Plus Adrian had tons of heat with his sissy/valet abuser gimmick. He did the angles better that any imitators of the Russo era or later, including the latest, and his gimmick had more nuances. More on that later. He also inspired a whole era of Chris Jericho's look in WCW. But his MSW era is ending as Dundee takes the title with a flying body press off the middle rope bringing the fans to their feet for an extended celebration.

- Chavo and Hector Guerrero vs. Art Crews and Lee Ramsey. Almost everything "the Alamo Busters" did in MSW shined. Watching this tape, a friend and I noted that Hector, a heck of a good worker and a good heel interview, went on to become Lazor Tron, Wildcat Willie and Gobbledy Gooker. That makes him more abused by the business than even Terry Taylor. Crews and Ramsey lose but then get a DQ win after the Guerreros keep attacking them. I have been reading Art Crews funny memories on the site and so I will make a point of saying he and Lee do a great job here working with the Busters.

- Dream match promo. Then Magnum challenges either Ladd or DiBiase to a cage match on TV next week. Ha. But next week Terry Taylor returns.

- 11-23-84

- Bill and Boyd intro with Dream Match sell and word that Ernie Ladd will only wrestle TA in a cage at the arenas and not on TV.

- Recap of football uniform angles from last week.

- Jim Duggan vs. Dale Burnett. Squash time as Watts mentions how badly Duggan wants Ted, Doc and Herc.

- Los Guerreros vs. Master G and Brickhouse Brown. Failed JYD replacement past meets failed JYD replacement future and no one learns a thing. Like WWE quoting the UWF buyout failure as a lesson and then ruining their own takeover angle. G looks very good in this match working with Hector and Chavo and both he and Brown get cheered facing hated heels. But the next JYD? Any objective look at either of these guys would leave the looker laughing at the thought that Brown or Wells could replace Dog. And the constant effort to elevate someone into that position probably hurt Reed's push. But more thoughts on Reed later.

- Steve Williams vs. Lee Ramsey. Doc has Ramsey up for the stampede when the crowd surprisingly cheers. But not for Doc's win. Duggan hits the ring in full SMU gear. ( A former Houstonian laughs, "snicker, SMU.") Doc puts on his helmet and gets in stance but then pulls up and powders as Duggan charges.

- KLFY in Lafayette report on the Rock and Roll Express visiting a child with cancer.

- R-n-R vs. DiBiase-Hernandez. DiBiase would feud with the Express for more than half a year and trade the tag titles including two partners and three title changes. You can imagine how much good wrestling that means with DiBiase and Morton across from each other so often. This is not the title change, but ends with a DQ as Akbar throws fire at Ricky. Remember how big it is sold when he does that to Duggan in 85? Well it is almost completely not sold by MSW here. Weird.

- Butch Reed vs. Buddy Landel. Reed finally gets his hands on Landel, his former partner (they had a great underrated team) and the crowd goes wild chanting his name. I'm having a lot of guilt for calling Reed a failed JYD recreation and for even mentioning him with guys like G, Brickhouse, Snowman and the rest. Reed was a legendary MSW heel (think of this, he was only actually a heel for about 18 months) and some feel he was too good as a heel to be a babyface superstar, but I disagree. Reed in 1984 is a huge face off the turn. And Reed in 85? In New Orleans, in Dog's town, the Superdome shows crashed after Dog left. The last 20,000 plus show there, EVER for MSW or UWF/NWA, is June 16, 1984 for Dog and Reed in a ghetto street fight, drawing 20,800 fans. The next Dome show, in November after Dog left for the WWF, drew 7,500 fans. The legendary "loser leaves town tuxedo street fight coal miner's glove steel cage" DiBiase and Duggan strips that popped the territory drew 9,500 fans to the Superdome. The biggest Dome crowd of the post JYD era? Ric Flair defending his title against ... Butch Reed drawing 15,800 fans. So the problem wasn't Reed. I have lots of theories on what was the problem, but I'll save those for the 1985 tapes. Reed is pounding Landel when Doc shows up now in gear and it is Reed's turn to be creamed by No. 76.

- Terry Taylor vs. Dale Vessey. Terry is back is the theme here as he had left in the fall of 84 after losing the TV title. An even bigger run is about to start, the biggest of Taylor's career. A tough start however as the ropes give and Taylor can't even get his fivearm and he wins with the dreaded bodyslam. Nope, I can't wait until 1985 to vent. As much as I like Terry and his 85 push, what if Reed went straight to the top from here rather than Taylor? In New Orleans, in June 85, Taylor-Flair was fourth from the top under Duggan-Kamala and a loaded show with Sgt. Slaughter being brought in to avenge the Dirty White Boys attack on Terry Daniels. That show drew 11,000. Reed-Flair, on a five-match, non-loaded show two months later, drew the 15,800. So what if Reed had gotten the superman push fresh off his turn? I think it would have worked. As it was, he never even got the chance to headline another Dome show and they mostly tanked from there. FYI, attendances, dates and results are from prowrestlinghistory.com.

- TA vs. Jack Victory. A quicky standby match that TA wins with the belly to belly. He and Ladd, by the way, drew the 7,500 crowd to the Dome, the day before this show.

Bottom line: I'm a little ticked by the mis-listing of matches on the website and I have told them of the error. The website hasn't been changed yet however. Other matches advertised often never happen, based on the promotions storylines that sometimes fall into bait and switch. I could have gotten a refund on this tape, but I didn't. I like this era of MSW and while the angles here aren't the biggest, almost all the action is good.