World Class Championship Wrestling TV 05/01/1982

On this edition of World Class Championship Wrestling, The Spoiler partners with Al Madril to take on King Kong Bundy and Bugsy McGraw in a huge tag team match for the main event. Plus, The Great Kabuki in action, Ken Mantell goes one-on-one with Carlos Zapata, and more!

WCCW TV*

Date: 05/01/1982
From: Dallas, Texas

MATCHES

1. Wild Bill Irwin vs. Tom “Boogaloo” Shaft

2. Carlos Zapata vs. Ken Mantell

3. The Great Kabuki vs. Mike Bond

4. Bugsy McGraw & King Kong Bundy vs. Al Madril & The Spoiler

*BROADCAST NOTE

This playback copy has been presented in the most complete form possible, due to original production technical difficulties, reported by the WWE Network as of 12/30/22. All Rights Reserved.

BREAKDOWN & REVIEW

• Marc Lowrance welcomed us back to the World’s best professional wrestling! We ran through the crowd and went to commercial.
• Wild Bill Irwin appeared after commercial along with Marc to deem that he had gotten rid of that manger of his, “Captain Crunch”. He said that he is ready to face any and all challengers for his Texas Heavyweight Championship, alone without a manager holding him down. He called his opponent tonight a very capable man, but one that won’t be getting the one-two-three tonight. Are we talking face turn for Wild Bill? I hope not, because he’s been one of the most solid heels consistently featured! No more Frank Dusek isn’t a huge loss, by any means, either.
• Wild Bill Irwin vs. Tom “Boogaloo” Shaft: The opening contest was scheduled for one fall, ten minute time limit. Shaft got a decent welcoming. Mixed reaction for Irwin, mostly negative. Shaft wasn’t taking any BS from the Texas Heavyweight Champion, firing back with strikes of his own at every turn. Irwin attempted to keep the bigger man cool with a standing side headlock. A big armdrag from Shaft sent Wild Bill staggering into the corner. Some more hold exchanges followed, Tom Shaft using some of Irwin’s hair against him! Shaft kept Irwin humble for a few moments with a side headlock, until Wild Bill broke it, got Boogaloo down, and hit his signature kneedrop for the finish. I liked that they gave Tom Shaft a fighting chance here, though I do feel like he shined more than the champion. Perhaps, that was to make Irwin seem like a ‘fighting champion’ to tie in with his promo? Decent match, nothing spectacular, one star.
• Marc Lowrance was back to discussing an upcoming World Class date. He says the Friday May, 14th card will be held in Lewisville, Texas at the Lewisville High School Gym, and will feature stars Kerry Von Erich, Great Kabuki, King Kong Bundy, and more. …Okay? Hoping this is a taped event? If not, good for that high school.
• Gary Hart was then welcomed into the frame for an interview to discuss what exactly H&H Limited was. Hart explained that it brings together two of the most brilliant minds in wrestling, he and Hussein. They are the only ones that the Von Erichs haven’t been able to just run over. Arman Hussein then stepped in on the other side of Lowrance and said that they have the money and muscle behind them. Like it or not, the Dragon from Macau is coming and they plan to take the Von Erichs down once and for all. I like this pairing, I think Hart brings credibility to Hussein and the members of H&H Limited have proven to be the only serious threats to Kerry and the rest of the family. Short and sweet interview. I’m interested in seeing this ‘Dragon from Macau’ they plan to introduce soon, too…
• Carlos Zapata vs. Ken Mantell: The next match was schedule for one fall to the finish, with a ten minute time limit. Mantell was explained to have been gone from the area for awhile, Zapata being someone we have seen regularly. The two jockeyed for position, trading holds and breaks. Mantell worked the arm of Zapata, before moving on to some solid strikes. Mantell worked more holds on the knee and leg of Carlos Zapata, much to the pleasure of the fans. Zapata slapped the mat in pain as Ken Mantell continued to wrench the knee, ultimately getting to the ropes to break the hold. Zapata worked his way back, laying in strikes to the head in the corner, but it was short-lived. Mantell recovered and stuck Zapata with a Side Russian Legsweep to pick up the win here. A decent back and forth here, but a lot of holds and no real grappling leads me to half of a star for this one. Solid, decisive finish, though!
• Marc Lowrance welcomed us back and announced that on Saturday May 15th, Ferris would be treated to some live World Class action at Ferris High School’s football field. Stars featured will be Al Madril, The Great Kabuki, King Kong Bundy, Wild Bill Irwin, and more. Again, hoping this is a taped event. If not, it doesn’t really pertain to us here.
• After the promotional plug, Fritz Von Erich stepped in for a response to H&H Limited’s claims earlier. He said that what they said was a matter of opinion. Despite their attempts to cripple his sons, next week, Kevin will take on Kabuki, with himself in Kevin’s corner. If there is anything left of Kabuki after Kevin is done with him, he’d like to finish him off himself. He calls Gary Hart the instigator behind all of this, and is hoping after next week, his book will be closed once and for all. Fritz did a solid job of hyping next week’s bout. I always like seeing a Von Erich take on Kabuki. He mentioned the mysterious ‘Golden Dragon’ in his promo, too. Definitely someone to keep an eye out for in the coming weeks.
• The Great Kabuki vs. Mike Bond: Again, this one would be consisted under one fall rules, with a ten minute time limit. Bond went right after The Great Kabuki, but it was Kabuki who would unsurprisingly became the aggressor. Kabuki used his martial arts strikes against the taller man, keeping him reeling. The Great Kabuki hit a second-rope throat thrust on his downed opponent and pinned then Bond to gain the quick victory. This was squash for Kabuki, though against a taller, healthier looking opponent, I’m not sure the victory came off as devastating as it was supposed to. Half star here, and that’s generous.
• Bugsy McGraw & King Kong Bundy vs. Al Madril & The Spoiler: The main event of the evening was set for a fifteen minute time limit, one fall. I like the team of The Spoiler and Madril visually. Hart and Hussein were ringside for the heel team, clarifying some of the match introductions. Bugsy and Madril started things off, pretty much a stalemate between the two. Madril began to get a step ahead of Bugsy in offense, Bugsy looking clumsy to pop the crowd. Bundy tagged in and cooled Al off with a running avalanche in the corner. The Spoiler got the tag next and worked Bundy over with some elbows. Fans were hot for him! He walked the ropes and landed another elbow to the back of Bundy’s head. Both teams brawled in the ring for a minute a few times before order was restored. Action spilled to the floor between Al Madril and Bugsy McGraw. A time limit draw was our finish here. Madril got on the house mike and asked Hussein for five more minutes. Hussein put the boots to Madril as The Spoiler was taken out by Bundy and Bugsy. Officials broke up the men and the challenge was thrown out. Wow! A pretty pleasant surprise here for this one. These four men worked really well together. Action was well-paced, tags were frequent enough not to get sick of any one man, and the breakdowns in tag format keep the feel loose and exciting. Draw or not, the crowd was on fire for this whole match and I enjoyed it, too. Solid two and a half stars here!
• Marc Lowrance let us know that Al Madril and the ‘Golden Dragon’ will square-off in two weeks. The Great Kabuki versus Kevin Von Erich with Fritz ringside is set for next week, plus so much more.

FINAL THOUGHTS

This week of action seemed to drag on a bit with the local match card announcements in between segments, some lackluster action, and a lack of Von Erich boys. That was until the main event. A decently hot crowd became really fired up with the clash of The Spoiler, Bundy, Madril, and McGraw. Some interesting coming developments to take away here; A possible turn for Wild Bill Irwin, the debut of a new mysterious heel aligned with H&H Limited, and Kevin Von Erich perhaps finally putting Kabuki away once and for all. I was left wanting more and looking forward to next week’s battles.

See you all then!