World Class 1983

WCCW Spring Star Wars 22.04.1983

- WCCW American Heavyweight Title Steel Cage Match: Kevin von Erich (c) vs. King Kong Bundy
- WCCW American Tag Team Titles: Kerry von Erich & David von Erich (c) vs. Michael Hayes & Buddy Roberts
- Terry Gordy vs. Terry Funk
- No Disqualification Match: Jimmy Garvin vs. Terry Taylor
- José Lothario vs. Gran Markus
- Bobby Eaton vs. Ricky Morton
- Chris Adams, Tommy Rich & Iceman Parsons vs. Great Kabuki, Checkmate & Magic Dragon

WCCW Spring Star Wars 22.04.1983
Corpus Christy, TX
Attendance: 24284
TV rating: 0.09
Show rating: 74

NO DISQUALIFICATION MATCH
JIMMY GARVIN (w/ SUNSHINE) vs. TERRY TAYLOR
Taylor attacks Garvin right away, as he wants revenge for Garvin punching Sherri at the previous Star Wars. Garvin is overwhelmed by this aggressive start and tries to stall to save time, but Taylor is in control and uses his belt to whip Garvin several times. Garvin puts Sunshine between himself and Taylor, daring him to hit her, but Sherri returns and jumps on Sunshine! Garvin tries to stop Sherri, but Taylor hits the sitout powerbomb for the win! (64) (13:45)

Postmatch Taylor and Sherri hug in the ring, reunited again! (65)

BOBBY EATON vs. RICKY MORTON
After the hardcore opener, these two start a slower and more traditional ground-based match, with a lot of counters as they know each other quite well by now. Eaton gets frustrated for Morton's athletic power and quickness, getting flustered and eventually working on his opponent's knee to stop his offence. Morton has a good comeback, but struggles to hit a crossbody from the top and Eaton reverses it in a dirty roll up, holding the ropes for the victory! (61) (8:50)

On stage Marc Lowrance interviews the Freebirds, who are ready to get the best of their enemies tonight and also have a great plan in mind (72)

GREAT KABUKI, CHECKMATE & MAGIC DRAGON (w/ ARMAND HUSSEIN) vs. ICEMAN PARSONS, CHRIS ADAMS & TOMMY RICH
This match sees the babyfaces in control when it comes to a single confrontation between a wrestler and another, but then the heels taking over thanks to their better chemistry in the ring and some good cheap moves. After a good start, Adams gets isolated and dominated by his opponents for minutes until the hot tag for Parsons. The babyfaces clear the ring and Parsons hits the rumper stumper on Checkmate for the pinfall! (57) (7:48)

Postmatch the babyfaces celebrate, while The Fantastics are shown in the crowd, applauding with sarcasm! The announcers mention that Fulton and Rogers have just signed with WCCW! (56)

TERRY FUNK vs. TERRY GORDY
Gordy tries to bully Funk right away and gets a hard slap on the face, which sets the tone for the entire match! These two have an intense brawl all over the ring and outside. Gordy is bigger and hits harder, but Funk is resilient and got more experience. Gordy makes Funk bleed with his punches, but Funk goes crazy and punches Gordy repeatedly, making him fall but still hitting him on the floor! The referee pulls Funk off Gordy, but finds out Gordy is KO and awards the victory to Funk! (66) (10:36)

Postmatch a bloody Funk celebrates... but TED DIBIASE debuts by attacking him from behind! The referee tries to stop DiBiase, but he's a fury and keeps punching Funk, before knocking him out with his black glove! (69)

GRAN MARKUS (w/ SAMU) vs. JOSE LOTHARIO (w/ MR. X)
Slower pace here, they are both grizzled veteran but with decent lucha knowledge and so we see some good tricks, with Lothario showing some armdrags and playing to the crowd. Markus is the bigger man and also tries to cheat, but Mr. X stops Samu from interfering. The referee sends both away from ringside, but Markus uses the distraction for a low blow and then pins Lothario while X watches helpless! (45) (6:22)

Taped promo for The von Erichs, outside the arena. They are proud about holding the gold, but tonight it's a tough night for all of them and they will give their best to overcome all the odds (68)

WCCW AMERICAN TAG TEAM TITLES
KERRY VON ERICH & DAVID VON ERICH (c) vs. MICHAEL HAYES & BUDDY ROBERTS
The tension is high, as these teams have been feuding for months and now there's gold on the line as well. The champions have a good start, until the heels hit David low and isolate him into their corner, also taking shots at David to distract the referee and allow cheap shots on David. Kerry finally gets the hot tag and all hell breaks loose! Kerry uses the claw on Hayes, but Roberts punches the referee to avoid the submission! The match continues with no rules and Hayes hits a DDT on Kerry, a new referee arrives... 1, 2, 3! The Freebirds have won! (76) (15:38)

Posmatch the heels grab the belts, but the original referees stop them and disqualifies the Freebirds! The 2 referees discuss and also Fritz von Erich arrive to speak to them. In the meantime, the von Erichs and the Freebirds get into another fight and all the referees try to stop it! What's the final decision?? (81)

WCCW AMERICAN HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE
STEEL CAGE MATCH
KEVIN VON ERICH (c) vs. KING KONG BUNDY (w/ SKANDOR AKBAR)
The ringside area has been cleared for this match, as no interference is desired after the two non-finishes of the previous Star Wars between these two. They go all out straight away, Kevin strikes Bundy and the giant replies by using his weight to throw the champion around. Kevin bleeds, but makes some progress by throwing his own body on Bundy to make him hit the cage! Bundy now bleeds as well and Kevin hits him with a lot of kicks and knees, finally making the giant fall. Kevin starts climbing the cage and Bundy tries to stop him, but Kevin kicks again and Bundy falls from the top of the cage to the ring! Bundy can't get up on time and Kevin escapes to retain the title! (75) (13:06)

Postmatch Kevin celebrates and so do Kerry and David, who arrive at ringside to celebrate with him! The brothers are on their way to leave... but the Freebirds run down and close themselves in the cage with Fritz von Erich, who's being strangled by Gordy! The von Erichs try to save their dad, but the Freebirds stop them and say that if they even try to climb the cage, their dad will be thrown on the cage face first! Hayes yells that they will let him go only if he signs the match they want: Freebirds vs. von Erichs, three versus three for the titles, at Parade of Champions! Fritz says no and Gordy then chokes him even harder... until Kevin yells that they accept the match! Freebirds are happy and let Fritz go, Fritz hits Gordy and the Freebirds throw him against the cage! The von Erichs now climb the cage, but The Freebirds run away by opening the door with the keys and escape... while the brothers try to help their wounded father! (74)

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Show notes

- Another great night for WCCW! This is my largest attendance so far, as the crowd was really behind the 3 big matches that have been announced and they sold a lot of tickets

- I can't wait for Parade of Champions, which will be one of 2 "season finale" events of the year. With Von Erichs vs. Freebirds finally announced and this arena only able to sit 30.000 people... I will hopefully need a bigger room!

- This has been a financial success too, over 24.000 tickets sold multiplied by $20 makes almost $500.000! I can't check our broadcast revenue, by the rating was obviously much better than the ones we did by airing the show in Mid-South only, so that should be better as well

- Crowd loved the main event and the final segment, Fritz has been used effectively as he's super over and the fans really cared about his wellbeing. Again, after Christmas Star Wars 1982, the cage match has been instrumental in the feud between the two stables

- The tag titles match was the bout of the night and I have complimented David, Hayes and Roberts for their performances. Not that Kerry didn't deserve it, of course. The "Dusty finish" was probably needed, as I said I can't let all the titles on the waist of my main eventers, it damages the creative process and it doesn't let the rest of the roster grow 

- Funk vs. Gordy was okay, not great as Gordy seemed a bit off. I don't understand why, as it was the biggest match of his career so far. Funk was great enough to keep the crowd going and the fans were also hot for DiBiase's debut. Funk's great selling helped a great deal

- The Fantastics have also debuted on screen and had a decent reaction too

- Fans were really happy to see Sherri coming back in the opener, all the 4 components of these feud have great chemistry and I know what the next (and final) step is for this storyline

- The only match that wasn't any good was Markus vs. Lothario, not surprisingly, but it was a mean to an end unfortunately. Lothario is actually getting better as his gimmick, which is nice to hear as he complained about it for weeks

This was your best show, hands down. I'm really looking forward to see Ted DiBiase in WCCW. I really hope to see the 6-man tag team match you somewhat hinted at.

April 23rd - April 25th

- I woke up to a nice surprise: we are the number one promotion in the world now! Due to the good momentum and financial success, World Class is now on top of the wrestling world! I wasn't expecting this at all, Fritz seems really happy about it too

- Kerry von Erich got a raise and now makes $900 per show

- Just to put things in perspective, SWCW ran Corpus Christy the day after I did and only drew 430 fans. I'm smashing the competition

- MACW had a really bigshow on the other hand, Piper vs. Valentine was a great main event for them. Angelo Mosca, however, left the company without notice for a contract dispute

- I have hired Jim Cornette and he will debut straight away!

- Gary Hart reported that Sherri is "too small" to be anything. I don't need her to be bigger honestly

- Lou Thesz had announced his retirement and will wrestle his final match in a months' time

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World Class Championship Wrestling TV 25.04.1983
Dallas, TX
Attendance: 6091
TV rating: 0.39
Show rating: 70

From the Dallas office, Gary Hart announces that Fritz von Erich has been hospitalized after the cage incident and he's been named the temporary WCCW matchmaker, while Jim Cornette will replace him at the announce table. Hart confirms that von Erichs vs. Freebirds will be the main event for Parade of Champions, while there is no decisions for the American Tag Titles yet as he wants to speak to the two referees first! (69)

David von Erich (w/ Kerry and Kevin von Erich) def. Billy Irwin in 7:15 with the iron claw (70)

Postmatch Marc Lowrance tries to interview the von Erichs about what happened at Star Wars, but they all go away without speaking a word (68)

The Great Kabuki (w/ Armand Hussein) draws Iceman Parsons by double countout in 7:55 when they start fighting ringside. Kabuki's friends Checkmate and Magic Dragon arrive too, but Parsons doesn't hold back (64)

In ring Marc Lowrance interviews Terry Taylor and Sherri, who are happy about finally getting some revenge at Star Wars. Sherri, however says that her and Sunshine are not done yet and challenges her to a match! (54)

Ted DiBiase def. Al Madril in 6:16 with a punch using the black glove (63)

Postmatch DiBiase makes fun of Terry Funk for being in Japan and hiding from him after Star Wars. He says that Funk has a lot of enemies and he was sent here by Ric Flair to rule Texas and WCCW! (55)

WCCW Texas Heavyweight Title: King Kong Bundy (c) (w/ Skandor Akbar) def. Tommy Rich (w/ Chris Adams) in 8:11 with a splash. The Fantastics watch the match again from the front row and Adams pushes Fulton away when he gets up to mock Rich (63)

Postmatch Akbar yells that Bundy is still unpinned this year and dares Gary Hart to find him the biggest challenger possible for Parade of Champions! (72)

Taped promo from The Fabulous Freebirds, who are outside the arena and a few steps away from the ambulance that is helping Fritz at Star Wars. Hayes says that the old man wouldn't book the match that they want and so they had to take action after 5 months, a match that Fritz wouldn't book because he knows they will beat his precious kids and ruin his territory. The promo ends when the von Erichs see the Freebirds and run towards them, with the Birds running away in the dark (82)

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Show notes

- The big 3 vs. 3 has finally been announced and booked, the crowd can't wait for it and I smell record business at the next supershow. The heat for the last segment was great. At the same time, not letting the von Erichs talk is a trick to get them to unveil their side of the story later. Bill Irwin did really well in the opener anyway

- I decided to take Fritz out for a bit when it comes to on screen character, he will still help me with the road agent duties of course, and give Gary Hart a chance out there. After years of this being a "babyface territory", let's see what happens when the matchmaker isn't a von Erich anymore

- Jim Cornette was my first choice for the colour commentator position and he gladly enjoyed the company

- Ted DiBiase botched his promo and stuttered a bit, leaving producer Fritz von Erich quite surprised. I'm sure he will do better next time!

- I already know who will face Bundy at the supershow, but I'll keep the secret for now! Akbar is really good at cutting promos for him

- Sherri and Taylor kept a good chemistry, but Sherri did more mic work than usual and it didn't go too well. I will have to script her next time

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WCCW Parade of Champions 22.05.1983
- WCCW Six Men Tag Team Titles: The Fabulous Freebirds (c) vs. the von Erichs
- WCCW Texas Heavyweight Title: King Kong Bundy (c) vs. ???