On March 21, 1983, in New Orleans, Louisiana, JYD won a one night tournament to regain the North American title, by defeating Mr. Olympia, his former partner.  In the first round, Dog beat hated rival Ted DiBiase, and in the second round, advanced past a game Kendo Nagasaki, before downing Olympia in the finals.  However, there was a hitch to the celebration. 

The match was so controversial that the Board of Directors ordered a rematch, one that would prove conclusively who would be the North American Champion.  But this time, the match would be on a bigger stage.

April 16, 1983 saw over 21,000 fans pack the New Orleans Superdome to see JYD face off against Olympia for the North American title….inside a steel cage.  The match was brutal, but in the end, Dog’s hand was raised.  Happy days were here again…..but not for long.

May-August 1983:

Dog was riding high as North American champion when the summer months hit Mid-South.  However, during the summer, Dog faced perhaps his literal and physically “biggest” test of his career. 

Having vanquished hated foe Mr. Olympia, Dog still had to contend with Ted DiBiase, and as a result…General Skandor Akbar.  Akbar’s army began to wage war on the Dog, with JYD getting into violent matches with such beasts as the Missing Link, King Kong Bundy, and Kamala. 

Out of the ring, Dog was facing his biggest challenge as well.  Dog began to put on weight as a result of a drug addiction, and the weight began to be noticeable.  Ever the master, Bill Watts sold the weight gain as JYD “bulking up” to face opponents such as Bundy and Kamala…and that JYD needed the extra strength such weight would give him.  Sadly, this battle with drugs was one foe that JYD would not be able to send packing in a “loser leaves town” match. 

Just when everything couldn’t be worse inside the ring with our hero….things got exponentially worse.  Because Dog was getting hit from all fronts, he needed people he could trust and rely on.  He needed a good tag team partner.  He had one in “Hacksaw” Butch Reed.  Reed and the Dog waged many a tag team war fighting off the forces against them, until one day changed it all. 

It was a “fans pick the partner” poll for JYD’s choice of a partner for an upcoming match.  In what was a really close decision, the fans voted for “Hacksaw”…….Jim Duggan, who had recently turned babyface against Akbar’s Army. Reed was upset and irate over the decision, and turned against the Dog.

Much like DiBiase a year earlier, fans felt shocked that one of JYD’s closest friends would turn against him….and they flocked to see the two men square off for battle.  The first round would go to Reed, who downed JYD for the North American title on July 16, 1983 in front of more than 20,000 fans at the Superdome.  The match was a 2 out of 3 falls match, which saw JYD disqualified in the first fall, and Reed disqualified in the second fall, before Reed picking up the deciding fall.  Dog’s reign as champ was over….but the war was just starting.

September-December 1983:

Heading into the fall and winter months, JYD received some back up help from Magnum T.A. and Hacksaw Duggan in his war with Devastation, Inc., and with Butch Reed.  At one time, Dog had a feud going on with Kamala, King Kong Bundy and Reed….all at the same time!!!  JYD met the challenges head on, becoming the first man to kick out of the “five count” avalanche that Bundy was obliterating everyone with.  And, in October 1983, Dog evened the score with Reed…in a major way.

Reed was defending the North American title against “anyone”….except the Dog.  So, Reed picked Magnum T.A., who was still establishing himself as a top flight star.  However, JYD was named the special referee, and was quite partial towards his friend T.A.  T.A. would wind up winning the North American title, causing Reed some embarrassment.  However, because of the Dog’s biased officiating, the North American title was returned to Reed (after T.A. had lost the title to Nikolai Volkoff).  Two days after Reed was given back the title, Dog defeated Reed in Shreveport, Louisiana, to begin his fourth and final reign as North American champion.  In the winter months, Dog would continue to face monsters in the form of giant Russian Nikolai Volkoff, and in the form of giant tempered “Mad Dog” Buzz Sawyer.  Although smaller, Sawyer would provide a formidable challenge to the Dog, with each possessing a powerslam that would usually finish off opponents.

As 1983 drew to a close, Dog was still on top.  And Dog was still the main man in the hearts of Mid-South fans.  The only problem was…there weren’t as many fans as there once was.  The Mid-South territory was in somewhat of a slump in the latter days of 1983, evidenced mostly by a crowd of 8,000 fans in New Orleans for a Dog vs. Reed main event.  While a crowd of 8,000 would sell out Municipal Auditorium (normal stomping ground of Mid-South cards), that was considered sub-standard for a major Superdome show.  There was change in the air…in more ways than one.

Still, as Dog left 1983 and entered 1984, he was on top of the world in Mid-South, having again successfully found a way to defeat his major foes, and keep his bond with the fans, and the North American title, intact.

Closing:  

In closing, there are still a lot of angles left un-rehashed.  Again, we will take a look at them in our multi-part series in 1983.  In the near future, we will take a look at the metamorphosis of the Mid-South area in general.  We will find out the challengers to JYD’s throne as first place in the hearts of Mid-South fans, and how one masked man made his student a star.

NEXT MONTH:

We continue our overview of 1983 with a unique look at how some guys from Memphis, Tennessee revitalized….and revolutionized the Mid-South territory.