klunderbunker
Welcome to My (And Not Sly's) House
WCCW Television
Date: January 13, 1985
Location: Reunion Arena, Dallas, Texas
Attendance: 17,000
Commentator: Bill Mercer
As far as I can tell, this is the continuation of the Star Wars show from 84. I dont know much about this again but if I remember right its going to be more Von Erichs. This should be fun as theres definitely an energy to this company that is kind of fun. Im not sure what to expect here so lets get to it.
Same satellite opening as last time.
Mercer runs down the card which will see Chris Adams (later trained Steve Austin) against Kevin Von Erich and the American Tag Titles being defended by the Fantastics against the Midnight Express. Oh hell yes! Also apparently were getting an encore match from last week. Wait, theyre reairing the match or is it a rematch?
Yeah this is the same match and its clipped. The match was 3 minutes long in its entirely so theyre clipping it? After a hot tag to Mike he beats up Jake and the Claw ends it.
Rip Oliver vs. The Iceman
Iceman is a big deal actually and is more commonly known as Iceman King Parsons. Oliver was a big deal in Portland and other than that not much. He was on SNME once in a mask and thats about it. Iceman reminds me of a fatter MVP a bit. Parsons goes after Oliver (heel) to start us off and they lock it up. Long headlock goes on and Parsons takes him to the mat with it.
They speed things up a bit and Iceman sends him to the floor with arm drags as this is one sided so far. Right back to the headlock and were five minutes in. This has been boring as hell so far but the fans are staying in it. Oliver finally gets something going in the form of a middle rope axe handle. Hes rather dull indeed. And oddly enough he wins this with a shoulderbreaker. That came out of nowhere. Parsons would become a big deal in WCCW and then he loses here? Really?
Rating: D-. Boring as hell match and the ending was completely stupid. This spent the entire match setting up Parsons winning and then he loses here? Not to mention they gave this nearly 10 minutes. I do not get this one in the slightest. Very odd choice for a finish and a bad match too.
American Tag Titles: Midnight Express vs. Fantastics
As opposed to the Bosnian Tag Titles I guess. I like the Fantastics so I should like this. This would be a huge feud in a bunch of companies and this might have been the biggest one they have. Naturally it started over a jacket owned by Cornette. The Fantastics have the titles here but wont for very long if my memory is right. Theyre throwing candy canes to the crowd.
This Express is Dennis Condrey/Bobby Eaton and the Fantastics are Tommy Rodgers/Bobby Fulton. Rodgers vs. Eaton to start us off. Everybody is in red here. We have a lot of stalling here but theres a lot of time left on this show so I think well be fine here. Mercer keeps talking about how important Mike Von Erich using the Claw was. It was sloppy as hell but whatever.
They speed things up a bit as Rodgers gets a hiptoss to Eaton. Crowd is into this too. Off to Condrey now as well as Fulton. Back to the headlock as were down on the mat this time. Condrey fights him off for a bit but is rammed into his own corner and right back to that headlock. Rodgers comes back in and the Midnights hug. The powers of hugging apparently work as a pair of elbows take down Rodgers.
They work over the back of Tommy as Fulton plays cheerleader. That happened a lot back in the day so this is all normal. Condrey comes in again and shifts over to the arm. He goes back to the headlock and uses kind of a Russian Leg Sweep with it into a cradle for two. That was different. This referee counts from one knee which is kind of odd looking. Top rope knee drop gets two for Eaton.
The Midnights are getting into a rhythm here and its excellent to watch indeed. Its the always awesome missed tag as Fulton is furious. Eaton throws on a reverse chinlock (as in the one like a camel clutch. We hit the ten minute mark as Fulton has been in for about 18 seconds. Condrey works on the arm some more so Fulton comes in again. This time it allows Cornette to interfere and Rodgers is beaten down even more.
Double stomp by Condrey which has to hurt like hell. Rodgers gets a sunset flip on both Midnights at the same time and dives at the corner to bring in Fulton. The numbers catch up with Fulton after he fights them both off. Rodgers is able to trip up Condrey and a cross body gets the pin on Eaton. Cornette LOSES HIS DAMN MIND post match, wildly gesturing that the trunks were pulled and all that. Funny stuff.
Rating: B. This started slow and got a lot better. These teams fought so many times that it got hard to keep count of all their matches. Oddly enough the titles had already changed hands by the time this aired. These teams would feud and trade the titles for the next six months before the Midnights went off to Crockett. Good match as expected.
We recap Kevin Von Erich vs. Chris Adams. Apparently they were partners and their female manager cost them a match. The male manager yelled at her and Kevin defended her, drilling the male manager (Gary Hart). Adams kicked Kevins head off. In a major show at Texas Stadium, Kevin said Chris could leave Hart and reform the team or it was over. Kevin got hit with a chair a few seconds later. This turned into a big feud as Kevin wanted revenge for the chair shot.
Kevin Von Erich vs. Chris Adams
Lumberjack rules here. Its on immediately as this is a big feud. Kevin sends him to the floor for awhile which goes nowhere. Ten punches in the corner but he shifts over to the Claw instead. Adams throws him to the floor for awhile and the English dude is dominating. Kevin wrestles barefoot which takes awhile to get used to.
Adams gets a hard chinlock/headlock as the underrated Gary Hart shouts instructions. Kevin fights up and goes old school with an airplane spin to escape. He goes up and misses a spinning splash off the top. Piledriver half kills Kevin. Oddly enough hes the only one still alive. Adams goes up but gets slammed off and thats enough for the pin just as they announce five minutes.
Rating: C+. This was a pretty good little match. It was rather intense and they hammered on each other the whole time. Winning with a top rope slam was kind of odd but it worked for the most part. Anyway, Kevin of course winning doesnt surprise me at all but thats the way things went in Dallas. The speed helped this as it felt like they wanted to kill each other, which is the right idea.
Big brawl post match with the Von Erichs standing tall.
Flair vs. Terry Gordy for the title next week.
Mercer wraps up the show.
Overall Rating: B-. Better this week with more wrestling and the backstories to the matches helped a bit. I still dont get the point of having the replay of the match other than trying to make Mike look like he actually had a point to being there but thats besides the point. This was the better of the two shows that I had and I wish I had more to do. I could see the potential this company had and this was apparently the start of some of their best years. Check them out if you get the chance.
Date: January 13, 1985
Location: Reunion Arena, Dallas, Texas
Attendance: 17,000
Commentator: Bill Mercer
As far as I can tell, this is the continuation of the Star Wars show from 84. I dont know much about this again but if I remember right its going to be more Von Erichs. This should be fun as theres definitely an energy to this company that is kind of fun. Im not sure what to expect here so lets get to it.
Same satellite opening as last time.
Mercer runs down the card which will see Chris Adams (later trained Steve Austin) against Kevin Von Erich and the American Tag Titles being defended by the Fantastics against the Midnight Express. Oh hell yes! Also apparently were getting an encore match from last week. Wait, theyre reairing the match or is it a rematch?
Yeah this is the same match and its clipped. The match was 3 minutes long in its entirely so theyre clipping it? After a hot tag to Mike he beats up Jake and the Claw ends it.
Rip Oliver vs. The Iceman
Iceman is a big deal actually and is more commonly known as Iceman King Parsons. Oliver was a big deal in Portland and other than that not much. He was on SNME once in a mask and thats about it. Iceman reminds me of a fatter MVP a bit. Parsons goes after Oliver (heel) to start us off and they lock it up. Long headlock goes on and Parsons takes him to the mat with it.
They speed things up a bit and Iceman sends him to the floor with arm drags as this is one sided so far. Right back to the headlock and were five minutes in. This has been boring as hell so far but the fans are staying in it. Oliver finally gets something going in the form of a middle rope axe handle. Hes rather dull indeed. And oddly enough he wins this with a shoulderbreaker. That came out of nowhere. Parsons would become a big deal in WCCW and then he loses here? Really?
Rating: D-. Boring as hell match and the ending was completely stupid. This spent the entire match setting up Parsons winning and then he loses here? Not to mention they gave this nearly 10 minutes. I do not get this one in the slightest. Very odd choice for a finish and a bad match too.
American Tag Titles: Midnight Express vs. Fantastics
As opposed to the Bosnian Tag Titles I guess. I like the Fantastics so I should like this. This would be a huge feud in a bunch of companies and this might have been the biggest one they have. Naturally it started over a jacket owned by Cornette. The Fantastics have the titles here but wont for very long if my memory is right. Theyre throwing candy canes to the crowd.
This Express is Dennis Condrey/Bobby Eaton and the Fantastics are Tommy Rodgers/Bobby Fulton. Rodgers vs. Eaton to start us off. Everybody is in red here. We have a lot of stalling here but theres a lot of time left on this show so I think well be fine here. Mercer keeps talking about how important Mike Von Erich using the Claw was. It was sloppy as hell but whatever.
They speed things up a bit as Rodgers gets a hiptoss to Eaton. Crowd is into this too. Off to Condrey now as well as Fulton. Back to the headlock as were down on the mat this time. Condrey fights him off for a bit but is rammed into his own corner and right back to that headlock. Rodgers comes back in and the Midnights hug. The powers of hugging apparently work as a pair of elbows take down Rodgers.
They work over the back of Tommy as Fulton plays cheerleader. That happened a lot back in the day so this is all normal. Condrey comes in again and shifts over to the arm. He goes back to the headlock and uses kind of a Russian Leg Sweep with it into a cradle for two. That was different. This referee counts from one knee which is kind of odd looking. Top rope knee drop gets two for Eaton.
The Midnights are getting into a rhythm here and its excellent to watch indeed. Its the always awesome missed tag as Fulton is furious. Eaton throws on a reverse chinlock (as in the one like a camel clutch. We hit the ten minute mark as Fulton has been in for about 18 seconds. Condrey works on the arm some more so Fulton comes in again. This time it allows Cornette to interfere and Rodgers is beaten down even more.
Double stomp by Condrey which has to hurt like hell. Rodgers gets a sunset flip on both Midnights at the same time and dives at the corner to bring in Fulton. The numbers catch up with Fulton after he fights them both off. Rodgers is able to trip up Condrey and a cross body gets the pin on Eaton. Cornette LOSES HIS DAMN MIND post match, wildly gesturing that the trunks were pulled and all that. Funny stuff.
Rating: B. This started slow and got a lot better. These teams fought so many times that it got hard to keep count of all their matches. Oddly enough the titles had already changed hands by the time this aired. These teams would feud and trade the titles for the next six months before the Midnights went off to Crockett. Good match as expected.
We recap Kevin Von Erich vs. Chris Adams. Apparently they were partners and their female manager cost them a match. The male manager yelled at her and Kevin defended her, drilling the male manager (Gary Hart). Adams kicked Kevins head off. In a major show at Texas Stadium, Kevin said Chris could leave Hart and reform the team or it was over. Kevin got hit with a chair a few seconds later. This turned into a big feud as Kevin wanted revenge for the chair shot.
Kevin Von Erich vs. Chris Adams
Lumberjack rules here. Its on immediately as this is a big feud. Kevin sends him to the floor for awhile which goes nowhere. Ten punches in the corner but he shifts over to the Claw instead. Adams throws him to the floor for awhile and the English dude is dominating. Kevin wrestles barefoot which takes awhile to get used to.
Adams gets a hard chinlock/headlock as the underrated Gary Hart shouts instructions. Kevin fights up and goes old school with an airplane spin to escape. He goes up and misses a spinning splash off the top. Piledriver half kills Kevin. Oddly enough hes the only one still alive. Adams goes up but gets slammed off and thats enough for the pin just as they announce five minutes.
Rating: C+. This was a pretty good little match. It was rather intense and they hammered on each other the whole time. Winning with a top rope slam was kind of odd but it worked for the most part. Anyway, Kevin of course winning doesnt surprise me at all but thats the way things went in Dallas. The speed helped this as it felt like they wanted to kill each other, which is the right idea.
Big brawl post match with the Von Erichs standing tall.
Flair vs. Terry Gordy for the title next week.
Mercer wraps up the show.
Overall Rating: B-. Better this week with more wrestling and the backstories to the matches helped a bit. I still dont get the point of having the replay of the match other than trying to make Mike look like he actually had a point to being there but thats besides the point. This was the better of the two shows that I had and I wish I had more to do. I could see the potential this company had and this was apparently the start of some of their best years. Check them out if you get the chance.