WCCW Television – July 6, 1985: They’re Not Good At Being Bad Guys
IMG Credit: WWE
WCCW TV
Date: July 6, 1985
Location: Sportatorium, Dallas, Texas
Commentator: Bill Mercer
So a few weeks ago, I asked what people wanted to see more of from me. One thing I kept seeing was more WCCW, so I’ve picked ten episodes at random (random number generator) that I’ll be doing over the next little while. There are no connections between these shows but I don’t want to/don’t have time to do all of the shows. If nothing else it should be a nice sampler of everything the promotion had to offer. Let’s get to it.
Mercer runs down the card and previews the show. Promised tonight: an interview with Mike Von Erich about his shoulder injury. Oh dear.
Brian Adias vs. Kelly Kiniski
Kiniski (Gene’s son) is an anxious looking guy with a good look while Adias was best known as a friend of the Von Erichs and over by association. Kelly grabs him by the neck to start but gets reversed into a quickly reversed hammerlock. Some arm cranking keeps Kiniski slowed down until some forearms set up a chinlock. You don’t see that too often from the good guy so it’s off to a hammerlock instead. Adias finally charges into a knee in the corner though and a belly to back suplex gives Kiniski one.
Now we hit a proper chinlock until Kiniski drops him throat first across the top rope and tosses him outside. A sunset flip is broken up with a right hand and an atomic drop makes it even worse. That means another chinlock as Kiniski is about as fascinating as his father. Mercer says that’s every conceivable move Kiniski could use, which probably explains why his career didn’t go very far. Adias comes back with a dropkick but Kiniski headbutts him in the ribs to cut him off. A quick backslide gives Adias the pin at 8:50.
Rating: D. Adias was fine but he needed someone a little better than Kiniski to make this work. Really, his big thing was a couple of chinlocks and Mercer made it seem like that was all he could do. I know Adias was over because he was friends with the Von Erichs but there’s only so much that anyone can do in something like this.
Chris Adams vs. Mike Bond
Adams’ American Heavyweight Title isn’t on the line, though he actually lost it the day before this aired. Adams goes with a shove to the face to start so Bond backdrops him into an armbar. Back up and the referee tells Bond to open up those clenched fists. Apparently the open fists take away some of the strength as Adams takes him down with a headlock.
That goes on for a few moments so Mercer talks about all the cities in New York that are watching the show. Bond gets sent outside in a heap and gets kicked off the apron to make things even worse. Back in and Bond scores with a clothesline but Adams has had it and pounds him down in the corner. Bond slams him off the top but misses a top rope knee. A piledriver and the superkick finishes Bond at 6:13.
Rating: C. Much better than the opener here with Adams giving Bond a lot. The finish looked good two as Adams kicked his head off. Bond wasn’t exactly a name but Adams was quite the talent with a good look and the athleticism to back it up. Throw in that whole British gentleman thing and there was no way he wouldn’t be a star, which he certainly was.
We go to Mike Von Erich’s house where Ice Man King Parsons is rubbing Mike’s shoulder after he gets out of the pool. Mike doesn’t think he’ll need surgery because the rehabilitation is going well. Parsons yells about being there for Mike and all the training they’re doing to get the shoulder better. Mike will be back in two weeks and they’ll tell their story in the ring against Tim Brooks and the One Man Gang.
I know he meant well and his dad was the cause, but Mike just didn’t have it. He was stuttering during most of his lines here and didn’t have the look or the talking ability to be a star. Why would something like that matter to Fritz though? This is so sad to watch because the skills aren’t there and that made no difference whatsoever. That’s not Mike’s fault but Fritz didn’t care in the slightest because we were getting his kids no matter what.
Tim Brooks vs. Ice Man King Parsons
Brooks has super heel manager Gary Hart in his corner, along with One Man Gang (with a full head of hair). Kevin Von Erich comes out to even things up and it’s a big brawl before the bell. The villains are cleared out in short order and Kevin grabs a chair for a bonus. Do they really need that after beating the other two up that easily? Hart and company leave and we take a break, but I think you know where this is going.
Tim Brooks/One Man Gang vs. Ice Man King Parsons/Kevin Von Erich
Yeah it happened back then too. It’s another brawl to start with the villains being knocked outside again. Those two really aren’t very good at this bad guy thing. This time it’s Gang grabbing a chair of his own but Hart settles him down, leaving Parsons to headlock Brooks as the match actually breaks out. Kevin comes in to send Brooks face first into the post and then does it again, which is cool because he’s a Von Erich.
Everything breaks down for a bit until Kevin grabs a bodyscissors on Brooks. This one goes on for a long time, maybe because Kevin’s lack of boots gives him a better grip. The hold rolls over so Parsons tags himself in and everything breaks down again. It’s enough of a melee for Brooks to take over on Parsons, including the chinlock going on. Gang finally comes in legally for the first time and squeezes Parsons’ head, which is called a chinlock here. Hart tells them to switch back, drawing Kevin in because he’s had it with this cheating.
Brooks slaps on another chinlock but this one doesn’t last as long, allowing Kevin to come in AGAIN without a tag. Some right hands stagger the illegal Gang (who has the word MOON on both legs) but he comes in a few seconds later to hit the lumbering forearms on Parsons. A missed knee knocks Gang down though and it’s the hot tag off to Kevin so house can be cleaned. Kevin gets the Claw on Gang but a slap to the face breaks it up.
Parsons DIVES over/onto the referee for a failed save attempt, allowing Gang to choke from the apron. In something you don’t hear that often, Hart is smart enough to order Gang to let go before it’s a DQ. Things settle back down with Kevin getting the Claw on Gang but everything breaks down again. Parsons is sent outside and Brooks grabs his chain. The ref is bumped for a few seconds and it’s a DQ at 12:58.
Rating: C. I know it was rather messy and it felt like a wild brawl, but that was the point here. Parsons and Kevin were out for revenge for Mike and it makes sense to have them want to take the two of them apart. The ending leaves things open for later, making this a rather nicely booked match all around. It’s not great, but it makes perfect sense with everything they were trying to do.
Mercer recaps the show to wrap it up.
Actually we even get some credits, which still feel weird on a wrestling show.
Overall Rating: C. I liked this one well enough and I already get the ideas for most of the stories they were pushing this time. That makes for a fun show, but the important thing here is how nice everything looks. You would never know this was in 1985 as the only promotion with this kind of production value was the WWF, and even that had just started with Saturday Night’s Main Event. Very entertaining show here and I had a good time.
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 1997 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:
https://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/11/20/new-paperback-complete-1997-monday-night-raw-reviews/
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