By all accounts, Mid-South Wrestling in 1983 was becoming stale. To spice things up, in late 1983, Bill Watts and Memphis promoter Jerry Jarrett (father of Jeff Jarrett) agreed to a talent exchange. Going from Memphis to Mid-South were a number of people who were in the mid-card for Jarrett stuck behind others. Memphis already had Jimmy Hart (the number one manager in Memphis) and the Fabulous Ones, Steve Keirn and Stan Lane (the babyface heart throb tag team), so leaving town were Jim Cornette, the Midnight Express (Dennis Condrey and Bobby Eaton), Terry Taylor and the Rock-n-Roll Express (Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson). Maybe more importantly, "Superstar" Bill Dundee, Jerry Lawler's long-time partner/rival, went to Mid-South to become the new booker. The Memphis imports were working in the territory by Thanksgiving 1983, but didn't become a factor until the start of the new year. It is not difficult to see Dundee's fingerprints on the very first TV show in 1984 (but we'll get to that soon).
On January 1, 1984, Mid-South's champions were:
- North American Title - Mid-South's top singles title was held by the Junkyard Dog, who won the belt from Hacksaw Butch Reed on 26 October 1983.
- Tag Team Titles - Magnum TA and Mr. Wrestling II, who won the tag titles from Butch Reed and Jim Neidhart on 25 December 1983.
