As Thanksgiving Star Wars looms, the feud between The Fabulous Freebirds and the beloved Von Erichs continue, as Terry Gordy meets Kevin Von Erich in our main event tonight. Plus, Michael Hayes has his hands full with the veteran, José Lothario. The same could be said for the WCCW American Heavyweight Champion, “Gorgeous” Jimmy Garvin, when he faces a man from ‘parts unknown’…
WCCW TV*
Date: 10/29/1983
From: Dallas, Texas
MATCHES
1. David Von Erich, “Gentleman” Chris Adams & “Iceman” King Parsons vs. Kamala, The Mongol & Michael Hayes (Taped replay)
2. The Masked Avenger vs. “Gorgeous” Jimmy Garvin
3. José Lothario vs. Michael Hayes
4. Terry Gordy vs. Kevin Von Erich
*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 08/15/2026.
BREAKDOWN & REVIEW
- Bill Mercer welcomed us to the Dallas Sportatorium and covered the main event upcoming tonight. Our replay opening the night was taped back on 08/23 inside the Will Rogers Coliseum and that was up next!
- David Von Erich, “Gentleman” Chris Adams & “Iceman” King Parsons vs. Kamala, The Mongol & Michael Hayes: We joined this match in progress, so I’m not sure about our time limit constraints here. In the ring, Michael Hayes was being taken to task by Adams before tagging out to David. Parsons was tagged in to continue the punishment on Hayes. Suddenly, when Hayes went to tag out, Kamala nearly attacked him out of confusion! Skandor Akbar had to jump to the apron to calm Kamala down as the heel corner was in shambles. Once Kamala was able to refocus, he began to work over Parsons. Out of frustration, Hayes tagged back in and then he and Kamala exchanged tags as Kamala was slowly starting to understand the concept! Very odd, slightly comedic segment here… Parsons got back to work on Hayes, but Hayes wouldn’t put up with long before tagging in The Mongol. The Mongol and Kamala worked over Parsons until David had enough and fought his way back in the ring. Dave and Kamala traded strikes before David was thrown to the outside. The heels worked “Iceman” over in their corner before the referee was able to regain a little bit of order. Parsons was in a bad way, until Adams got himself a hot tag. He tried chopping Kamala down with running strikes, but none of them registered and instead, Kamala caught Adams and slammed him down hard. Without making much headway, Dave tagged back in and sized Kamala up before falling victim to several overhead chops. An Iron Claw found Kamala’s forehead and he jumped around in pain as Dave kept the squeeze on. Dave kept the Claw on for a few solid minutes, Kamala basically becoming immobile. Kamala made his way out to the floor and in a state of pain and confusion, pushed Friday away. Kamala seemed ready to leave as he handlers attempted to rangle him. Reluctantly, Kamala got back up to the apron and tagged Hayes to go in. Kamala shook his head and didn’t want to get back in their with Dave and the feared Iron Claw. All three heels stalled on the apron, with nobody wanting to go in there against Von Erich! We were literally standing around at this point, again, pretty odd. Finally, we got back to some action as Hayes planted Dave with a suplex and a running elbow drop for a near fall. A double down led to The Mongol and Chris Adams tagging in. Adams hit a back body drop and a Super Kick on the big man, eventually tying him up in a sleeper hold. Hayes was in to break it up, but Parsons took care of him as Adams hit another Super Kick on The Mongol. Chaos ensued with all men in and midst of it all, Chris Adams was able to hit another Super Kick on Hayes (who flew out to the floor ) and The Mongol (who was still the legal man) to get the pinfall victory! After the match, the heels argued inside the ring.
- That was a fun multi-man tag team match, though it was painfully slow at times. At several points, to sell Kamala’s confusion, we got guys standing around. I actually like that Kamala kind of fears the pain of the Iron Claw, despite it being the main focus of this match. Two stars here. I’m glad we were able to see this one, as the combo of guys was much different than we’ve been seeing on weekly television.
- The Masked Avenger vs. “Gorgeous” Jimmy Garvin: Our next match was set for one fall to a finish, fifteen minute time limit. The Masked Avenger was covered head-to-toe and was announced as being from ‘parts unknown’. Something felt fishy here… anyway, the bell rang and Garvin immediately dropped down to do some push-ups. Jogging around the ring, Garvin was finally ready to go here and right out of the gave, Avenger hit deep arm drags, scoop slams, and a nice Super Kick! That put Garvin down in a shocking upset and speaking of which, after the bell, Avenger took off his mask to reveal “Gentleman” Chris Adams underneath! The crowd absolutely exploded and cheered him on completely as Garvin hightailed it to the back.
- Listen, despite me being a little suspicious, that was pulled off extremely well! Adams seems to be over a lot more than maybe I thought, this reveal proved that without a shadow of a doubt. Garvin played his role perfectly and this probably marks one of the more memorable moments of 1983 WCCW TV. As far as the match, we basically didn’t get one, so one star from me. The crowd reaction alone was worth that!
- Back from commercial, Bill Mercer was in the locker room area with “Gentleman” Chris Adams, who was out of breath following his surprise for Jimmy Garvin. Mercer said that he was even fooled by The Masked Avenger! Adams said he may have used a trick, but he beat him… he beat the WCCW American Heavyweight Champion! He’s fought him to a draw and beat him under a mask. He got him in the ring and he beat him. Now he knows, Garvin knows, and everybody knows that he’s capable of beating the champion and that it was only a matter of time before Garvin is going to have to give him a fair shot. If Garvin runs and hides, Adams says he has a lot more tricks for him up his sleeve if need be!
- I like this approach for Adams, the underdog who just wants a fair shake at the champ, with Garvin playing the chicken-shit heel. I look forward to how this continues to unfold.
- Prior to our next match back in The Sportatorium, Black Gordman ran down José Lothario on a house mic in spanish, assumingly challenging him to a match in the future. He threw a kick into Lothario’s midsection before officials ushered Gordman away.
- José Lothario vs. Michael Hayes: Our next match was set for one fall to a finish, twenty minutes for a limit. Lothario started behind the ball being attacked before the match, having to nurse his midsection and shoulder, but he was still all over Hayes. Hayes began to target the shoulder before throwing Lothario out to the floor hard. Hayes pulled Lothario up to the apron, worked the arm, and threw him into a ring post. Again, José landed out on the floor, allowing Hayes time to strut around the ring. Bill Mercer mentioned on commentary that sometime soon, Kerry Von Erich and Michael Hayes would be having a match that would see the loser having to leave the Dallas area for a full year! Damn! Back in the ring, Lothario was brought in over the hard way. He climbed up to the tope rope and came down on Lothario with an axe handle onto the shoulder to pick up an easy three count.
- Not sure why we were promoting a Black Gordman / José Lothario match using this match to be the vehicle for that. Will that even be for World Class, or a Mexican-based promotion? What was the point of this one here? Nonetheless, at least Hayes won. Dud from me, half a star.
- Terry Gordy vs. Kevin Von Erich: Our main event of the evening was set for one fall to a finish with a forty-five minute time limit. The crowd was hot for this one and they were looking to get plenty of TV time here according to what was left. Gordy tried to drop Kevin early, but Kevin kicked him away even quicker, proving he wasn’t going to be pushed around by the big man! A lot of pacing and measuring to start this one off here as Bill Mercer mentioned the professional debut of Mike Von Erich soon. The action started to heat up in the ring in the meantime, with Kevin locking on his dreaded seated grapevine body scissors hold. Suddenly, Kevin spun to his stomach on two separate occasions for quick pin attempts, of which Gordy was able to escape at a count of two both times. This body submission on the ate began eating up a lot of time here, as the struggle on the mat continued. Gordy clumsily got back to his feet to break the hold but would end up right back into the same spot after fumbling around and falling. Out of desperation, Gordy began twisting the toes of Kevin Von Erich, allowing another break of the hold. Back on their feet, Kevin stated on the big man until he ate a nasty big boot! Some mean punches found their mark on Kevin, followed by a swinging neckbreaker for a near fall. Back on his feet, Kevin fought his way out of a corner but Gordy was able to stall his opponent’s momentum again. A fist drop lead to a seated chin lock, putting Kevin a bad way. All these holds were beginning to catch up with the crowd, as they really quieted down at this point. a clothesline landed and another sleeper like move was applied by Gordy. Kevin was thrown out to the floor and Gordy then signalled for the Oriental Spike. He found it on Kevin who was on the apron. This put Von Erich back out on the floor as the official continued the countout. Kevin made it back in to eat some more of Gordy’s punches. Kevin was able to reverse a suplex into a roll up, but it was Gordy who ended up on top to pin Kevin’s shoulders to the mat for a three count! After the match. Gordy was accused of using the tights to get the pin, so the decision was overturned! Gordy went on a rampage, slamming Kevin down but missing the Oriental Spike attempt when Kevin rolled out of the way. Kevin was looking to break Gordy’s thumb by pinching it into one of the turnbuckle hooks, but Gordy was able to pull away and get out to the floor to escape!
- Death by a thousand holds here.. though the action did pick up a bit in the last five minutes or so of the bout. Gordy and Kevin work well together and regardless of this one being pretty slow and plotting, it still kept my attention. I like that Kevin got one over a Freebird here, too. No interference, but the reversal of the decision was silly. If Kevin was getting an upset win, give him the win off the bat. I get not wanting to beat Gordy clean, but still… all that in mind, I’m giving this one two and a half stars.
- After the match, Bill Mercer met Kevin Von Erich at ringside for an interview. Kevin said it felt good to beat a Freebird and had a referee not gotten involved, Terry Gordy’s thumb would’ve been snapped right off in the turnbuckle up there in the ring! That was that from Kevin as he wandered out of frame and Bill Mercer said that he was off to get his back checked out, as he tweaked it a bit in the ring against Gordy.
- Pretty savage of a good guy to want to snap a guy’s thumb off in the ring! Kevin plays pissed off well, to say the least.
- Bill Mercer proceeded to wrap up the show, saying that it had been a wild night. Next week, Johnny Mantell and “Gentleman” Chris Adams will meet The Freebirds, Michael Hayes and Terry Gordy. Plus a ladies match will pit Princess Victoria against Judy Martin.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Pretty cut-and-dry episode this week. Terry Gordy is quickly reaching special attraction level of infamy and that was readily apparent with our main event this week. “Gentleman” Chris Adams continues to rocket up the ranks of the fan favorites week-to-week and his ascension has been very fun to watch. Beyond that, I was surprised to enjoy our taped replay match as much as I did to open our show, too. I look forward to see where the rest of the autumn of 1983 takes us, with several big shows still on our horizon. November starts next episode, so only time will tell!
See you all then!