On tonight’s edition of World Class Championship Wrestling, Michael Hayes meets Wild Bill Irwin in highly-anticipated singles competition! Plus, The Great Kabuki is in action against rival Al Madril, The Checkmate checks his might against Ken Mantell, and David Von Erich meets Roberto Renesto in the main event! We will also hear from the injured Kerry Von Erich in an exclusive interview!
WCCW TV
Date: 10/23/1982
From: Dallas, Texas
MATCHES
1. The Great Kabuki vs. Al Madril
2. The Checkmate vs. Ken Mantell
3. Michael Hayes vs. Wild Bill Irwin
4. David Von Erich vs. Roberto Renesto
BREAKDOWN & REVIEW
- Bill Mercer and Jay Saldi welcomed us to the Sportatorium. Bill mentions that we’ll hear from Kerry Von Erich tonight about his knee injury and the supposed bounty placed on him by “Nature Boy” Ric Flair.
- Bill Mercer made it down to ringside after commercial to speak with Gary Hart about the rumors of the payoff received by Ric Flair to take out Kerry Von Erich, but he would not come out and be interviewed.
- The Great Kabuki vs. Al Madril: The opening contest was set for one fall with a fifteen minute time limit. Bugsy McGraw could be seen sitting ringside during the introductions. Kabuki and Madril circled for a moment and finally locked up. Kabuki dropped Madril quick with an armdrag. Madril matched the effort with one of his own on Kabuki. Al Madril worked over an arm of Kabuki, keeping him grounded for awhile. Madril kept a standing arm submission on Kabuki for what felt like minutes until it was broken and Kabuki threw a thrust kick. Al Madril fired up and threw some of his boxing style punches, but the offense wouldn’t last long as Kabuki took back over with a nerve hold. Kabuki picked up a few near falls after beating Al down with strikes and holds for the better part of five minutes. The match concluded in a time limit draw. After the match, The Great Kabuki got a few shots in on Madril, even using the same move on Madril that supposedly injured Kerry Von Erich. Bugsy McGraw jumped into the ring and protected Al Madril from sustaining any more damage. This was not Al Madril and The Great Kabuki’s best encounter. There was A LOT of extended holds and less action than they normally provide when squaring off. I can’t help but to think someone was working through a legit injury. Slightly disappointing, especially for these two!
- The Checkmate vs. Ken Mantell: These men were ready for singles action, one fall to a finish, also a fifteen minute time limit. Some technical prowess was shown off to begin with here, both men having a chance to better the other briefly. Mantell laid in some forearms in the corner that shook Checkmate, but it was the masked man that came out for the better, tangling Mantell up in a quick pin attempt. Checkmate laid in some knees into a seated Mantell and then attempted a Boston Crab, but was unable to sit down with it before it was reversed. The finish came when Checkmate rolled out of a sunset flip and pinned Mantell’s shoulders to the mat for a three count instead. Pretty lackluster finish to an otherwise solid amatuer-style wrestling match. This was a nice pairing here, and I hope to see them wrestle on TV again soon.
- Back from commercial, Bill Mercer was on scene with the doctor who worked on Kerry Von Erich’s knee. The doctor said that the extent of Kerry’s injury was based on chipped cartilage. He would suggest he would be out for just a few weeks. We then cut to Kerry in the medical room. He said the medical pain of having to wait to get his hands on Ric Flair is worse than the pain in his knee. It was obvious that it was it was a bounty hit on him. He said that in six weeks, he will be back 110%. There is proof of Flair’s bounty and Kerry promises to get even. A simple little package here, I at least bought into the doctor’s explanation of the injury, even if it was BS. Kerry didn’t offer much as far as shedding any light on the Von Erich’s proof of Flair’s bounty, so they are really dragging this thing out. I’m interested to see what it actually ends up being.
- Michael Hayes vs. Wild Bill Irwin: This match was set for one fall, fifteen minutes to a finish. Michael Hayes is over pretty big already, getting a big reception from the crowd! Wild Bill bailed to the floor to give the crowd a piece of his mind as they chanted “Chauncy” at him. Jayes stayed ahead of Wild Bill, locking his arm up quick after a pair of armdrags. A scuffle of a scoopslam put Wild Bill down, Hayes continuing to dance and punch the former holder of the Texas Heavyweight Championship. A knee drop shook Wild Bill, before he found himself in a seated chinlock. A big boot took Hayes off his feet next, followed up by a kitchen sink that sent Hayes staggering into the corner. Wild Bill threw a few big knees in the corner, but met the opposite corner with his face after Hayes pushed him away. A running bulldog put Irwin down. Hayes looked to stick his opponent with a piledriver, but Irwin reversed and dumped Hayes over the top rope for a disqualification! After the bell, Hayes got back in the ring and sent Wild Bill out with his tail between his legs. I’m not sure I’ve ever liked the over-the-top-rope rule in the NWA, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. I suppose using that here for a finish works, as neither man needs to really suffer a loss. I would argue that Hayes could’ve used a big win over Wild Bill here, especially as the newcomer. Nothing overly special here.
- David Von Erich vs. Roberto Renesto: The main event would be contested under a fifteen minute time limit, one fall to a finish. Renesto jumped David before he was able to get his entrance gear off. David quickly got the better of Renesto though, locking in the Iron Claw and pinning his shoulders to the mat for a three count in about nine seconds worth of match time! After the bell, David took his hat off and took a bow for the people who ate it up! I figured this one would go short, but damn! TV time had to be running thin, as the first match took up twenty minutes of the episode. David Von Erich continues to really rise up the ranks of World Class, it has been fun to watch for my first time seeing David’s weekly work in Texas.
- At ringside, Bill Mercer and Jay Saldi was joined by “Freebird” Michael Hayes. He said he was glad to be in Texas, and that he and his brother had their minds on one thing; the Texas Tag Team Championship. He called Wild Bill Wyatt Earp, and King Kong Bundy a walking washing machine. He said that even though The Freebirds are partiers, they know how to get it down and do it right. Man, did World Class need some personality. I’m not really a fan of his in-ring stuff so far, but Michael Hayes is a breath of fresh air on the microphone. I look forward to his tag stuff with Terry Gordy when he makes it to the territory.
- Bill Mercer and Jay Saldi then closed out the show as Michael Hayes strutted off. They announced again that next week, Terry Gordy will be here in tag team action with his brother Michael Hayes!
FINAL THOUGHTS
The action was pretty disappointing this week, I’d say. For as much time as they got, I definitely expected something more out of Al Madril and The Great Kabuki. They are pretty consistently good, so I still feel something was ‘off’ tonight. The Checkmate and Ken Mantell worked well together, very similar styles helped. The rest of the card felt pretty rushed, but I was glad to get more of an idea of what was going on with the Kerry and Flair stuff, plus the announcement of Terry Gordy coming in next week!
See you all then!