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WCCW- December 7,1982
by erick von erich

Fans, we're back! With more World Class Championship Wrestling from Dallas, Texas! Once again airing under WWE 24/7, with another brief modern intro piece from Michael Hayes and Kevin Von Erich. Strangely enough, Hayes and Von Erich both have the exact same haircuts that they did in 1982. Only problem is that Von Erich still has his hair, while a hair follicle drought has attacked Hayes' dome.

The original show begins with Bill Mercer running down the card. This week, Jay Saldi is gone from the booth, with no mention of his departure. The 1982 NFL players strike had ended about two weeks earlier, so I'm guessing Saldi had to go back to a full-time schedule with the Dallas Cowboys. Mercer has a paperweight on his broadcasting desk, which should do an ample job of replacing Saldi. The Main Event for tonight's card is Kevin Von Erich taking on King Kong Bundy. Bundy cuts a pre-recorded promo, calling Kevin a "scrawny little punk". But with so much going on in World Class, let's get down to ringside for...

Match 1: Spoiler vs. Jose Lothario
Spoiler's second match since his return to World Class, and he's busted out his special gold mask this week. Lothario is introudced as the "Mexican Brass Knucks Champion". Combine this with all of the supposed specialty titles held by Kabuki, Magic Dragon and Checkmate, and I've suddenly decided to bill myself as the "Rocky Mountain Baseball Bat Champion". Anyways, this is an ugly match, as they fight over a wristlock for a good three minutes. Spoiler applies a side-mare, hooks a front waistlock and pounds on Lothario's back. Lothario fights back until he runs into a Greco-Roman Mouth Stretch from the Spoiler. Lothario gets a single leg takedown and works on Spoiler's leg. Spoiler escapes through the ropes and they brawl on the apron. Referee Mark Hazzard counts both men out at the 10 count. The wrestlers look confused, but Hazzard explains that they have a 20 count on the floor, but only a 10 count when on the apron. So the booker just saved 10 seconds of our lives!

A Very Special Interview with Mark Hazzard and Bronco Lubich
Pre-recorded, as Bill Mercer interviews the refs about the upcoming Kerry Von Erich- Ric Flair NWA World Title bout. After referee Alfred Nealy blew the first Kerry-Flair match, the NWA and World Class have agreed on a special second referee for the rematch. They allowed the fans to write-in with their votes. Among the candidates for the second ref were Duke Keomuka, Ken Mantell and Michael Hayes. Hayes, a member of the popular babyface Freebirds, won by a healthy margin. File this away in your memory banks, it'll prove important in coming weeks.

Ringside Interview with Gary Hart
Hart pumps up H&H Enterprises and the recent announcement of a WCCW 6-man Tag Team Tournament. King Kong Bundy the free-agent, interrupts and announces that he's joining up with H&H members Spoiler and "Wild" Bill Irwin for the tourney. Spoiler made sure to wear a suit and tie...with his mask on.

Match 2: Brian Adidas, Bugsy McGraw & Al Madril vs. Checkmate, Magic Dragon & Great Kabuki (w/Armand Hussein)
Part of the 6-man tourney, as Adidas, McGraw & madril cut a generic pre-recorded "we're gonna' getcha...and WIN" promo before the match. As the introductions are going on, Mercer mentions a few of the other teams that have entered the tourney. Including Mike Sharpe ("yaarrrrrrrgh!"), Ben Sharpe and Tom Steele. Adidas starts out with Kabuki and they trade armdrags. Kabuki works an arm-wringer, but Adidias rolls forward to escape, then lands a nice dropkick to the soup coolers. They tie with a wristlock and Kabuki monkeyflips Adidas over. Magic Dragon comes in...and he chops. Everytime you see the words "Magic Dragon" in this match, just assume he's chopping. Madril enters to thump on Dragon, then backdrops him to get a 2 count. McGraw enters to drop a few elbows. Adidas seems to be working the wear-down holds, while Madril and McGraw come in for the power stuff. Adidas gets worked over by Checkmate (the "European Heavyweight Champion") and Kabuki. Kabuki grapevines the leg, then falls back to the mat. All 6 men enter and Kabuki gets a super-kick on Adidas. Madril and Kabuki brawl for a bit, but Madril gets the upper hand with a flying shoulderblock. Bugsy brawls with Magic Dragon, then slams him. Checkmate, who's frustrated McGraw the past few weeks, tries to grapple with him, but gets a shot to the noggin. Dragon and Adidias settle in (yup, more frickin' chops), with Adidas getting a quick 1 count on a sunset flip. The H&H guys perform a doubleteam on Adidas: Dragon whips him to the corner, where Kabuki comes flying over the top from and nails him with a kick. Dragon covers to score the 3 count for H&H.

Fritz Von Erich talks to Ric Flair
Flair is live, via satellite. Or wait, did they have "via satellite" back then? Doesn't matter. It's Fritz and Flair talking from separate studios with Mercer as the moderator. Flair denies that he ever put out a bounty on Kerry Von Erich. Despite written proof of such provided by King Kong Bundy. Flair won't admit to it and begins bragging about being the World Champ, with all the women, the cars and other goodies. Fritz's reply: "well, I've always had trouble responding to MORONS!". Awesome. Fritz and Flair begin arguing, which each getting extremely worked up. Vintage Flair and vintage Fritz here. Their mannerisms and delivery are terrific as this is basically great stuff. Bottom line is that Kerry will have his rematch against Flair on Christmas Night.

Match 3: Kevin Von Erich vs. King Kong Bundy
Kevin's the American Heavyweight Champ (basically, World Class's main belt), but this is a non-title bout. Bundy is introduced as hailing from Nome, Alaska. Bundy starts with an arm-wringer, but Kevin emulates Brian Adidas by rolling forward, then leaping up nail a sweet drop-kick. They fight over a wristlock and Bundy gains the advantage by pulling the hair. Kevin with some flat hands to the eyes and knees to the stomach. Bundy reverse him into the corner and lands an avalanche. Kevin comes back, whips Bundy into the opposite corner and delivers his own avalanche. Kevin climbs the ropes and tries going for the CLAW, but a rope break saves Bundy. Bundy moves the match to the middle of the ring and applies a chinlock. Kevin reaches up and applies a reverse claw-hold. Bundy makes it to the ropes again to call for the break. Bundy applies a bearhug and a slam for a 2 count. He misses another avalanche into the corner and Kevin hits another of his. They do a little do-si-do with irish-whip reversals as referee Mark Hazzard gets bumped out and sent outside the ring. With Hazzard unable to see the match, Bundy tosses Kevin over the top rope. Would've been a DQ, but "if ref didn't see it, it' didn't happen". As Hazzard collects himself, Bundy suplexes Kvein back in from the apron. That's enough for Bundy to score the 3 count victory.

Bill Mercer wraps things up and previews next week's card. The "All-Asian Heavyweight Championship" is on the line as David Von Erich will face the Great Kabuki. The World Class DRUMS hit and we're out!

Why'd You Tape This??
The Spoiler-Lothario match was garbage, but the other two matches were enjoyable. The good thing about the Von Erichs is that, despite being the top draws and being related to the promoter, they would take a loss here and there. Here, Kevin loses cleanly to a Bundy suplex. Having vulnerable good guys added to the excitement of their matches. It really was a 50/50 chance when they were in there. But the main attraction of this particular show is the Fritz-Flair promo. Fritz usually seemed like a bad ass in his appearances and this was a prime example. He was usually cast as the voice of the fans, so his frustrations at Flair's duckin' and dodgin' spoke for a lot of people. Good episode, as things are starting to build up.

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

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