World Class Championship Wrestling - December 24, 1983
by Erick Von Erich
Back to the Sportatroium in scenic downtown Dallas. World Class is still reeling over the fact that Sunshine was instrumental in helping Chris Adams gain the American Heavyweight Championship from Jimmy Garvin. The Christmas Holiday 'Rasslin Star Wars is emminent, as well, although there's abosolutely NO hype for that event in this episode. But with so much going on in World Class Championship Wrestling, let's get down to ringside for...
Encore Match:
Kevin Von Erich vs. Terry Gordy
From the Reunion Arena "Star Wars" and the same match we saw on the December 10 episode. After watching it again, I can tell you that the result is still the same!
David Von Erich Music Video
Hype for DVE with scenes of him being a cowboy, by riding on his ranch and umm...wearing a cowboy hat. We even get a shot of his custom "DVE" belt buckle. This WWE Classics version is dubbed over with some generic country music, but the original song was Tanya Tucker's "Texas When I Die". A little eerie, considering DVE would die within two months after this. A gravestone is even shown in the video to emphasize the "when I die" lyrics.
Bill Mercer Ringside Interview: Kevin Von Erich & Brian Adias
Adias acknowledges his return from "a tour in the Pacific Northwest". Kevin smply says that he's there to watch the next match with Mercer.
Match 2: Missing Link vs. Doug Vines
Link had debutted over in Fort Worth a few weeks earlier, but this is his World Class debut on our stream of episodes. Link attacks right as Vines gets his jacket off and the squash is on. Kicky/punchy/headbutty as Link sends Vines out of the ring to choke him with a camera cable and introduce him to the ring post. Back in, Link chops, slams, does a little happy jump, then bites to trigger a blade job on Vines. Link grabs his tuft of hair and flies off the top turnbuckle with a headbutt. He delivers a reverse atomic drop, then goes upstairs for another flying headbutt to get the 3 count. Huh... no idea why Kevin was out there with Mercer, as he just disappeared and didn't commentate.
Match 3: "Big Cat" Ernie Ladd vs. Kimala (w/Skandar Akbar and Friday)
Nice to see Ladd passing through the Lone Star state. While Ladd's billed at 6' 7" and Kimala at 6' 9", Ladd easily towers over Kimala. Ladd's ring jacket says "Promises, Promises" on the back, which was probably one of his catchphrases of the time... or else he was a REALLY big fan of the new wave band Naked Eyes. Bill Mercer mentions that Ladd has a "previous rivalry with Akbar"-- a reference to when Akbar stole the Wild Samoans away from Ladd over in Mid-South (Ladd had been their manager). While this match is a good comparison of 70's vs. 80's in terms of participants, its pace is almost prehistoric. Both guys just chop each other in the forehead and jab at the throat. Each one sells like crazy, but Ladd keeps slouching on the ropes. "High spot" has Ladd trying to slam Kimala, but failing. Ladd whips Kimala off the ropes for a Big Boot. Akbar gets up on the apron, so Ladd hoists him in and delivers another Big Boot to the General. Akbar and Kimala double-team Ladd, as Akbar holds the legs for a Kimala splash. Referee Bronko Lubich signals for the bell, as it's officially a disqualification for outside intereference, giving Ladd the win. The heels keep kicking Ladd until he rolls out of the ring. Friday, apparently the biggest wussie in World Class, just sat at ringside and didn't get involved. Or...maybe Friday's the smartest guy in World Class? Whenever he's gotten physically involved before, he usually got his clock cleaned.Match 4: "Gentleman" Chris Adams & Johnny Mantell vs. "Gorgeous" Jimmy Garvin & Terry Gordy (w/Precious)
Before the match, Mercer plugs next week's main event, which will feature a "loser leaves town" tag between the teams of Buddy Roberts/Terry Gordy and Kevin & Mike Von Erich. As this bout starts, for the first time on WWE Classics (24/7) we get to see the FULL ring entrance of a Freebird. Why is this significant? Well, in addition to the entrance through the crowd, we also get to hear "Badstreet USA" playing! Mercer picks up on the song and mentions that it's the "new record that Michael Hayes has recorded". I think that's one of the few original themes that WWE doesn't have to dub over, since they (specifically, Michael Hayes) have the rights to the tune. Previously, they had come to the ring with parts of Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Freebird" playing. To make it easy, WWE simply clipped that entire audio/video portion out."We want Sunshine" chants run wild, until Sunshine herself comes down to the ring to second Adams and Mantell. Garvin gets the early advantage on Adams with some armdrags. Garvin hops out to strut around the apron, until he gets slilnged in by Adams. Adams catapults him into the corner for a shot from Mantell. Garvin connects with a stiff forearm off the ropes and works on Adams for a bit. Gordy tries a backdrop, but gets kicked in the mush, allowing Adams to tag off to Mantell. Mantell works the arm for a few minutes, the tags Adams who launches with a chop from a the top turnbuckle. Gordy tosses Adams to Garvin's knee, then Garvin comes in to deliver his brainbuster suplex for a 2 count. Heel double-teaming occurs on Adams, until Mantell tries to save and gets his head cleaved by Gordy. While Adams and Garvin brawl, Gordy clamps the Oriental Spike on Mantell, sending him to the floor. Adams holds his own against the bad guys, until Gordy slams him on the ropes. Kevin Von Erich runs down to ringside to check on Mantell. Garvin backdrops Adams, but Gordy runs over to kick at Kevin. Kevin hops into the ring to go at with Gordy, but in the meantime Adams gets garvin in a belly-to-back suplex and gets the 3 count. Sunshine comes in to deliver a HAIRPULL on Precious as the fans eat it all up. Kevin keeps hammering on Gordy, finally sending him out of the ring with a drop-kick.
Bill Mercer Ringside Interview: Chris Adams, Kevin Von Erich & Sunshine
Kevin's fed up with Gordy and he can't wait to send him out of the state. After he storms off, Adams gets the mic and says that he owes Sunshine a favor. Somewhat incorrectly, he states that the next time he beats Garvin, Sunshine will get five minutes in the ring with Garvin; not Precious. Sunshine misses the slip-up and warns Precious: "I don't need five minutes! It'll only take two to scratch your eyes out!" Rarrr! Catfight!
Why'd You Tape This?:
Decent, average World Class episode. Interesting how Kevin seems to be the only Von Erich still messing with the Freebirds. That's not a bad thing since, for my money, Kevin was probably the Von Erich MVP when it came to in-ring work. While the Kimala-Ladd bout was a stinker, it was nice to see a big name like Ladd make an appearance. Plus we tack on the Missing Link's debut, some Garvin/Precious vs. Adams/Sunshine stuff and these 45 minutes went by at a rapid pace.
Boom-da-da-da-boom, da-da-da-boom, da-da-da-boom
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