WCCW kicks off December with a return to Thanksgiving Star Wars, taking place back on 11/24/1983. On tonight’s recap, we get a replay of the WCCW American Tag Team Championship match, the much-anticipated debut of Mike Von Erich, and a six-man tag team match. Plus, more!
WCCW TV*
Date: 12/03/1983 (originally 11/24/1983)
From: Dallas, Texas
MATCHES
1. Black Gordman, Boris Zhukov, & Tonga John vs. Johnny Mantell, José Lothario, & Mike Reed (Taped replay)
2. Mike Von Erich vs. Skandor Akbar (Taped replay)
3. The Super Destroyers (Super Destroyer I & Super Destroyer II) vs. “Iceman” King Parsons & Junkyard Dog (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 10/01/2026.
BREAKDOWN & REVIEW
- Bill Mercer welcomed us to Reunion Arena for this special holiday Star Wars in front of a sold out attending crowd. Some highlights of the issue between Mike Von Erich and Skandor Akbar leading to tonight’s show were shown. Then, Mercer covered the WCCW American Tag Team Championship match tonight and how things got to where they were. After commercial, we then got a national anthem rendition acapella-style.
- It was cool to see the entire opening ceremony here. These are usually cut from tapings.
- Black Gordman, Boris Zhukov, & Tonga John vs. Johnny Mantell, José Lothario, & Mike Reed: Our opening bout was scheduled for one fall, fifteen minute time limit. We kicked this one off with Mantell taking on Tonga John. A standing side headlock turned into a headlock takeover, with Mantell getting an early advantage. Reed was then tagged in and he took over where Mantell left off. Zhukov was tagged in next and he landed some big strikes before tagging out quickly to Gordman. A nice clothesline landed for him and Tonga John was then tagged back in! Reed tried to fire up, but he was shut down with a double chop to the chest. Quick tags continued for the heels as Zhukov was back in to continue the punishment on Reed. Finally, Reed was able to hot tag out to Mantell. Mantell hit a series of moves and got a near fall over the Russian before tagging out to the fresh, José Lothario. His rival, Gordman tagged in and these two were off to the races with dropkicks, chops, leapfrogs, and headlock takeovers. Gordman was chopped out to the floor for a breather just while Lothario was beginning to roll. Tonga John tagged back in and went right after Lothario’s ribs and midsection. A nice punch had Tonga John begging off and then it was Gordman in illegally to get some left hands for his trouble! Suddenly, tag format broke down a bit and Tonga John was taken to task by the babyface team. Once order was restored, it was Zhukov and Mantell in the ring, with Zhukov getting the better of Mantell with a foot choke in the corner. A pin attempt was broken up by Lothario and then all six men were in the ring again! In the midst of the melee, Mantell was able to roll up Zhukov for a three count! After the match, Lothario hit another dropkick on Gordman for good measure!
- Pretty chaotic here, with no real rhyme or reason for who was on which team. This was obviously just a match to give these six guys a spot on the card, with maybe a slight focus on the issues between Blackie Gordman and José Lothario. That said, action was kept super basic, with barely any significant grapples thrown in. Plus, a rollup was our finish here. One star from me… and that might be generous.
- We then cut to a pre-taped interview with Mike, Kevin, David, and Kerry Von Erich at ringside. Bill Mercer greeted the boys and looked forward to Mike’s debut, saying that he has had the pleasure of seeing each boy debut in Dallas personally. Kevin said he was the oldest brother and said it was a special deal for him. David said that he followed in his dad’s and Kevin’s footsteps, just like Kerry did, followed by his little brother, Mike! He has been taught by the best. Kerry said Mike is the best amatuer wrestler of then all and didn’t given Akbar too much time tonight at all. Mike finally got the chance to speak and said that he didn’t know if he was the best Von Erich of all, but he was sure going to try! Bill wished him luck as we cut back to Reunion Arena.
- Obviously, all of the boys here were here to try to help Mike get over. Mike has no microphone skills at all and Kevin even teased him here for being shy to speak. I don’t know if Mike is going to cut it as a big-time Von Erich unless he comes out of his shell a little more. Only time will tell!
- Prior to Mike Von Erich’s debut match here, Marc Lowrance introduced Sam Muchnick at ringside, a former president of the NWA. Seated next to him, was Bing Devine who was also formally introduced as the current president and general manager of the St. Louis Cardinals.
- Not sure why these guys had to be announced in attendance before the match here…?
- Mike Von Erich vs. Skandor Akbar: This match was set for one fall with a twenty minute time limit. Mike looked absolutely terrified, but he kept stone-faced and focused on Akbar. Akbar paced around the ring before these two locked up. Mike pushed Akbar into the ropes and I could tell the crowd was anxious to see what Mike could actually do. A backslide almost got Akbar but he was able to slip out of the pin at two. Akbar bailed out to the floor for a powder. Back in the ring, Mike worked over the leg and knee of Akbar with dropping elbows. Mike then hit a dropkick but missed a second one as Akbar put the boots to him. A scoop slam put Mike down and he was then passed a whip from ringside by Friday. Before he could use it, Mike rolled him up for a three count! He then got the whip and put it use on Akbar himself! Kevin Von Erich came to ringside to keep Friday from getting involved any further and Akbar bailed to the floor before being whipped any further.
- Well, it was very obvious that Akbar was having to hold Mike’s hand through this one. That said, Mike did show signs of knowing how to keep fans engaged in the action. He will definitely need to work on his in-ring and microphone skills if they plan on featuring Mike in a big way moving forward. Not terrible, but I could tell the fans were probably expecting to see a little more offense from this newly-debuting Von Erich. One star from me.
- The Super Destroyers vs. “Iceman” King Parsons & Junkyard Dog: Our next match was a tag team bout, scheduled for one fall to a finish, forty-five minutes for a limit, for the WCCW American Tag Team Championship. I love the team of Parsons and Dog, I have to saw. They’re a perfect paring. That said, it was JYD who kicked things off with Super Destroyer I. Some lock ups and shove offs got us going, ending with Dog blocking a punch and throwing a nice one of his own. A running forearm sent Destroyer I to tag out to II while Parsons also came in. A standing side headlock tied Destroyer II up for a moment. Some chain wrestling occured, with Parsons coming out ahead in a side headlock takeover. After a dropkick, Dog tagged back in to continue wearing down Destroyer II. A reverse chinlock kept the masked man grounded until JYD’s hair was pulled. Dog was able to get a headbutt on both Super Destroyers in the heel corner! He would pay as for the next few moments the heels tagged in and out and landed heavy strikes on him. Parsons got the hot tag and hit his running Butt Butt, but it was Destroyer II that came in to break up the pin. All four men then went at it, with action spilling out to the floor. Parsons was sent into the corner post, busting him open. Back in the ring, Destroyer II went right to work on the cut with fists. Elbows and punches sent Parsons flying back to his corner to tag in JYD who cleaned house with punches, back body drops, and a scoop slam. Parsons was then taken out by David Manning and other ringside officials, leaving Dog to fight off the champions by himself. Dog stayed alive with punches and headbutts. The numbers game would come into play, leaving Dog in a bad way after a double team move. Then, a taped up King Parsons came running back down to the ring to save JYD and the bell was called for as tag format completely broke down. Both teams were disqualified as the brawl continued, with Parsons cleaning house of the Super Destroyers. JYD was then up to help his partner as Parsons pulled Akbar in the hard way. Then, out of nowhere, a fireball ended up in Parsons’ face as the bell continued to ring!
- This was nuts. Unfortunately, the Super Destroyers retain here, but it was exciting from bell-to-bell. Seeing Junkyard Dog is always a treat and again, I love the teaming of him and “Iceman”. This was a solid bout with momentum swinging back and forth several times, including Parsons being pulled out only to return to the match to make the save. Two stars from me!
- Bill Mercer quickly wrapped up the show from ringside, asking viewers at home to join WCCW again next week for exciting action from Reunion Arena!
FINAL THOUGHTS
Nothing new as far as programming here tonight. Sometimes, on these replay shows, they’ll splice in a new interview or segment, but that wasn’t the case here. Despite being out of show order, tonight was all replay footage. Nonetheless, I like Junkyard Dog in World Class and would like to see more of him. As far as Mike Von Erich, I do feel like he’s going to have an uphill battle when it comes to keeping up with the rest of his brothers… Mike seems to be starting from way, way behind. Beyond that, we’re back to Reunion for more Thanksgiving Star Wars next week, so we’ll have to see what else will be shown!
See you all then!