Tonight, King Kong Bundy has promised to make his intentions clear between he, Fritz Von Erich, and Gary Hart. What made him supply proof against Hart and “Nature Boy” Ric Flair, was it just the money or something more? In tag team action, a blockbuster match has been made for The Freebirds to get their hands on H&H Limited’s The Great Kabuki & Magic Dragon. Also in singles competition, David Von Erich, Kerry Von Erich, and more!
WCCW TV
Date: 11/20/1982
From: Dallas, Texas
MATCHES
1. The Checkmate & Wild Bill Irwin vs. Al Madril & Bugsy McGraw
2. David Von Erich vs. The Destroyer II
3. The Great Kabuki & Magic Dragon vs. Michael Hayes & Terry Gordy
4. Kerry Von Erich vs. “Killer” Tim Brooks
BREAKDOWN & REVIEW
- Bill Mercer and Jay Saldi welcomed us to the show tonight. The mentioned big tag team action and Kerry Von Erich’s return match after his knee surgery! Also, we will hear from King Kong Bundy at some point tonight.
- The Checkmate & Wild Bill Irwin vs. Al Madril & Bugsy McGraw: This opening contest was set for one fall with a fifteen minute time limit. The Checkmate had a Tiger Mask mask on again this week. He was replacing King Kong Bundy, who is currently on the outs with H&H Limited. Wild Bill and Bugsy kicked things off here, the crowd giving Will Bill a really hard time to start out. They strutted around for a solid two minutes before a real lockup took place. After morre silliness some holds were exchanged before Checkmate and Madril were tagged in. Madril hit a quick arm drag and a backbreaker for a near fall. Checkmate locked on and maintained a wrist lock for a few moments before Wild Bill came in to work Madril over with some punches. Madril ended up on the floor after a beating, needing Bugsy to roll him back into the ring to continue the fight. All four men ended up in the ring and how we didn’t end up in double disqualification I’ll never know! Madril locked on a Figure Four Leglock and it looked like it was over until Checkmate kicked him in the throat from the apron and Wild Bill was able to pin him. After the match, King Kong Bundy came out to help Wild Bill Irwin, his tag team partner. The decision was then reversed, giving Bugsy McGraw and Al Madril the win for the night! What a cluster this one was, folks. It was pretty hard to follow all throughout the match, either because of moments of chaos, or of shear boredom in between. Not sure why the official was allowing so much to go on, just to overturn a decision after the fact… Also, Bugsy is still the shits. And I thought Bundy was done with H&H?!
- David Von Erich vs. The Destroyer II: This match was set for one fall, ten minutes to a finish. David signed autographs for a few minutes as Destroyer began to get impatient. David looked like a giant compared to Destroyer, who never seemed that small before. David stayed ahead of Destroyer applying a side headlock and talked to the fans at ringside. David continued his work on the arm and shoulder. Back up, he landed a running high knee and dropped several knees down using the corner for leverage. The series of three second-rope knee drops were enough to put Destroyer II away for a three count. There is still something clumsy about David Von Erich, though his confidence is through the roof. He comes off too arrogant for me at times, much unlike his brothers. This is no doubt still left over from his heel work in Florida. Though, I would’ve thought he got that out of his system by now… Oh well, nothing special for this one.
- The Great Kabuki & Magic Dragon vs. Michael Hayes & Terry Gordy: This tag team match was set for one fall with a fifteen minute time limit. A guy in a gorilla costume was back, he has scared away The Great Kabuki in the past. Looks like he will be ringside for Gordy and Hayes. Magic Dragon and Terry Gordy began the match, Dragon throwing a few kicks that missed. A couple of quick tags between The Freebirds kept Dragon off his game. Kabuki was able to tag in and he and Hayes traded strikes. This put the momentum back in the heel’s corner, as Dragon worked in a side kick and seated headlock on Michael Hayes. A nerve hold kept Terry Gordy on the mat for an extended period of time. Suddenly, following Dragon’s backflip out of the corner, a dropkick and a standing elbow drop put him down for a quick three count! After a good battle back and forth, with Kabuki and Dragon controlling most of the match, they lose to an elbow drop… lame! Too bad about the lack-luster finish here, as this was The Freebird’s first real challenge with worth tag team opponents. I was glad to see a Freebirds match that went longer than a minute or two. Hopefully, we see this team square off a few more times soon.
- At the commentary table, Bill Mercer recapped what happened between King Kong Bundy and Fritz Von Erich last week. He then threw to a video package on location, with himself and Bundy in what looked like a railyard but was said to be ‘the docks’. In the video, Bill explained that Bundy was on strike with H&H Limited. Bundy was eating fried chicken and in between bites he explained himself. Bundy said he was the one who got the check from “Nature Boy” Ric Flair to deliver to Gary Hart for the hit on Kerry. So, he decided to make a copy for himself. Bundy then took the copy to Fritz and demanded he pay him $10,000 to provide the proof he wanted. Apparently, Fritz would only go for $5,000 and Bundy decided to take it. He was on strike and could use the money. Bundy then spoke about his contract with Gary Hart. He said that his lawyer in New Jersey said Hart had not a leg to stand on. Bundy said that if he wants to keep talking about the better man, he or Kabuki, let him know. He takes matches on his own now, he’s the man now and he does things on his own! Nobody owns him or his contract! I think King Kong Bundy came off well here. He poses a legitimate threat to H&H Limited as a scorned former associate! It will be interesting to see how this works moving forward, especially if Bundy plans on still aligning himself with Wild Bill Irwin, who is still aligned with H&H… not sure how that will work.
- To follow up this segment, Bill Mercer said he also tried to reach the NWA World’s Heavyweight Champion, Ric Flair for comment, but was unable to reach him. A recording of Mercer attempting to call Flair was then presented via audio and an on-screen graphic. Nora Jean, an apparent secretary in Flair’s office, took a memo. Mercer pleaded that Flair get back to him as soon as he can.
- Kerry Von Erich vs. “Killer” Tim Brooks: To close out the show, this singles match was one fall to a finish with a ten minute time limit. Sudden;y Tim Brooks jumped at Kerry before Marc Lowrance could finishing the ring announcing. Kerry laid in some heavy punches and it was starting to look like a shoot here. Finally, Kerry locked in a flying head scissors to keep Tim Brooks at bay while he got his entrance robe off. Brooks and Kerry exchanged more heated strikes, with Brooks able to avoid Kerry’s discus punch at one point. Brooks stayed on Kerry and threw him between the middle ropes to the floor. Kerry was able to get his knees up for a running splash and followed it up with a sunset flip into a pin for a three count. This was an odd pairing for Kerry’s return bout. Brooks didn’t seem to be too ‘enthusiastic’ to be the guy Kerry returned against. He assumingly wasn’t going to let Kerry steamroll right over him. His work here was stiff-yet-sloppy and the match ended in another rushed, crummy finish. Pretty disappointing for someone who is supposed to be chasing Flair for the business’ top prize.
- After a final commercial break, Kerry Von Erich joined Bill Mercer and Jay Saldi at the commentary booth for a post-match interview. He said he had Ric Flair in the palm of his hands and once he has his ring timing back, he will be ready for Flair. Kerry said he would take Flair on but said it would be about a month before he’d be 100% confident in a rematch with Flair for the championship! Short and sweet Kerry promos always do the most for him. When he is focused, sticks to his point, and doesn’t overtalk, he does all he needs to do.
- Bill Mercer closed the show with Kerry Von Erich and Jay Saldi still alongside him. He mentioned David Von Erich taking on The Great Kabuki next week, something we won’t want to miss!
FINAL THOUGHTS
For a show that, on paper was set up big, really ended up being a dud. The action was some of the worst we’ve seen from World Class, as each bout felt off tonight. Not sure if everybody planned on mailing it in tonight, or if they got into the Thanksgiving turkey early and were a little sleepy. Not much new info learned with the King Kong Bundy segment. We have yet to hear from Gary Hart or Ric Flair on the controversy. Kerry did reveal that he plans to revoke his rematch in about a month, so before year’s end! Otherwise, we have the “Yellow Rose of Texas” versus the “Mystery of the Orient” to look forward to next week. That should help right the ship coming out of this week, heading (and hoping) for a better one next…
See you all then!