The History of Mid-South Wrestling/Tri-State/Universal Wrestling Federation
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- Опубліковано 30 чер 2021
- DAVE KNOWS that Mid-South Wrestling or Tri-State Wrestling or the Universal Wrestling Federation was an industry pioneer that changed the game for everyone from the NWA to the WWE. Things would never be the same after Bill Watts and Leroy McGuirk starting becoming the promotional legends that they are now. And with a wrestling promotion that was home to superstars such as Ted DiBiase, Jake Roberts, Junkyard Dog, Butch Reed, Jim Ross and Jim Duggan among others, it's no wonder this is one of the greatest promotions of all time.
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I think my favorite Mid South moment was Ted Dibiase's one night babyface turn. It was some of the best booking of a single show that I've ever seen.
DiBiase is so awesome, he is so great at everything he does
Remember when Dugan busted his windshield while DiBiase was cutting a promo.
I love any time Dave covers anything related to the territory’s history.
Thanks for letting me know, glad you enjoyed it
@@DaveKnowsWrestling I think it is long overdue that the Junkyard Dog have his own DVD Ernie Ladd and Butch Reed should have one as well
His historical videos are terrific.
@@DaveKnowsWrestling thanks for the videos Dave Knows Wrestling
I have the entire Mid-South Television shows from 1981-1985 and the Mid-South Wrestling House show library in my collection. It was my favorite wrestling promotion to watch when I was a child and still to this very day.
Wow that is an awesome collection to have
where did you get at cause I would like to get all of them
I bought them from universal archives years ago
You said Bill Watts didn't care much for his Wrestlers to be seen as friends?? Well, this case was proven wrong. On 1 Monday night at the Civic Auditorium in Chalmette. LA. Killer Karl Cox had a grueling match with Dick Murdock was seen across the street at Dunkin Donuts having coffee and donuts together
So it's not all truth that they couldn't be seen outside the venue as friends
@garyperkins3208 Monroe, Louisiana had a Mid-South event one Saturday night a month for years. Around 1984ish I was at the Monroe Civic Center with my uncle and cousin and we were walking to the truck which was parked around the back after the show. I be damned if we didn't see The Junk Yard Dog and Ted DiBiase get into Ted's 280ZX with Mississippi plates, which is where they lived! Lol...
Forget Mike Tenay, Dave is the real Professor of pro wrestling! I will always appreciate Watts giving opportunities as a booker to black talent, from Ernie Ladd, Butch Reed, and of course Junkyard Dog. Also making the call to give Ron Simmons his run as WCW Champion. Going to take a wild guess that either Championship Wrestling from Florida or Georgia Championship Wrestling are coming up soon for these territory reviews.
I was watching Mid South on the network. I'm still waiting for Peacock to get Mid South back.
Favorite moment. The time JYD was blinded by the Freebirds and ringside for a match. They started harassing him and a fan pulled a gun to protect him. Crazy that people used to believe that much.
especially the part where Dog actually hesitated in stopping the guy because he knew how much trouble he'd be in for "exposing the business."
maybe things weren't so great back then.
From Bad Street U S A !!!
As someone born and raised in Oklahoma, everyone was a fan of wrestling during Mid-South. My parents told me that when they were growing up if it wasn't Oklahoma Wrestling they'd watch it was always The Von Erichs at WCCW. So it's always so cool to see other people really acknowledge the first territories I ever heard of.
Very glad this video hit home for you
Problem with the von erichs was if you were a preforner there were only two ways to get paid. Be a vonerich or feud with the vonerichs
Keep It Coming Dave with the history of the territories. I'm enjoying them!
Good to know... glad you liked the video
Being from Arkansas this promotion holds a big place in my heart. Thank you for the video. Amazing job
Thank you so much for taking the time to say so. I appreciate knowing that I did right by you and by the promotion
Ted DiBiase’s heel turn was great. He was much better in Mid-South than as Million Dollar Man. Paul Orndorff was great too. The main events and title matches on tv instead of just in the arenas was also so fun
Absolute genius. Bill watts is a legend. 👏.
My FAVORITE Mid-South Wrestling match - Mr. Wrestling II and “Tiger” Conway Jr. v. Ted “Devious” DiiBiase and Mr. Olympia for the Mid-South Tag Team Championship in April/May 1983.
When I think of Mid South one of the things I remember is the TREMENDOUS pop Jake Roberts got when he DDT'd Dark Journey!
In 1982 I attended 90% of the Mid South tapings at Irish McNeil’s Boys Club in Shreveport, La. This is when Mid South really took off.
I remember when they taped at dimicos probably spelled wrong in Alexandria a
My Grandparents, Mom and Dad favorite promotion.
I have loved wrestling since I was 4 years old . Now here I am at 48 just finding your channel about my favorites. Thanks for doing this work, there are not enough things about “real wrestling .” You have a new fan here .
Thank you so much and welcome to the Know-It-All Nation... I appreciate you taking the time to comment
Growing up on the MS coast, I could watch Mid-South, WCCW, GCW & Southeastern/Continental every week. Mid-South was king.
We got it in New York, if I recall it was on a ultra-high frequency channel, the reception was terrible but I loved the show anyway.
Thanks, great video! MSW-UWF was my favorite wrestling show, way better than WWF. Wrestlers were consistently interesting, and fewer comic-book characters than the McMahons used. FreeBirds my favorite all time tag team. Missy Hyatt, the sexiest valet ever. The One Man Gang scared the living crap out of me. The charisma of Sting and Warrior. Man how I enjoyed those shows.
BTW, I became a wrestling fan the day I saw Watts turn on Sammartino. Hooked for life!
The tail end of UWF talent was great!
One Man Gang, Freebirds, missing link, missy hyatt, Eddie Gilbert, The Angel of Death, Steve Williams, Jim Ross, the fantastics, Sting, Ric Steiner, Sam Houston, Barry Windham, Ron Garvin, Nikita Kiloff, Terry Taylor, Dibiase, Chris Adams…
So much talent.
And Mike Boyette!
Watts had such a stacked roster in 1983-1986 that there was no room for guys like Shawn Michaels, Arn Anderson, Tom Prichard, or Rick Rude to try to make a name for themselves. All those guys started out as scrubs in Mid South being used as punching bags in televised squash matches and had to go to other territories to become stars.
Yes, but I was enjoying Dr. Steve Williams, Ted DiBiase, Hacksaw Jim Duggan, The Fabulous Freebirds, The Bladerunners, Hacksaw Butch Reed, Junkyard Dog, Buddy Landell, Hotstuff Eddie Gilbert and so many others.
A lot of amazing talent came through Mid South. The promotion had too many stars to name. It is unreal how many guys out of Mid South made it big in professional wrestling.
My favorite Mid South moment was when the Great Kabuki, with Gary Hart, sprayed the green mist in the face of Dusty Rhodes at a Superdome card. It was a feud that spilled over from the Florida territory.
They sure had a ton of great talent. Thank you for sharing your memory
I had a VHS of Mid South wrestling, it had matches of Junkyard Dog and Ted Dibase.
JYD's gimmick was so over but It's sad how WWF basically turned him into nothing more the a glorified Jobber to the top heels.
Keep the history of a promotion videos coming, I think they are great
8:49 that North American title was huge, even bigger than the NWA world title!
The biggest belt I've ever seen was the North American title.
Dear Dave,
I've watched your videos for some time. I am truly astounded by your knowledge and admire your true passion for the history of the sport. I am an old school wrestling fan especially territory wrestling and you're a true expert. I noticed the Kenny Omega comment and wanted to throw a hat in the ring for this.
I'm not an Omega fan, probably never will be but more importantly I love the sport of pro wrestling. I love the history and the territories and your insights are amazing.
Like I said, I don't like Omega, but you do, who cares I love this channel I love the presentation and the knowledge, who cares who likes who... it's not important, wrestling is an that's the thing we all love. Forget the shits who make it life and death.
Thanks for the vids man, keep going, I'm binge watching them all now lol.
Sid
Excellent video! Grew up in Arkansas and Mid-South wrestling!
Glad you enjoyed it!
I lived in the small town of Jonesboro La. In the mid 80s when mid south came to the High school gym. I saw wrestlers like Ted Dibiase, Jake Roberts , Dick Slater, Bob Sweetan, Buzz Sawer, Eddie Gilbert, Bobby Fulton, and lesser known yet still good wrestlers. Most of these could main event anywhere, all in one little town. No wonder Mid South was so great for as long as it was. Will never be anything like it again.
Did yall get it out of Monroe or Alexandria?
@@corycraft3701 where we lived , we got Monroe, Alexandria, and Shreveport. Great times for wrestling on TV.
Great work Dave!
Mid-South had a lot of great booking moments. One of my favorites is the "Loser Leaves the Territory for 90 Days" match between DiBiase and Borne vs. Mr Olympia and JYD. Putting Borne in the match last second in place of Duggan makes you think Borne will be losing. Then Duggan coming out in a gorilla costume to screw JYD and cause him to lose and leave was awesome booking. Then Watts bringing in "Stagger Lee" until JYD could return was entertaining as well.😁
See that is a cool stipulation that's time has come. It's not a permanent things, it's just 90 days
I saw that match as a kid. It was very entertaining.
That stagger Lee bit was so brilliant. You could never get that kind of entertaining story line in today's wrestling. Genius.
@@DaveKnowsWrestling JYD wrestling other territories during that time, including World Class, Florida, JCP and CWA in Memphis during the first half of 1984 before leave the WWF in late July of 84
duggan in the gorilla suit lol i remember that match. big time heat at the time.
Great stuff, thanks for the history lesson Dave.
Mid-South was my home promotion & I watched them in tv every Saturday in Oklahoma City & attended the matches live at The Myriad Convention Center. A MAJOR part of the downfall of Mid-South had nothing to do with Watts himself or the switch to UWF in response to McMahon's dirty dealings to create a monopoly. A BIG part of it was the oil bust in that part of the country in the mid-late 1980s. Oil was promising to go gangbusters & people thought "holy shit, we're gonna be just like Texas!"... and then it dried up. I graduated in 1985 & went straight into the Air Force simply because it was the only way to guarantee having a job for the next 4 years. I literally remember going down SE 29th street in Del City(a suburb of OKC) and walking into one place of business & filling out a job application. Then, I went next door to the next business & filled out an application... and the next... and the next... Back then, you took ANY job that would have you & you held onto it no matter what. Period. Not alot of 'expendable income' in those days for your average "'rasslin' fan". Real world info from someone who was THERE.
Dave, can you do one about NWA Southeastern Championship Wrestling
Or Continental Championship Wrestling, it the same promotion.
When Dibiase turned on Duggan. Their fued was amazing
He is such a great heel
@@DaveKnowsWrestling that's not quite right. It was Duggan who turned face because Debiase aligned himself with Akbar
I remember watching as a kid before it became Mid South, late 70’s. The Assassin was always my fav. I’m my opinion 1981 and 82 were the best years for Mid South, Something about those 2 years!!
8:13 Man, Ted DiBiase looks so weird without facial hair!
I thought of Otis when I saw that.
I think he looks more like his son without the beard
The Greatest Angle was the JYD vs The Freebirds. Also, JYD vs Bad Leroy Brown and Ernie Ladd.
Bill created the version of the Free Birds we all know and love (or hate)
From watching the legends of mid south dvd MSW/UWF has become one of my favorite territories. I enjoy watching the old episodes whenever I do so.
My voices never left. Great video Dave. mandatory This isn't the Portland Wrestling. Mid South introduced me to a lot of great wrestlers one being hot stuff Eddie Gilbert.
Very nice, glad that you got introduced to a legend
@@DaveKnowsWrestling I see you no selling my PWA Meme. JK have a great night
My dad use to take me and my mom to shows at Municipal Auditorium in New Orleans. JYD King of New Orleans
What a great series of memories
JYD was from Mississippi
I kind watch this over and over!
Love those territory videos.
Leroy McGuirk also had a promoter in Fort Smith, Ar Jimmy Lott and opened up Jimmy Lott Sports Arena from an old Pontiac Dealership until the early 70s!
So without Bill Watts innovative episodic booking we never would have had any storylines involving Four Horsemen, Hulk Hogan and Andre, or Sting vs NWO or Austin vs McMahon.
Thanks Dave
When Hacksaw Duggan and Jake the Snake became a tag team was unexpected and exciting.
Stacking cards was great...I can tell you that even at un-telivised house shows at Fort Polk in Louisiana in the mid 80s we got better shows than most current PPVs.
I love Mid South. One of my favorite things to binge watch. Wrestling at it’s absolute best!
Grew up in Arkansas during the 70s/80s. Watched Mid-South every Saturday and went several times to see them at Barton Coliseum.
I absolutely LOVED Mid-South wrestling. Junkyard Dog, Kamala, Duggan, Dr. Death, Butch Reed, One Man Gang, on and on and on
Great talents, those are some fun sounding memories
“Mid-South Wrestling” was the BEST!!!
This was a great history lesson!
The good old days with mid south,gcw,cwa,cwf,wccw. Great angles back then with the magnum t.a. and mr wrestling 2 feud. I can go on forever
Great stuff, T.A. was so great
Our favorite character was rowdy jim osborne playing the character Dr.X in midsouth wrestling in the late 1960s thru the mid 1970s met him one time in a Sears store in vicksburg mississippi and he told us not to tell anyone who he really was
Watts Slapping Cornette is STILL a MUST-WATCH Video & MSW Moment
And the rock n roll express shoving his face in the cake!
Hi, Dave. Been a fan of yours for a while. I loved your Monday Night Wrongs episodes. What are the odds will we get it back?
We're trying... it's always been hard getting the band together. It's was even harder last year. We no longer have the location we used to have as well. That's no longer an option. It's gonna be difficult
JYD as Stagger Lee and Dibiase faces Flair for the NWA Title but Murdoch protested and they brawled. First time I’ve ever seen a heel turn face and a face turn heel all by one action.
I would love to see a video on the history of the Mid-South Louisiana state championship.
Thank you for the suggestion
The best Rasslin UA-cam
I’ve seen people list off all of the wrestlers that worked for Mid-South/UWF. Am I the only one who remembers Sting was in the UWF in a stable with Eddie Gilbert, Rick Steiner and Missy Hyatt?
Nope I do too . And coco b ware and Shawn Michaels and the one man gang and many others
Today Dave knows ... my favorite Territory! Now to the video ... :D
The voices are back nice
They are back.. you hear them too huh
I grew up in New Orleans and Bill watts and mid south were king. Best wrestling ever!
Stagger Lee, Great Kabuki, Pork Chop Cash, Killer Khan, Paul Orndorff, Colonel Christopher George Buck Robley III and General Skandar Akbar to name just a few.
"Enter...Bill Watts"
That's when you know s**t gonna get good.
That's my territory.
My Grandfather watched it when it was Tri-State Wrestling. I remember when Watts and Robley won the us tag belts. Rest was history. I watched the promotion changed name 3 times 🙄
If anyone is interested, Back To The Territories with Jim Cornette and Jim Duggan discusses MSW more, I studied this promotion a lot for my diss at uni, great episode man!
Watts had good personal relationships with Eddie Graham, Vince Sr and (I'm assuming) Jim Barnett...that gave him good leverage to get the NWA champion...I thought I heard that although Mid South formally withdrew, that he was still paying his NWA fees.
Corny says to Grizzly Smith. Let me see if i understand this correctly. Once we sign these contracts, there is no backing out. Griz says yes. After Corny signed it, then came the carnage. The Midwest express were excellent at using a guitars.
The best were when Watts slapped Cornette and the time The Rock n Roll Express slammed Cornette's head in the birthday cake.
I loved the UWF i watched the 1st episode in march 1986 till dec 1987..alot of great wrestling....watts was a good booker..
Watts sure was a real good booker wasn't he
@@DaveKnowsWrestling just in mid south/uwf...wcw not so good..
Hahahah, yes I understand that his WCW tenure was bad, but at the same time, I did find myself understanding what he was going for in a lot of cases.. even though again it wasn't good
Buddy you left a whole lot out I was their . Houston was Mid-South.
That they were. I didn't mention everywhere that MSW expanded to. If I did that I would be here for way too long
Mid South was arguably the best NWA territory in America. It served as a pipeline for many of the stars that helped the 80’s era WWF gain a worldwide foothold
Mid South wrestling also was home of the midnight express Dennis Condrey and Bobby Eaton managed by jim cornette also the rock n roll express
Dave certainly knows wrestling.
Thank you so much for saying so
I love midsouth wrestling
Mid -South Wrestling , Little Rock, Ark Barton Colisem
Bill kept the mystery. You might have suspected but never knew for sure.mcmahon turned it into a cartoon
The Greatest wrestling g Organzation
It was a good organization for sure
@dave knows wrestling could you do a video on when Big Japan split into New Japan & All Japan?
I have covered that in previous videos, but Japanese copyright law will prevent me in covering Japanese wrestling going forward
Watts and Mid South would of made , but it was two reasons . Losing TBS to Crockett, and losing JYD who super over in mid south region
Hey, Dave! What happened to Monday Night Wrong??
Hard getting the cast together, no longer have the location and we weren't allowed to be together last year
Where th did u find that thumbnail? Lmao
WWF/WWE is #1!
In a way I think Cornette is working, he knows that his hating on Omega attracts listeners, so I believe he picks it up a notch, or ten.
How do you know that he's not completely working
@@DaveKnowsWrestling Good point ! I might have to think a while about that.
Cornett and Omega give each other so much press it doesn’t matter if it’s real or not.
How did the NWA belt the NWA champion work if every Territory had its own world champion. Im Confused.
Each territory did not have its own World title. They had their own top belt but there was only the NWA World title under the Alliance. It's like the NXT title in WWE
But could wrestlers go over the top rope?
I guess you are being sarcastic but yes.
Ah you're talking about the heavy list of rules he set out... yeah I thought about mentioning it, but I didn't think it was necessary for this video
@@DaveKnowsWrestling Yeah. I just immediately think of the stupid WCW top rope rule when I hear Watts' name.
Ah good ok mid-South
Now I'm imagining Omega and Page doing a double turn by Adam beating Kenny by cheating with the help of the Hangman's new manager.....Jim Cornette🤯
Thak you
Tri-States was composed of 4 states, not 3! Everyone forgets Arkansas!!!
If Mid-South wrestling was still around, WWE would be an indy promotion by now
I don't know about that, but I'm sure it would have better for the business.
Only if WrestleMania 1 had failed would any other promotion had a chance. In the 90s WCW had a shot at trying to beat Vince but that only lasted 83 weeks. Even today with all the money Tony Khan has spent on talent and his product he still can't crack WWE's strong hold on the industry...
@@hippiepeter WWE was just exposed for hiring a comedy writer who ADMITTED that she knew nothing about professional wrestling, WWE would definitely be an indie promotion if Mid-South wrestling were around and run by the same people, this company has lost all credibility
Kevin Sullivan anyone oh wrong person High there Jim Cornette and Jim Duggan!!!!!!!
ANGLE DID GO OUT ON HIS BACK....& EVERY WRESTLER ,ON THEIR WAY OUT OF THE WWF LOST!!!!
The Rock, Taker, hhh, michaels and Ricky Steamboat all won their last matches in WWE... just to name a few
@@DaveKnowsWrestling Ric Flair/The Brain Busters/Mr.Perfect/Yokozunna/Bam Bam Bigelow/Jeff Jerrett... ALL LOST,JUST TO NAME A FEW.....:)
Bill Watts will go on and ruin WCW.
Eh between Jim Herd, Vince Russo, Ed Ferrara, Kevin Sullivan and Eric Bischoff... it's not like there weren't a lot of ppl who were gonna do that anyway
@@DaveKnowsWrestling Nah, the poison came straight from the top. Turner's idea was to steal all McMahon's stars, leaving him with no ratings and finally going bankrupt. WCW never made money, it wasn't intended to, it was just intended to drive WWF out of business. Once that happened, WCW would reduce the salaries of the wrestlers and meanwhile increase the low ad rates (that made people place ads with WCW instead of WWF; same thing McMahon had done to drive the regional promotions out of business). Turner's plan depended on McMahon's ratings tanking, but that never happened because he came up with the Attitude Era and created new stars. Once that happened, WCW was through, because there was no longer any hope of recouping the huge financial losses it had sustained trying to drive WWF out of business.