Ted DiBiase vs Jim Duggan (UWF - 3/30/1985)

Seconded. This is definitely a great match. I'm a big fan of this, Last Battle of Atlanta and the Kerry/Hayes LLT Cage match and think of them all together. Short insane brawling matches. Honestly Kerry/Hayes might be my favorite of those 3, but they're all contenders for the list.

Legitimate contender for best match of the 80's. Don't let the stipulation fool you: this is one of the greatest brawls ever and fits the storyline leading into the match perfectly.

First time seeing this match. The stipulation sounds hilarious to me (Cagematch.com has it as "Loser Leaves Town Tuxedo Street Fight Coal Miner's Glove On A Pole Steel Cage Match") but this was an awesome brawl and is a near-certain lock for my list. Great start and finish, high intensity throughout and is there a better punch in the history of wrestling than that one?

Perfect confluence of storytelling with all the gimmicks. After Magnum vs Tully you are disturbed at the lengths humans will go to hurt each other, after this you are pumping fist that Duggan finally gave DiBiase what he deserves.

Ted DiBiase vs Hacksaw Jim Duggan – Mid-South, Houston 3/22/85 - Loser Leaves Town, Tuxedo Cage with Coal Miner's Glove On A Pole Match



Believe the hype! This is one of the best matches of 80s and a perfect culmination of their intense, bloody feud. Clearly, the cage was needed to keep DiBiase's running buddies out and so DiBiase would have nowhere to run. After all the blood that was spilled, Mid-South was just not big enough for the two of them thus loser leaves town. DiBiase was famous for his loaded glove so they upped the ante with a coal miner's glove hanging from a pole in the corner this would actually be DiBiase's downfall. The one odd stipulation is the fact they wrestled this match in tuxedos. Definitely seek out the video package they play before this match to get you up to speed and see how the Best Dressed in Mid-South becomes an essential part in this feud.



It is hard to come by definitive, feel-good blowoffs in the 80s and in wrestling in general, but on this night you not only get a great match you get a great ending to a historic rivalry. DiBiase really elevated his game in this match by upping the chickenshit factor and also getting even nastier. Duggan was wrestling at already high level, but now DiBiase was meeting him there and they were making magic together. DiBiase stalling at the beginning then trying a sneak attack only get caught by Duggan jabs and then the horror of realizing he was trapped inside the cage with this lunatic. I thought going into this that I was going to have trouble taking Duggan seriously as a number one face, but au contaire I am disappointed Duggan did not last longer in a lead face role because he is an excellent, bleeding, asskicking babyface brawler from Hell. DiBiase manages to pull Duggan into the cage head first and bust him open. Duggan's blood flowing like a bloody Niagara Falls (thanks Steel Panther) on his pristine white tuxedo. This is where we see DiBiase strategy go awry. He is constantly angling for the Coal Miner's Glove, which puts his back to his opponent thus he is in a prone position for Duggan to yank him down. The first couple times DiBiase is able to work the cut and claw away to stymie Duggan. Duggan gains a head of steam and DiBiase is in tatters being slammed into the cage. Duggan retrieves the glove! DiBiase has one last trick and it is powder. DiBiase wins possession of the glove, but try as he might, he just can't hit Duggan with it. Duggan is able to slam DiBiase's hand into the post, gains possession of glove and SMOKES DIBIASE RIGHT IN THE HEAD! 1-2-3



Awesome, awesome brawl! The fact it had such a great finish puts it over matches like Flair/Kerry and Bock/Martel #2. It is tighter than Savage/Garvin. The only that comes close is Duggan/Sawyer, which is another bitchin' Mid-South brawl, but that lacks a finish. As of right now, this is the best match of the 80s, I have watched so far. Both wrestlers delivered all time great performances in their respective roles and have great chemistry with each other. Like I said earlier, in wrestling it is hard to come by awesome blowoffs and so when you see one it is extra special. *****

I confess that I am not as high on this match as many others and for me the issue is DiBiase. His exaggerated selling didn’t do it for me here, like he was trying too hard and that took away from the feeling of a high stakes grudge match. Duggan is great and that final punch is a great moment but for me this is on the outside looking in.

This was a fun brawl. I think expectations were a little high for me given what I have read over the years. It was pretty funny to see the layers of gimmickry, with loser-leaves-town, coal miners glove (Texas at that!), cage match and tuxedo match all rolled into one. I wonder if any gimmicks were scratched when developing this? Anyways, good fun, probably won’t make my list.