Kerry Von Erich makes his long-awaited return to the World Class Sportatorium tonight! Who will he square off with in his first bout back? What will he have to say about the NWA World’s Heavyweight Champion, “Nature Boy” Ric Flair? Not to mention, Fritz Von Erich is set to release the long-awaited proof of collusion between H&H Limited and Ric Flair, surrounding Kerry’s knee injury at the hands of The Great Kabuki. Speaking of which, in the main event, H&H Limited’s The Checkmate takes on the wiley Bugsy McGraw. Plus, The Great Kabuki in handicap action, The Freebirds tag up, and much more!
WCCW TV
Date: 11/13/1982
From: Dallas, Texas
MATCHES
1. Michael Hayes & Terry Gordy vs. “Captain” Frank Dusek & “Killer” Tim Brooks
2. The Samoan & Sal Olivares vs. The Great Kabuki
3. The Destroyer II vs. Kerry Von Erich
4. The Checkmate vs. Bugsy McGraw
BREAKDOWN & REVIEW
- Bill Mercer and Jay Saldi welcomed us to the Sportatorium for some tremendous action. Also, it is announced that Fritz Von Erich will finally reveal the proof against “Nature Boy” Ric Flair for the bounty placed on Kerry Von Erich that led to his knee injury six weeks ago. I was surprised to hear about this Fritz reveal, as I figured we’d just get the rematch and never really get a payoff for the ‘bounty proof’ stuff…
- Michael Hayes & Terry Gordy vs. “Captain” Frank Dusek & “Killer” Tim Brooks: Our opening contest was set for one fall with a fifteen minute time limit. We haven’t seen Tim Brooks since January, a sort of return to the territory for him tonight. Apparently, he is coming out of retirement for the fifth time, according to Mercer on commentary… Brooks and Hayes started us off here. They paced and stalled until Dusek and Gordy demanded tags in. Gody was all over Dusek, sending him bailing to the floor to regroup. Hayes was back in to apply a standing side headlock on Brooks, with the fans chanting loudly for the Freebirds. Dusek and Gordy ended up back in with some eye-raking being done behind the ref’s back while he attempted to get Hayes out of the ring. Brooks and Dusek got Hayes cornered and rattled him with strikes until the official was able to break it up. The finish came when a fired up Terry Gordy got in the ring, hit a backdrop on Dusek, and hoisted him up in a Fireman’s Carry that allowed Hayes to come off the top with an elbow to the back of Dusek’s neck that kept him down for a three. I thought Brooks and Dusek worked well together, but their plodding styles really clashed with the Freebirds. The Freebirds are in desperate need of facing quick, fresh, and exciting teams for them to really shine best. Again, I’m awaiting formidable challengers to come along for arguably the territory’s hottest tag team.
- The Samoan & Sal Olivares vs. The Great Kabuki: This was scheduled as another handicap match for The Great Kabuki, with fifteen minutes to a finish. Gary Hart prepped Kabuki for his match as I was left wondering if this would be another elimination-style handicap match (I figured it would be). Kabuki started off slightly behind the eight ball, as Olivares and The Samoan worked him over with strikes. Kabuki was whipped into a corner by Oliveres, but he ran into a savate kick. The Samoan ate one, as well. Kabuki hit his deadly twisting knee breaker sort of move on Olivares, leaving him clutching his knee to one side of the ring as the match continued. The Samoan seemingly planned on using the second rope in the middle of the ring for some sort of move, but lost his balance and fell backward. Kabuki capitalized and gave The Samoan his knee breaker to finish the match. Gary Hart got in the ring to get some cheap kicks in on the two downed men as the official spoke with the timekeeper. Nothing really happening here. It just kind of feels like Kabuki is in limbo right now, which sucks despite being WCCW’s most dangerous heel…
- After the match, King Kong Bundy got into the ring and grabbed a microphone to address Gary Hart. Bundy said that if Hart wanted to prove anything, he should get out of the ring and allow Bundy and the ‘Chinaman’ to go at it. Bundy said that he was ready to prove who the most dominant force in H&H Limited was. That was, until Kabuki began swinging his nunchucks. Bundy bailed out to grab a chair and Gary Hart and the official attempted to keep them from destroying each other. Finally, Bundy relented and left while giving Hart an earful who was still in the ring. Hmm. I’m not really sure how to take this Bundy/H&H stuff. Are we heading for a Bundy face turn? Or is he trying to prove that he’s the ‘worst-of-the-worst’ and just get more money out of Hart? The story isn’t very clear on that yet… thought, I can’t say I’d be much interested in Bundy working face again.
- Back from commercial, the returning Kerry Von Erich was standing by for an interview with Jay Saldi at ringside. Saldi asked Kerry who he’d rather have his hands on first, The Great Kabuki or Ric Flair. Kerry says there’s no question that he’s gunning for Flair, as he is the World Champion. Though, he has a score to settle with Kabuki first. Odd pivot to have Kerry say that he is gunning for Kabuki before Flair, especially after the handful of promos on television as of the last few weeks between he and Flair.
- The Destroyer II vs. Kerry Von Erich: The next match was set for one fall, ten minutes to a finish. Kerry was all over Destroyer here, with plenty of amatuer-style, mat-based grappling taking place. Kerry worked Destroyer down with a headlock, a running shoulder block, and a nice dropkick. A standing kneedrop awarded him a count of one early on. Little-to-no offense from Destroyer took place in the first several minutes, with him finally landing a kick and some punches on Kerry after Kerry attempted to take his mask off. Destroyer threw a couple of knees into Kerry’s midsection, but a discus punch put the masked man flat on his back for an easily-gained three count by the returning Kerry Von Erich. A rough selection for a first opponent back. I would’ve had Kerry come away from his return victory having bounced a guy from pillar to post for a few minutes. Nonetheless, I am very glad to have “The Modern Day Warrior” actively back on World Class programming.
- Back at the commentary booth, it was now time for Fritz Von Erich’s big reveal of the proof he had supposedly obtained on “Nature Boy” Ric Flair’s bounty rumoredly placed on Kerry Von Erich since their last bout for the NWA World’s Heavyweight Championship. However, since Gary Hart was refusing to be present, it was announced the Fritz would wait until he could get Hart to be there.
- The Checkmate vs. Bugsy McGraw: The main event of the evening was set for one fall with a fifteen minute time limit. For some reason, The Checkmate was wearing a Tiger Mask (Satoru Sayama) souvenir-quality mask tonight? He is a solid worker, but he is no Tiger Mask. Some sort of silly explanation was given about him no longer being a champion overseas, so he now has that mask… anyway, Bugsy worked his silly stuff early on here, making Checkmate look even more silly. The two traded wristlocks, with neither man really getting ahead. A ‘shell’ position again forced Bugsy to do a ‘shell’ of his own, causing The Checkmate to attempt a front facelock. Bugsy quickly kicked him away and sent him flying through the second rope to the floor. Back in the ring, some headbutts to the back of the head and neck on Bugsy weakened him. With the chants of the crowd, he was able to recover and Checkmate bailed to the ring to converse with Arman Hussein. Back in the ring, Checkmate got an back elbow and then a standing elbow but was able to get his foot on the ropes to break a pin attempt. A bearhug on the apron caused both men the match as the referee called for the bell due to a double-countout. One of the weakest performances by The Checkmate thus far. Obviously, I was heavily distracted by the wearing of the Tiger Mask mask here tonight. Still pretty confused about that one. Bugsy’s work, or lack thereof, is tough to get through… especially during this clown-like babyface. What a dud.
- Back from commercial, we were finally ready to hear from Fritz Von Erich and Gary Hart in regard to the Ric Flair payoff situation. Hart tried to weasel his way out of the shot, but Fritz pulled him in tight by his suit lapel. Fritz said he wouldn’t hurt him, but he was ready to present the proof. There was a bounty paid via check and Fritz presented a printed copy of said check. It was shown, issued on October 7th to Gary Hart for $12,500.00 to cover ‘services and expenses’ from Ric Flair (funnily enough, it was spelt Rick). Hart asked where Fritz got it and it was revealed that King Kong Bundy was the one who handed it over for $5,000.00. Fritz also announced that the for this discrepancy, the NWA has agreed to give Kerry a fair shot at Ric Flair for the World’s Heavyweight Championship. Fritz then said that The Great Kabuki and Gary Hart will also pay for crimes committed. Fritz communicated to Bill Mercer that he wasn’t sure where or when exactly the rematch would take place, but he hoped for soon and for it to take place here in the great state of Texas.
- After a final commercial break, King Kong Bundy was sitting at the commentary booth with Bill Mercer and Jay Saldi. Mercer and Saldi agreed that there was no disproving the copy of the check presented. He asked if Bundy would spend some time with them next week to explain the situation surrounding the check he supplied to Fritz Von Erich. Bundy said he would definitely sit down with them next week to discuss and he reiterated the fact that he was willing to prove who the better man was, he or Kabuki, anytime. Again, just an odd inclusion of King Kong Bundy into all of this… I’m still not sure how he really fits.
- With King Kong Bundy at their side, Bill Mercer and Jay Saldi gave us a heads up on some bouts for next week’s card. Bugsy McGraw and Al Madril will be taking on The Checkmate and Wild Bill Irwin, The Freebirds will face off with The Great Kabuki and Magic Dragon, and Kerry Von Erich will battle “Killer” Tim Brooks in singles action. All that and much more! Damn! There’s a supershow-calibre match mixed in there. I’m surprised they’re giving us The Freebirds versus Dragon and Kabuki on a random week of television. Finally, a real challenge for Gordy and Hayes to work with!
FINAL THOUGHTS
For all the action that this episode lacked, it sure was packed with storyline development. We were finally shown the hyped up proof the Von Erich’s had against Gary Hart and Ric Flair. There was a payoff and it was none other than Bundy who supplied it! What will he have to say about that next week? How will Kerry angle himself and be able to focus against a dangerous Great Kabuki with a rematch with Ric Flair looming in the near future? Will Ric Flair pop up in Texas before 1982 comes to a close? I look forward to finding out more about all this craziness next week!
See you all then!