Rules may have been made to be broken for tonight’s main event, when The Fabulous Freebirds are challenged by “Iceman” King Parsons, Chavo Guerrero, and Kerry Von Erich in a penalty box six-man tag team match! Also, Kamala in action, more will be learned about The Mongol, and much more!
WCCW TV
Date: 05/07/1983
From: Dallas, Texas
MATCHES
1. Kamala vs. The Great Yatsu
2. The Mongol vs. Mike Reed
3. Kerry Von Erich, “Iceman” King Parsons, & Chavo Guerrero vs. Michael Hayes, Terry Gordy, & Buddy Roberts
BREAKDOWN & REVIEW
- Bill Mercer welcomed us to The Sportatorium in downtown Dallas, Texas. A highlight of the stars of our main event was presented. The main event would be contested in a penalty box six-man tag team match!
- They’ve done this penalty box gimmick on television before, but I was having a hard time remembering the rules… so, we’ll recap those when we get there.
- Kamala vs. The Great Yatsu: The opening contest was set to go, one fall, with a ten minute time limit. As always, Friday and Skandor Akbar prepped Kamala for battle as Arman Hussein did the same for Yatsu on the other side of the ring. Chops across the head and chest stumbled Yatsu and as soon as Hussein started blowing his whistle at ringside, Kamala went out to inspect him. He was distracted quickly again, until Friday wrangled him and got him back in the ring. Hussein met Kamala in the ring, which proved to be a big mistake, as Kamala flattened him. The whistle was broke and Hussein got splashed by Kamala. The bell sounded and from behind, Yatsu brought in his Kendo stick and used it. Kamala got the cane away easily and used on Yatsu a few times as the match was declared a double disqualification after only a few short minutes.
- I think I’m officially over Devastation Inc. feuding with Arman Hussein and his few guys. Essentially, it is a heel-versus-heel scenario, which I think burns out quickly when compared to a traditional heel-versus-babyface situation. Fans just don’t know who to cheer, so they end up not really cheering for anybody. Kamala needs a really good babyface to feed off of and so far, he hasn’t had that. Dud rating for me here, half a star.
- A pre-taped featurette was presented by Bill Mercer, when he visited Skandor Akbar’s estate for a sit down interview. Akbar, called Devastation Incorporated the greatest force in professional wrestling today. He called Arman Hussein a dog and all of his associates dogs. He also mentioned that not one Von Erich has challenged either The Mongol, or Kamala! He says that money talks and The Mongol is upset that unlike his hair, which represents the highest rank of warrior in Mongolia, there is a star in the Dallas area whose hair deeply offends The Mongol… and that person’s time is running out! Akbar held up a huge hourglass as we rolled into commercial and the segment came to a close.
- So, my only guess for the next target would be “Iceman” King Parsons, right? He’s the only one I can think of with unique hair that might be ‘upsetting The Mongol’. Which, good! Like I said, Devastation Inc. needs some babyfaces to work with. I don’t particularly like The Mongol, but maybe Parsons can get some good matches out of him?
- The Mongol vs. Mike Reed: This next bout was set for one fall, ten minutes to a finish. I’m almost positive that Mike Reed is going to get absolutely steamrolled here. The Mongol shoved Reed away a few times until Reed caught a back elbow after a set of failed running shoulder blocks. Reed threw weak strikes as The Mongol smashed him into the corner and then set him up in the Tree of Woe. Back of out the corner, The Mongol choked Reed over the top rope. Knees, strikes, and elbows kept Reed in danger. A spinning neckbreaker could’ve kept Reed down, but The Mongol pulled him out of the pin… same for a backbreaker. Finally, a running bodyslam out of the corner is what was chosen to keep Reed down.
- The Mongol just ins’t one of my favorites. I’m not sure how else to put it. He is very generic and to me, just comes off as a poor man’s King Kong Bundy (as I’ve mentioned before). I’d much rather Bundy be getting wins on television and I’m not sure The Mongol is really needed… not when you have The Great Kabuki, King Kong Bundy, and Kamala in the stable already. Unless The Mongol is going to be your fall guy? I’m not sure, solid squash match for him here, though. One star.
- Up next, Bill Mercer was standing by with David Manning for a pre-taped featurette on what the most difficult hold was. Manning explained that it was actually the penalty box that was the strongest hold, as no wrestler wants to end up. The box was solid steel and there was no escape. First violation meant one minute in the box, the second meant two minutes! Two men out of a three-man team could even end up in the box! Manning expected some rule breaking when it came to The Fabulous Freebirds, so we should expect to see it in use in tonight’s main event!
- What an odd way to talk about these penalty box cages. I thought Manning was really going to weigh in on what he thought the best wrestling hold was in World Class. They should’ve just promoted it as some time spent explaining the cages and rules of a penalty box match, instead of trying to be cute with it.
- Kerry Von Erich, “Iceman” King Parsons, & Chavo Guerrero vs. Michael Hayes, Terry Gordy, & Buddy Roberts: Tonight’s main event was a penalty box six-man tag team match scheduled for one fall with a sixty minute time limit. The crowd was HYPED for this one during the introductions and it seemed this one was going to run pretty long. Chavo Guerrero was ready to kick things off with Michael Hayes, as Hayes strutted around the ring. Chavo lit up Michael Hayes with a running crossbody that sent Hayes to the outside to regroup. Hayes argued with the official that he was thrown over the top rope, which he obviously wasn’t. Kerry tagged in with a head of steam and Hayes ran to his corner to quickly tag Roberts in to deal with Kerry. Kerry gained control with a wrist lock and taunted the heel corner with Roberts’ pain. He hit a running shoulder tackle, but got caught off-gaurd with a kitchen sink. Gody was in next, getting bounced from corner to corner. Guerrero tagged in and slapped on a tight side headlock. Some quick offense kept Gordy off his game, forcing a tag in to Roberts, also allowing Parsons to be tagged in. Parsons’ wouldn’t be in long, as Kerry found himself back in the action with Hayes. They went punch-for-punch until Kerry threw his discus punch and dropped Hayes. Gordy threw an illegal strike in on Kerry and had to be placed in the penalty box for his trouble. Hayes ended up in there with him after arguing and shoving the referee on the outside. In the ring, Buddy was being taken to task by Parsons with several near falls occurring. Gordy returned to the match with a vengeance, being tagged back in and doing a number on Parsons. Parsons continued to face Freebird punishment as both Roberts and Hayes getting a chance to wear him down. Kerry found himself in the cage for illegal help on behalf of Parsons. Guerrero tagged back in and got some good offense in on Gordy, until he found himself in the heel corner. Roberts got caught with some rule breaking and was sent to the cage. Gordy continued his work on Chavo with a big back suplex. Fresh out of the cage, Kerry exploded back into the ring, laying huge punches onto Gordy. Without tagging in, “Iceman” ran in to help Kerry and attacked Hayes and Roberts while the officials pulled him away and into the box on the outside. Kerry was in trouble here as Gordy came back in to choke him over the top rope. Tag format broke down as Parsons, Roberts, Hayes, and Kerry all did battle in the ring at once. Every man had been in the box twice or so at some point in this one. Roberts hit a knee off the second rope on Parsons for a near fall. A head scissors caught Gordy into a roll up type three-count pin from Parsons! After the bell, all six men went at it and Kerry Von Erich was on the receiving end of an assisted Piledriver as Hayes came off the top rope and Gordy spiked him down. The Freebirds fled as Guerrero brought a chair in the ring to even the odds. Kerry was left laying as his partners checked on him.
- Chaos personified in this one. I kind of don’t like the penalty box matches, as it ends up being the only thing you’re keeping tabs on. Any gimmick match that takes away from the match itself are ones I don’t particularly love. The unique, territory charm was there for this one, though… I’m glad that at least every man was in there once or twice, if it was just the heels, that would’ve been dumb. I do with they would’ve incorporated the box somehow in the finish? Maybe two of the babyfaces were in the cage and the third had no help but to be pinned? Something… regardless, I give this one two and a half stars. We got plenty of time, each man had a moment or two to shine in the ring, and the crowd was hyped for this one.
- At the commentary booth, Bill Mercer ran down the list of winners for this week. Next week, there would be a special interview with “Gentleman” Chris Adams to get to know him better. Also next week, we get a double main event with José Lothario taking on Kamala and “Iceman” King Parsons meeting Buddy Roberts in singles action!
FINAL THOUGHTS
This week felt a little bit like a filler week of television. The six-man match main event was a slightly random collection of babyfaces to take on The Fabulous Freebirds as we continue to delay the inevitable Freebirds and Von Erichs showdown. Alongside an enhancement match and a no contest, the penalty box six-man tag team match wasn’t enough to make this episode stand out. The featurettes were rather week, too. Here’s to hoping we rebound with next week’s episode!
See you all then!