World Class Championship Wrestling
Date: August 13, 1988
Location: Sportatorium, Dallas, Texas
Commentator: Marc Lowrance

Eh why not one more World Class show. It’s fun to mix things up a bit and that’s what we’re doing here, even though the promotion is not exactly close to its peak and that means we could be seeing anything. I’ve had some fun with the show before, but at this point in its lifespan, that might be a stretch. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.

Lowance runs down the card.

Iceman Parsons vs. Jeff Raitz

Skandar Akbar is here with Parsons. The fans don’t buy Parsons’ offer of a handshake to start and Raitz turns him down as well. This goes on for over a minute before Raitz hits a weird looking running crossbody (Parsons was almost spinning as they landed). Parsons sends him into the corner and gets to dance a bit as we slow down. A snap suplex gives Parsons two as Lowrance reads a letter from a fan in Oklahoma regarding a recent fundraiser. Parsons’ clothesline gets two and the running hip attack finishes Raitz at 3:55.

Rating: C. More or less just a squash here with Parsons never feeling like he was in any trouble. Parsons is one of those rather odd stars who would not have been a big deal elsewhere but he was certainly a mainstay here. He’s certainly over the top and that’s enough to get him noticed every time he’s doing anything on this show.

Steve Simpson is ready to beat John Tatum in a strap match. Talking isn’t his strong suit.

Steve Simpson vs. John Tatum

Strap match (four corners variety) and Simpson’s brother Shaun is here to cancel out Jack Victory. They pull at the strap to start with Tatum going down so Steve can get in a few whips. Back up and Tatum manages a slam, only to get pulled off the middle rope. Steve hammers away and whips away even more, followed by some choking.

Tatum fights up but only gets one corner before being cut off. Another attempt gets three corners but Steve cuts him off. Then Tatum cuts off Steve before going after Shaun, allowing Victory to get in a cheap shot. Tatum gets three buckles but Steve gets in a low blow with the strap, allowing Steve to touch the four buckles for the win at 4:38.

Rating: C. That needed to be a strap match? I’m not sure I get the point of having that much going on as they could have done pretty much the same match with a rollup finish and no stipulation. It feels like a feud between people who can’t stand each other, but it’s quite the weird way to go with a stipulation that didn’t need to be there.

Post match Victory and Tatum tie Steve up with the strap and beat him down until Shaun makes the save with a chair.

Skandar Akbar and Iceman Parsons are ready to fight Kerry Von Erich. They’ll bring in Kamala to deal with anyone Kerry has with him.

Eric Embry issues an open challenge to anyone in the world to come take the Light Heavyweight Title from him. It doesn’t matter which promotion they work for, including this one, because he’ll defend it right here and right now. Cue Steve Casey (with a very 80s mustache) to say let’s do it right now.

Light Heavyweight Title: Stephen Casey vs. Eric Embry

Embry is defending and I would love to know the weight limits, as Embry is billed as 235lbs and I have no idea how he is supposed to be two pounds heavier than Casey, who is a bit bigger and in far better shape. Casey chases him out to the floor to start and then Embry bails to the floor again on his own. That’s fine with Casey, who gives chase and hammers away. Back in and Casey grabs a sleeper and Embry staggers around for a good while, with the referee not bothering to check the arm for far too long. Embry finally climbs the rope and drops back onto him for the pin to retain at 3:20.

Rating: C. Another pretty meh match with most of it being spent on Embry being sent outside and then a sleeper before the flat finish. Embry held the title for the better part of ever in the last few years of WCCW and I’m really not sure I get the appeal. He seems fine for a midcard heel but he got a heck of a lot of focus. On the other hand you have Casey, who looked good but that’s about it as far as anything in the ring.

Michael Hayes talks about a woman flirting with him but now people are looking at his new partner, Steve “Do It To It” (yes, Do It To It) Cox. Cue Cox, who is happy to take a walk on the wild side with Hayes around here. They’re ready to fight, with Hayes promising to take out the Samoan Swat Team tonight.

Samoan Swat Team vs. Steve Cox/Michael Hayes

Former Freebird Buddy Roberts is the Swan Team’s (Samu and Fatu, later known as the Headshrinkers, with Fatu being a rather young, and rather slim, Rikishi) manager. Hayes slugs away at Fatu to start before it’s quickly off to Cox vs. Samu. Cox cranks on the arm but Samu backs him into the corner, where Fatu gets hit in the chest by mistake. We settle back down to Cox working on Fatu’s arm before gabbing a sunset flip for two.

Samu makes the save so Hayes knocks him outside, with the fans going rather nuts. Fatu misses an elbow and gets armdragged into an armbar, with Hayes coming in to continue said cranking. Cox comes back in, leaving Hayes to lounge on the top rope, with Roberts losing his mind over the lack of the tags. Back up and Fatu misses a charge into the corner, allowing Cox to armbar him again. The good guys make another change without a tag, with Hayes shaking his head no when asked about the cheating.

We take a break and come back with Hayes in trouble as the Team gets to take turns hammering on him. Hayes gets over for the tag but Fatu trips Cox from the floor to cut off the comeback attempt. A powerslam gives Fatu two and we hit the neck crank. Hayes is drawn in so a low blow can keep Cox in trouble, setting up the nerve hold. That’s broken up and a double clothesline gives us a double knockdown. The big tag brings in Hayes to clean house, including a high crossbody, but Cox is thrown onto the referee. Hayes is thrown over the top and the match is thrown out at 14:08.

Rating: C+. Cox is one of the more infamous names from the dying days of the promotion as he had nothing that made him stand out in the slightest. He’s perfectly fine in the ring and that is about all there is to say with him. They put him with Hayes in the hopes of getting a rub and….yeah it just didn’t work. That was the situation here: the match itself was fine enough, but it was never beyond just ok.

Post match the beatdown is on but Hayes breaks up a top rope splash. The big brawl goes to the floor and they keep brawling to end the show.

Overall Rating: C. Maybe it would be better if I had seen the buildup to this show, but as a part of a random sample, it wasn’t the most thrilling sit. The action was ok at best and the main event felt like it was more about getting Cox over as a big deal than having a good match. I wasn’t feeling this one and while the crowds still react, you can tell a lot of the magic is gone.

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World Class Championship Wrestling
Date: January 16, 1988
Location: Sportatorium, Dallas, Texas
Commentator: Marc Lowrance

I haven’t done one of these in a bit so we’ll see what they’ve got. This is from the weaker period for the company as a lot of wrestlers have either died or gone elsewhere. That doesn’t leave much to go around here but the fans will likely still be into everything going on. Let’s get to it.

The opening theme is the same but the video is different and doesn’t feel nearly as important.

Lowrance talks about how last week’s show ended in a frenzy and then runs down this week’s show.

The Hood vs. Matt Borne

Borne’s Texas Heavyweight Title isn’t on the line. Hood (a muscular guy under a mask, better known as Jeff Gaylord) bails into the ropes a few times to start and we get an argument over hair pulling. We pause for the Hood to pose as Lowrance runs down various upcoming cards. Hook hits a slam and poses some more as Lowrance explains a rather complicated match involving elimination rules, a cage and handcuffs. They slowly slug it out with Borne backing him up against the ropes as Lowrance tells you where to write for souvenirs.

We pause again for Hood to try and get the crowd to quiet down. A clothesline drops Borne and Hood stops to pose AGAIN. Another knockdown means more poses as Rick Rude would think Hood is overdoing it. Borne finally comes back with a clothesline and a belly to belly lets Borne hammer away with left hands. A spinning toehold is broken up as Hood kicks him into the corner, setting up a shoulderbreaker for two. The arm is sent into the corner for two more but Hood misses a middle rope elbow. An atomic drop sets up a top rope seated senton to give Borne the pin at 8:21.

Rating: C-. The Hood was in great shape but the “do a move and then pose” got tiresome after a bit. The same thing was true of Lowrance talking about anything but the match, as he might as well have been reading from a checklist. Borne was a decent hand in the ring, but this went about twice as long as it needed to and that was a hard sit.

Here are the Freebirds, Iceman Parsons and the Angel of Death for a chat. Believe it or not, they want to beat up the Von Erichs and they started with Fritz on Christmas night. Parsons even gets in a shot at Kerry over his motorcycle crash.

Last week, Kevin Von Erich talked about the beatings he had taken. Then the four villains ran in to beat down Kevin and Chris Adams.

We look at Eric Embry recently beating Shaun Simpson in a cage match in Reunion Arena to win the Light Heavyweight Title. Simpson was dominating until Embry rolled through a high crossbody and grabbed the trunks for the pin. Clips from this match were shown for weeks.

Eric Embry vs. Jeff Raitz

Embry’s Light Heavyweight Title isn’t on the line. Hold on though as here is Simpson to request that he get this match instead. Sure why not.

Eric Embry vs. Shaun Simpson

Non-title and Simpson starts fast with a backdrop. Back in and Embry gets in a quick shot to the ribs for a breather and we hit the chinlock. Simpson fights up and grabs a rollup for two, followed by the armbar. That’s broken up and Embry slams him down, setting up a falling headbutt for two. The slingshot suplex gives Embry two but another headbutt misses. A top rope sunset flip gives Simpson two more before he rolls through a high crossbody and pins Embry at 4:53.

Rating: C+. Well there’s your setup for a title rematch as this seems like it’s a pretty hot feud. Or as hot as something is going to be in 1988 World Class. The fans were into Simpson’s comeback and it’s a simple story that will get a reaction. Embry comes off as quite the cowardly heel who is in over his head so let Simpson chase him for a bit.

We look at the end of a Chris Adams vs. Al Perez match in Fort Worth. The referee got bumped so there was no count off Adams’ superkick. That and a Gary Hart (Perez’s evil manager) let Perez kick out as we have another referee. Then they both crash out to the floor and it’s a double countout to retain Perez’s….unspecified title.

We get an explanation of the ten man Thunderdome cage matches. It’s going to be an elimination match and after someone is pinned or submits, they are handcuffed to the cage. When all five members of one team are cuffed, the captain of the winning team gets to unlock his partners for five minutes of anything they want to the still handcuffed losers. That sounds rather violent.

Al Perez vs. Solomon Grundy

Perez’s World Title isn’t on the line here and Grundy is a 400lb hillbilly. Before the match, here is Terry Gordy to ask Gary Hart when he’s going to smarten Perez up. Gordy has been going around the world beating up people in Japan (using a not so nice name for Japanese people) so he can get a title shot. Gordy leaves but here is Chris Adams to interrupt too. He’s beaten Perez three or four times so he should get a title shot.

The beating that Gordy gave to Fritz Von Erich made him sick so Gordy comes back in for the brawl. Buddy Roberts comes in as well so Grundy crushes him as Adams superkicks Gordy. Perez jumps Adams from behind and Gordy is on Adams with his Oriental Spike. Kevin Von Erich runs in for the save and Angel of Death and Iceman Parsons come in to help get the villains away. That was the kind of wild brawl that helps make you interested in the Thunderdome stuff so well done.

Post break and we actually get Perez vs. Grundy, which is joined in progress with Perez snapmaring him into a chinlock. A pull of the hair/overalls cuts off Grundy’s comeback attempt and we stay slow. Back up and Grundy reverses a whip into the corner but charges into a raised boot. Perez drops a knee and we’re right back to the chinlock. Grundy fights up but Perez hammers away in the corner. Grundy slams him out of the corner and Lowrance thinks it’s FAR more impressive than it really is. A missed charge in the corner staggers Grundy though and Perez hits a running forearm for the pin at 3:48 shown.

Rating: C-. Grundy is a good example of “well what are you supposed to do with him”. He’s a giant who can do some very basic stuff but at some point you run out of options. Grundy did all of the standard big man spots but it didn’t make for much of a match. Perez doesn’t exactly feel like a World Champion, though he had a good look and was more than ok enough in the ring.

Fantastics vs. Cowboy Tony/Vince Apollo

Rogers and Tony start things off with the former easily waistlocking Tony to the mat. Apollo comes in and rakes the eyes so Tony can…immediately be dragged into the corner. It’s off to Fulton for a top rope wristdrag as everything breaks down. A double dropkick puts Tony down and Apollo is thrown onto him to make it worse. Back in and Tony manages to send Fulton into the corner to take over for a change. That lasts all of three seconds before everything breaks down again. The villains are rammed into each other and a Hart Attack high crossbody finishes Apollo at 3:03.

Rating: C. I can always go for the Fantastics as they can work well with anyone, even a pair of jobbers like these two. They didn’t waste time and the Fantastics never felt like they were in any danger, which they shouldn’t be in this situation. For a match that was little more than a way to fill in a few minutes at the end of the show, it went well enough.

Post match Jack Victory and John Tatum (the Tag Team Champions) run in to beat down the Fantastics as the credits roll.

Overall Rating: C. This feels like a situation where the TV isn’t great but the live events feel hot. They had a big angle with the Fritz attack but you’re only going to get so much out of that on a show like this. The wrestling here was not very good for the most part, though you can tell the angles are at least important. The territory was not in a good place at this point, but you can still see some sparks of life out there.

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WCCW TV
Date: February 6, 1988
Location: Dallas Sportatorium, Dallas, Texas
Commentator: Marc Lowrence

It’s more WCCW as it’s the one year listed on the Network that I haven’t covered. As usual I have very little idea of what is going on here but I’d assume that the Von Erichs will be involved. I was three days old when this show aired, meaning it was on a Saturday, thereby ending my trivia about this show. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.

We open with a clip from Christmas 1987 as Shaun Simpson faces Eric Embry in a cage for the World Lightweight Title. The bloody Embry rolls through a high crossbody and pulls the trunks to win the title.

Then about a month later, Simpson faced and pinned Embry in a rematch, though the title didn’t appear to be on the line.

Then they fought again and Embry accidentally bumped the referee so there was no count when Simpson got a cover. Another wrestler came in to count the fall, which I can’t imagine counted. Thankfully another referee came in to say not so fast and gave the title back to Embry because the other referee understands how wrestling works. Even commentary was almost calling Simpson ridiculous for that one.

Now we look at John Tatum/Jack Victory vs. the Fantastics from some undated show. Some cheating gave Tatum the pin as we’re told this is from the same Christmas night show from before. Then another referee comes out to reverse the decision and give it to the Fantastics. The villains came back and got cleared out again.

Then about a week later, the Fantastics beat an unnamed team but Victory and Tatum ran in to beat them down.

Tatum and Victory don’t care that their Texas Tag Team Titles are held up because they won them in the first place and are still the Wild West Tag Team Champions. We see a video from the Fantastics promising vengeance, sending Tatum into a rant about how they won the titles fair and square. They’ll win the titles the first chance they get.

Al Perez vs. Matt Borne

It’s our first match, over a third of the way into the show. Wild Bill Irwin joins commentary and Gary Hart is here with Perez as they grapple around to start. The feeling out process continues with Borne not being able to get very far with Perez. A rollup gives Borne two and Hardy isn’t pleased so far. Perez shoves him into the corner for a change but the ans stay behind Borne. The test of strength goes on but neither of them can get very far again. Perez cranks on a hammerlock but Borne seems to go low to escape. That only gets two though and they trade rollups until Perez gets a backslide for the pin at 5:31.

Rating: C. The face/heel stuff was a little strange here as Perez wasn’t quite the crowd favorite but won in the end anyway. I’ve always liked Perez and it’s nice to see him getting a win. Unless Hart was a good guy at this point (which is hard to fathom), this was kind of backwards and commentary isn’t exactly explaining things all that well.

We look back at the end of last week’s show with the Von Erichs beating up Buddy Roberts, the Angel of Death and Iceman Parsons, the latter of whom is handcuffed in the corner (ala Fritz Von Erich on Christmas night, with commentary actually explaining something for once). The villains eventually ran off.

Angel of Death/Buddy Roberts/Iceman Parsons vs. Chris Adams/Kerry Von Erich/Kevin Von Erich

This is a Penalty Box match, meaning if you get caught cheating, you go to the penalty box (a small cage) for one minute. Get caught again and you’re sent in for two minutes. Kerry (he’s popular) and Buddy start things off with the former cranking on a wristlock. The discus punch sends Roberts outside fast and we pause a bit for some planning. Angel comes in and knocks Kerry into the corner so it’s off to Adams for a headlock.

Kevin comes in for the (barefoot) dropkick as commentary says there is no way Roberts can hang with any of these guys on his own. Roberts gets caught with a cheap shot and gets sent to the box and it’s off to Parsons to stomp on Kerry. The discus punch gets Kerry out of trouble but Parsons grabs a sleeper. Roberts comes back in as the fans won’t stop chanting for Kerry.

Another sleeper has Roberts in trouble for a change and Kerry drops a nasty looking middle rope knee. Roberts cheats again so Kevin gets in a shot from the apron, earning himself a trip to the box. Parsons comes in and quickly bails straight to the floor from the threat of the Claw. The Angel tries to go after Kerry without a tag and it’s off to the box for him as well. Parsons knocks Kerry to the floor (Marc: “Right in the asteroid.”) and Kevin goes over to check on him as Angel is out.

Kerry walks around the ring for some reason before catching Parsons’ leg and snapping it across the rope. The Figure Four goes on the bad leg but everything breaks down. Kevin chairs Roberts and Parsons as Angel and Kerry slug it out. Angel is knocked down and walks away as Adams is in the box and Roberts comes in.

We take a break and come back with Kerry gorilla pressing Roberts and Adams getting out of the box (making me think nothing changed in the break). Adams comes in with a top rope ax handle as things have slowed way down. The referee says that’s cheating and sends Adams into the box (with Kevin, who apparently went in off screen). Kerry Claws Roberts but here is the Angel again. Not that it matters as Kerry small packages Roberts for 14:38 (commentary didn’t notice).

Rating: B-. The penalty stuff was a WCCW mainstay but it got a bit confusing at times, as there were penalties that just seemed to pop up with no announcement. Either that or the penalties didn’t do much, as nothing would change while someone was in the box. The action was good and it felt like they were mad at each other though so I’ve seen far worse ideas. Better match than the rest of the show, as the Von Erichs vs. the Freebirds (or bird here) is always worth a look.

Post match Angel uses some handcuffs to lock Adams and Kevin inside…for all of ten seconds before they get out and save Kerry from the beatdown.

Overall Rating: C. I’m not sure what to make of this show as so much of it was spent on those recaps of things that happened weeks ago. I can’t say it was bad as I got where things were going, but do you really want to just air old stuff for the first 20 minutes or so of an hour long show? The main event was good, but this felt like a recap show for a long time and that’s a weird way to go on any given week.

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WCCW TV
Date: April 30, 1983
Location: Dallas Sportatorium, Dallas, Texas
Commentator: Bill Mercer

I might as well look at some more of this place, as I have something from almost every year throughout the 80s save for 1983 so let’s check off a box. WCCW is a promotion with a great reputation from around this time and there is a good chance that they are going to be able to keep that going here. I have no idea what to expect from this show and that can be a lot of fun. Let us know in the comments below.

Opening sequence.

Bill Mercer welcomes us to the show and previews the main event. That main event will feature Texas Champion David Von Erich and Iceman Parsons, who join us to talk about how they’re ready for the Freebirds. They’re ready to go, though Parsons says he’s ready to boogie.

Chris Adams vs. The Mongol

Mongol (who looks like King Kong Bundy after a good diet and growing a strange beard) has Skandor Akbar with him. Mongol knocks him into the corner to start but Adams slugs his way to freedom. Adams gets knocked down to set up a chinlock, which is broken up without much effort.

A slam gives Mongol two but Adams is back up with….an unidentified shot to the stomach area. Adams drops him with a superkick (Mercer: “He must have learned that one from the Orient) and gets two off a rather difficult powerslam. Another superkick (which didn’t get overly close to the jaw) sets up another superkick in the corner but Mongol throws him over the top for the DQ at 3:59.

Rating: C. This was starting to pick up when they went to the DQ, which is likely to set up a rematch. Mongol feels like someone who could be a nice monster for someone to slay later on. I’m not sure if that is going to be Adams, but he looked good enough slugging away here. Nice opener, but it was only going to get so far in around four minutes.

Post match the brawl is on until referees break it up.

Chavo Guerrero (Senior, who looks a bit like Ricky Steamboat) talks about what it’s like on his ranch. He is now an American citizen but grew up in Mexico City. We hear about the Guerrero wrestling family and how glad Chavo is to make it to Dallas. Texas is his home and he knows the talent is here. Chavo throws in some Spanish and then jumps in the ring for his match. This was Chavo’s getting to know you segment, but it was kind of rambling.

We get a preview of the rest of the show in Spanish for a strange way to go.

Jimmy Garvin vs. Chavo Guerrero

I’m assuming this is Chavo’s debut and Garvin has Precious with him. It takes a good while to have Precious get Garvin ready to go, as tends to be Garvin’s custom. Chavo starts fast with some dropkicks and the upset Garvin is on the floor (Garvin: “HOW’S MY HAIR???”). Back in and Chavo takes him down with a headscissors, leaving Precious rather nervous.

Garvin slaps the mat, a good ten years before the tap out became a thing in wrestling. The headscissors is broken up and Garvin cranks on the legs, which is broken up for a standoff. Garvin doesn’t like standing off though and goes outside to yell about how Chavo escaped. Back in and Chavo takes him down into another headscissors before twisting his boots around Garvin’s head (and his HAIR).

Garvin gets up and tries to hammer away, only to have Chavo backflip over him out of the corner. Chavo pulls him into a surfboard as Garvin has no idea what to do here. Garvin gets outside again and comes back in for some right hands from Chavo. The Gory Stretch is loaded up as time expires at around 8:52 (called 10:00).

Rating: C+. Total star making performance here from Chavo, who was showing some insane stuff for the early 80s. Chavo was flipping around and making Garvin look lost as he couldn’t figure Guerrero out and it made for an entertaining match. The more I see of Garvin the more entertaining he is and that was certainly the case again here.

Post match Garvin thinks there is someone messing with him but now he has film on Chavo.

Kimala vs. Tom Renesto/Bill Rathke

Kimala is of course Kamala with Kim Chee, while the other two have Armand Hussein with them. The two of them jump Kimala to start and get chopped the head for their efforts. The double teaming doesn’t work either as Renesto gets chest clawed down and Rathke gets hit in the throat. Kimala sends them into each other, setting up some splashes to finish Rathke at 2:20. He has to pin both though so it’s some splashes to Renesto to finish for good at 2:53. Total destruction in a good way.

Post match Skandor Akbar brags about the power of Kimala.

David Von Erich/Iceman Parsons vs. Freebirds

Michael Hayes/Buddy Roberts for the Freebirds here and Jimmy Garvin/Precious are at ringside. Roberts and Parsons get things going with Roberts taking him down but having the spinning toehold broken up. Parsons monkey flips him down and scores with some dropkicks, meaning it’s time to dance. The fans want Hayes but have to settle for Parsons grabbing a headscissors.

Roberts can’t get up to drag him into the corner as Parsons keeps him in trouble. A rake to the eyes finally allows Hayes to get in for a slam and fist drop. That doesn’t last long as Von Erich comes in to take Hayes into the corner. The Freebirds need a breather on the floor, while Precious films things for some reason. Back in and Hayes gets in a cheap shot on Parsons to take over, leaving Parsons’ arm tied in the rope.

That lasts all of two seconds before it’s back to Hayes for a backbreaker. Parsons gets right back up and brings in Von Erich as everything breaks down. Von Erich is sent outside in a crash, where he teases smacking Sunshine. The distraction lets Garvin hit him with the camera as Parsons is sent outside. Garvin tosses Von Erich back inside where Hayes get the pin at 9:30.

Rating: C+. The action wasn’t exactly great but you could feel the energy here as the Von Erichs and Freebirds were the top stars in the promotion. The crowd HATED the Freebirds and it got worse as the match went on. Garvin as a Freebird associate makes sense, though that might be more him going after Von Erich and the Texas Title. Good main event though and the most energized part of the show by far.

A very quick preview for next week wraps us up.

Overall Rating: C+. World Class is a show that takes a lot of getting used to as they don’t really have much in the way of big stories. You would have feuds, but it was rare to see something specific about why these people are fighting this week. It’s more along the lines of “well, they were fighting last week so they’re still fighting this week.” until a big angle or moment takes place. That’s not a bad thing, but it’s different than what you would see later. The energy was certainly there though and you could see how unique this place was for its era.

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WCCW TV
Date: March 29, 1986
Location: Dallas Sportatorium, Dallas, Texas
Commentator: Bill Mercer

I liked the previous show so let’s take another look at the Dallas boys. As usual it’s just another random show and that means there is no way of knowing what we have coming up. I can go with more of that in a promotion I’m not overly familiar with, so hopefully they live up to the expectations I have from an unrelated show about fourteen months ago. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.

Mercer runs down the card.

Steve Regal vs. Brickhouse Brown

Say it with me: not that Steve Regal. Brown is a lot smaller than you probably would expect and grabs a headlock to start. A sunset flip doesn’t even give Brown one and it’s time to fight over the wristlocks. Brown elbows the arm but gets caught in a top wristlock for his efforts. Back up and Brown isn’t having this being sent face first into a buckle, meaning it’s time to crank on Regal’s arm again.

The armbar goes to the mat and Brown drives some knees into the arm. Regal gets up and pokes him in the eye before stomping in the ribs. We have two minutes left in the ten minute time limit as Regal knees him in the ribs. Brown knocks him into the corner and then pulls him right back out for a crash. A dropkick into a legdrop gets two on Regal as the time limit expires at 10:00 (or 9:40, which is pretty good for the 80s).

Rating: D. This was the stereotypical match from this era with both guys working on the arm for about eight minutes and then remembering that they were supposed to try to win the match. That doesn’t make for an interesting match when you can tell what they are going for from the start, making it just a boring use of most of the time until you get to the finish. Neither was exactly exciting here either, making this a rather lame way to open the show.

Post match Brown wants to keep going but Regal bails. Smart man as that arm work can be treacherous.

From earlier this month.

Six Man Tag Team Titles: Von Erichs vs. Fabulous Freebirds

The Freebirds are defending and we’re joined in progress with Kevin putting Gordy in a sleeper and then a bodyscissors to make it worse. It’s off to Lance (erg Lance), who gets caught in a camel clutch from Hayes. We hit the ten minute call as Hayes elbows him in the face and hands it back to Gordy for the Oriental Spike (that’s the name).

Kevin and Kerry come in for the save and it’s back to Hayes, who gets caught in a suplex. Kerry and Roberts get the double tags as everything breaks down again. A rollup should finish Roberts but Gordy comes in to make the save. Roberts is able to get the cover on Kerry to retain at 5:59 shown. I won’t rate a match with so much time missing, but it seemed like a hot match, as tends to be the case with these people. Except Lance.

Steve Simpson vs. Rick Rude

Rude’s WCWA (same company as WCCW) World Title isn’t on the line and he has Percy Pringle (Paul Bearer) in his corner. Rude’s tights don’t have any painting on them but they do have pockets for a unique look. Feeling out process to start with Rude throwing him around but getting caught in a monkey flip. Simpson grabs a headscissors to take Rude to the mat and doesn’t even let him go down there.

Rude headlocks his way to freedom as commentary tells us how to vote for Rude’s next challenger. A northern lights suplex drops Simpson for two and we hit the abdominal stretch. That’s broken up in a hurry and Simpson unloads in the corner but a monkey flip is blocked. A DDT (known as the Rude Awakening here) finishes Simpson at 6:18.

Rating: C-. Not much to this one as Rude was still getting the hang of things and was nowhere near the star that he would become. It’s impressive to see how fast he became such a star because you could see elements here, but he had a long way to go before he would hit that next level. Simpson looked great but didn’t showcase himself all that well. Granted that wasn’t the point of this one.

Here’s what’s coming next week.

We see Bruiser Brody interrupting a main event to challenge Terry Gordy to a fight. Gordy came out and the fight was on as the main event was completely forgotten.

Fantastics vs. John Tatum/The Grappler

The brawl is on before the bell with the Fantastics clearing the ring as we’re told this is under Texas Tornado rules. They do manage to get in the introductions, with Sunshine in the Fantastics corner and Missy Hyatt with the villains. The Fantastics pull them back in and then throw Tatum right back to the floor. Grappler doesn’t like them going after his mask and Fulton is sent into the corner. An atomic drop puts Rogers down but Fulton is back up to clean house. Missy grabs Rogers’ foot though and the catfight is on with Sunshine covering her with ketchup. The distraction lets Fulton roll Grappler up for the pin at 4:18.

Rating: C. As usual, the Fantastics know how to work up an audience but this was much more about Sunshine vs. Precious, who had some of the most entertaining catfights of their day. Taking some fries and ketchup to Missy’s face would drive her crazy and the fans reacted as a result. Sometimes you don’t need to make things more complicated than they need to be and that was the case here.

A quick preview of next week’s show wraps us up.

Overall Rating: C-. The opener brings this down a bit but the rest of the show was fun enough. As tends to be the case with World Class, it feels like you need to watch a good bit of the shows to really get the hang of things, but what we got here was still good enough. They don’t exactly fill in the backstories, but it’s like Memphis: you don’t need much of a reason to watch people fight in front of a crowd this hot.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

IMG Credit: WWE

WCCW TV
Date: May 16, 1987
Location: Texas Stadium, Irving, Texas
Attendance: 5,900
Commentator: Bill Mercer

So about a year ago, someone asked me to look at some WCCW shows. I decided to look at ten random episodes and somehow, two of the first three have been from the Parade of Champions. This is the 1987 edition, which didn’t quite have the same impact as the famous one in 1984. Mike Von Erich had recently passed away but the lack of 40,000 fans would suggest that fans weren’t quite as interested. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.

Steve Doll vs. Tim Brooks

Brooks is a rather scary looking man and Doll is probably best known for being in the ring when Scott Hall jumped the barricade on Nitro. Brooks jumps him at the bell (how villainous) and then lets him get back to his feet. How….nice I guess? Or stupid might make more sense. The amount of empty seats in the stadium is just embarrassing and there’s no way to hide it.

Brooks tries a sunset flip but Doll lands on him so Brooks works a waistlock in a smart move. It’s off to a test of strength as you can see several sections with literally no one in them. Doll goes to an armbar as they’re certainly in first gear so far. A headlock takeover has Brooks down again but he finally breaks it up with a knee crusher. Brooks stays on the leg by twisting the knee around and we get a rather extreme closeup.

With the knee getting a little boring, it’s off to a bearhug to change things up a bit. Doll slips out in a hurry and sends him into the corner (and nearly into the camera) but Brooks goes for the throat. An armbar puts Brooks down as the targets keep moving. Some shots to the back get Brooks out of trouble so Doll small packages him right back into it. Doll gets in a powerslam but oh yeah his knee is hurting so he collapses. A small package gives Doll the pin at 7:36.

Rating: D. This was a mixture of all over the place as well as messy, which made for a rather bad match. It’s like they could decide which body part to work on and the ending came out of nowhere. Both guys are capable of doing better than this so in theory this was just a bad night for both of them.

Al Madril vs. Mil Mascaras

Let the no selling begin. Mascaras wastes no time in taking him down for a double arm pull, which seems to hurt Madril a bit. The arm pulling continues until Madril makes the rope, allowing him to offer a handshake. Mascaras slaps the hand, which I guess is good enough. An anklescissors takes Madril down again and is keeps him on the mat in a hold you don’t see very often.

Madril’s hammerlock works as well as you would expect it to as Mascaras gets in some right hands to drop him again. There’s an abdominal stretch (and YES Mascaras hooks the toe) with Mascaras even pulling him down into a cradle for two. Madril finally gets in some shots of his own, including one to the throat to put Mascaras outside for a minute. That’s enough selling for Mascaras though as he’s right back with a flying shoulder, followed by the high crossbody for the pin at 7:04 (I have no idea how they got 10:27 for the official time).

Rating: D+. Mascaras is always an interesting one to watch as he’s a genuine legend but his reputation for not being interested in selling anything for anyone brings him down a bit. Still though, this was designed to be a Mascaras showcase and giving him a win here is hardly the worst idea in the world.

Red River Jack/Spike Huber vs. Abdullah the Butcher/Eli the Eliminator

Jack is pretty clearly Bruiser Brody under a mask. If his team loses, he has to unmask but if he and Spike win, he gets five minutes alone with Butcher/Eli’s (Eli was a territory guy who never got very big) manager Gary Hart. Huber is a smaller guy in good shape and seems to be part of a construction union. Eliminator drops Spike with a clothesline and drops a big leg to start but misses a second attempt. Jack comes in for some kicks to the head and everything breaks down early on.

Butcher chairs Jack in the back but he’s right back in to go after Butcher and Eliminator at the same time. A distraction lets Butcher’s other manager Jim Holliday post Huber as Butcher stabs Jack in the mask. That actually draws blood, which you don’t see through a mask very often. We settle down (kind of) to the villains taking turns on Jack until he kicks Eliminator in the face, setting up the hot tag to Huber. A slam and two legdrops get two on Eliminator as everything breaks down again. We lose commentary as Holliday comes in to save Huber, who reverses a Tombstone and pin Eliminator at 6:27.

Rating: C. This was a lot more sloppy than the previous two matches but also WAY more entertaining with the fans being into Jack and wanting to see Hart get what was coming to him. Huber felt pretty out of place here but he did his job well and was working hard so it’s hard to complain much about a short match like this.

Post match Hart and company unload on Jack and bust him open even further.

Red River Jack vs. Gary Hart

Hart goes after the banged up Jack but since it’s a wrestler vs. a manager and WCCW knows how to do this stuff, Jack fights back with ease and manages to take Hart’s shirt off. They fight to the floor and brawl up the aisle with Jack getting in a chair shot before heading back inside to win via countout (though there was no bell) at about 1:50.

We see some clips of Bruiser Brody defeating Jeep Swenson from last week (or later in the Parade of Champions).

WCWA World Title: Kevin Von Erich vs. Nord The Barbarian

Kevin is defending and Nord is better known as the Berzerker. Oh and David is wearing his brother Mike’s ring jacket with yellow roses for David in case you REALLY don’t know what to expect here. Nord goes straight at him and hits a flying shoulder to put the champ in early trouble.

A sleeper is broken up so it’s a powerslam for two on Kevin instead. Nord goes up top but misses a guillotine legdrop, allowing Kevin to hit his own slow motion powerslam. There’s a missile dropkick but Kevin’s splash hits a raised boot. A legdrop over the back sets up an over the shoulder backbreaker but Kevin gets smart and grabs the Claw. That’s enough to make them fall over the top and it’s a double countout at 5:33.

Rating: D+. What they had here wasn’t too bad but what in the world was that ending? They really couldn’t do anything other than a double countout in the main event of one of their biggest shows of the year for the World Title? After the previous match they aired had a countout as well? I don’t get the booking here, but then again this isn’t exactly the height of their creative powers.

Overall Rating: D. Egads this wasn’t much to see and it’s easy to see why the promotion is starting to fall apart. What was the appeal here? A tag match about unmasking someone who would be working later on in the show? This was a rather boring show and the best thing about it was the fact that I only had to watch part of the event. Rather bad night here and the empty seats told you almost everything you needed to know.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s History Of In Your House (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/05/31/new-paperback-kbs-history-of-in-your-house/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

IMG Credit: WWE

Hidden Gems #7
Date: 1981, 1992

So the Network is going coconuts for the Christmas season with TWELVE (even though they’re starting this on the day after the regular Hidden Gems drop, meaning it should be THIRTEEN) STRAIGHT DAYS of of Hidden Gems, with new stuff being added every day through Christmas. Therefore, I’ll be putting these up in four three day blocks. Some of these are going to be much longer than others but the fun part is going to be seeing what surprises we’re in for. Let’s get to it.

Star Wars 1981
Date: December 25, 1981
Location: Reunion Arena, Dallas, Texas
Commentator: Bill Mercer

So this is most of a full show, with a Big Time Wrestling event (very soon to be World Class Championship Wrestling) under the Star Wars banner. Star Wars was a series of big shows that the promotion ran on certain important nights (often holidays) so expect a big night. The entire thing isn’t here but I’ll fill in the gaps where I can. Let’s get to it.

It’s a double ring show, which could make for an interesting night.

Ring announcer Marc Lowrance introduces the show and explains the two rings.

The first two matches aren’t present. First up was El Negro Assassin vs. Richard Blood (not Ricky Steamboat) in a fifteen minute draw and Tiny Tom defeating Little Tokyo in about ten minutes.

Texas Brass Knuckles Title: Jose Lothario vs. Ernie Ladd

Ladd, a monster with some of the greatest promos ever, is defending. The title is more a toughman title than anything else, as hardcore wrestling hadn’t exactly been invented yet. Lothario on the other hand is best known for training Shawn Michaels. Ladd backs up a few times in the first minute before taking Lothario into the corner. That just earns him a shot to the ribs and it’s time to stall some more.

Some right hands finally put Lothario in trouble and it’s off to a bearhug, which is rather awkward given Ladd’s foot or so height advantage. With that broken up, it turns into a boxing match and Lothario being a former boxer means Ladd is in trouble in a hurry. Ladd uses the distraction to load up a foreign object, which goes into Lothario’s neck. A right hand knocks Lothario to the floor but he comes back in with a top rope right hand to the head….for the pin and the title at 6:14.

Rating: D. Well that happened. The punching stuff made sense and both of them looked fine on their own, but it was still a dull match with neither of them having the time to do much. The ending, with a big right hand from the top, made sense for the gimmick of the match but it wasn’t much to see until we got to the finish.

There was another unaired match here with Blue Demon and Al Madril beating Arman Hussein and Carlos Zapata. I believe that’s the last missing match on the card.

UWA Light Heavyweight Title: El Solitario vs. Tim Brooks

Solitario is defending and this is a title from the Universal Wrestling Association in Mexico. Brooks on the other hand, apparently loves to have dog collar matches. That’s quite the random factoid. There’s also no way that he’s a light heavyweight. Solitario spins out of a leglock to start and we have an early standoff. Brooks hits a shoulder but charges into a hiptoss as Solitario sends him into the other ring.

They head back to the original with Brooks sending him into the corner and dropping a knee for two but a sunset flip gives Solitario the same. A dropkick puts Brooks on the apron and a posting sends him to the floor. Solitario hits a dive and Brooks is busted open, which at least came off a good spot. Back in again and another crossbody retains Solitario’s title at 5:21.

Rating: C-. Solitario’s dives looked good and were WAY ahead of their time but Brooks was any heel here, which meant he was a pretty lame challenger. At least they kept it short here and let Solitario be the star, which was the right idea given what was going on in there. Just not much to see here, aside from Solitario being insane for an American audience.

Fritz Von Erich vs. Great Kabuki

Kabuki has top heel manager Gary Hart with him. This is a Texas Death Match, which basically means Last Man Standing. Fritz is rather popular as ringside fills up with fans wanting autographs, which Fritz of course grants. The ring announcer explains that after every fall, there will be a thirty second rest period before a ten count begins. Fritz goes straight for the Claw but Kabuki does the smart thing by grabbing the wrist. The stomach version works a bit better until Kabuki makes a rope for a break. In a Death Match?

Back up and Fritz slugs away but another Claw attempt is blocked. So you’re saying he uses a Claw a lot? Kabuki chops him down in the corner but then Fritz does the same thing. They head into the other ring where another Claw attempt is countered with a kick to the head. This time Kabuki grabs Fritz underneath the arm for a nerve hold as this is getting awful in a hurry.

They fight to the floor and then over a chair with Fritz getting the better of it. Fritz punches him back inside and more bad looking right hands don’t do much damage. The Claw goes on for a three count and it takes him awhile to let go. Two referees have to pull Fritz off and he puts it on again.

That’s considered part of the rest period so Fritz beats up Hart to kill some time. Kabuki beats the count and it’s time to go after the cut on his head. That means more Claw (egads man learn a new move) as Hart takes off a turnbuckle pad. Kabuki is back up as Fritz beats Hart up and sends Fritz face first into the exposed buckle. A lot of choking keeps Fritz down until he punches his way to freedom (and that’s AMERICAN freedom mind you).

Both guys are down long enough that the rest period begins, followed by the ten count and neither can make it to their feet. We don’t have draws in Texas though and the winner is the first person on his feet in the ring. Fritz almost gets up first so Hart pulls him down and pours something on Kabuki’s face to wake him up, which is enough for the win at 18:11. That’s the first Texas Death Match that Fritz has ever lost.

Rating: F. I know he’s a legend in Texas and owns the promotion and all that jazz but this was HORRIBLE with Fritz looking about 90 years old and doing nothing but punching and the Claw. This might have been a nice treat for the fans live and meant something to them, but watching it back is an absolute chore as it’s just sitting there watching Fritz put his hand on Kabuki’s head for long stretches over and over. Terrible stuff here, no matter how big a WCCW fan you might be.

Kevin Von Erich comes in to clear the villains out.

Kevin Von Erich/David Von Erich/Kerry Von Erich vs. Frank Dusek/Bill Irwin/Ten Gu

Ten Gu is better known as Kendo Nagasaki in Stampede Wrestling. This is a six man tag with both rings being used, meaning it’s basically a singles match in both rings and one person able to tag into either ring at either time. That’s kind of clever. Before we can get going though, the Von Erichs are mobbed for autographs again. Mike is with them here with his brothers and that’s always kind of sad to see. Kerry and Irwin start in one ring and the rules are already starting to get confusing as the other four just stand there.

We settle down to David working on Gu’s arm and the camera still only focusing on one ring at a time. Kevin works on a headlock on Dusek before headscissoring Irwin down at the same time. There is WAY too much going on here at once with the tagging and it’s not flowing well at all. We go back to Kerry putting Gu in a sleeper until Dusek makes a save. That means a chinlock for a bit with Dusek fighting up and almost hitting Irwin in the other ring.

They FINALLY go to a wide shot that the match was begging for and we get to see just how slow everyone is keeping things. David gets a sleeper on Gu until Kerry hits a running dive over the ropes to take Gu down. A double ax handle gets two on David but he’s right back with a suplex for the same on Dusek. Kerry snapmares Irwin down and drops a middle rope knee for two of his own. Dusek gets in his own suplex on Kerry but misses a top rope splash and hurts his knee. Irwin misses his own running knee on Kevin, who pops up with the Claw on Gu. A middle rope ax handle hits Gu by mistake and Kevin pins him at 10:58.

Rating: D-. I’m going to blame this one more on the production and the layout as this needed to either stay wide the whole time or drop the tagging stuff to make it a regular brawl. There was too much going on with too many people involved and it caught up with them in a hurry. I couldn’t tell what was going on and there was no story to the whole thing. I’m not sure why the Von Erichs were fighting these three in the first place, and there’s just nothing good to say about it. Oh yeah Fritz wasn’t wrestling so it was slightly less bad than the previous match.

Battle Royal

David Von Erich, Bill Irwin, Kerry Von Erich, Big Daddy Bundy, Al Madrill, Armand Hussein, Blue Demon, Carlos Zapata, El Negro Assassin, Frank Dusek, Jose Lothario, Richard Blood, Ten Gu, Tim Brooks

Double ring battle royal (throw the people from one ring into the other, then out like a regular battle royal, the last two people involved have a two man battle royal for the win) for $10,000. The match is listed as having sixteen people, the records I can find say fourteen, and I see twelve. Thankfully we get a listing and it turns out that I can’t count or see everyone in a ring. It’s a big brawl to start and EGADS Bundy looks weird in jeans and with a full head of hair. The camera continues to focus on half of the ring instead of going wide, which would seem to be the solution to this whole thing.

Bundy keeps beating on everyone as we’re still waiting on the first elimination. David gets launched into the second ring and Brooks follows him as we look at this ring instead of the two next to each other. Madrill and Demon come to the second ring as well, followed by a bunch of others as things go nuts in a hurry. Bundy wins the first ring, followed by Hussein and Demon both being eliminated. Two other guys leave at the same time but they’re not important enough to mention.

Dusek is out and we’re down to eight left in the second ring as I try to figure out the other two eliminations. Madrill and Assassin go out, followed by Kerry and Ten Gu, leaving us with Lothario, Irwin, Blood and Zapata, meaning the other two unmentioned eliminations were David Von Erich and Tim Brooks. Now why couldn’t those names just be mentioned? Anyway Blood and Zapata go out and Lothario follows, leaving us with the heel vs. heel battle of Bundy vs. Irwin.

Bundy gets lured into the other ring and the fight is on, with both referees staying in the ring with them. Some forearms have Irwin in trouble until he avoids an elbow drop from Bundy. Wait is Bundy a face here? What kind of idiot would make Bundy a face? Commentary seems to confirm this as Irwin pokes him in the eye. I mean, it makes more sense for this match but makes far less sense otherwise. Irwin gets him to the apron but gets pulled out to give Bundy the win at 12:12.

Rating: D. The same production issues hurt this one as you couldn’t see a lot of what was going on when the action was still going on in both rings. Other than that, it was a bad battle royal with everyone running around and a bunch of people going from one quick fight to another. It’s not the worst, but it wasn’t very good. Bundy winning makes sense, especially since he’s a good guy around here, because reasons.

And now from another part of the country on the same night. The following few matches are from the 1981 AWA Christmas night show in St. Paul, Minnesota. The whole video is just over half an hour long so I can’t call it the full show, but you never know what you’re going to get on these things.

AWA House Show
Date: December 25, 1981
Location: St. Paul Civic Center, St. Paul, Minnesota
Commentator: Rodger Kent

This isn’t my favorite time and/or promotion in the world but they could do big shows fairly well. As mentioned this isn’t the full show but hopefully we get the best of the what they had to offer that night. The big match is a non-title match, which is non-title for no adequately explained reason. Why would you want to waste a major match on something like Christmas? Let’s get to it.

Rene Goulet vs. Kenny Jay

Goulet was an agent with the WWF forever but wasn’t much in the ring. Joined in progress with Jay (never heard of him) working on a wristlock as the unnamed announcer talks about Japanese photographers in attendance. Goulet takes him down into a chinlock as the announcer talks about Goulet’s airfare in 1981 costing over $58,000.

A headscissors keeps Jay down until he reverses into a leglock to send Goulet bailing to the ropes. The hold goes right back on with Jay taking him down to keep Goulet in trouble. Goulet finally makes it over to the rope as we’re told there are five minutes left. Back up and some elbows get Goulet out of trouble before a middle rope knee finishes Jay at 6:14 shown (announced as 11:14).

Rating: D. What we saw wasn’t exactly thrilling stuff as it was a lot of leg work and not much else. Goulet never was the most interesting guy in the world and Jay seemed like just a guy for the most part. In other words, for once I’m rather glad about this being clipped instead of having to sit through the full thing.

Curt Hennig vs. Evan Johnson

This is very early in Hennig’s career and we’re joined in progress again with Hennig taking him down with a headscissors. The announcer talks about Johnson being an Olympic wrestler and only missing the 1980 games due to the boycott. Johnson fights up into a wristlock and Hennig can’t slam his way to freedom. The arm work continues as we’re told that Scrap Iron Gadaski is the referee. That name might not mean much to you, but he was Ric Flair’s first ever opponent. Hennig comes back with an armdrag of his own and then grabs a leglock to change things up a bit.

Johnson reverses into something like a crucifix but can’t get the other shoulder down. The fans aren’t pleased so Hennig gets up as we’re told there are three minutes left. Things get a lot more physical in a hurry as they fight up against the ropes without actually hitting each other. Johnson snaps off a belly to belly for two and they trade rollups as we’re down to a minute to go. Hennig hits an ax handle for two and Johnson grabs a backslide for two (with a great shocked look from Hennig) of his own as the fifteen minute time limit expires at 10:12 shown.

Rating: C-. This was a lot better than the previous match as they were trying to get a fall until the end with both guys working rather hard. They didn’t flip the switch until later in the match and that’s acceptable as the stuff after they started trying was a lot better. Hennig wasn’t quite his great self yet but you can see the potential there.

Jerry Blackwell/Sheik Adnan Al-Kassie vs. High Flyers

The High Flyers’ (Jim Brunzell/Greg Gagne) Tag Team Titles aren’t on the line. Joined in progress again with Greg taking the huge Blackwell down by the arm. Brunzell comes in without a tag to knock Adnan off the apron and gets in a shot at Blackwell as a bonus. Now he comes in off a tag and cranks on the arm before it’s off to Adnan. That means more arm cranking, including Brunzell coming off the middle rope with a knee. The fans are all over Blackwell as Brunzell stays on the arm.

To mix things up a bit, Gagne comes back in to work on the arm some more. Blackwell finally gets the tag for a headbutt, only to miss a splash. Some corner splashes work a bit better so Brunzell goes after the Sheik, allowing Blackwell to throw Gagne over the top. Blackwell is dumb enough to keep going after Brunzell to break up the count and Gagne gets back inside. Sheik comes in without a tag so Brunzell does the same, allowing Gagne to be pulled back into the corner.

We get the always classic tag that the referee misses and the fans are right back into things off the near explosion. The bearhug goes on instead with Gagne not exactly looking like he’s in pain, but rather being confused that he’s here. He finally slips out and crawls over for the tag to Brunzell for the house cleaning dropkicks. It’s already back to Gagne for a top rope knee to Sheik’s knee. Brunzell (or The Brunzy apparently) comes back in for a Figure Four but Blackwell crushes him with a splash. With Gagne being thrown out, Sheik gets the pin on Brunzell at 12:18.

Rating: D+. The AWA isn’t my favorite promotion and this wasn’t the most thrilling thing in the world. It’s not clear why this was a non-title match as it was a pretty clean pin for Blackwell and the Sheik, but that might imply that something changes around here and we wouldn’t want that. The match was formula based stuff and that works well enough, though the very long arm work part didn’t get them very far.

And now for something very different, we go to Tampa, Florida for a Christmas message from Randy Savage to a bunch of students. New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner set this up and talks about how it’s giving something back to the community. After a quick statement from Steinbrenner about how important it is to take care of at risk children and how Christmas is the most important time of the year.

We go inside the auditorium where Savage is played to the stage by a live orchestra. Savage talks about how a lot of people care about the kids here and how it’s no secret that things can be better. His big message is to believe in yourself and you can accomplish any goal you want. Be all that you can be and your best friend is yourself because you’ll never give up on yourself.

You want to be a leader and not a follower who makes bad decisions. Say no to drugs and stay in school. An education is incredible and something you should take advantage of. There will be challenges in life and things can go badly, but keep getting up and never quit. The person who gets back up again is the person that Savage respects because they’re the kind of person who is going to battle and win at all costs.

It’s nice to be important but it’s important to be nice. Savage even takes off his glasses to wrap things up, saying Merry Christmas and saying he’ll shake hands with everyone here. Savage packed in every cliché you could ask for here but for the sake of something like this, it’s perfectly fine. It also helps when you have Savage’s charisma and can make anything sound good.

Overall Rating: D. This is quite the mixture and it’s really not very good. To be fair though these were designed to be a bunch of one off watches rather than marathoning them like I’ve been doing, which isn’t helping things. The wrestling wasn’t all that great, though a lot of that is more due to the time frame not being one of my favorites. Savage’s message was rather nice and it’s always cool to see wrestlers doing something for a charity. We’ve got a long way to go though and that’s….going to be interesting, at least I hope.

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:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/11/20/new-paperback-complete-1997-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

IMG Credit: WWE

WCCW TV
Date: March 3, 1984
Host: Bill Mercer

This is listed as being in the most complete form possible, which likely means something was removed for music copyright reasons.

Opening sequence.

Mercer is in a black room to introduce the show and talks about how much we all miss David.

Music video on David, including him in the woods and playing high school basketball and football.

Mercer talks about some of David’s accomplishments and big opponents.

We see an undated clip of David vs. Harley Race in a non-title match. David has him in trouble until a headbutt and knee drop put David down. More knees connect as we’re about ten minutes in. Race misses the middle rope headbutt and David gets the Claw (family finisher), apparently for the first time in his career. The blood starts flowing in a great visual and Race is out to give David the win, though I could have sworn they mentioned a first fall earlier.

Harley Race says if David hadn’t passed away, he would have been World Champion. That’s about as strong a level of praise as you’re going to get.

From Star Wars June 1983, David beats Jimmy Garvin (his longtime rival) to win the Texas Title and Garvin and Precious (Garvin’s valet) for a day. This one goes on for a few minutes but is mainly spent in a long chinlock. We don’t actually see the finish but David had a sleeper on.

Garvin, with Precious, talks about how well he knew David, to the point where he knew what David had for breakfast.

From an undisclosed date, David, Ice Man King Parsons and Kerry Von Erich vs. the Freebirds in one of roughly 1985382 matches the Von Erichs had against the team. This one is just a few seconds.

Michael Hayes (leader of the Freebirds) says this is going to be their only public statement. It was a tragedy and even the Freebirds know they lost a great warrior. The one thing David did was fight for what he believed in, and you have to respect that. The feud will never end though because there’s only room for one of them. This was as kayfabe of a response as you could and given the nature of their feud, I can live with that.

NWA World Title: Ric Flair vs. David Von Erich

Flair is defending on Christmas night 1983 in Reunion Arena in Dallas. An armbar has David in trouble as Flair shouts at the crowd at the fifteen minute mark. Some covers with the hold still on get two and Flair is getting ticked off at the pace of the count. David gets the sleeper on until Flair belly to backs his way out. It’s too early for the Claw though as Flair blocks the grip and heads up top, but it’s exactly the same result as it has been throughout his career.

The real comeback is on with right hands in the corner and a jumping knee to the face gives David two. Flair has had it with this and throws David over the top for the DQ….which the referee refuses to call. Back in and David gets two off a small package, followed by a suplex for the same. The Flair Flip in the corner sets up the Claw in the middle of the ring and the clip ends before the match is over. David would win by DQ. I won’t rate the match when we missed the first fifteen minutes, but what we got here was very good and you can see the star power in David, who had both the look and the work.

Flair talks about how they had professional differences but he knew David was a tremendous competitor and a tremendous man.

David Manning (WCCW referee) talks about how talented David was.

Another David video, this one about the family and growing up on the ranch. A lot of horseback riding ensues.

On the ranch, Fritz and the other sons, without looking at the camera, talks about how great a life David had and how much living he did in 25 years. He also talks about how big a star Mike can be because of how much he looks like David. They talk about how a Von Erich will win the World Title at some point in the future. The majority of this was about one of the boys becoming champion instead of David, which was quite the head trip.

Now we get a more traditional interview with Fritz, talking about David growing up with a love of the outdoors. He talks about what a great way it is to raise his children but says life goes on, even without David. Without being a Christian, this would have been incredibly hard. After talking about being with David in Heaven again one day, Fritz goes into a speech about how Mike will be a huge star for looking just like David. Kerry or Kevin will be the next World Champion and do it as a tribute to David’s memory.

The funeral for David was open to the public so they could say goodbye to him and the fans’ support meant a lot to Fritz. He’s made some mistakes raising them, but they’re not sissies. One more discussion of David in Heaven wraps us up. This was another nearly disturbing interview as Fritz seems to brush the death off for the sake of “oh well, business must go on”.

One more music video wraps things up.

The credits show a yellow rose and we end on an In Memory Of graphic.

Overall Rating: C. What in the world do you say to something like this? The wrestling wasn’t the point but my goodness this was hard to watch as Fritz kept talking about how business needed to keep going and how one of his kids was going to be World Champion. It was clear that David would have been a big star if given the chance, but egads things downhill in a hurry. While it was a rough spot at the time, it was yet to be known how terrifying a place the promotion had become.

This one is very sad, but the story would get even worse when the actual details came out. It’s interesting (and understandable) that they don’t actually mention anything about the details of David’s passing. Maybe they were still in shock (understandable) or maybe they didn’t want to tell their version of the events yet. Either way, it’s a very depressing moment, but it’s even worse when you see where things would be headed because of the environment.

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:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/11/20/new-paperback-complete-1997-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

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:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/11/20/new-paperback-complete-1997-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

WCCW Television
Date: May 8, 1982
Location: Sportatorium, Dallas, Texas
Commentator: Marc Lowrance

A TON of these have been added to the Network and in my never ending quest to review as much wrestling as I can, it’s worth a try. I’ve done a handful of these before and have a decent working knowledge of the promotion so this won’t be the most confusing thing in the world. While I’m not sure on the specifics, I’ll go on a limb and say it’s something about the Von Erichs. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.

Lowrance welcomes us to the show and runs down the card. Simple idea and nothing you see too often anymore.

Frank Dusek is ready to take Wild Bill Irwin’s soul and the Texas Title.

Frank Dusek vs. The Spoiler

The much bigger (and much more masked) Spoiler shoves Dusek into the corner but doesn’t give a clean break. Dude could you let us know when you’re going to do that? We hit a Boston crab on Dusek but a rollup sends them both into the ropes for the break. Dusek’s headlock works as well as a headlock is going to work so Dusek, who seems to be more of a tweener, pokes Spoiler in the eye for a breather.

A hard whip into the corner drops Dusek again though and it’s time for some heavy forearms to the chest. Not that it matters as Dusek grabs a rollup with his feet on the ropes for three, only to have it called off because Spoiler’s feet were in the ropes too. The distracted Dusek gets rolled up for the pin a few seconds later.

Rating: D. I think this was either heel vs. heel or heel vs. tweener but it only kind of worked. Spoiler was a fine big masked man and Dusek seemed to be more of a midcarder, though the match wasn’t much to see. The ending definitely made Dusek out to be a heel, but the match was kind of a mess, which makes me think that this isn’t a show for people just jumping on.

Boogaloo Shaft/Ken Mantel vs. King Kong Bundy/Bugsy McGraw

There are two referees here for some reason. Bundy (with hair and billed from Alaska) and McGraw’s Tag Team Titles aren’t on the line. Unfortunately we get a mention of something Bundy did earlier in the evening, making me think that this is either out of order or not the complete show, which is always annoying. McGraw and Boogaloo (best name ever) start things off before it’s off to Bundy to hit Shaft in the head.

The much smaller Mantel comes in so Bundy invites him to hammer away. A wristlock doesn’t get Mantel anywhere as the announcer keeps going on about how we’ll get to see Fritz Von Erich’s first ever filmed match next week. Mantel slips between the legs and brings Shaft back in for a headbutt (see, he’s black and therefore has a hard head) to stagger Bundy. The heel manager distracts one of the referees to Bundy and McGraw can crush Shaft with standing splashes (in front of the other referee) for the pin.

Rating: D+. I want to be reincarnated as a guy named Boogaloo Shaft (which is definitely a name Watts came up with after seeing the marquee at a movie theater somewhere). This was just over a squash, though again the ending didn’t make a ton of sense. If there are two referees, what’s the point in distracting one of them? It didn’t feel like one of them was crooked but that’s the only way that ending makes sense.

Gary Hart (top heel manager) says he’s bringing in someone called the Dragon, who is a great martial artist and very similar to Great Kabuki. The Dragon has an amazing sleeper and everyone will know of true torture. All that matters to Hart is getting rid of Fritz and only Asians are cold blooded enough to do it. The Dragon would be Kazuharu Sonoda, who was never a major star.

Al Madrill vs. Armand Hussein

Again they talk about something Bundy did, but this time they say we’ll be seeing him later. Geez this show really is all over the place. Hang on a second though as Hussein has to do his ritual, whatever that is. It is but a ruse though as Hussein jumps Al and sends him into the buckle a few times to take over. We hit the required choking as the fans are trying as hard as they can to get behind Madrill.

Armand pulls at the face until the referee actually drags him away from the ropes. That’s enough to start the comeback with Madrill firing off some punches to the head. They fight outside with Hussein choking with the rope before avoiding a charge back inside. Hussein misses a running flip splash though and its a jackknife rollup to give Madrill the pin.

Rating: D+. Not a terrible brawl here as Hussein was looking like a decent heel, only to have him screw up and lose at the end in a big of a surprise. Madrill seemed to be rather popular with the fans and he’s a name I’ve heard of before, albeit not very much. Then again when you’re a face in this promotion and not a Von Erich, it’s not going to matter for the most part.

Richard Blood/Mike Bond vs. Bill Irwin

Irwin is Texas Heavyweight Champion and he has to pin both opponents within ten minutes. Also that’s not Ricky Steamboat, though the name did make my head spin for a second. Blood works on a headlock to start and it’s off to Bond for one of his own. Irwin shrugs them both off without too much effort with a gutwrench suplex getting two on Blood. Bond runs him over with a shoulder as the jobbers are getting in way more offense than you would expect. As I say that, Irwin ends Bond with a clothesline for the first fall. A powerslam plants Blood and a running knee drop puts him away.

Rating: D. This was a little more entertaining than you would expect with Irwin selling way more than I would have guessed. That being said, you’re only going to get so much out of a guy destroying a pair of jobbers in a little over three minutes. If nothing else though, the Blood name gave me a chuckle.

Kevin Von Erich vs. Great Kabuki

Kabuki has been attacking Kerry and David is here for revenge. The fans want Fritz, who is in Kevin’s corner. The brawl is on in a hurry as they fight to the apron with the referee barely able to break it up. Back in and Kevin grabs a wristlock, which is how you deal with someone trying to injure your brother. Kabuki superkicks the heck out of him and we hit a chest claw. Kevin fights up but gets kicked in the head for his efforts, triggering an argument between Gary Hart and the referee.

Now it’s off to a double chest claw, which is totally hardcore. Kevin fights up again but can’t get the Iron Claw. Instead it’s off to a stomach claw, because these people don’t have the most varied offenses. A splash hits Kabuki’s raised boot and he starts ripping at the eyebrows. That’s certainly a new one.

Back up and Kevin starts his comeback with a dropkick to send them both outside. Fritz and Gary get into a fight as Kabuki works over Kevin inside. Fritz is choking Gary by his tie and holding him in his chair but here’s Bundy to stomp Fritz down. Kevin goes out to brawl with Bundy and it’s a double DQ.

Rating: D+. This was designed to set up Bundy vs. Fritz for Fritz’s retirement match where Fritz was just nice enough to give himself the title one more time. As for the match itself, the brawling and action were good but the claws were only going to take them so far. Then again, the fans were going to erupt over ANYTHING the Von Erichs did, especially against Hart and his men. It’s a simple formula but it certainly worked for a long time.

The Von Erichs want to keep fighting. I’m assuming this is the Bundy thing referenced earlier, which means this was taped out of order. That’s quite odd but it’s nice to know that you got everything they were talking about and that nothing is missing from the show.

Lowrance wraps things up to end the show.

Overall Rating: C-. The first thing that becomes very clear around here is that you have to be a long time fan. They’re not going to walk you through these stories or explain what’s really going on. What they will do though is give you some of the best production you could ever imagine. Compare this to 1982 WWF and you won’t believe it’s from the same time. This looks like a low level show from 1990 or so, which is such a completely different time in wrestling.

The wrestling was what you would expect from 1982: mainly kicking and punching with a big move thrown in at the end, but again this was all about the backstory and long term stories. You don’t see a single recap of what’s been happening and, aside from the occasional reference by Lowrance, you really won’t know why these people are fighting or who they are for the most part. It really does make you appreciate the WWE style of today where a single package will tell you everything you need to know in a few minutes.

I’d check more of this stuff out later on, but it’s really a show built around the idea of watching the long term stuff, which takes its sweet time. The key things here though are the crowds being white hot and a fast pace of action. It’s easy to see why this promotion has the reputation it does and it’s WAY ahead of its time. Check it out if you want to see why this was the hottest promotion in the world for a very long time, though that wouldn’t take off until the end of this year.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the Complete 2002 Monday Night Raw Reviews in either E-Book or Paperback. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2017/07/21/new-e-bookpaperback-kbs-complete-monday-night-raw-2002-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6