Three Von Erichs and three Freebirds are in town this week and are set to clash in tonight’s Six-Man Tag Team main event! On top of that, it seems Devastation Incorporated has collected another new weapon, this time from Mother Russia. All that and much, much more!
WCCW TV
Date: 08/20/1983
From: Dallas, Texas
MATCHES
1. Michael Hayes vs. “Iceman” King Parsons (Taped replay)
2. Bill Rathke vs. “Iceman” King Parsons
3. Boris Zhukov vs. Mike Reed
4. Kevin, David, & Kerry Von Erich vs. Michael Hayes, Buddy Roberts, & Terry Gordy
BREAKDOWN & REVIEW
- Bill Mercer welcomed us to downtown Dallas, Texas and explained that tonight we have that major main event coming up, the match everybody wants to see, the six-man tag team match between the Von Erichs and The Freebirds.
- Michael Hayes vs. “Iceman” King Parsons: Apparently, this match was originally taped on 04/01/1983 while WCCW was at the State Fair Coliseum according to the playback here. It was set for one fall with a twenty minute time limit. The crowd was hot and most seemed excited to watch Hayes potentially get his ass whipped. A lockup ended quick when Hayes threw a cheap knee into Parsons’ gut. This would prove to be a mistake though, as Parsons went right to work on Hayes big time. Hayes bounced from corner-to-corner with punches, dropkicks, back bodydrops, and a running crossbody. In a shocking turn of events, Hayes ended up rolling through another crossbody and pinning Parsons much to the displeasure of the live crowd! This came absolutely out of nowhere and it almost seemed as though Hayes himself was surprised as he exited!
- Not really sure why we needed to see a replay of this match, as it was literally maybe a minute or two in length. Hayes did need a win here, no doubt about it. It did play well into Hayes being a bastard heel, but that was about it for this one. Not much to rate, dud here.
- Back from commercial, we were presented a featurette highlighting World Class being the ‘land of the giants’… we then cut to a tape of Kamala SLAMMING André The Giant in a different territory. Then, a replay of Bruiser Brody running in to save Mike Bond from Kamala a few weeks back, showing Brody knocking Kamala down in the segment. Another clip was shown where Brody ran in to trade punches with Kamala recently, both men standing toe-to-toe and firing away on each other from a week or two ago. Bill Mercer closed the segment with saying he anticipates more battles across the ‘land of the giants’ here in World Class!
- So, more work to establish a future, inevitable match between Kamala and Bruiser Brody. It was cool to see Kamala slamming André, too. It only further helped push along his credibility as a major threat to ANY competitors he may step in the ring with, including Bruiser Brody. Brody and Kamala will be a huge match, fans are going to eat that up.
- Bill Rathke vs. “Iceman” King Parsons: Our true opening contest here was set for one fall to a finish, with a ten minute time limit. I didn’t expect this one to go long, with the “Iceman” needing a nice little win here following his defeat at the hands of Michael Hayes. Parsons danced his way around the ring, making Rathke look silly with his attempts to grab at him slowly. A clubbing blow landed hard on Parsons’ chest in the corner, but he fired back bigtime with a stinging chop that stunned the big man and popped the crowd. Then, a standing side headlock cooled Parsons down for a minute. Out of the headlock, both men collided in a series of running shoulder blocks, until the “Iceman” got the bigger man down with a running shoulder tackle for a near fall. We got a pretty creative finish when Parsons was whipped into one corner, leapt up to the second rope, and caught Rathke with his Butt-Butt hip attack while Rathke was running in at him!
- This felt like a good win for Parsons here. It was competitive, somewhat hard-fought against the bigger man, and the finish was refreshing! Rathke was able to keep up with Parsons for the most part, helping Parsons’ offense look that much better. Star and a half here, much more than your average enhancement match for sure. With more time and maybe a bit of a story attached, we could’ve easily gotten something even better here.
- Next, we cut to a pre-taped promo featuring Kevin Von Erich to talk about the upcoming tag team match and what the WCCW Six-Man Tag Team Championship means to him. To him, it means just as much as the World Championship himself. It belongs to himself and his brothers and they have trained all their lives to be the champions and nobody is going to beat them!
- I liked that Kevin put this over so huge, with the big trophy sat next to him on the ring apron and everything. These are freshly-established titles, so having them further promoted as just as important as the NWA World’s Heavyweight Championship is a good way to associate them with significance… as long as the matches live up to said hype.
- Then, it was Michael Hayes who was here to talk up the six-man scene and the accompanying championship in World Class. Hayes said that The Freebirds took pride in being the first WCCW Six-Man Tag Team Championship holders and so did people in Atlanta! A lot of tag teams across the country and other people are saying that if The Freebirds don’t win this one, they’re going to the bottom of the pile… Hayes said instead, tonight, the Von Erichs are going down and the titles are going back to Atlanta!
- Hayes treated this as a serious ‘sudden-death’ style promo, which only put further pressure on the six men in the main event tonight. They had to deliver after these two promos here.
- After commercial, Bill Mercer was in the commentary booth to introduce our next featurette of the evening, this time, featuring the newest WCCW American Heavyweight Champion, “Gorgeous” Jimmy Garvin. We then cut to a wood-paneled office where Bill meet with Jimmy and Sunshine for a sort of ‘news conference’. Mercer brought up a rumor of Garvin possibly deciding to defend his newly won title every week on television. Garvin said he is considering it and is shocked the rumors have gotten around so quickly. He has computer readouts on every one of his potential challengers, to which Sunshine said he could easily beat them all. Garvin said that World Class Championship Wrestling is just that, world class, especially because Garvin is on the roster. He reminded viewers how many times he has beaten David Von Erich, won the NWA Texas Heavyweight Championship, he beat Kevin Von Erich for the WCCW American Heavyweight Championship. The fact is, Jimmy Garvin is the best athlete in wrestling, despite Mercer bringing up the Garvin being forced to do chores on David’s farm, Sunshine using aerosol spray in Kevin’s face at ringside, etc. Garvin brushed it all off and said that he was the champion and that’s all that mattered! We cut back to Mercer in the commentary booth, where he did confirm that Garvin would be defending his title every week moving forward. He called the decision an odd one for Garvin, but that’s Jimmy Garvin for you!
- I like the idea of a weekly defense for Garvin. It opens up a lot of potential for Garvin to get over as an even bigger heel by cheating or picking up cheap victories against lower-level opponents. We’ll have to wait and see!
- Boris Zhukov vs. Mike Reed: Our next bout was set for one fall with a fifteen minute time limit. Apparently, Zhukov will be a member of Devastation Incorporated, as he was being managed here by Skandor Akbar. Bill Mercer called Zhukov the assassin of Devastation Inc. In the ring, Zhukov cranked on a reverse chinlock as the crowd chanted for Mike Reed. Zhukov hit a big boot on Reed and then choked him over the top rope. Another chinlock was the applied. Mercer also announced that next week, Zhukov would be facing Bruiser Brody! The Russian cranked on a front facelock next and the crowd broke into big chants for Bruiser to come out. Reed finally got some offense in, with a back bodydrop and a dropkick. This flurry wouldn’t last, as Zhukov planted Reed with a hangman’s neckbreaker, followed by a flying kneedrop off the top rope to pick up an easy pinfall.
- So, Boris Zhukov basically sucks. This one went three or four minutes when it probably should’ve only went one. His neckbreaker looked nice, but that was about it. I haven’t really liked any of the latest additions to Devastation Inc. and at this point, I can’t even remember the last time we saw premiere talent like The Great Kabuki or King Kong Bundy on television… at this point, Kamala seems to be carrying the team as the star of the stable. Dud here.
- After the match, Bill Mercer met with Skandor Akbar and Boris Zhukov at ringside for an interview. Akbar called Zhukov the Soviet Union’s finest athlete in the world today. Devastation Inc. continues to get stronger and stronger by the day, as he continues to scout the world for the best talent. If this assassin from the USSR, Boris Zhukov, beats Bruiser Brody next week, he will be formally signed to Devastation Incorporated with a top contract!
- Soooo, maybe he isn’t officially part of the group yet? Well, then there you go… Boris’ run with Akbar will probably end next week! I can’t say I’m disappointed and I do hope Brody makes quick work of this dude.
- Back from commercial and prior to Marc Lowrance making any introductions, Kevin Von Erich grabbed the house mic and had a few words to say. He said that The Freebirds may have people believing that this is a war between Texas and Georgia, but the Von Erichs have family living under that Georgia flag and he wants to set the record straight. This wasn’t a war between Texas and Georgia, this was a war between decency and FILTH! The crowd erupted with this and tensions only rose inside the ring.
- Famous line from Kevin here. It definitely landed well with The Sportatorium audience.
- Kevin, David, & Kerry Von Erich vs. Michael Hayes, Buddy Roberts, & Terry Gordy: Our much-anticipated main event for the WCCW Six-Man Tag Team Championship was set for one fall with a sixty minute time limit. I was surprised to see this go on a regular week of television, but here we were, ready to go! The bell rang and it was Hayes and Kevin to kick things off. An atomic drop sent Hayes to his corner to tag out to Buddy Roberts. Soon, Kerry was in to drop a standing knee on Roberts, but Buddy would tag out quickly leaving Gordy to lock horns with Kerry. Dave would get a running high knee on Gordy after tagging in, but Hayes would be in next to take advantage. Hayes and Kevin were in together next, with Kevin bouncing Hayes from pillar to post! At this point, The Freebirds were really on the ropes. Each man was sent out of the ring by Kevin, forcing them to regroup on the outside as the chants of “Go home, Freebirds” rained down! Once they re-collected themselves, The Freebirds began picking apart Kerry Von Erich in the ring. Kerry rallied back with an arm wringer on Roberts, which was just enough to get a tag out to David. Dave caught a kitchen sink which opened the door for Terry Gordy to come in and continue the punishment. Gordy and Dave traded blows toe-to-toe while the crowd worked itself into a frenzy. After a few minutes of downtime for David, he was able to make the hot tag to Kevin. Kevin attempted a running body splash but caught two knees in his gut instead. Then, it was Kevin getting taken to task by Gordy followed by Hayes. A huge suplex put Hayes down for a two-count at the hands of Kerry. A triple dropkick on Hayes got the crowd even more excited! All six men ended up in the ring at this point, tag format completely breaking down. Roberts was dropkicked out of the ring by Kerry. David was then dumped over the top rope rope. While Kerry had Michael Hayes in a bearhug, Roberts ran back into the ring and nailed Kerry with a headbutt between his shoulder blades using his loaded headgear. This kept Kerry down with Hayes collapsing on him to get an upset pinfall! The crowd was stunned and not really sure what happened, as The Fabulous Freebirds were awarded the giant trophy at ringside. David and Kevin checked on Kerry as the heels marched away with the win.
- This was a HUGE main event match, with a surprise finish, seeing The Freebirds walk away with the championship. World Class is perhaps defined by matches exactly like this, at exactly this time. The action was one-hundred miles an hour from the first bell to the last and the fans couldn’t contain their excitement for each tag, big spot, or brawl that occurred throughout. Four stars. All six men were at the top of their game here, the action delivered, and the atmosphere in The Sportatorium was electric. Again, to this day, WCCW is defined by matches like these.
- Bill Mercer was at ringside to close us out for the night. He announced that next week, Kerry Von Erich would be out for revenge when meeting Buddy Roberts in singles action. Plus, we’ll see Boris Zhukov meet Bruiser Brody, and more!
FINAL THOUGHTS
Tonight, the second half of the show carried the first. We were interview and segment heavy, with action really lacking for the first twenty or so minutes of the show. Then, we got a classic match for a main event, plain and simple. When it comes to The Freebirds and Von Erichs feud, this felt like a peak moment for us here. I can’t wait to see Bruiser Brody next week and to see what ends up happening between Roberts and Kerry!
See you all then!