#102 – Junkyard Dog and Mr. Olympia vs. Ted DiBiase and Matt Borne, October 28, 1982
This week on the show we visit Mid-South wrestling and the Shreveport, Louisiana fairgrounds for this legendary match-up between four of the all-time greats. And we are thrilled to announce the release of the Old School Wrestling Podcast: Season 2 box set! This box set features OSWP episodes 51-75, the amazing art of Dean Stahl, and two brand new episodes that will never be posted on the website with over four hours of new content. On our first bonus episodes we discuss the VERY FIRST NWA TNA Wrestling PPV from June 2002 and on the second bonus episodes we break down the 1992 PWI 500. There’s also a special bonus easter egg featuring a special visit from Stone Cold Dre Austin. All of this for only $9.99. Also available now is the David Crockett’s Thanksgiving Day OSWP poster. Click on the banner ads to the right to purchase these fine products today!
A great show as usual boys, though I was disappointed that there was no appearance by JYD/Fred Sanford. Though I’m sure Dre’s vocal chords are the exact opposite of disappointed.
On the topic of Matt Borne, I felt his “evil” Doink was the best Doink. There’s a two out of three falls match with Marty Jannetty on the Raw Seasons 1 and 2 box set that is surprisingly fantastic. Dude could wrestle. I also am aware that he was Big Josh in WCW. But I can’t fathom that those are the same people. Doink looked small, and Big Josh was a giant lumberjack. One of the few wrestling items that just didn’t add up to me as a kid, or even now.
GRAB THEM CAKES
Great show, guys.
Oddly enough, I’d watched this very match about a week prior to this episode. Good timing there, I suppose.
Regarding the Bill Watts legacy, I have very fond memories of 1992 WCW, but that was more due to the influence of Watts’ predecessor, one K. Allen Frey, who was apparently an executive with Turner who really knew nothing about wrestling, but wanted the business to be successful (Holy shit! What a concept!).
Anyway, Frey only lasted a few months in the job, but he instituted a “best match” bonus, where the wrestlers who had the “Best Match” on a major show (PPV/Clashes, I guess) would get a bonus on their pay. I don’t know how long this lasted, but I remember reading somewhere (Foley’s 1st book?) that it really motivated the wrestlers, which showed on TV, as 1992 WCW had some of the best matches that company ever put on.
Watts not only put rules out that forbid coming off the top rope, but also took away ringside floor padding, and had several major backstage rules that pissed guys off, like no leaving until the last match was over, no family allowed in the dressing room, no catering, etc. The “Cowboy” really did seem out-of-touch and it ended up really hurting the company in the long run, as it lead directly to the hiring of … Eric Bischoff … who quickly brought in … Hulk Hogan … who, well, you know the rest.
This has been Wrestling History Class on Flairchop.com!
Take care, guys, and as always, great work!
I, too, had barely heard of Mr. Olympia before this podcast. Great to get a lesson on him.
I feel like the storyline of “former friends now enemies” like JYD vs. Dibiase almost always works because fans grew up knowing USA and Russia were buddies during WW II, only to get paranoid of each other’s power and then become enemies.
Matt Bourne as Doink the Clown was great. Half of any wrestling audience probably is at least a little bit afraid of clowns, so an evil heel clown worked. When Bourne stopped doing the gimmick and they made Doink a good guy, only then did it go down hill.
Fun and informative show as usual, gentlemen, as usual. My first experience with Maniac Matt Borne was when he served as enhancement talent for Ricky Steamboat during Wrestlemania 1. (Had that huge clamshell videotape from Coliseum video back in the day.) Didn’t appreciate him until much later, and I agree with everyone else’s comments – his Doink was TREMENDOUS. Your discussion of Bill Watts’ legacy struck a chord because, for me, I’ll always associate him with the amazing UWF stuff he booked. Watching Dr. Death Steve Williams and Jim Duggan (heh DOOGAN) take on the Freebirds, Eddie Gilbert and Missy Hyatt (I think she was my version of Woman, Dre) with Sting battling Terry Taylor…oh I could go on. It was such a different feel with the storylines and almost strong style wrestling as compared to what us East Coasters got to see with the WWF product. We never really got to appreciate Dibiase’s wrestling per se watching the WWF, since when he appeared it was all about his promos (which set the standard along with Mr. Perfect for hilarious bits that even created legit crowd heat). Perusing google images I agree completely with Black Cat – Mr. Olympia definitely looks better with the mask than without. By the way, let me recommend the classic wrestling tune by JYD – Grab them cakes at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3e_FPuBToU – THUMP my friends…THUMP.
Great episode guys. One of the best times in wrestling
history in my opinion and a great match to cover. I had a lot of
comments for this podcast but after black cat discussed wanting to
do a follow up soon to this one, I didn’t want to jump the shark on
you guys. I am not one to correct you guys but they were not called
the North American Tag Team titles..They went by Mid South for the
tag titles and North American for the singles champ. Oklahoma,
Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi were all big parts of
the Mid South Territory. At different points, there was a Louisiana
and a Mississippi Heavyweight title defended within the territory.
As to the public fighting, Watts stated that he would fine and
sometimes suspend wrestlers for losing fights in bars..He really
strived to keep the tough guy image for his wrestlers. The masked
wrestlers were a major part of the southern wrestling scene like
you guys mentioned with Mr Olympia and Mr Wrestling 2 among the top
draws. Some of the guys who wore the mask were guys pulling double
duty that night, wrestling one match as themselves and another as a
masked man. Also in 83, Watts would began using the Midnight Rider
gimmick that Dusty Rhodes had. One of the most interesting was the
protege Mr Wrestling 2 brought in later who was named..wait for
it..Mr Wrestling 3. They looked the same except that Wrestling 2
was an aging, smallish wrestler while 3 was an incredibly large man
who went on to be called Hercules Hernandez. When mentioning JYD’s
popularity, I would only disagree in that I would wager JYD was
more popular in the southern states than Hogan at the time. In fact
when WWF started venturing down into the south a couple of years
after this match, the mid south shows would sometimes out draw the
wwf shows 3 to 1. I’m going to jump way ahead to the summer of 84.
JYD had been sparingly used all year, needing time off to do deal
with personal issues. Watts had turned him into a superstar and was
getting him ready for a big JYD-Butch Reed feud to headline some
major shows. At the beginning of an August ’84 episode, Watts
announces that JYD had fled the territory, running scared from
Butch Reed. Then he begans to air some of the Dog’s dirty laundry,
discussing his weight issues as well as his drug problem. for the
next 2 months, about every episode features a match from the past
where JYD does the J-O-B. During matches, if anyone did something
cowardly, he would compare them to JYD. He buried him so much that
a few months later when JYD returned to the Super Dome to tag with
the Hulkster in a WWF event, the crowd drew 1/4 of what he pulled
when he fought Butch Reed there just a few montsh before. Watts did
everything he could to replace him. He tried to bring in future WWF
jobber George Wells to replace him, but no one cared about Master
Gee as he was called..And he jumped ship to the WWF soon afterwards
anyway. He tried a guy named the Snowman who was a terrible
wrestler with a drug problem. He tried Butch Reed who was twice the
wrestler JYD was but lacked the charisma of the Dog..I would say in
the 90s when he put the title on Simmons, he was still trying to
replace the Dog. The guys who came out of this territory from
’82-84 were a who’s who of future stars..Dibiase, JYD, Hacksaw
Duggan, Paul Orndorff, Butch Reed, Dr Death, Jake Roberts, Midnight
Express, Jim Cornette, R and R Express. A great time in the history
of wrestling and you guys covered it wonderfully.
I would also add I own the 99 percent of the tv shows from
Jan 84 to the closing in 87..And if you want to see the best time
in Mid South wrestling, it has to be 84..From fall of 83 when the
trade goes down with Jarrett and Memphis wrestling..The creating of
the Midnight Express Eaton/Condrey edition..The Rock and Roll
Express taken from mid carders buried under the Fabulous Ones to
main eventers..A low card guy named Terry Allen re created as
Magnum TA and involved in one of the best heel turns I’ve seen when
Mr Wrestling 2 turns on him. I know one of the ’84 matches will
turn up on your show very soon.
This episode brought back some cool memories of JYD…I remember the first wrestling t-shirt I ever had was a JYD shirt that my father bought me at a WWF show in 85-86…I was 7 or 8 and I wore that sucker proudly until that thing was ruined…At that time he seemed almost as popular as Hogan…He really had a way to connect with kids back in the day…Last time I remember seeing him, was (of all places) at ECW Wrestlepalooza 1998 where he was honored for his contributions to wrestling…Always thought that was kind of odd…Sadly, he passed away shortly thereafter…I will always have a soft spot for JYD…Thanks guys!
Great show as usual guys. I think one of the main reasons that the Bill Watts reign in WCW is looked upon so unfavorably is that he had an impossible act to follow. I was at Halloween Havoc ’89 in Philly and the crowd was on fire all night long. Three years later I was at Halloween Havoc ’92, also in Philly, and the crowd was totally dead. Nobody cared about the wrestlers or the storylines. I vividly remember Bill Watts walking around the floor of the arena all night with this scowl on his face at the lack of crowd reaction. Some people in my section kept trying to get chants going and pump up the crowd because we knew from the look on his face that it was going to be a long time before Philly got another WCW PPV. WCW/NWA in the late ‘80s was possibly the best time in wrestling history. Once those stars moved on (Flair, Four Horsemen, Road Warriors, Dusty, etc.) it was nearly impossible to replace them, until the nWo came along. So maybe Bill Watts gets a bit of a raw deal for his WCW tenure. Oh wait, I just remembered that he tried to force his no talent son Eric Watts down our throats at that time. Bill Watts sucks.
A few more pieces of trivia about Jerry Stubbs:
He was an early tag team partner of Arn Anderson in Alabama. They were decent cocky heel tag team and seemed well-suited as a combination. Some see the tandem as big step in Arn’s development, as it was suddenly easy to see the huge potential he had as a personality.
Stubbs was also one of the few guys I can think of who had a gimmick where they were in the same territory both with and without the mask, wrestling as both Mr. Olympia and Jerry Stubbs one point in Continental.
Hard to think of Jim Duggan as a bad guy and being best buds with Ted, although I can easily think of him in a gorrilla suit. Those pre WWF days were a strange time! I only remember JYD from the Hulk Hogan cartoon (It aired years later here in the UK, so most of the characters had long gone from the WWF roster).
Getting closer to the current pods now 😀
Hacksaw Jim Duggan talks about this match in last weeks Colt Cabana’s podcast (Episode 236 – 4th of Feb. 2015). He comes across quite well and has changed my opinion of him.