, we're supposed to cheer the good guys and boo the bad guys. As said earlier on this thread, Bill Watts wanted his heels to kick dogs and steal candy from babies. They were supposed to draw heat for their actions. (now if the good guy was Erik Watts, it was ok not just to boo him, but also call for his blood and head on a platter - as I did in Greenville SC from the front row. By the end of the match, I had everyone at ringside chanting for someone to HIT WATTS!! -- but alas, Arn didn't turn on him and no one hit him all that hard, even if it looked like he was tearing up and our meaness). Lucky for me, Bill is trying to make me give his son a big push in the "new MSW"

 

Another of my favorite live event moments. Smokey Mt Wrestling. Hometown hero and champ Dirty White Boy was to face Memphis legend Jerry the King Lawler. Lawler had done promos about East TN was redneck and West TN was class - he was supposed to be the heel. The King came out to a HUGE Standing ovation - he even looked stunned at the reaction. The King slowly walked around the ringside area looking at the fans and soaking in the cheers. (I could just picture the look on Tony's face in the back - how was he supposed to compete with that?).. Lawler walked around the ring once, twice, three times. The cheers continued - the crowd loved him. The 4th time around Jerry stopped. A little kid was holding up a sign that read :we love you king!" Lawler glares at him for a minute and then jerks the sign away and rips it up!!!!!!! OH MY STARS did the crowd turn on a dime!! old guys were running down the steps and had to stopped by security. even my dad who enjoys the matches but never gets excited came unglued. he was booing and calling Lawler names. I started laughing at Dad's reaction. Lawler was genius! If he could provoke that much emotion from my quiet reserved dad, imagine what others were doing. Lawler was inciting the crowd "come on down here you inbred hicks. none of you have the guts to face me" Then the big roar as DWB charged the ring and the match was on - and the crowd was into it big time!

 

another time bad guy Ric Flair was facing good guy Randy Savage on a WWF card in the Carolinas. Of course the reaction was not by script as the hometown fans cheered for Flair. midmatch, being true pros, Flair and Savage switched roles. Gave the fans what they wanted to see (and probably got in trouble with the brass after the match).

[Moderndaywarrior]

These are always one of my favorite reads in other's as well. Some of the crazy teams (Garvin and Savage!) and maniac pushes (Sika beating Andre!! Sika will likely be a singles champ soon). I may limit the focus to the other legacies on here (WWF, GCW, ICW, AWA - did I miss anyone) and then hit anything else that looks good to me (or ultra important). Or if there are any areas that someone is most interested in, I can include them each time too.

 

The December/January "Year in Review" issue with the huge awards section will be a must.

 

A lesser known fact is Lawler actually started off in Memphis as a member of a tag team,so did Tommy Rich....One of the favorite tricks of Nick Gulas(the promoter for what we know call Memphis before Jarrett and Lawler broke away and formed their own promotion,back then it was actually all of Tennesse and a decent chunk of Kentucky) was to heavily feature masked tag teams in the weekly Main Events(this was back when they ran 2 towns a night 6 days a week and very little made it onto TV),that way he could have several different "teams" of workers under the same masks and feature the same Tag Team in 2 different towns at opposite ends of the circuit every night.Teams like The Infernos,The Mighty Yankees,The Interns,and The Bicentennial Kings(Phil Hickerson & Dennis Condrey...GREAT team) still dominated the top spot of many cards well into "The Lawler Era"....heck many times your top draws like Lawler and Jackie Fargo wrestled in tag team main events as often as they did in singles matches.

 

The prevailing logic back was to push your top team to the ME,because the basic nature of tag team match allowed them to put on longer Main Events,thus keeping the fans feeling that they got their monies worth and wanting to come back again the next show....back then what is now called "a 20 minute classic" would have been called "a short main event"...60 minutes ("the iron man match") was much more common, and in some cases, a single 2/3 falls match could go 2 hours or more....

[Moderndaywarrior]

Lawler was probably the greatest ring psychologist and interview ever,and that's made him draw.....he could face,he could heel,and he knew WHEN to do each...just watch his non-Memphis stuff and compare to his Memphis stuff....the man knows EXACTLY what to do and say to make people either love him to death or hate his guts....each interview is unique and appropriate to the match and crowd,it makes sense to what is going on,unlike today where some dude takes the mic and throws out a stupid catch phrase a couple times.

 

I think you have a point about heels wanting to be "cool heels" and not "real heels" anymore.....don't get me wrong for some guys (Flair and Piper come to mind) it works,but then it's their natural personality that makes them cool,rather than a conscious effort.

 

Never again will you see scenes like The Sheik being escorted to the back by the police because the fans were so mad after seeing him manage to just barely squeeze by AGAIN...or fans nearly rushing the en masse to get at The Freebirds after they blinded JYD...the Freebirds actually got together and bought a junker car and named it "The Freebirdmobile" to drive to the match because the fans would wait outside and throw rocks at the them when they arrived,so they figured why risk ruining a nice new vehicle.

 

Way back, Ric Flair went abroad to Trinidad and Tobago to wrestle a local guy named Jack Veneno,who was a wrestling god down in Trinidad.....Falir took Piper with him so he had a trusted friend to watch his back during the match.....about 20 minutes in Flair finally gets his first offense in with the help of Piper,and the militia that was working security actually levelled their guns at Piper,fully ready to shoot...Flair pretty much took a dive and pulled Veneno on top for the win after that to prevent a riot....these days you're lucky if you can even get a halfway decent chant going for the babyface,much less something like THAT.

[Nobby_McDonald]

This is like a history lesson.

[BHK1978]

The one gimmick that I used to love by the Dirty White Boy was when he was working as a heel and he turned his back on the south! He used to come out with his New York Yankees gear and he would just trash the south. That was great stuff! Does anybody remember if that was in Smokey Mt Wrestling or one of the many 1000th Memphis promotions?

[olympia]

The one gimmick that I used to love by the Dirty White Boy was when he was working as a heel and he turned his back on the south! He used to come out with his New York Yankees gear and he would just trash the south. That was great stuff! Does anybody remember if that was in Smokey Mt Wrestling or one of the many 1000th Memphis promotions?

 

 

Smokey Mountain. The man in the wheelchair is the legendary Ron Wright (that I sent the interview link on earlier). aw the good ol days

 

 

nothing wrong with a little history lesson mixed in.

[olympia]

Mid-South TV week 2

 

Week 2 - April 1983

 

Coming to you from Pasadena Texas just outside of Houston. We are here tonight at the request of Big Cat Ernie Ladd. He says he will make his reasons very clear before the show is over.

 

Skandar Akbar kicks things off by hyping his Ugandan Giant Kamala: "Kamala cannot be taken off his feet. He is the only man in the world who has beaten Andre the Giant in a bodyslam contest. I stand before you today and offer $5,000 to any man who can do the impossible and slam my Ugandan Giant" (Kamala stands in the background and pats his belly). C+

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r38myDN2oG8&feature=related yes, that's Bill Watts calling the slam

 

Cowboy Bill Watts wants to introduce his protege: "4 time All-American at Oklahoma. Played professional football for the New Jersy Generals, I give you Dr. Death Steve Williams!!!"

Dr Death uses his Oklahoma Stampede to defeat Tim Horner. Bill Watts does a good job at ringside providing some coaching, but the match is a DUD (E)

 

Big Cat Ernie Ladd comes out: "you better call somebody....The Big Cat is back in his hometown and someone gonna get hurt. You see Mr Announcer, I wanted a North American title shot but the Junkyard Dummy is running scared of me. He's not even in the building tonight. I wanted a Mid-South Tag title shot, but Kitty and The Masked Vomit are scared to get in the ring with me. Now I hear my friend Dick Murdoch saying he's at the head of the line for all the title shots. I just wanted one more glory run, but it is obvious it's not gonna happen around here. I can't get a fair shake. SO you know what I'm gonna do about it???? Not what you might think - I'm just gonna hang up my boots once and for all. <gasp from the crowd and Boyd> I got half a mind to move to Hawaii - I hear the weather is nice, the beaches are beautiful, and the ladies are mighty fine. So that's why I wanted to be here in my hometown tonight. I wanted to announce my retirement in front of all my kin - and all I have to say to you Bill Watts is Good Riddance and Good Bye!!" C+ let's cut to commercial break

 

next match: Nicolai Volkolff vs Magnum TA

Volkolff was clearly off his game - maybe distracted by Ladd's announcement. Ross and Watts surely were as they spend more time talking about Ladd's glorious career than the did the match. Watts rehashes the great battles he had with Ladd and adds "a small part of me will be sad to see him go". back to the action, Volkolff gets the pin with a Russian Press Slam Backbreaker. D-

 

Akbar and Kamala come back out and instantly the crowd is abuzz again. Akbar gleefully says that someone has accepted their bodyslam challenge already. Tim Horner comes out and the fans urge him on. He makes a feeble attempt to get Kamala off his feet and gets squashed for his effort. B-

 

TV TITLE MATCH: Terry Taylor defends vs Kendo Nagasaki

A match signed by Bill Watts last week after he saw these guys arguing about who was the best. Akbar was active at ringside and it was obvious that Taylor and Kendo had some good chemistry in the ring. Despite that, the crowd just was not into the match at all (E+). Taylor sets Nagaski up for his flying forearm, but Akbar grabs Terry's leg and trips him. Kendo quickly runs over and makes the cover for the 3 count (while Akbar still holds Taylor's leg).

Nagasaki is your new TV Champion in 13:58

 

Music Video of JYD (another one bites the dust) pumps up the crowd a bit.

 

MAIN EVENT: Mr. Wrestling II vs Ted DiBiase

A match brought about by Ted's interference in Mr Wrestling II's match last week with Dick Murdoch. The two men gave it their all in the ring for the full 15 minutes. When the bell rings to signal a time limit draw, they wanted to keep on fighting. C

Well they got their chance - Maniac Matt Borne and Jim Duggan run out to help their fellow Rat Packer and they proceed to lay a triple-team beatdown on Mr. Wrestling II C

The calvary arrives in the form of Dr. Death Steve Williams!!! He is able to save MW2 from a serious beating as he chases off the Rat Pack. C

 

C- rating overall will help our popularity. We furthered a couple storylines (namely the Rat Pack vs Mr Wrestling II) and kicked off the Kamala bodyslam challenge. .01 tv rating

[olympia]

BEHIND THE SCENES WITH THE BOOKER

 

First off, very disappointed with the Tv Title match. Kendo Nagasaki (my supposed "show stopper") and Terry Taylor (my "hot" prospect) bombed big time even though they had good chemistry! There were no negative notes from the road agent. Only thing I can figure is the Akbar interference was a no go. If that's the case, it's going to hamper a lot of booking plans. Mgr interference and run-ins was such a big part of the territory matches. hmm

 

Behind the scenes story regarding Ernie Ladd. He was offered the chance to run PPW and he jumped at it. I had a long range plan to put him over JYD at the SuperDome show in a couple months (once I got his momentum up from the dismal D's). So now that plan is scrapped and will be starting from scratch there. I had set up some minor challenges for JYD and may continue along that path until we decide how to proceed.

 

Another small boost to our popularity. At this rate, I project going to D+ in another 4 shows or so (think that might net me an extra buck on ticket prices but doubt it's enough to increase draw enough to up the size of the building). Debating a little whether I should hold one TV show in the midwest of SE in a month or two. Even with that, guessing it would take a year to boost them enough to move to cult status. Another option would be just trying to expand my current tv show into those areas.

 

Dr Death plays a mean-spirited practical joke on head booker Grizzly Smith almost causing a fight in the lockerroom. Bill Watts says Doc is like a son to him, and takes a fatherly approach. Doc thinks Griz needs to get a sense of humor. Wonder if Watts agrees. Surely he wouldn't fire his Road Agent and take over the role himself (even if that would save $2k a month).

 

our next tv shows shapes up like this:

 

Butch Reed vs Mr. Olympia

Buddy Landell vs Tim Horner

Dr Death Steve Williams vs Matt Borne of the Rat Pack (after this week's altercation)

JYD vs Wild Bill Irwin

 

speaking of tv and ratings, I did a quick scan:

other notable tv shows: WWF .01, WWF All Stars .15, Titans .45.

GCW .29

CWF .02, WCCW .06,

CWA, PNW, PPW all .01 like MSW.

Stampede, SWCW, SEC, ICW are all 0.00.

[Moderndaywarrior]

Smokey Mountain. The man in the wheelchair is the legendary Ron Wright (that I sent the interview link on earlier). aw the good ol days

 

 

nothing wrong with a little history lesson mixed in.

 

Is that the same Ron Wright that Main Evented with Whitey Caldwell and Don Carson?

 

Speaking of Don Carson, back in the early 80's, Dirty White Boy Tony Anthony worked as one of the masked Grapplers(#2 I think),one of the better tag teams and one of the last successful masked tag teams,managed by "The Fabulous Don Carson".

 

Earlier on Don Carson teamed with his "brother" Ron Carson,who later became....Dick Murdoch,which brings us back to MSW lol.

[Oldschool]

At first thought The whole Ladd thing was the start of an angle... Its too bad, as I love your impersonation of him... I did think Ladd was loyal to Bill Watts...

 

Williams vs Horner (just an E) Wow! This is a question probaly for ModernDay Warrior... But I'm assumming these two are still very green at this point, but I thought that they has both been around for awhile at this juncture...

 

Looks as if Mr. Wrestling II may be the face of the company, although I'm sure JYD will have something to say about that once he gets going....

[Moderndaywarrior]

Hmm,is MSW's product "rated more on popularity than performance"? It might explain a few of the stinky match grades,I can't believe a little inteference hurt the grade so badly.

 

The other thing could be the match length;if it is much shorter than the expectation,I think you will take a hit too.

 

Shame about Ladd moving on,but it's understandable;he's at the age where an out of ring career is probably looking a lot better than taking a pounding every night,plus IIRC he was actually a fairly creative mind for Watts IRL.

 

Dr.Death is good but he can be a pain,I hope he doesn't screw things up for himself with more poor behavior.

 

I thought DiBiase/II would do a little bit better,I wonder what happened?

[Moderndaywarrior]

At first thought The whole Ladd thing was the start of an angle... Its too bad, as I love your impersonation of him... I did think Ladd was loyal to Bill Watts...

 

Williams vs Horner (just an E) Wow! This is a question probaly for ModernDay Warrior... But I'm assumming these two are still very green at this point, but I thought that they has both been around for awhile at this juncture...

 

Looks as if Mr. Wrestling II may be the face of the company, although I'm sure JYD will have something to say about that once he gets going....

 

This is 1983,so Dr.Death is only in his first or second year as a pro, Horner has been around for 5 years or so....IRL I think it would be another year for Williams about about 2-3 years for Horner before they started getting the big push.

[olympia]

Is that the same Ron Wright that Main Evented with Whitey Caldwell and Don Carson?

The one and only. Of course, he's a bit past his prime in that video. The man could still talk. I was in Knoxville when Carson punched Wright and legit blacked his eye. The pictures of that sold out Chilhowee Park. (Buddy Fuller came out of retirement to team with his sons Ron & Robert on that card too).

 

At first thought The whole Ladd thing was the start of an angle

 

I had big plans for Ladd. Plus I was having blast coming up with things for him to say lol. Oh well, back to the drawing board. Would it be "bad" to have someone else take over for him. :-) Someone just has to keep the JYDummy thing goin

 

 

MSW's product "rated more on popularity than performance

I double checked and YES - popularity over performance. I only have 8 guys who are C- popularity or better in MidSouth. Doc, Magnum, Irwin, Borne, Landell are D's. Not sure how long (or how) it takes to boost them up. Guess a good steady diet of quality matches (and wins) should help.

 

Also it says main match should be 30 minutes, medium 15, and minor 8.

 

I don't think I have many guys who can go 30 minutes in a main event - especially JYD (have 3 face and 3 heels who have B stamina or better). After the supershow, I'll try to book a main event with half the tv show and see if that helps. For now, I've been trying to get more guys on the show and some exposure.

 

Thanks for helping me figure it out and muddle thru things. I'll try to have the week 3 TV done for tommorrow and post the final line-up for the supershow.

 

Might need a contest to rename some of the shows. Can't just have "Blowout" and "BigOne" every month. Can call one the SuperDome show even if we are nowhere big enough to use the actual building just yet. Though not historic MidSouth, maybe a tournament show (McGuirk Cup or something? or maybe name it after Ladd even if he did bail on me). May could be a Memorial Day show (be close enough - the cards are either the 3rd or 4th Sunday) The last 3 are named, but the other 9 are wide open at the moment so send in those cards and letters.