home | wrestling | flashback_reviews | world_class

World Class Championship Wrestling - December 29, 1984

by Erick Von Erich

Terry Gordy

It's a new week/episode, with the second half of a TV taing that started last week. Bill Mercer is still away, so once again our stand-in host and PBP guy is Marc Lowrance. Ralph Pulley is still on ring annoucing duties, as well. The Christmas version of Holiday Wrestling Star Wars is/was happening in "real time", but we probably won't see highlights or any matches from that card until next week/epispode. But with so much happening in World Class Championship Wrestling, let's get down to ringside for...

Encore Match: World Class 6-Man Tag Team Championship:
Kerry Von Erich, Mike Von Erich & Bobby Fulton (c) vs. "Gentleman" Chris Adams, Jake "The Snake" Roberts & Gino Hernandez (w/Andrea the Lady Giant and Gary Hart)

From the "Cotton Bowl Spectacular", originally shown on the November 3, 1984 episode. If you haven't read that, I will note that it includes a cute "tour of the Texas Statw Fair" with World Class rasslers. Once again, I don't mind this re-broadcast, as the match is definitely in the Top 10 of 1984 World matches. Spoiler: the result of the match is still the same; Kerry lifts up Jake for a vertical suplex, but Adams super-kicks him in the mush. Jake falls on top of Kerry and the bad guys WIN the 6-man titles! One minor note that I missed in the original recap: Gino and Jake do a quick double-team on Mike. Gino lifts him up for a side-suplex and Jake does a flying forearm/elbow/thing from the second rope.

Jose Lothario vs. Tony Falk

Back to live action with a guy who just celebrated his 50th birthday! Not necessarily a knock on Lothario, because he "only" looks to be about 45 or so. Lothario starts with an arm-drag and a hammerlock to the mat. He applies a variety of holds, while Falk tries to get in some cheap shots. Falk makes a generic comeback but gets backdropped by Lothario. Lothario works an arm-wringer, and accidentally trips referee Bronko Lubich. Hey, shouldn't that be a DQ?! Falk begins poundings Lothario into the corner, but Lothario cuts off the comeback and quickly hits a flying bulldog for the 3 count at 5:53.

WHY is Lotahrio around, when we haven't seen him at the Sportatorium in ahwile? Well, his return probably has to do with the pending debut of a certain young jobber, whom we'll see in about 2 episodes. In fact, I think I spotted that particular jobber in the background of one of the promotional match graphics in last week's show.

Chic Donovan vs. Jake "The Snake" Roberts

Marc Lowrance tells a story about how a lady in the crowd once offered money "just to touch" Donovan. Lowrance then deadpans "I gave her a counter offer, but she wouldn't accept". Heh. Jake is introduced at a "massive 260 pounds". He does look a little pudgy in the midsection, now that they mention it. Match starts, and Jake immediately slithers and goes after Donovan's braced left knee (the one that put him out of action, earlier in the year, courtesy of Killer Khan). Jake takes the leg to the mat, but Donovan applies a body-scissors and pounds away. Jake suckers him into the corner and grabs the knee, again. This time, he takes off the pad and tries undoing the bandage. He works a toehold, then grins directly into the camera. Jake is EVIL! After about 3 minutes, Donovan finally punches his way back to a vertical base. Irish whip to the corner, but Jake rebounds with a charging clothesline and takes off Donovan's head. Jake drops a knee and gets a showboating pin at 7:51. I'll say it again: I love Evil Hobo Jake Roberts.

Terry Gordy vs. The Missing Link (w/Gen. Skandar Akbar)

The crowd is absolutley jamming to "Badstreet USA" as Gordy enters. With Killer Khan basically gone, Gordy has turned his rancor to the rest of Devastation, Inc. As expected, it's a big brawl as soon as Link hits the ring. The in-ring camera man even gets knocked down, which adds to the chaotic feel! Link tumbles around and gets caught in the ropes. Gordy with a one-armed slam for a 2 count, then another for only 1. Link chokes him on the top rope, then whips him in for a headbutt. THERE it is! I'll give Link credit, as it took him almost 3 minutes before he used his signature move. Link flies off the second rope with another headbutt for 2. Link tries working the lower back, but Gordy comes storming back with another one-arm slam. Akbar gets up on the apron to distract, allowing Link to attack from behind. Akbar enters the ring and joins Link for beatdown, as the bell rings for a disqualification. Link lands a top-rope flying headbutt, but eats canvas on a second attempt. Gordy fights them off and manages to snag AKbar's headdress. Gordy is announced as the winner, with no time given (about 5 minutes, I'd say).

Mike Von Erich vs. John Tatum

Tatum is back; at least on the Sportatorium episodes; after a brief hiatus. Back in June 1984, he was a generic babyface guy and was mostly used to pad-out the Texas Heavyweight Championship tournament. Now, he has a small amount of personality, as he acts all cocky and does the heel move of POINTING HIS FINGER in Mike's face. They start with two nearly identical sequences of a lock-up ending in a standing side headlock. They it the ropes and Mike delivers two shoulder blocks, then hip-tosses Tatum. Tatum lays down to attempt a monkey-flip, but Mike stomps on his forehead. Mike then follows up with a reverse elbow and an elbowdrop for a 1 count. Tatum finally gets some offense when he get his boot up on a corner charge. Whip, reverse elbow, slam, and an elbowdrop score 2 for Tatum. Tatum then lands a stun-gun, but misses two charging clotheslines. Mike hits the ropes and rebounds with a flying bodypress to get the 3 count at 4:58. Skip over Tatum's stun-gun and slam, and this was essentially as close to a "jobber squash" as any World Class babyface can have.

Why'd You Watch This?
If you were a World Class mark at this time, the only thing worth catching was the re-airing of the 6-Man Championship. Gordy vs. Link was fine for what it was, but with Killer Khan run out of town, it doesn't have as much meat. Link's act is getting stale in Texas, and I think he moves on, soon. Another interesting note is that Lowrance drops in the term "WCCW" more often than in the past. Before, it was usually "World Class Championship Wrestling" or simply "World Class" (which, obviously, is how I've always referred to it). Starting to drop in the abbreaviated brand name is a very forward-thinking move. To the public; and depending on where you lived; you would simply call the local wrestling show something like "All Star Wrestling" and you weren't necessarily aware of the company's initials.

Boom-da-da-da-boom, da-da-da-boom, da-da-da-boom