The New Year is has come and gone and it’s time to get back to more World Class Championship Wrestling action! A third Freebird arrives in Dallas to take on the blue chipper, Brian Adidas. Plus, $5,000 cash is up for grabs in a COLOSSAL six-man battle royal main event, featuring André The Giant!
WCCW TV
Date: 01/15/1983
From: Dallas, Texas
MATCHES
1. Brian Adidas vs. Buddy Roberts
2. Michael Hayes vs. Al Madril
3. Bugsy McGraw vs. Wild Bill Irwin vs. King Kong Bundy vs. Terry Gordy vs. Kerry Von Erich vs. André The Giant
BREAKDOWN & REVIEW
- Bill Mercer opened the show and welcomed us to the Sportatorium. He mentioned seeing a feature tonight with Michael Hayes. Also highlighted, the main event featuring the world-famous André The Giant!
- At ringside, Bill Mercer caught up with Michael Hayes and Buddy Roberts for a pre-match interview. Bill Mercer called Buddy the ‘newest Freebird’, which set Buddy off immediately. He asked Mercer what he was talking about and that he had been with his boys a long time! He’s been everywhere and The Freebirds are the greatest combination in the wrestling world today. Michael Hayes chimed in in regards to their reception here tonight, saying he didn’t get where he’s at worrying about people clapping for him. If they have to run over the Von Erichs to get where they want to be, so be it!
- I liked Buddy Roberts’ segment here, he came off as just as good a talker as Michael Hayes. I’m interested to see if he is able to back it up in the ring! Looks like they are going full steam ahead with heel Freebirds.
- Brian Adidas vs. Buddy Roberts: This opening contest was set for one-fall with a ten minute time limit. This marked Buddy Roberts’ first appearance for WCCW. Also, it seems they’ve changed Adidas’ name to Adias? Odd. Some quick exchanges kept Adidas ahead of Roberts slightly to open things up here. A set of dropkicks sent Roberts to the floor to regroup early on. Some cheap strikes caught Adidas off guard, swinging the momentum in Roberts’ favor. Roberts kept Adidas grounded with a series of holds and submissions for the next few moments, even using the ropes for leverage at one point. After firing up, Adidas almost caught Roberts with a three-count thanks to a sunset flip out of the corner. The two traded strikes back and forth as time ticked away, several near falls followed. The brawl continued as the time limit expired and the bell rang, a time limit draw was declared the decision.
- Not sure I would’ve had Buddy go the distance with Adidas here. If it wasn’t going to be a decisive victory, I would’ve put Buddy over as the winner within the last few seconds, maybe? Not sure, either way, I think I enjoyed his debut here, despite the lackluster finish. His heel work and technical ability will be a nice addition to The Freebird package.
- We returned to the booth with Bill Mercer as he verbally recapped what happened in the cage in Reunion Arena on Christmas night. Bill then threw to a featurette with Michael Hayes at The Freebird ‘home’ in Georgia where we join Bill, Michael, Terry, and Buddy in what looks to be a billiards room. The Freebirds are shooting a little pool when Bill Mercer begins with asking about the flag hanging on the wall. Hayes mentions the colors of the flag matching those of Texas and basically bushes the question off as Bill continues fawning over this home. Michael said The Freebirds have been on the run and been running people over all their lives. Buddy butted in and said that along wrestling, The Freebirds had many investments and he was here to help look after both, alongside his boys. Buddy went back to pool as Terry was asked about the cage door. He said he was just doing what he was asked to do, nobody was to go into the cage, and nobody was to come out. Terry and Michael said it was Kerry Von Erich who knocked Michael out of the cage, much to the protest of Bill Mercer. Regardless of Bill’s refusal, The Freebirds continued to explain their side of the situation. Michael said if Kerry was too stupid to take the title from Flair when he hand-delivered Flair to him in the cage, he didn’t want to here nothing more about him! The segment ended with Bill being kicked out of The Freebirds’ home.
- This whole segment was damn-near impossible to hear, as production decided to play country bumpkin music over the entire featurette that almost drowned out the interview completely. They’ve never done this before, so I hope they learn from the hiccup and not do that again. Considering that, this was an okay featurette, but I don’t really think it added much to the story between Kerry Von Erich and The Freebirds. I would’ve liked a little more backstory here.
- Michael Hayes vs. Al Madril: This next match was set for one fall to a finish with a fifteen minute time limit. Al Madril wasted no time backing Hayes into a corner as the crowd was excited to see Hayes get his ass handed to him here. He bailed out to the floor to kill any momentum the crowd was trying to build behind Madril. Madril refused a handshake and a headlock was slapped on. Rabid punches found their mark on Hayes as the crowd erupted. More strikes followed until Hayes resorted to raking Madril’s eyes in the corner. Hayes kept a headlock on Madril and dropped a big standing elbow drop for a near fall. The crowd rallied behind Madril huge, allowing him to make a big comeback ending with his flying shoulder block. Out of nowhere, Hayes dropped Madril with a piledriver and decided to pummel Madril with strikes instead of continuing his pin attempt. José Lothario ran down to Al Madril’s aid and ran Michael Hayes off with some big strikes. The match ended in a disqualification through interference, so Hayes was declared the winner.
- Man, between the workers and the crowd reaction, I was really feeling this match. Action was back and forth and crowd was treating this like a championship bout. Hayes as a heel works ten times better than Hayes as a face, hands down. I think I was bummed out with this finish even more than the first match, just because it was going so well.
- After the match, Bill Mercer made his way to ringside to speak to José Lothario about what had just transpired between his friend Al Madril and Michael Hayes. Lothario said beat your man when you have him beat, don’t go out there to hurt him. That’s what Michael Hayes tried to do tonight. Lothario said that he wants Michael Hayes anytime, anyplace.
- Still a little confused on the involvement and level of heat between Lothario and Hayes here, but I guess almost everybody wants in on a shot at The Freebirds since they turned their backs on the fans of Texas!
- Standing by with Bill Mercer, was David Manning. He was here to discuss what the main event would entail. He covered the elimination-style match coming up and mentioned the $5,000 reward going to the winner. Also covered were the wrestlers to be featured in the match and it was highlighted that this would be the first time since Christmas Star Wars that Kerry Von Erich would have a shot at a Freebird, that being Terry Gordy tonight. Manning said that André The Giant would also be in the match and just then, The Giant stepped into the frame. He towered over both Bill and David saying that he was fine and happy to be back in Texas. He is used to wrestling in battle royals and that with only five other guys in there with him, he expects an easy victory. He will throw them all over the top rope. Mercer then joked about André throwing them into the rafters and thanked André for speaking with them prior to his match.
- André is so special. He just enhances the feel and presentation of a show by simply appearing. As always, he was a little hard to understand, but things were kept simple and short. I wish there was more André The Giant to go around, as having him on the roster would’ve been fun. Just give me André on WCCW TV twice a month and I’d be happy.
- Bugsy McGraw vs. Wild Bill Irwin vs. King Kong Bundy vs. Terry Gordy vs. Kerry Von Erich vs. André The Giant: This main event match was set to be a six-man elimination-style battle royal with the winner receiving a $5,000 cash bonus. Elimination could come with throwing opponents over the top rope, pinning an opponent, or making them submit. The crowd was hot for this one, as it boasted a decent amount of star power. Once Kerry made his entrance, he went right after Terry Gordy before André could even enter for the match. The two brawled until being pulled apart by Wild Bill and Bugsy McGraw. The bell officially began once The Giant was in and Kerry was quickly eliminated by Terry Gordy with the help of Michael Hayes at ringside. The Freebirds continued their assault on Von Erich as André was sitting on Bundy in the corner and McGraw squared off with Irwin. Kerry was lead backstage as the match continued. Bundy came off the second rope onto The Giant and Bugsy McGraw was dumped out by Bundy next. Bundy and Irwin teamed up to try and neutralize The Giant, who was keeping a chinlock on Gordy. A three-on-one attack commenced, but The Giant continued his own assault on Gordy. André continued to fight off all three competitors, foiling several attempts to get him eliminated. Bundy attempted a slam on André, but was fought off. No real progress was being made on The Giant here, so things started to get a little repetitive. The heels started to get the better of André, until Irwin ran into a boot and met an atomic drop that sent him flying over the top rope. Gordy was saved by Michael Hayes and André stepped over the top rope without thinking to chase Hayes away! The crowd was deflated bigtime with André technicality elimination. It was down to Gordy and Bundy, two heels I guess? Fans didn’t know who to cheer for, but wouldn’t be confused for long as Gordy sent Bundy over the top rope with a dropkick and won the battle royal challenge.
- I was pretty surprised that André The Giant DIDN’T win this match… I didn’t think he was allowed to lose battle royals (kidding)! Nonetheless, this was a huge boost for Terry Gordy, and with the other Freebirds not having a great night, it was a needed victory here. It will be interesting to see how they capitalize on this victory for Gordy moving forward.
- Back from commercial, Bill Mercer was joined by Kerry Von Erich and Brian Adidas in the commentary booth. Next week, Brian has Terry Gordy in a match. Kerry will be in Brian’s corner next week and before Brian could continue, Kerry cut him off. Kerry was pretty much beside himself, as he stumbled and bumbled over hoping Michael Hayes decides to be at ringside for Gordy next week. He promised Hayes a Texas tail-whipping like he’s never seen before. He is going to give him all he’s got. He and Brian Adidas are going to send them back to Georgia. Brian Adidas closed out the promo by saying that anytime he has a Von Erich in his corner, he feels good, especially when its his best friend Kerry!
- At least Kerry was worked up after his pull-apart brawl with Hayes and Gordy, so the stumbling made a little more sense here. I don’t give Brian much of a shot against Gordy next week, as he has become caught in this crossfire and kind of comes off like a deer in the headlights.
- During this same closing segment, Bill Mercer wrapped things up by promising Brian Adidas versus Terry Gordy, and a replay of the WCCW American Heavyweight Championship bout between King Kong Bundy and Kevin Von Erich, both for next week!
FINAL THOUGHTS
Above all, the thing I came away from this week with the most, was the lack of decent finishes. We got two screwed finishes back-to-back, and then André The Giant (odds-on favorite) is eliminated by a technicality in the third match. With this in mind, the action was still more than palettable and we didn’t end up with any throw-away squashes, which was a nice change of pace. Each match felt competitive, which isn’t always the case with WCCW TV bouts. Things were very Freebird-forward this week, but if they are going to be billed as some of the promotion’s top heels, the time to build them up with television time is now! I look forward to how Kerry and Brian handle things with Michael and Terry next week!
See you all then!