World Class Championship Wrestling 22/01/1983

Kevin von Erich vs King Kong Bundy

This is for Kevin’s North American title. Kevin is all fight, in the face of Bundy early doors, to the extent that he actually gets Bundy over on a side headlock. Even more unlikely, they work some mat reversals, including Bundy countering to a headscissors. Didn’t expect that. Lovely spot where Bundy won’t let Kevin back into the ring, so Kevin does laps of the ring, using his speed to sneak an opening. Von Erich get the claw, but Bundy is in the ropes. Bundy moves the referee in the way as Kevin comes off the top, taking him out, and throws von Erich over the top rope, but it seems that the ref spots it, as he pulls Kevin out of the way of an avalanche attempt to declare him the winner. Really neat match.

Brian Adias vs Terry Gordy

Adias is accompanied by Kerry von Erich, so Gordy has his focus on Kerry most of the match. It affects his concentration, as Adias breaks a headlock to get an overhead wristlock instead. Sadly, a lot of this match is Gordy holding a headlock, which isn’t very interesting. Michael Hayes comes out to lure Kerry away, and the distraction lets Gordy hit a piledriver to win.

King Kong Bundy vs The Samoan

Pretty pedestrian squash for Bundy. He just wears the Samoan down methodically, though his big kneedrop to the back looks great. An avalanche is followed by a backbreaker and a splash for the win.

WCCW 13/11/1982

The Fabulous Freebirds vs Frank Dusek & Killer Tim Brooks

Pretty decent match, liked how well these two teams matched up. There’s some little touches that indicate a bit of hate, like Brooks biting Hayes’ hand early on, which goes with the vicious brawling that occurs every time the two are in the ring together. The Freebirds are the more fluid team, loved some of their early quick tags and teamwork. Gordy is briefly isolated, but makes the tag after a big back suplex on Dusek, and the Freebirds win as Gordy holds Dusek in a fireman’s carry, leaving him prone to a Hayes elbow to the head.

The Great Kabuki vs The Samoan & Sal Olivares

Very similar to the Kabuki squash on the last episode, as he blitzes both opponents with thrust kicks. Like before, the Samoan is left alone when his partner falls to the Kabuki legbreaker, and he gets a brief run  before he falls through the ropes and takes the legbreaker for the submission.

Kerry von Erich vs The Destroyer II

Nice little Kerry showcase. They work a brief mat stint, before Kerry ups the pace. Pair of nice kneedrops give von Erich control and he finishes with the discus punch.

Bugsy McGraw vs Checkmate

There were bits of this I liked but the ending was very frustrating. McGraw strikes me as someone I wont like as much when he’s not facing Checkmate, but he works well in this type of match, as he sells the frustration of not being able to deal with the mat smarts of his opponent. Checkmate will roll into a ball, annoying McGraw and luring him in so that he can grab an arm or a leg. Checkmate can also look vicious, hitting some nice headbutts, and McGraw does get to drop a nice elbow when he finally unravels the knot of Checkmate. Unfortunately, the ending makes Checkmate look foolish, as he lures McGraw to the apron, but seemingly has no plan as he gets put in a bearhug for the double count out. Weak end, but I enjoyed the meat of this.

World Class Championship Wrestling 01/11/1982

The Great Kabuki vs The Samoan & Raul Castro

This is a handicap elimination match. The Samoan at least takes the fight to Kabuki, whilst Castro is basically useless, hesitant to attack from any angle. Kabuki looks good here, nice precise strikes and I loved the backwards roll into a body scissors. Kabuki forces a submission from Castro with two leg scissor knee drops. The Samoan actually fares better without his useless partner, but misses a top rope headbutt and Kabuki drops two more knee drops for the submission.

The Fabulous Freebirds vs Gran Markus II & the Destroyer

Before we’re anywhere the match starting, we get an awesome brawl as Bill Irwin and King Kong Bundy attack the Freebirds. The whole locker rooms seems to empty and the ring is filled with guys brawling. Eventually, order is restored and the match can start. It’s pretty one sided, as the Freebirds control their masked opponents. Hayes is face-in-peril for approximately 30 seconds before he hits a back suplex on the Destroyer and tags out to Gordy. Spike piledriver on Gran Markus gets the win. Fun squash, but the brawl beforehand was excellent.

Al Madril & Bugsy McGraw vs Checkmate & Magic Dragon

The opening sections, with McGraw facing Checkmate, is pretty entertaining. Checkmate constantly goes to the mat, curled in a ball, which seems to baffle McGraw who paws at his like a confused wild animal. Checkmate’s constant reverting to the ball state seems to be frustrating both McGraw and the crowd. There’s a fun spot where McGraw dives into the corner to save Madril on an Irish whip attempt, but when Magic Dragon tries to do the same, Madril changes direction and whips Checkmate into the opposite corner. The heels work over Madril to make him face-in-peril, and though he tags out to McGraw, he ends up getting tagged in pretty quickly. It looks at first like it was too quick, as Dragon beats him down, but Madril nails a crossbody to pick up the win. This was a really fun match, the two teams played off each other nicely.

Kevin von Erich vs Wild Bill Irwin

Feels a bit one-sided, considering how well Irwin was presented earlier, but I enjoyed this. Von Erich is all motion, constantly on guard. Loved his quick little leg sweep when he catches Irwin off guard. Kevin’s running forearms into the corner look terrific, really goes in full pelt. Irwin counters a headscissors attempt by dropping Von Erich neck-first on the top rope. Irwin sells his ribs as hurting even when in control, which gives Kevin openings for hope spots, and the hesitation allows Kevin to lock in an abdominal stretch. Irwin takes out the ref whilst in the hold to give KVE the win by DQ, but despite a cheap ending, this was a fun little sprint.

World Class Championship Wrestling 15/10/1982

David von Erich vs Frank Dusek

Decent enough short match. Dusek seems to be a guy with good and bad to him: the kneeling headbutts he hit looked good, but his attempt at a clothesline swung miles over David’s head. Nothing of real note happened here before the weak ending, where Dusek shoves the ref, receives a slap for his efforts and gets rolled up for the von Erich win.

Jose Lothario & Al Madril vs Checkmate & Magic Dragon

This was really good. The highlights were the Lothario/Checkmate battles, but all four guys contributed to the match. Lothario and Checkmate match up really well on the mat, and Checkmate looks really impressive landing on his feet from a backbody drop. Love the way he lures his opponents into a false sense of security by curling into a ball and then grabbing a body part. The “Japanese” Magic Dragon looked very caucasian, but him hitting a snap superkick and trying a flipping second rope senton was nuts for 1982. As the time limit looms, you start to realise what the result will be, but there’s still time for a nutty Checkmate bump, diving through the ropes to the floor, before the inevitable draw. This was all good.

Gran Markus II vs The Samoan

“The Samoan” is the future Samu. These guys don’t mesh well, with an attempt at a slam by Markus looking ugly before they go to a long headlock section. Markus hits a big clothesline, a slam and a senton to win a poor match.

Michael Hayes vs Roberto Renesto

Fun squash, with Hayes hitting a great leaping second rope punch. Hayes shows so much character and fire here, with the crowd reacting appropriately. He hits a bulldog and a piledriver for the easy win. Afterwards, the lumpy Renesto tries to ineffectually jump Hayes from behind, but he’s soon sent packing.