I'm most of the way through the Mid-South blu-ray, and there are some puzzling moments about it. First, JR does new commentary on some matches, pretending to be old commentary. My question is, why wouldn't they do this on the War Games set? Would've made the matches much better.
Second, some of this stuff is really corny. JR wandering blind-folded trying to find Stagger Lee being the worst offender. And Mr. Wrestling II looks way too much like an infant wearing a diaper and a mask to be taken seriously. They mention that Mr. Wrestling II got a new protege and the protege became Mr. Wrestling II and Mr. Wrestling II became Mr. Wrestling I? Am I getting that right? Who was the new Mr. Wrestling II?
I know that JYD came out to Queen, Midnight Express came out to the theme from the movie, Freebirds is obvious and RNR came out to Old Time Rock and Roll. What did everybody else come out to? Dibiase? The Blade Runners? Speaking of the Blade Runners, how odd is it watching the both of them trying to be Hawk? Sting is especially weird. And the Rick Steiner/Nick Patrick match is both awful and bizarre.
You should really check out the set when you get the chance.
Dammit, everyone keeps rubbing it in that I haven't watched this set yet.
Anyone watch that CM Punk documentary thing on Netflix? Best In The World? I watched that today. It was pretty good too. SO THERE.
Hercules Hernandez was the new MWII. Original Wrestling II had to be 50 at the time of the Magnum TA angle and still managed to be a pretty good worker.
ReplyDeleteThe great part about Mid-South was that they knew how to do heel and face turns. The Dibiase-Flair-Murdoch angle being one example: in one episode, they turned Dibiase from a huge, cowardly heel to the bravest face-iest face to ever face a face. Eddie Gilbert's heel turn, Butch Reed's face turn. Being able to do that is a great way to keep a roster balanced between heels & faces and probably gave them years of life where other feds would have folded due to even poorer financials and lack of talent.
They definitely never did the "I don't owe you fans an explanation" turn. One of my favorite things they did (and I have never watched a Mid-South tape...this is from memory of seeing it on tv) was that every week or once a month or whatever, they announced the top 10 and the #1 contender got a shot at the title. One week, it got down to DiBiase (who was a babyface at the time) and (either Duggan or Dr. Death) and DiBiase didn't get it. He started cutting a promo about how he had done things the right way, etc. and it wasn't getting him anywhere, etc. That was the basis of his heel turn, which I thought was awesome...guy gets screwed out of a title shot, gets pissed about it and decides to take it out on the man.
ReplyDeleteI liked the doc on that set with them talking of how much the NWA title meant and stuff like Jack Brisco talking about how he was under so much pressure and such as champ that when he lost it, he just stayed home for six months recovering. Still not as brutal as some other docs I've seen like the "Heroes of World Class" where Gary Hart bluntly calls the NWA "the Costa Nostra" and how those guys pulled shit that make Vince a candidate for sainthood in terms of handling talent.
ReplyDeleteI loved the way they made that work, DiBiase going on guts alone, too weak to make proper covers. And watch the crowd flinching when they chop each other and blood is literally flying into the stands, Flair drenched just by touching DiBiase. And yet, no one tuned out because Watts had built it up as DiBiase on a pilgrimage for the belt, utterly brilliant.
ReplyDeleteI really want to pick up the Mid South set, but I haven't just yet. I decided to buy a PWG dvd instead and next month I'll be buying WWE 2k14, so it'll be a while. It looks seriously great.
ReplyDelete