World Class Championship Wrestling TV 07/03/1982

Tonight, Kerry Von Erich battles Texas Heavyweight Champion Wild Bill Irwin! Plus, for the first time on World Class television, tune in a for a replay of Fritz Von Erich’s retirement match against King Kong Bundy for the American Heavyweight Championship!

WCCW TV*

Date: 07/03/1982
From: Dallas, Texas

MATCHES

1. King Kong Bundy & Bugsy McGraw vs. Sal Olivares & Raul Castro

2. Wild Bill Irwin vs. Brian Adidas

3. Kerry Von Erich vs. “Captain” Frank Dusek

4. Fritz Von Erich vs. King Kong Bundy (Taped replay)

*BROADCAST NOTE

This playback copy has been presented in the most complete form possible, due to original production technical difficulties. Reported on Peacock as of 09/12/2023.

BREAKDOWN & REVIEW

• Bill Mercer and Jay Saldi welcomed us to the World Class Sportatorium in Dallas for tonight’s action. Fritz Von Erich’s retirement match replay was heavily promoted.
• King Kong Bundy & Bugsy McGraw vs. Sal Olivares & Raul Castro: The first match of the night had a ten minute time limit, one fall to a finish. The heels beat each other’s chests to get pumped up for the contest as the bell rang. Bundy worked over Castro for a while with strikes and some stiff offense. Once Bugsy McGraw was in, it kind of seemed like he wasn’t looking to bump at all for this one. A big backbreaker put Olivares away for a quick victory in favor of H&H Limited. Bundy landed a running splash on Olivares for good measure after the bell. Bugsy exchanged some heated words with Arman Hussein after the match, perhaps hinted at trouble in paradise for the heel stable? Otherwise, nothing to note here, really. Run-of-the-mill squash for the the heel team.
• Wild Bill Irwin vs. Brian Adidas: This one was set for one fall with a twenty minute time limit. Wild Bill worked Adidas over with a wristlock but it was short-lived as Adidas spun and slapped on a hammerlock of his own. Both men traded holds back and forth, Brian Adidas obviously still pretty green. Some strikes were then traded as both men became worn down. I was surprised to see Adidas get as much time against Irwin here! Blown spot after some extended calling. Wild Bill caught the rookie with a roll up victory. Brian Adidas needs much more work before taking on top talent on this roster. All things considered, it was a decent match, be we’ve definitely seen better featuring Wild Bill Irwin.
• Kerry Von Erich vs. “Captain” Frank Dusek: This match was scheduled for one fall to a ten minute time limit. Kerry came out firing on all cylinders, sending Dusek flopping out to the floor to catch his breath. Kerry has been on an awesome roll as of late. Back in the ring, Von Erich and Dusek traded blows back and forth. Kerry hit a big dropkick and went for the Iron Claw, but was only able to keep it on briefly before Dusek was able to turn away. Dusek rammed Kerry’s face into the bottom turnbuckle, threw him to the outside, and nearly got Von Erich counted out. A desperation sunset flip caught Dusek off guard and won Kerry the match. A solid outing for these guys, which is saying a lot because I don’t like Frank Dusek’s work. Kerry marches on to meet Flair for the NWA title next month!
• Arman Hussein was in his office with Bugsy McGraw explaining that he cannot deal with these outbursts any longer. Bugsy argued that he’ll say it in front of the whole world into the camera right now that a man has a right to express himself. Gary Hart entered frame and calmed both men down. He explained that Bill Mercer was here for an interview but warned Mercer not to stir the pot. Bugsy walked off set and we went to a commercial. Once back, Hart and Hussein were in a much calmer state, and Gary Hart explained emphatically that he had ‘taken care of the matter’.
• Bill Mercer and Jay Saldi welcomed us back to introduce the replay of Fritz’ final match. Bill said some nice things about Fritz and Saldi reiterated the fact that the Von Erich name is as strong as ever in professional wrestling today.
• Fritz Von Erich vs. King Kong Bundy: This match was for the WCCW American Heavyweight Championship, one fall to a finish, with no time limit. Also, falls count anywhere! Bundy was defending the championship tonight against Fritz. Bundy jumped Fritz while he was taking his shirt off, backing him into a corner and raining strikes down. Fritz attached the Iron Claw for a brief moment, but was put to an end by Bundy. Bundy stayed on the offensive, putting boots and knees into Fritz. The bigger man was thrown through the second ropes out onto the turf where he took a breather. Von Erich followed him out and threw Bundy into one of the ring posts. Back in the ring, the Iron Claw was applied to Bundy, only broken due to Bundy sliding out of the ring under the bottom rope. Fritz again followed King Kong Bundy out and ended up finding a chair to use at ringside. After hitting a few chair shots on Bundy, the two ended up on the endzone paint of the stadium where Fritz Von Erich was able to pin King Kong Bundy right on the COWBOYS logo and win the WCCW American Heavyweight Championship! After the match, Fritz’s boys came down to ringside to congratulate their dad. This ended a lot quicker than I expected. Realistically, Fritz was barely on the defensive here and picked up a victory over Bundy pretty easily, which was disappointing. It was fine for what it was, and having the match finish in the endzone was cool.
• Bill Mercer and Jay Saldi closed us out, reminding us of Kerry Von Erich’s championship shot on August 15th.

FINAL THOUGHTS

This was a pretty lackluster week of action. I was disappointed that, again, we were going back to the Wrestling Star Wars event for more replays. This is all they’ve really given us the last couple of weeks. I’m looking forward to once all the matches are aired and we go back to a solid show of original, unfolding content. Along those lines, maybe we’ll see a break up of Bugsy McGraw from H&H Limited. Where will that leave Bundy? We’ll see what happens next week!

See you all then!