In tonight’s main event, a huge six-man tag team pits The Fabulous Freebirds against the dynamic team of “Iceman King Parsons and two-thirds of the Von Erich boys, Kevin and David! Also in action, “Gentleman” Chris Adams, and much more as we march ever closer toward Summer Star Wars 1983!
WCCW TV
Date: 05/28/1983
From: Dallas, Texas
MATCHES
1. “Gentleman” Chris Adams vs. Johnny Mantell
2. “Iceman” King Parsons vs. Buddy Roberts
3. Terry Gordy, Buddy Roberts, & Michael Hayes vs. Kevin & David Von Erich, & “Iceman” King Parsons
BREAKDOWN & REVIEW
- Bill Mercer gave us a voiceover breakdown of tonight’s card, as we were quickly joining Marc Lowrance down in the ring to begin the introductions for the evening. We got a brief look at Mercer, who was sporting a mustache tonight!
- “Gentleman” Chris Adams vs. Johnny Mantell: This opening contest was set for one fall with a ten minute time limit. Both guys got cheers here, so it looks like Adams will have his hands full with a fellow babyface in this match. Some nice chain wrestling started us out here, with a couple of quick escapes put on display by Chris Adams. Adams took wrist control of Mantell, keeping him grounded. On commentary, Bill Mercer let us know that we’d be seeing that replay of Kevin Von Erich taking World’s Heavyweight Champion, Ric Flair, next. Back in the ring, Adams had Mantell grapevined with a cross armbar. A couple of pin attempts were escaped by both men, back to a stalemate. Mantell used a few knees into the side of Adams to break him down a bit more, then applied a modified bow and arrow type stretch. A double clothesline led to a double down until both men barely returned to their feet. It seemed like at this point we were headed for a time limit draw. Mantell was catapulted into the corner, shoulder blocked, and sunset pinned before time expired. Thus, the match was called a time limit draw.
- That was a good, technical match… too bad the crowd did care for it much at all. I even heard a man’s voice yell out, “boooringggg” at one point! This kind of thing is definitely a little ahead of the current times in wrestling, plus, this isn’t the audience for that. They want brawls, blood, and big bumps! Two star effort here for these guys, they really worked hard.
- Back from commercial, Bill Mercer met us at the commentary booth to discuss the replay between Kevin Von Erich and “Nature Boy” Ric Flair. We joined the replay in what seemed to be a decent way through. Kevin was in control, throwing Flair off the top rope and hitting a running crossbody for a near fall. The referee ended up down, to which Flair then took advantage. Kevin went up and over the top rope and then into a post on the outside. Kevin was almost counted out, but made it in before the full count. Flair stayed on Kevin in the ring, hitting a nice backbreaker for a near fall. Kevin fired back up with some punches and a back body drop out of the corner… and the referee was knocked down AGAIN! An Iron Claw found its way to Flair’s midsection, but he was able to break the hold quick. Kevin then threw Flair out over the top rope and posted him on the outside to get even for before. Flair was busted open at this point, as Kevin leapt to the top rope and hit his turning cross body off the top! A second referee called a pinfall on Flair, with the crowd assuming he had won the NWA World’s Heavyweight Championship, however, the original referee disqualified both men for breaking the rules, throwing their opponent over the top rope.
- Boy, if I was a World Class fan back in the day, I’d be pretty sick of screwed finishes when it came to the NWA World’s Heavyweight Championship… I think I’d start to question if any of the Von Erich boys can actually, officially get it done.
- Prior to our next match, being called a ‘Captain’s Match’, “Iceman” King Parsons got on the house mic and promised that if he was selected as his team’s captain, he would give the fans a lock of Buddy Roberts’ hair! The fans were then allowed to cheer for their choices for the match and of course they cheered loudest for Roberts to face Parsons. Michael Hayes and David Von Erich dropped to the floor to be ringside for their respective man.
- I like that World Class is giving Parsons a chance to shine against the Freebirds. It just adds depth to the whole situation.
- “Iceman” King Parsons vs. Buddy Roberts: This Captain’s Match was set for one fall to a finish, fifteen minutes for a limit. “Iceman” King Parsons went right to work on Buddy Roberts, as he levelled him with some punches. Parsons pulled at Roberts’ hair a lot to rile up the crowd, throwing more chops and strikes in the process. Roberts went to the eyes to slow his opponent down, followed up with some biting on the face, and a single foot stomp off the second rope. Parsons then ducked a clothesline and hit his running hip attack, the ‘Butt-Butt’, for the three count! After the bell rang, Parsons grabbed for the scissors and was able to cut a chunk of hiar off of Buddy Roberts before he bailed out of the ring.
- The crowd ate this up with a spoon. Parsons is over pretty big and they loved to see Roberts get some of his hair cut off. The match was obviously very quick, as these two guys were expected to return in the tag match main event momentarily. Star from me, almost solely for the crowd reaction to this one here, as there wasn’t much match to rate otherwise.
- Terry Gordy, Buddy Roberts, & Michael Hayes vs. Kevin & David Von Erich, & “Iceman” King Parsons: Our main event of the evening was one scheduled for one fall, sixty minute time limit. Action exploded prior to the bell, with The Freebirds bailing to the floor to regroup. The heels stalled on the outside for a bit as the crowd worked itself into a frenzy. Gordy and Parsons got in each other’s face at ringside while David Von Erich and Michael Hayes started things off in the ring. Hayes was begging off quick, but this roped Dave into a standing side headlock. Gordy was tagged in and in response, so was Kevin. Bill Mercer said that Kevin would be getting a rematch against Flair at the coming Summer Star Wars event next month. As of now, he was trading blow-for-blow with Terry Gordy in The Sportatorium. Kevin was worked into the heel corner, only for Roberts to tag in and lay in some punishment. Parsons was shortly in, taking to his main adversary by hitting a nice back body drop. Dave was back in next, hitting a running high knee on Roberts for a near fall. Next in was Hayes, then Gordy, both doing quite a bit of damage on Dave. Out of desperation, Dave locked on an Iron Claw to the forehead of Gordy, then of Hayes who tried to run in, but Dave was dumped out to the floor through the second rope for his trouble. David got well worked over for several minutes by each member of The Freebirds, seeing Dave being cut off from his side of the ring at each turn. A tag behind the referee’s back sent Kevin back out to the apron for the false hot tag. Parsons finally got the got tag against Gordy, but tag format broke down quickly and almost immediately, all six men were in the ring. Gordy back body dropped “Iceman” and then ate a closed fist punch from Buddy Roberts to gain The Freebirds a cheap victory here tonight, as Gordy was then able to roll Parsons up. As soon as the bell rang, the crowd cleared out in a hurry, not caring to see The Freebirds as the winners tonight.
- This main event got plenty of time to breath, for once! The action was consistent, the crowd was into it, and each man working hard to make this thing decent. Perhaps for the first time ever, fans were able to see David as a real, sympathetic babyface (and one that can take a beating), as he got beaten down for the few minutes in the middle of the bout. Three stars from me, with the only thing keeping this one back being a dirty finish… not that I was surprised by it in the least, just disappointed.
- Bill Mercer closed us out from the commentary booth high above The Sportatorium. He reviewed some of the outcomes of tonight’s matches. He mentioned Kevin Von Erich & Ric Flair’s rematch being a No Disqualification match! He also said that next week, the NWA Texas Heavyweight Championship would be on the line between “Gorgeous” Jimmy Garvin and David Von Erich! Plus, Kamala in action, Chris Adams, Michael Hayes, Kerry Von Erich, and more!
FINAL THOUGHTS
Okay, so not a bad night of in-ring action tonight, though we got absolutely NO interviews this week, which felt odd. I enjoyed tonight’s main event and would’ve liked a nice, clean victory, but maybe we’ll get that at Star Wars? “Gentleman” Chris Adams continues to impress me with his ahead-of-the-times offense in the ring, he has been a great addition to the roster. Also, does next week sound packed, or what!? Hopefully, this means we’re moving into some stronger summer shows starting with next week.
See you all then!