Tonight, we again head back to Reunion Arena for a reply of the rest of International Star Wars’ tremendous card. Kamala will meet three men in a handicap match, with the losing side having to leave town! Plus, in our semi-main event, the NWA World’s Heavyweight Championship is on the line when Harley Race is challenged by Kevin Von Erich. Closing us out this week, a monumental, championship tag team match that pits The Freebirds, Michael Hayes & Terry Gordy, against Kerry Von Erich and the devastating Bruiser Brody!
WCCW TV*
Date: 07/02/1983
From: Dallas, Texas
MATCHES
1. Kamala vs. Arman Hussein, Mike Bond, & The Great Yatsu (Taped replay)
2. Harley Race vs. Kevin Von Erich (Taped replay)
3. Bruiser Brody & Kerry Von Erich vs. Michael Hayes & Terry Gordy (Taped replay)
*BROADCAST NOTE
This playback copy has been presented in the most complete form possible, due to original production technical difficulties. Reported by the WWE as of 01/13/2026.
BREAKDOWN & REVIEW
- Bill Mercer welcomed us back to this portion of World Class International Star Wars as we got a wide shot of Reunion Arena prepping for our next bout. Bill quickly gave a run down of what we could expect to see tonight and we were then off to the ring.
- Kamala vs. Arman Hussein, Mike Bond, & The Great Yatsu: This handicap bout was going to be one-on-three, one fall to a finish, with a twenty minute time limit. Kamala would have to beat all three men to win here, so I guess it’ll actually be an elimination bout? The three jumped Kamala but Kamala exploded out of the pile and began to go to work on these guys. Two-handed choke slams put Arman and Yatsu down momentarily. Bond was then chopped to oblivion, with throat thrusts coming up next for each man. A running splash put Yatsu away for an easy three count, with no attempt to break up the pin. Arman and Bond jumped Kamala, but Kamala threw both away, with Bond ending up out on the floor. Arman Hussein decided to cut his losses and exit with The Great Yatsu as Kamala continued the punishment on Bond inside the ring. He hit two running splashes to Bond and pulled him out of the pin according to orders from Friday and Skandor Akbar at ringside. A third splash finally put Bond out of his misery and after the three count, Kamala hit a forth for good measure! Bruiser Brody then appeared running down to the ring to even the odds! He laid out Akbar and dropped Kamala with a running double axe handle. The crowd was worked up into a frenzy as officials attempted to keep Kamala and Brody separated! Kamala was finally convinced to exit as Brody carried Mike Bond to the back.
- Hmmm, interesting. Well, this was a classic monster heel squash, with Kamala looking as unstoppable as ever… despite maybe his splashing looking like utter dog feces. A Bruiser Brody and Kamala face-off would be interesting though, as I’d assume Kamala would have to fall in that case. The crowd definitely wanted to see it tonight. Otherwise, this wasn’t anything overly special, but it was entertaining for what it was, one star from me.
- In a pre-taped interview, Marc Lowrance was standing by with Bruiser Brody backstage in the locker room. Brody said that he’s been away from Dallas for a long time, but in any business you make a few good friends. When Kerry Von Erich called him in Japan for help with some business with The Freebirds, he couldn’t help but to take the call. The Freebirds may have accused Bruiser Brody for not being a man of his word, but when Kerry called him for help, there was never a doubt in his mind that he’d be in the middle of Reunion Arena in Dallas, Texas fighting The Freebirds for the NWA American Tag Team Championship. Never a doubt in his mind, Kerry Von Erich’s mind, or any wrestling fan’s mind across the country!
- Brody actually cuts a better promo than I thought, as I can’t think of any other promos off the top of my head. As I have mentioned before, I only know Brody for his Japan work with AJPW and NJPW. This is one of the reasons I was so excited to cover World Class in long-form, as I knew I’d be able to experience Brody for the first time, in full form, stateside.
- Kevin Von Erich vs. Harley Race: Our semi-main event was set for one fall, sixty minutes, for the NWA World’s Heavyweight Championship. Lowrance announced that going over the top rope wouldn’t result in a disqualification and if Race was disqualified, he would lose the championship! So, they’re sticking with the stipulations that Flair had agreed to before losing the belt to Race, that’s interesting… the crowd was buzzing for Kevin as Race stalled off into one corner. As we got started Race ran into a dropkick and then hit his awesome turning cross body off the top rope for a two count! After nearly winning the match within a minute, Race bailed to the floor to regroup. Back in the ring, Kevin slipped out of a suplex and slapped on a sleeper hold. After Race used Kevin’s hair to break the hold, Kevin sent Harley up and over the top rope for a measure of revenge. Race was back in, laying in some closed fists in the corner, but then his shoulder was sent into the ringpost by Kevin.I was surprised to see how much punishment Race was taking here. An Iron Claw was slapped onto Race’s forehead in the center of the ring. To break the hold, Race dumped Kevin out to the floor through the ropes. With Kevin back in, Race got in some nice headbutts. Kevin’s shoulder began to bother him after falling out onto the timekeeper’s table, to which Race took full advantage of. Kevin threw strikes with one arm, but Race picked him up and stuck him with a hard shoulder breaker. David Manning threatened to stop the match, as Kevin protested. Race dropped a few standing elbows into Kevin’s shoulder and then came off the second rope with a double axe handle onto the shoulder. Race went up to the second rope for a repeat, but was caught in an Iron Claw! Out of desperation, Race again sent Kevin out through the middle rope down into a cameraman at ringside. At this point, David Von Erich ran down to ringside to try and convince Kevin to give it up this time to fight another day. While Dave helped Kevin up, Race threw a boot down on them and David snapped. He jumped into the ring, put hands on Race, and hit a running high knee on Race! The official called for the bell as Kevin and David were disqualified for the interference. Dave had to be pulled off Race as he snatched the World’s Championship away from the official to taunt Race. He shouted at Race that he was next in line and he didn’t care if it was Race or Flair and if he couldn’t beat them, he’d quit wrestling! Then Dave almost decked Harley with the title, but instead threw it down on him to console Kevin in the corner.
- For a lot of reasons, the way that match was structured, Kevin should’ve won the championship here. Instead, once again, a Von Erich loses a NWA World’s Heavyweight Championship on a Star Wars card… Dave was almost showing some heelish tendencies after the bell here, birating Race and nearly hitting him the title while he was down. Kevin put up a good battle and the shoulder angle worked well with the ruthless style of Harley Race. Given the non-finish and the slight lack of consistent action that Kevin normally delivers, I’m giving this match two stars.
- Next, in another pre-taped interview, Marc Lowrance was joined by Michael Hayes backstage in the locker room. Michael still couldn’t believe that Bruiser Brody showed up and said that there was some conspiracy in Dallas and everytime he has to wrestle in Texas, it really makes him mad. That said, he’s just glad that he, Buddy, and Terry have never had to ask anybody for anything, that’s why they’re the champions. It is no problem to beat up on Kerry Von Erich, but fighting Brody is a whole other thing. Brody is an animal, he’s wild. Brody might be big, but he’s got a brother that’ll be right there with him. The fact is, they aren’t scare of anything and though he may have at one time respected Brody, he found out he was a Texan and doesn’t anymore! Brody is no good, just like the rest of them. With that, Hayes stormed away.
- This was a solid promo here from Hayes, but it was weird Terry Gordy was nowhere to be found? Hayes did a good job of helping further setup Brody as a walking wrecking machine. I’m looking forward to our last bout of the evening!
- Once down to the ring, Michael Hayes grabbed the house mic and said that nobody does what “Iceman” King Parsons did to The Fabulous Freebirds by taking his brother’s hair. He laid out an official challenge for anywhere, anytime against the “Iceman”. He wanted it to be a lights-out match and if he lost, Parsons could cut his hair!
- If King Parsons accepts the challenge and beats Hayes in that match, he’ll be the most over guy in the territory.
- Bruiser Brody & Kerry Von Erich vs. Michael Hayes & Terry Gordy: Our featured main event was scheduled for one fall to a finish, forty-five minute time limit, for the NWA American Tag Team Championship. You want to know what awesome is? Seeing Kerry Von Erich and Bruiser Brody march down to the ring to the Star Wars opening crawl theme in the middle of Reunion Arena in 1983. Kerry and Gordy started things off, with Kerry getting the better of him with some punches. A quick tag out to Hayes gave him a chance to hit a nice running back elbow. The Freebirds cut off the ring well, keeping Kerry away from Brody with frequent tags in and out. Kerry was able to make the hot tag and cleaned house with dropkicks, bodyslams, and wild punches. Both Freebirds ended up on the floor outside as Brody came off like an unstoppable force of nature. The Freebirds eventually got back in this one, with Hayes landing two running elbows to Brody on the mat. Kerry tagged back in and hit a flying dropkick as Brody took care of Terry Gordy on the apron. With Gordy on ice on the outside, Brody picked up Kerry on an Irish whip and threw him like a battering ram onto Hayes who crumbled and was pinned for a surprise three count! The crowd exploded and Brody and Kerry were awarded the NWA American Tag Team Championship.
- As hyped as I was to see Brody in action, I do think The Freebirds were beaten a little too easily here for the tag titles. I figured with Buddy losing his hair earlier, Terry and Michael were a shoe-in for some sort of victory here in the main event. Then again, it was against Bruiser Brody. As important as The Freebirds are, there was no way Brody was appearing to lose alongside Kerry. The fans were sent home happy and we have new champions to cap off one hell of a packed show. Can’t really complain, even if the match was far too quick and far too one-sided. Star and a half for me.
- Back from commercial, Bill Mercer closed us out from the Sportatorium commentary booth. He put over our tremendous main events and teased an eventual confrontation between Kamala and Bruiser Brody. A recap of the NWA World’s Heavyweight Championship match, as well as the NWA American Tag Team Championship match. Bill also announced that, next week, we will be treated to a Lumberjack Match between Terry Gody and Kerry Von Erich, plus much more!
FINAL THOUGHTS
That rounds out our replay time for International Star Wars, I believe. With that event officially behind us, I will be glad to dive into some fresh content next week. Will we see more of Bruiser Brody moving forward? Or will it be back off to Japan until the next super show? With Arman Hussein and Yatsu’s loss tonight, does that mean they’ll be off TV moving forward… done with World Class? With all that is going on, I look forward to moving into the late summer and fall of 1983… let alone next week!
See you all then!