WCCW PARADE OF CHAMPIONS 22.05.1983
Corpus Christy, TX
Attendance: 33073
TV rating: 0.11
Show rating: 72
At ringside Marc Lowrance interviews Gary Hart, who confirms that Terry Taylor won't be here tonight. The Freebirds interrupt Hart and say that this is the night for their vengeance on the von Erichs, but Hart sends them backstage so the show can start! (75)
CHRIS ADAMS & TOMMY RICH vs. THE FANTASTICS
After weeks of provoking their opponents, The Fantastics finally face them and don't seem as cocky in the ring as they have been outside of it for the previous month or two. Adams and Rich outwrestle the heels, but then Rich falls in their trap and gets isolated. Adams gets the hot tag and cleans the ring. Adams has Fulton beaten in an armbar, but Fulton lowblows him and Rogers finishes the British with the rocket launcher! (62) (14:14)
Backstage Marc Lawrence interviews Gran Markus and Skandor Akbar, who are ready to unmask Mr. X and show the fraud that he is. Gary Hart approaches them and orders that both Samu and José Lothario are barred from ringside, which infuriates Markus! (56)
MASK vs. MASK MATCH
GRAN MARKUS (w/ Skandor Akbar) vs. MR. X
Akbar is allowed to be at ringside due to his manager license and he does all he can to help Markus, giving him a few opportunities to hit X from behind thanks to the distractions. The crowd is all on X's side and they feed his comeback. The two are on the top rope and Markus tries to remove X's mask with his hands, but X pushes him down and hits him with a flying elbow drop to win! (66) (9:20)
Postmatch Akbar is desperate, while the referees make Markus stay in the ring so X can unmask him! Markus looks at the camera and then Akbar covers his face with a towel. José Lothario is there as well, but he looks sideways at X and the announcers wonder what's wrong with him! (66)
THE GREAT KABUKI (w/ Armand Hussein) vs. ICEMAN PARSONS
The announcers state how these two have a similar physique, same height and weight and so it's difficult for one of them to fall victim of the other. Kabuki breaks the stalemate with some heel tactics, but he fears Parsons' kick. At the end, both Magic Dragon and Chekmate try to interfere. Parsons gets rid of them, but runs into the thrust kick by Kabuki and gets pinned! (59) (9:33)
At ringside Marc Lawrance interviews King Kong Bundy. Skandor Akbar is upset about Gran Markus and bets Bundy not to lose the title against Stan Hansen and Bundy says that there's nothing to worry about! (73)
WCCW TEXAS HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE
KING KONG BUNDY (c) (w/ Skandor Akbar) vs. STAN HANSEN
Hansen receives a standing ovation by the Texan crowd and Bundy is annoyed by this, so he threatens to walk away. Then they get into a wild brawl, with the same style of Hansen's All Japan matches against Terry Funk! Hansen seems on fire, but Bundy holds his own very well. Hansen lariats Bundy outside the ring and manages to come back in at 9, winning the match by countout! Bundy is mad about this, but he retains the title! (71) (12:17)
In ring Jimmy Garvin cuts a promo on Terry Taylor, accusing him of being too scared to show up and then wonders what happened to Sherri and why she followed him! Garvin then launches an open challenge against anyone who is available... and NWA World Champion Richard Charland incredibly arrives and accepts the challenge!!! (66)
NON TITLE MATCH
RICHARD CHARLAND vs. JIMMY GARVIN (w/ Sunshine)
Garvin tries to back out of the match, but Sunshine calms him down and says that a win over the NWA World Champion would be huge. Garvin has a strategy and works on the opponent's leg with some luck, but Charland seems on form and the crowd slowly get invested in his comeback. Sunshine tries to interfere at one point, but Charland blocks her and DDTs Garvin to win the match! (60) (10:20)
Postmatch Ric Flair and Ted DiBiase storm to the ring, looking at Charland sideways. Flair says that he's the real NWA World Champion and will get the belt back soon! But in the meantime, those damn Funk Brothers better come out and get the whipping they deserve! The Funks arrive and the match can start! (86)
THE FUNKS vs. RIC FLAIR & TED DIBIASE
Flair avoids Terry Funk for most of the match, only coming in to wrestle against Dory and hitting Terry together with DiBiase to get the best out of him. DiBiase does well and is the one that bumps the most, with Terry making him bleed with his punches and finally Terry vs. Flair go all out after a hot tag, with Terry winning the first fight against The Naitch! The match gets a bit chaotic and DiBiase passes Flair his black glove, so Flair uses to hit Terry and then rolls him up to steal the victory! (63) (20:08)
At ringside Marc Lawrance tries to interview the von Erichs, but they stop him as they have already said all the had to say... now it's time to fight The Freebirds! (72)
WCCW SIX MEN TAG TEAM TITLES
THE FABULOUS FREEBIRDS (c) vs. THE VON ERICHS
After matches of refusing the challenge for the promise made to their dad, now the von Erichs can't wait for this and attack the heels before the ring bell! The brawl is huge and David gets the worse of it, as Gordy powerbombs him on the concrete and David needs to be taken out on a stretcher! In 3 vs. 2, the von Erichs do all they can and it seems impossible, but then Kevin gets a hot tag and he clears the ring with the crowd going crazy! Kevin has the claw on Roberts, who seems ready to tap out... but Kevin keeps the hold and drags him towards Hayes to apply the old on Hayes with the other hand... Roberts hits him low and Hayes DDTs Kevin! Hayes covers him while Roberts holds Kevin's foot and Gordy blocks Kerry... 1... 2... 3! The Freebirds are the winners! (80) (22:36)
Postmatch The Freebirds celebrate all the way to the dressing room, while Kevin is so disappointed for not closing the match when he could. Kerry consoles him and they go backstage refusing to cut an interview with an astonished Marc Lowrance (75)
Show notes- I'm kind of happy, I sold 33.000 tickets and that is great but the absences ruined my mood!
- The crowd loved the main event and I think we can do even better next time. I came up with David being stretchered by Gordy and Kevin outsmarted by Hayes for two reasons: 1) the Birds win without affecting the von Erichs, 2) I'm creating single feuds within this trio feud now!
- David von Erich, as usual was the best performer of the show. He received public congratulations, along with Kevin von Erich and Mr. X
- On the other hand, Funks vs. DiBiase & Flair was a let down mostly because Dory and Flair didn't click and their technical wrestling sequence probably wasn't appreciated. The crowd saved the match anyway
- Getting Charland on the show was a last minute decision and it is what it is. The crowd lost both Brody and Taylor, so at least they enjoyed a surprise by the World Champion, who wasn't that over to be honest. Garvin vs. Taylor is not finished by any means, the blowoff will take place, and sometimes it's better to lose to the champion than to beat a lowcarder. Garvin also cut a great promo on Taylor before the match
- Speaking of Taylor, during his CWA match he won the Southern Heavyweight Title against Bill Dundee. Safe to say that he is a top guy there
- The chemistry between Hansen and Bundy was great and I will definitely have a rematch down the road. Maybe Hansen and Brody against Bundy and somebody else??? The All Japan match model was my inspiration and the non-finish is political of course, the title can't go to an outsider and Hansen wouldn't get a cold loss here
- The tag match was apparently a good choice for the opener as the crowd liked it. Adams and Rich are constantly getting better together
- The crowd was really behind Markus being unmasked in the luchas de apuestas, so the angle went well and X got more over. Markus asked $600 to lose his mask and was happy to do it before such a big crowd. He will now probably take a little break before coming back. I sent a subtle message out during the match, José and the announcers seemed to have clocked it and let's see if the fans did too
- Kabuki vs. Parsons was nothing special. I wanted the match to go 10 minutes and Frank Dusek advised me not to as Parsons wasn't fitted enough... I have been pushing him and this is not nice to hear as it was a big show and his match underdelivered big time
PredictionsMike Haggar 5/6
creativeleader81 5/6
Moore 4/6
Asaemon 3/6
Thank you all!
