It’s the night before Halloween and we’re in for some treats in the world-famous Sportatorium! “The Fabulous Freebirds” Terry Gordy and Michael Hayes are in tag team action in tonight’s main event. Also featured in singles competition is the returning José Lothario, who will be squaring off against the feared Gran Markus II! What will Gary Hart, Arman Hussein, and the rest of H&H Limited have in store for The Freebirds tonight?
WCCW TV*
Date: 10/30/1982
From: Dallas, Texas
MATCHES
1. Magic Dragon vs. The Samoan
2. The Checkmate vs. Raul Castro
3. Gran Markus II vs. José Lothario
4. Wild Bill Irwin & The Destroyer vs. Terry Gordy & Michael Hayes
*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 07/09/2024.
BREAKDOWN & REVIEW
- Bill Mercer and Jay Saldi were joined in the commentary booth by King Kong Bundy. Bundy said that there will be no King Kong Bundy in the ring tonight, because he is going on strike from H&H Limited. Gary Hart himself will have to take his place in matches moving forward, because he needs to get what he deserves to be paid. Bundy ran down some of his accomplishments and demands to be paid his fair share! Hmmm. This is a bizarre turn of events… Could King Kong Bundy be turning!?
- Magic Dragon vs. The Samoan: The opening contest was set for one fall with a ten minute time limit. Dragon had boots on here, no bare feet. Bugsy McGraw came down to ringside early on in the match, sitting in the front row. Dragon kept control of The Samoan in an arm wrench into a hammer lock for a few minutes. The Samoan took over and applied a hammer lock of his own. At this point, basically, the only move applied in the match was a hammer lock. Plenty of audio issues in this version of the tape. A missed shoulder block sent The Samoan into the post, allowing Magic Dragon to take back over. A flipping second-rope senton put The Samoan away. A really rough watch for an opener here, with as little substance presented as possible. The Samoan seems to get worse and worse with every appearance and matches like this are something Magic Dragon should be kept away from.
- The Checkmate vs. Raul Castro: This match was set for ten minutes with one fall to a finish. More significant audio issues here. Checkmate took over with some good arm drags and a nice armbar. Quick near-fall for Checkmate early on. A series of knee lifts had Castro reeling in the corner. Castro attempted to rally back with some punches and kicks but Checkmate slid to the floor and snapped his leg over the apron of the ring to kill his momentum. Back in the ring, The Checkmate got with surprise pin with a stepover toe type hold. Quick and painless, still far from special. Checkmate made pretty light work of Raul Castro here.
- Back from commercial, Bill Mercer was at commentary with King Kong Bundy and Gary Hart on either side of him for a sit down. Mercer reminded viewers of Bundy’s comments earlier tonight about being on strike. Bundy was tired of doing all the dirty work while Hart and Hussein make all the money. Gary Hart responded saying how much better off he was now than he was before. Mercer asked Hart if he has provided a raise, to which Hart said he started Bundy off high and that his time is very valuable. Gary Hart clarified that Bundy is contracted to H&H Limited and World Class Championship Wrestling. The two argued as we went back to commercial. Again, this is an interesting position to put Bundy in as a major heel in the company. Not sure where we’re going with all of this, but it has me caught off guard.
- Gran Markus II vs. José Lothario: The following match was set for one fall to a finish with a ten minute time limit. God, the audio is getting worse and worse. Lothario took no crap from Markus II in the beginning here, as he reversed and consistently stayed on the masked man. These two turned up the speed and tripped over each other a bit, ending with Markus being sent to the floor to regroup. Lothario landed a nice left hook that sent Markus II to the mat. Markus II begged off before taking another punch and then was seated and arm dragged off the top turnbuckle. Lothario ended up on the floor, being kicked and chopped out of the ring. Arman Hussein taunted him while down at ringside. The finish came when José Lothario was disqualified by dumping Gran Markus II over the top rope inadvertently. This was much clunkier than I thought it would have been, these guys just didn’t mesh. When the pace quickened, work got sloppy. So, it stayed relatively slow and plodding, with a pretty crap finish.
- Wild Bill Irwin & The Destroyer vs. Terry Gordy & Michael Hayes: The main event was set of one fall with a twenty minute time limit. Hayes started things off with Irwin. Irwin missed wildly with a punch to which Hayes danced away from. Gordy tagged in and placed a deep headlock on Irwin. Hayes was back in to wear Irwin down with a supine side headlock. Hayes was finally worked into the heel corner to tag in The Destroyer, but he came in flailing around and made no real difference. More double-teamwork happened between The Freebirds. Gordy got a near fall with a sunset flip. Another near fall after a big suplex from Gordy. Irwin took a double back elbow and a double dropkick for a near fall. Hayes got worked over by the heels for a few minutes, being kept away from his tag team partner. Irwin landed a gutwrench suplex for a near fall on Hayes. Gordy finally got the hot tag and made quick work of The Destroyer and Wild Bill Irwin. A back body drop from Hayes sent The Destroyer up and over into Gordy’s arms, who then spiked him down with sort of piledriver, finished the match. The crowd absolutely loves The Freebirds, they are super over already. The match was solid, even with Bundy being replaced, and that finish was nasty looking! You don’t see that kind of stuff in 1982. For the first official Freebird-duo tag match in WCCW, I enjoyed it.
- At ringside, Wild Bill Irwin and King Kong Bundy were standing by with Jay Saldi and Bill Mercer for an interview. Irwin called The Freebirds a hell of a team, but they defeated a man that wasn’t his full-time, normal partner. Bundy said those ‘lousy-stinkin’ Freebirds’ took advantage of the strike situation and said that next week Bundy is going to show up those ‘redneck punks’. Irwin closed with a wild hawk can be caught and caged, and so can those Freebirds.
- Directly after, Bill Mercer called Kevin Von Erich into frame, who was said to be taking on Wild Bill Irwin in one-on-one action next week. Kevin said he was stepping in for his brother Dave and that he is looking forward to take on Irwin. He is always coming at you something different, but Kevin says he will be ready. Jay Saldi brought up his wars with Kabuki and asked about Kevin’s brother Kerry and his injury status. Kevin confirmed that Kerry has been chomping at the bit to get out of the hospital and said that the doctors should be releasing him very soon.
FINAL THOUGHTS
This has been one of the most disappointing episodes of World Class television thus far. The action was super lackluster, besides the main event. Really, beyond the Gary Hart and King Kong Bundy sit down, the first half of the episode could probably be skipped entirely. On top of that, the audio and playback issues were really, really bad for this particular tape. Nonetheless, I am excited to see more of The Freebirds and Kevin Von Erich’s return to action. Speaking of returns, should we expect to see Kerry Von Erich in a wrestling ring before we close out 1982? Only time will tell. We’re into November next week!
See you all then!