Hey Yo Stud Muffins and Foxy Ladies,
Sorry about not posting recently, I have been too busy release a NEW PRODUCT! BOOM~! Ok, it was just recently validated and there is still some paperwork before it is officially released to manufacturing, but still WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO BABY!!! I developed a brand new product!
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| CELEBRATE GOOD TIMES! C'MON! |
In February of 1984, the first of many Von Erich tragedies occurred as David Von Erich died on a tour of Japan. David's death sparked rumors that exist to this day that he was anointed Von Erich to be the World Heavyweight Champion. Judging based on his work (there is not much else I can), I have a hard time believing this true. I thought he was the least charismatic and entertaining of his brother. I really do not see what he brought to the table that Kerry and Kevin did not. Now, having listened to Kerry talk and I am almost positive he had shit for brains. I can see why they wouldn't want Kerry to be champion because maybe he would have trouble leading a match on top of reliability issues due to drug problems and his lack of experience outside of Texas and St. Louis. Kevin also seems like an unlikely choice, but I found him to be entertaining because of his scrappy, never say sell attitude. It is just a constant war when he is in the ring. The argument I have heard is that David understood the psychology and business better than the other brothers, which seems plausible, but in between the ropes I think he was a distant third to his brothers.
In memoriam of David, World Class presented the hitherto biggest pro wrestling show of the 80s, the Parade of Champions drawing about 35,000 people at Texas Stadium on May 6, 1984. This clearly was the high water mark of World Class Championship Wrestling. In the main event, Kerry Von Erich completed his two year quest to wrest the World's Heavyweight Championship from Ric Flair in a very emotional main event. This match was covered already, but in this blog Kerry's sole Texas title defense against Freebird Terry Gordy is covered. Also on that card was the feud that defined Texas wrestling the Freebirds vs. the Von Erichs. With David's passing and Kerry in the main event, younger brother Mike and father, Fritz, coming out of retirement joined the fray. Mike was wisely hidden, but Fritz was definitely conspicuous. He was the most over of the Von Erichs in that match as the crowd as absolutely bonkers for everything he did.
The rest of 1984 featured more Von Erichs vs Freebirds six-mans with Mike and Kerry involved. As I clamored for in 1983, we finally got some more violent brawls, but I felt they failed to capture the excitement of their 1983 encounters. Part of the problem with Von Erich matches is they do not really sell and they are booked so strong it is hard to build and sustain any sort of heat in the match. I thought the 1984 brawls were chaotic, but ultimately not their best work. The Freebirds left before the year was out working in the AWA, Memphis and Mid-South in 85-87.
The year 1987 was a horrible year for World Class. I have culled these matches from the DVDVR project to present the 150 best matches and I have taken choice cuts from this 150. Only ONE match from 1987 made the top 150, by far the worst year quality wise and this was reflected in a very poor business year. In hopes of drumming up some business, Fritz tried a very tasteless angle that played off the Von Erich tragedies (Mike committed suicide in 1987). Fritz was attacked by the new Freebirds (Iceman King Parsons replaced Michael Hayes, who was in Crockett) in the cage on Christmas Day and this triggered a worked heart attack. There was quite a bit of backlash to this angle. This led to the return of the Freebird vs Von Erich wars in 1988.
Finally in February of 1988, the Von Erichs vs Freebirds had that kickass brawl that I knew they had in them. It is the highest recommended match of this particular post. Lastly, Michael Hayes returned as an incredibly over babyface and feuded with his Freebirds brothers leading to a really fun match with Buddy Roberts.
World Six-Man Tag Team Champions Fabulous Freebirds vs Von Erichs (Fritz, Kevin & Mike) - Parade of Champions 5/6/84 Badstreet Match ***3/4
NWA World Heavyweight Champion Kerry Von Erich vs Terry Gordy - WCCW 5/7/84 ****
World Six-Man Tag Team Champions Von Erichs (Kerry, Kevin, Mike) vs Fabulous Freebirds WCCW 7/4/84 Badstreet Match ***1/2
World Six-Man Tag Team Champions Fabulous Freebirds vs Von Erichs (Kerry, Kevin & Mike) - WCCW 9/3/84 Steel Cage Elimination Match ***3/4
Kerry & Kevin Von Erich vs Fabulous Freebirds (Terry Gordy & Buddy Roberts)
WCCW 2/16/88 Badstreet Match ****1/2
Michael Hayes vs Buddy Roberts - WCCW 5/16/88 ***1/2
World Six-Man Tag Team Champions Fabulous Freebirds vs Von Erichs (Fritz, Kevin & Mike) - Parade of Champions 5/6/84 Badstreet Match
Michael P.S. Hayes is back BABY and in style with the most badass theme song in wrestling history Badstreet USA! The Freebirds returned winning the Six-Man Titles before the big Parade of Champions show, which was the bittersweet highwater mark for World Class Championship Wrestling, which honored David Von Erich and featured Kerry Von Erich fulfilling his two year quest to win the world championship from Ric Flair. It was only fitting that there was a major Von Erich vs Freebirds match. They keep Mike's involvement to a minimum. Fritz comes off as a huge star and a monster face in this. It was the absolute right call to have Fritz in here and to put him over huge.
The first Fritz punch on Hayes before the match got underway got a massive pop! David Manning, Captain Buzzkill says that even though there are no rules there are still going to enforce tags. The match is booked like most World Class matches with the Freebirds with a ton of babyface heat. This is reminiscent of Hayes/Kerry match with a ton of love for the babyfaces. Freebirds do a good job with double teams and quick cutoffs to make sure that this is a total runaway squash, but overall this is just a great feel good match. Fritz giving Hayes the belt in the ass was awesome. A good example of the Freebirds getting theirs without detracting from the good vibrations was Gordy's stiff punches on Kevin, but still bumping HUGE for Fritz. Kevin goes for the claw, but Gordy blocks. They work a short, but strong heat segment on Kevin with Hayes using his boot (he was really clobbering him) and then Buddy Roberts in all his awesomeness uses his belt buckle. Kevin tags out and Fritz comes in this is a great hot tag. Fritz is kicking ass 3 on 1 and puts the claw on both a bleeding Hayes and that little prick Roberts. Gordy clobbers Fritz with the boot. Kevin comes off the top to hit a cross body on Buddy to win the match. Post-match, Killer Khan debuts as the new monster heel.
Perfect use of everyone in the match. Fritz got his big spots the belt whipping and double claw. The heels did a great job bumping, but making sure to get theirs. Kevin got the duke because he is sticking around and Mike was super limited. Really fun feel-good, popcorn matches of all time. ***3/4
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NWA World Heavyweight Champion Kerry Von Erich vs Terry Gordy - WCCW 5/7/84
I am such a mark for Kerry to have the belt. I love the title victory and just love seeing the NWA World Championship around his waist. I don't think he would have made a great champion mostly due to personal problems, but I wish it was a bit longer. This match against archrival Terry Gordy is the day after the Parade of Champions.
This match is actually worked like a 90s workrate sprint. There is not a terrible amount of selling, it is mostly about Slam! Bang! Action! I think they do a great job laying in everything and making it exciting. They just don't tell much of a story. I love how Kerry runs through his shoulder block and he works the arm early. Gordy takes a big bump off the turnbuckle shot. Kerry misses a knee and Gordy hits a delayed vertical suplex. Kerry kicks out and looks for a suplex, but it is Gordy that gets it. He is excited. Gordy wants to put him early with a piledriver. Kerry drives him back into the corner. I love how Kerry winds up for his strikes. They do the ab stretch dance and it is Gordy that gets it. Go Kerry Go! Kerry switches into his own ab stretch. Kerry forms the claw and the crowd goes bezerk. He applies the Claw to Gordy's stomach and Gordy collapses. Gordy rakes the eyes and Kerry wins a Irish Whip Battle, but then Gordy gets a cross body off the ropes. Gordy hits a back suplex, but only gets two. Kerry pops up and hits a dropkick. This is Cena vs Owens of the 80s with slightly better selling and transitions. At least they are not actively helping each other into spots. They knock head on a criss cross. Kerry backdrops out of a suplex. Gordy sleeper. I think they are trying to get every 80s spot squeezed into this 15 minute match. Kerry elbows and roll up for two. Gordy nails a big boot. Hell, two Gordy moves in a row I think this qualifies as a heat segment in Texas. :P
Kerry drills Gordy with a right and sends him to the floor. Kerry suplexes Gordy over the ropes, but they kinda botch it and Gordy suplexes Kerry. Kerry kicks out and comes back with a kneedrop. Gordy piledriver!!! The most dangerous move in wrestling! Kerry is FUCKING He-Man! He fights from his knees with punches. Kerry hits a back suplex only gets two and applies the Iron Claw to the forehead! Kerry hits a clotheline Royale! Drills a middle rope elbow, which felt like a cool spot. Gordy cuts off with a series of punches and Kerry gets a small package, My Dad's favorite move. Gordy backslide shades of the Parade of the Champions! Gordy with an awesome crossbody! I will say this is very dramatic down the stretch. Kerry starts revving up, but misses the Discus punch. Gordy calls for the Oriental Spike! He applies it! Kerry uses the ropes to thrust himself off onto Gordy. Gordy goes up top and Kerry rolls through a top rope crossbody to a HUGE pop!
They went out there to have an action-packed match and never let the crowd get bored. They succeeded. At the very least, they still worked towards finishers and there was a great sense of urgency that lent itself well to a dramatic ending. They did not really have a story or a hook that you could really sink your teeth into and selling was pretty much non-existent. Fans of the modern style would lose their shit over this match. I really liked it, but I had higher hopes for it. ****
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World Six-Man Tag Team Champions Von Erichs (Kerry, Kevin, Mike) vs Fabulous Freebirds WCCW 7/4/84 Badstreet Match
Absolute raucous mayhem! I love a chaotic brawl. Tornado style tag with boots and belts being thrown around willy nilly. This is Kevin's element as he is a real firecracker. I thought Hayes was also real good. They were really slugging each other with those boots. I thought the triple dropkick on Gordy was a real highlight. Gordy needing to hit a low blow on Mike was hilarious. Lance Von Erich was not a horrible idea in principle. Maybe not selecting a standout local high school star. I guess Steve Simpson didnt work either. Maybe just sticking Chris Adams in as a friend of the Von Erichs. My favorite spot was Kerry accidentally flung his boot into the crowd and they threw it back to him to keep wailing on Gordy. The finish is Killer Khan interferes hitting the Asiatic Spike on Kerry to give the Freebirds the win. Very entertaining match. ***1/2
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World Six-Man Tag Team Champions Fabulous Freebirds vs Von Erichs (Kerry, Kevin & Mike) - WCCW 9/3/84 Steel Cage Elimination Match
Another raucous, chaotic brawl this time in the confines of the smallest steel cage in the history of pro wrestling. Gordy was taller than the cage. Mike had suffered a shoulder injury so this Kerry and Kevin going against their bitter rivals, the Freebirds. I liked this even better than the previous Badstreet match because the numbers game added an interesting wrinkle. Any time the Von Erichs looked to get on a roll, the free Freebird would bust it up. Also, the Von Erich would focus on things like double noggin knockers and other ways to incapacitate two opponents at once. It added some cool strategy. Of course, there was a ton of heel miscommunication. Lots of cage shots and boots. The big climax to the shine was Kerry applying the double claw on Gordy and Buddy while Kevin had it on Hayes. Hayes busted that up. Gordy applied the Oriental Spike on Kerry which weakened him for the Spike Piledriver. I was shocked that Kerry was the first to be eliminated. Kevin going up the seemingly insurmountable of 3 vs 1 definitely made things interesting. Kevin is the scrappy fighter of the Von Erich clan so he was perfect for this role. I loved him on the top rope with a boot in his hand. He has a weapon and the high ground. He dives into the fray and it was Buddy choking him with a belt that looked to do him in. He was able to get a quick roll up on Hayes, but it was evident that the 3 on 1 advantage meant quick pinfall break ups. He would some how have to incapacitate all of them. His only ally was the cage and he started throwing the Birds into it. He was able to get a pin on Hayes! It was down to 2 on 1. Gordy and Roberts beat the shit out of him and werent playing any games. Gordy nails a piledriver. He pulls up Kevin ruh roh. Robert scales the cage seemingly for the Super Spike Piledriver. However, Kevin backdrops Gordy as Mike shakes the cage. Kevin splashes Gordy and Mike pins Buddy after his long fall on his nuts. Von Erichs win!
I was not super enamored with the finish. I hate to speak ill of Mike Von Erich because by all accounts he never wanted to be a wrestler, but it did not feel like he earned his stripes and it was just a hokey finish. I really like the heated and energetic flow of the match. The '84 matches definitely do not hold a candle to the '83 matches. Definitely the case of diminishing returns. Texas was flying high in 1983, but by 1984 the cracks were showing and it was getting stale. Still a great match. ****
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Kerry & Kevin Von Erich vs Fabulous Freebirds (Terry Gordy & Buddy Roberts)
WCCW 2/16/88 Badstreet Match
The beginning of this match is why I fucking love pro wrestling. Kerry and Gordy just go fucking nuts on each other. They were really throwing haymakers at each other and it felt like a real struggle. I loved Kerry's discus punch to Gordy and his first bump came off that. Gordy clinches with the house of fire Kerry and throws a nice belly 2 belly when Kerry was trying to loosen up his belt. Gordy tags in Roberts and Kerry catches his boot and rips off his belt and just goes crazy on Buddy. This is fucking awesome! Kerry discus punch and tags in Kevin. He is like lightning punching both Birds right in the mouth. A melee breaks out in the corner and Kerry jumps on the pig pile. Gordy throws Kevin over the top rope for a nasty bump. Then he suplexes Kevin on the floor. So Kerry tries to give him a taste of his own medicine only to have Buddy clobber Kevin with his boot so Kerry nails Buddy with his belt. Just when you think how can this any crazy, you have to watch the next spot. I really cant do it justice, but I will try.
You know how when someone hits someone with a chair usually there is enough delay to give the other person some time to prepare. In real life, if you were armed with a chair against assailant, you would just start swinging for the fences while the assailant charged you. That's what fucking happened. I mean Gordy fucking smashes Kerry in the head as he charging him. It looked like a fucking shoot. This match is so damn good.
Kevin slams Buddy on the floor and ground and pounds him. He tries to apply the claw. My biggest problem of the match is Kerry does not really sell those awesome chair shots. Buddy with a quick knee to the midsection allows him to tag in Bordy. Gordy shows his new no-selling attitude. He absorbs Kevin's punches. Kevin rolls away takes off his boot and Gordy no sells those shots going after Kevin's eyes. Kevin gets a foreign object from Kerry and Gordy is finally disoriented. Kevin looks for the claw to the head and settles for the stomach. Kerry leaps over them and decks Buddy! Kerry is looking for his belt and cant find it. Love it! Gordy a little quickly gets up and piledrives Kevin and gives a great maniacal laugh. Now backdrop driver, yep Japan definitely has taken a hold of him. One more time?!?!?!? Kevin back drops out and here comes Kerry house of fire! He immediately piledrives Gordy and then piledrives Buddy! I love it! Kerry has found his belt and attacks Buddy. Gordy decks kerry so here comes Kevin with a boot to clobber Gordy. They both deck Gordy with a belt. Iceman and Adams brawl on the outside and the ref calls the match off.
Lame finish aside, this was a fucking war! For one night in 1988, they totally recaptured the magic of the Von Erichs vs Freebirds as the crowd was absolutely electric for this match. I think Gordy working a lot stronger with his first tendency to fight back rather than bump made a huge difference. This is one Kerry's best individual performances in terms of just being a total asskicker. There was not enough selling to take it to the next level for me, plus the bullshit No Contest in a Badstreet match was lame. Still the second best Von Erich vs Freebirds match and Ill be shocked if it is not in my top tier of matches for Texas. ****1/2
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Michael Hayes vs Buddy Roberts - WCCW 5/16/88
Holy shit! Was Michael Hayes over! I know he was coming off a house show run with Flair in Crockett in early 88, I think a lot more could have been done with him as a singles babyface. I think they had the right idea by turning Hayes face against the Birds to freshen things up. I would go one step further and I acknowledge that would NEVER happen, but they should have turned Kevin heel against Kerry. Kerry & Hayes vs Kevin, Bam Bam & Buddy Jack would have probably given them business for at least another year. Then they could have used Lawler like they used Flair before.
This was an absolute blast. Hayes was awesome playing to the crowd was actually a pretty damn good asskicking babyface. He was just drilling Buddy who could not find refuge anywhere. I loved the moonwalk away from the corner just come flying back with more punches. He even landed a stiff chop. He looks to end it with a bulldog on the concrete, but goes flying into the post. Buddy choked him with a rope that Hayes sold really well. It becomes one of the better ECW brawls you have ever seen with each slamming the other into the table. Then Hayes cracked Roberts in the back of the head with a chair. Heyman was an incredible promoter. He took a style totally prevalent in the South and just repackaged it for Northern audiences and sold it as completely original. Hayes kicks some more ass, but ref gets bumped and Roberts nails him with a foreign object to win. The crowd heat was off the charts for this. They LOVED Michael Hayes. Another option would be to run face vs face Hayes vs Kerry, which I think could have been electric. Wicked fun match. ***1/2
