MSW TV 12/24/1981

Written by: Bob Colling

MSW TV
Date: 12/24/1981
From: Shreveport, Louisiana

Matches:
1.) Mike George & Carlos Zapata defeated Jerry Novak & Rick Ferrara
2.) Paul Orndorff defeated Brian Blair
3.) North American Heavyweight Champion Ted DiBiase defeated Mike Boyer
4.) Bob Orton Jr. & Bob Roop defeated Franke Monte & Mike Bond
5.) Ed Wiskoski defeated Tom Renesto Jr.
6.) Iron Sheik fought Don Serrano to a no contest

Angle Developments/Notes:
1.) Boyd Pierce is on commentary alongside his guest Bill Watts. Watts says he has an opinion even though it may not be correctly he’ll still say it. There is some exciting news regarding Dusty Rhodes, too.

2.) Iron Sheik and Paul Ellering are in the ring to finish the challenge from last week. Sheik has to do 200 reps with the Persian clubs or Ellering will win $2,000. The announcer who is counting the reps completely messes up the count repeating the 50-60 count. He really did about 110 reps instead of 100. Ellering wants to do the club challenge again this week. Akbar agrees to the challenge. Ellering gets to 52 reps before Sheik attacks him, which was expected. Sheik tosses the referee to the floor and power slams Ellering. Sheik puts the camel clutch on Ellering. Ellering gets out of the hold but misses a wild right hand. They trade a few strikes with Ellering slamming Sheik. Ellering goes for a neck breaker but Akbar hits him in the midsection with the flag. Sheik hits a gut wrench suplex followed by a vertical suplex. Ellering is laid out to end the segment.

3.) Orndorff backs Blair into the corner but they have a standoff after neither man can get the advantage. They lockup with Blair controlling Orndorff on the mat while still in the lockup position. Orndorff gets up and takes Blair down with a headlock. Bob Roop is watching the match from ringside. Blair controls Orndorff with a head scissors on the mat. Orndorff gets out of the hold and put a leg lock on Blair but isn’t able to get a submission. Blair counters on the mat with a hammerlock to keep Orndorff on the mat and nearly wins with a rollup. Orndorff elbows Blair followed by a shoulder block but misses an elbow drop. Blair arm drags Orndorff to keep control of the bout. Blair leg trips Orndorff to drop Paul to the mat and keeps a hold on the left arm. Orndorff backdrops Blair but Blair goes right back to a head scissors on the mat. Blair shoulder blocks Orndorff but on a go-behind attempt, Orndorff sends Blair throat first into the top rope. Orndorff takes advantage with stomps and rams Blair into the corner. Orndorff comes off the middle rope to deliver an elbow drop for a two count. Orndorff nails Blair with a high knee lift for a near fall. Blair sends Orndorff into the corner and fights back with right hands. Orndorff cuts Blair off with an eye rake followed by a power slam. Orndorff attempts a figure four but Blair kicks him away. Orndorff attempts a standing suplex but Blair counters with a suplex of his own. Blair locks in the figure four! Roop as gotten out of his chair and is coaching Orndorff to reverse it. Orndorff manages to reverse the hold and the referee calls for the bell despite Blair not giving up. After the match, the referee clarifies that Blair didn’t give up and that the referee was more concern about future injury and thus called for the bell. (**1/4. A solid TV match and was far more competitive than I was expecting. The finish is okay and I like the focus on the figure four with Orndorff as he looks to get his hands on DiBiase. I’m liking the progression.)

4.) Paul Ellering runs into the ring during Iron Sheik’s match and attacks him Ellering backdrops Ellering followed by a scoop slam and an elbow drop. Akbar is angry on the floor but doesn’t enter the ring as Ellering hits another backdrop. Ellering continues by choking Sheik until Akbar pulls Sheik out of the ring to finally save him.

5.) Next weeks episode is a Year In Review. Thus, I won’t be covering that one. I’ll jump right into 1982!

Final Thoughts:
A solid feature match this week between Orndorff and Blair as nice to see. The angle progression between Sheik and Ellering was good, too. Personally, I’m just not all that interested in Ellering as he’s ind of annoying in his interviews.

Thanks for reading.