Tonight, Kevin Von Erich vies for the Texas Heavyweight Championship as he challenges Wild Bill Irwin for the title in the main event! Bugsy McGraw looks to continue his hot streak, squaring off with “Captain” Frank Dusek. Also tonight, H&H Limited in tag team action, Kerry Von Erich has a special presentation, and more!
WCCW TV*
Date: 07/31/1982
From: Dallas, Texas
MATCHES
1. Kerry Von Erich vs. Pete Montrose
2. Bugsy McGraw vs. “Captain” Frank Dusek
3. Magic Dragon & The Great Kabuki vs. Roberto Renesto & Brian Adidas
4. Kevin Von Erich vs. Wild Bill Irwin
*BROADCAST NOTE
This playback copy has been presented in the most complete form possible, due to original production technical difficulties, reported by Peacock of 10/25/2023. All Rights Reserved.
BREAKDOWN & REVIEW
- Bill Mercer and Jay Saldi again welcomed us to the show and covered the championship match between Kevin and Wild Bill. They also mentioned Kerry’s feature later tonight, it’ll be a look behind the scenes during his prep to face Ric Flair in two weeks.
- Kerry Von Erich vs. Pete Montrose: This opening contest was set for one fall with a ten minute time limit. Jay mentioned on commentary that David Von Erich will be coming home and he has no ill feelings for his family, despite the response he has been getting in Tampa. Kerry laid in strikes and cranked in a tight headlock on Montrose. The match was a quick one, as Kerry put Montrose down in a matter of minutes after hitting a discus right hand and pinning his opponent with one knee on his chest. Kerry looks ready for his battle with Flair. He looks leaner and the quick squash he was a good indicator of where he is at. This served its purpose!
- Back from commercial, Bill Mercer caught Bugsy McGraw at ringside for a quick, pre-match interview. He asked Bugsy if there were any more secrets up his sleeve to which Bugsy said that if there is one thing for sure, nothing is for sure! He mentioned Kabuki is a man that is supposedly afraid of nothing, but when a gorilla steps in the ring, Kabuki runs. I’m not over-the-moon with Bugsy being a good guy, but he is making headway with the fans and does pose a somewhat serious threat to H&H Limited.
- Bugsy McGraw vs. “Captain” Frank Dusek: This match was set for ten minutes, one fall to a finish. A little marching around and playing to the crowd opened this one up. Big ‘go, Bugsy, go’ chants. I don’t think these guys touched for two straight minutes after the starting bell. An elbow to the forehead sent Dusek to the outside, where he fell down on top of Bugsy’s trash can full of weapons. After Dusek bailed to the floor again, Bugsy made it over to the weapons and pulled out an Igloo cooler. Dusek stormed back in the ring and demanded Bugsy get in, when Bugsy turned and splashed a cooler full of water into Dusek’s face. The crowd exploded and Bugsy hopped back into the ring, dropped a standing elbow on Dusek and pinned him. Dusek slipped in the water and Bugsy danced around the ring with the victory. This made Frank Dusek look like an idiot. Again, I’m not really sure about this turn for Bugsy, but the fans are eating it up. If nothing else, he does come across as unpredictable. So, there’s that.
- Before the next match, José Lothario got on the house mic and demanded an open challenge to either Kabuki or Dragon for hurting El Solitario in Mexico. He called them cowards and Arman Hussein said anywhere and anytime, he has a match! Interesting, I don’t mind feuds or issues from other promotions in the area bleeding into World Class. It makes it feel more regional and territory-specific, which is nice.
- Magic Dragon & The Great Kabuki vs. Roberto Renesto & Brian Adidas: This special tag team match was scheduled for one fall with a twenty minute time limit. Both Gary Hart and Arman Hussein were ringside for their team here, a rarity as of late. Kabuki starting things off with Adidas briefly, before tagging in Magic Dragon. The heels controlled things early. Renesto was on the receiving end of the punishment. A botched dropkick from Adidas occured when Dragon came off the ropes and ducked too late, it looked a little nasty with Adidas’ whole body almost coming down on a seated Dragon. After a monkey flip and some punches to the heart, The Great Kabuki pinned Roberto Renesto easily. No run-in save from Adidas who stood on the apron unopposed. This match was pretty sloppy, with Magic Dragon and Brian Adidas being the worst offenders. A poor match ended with a really lack-luster finish.
- Coming back from commercial, we were thrown back in to a replay of Kerry taking on Harley Race back at Texas Stadium for Star Wars. I thought we were about to see a full replay, for the second time! We awkwardly cut to Kerry sitting on a fancy couch, talking to Bill Mercer. Kerry began with saying after beating Race, he felt he was the uncrowned World Champion. He wanted to beat Harley Race definitely for so long, that he got a little careless. We were shown more clips of the match as Kerry provided commentary over them. He shifted focus to Ric Flair and said that he wasn’t going to blow it this time. If he can beat Harley Race, he can beat Ric Flair! Again, with promos not being one of Kerry’s strengths, he was able to get his point across just fine here. I liked that Mercer brought up some of the points where Kerry was lacking in the Harley match, to which Kerry addressed them and promised his all against Flair. It really drives home the fact that Kerry wants to and is prepared to win the NWA World’s Heavyweight Championship.
- Back in the area, we were brought to the commentary table where Jay and Bill were discussing the main event for the evening. Bill threw it to a pre-taped promo with Wild Bill. Bill said that tonight he gets in there with Kevin Von Erich and he does not deserve a Texas Heavyweight Championship match, so it’ll be non-title. He needs to beat him to prove that he deserves a shot at his championship. That sucks, as we were baited and got switched on a title match here tonight. This automatically makes me think that Wild Bill was taking a dive for Kevin tonight, hence the change without having to change title holders. Must be setting up for a title match for the next Star Wars event in two weeks.
- Kevin Von Erich vs. Wild Bill Irwin: The main event was set for one fall with a thirty minute time limit, officially announced as non-title. Kevin went right to work with a legsweep, taking Irwin off his feet. He stayed one step ahead of the champion, finding successful sets of holds and strikes. He head-scissored Wild Bill out of the corner and had him in a submission for a few minutes around the five minute mark. The champ fought his way out but paid for it with a knee bar from Kevin. Submissions continued, as we spent most of this match on the mat thus far. Wild Bill eventually locked in a chinlock of his own, albeit only briefly. A monkey flip out of the corner staggered Irwin enough for Kevin to capitalize and stick a victory roll for the three count. Wild Bill Irwin threw a tantrum after the match. This was pretty slow-paced bout throughout, which didn’t feel right with Kevin in there. Maybe someone is working through an injury? Not sure, but either way, spending minutes at a time on the mat in submission holds gets old quick. Nothing special about this one.
- Bill Mercer closed us out after recapping some of the night’s events. He welcomed Kerry into frame who said he was scouting Ric Flair very closely. He is going to give it one-hundred and ten percent in their bout and with Flair arriving in the Dallas arena next week, he feels his ind and body are ready!
FINAL THOUGHTS
Tonight really lacked in good action. We got a solid squash with Kerry, and the rest of the night was pretty much a wash for in-ring competition. We did get more play on the buildup for the coming Star Wars show where Kerry will challenge Flair. Bugsy continues to give H&H a hard time, and now Lothario wants a piece of them. Only one week to go before the big show!
See you all then!