In the main event of the evening, the long-awaited debut of “The Original Freebird” Michael Hayes takes place when he is challenged by Roberto Renesto in singles action. Plus, David Von Erich squares off with “Captain” Frank Dusek, José Lothario makes another stop in Dallas for some tag action, and we will be joined for an exclusive interview with the NWA World’s Heavyweight Champion, “The Nature Boy” Ric Flair!
WCCW TV
Date: 10/16/1982
From: Dallas, Texas
MATCHES
1. David Von Erich vs. “Captain” Frank Dusek
2. The Checkmate & Magic Dragon vs. Al Madril & José Lothario
3. The Samoan vs. Gran Markus II
4. Michael Hayes vs. Roberto Renesto
BREAKDOWN & REVIEW
- Bill Mercer and Jay Saldi welcomed us to the show and quickly a graphic was shown promoting the arrival of Michael Hayes. Suddenly, we are joined by Harvey Martin of the Dallas Cowboys, a teammate of Jay Saldi’s, who was there to watch tonight. He’s says it’s another big TV night for World Class wrestling and he has watched enough from home, so he decided to be here live for the action tonight. Martin quickly returns to his seat off camera and Jay and Bill finish going over the card for tonight. Not really sure who Harvey Martin is, but it is cool to have national athletes putting over your television program.
- Bill Mercer was able to grab David Von Erich for a quick word at ringside before his opening contest here. He asked about the Ric Flair bounty placed on his brother, Kerry Von Erich. David said the family has proof that Flair has placed that bounty. It is only a matter of time before they reveal it, bit they have it now. This bounty storyline is pretty shaky, but they had to come up with something while Flair is touring the rest of the territories, I guess...
- David Von Erich vs. “Captain” Frank Dusek: The opening contest of the night was set for one fall with a fifteen minute time limit. Dusek took over with an arm wrench, but it was quickly reversed, David then slapped one on of his own. A big running high knee landed awarding David a two count over Dusek. David was all over Dusek here, not really allowing him to rally back. Frank Dusek once again got in referee David Manning’s face, allowing Von Erich to roll him up for a three count! Nothing overly special here, I really think anybody who works with Frank Dusek is worse off for it. A nice five-minute, quick win for David here. Even if it did come with the official’s interference.
- The Checkmate & Magic Dragon vs. Al Madril & José Lothario: This tag team match was scheduled for one fall to a finish, fifteen minutes for a time limit. Magic Dragon has some new gear on, even wearing boots tonight! He and Al Madril started things off with some quick arm drags and striking. It wasn’t long before Lothario and Checkmate were in, trading wrist locks and holds. Bugsy McGraw was shown to be interacting with the fans at ringside. Dragon and Madril were tagged back in and Dragon went to work with some holds of his own. Madril was able to get some steam behind him, hitting a running shoulder block. Lothario got a hot tag and make quick work of Dragon and Checkmate. More tags and momentum shifts between the teams followed. Eventually, tag format began to break down as we went into a two minute warning! Madril and Checkmate had a double down, both got to their corners to make tags allowing Dragon and Lothario to go at it. Lothario landed a backbreaker to get a near fall. Madril tagged in and hit a shoulder block and a sunset flip as the time limit expired! The match was declared a draw as both teams collected themselves and we went to commercial. I think José Lothario and Al Madril make a really good team. The Checkmate held his end of the deal up, as we didn’t get much work from Dragon, mostly just bumping around for the face team. This was a solid tag bout, with the ending flurry being some good stuff in a scramble.
- In a stand alone introduction, Bill Mercer said that he had some interesting footage of an interview with the World Champion, Ric Flair to air. We then cut to that interview with Flair being asked about Kerry Von Erich being in an Oklahoma hospital. Ric Flair said he heard that The Great Kabuki, managed by Gary Hart, injured Kerry in Oklahoma and he will be out for five to six weeks. He was sorry for Kerry, but said that for those that are not tough enough to be in professional wrestling are better off staying home. The interview asked about the $10,000 bounty Ric Flair has supposedly place on all the Von Erichs, Kerry specifically. Flair said that he wasn’t sure where that was reported, but it is ridiculous. He is a professional wrestler and a world champion, he doesn’t need anybody to do his work for him. The interviewer then asked about if Flair will give Kerry a chance at the championship, or not. Flair said as great as Kerry Von Erich thinks he is, as the people of Dallas thinks he is, and as his father thinks he is, he is not in the class of Ric Flair. He is a legend in his own time at thirty-one years old. If Kerry wants a shot at him, he needs a contract and needs to get it signed. If he does that and gives Flair a little incentive, he will be there for a match. Even when Ric Flair is even-toned, in a sit-down-style interview, he is captivating. You really believe he believes every word coming out of his mouth. Good stuff here from Flair, as always.
- The Samoan vs. Gran Markus II: This next bout was set for one fall, fifteen minutes for a limit. Gran Markus looks almost exactly the same as The Checkmate… he was also presented as a contractee of H&H Limited, being managed by Arman Hussein. It was mentioned by Bill Mercer that Terry Gordy, an additional Freebird, would be on his way to World Class soon. Markus stayed ahead of The Samoan with basic work and holds. Samoan was able to get some momentum, cartwheeling away from a clothesline and hitting a nice dropkick on the veteran. A nice running senton on a laid out Samoan won Gran Markus II the match. He may look like The Checkmate, but doesn’t work as well as him! This was definitely just an exercise for The Samoan to get more experience in front of a crowd, that was obvious, with the veteran getting the win over him. Eh…
- Michael Hayes vs. Roberto Renesto: The main event tonight was set for one fall with a fifteen minute time limit. Hayes was put over on commentary big, as his battles against Ric Flair was referenced.Next week, Hayes meets Wild Bill Irwin in a match! Hayes worked the crowd as Renesto stalled on the floor. He hit a dancing standing elbow on Renesto and set Renesto begging off. A big right hand sent Renesto up and over the top rope to the floor, nearly risking a disqualification. A running bulldog out of the corner really fired up the crowd and Hayes followed it up with a stalled piledriver for to pick up a three count. Renesto tried to sneak attack Hayes after the match, but Hayes fought him off and set him back out to the floor again. Hayes is already over with this crowd pretty big, so he and the Freebirds must’ve had some good steam coming in. I liked the piledriver finish, but wish he got more of a challenge for his first bout in World Class. With a better opponent, I feel like this debut and win would’ve felt like a much bigger deal.
- Michael Hayes got on the house mic and said it was about time that after rocking in rolling all across this great country, that the Freebirds landed in Dallas, Texas. He promised the next time the people saw him, they were going to see big Terry Gordy right beside him! He said ever since they were little kids, he and Terry were getting in trouble. Now, they get paid to get into trouble! He went through a few more catchy sayings before heading out of the ring. Hayes already has shown more personality in his first twenty minutes on World Class television than most of the other wrestlers on the roster. A definite breath of fresh air.
- Bill Mercer and Jay Saldi closed us out from ringside, mentioning what Michael Hayes has just said and talked about in the ring. They again confirmed that next week, it would be Hayes taking on Wild Bill Irwin in a singles match. Wild Bill Irwin then stepped into frame to share a few words on the subject. He said just like a caged hawk, he is going to have Michael Hayes locked into that squared circle with him next week. He says that Hayes will have nowhere to go and he will put him down for a one, two, three so that then Hayes can then go cry on his big brother’s shoulder. Irwin stepped out of frame and Bill and Jay finished wrapping up by mentioned The Great Kabuki being in action next week, an interview with Kerry Von Erich about his injury, and more!
FINAL THOUGHTS
Plenty going on in Dallas coming out of this show. Has Flair really placed a bounty on Kerry and gotten him injured successfully? What will the Freebirds have in store for World Class? How will Gary Hart and the rest of H&H Limited respond to all of this? I feel like we are starting to ramp back up after the lull we’ve kind of experienced following Wrestling Star Wars this past August. I look forward to the ramp up in star power, too! A solid night of action has been promised for the next episode, where hopefully, we will get some of our questions answered coming out of tonight!
See you all then!