WCCW TV

World Class Championship Wrestling TV [Mar. 21, 1987]

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World Class Wrestling Association
World Class Championship Wrestling
—
The Sportatorium, Dallas, Texas, United States
6th March 1987
—
Lead announcers: Bill Mercer

Line-up:
Al Madril vs Scott Casey
—
Bob Bradley & Jack Victory vs The Fantastics
—
Kevin von Erich vs Matt Borne
—
Dusty Wolfe & Steve Doll vs The Rock ‘n’ Roll RPMs
—
2-Minute Challenge
Jeep Swenson vs Red River Jack

Al Madril vs Scott Casey

Back to the Sportatorium in Dallas for World Class. It’s easy to see why Bill Mercer is so fondly remembered, he’s seems the kind of guy to go drinking and sing karaoke with until dawn.

First up is wiley vet Al Madril against the autograph-inundated cowboy Scott Casey. Madril sporting a lovely rat-tail and being easily put off by the partisan crowd “Go Scott, go!” Madril again taking hip tosses like he is being thrown from a moving car! His hips must have been hurting. Madril tries to con the ref into thinking Casey pulled his trendy hair. He of course follows up by gaining the advantage by pulling Casey’s hair! Devious! A little kiss (or maybe a bite to the lip) by Madril before throwing him to the floor. These refs in WCCW are more lax than ECW’s.

Casey using his fists and knees, but is cut off by cheap tactics. A huge shoulder tackle in the corner avoided by Casey, who takes control. A toe punt is reversed into a back body drop, and Madril appears to have been disqualified for putting the man over the top rope. ■ This dumb rule applies here in World Class? I hate this rule so much.

Black Bart arrives? Bart and Pringle challenge Casey to a “drug store cowboy match”, which sounds awesome if you ask me. Sadly, it just means the loser gets ridden with a saddle. Threats are made to Casey’s family and he just accepts it while the ref barely holds Casey back. Way to make Casey look like a chump.

Bob Bradley & Jack Victory vs The Fantastics (Bobby Fulton & Tommy Rogers)

Potentially a good match here with the tag champs involved. Bradley looks different than a few weeks ago but still billed as ‘The Cat’. Lovely tag leapfrogs as per the Fantastics’ norm. Tommy Rogers has a great dropkick, huge height! Bradley goes for the eyes in response. The Fantastics bounce back as commentary compare Bradley & Victory’s stylish looks to jaguars and civets (not joking). Fulton scores a nice headscissors setting off a tag move cascade and a double Fargo strut! I am curious who trained both these guys, their moves are lucha-esque. A nice parallel armbar by Rogers to Victory, while taunting Bradley into a trap! Cameras miss it, but Bradley goes to the top rope and it appears Fulton shakes the ropes from the other side resulting in Bradley’s beans getting smashed on the top turnbuckle! Ouch. Rogers trying his best to make the inexperienced Victory look good out there, huge leaping ability from Rogers. Fulton teases bashing Victory’s beans with his boot, but he escapes to get Bradley back in.

Bradley decides a backwards handspring will show the Fantastics. It does not. The girls favour Fulton in the exchange of moves and hip thrusts, but Fulton is blindsided by a knee to the lower lumber when getting a little too close to the fresh man. Again the refs look very silly here for missing everything. Huge hair-slam is also ignored while Rogers goes ballistic, allowing more illegalities to take place behind the ref’s back. Nice flying forearm by Bradley puts down Fulton but he misses a fish-flop headbutt. We have four men in, The Fantastics are able to leapfrog out of each others’ way and send Victory to the floor with a double dropkick! Interesting finish, where Rogers pins Bradley with an assisted sunset flip! ■

The Fantastics hit the floor to celebrate with the fans, they are very popular at the Sportatorium indeed!

Interview segment

Bill Mercer speaks to Gary Hart and Nord the Barbarian

Nord is being hyped as a trainee of Brody and being of the same level of danger, basically being hyped as a future champion of WCCW. He’ll have to beat Kevin von Erich if that’s the case. Lance von Erich shows up for some reason, so Nord batters him after a sucker punch. I guess this was the set-up for the last show we watched. Lance repping a Gold’s Gym tanktop, this is so 80s. Shame he’s not in Zubaz and shades. The security team hold back Lance before he can get his ass kicked any further.

Kevin von Erich vs ‘Maniac’ Matt Borne with Percy Pringle



Hugely interesting match up now, with the future Doink, Matt Borne vs current WCWA World Champion Kevin von Erich! Matt already had a great run in Mid-South at this point and both lads are second-gen pro wrestlers.

Borne has Pringle in his corner and immediately bends the rules. The ref tries to create a rope break, but Kevin decides to fight out and gets cheap-shotted for his trouble. Ref is already losing control here. Barefooted Kevin with a vicious double corner kick, heels first into Borne’s chin followed by a lovely flying dropkick to the face! While Borne kills time, we are shown the WCWA World title belt, so I guess this is for the title? It wasn’t announced as such. Pringle’s facial reactions are fantastic, such a great manager.

Borne takes a shortcut out of a Greco-Roman knucklelock and the ref counts for a rope break…and gets to five. No DQ however! Nice recovery to pull off a rolling flying headscissors on Borne, going for the submission but Borne able to squeeze out. Borne just looks constantly angry. Caught by a flying body scissor, Kevin playing the part of a boa constrictor this match. The mat game countered by heavy strikes. Borne’s forehead gets clamped by the Iron Claw but he manages to push Kevin to the corner for the break. No wait! Pringle jabs his cane full force into Kevin’s lower back and running away like a pig on fire. The distraction helps Borne big time, nailing a suplex and backbreaker. Kevin is thrust into the corner but springs back out like Spider-Man with a spinning cross body block! He got the pin! ■

Bit of an awkward stand-off following the match for unexplained reasons.

Dusty Wolfe & Steve Doll vs The Rock ‘n’ Roll RPMs (Mike Davis & Tommy Lane)

Steve Doll & Dusty Wolfe, wow, what a team! Enhancement Fodder would be a good name.

The RPMs jump these famous jobbers before the bell, Lowrance almost gets caught in the crossfire! I was curious to see if Wolfe or Doll would get any offense here, since I can’t recall either of them ever dealing any damage in WWF or WCW. So far Lane and Davis are dominating. Dusty almost takes out the cameraman when hitting the ropes, but that’s his only offense thus far. Quick tags for the RPMs, keeping it simple with basic strikes. Dusty kicks away a back drop attempt to get Doll the tag! Dropkick by Doll! Dropkick by doll!! A second is blocked! Tommy Lane lifts Doll into a spinebuster position while Mike Davis lands a second-rope clothesline, a bit like the Hart Attack! It’s over. ■ RPMs with an easy win here.

Subdued celebrations from the RPMs, and my hopes to see Dusty Wolfe win a match continue on.

Jeep Swenson vs Red River Jack
2-Minute Challenge

This has been named as a “two minute challenge”. But no real clue as to why this is a two minute challenge. I assume because Swenson can only wrestle for two minutes before passing out. The guy is built like a brick shithouse and literally portrayed Bane in Batman & Robin (1997), delivering the stiffest clothesline and kicks the Sportatorium may have ever seen. Brody still wearing a white Super Médico mask for his Red River gimmick – he is apparently from Arizona. This is a mess. Brody is able to go strike for strike with Swenson until landing a big running boot. Brody grabs a chair, goes to the top and waffles Jeep with the chair off the top! Swenson barely kneels and throws punches and forearms in a rage. Time limit expires! ■

Ref goes flying! It’s chaos! So, despite using a steel chair, Red River Jack wins the challenge I guess? He did last over two minutes with Jeep Swenson and that appears to have been the only goal of match with no other rules stated. A weird one.

Highlights:
Some nice tag work from the Fantastics!
More rare Red River Jack.
Jeep Swenson having a rare match.
DUSTY WOLFE! The search for a win begins here!
Borne and Kevin were an intriguing match up.

Thoughts:
I swear WCCW is supposed to be better than this…isn’t it? Not absolutely awful, but I do expect more from the weekly TV shows.

Verdict: Another skippable show.

Available here on WWE Network.

World Class Championship Wrestling TV [Apr. 04, 1987]

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World Class Wrestling Association
World Class Championship Wrestling
—
The Sportatorium, Dallas, Texas, United States
20th March 1987
—
Lead announcers: Bill Mercer

Line-up:
Black Bart & Jack Victory vs Red River Jack & Scott Casey
—
Rick DuBois vs Steve Simpson
—
Al Madril & Brian Adias vs The Fantastics
—
Eli the Eliminator vs Henry Wilborn
—
Lance von Erich vs Nord the Barbarian

Black Bart & Jack Victory with Percy Pringle vs Red River Jack & Scott Casey

Casey looks like a powerhouse Jake Roberts and is throwing Bart around like a wet paper towel. Victory’s skunk-like hairdo is eye-catching for sure. Really high-pace tag match here. Casey/Brody mostly dominating the bad lads. A reckless dropkick from Casey turns the tide. Oh? It’s apparently Casey’s birthday! 40 years young. Epic chops until he is double-teamed. Brody gets a hot tag and kills Victory with a yakuza kick. Nice. Masked Brody gets the pinfall. ■

Bart tried to make the save using a saddle as a weapon but was cut off by Casey! Bart ends up wearing the saddle and taking a smack on the ass before running like a scolded, er, horse. Percy should maybe have slid him the branding iron instead!

Rick DuBois vs Steve Simpson

Now we have Steve Simpson vs our old pal Rick DuBois! The commentary tries to explain it’s pronounced “DuBo” in Texas or something, as if French is different there. Suidafrikaans Simpson was a decent wrestler. It’s a shame we never saw him feature for NWA, WWF or even World of Sport. A nice body-scissors, including pinning combinations, I love seeing guys always looking for the pin, even during a submission move. Simpson charges into DuBois’ back drop attempt and gets a legit pin? Bronko Lubich seems to say shoulder was up, but it’s clearly not. DuBois might be shaken up. DuBois does kick out of a body slam and elbow, but is legit pinned again with a small package. What is Lubich doing? A backslide finally finishes off DuBois, mercifully. ■ Painful to watch.

Both guys storm to the back, I doubt either wish this match was recorded. I can only assume someone got injured and failed to advise Lubich of the same. Or it’s Bronko You-bitch.

Interview segment
Bill Mercer speaks to Lance von Erich and The Fantastics about recent events

Lance von Erich, looking strangely like Steve Borden, says Nord is no ‘big man’ inside, since he cowardly jumped Lance from behind. He is rambling a little bit. Oh thank fuck, The Fantastics are here to make up for Lance’s lack of promo skill. The Fantastics are one of those underrated teams of the 80s. They dress like jackasses, but they talk and wrestle very well. Rogers & Fulton never really got a big chance possibly due to their height. They hype the tag ranks, including the Rock ‘n’ Roll RPMs.

Al Madril & Brian Adias vs The Fantastics (c) – non-title

The Fantastics take control using their leapfrog attacks, and a huge hiptoss by Rogers to Madril, good teamwork from the Fantastics, followed by dual Fargo struts! Madril goes flying when he takes these hiptosses, crazy. Double wishbone rower from the Fantastics! The girls love it! Madril and Adias resort to some basic cheating to turn the tide, wearing down Fulton. Suddenly Madril gets floored when attempting a double-axehandle and Rogers gets a hot tag! He’s so fast the ref is in the way, and while short he flies around like he’s Rey Mysterio’s cousin. Fulton goes for an O’Connor Roll on Adias, but neither man is legal. The referee starts counting anyway! Madril chucks Fulton to the floor and they deliver a double clothesline, double atomic drop and a double suplex before Fulton can fully re-enter. Ref has called this chaos off, it’s a double disqualification! ■

Highly audible “bullshit” chants from the fans after that one. I think a little bit more time would have been kind if the finish was going to be so random.

Eli the Eliminator with Jim Holliday vs ‘Handsome’ Henry Wilborn

Eli is entering on his motorbike into the Sportatorium! Seemingly with his girlfriend Jim Holliday, riding on his backseat. Don’t know much about Eli, but clearly he’s an American Badass™. He’s facing Québecois Henry (or Hank) Wilborn who I have never heard of before. ‘Handsome Henry’ as he is called, looking like Jake Roberts stole Eddie Guerrero’s tights. Eli bulldozes Wilborn, throwing him into the buckles and ropes. Massive lariat, but Eli stops his own pin attempt. Lovely swinging neckbreaker followed by a tombstone piledriver finishes off Wilborn. ■

I can’t help but think a young Mark Calaway was watching and taking notes. Either that or Percy Pringle was. Eli did look quite impressive here.

Lance von Erich vs Nord the Barbarian with Gary Hart

Nord wearing his cut-up carpet waistcoat thing. He comes across as such a dangerous goof, kind of perfect for World Class. For unknown reasons, Jeep Swenson and Jim Holliday leave ringside, so only Gary Hart is out there for Nord.

Nord husses Lance down with a headlock takeover, and I find myself asking why they allowed Lance to be a ‘cousin’ von Erich. Nord is half-rocked by Lance’s big strikes, but basically shrugs off the offense. Huge gutwrench suplex, almost a powerbomb, isn’t enough to finish Lance. Nord using a lot of gridiron style body tackles, almost like he’s actually not a barbarian after all. Lance is able to land his own power moves and a big missile dropkick, well landed! I thought that was it! Nord gets caught with a crossbody block, but tosses Lance out the ring. Lance survives the distraction from Hart and cheap-shots from Nord, but once back in the ring it just takes a big boot to keep Lance down for the 3 count. ■ Really flat finish there.

Nord decides to flat-back repeatedly in celebration, maybe to match the fans’ enjoyment levels. Felt like a very sudden end but Mercer hypes next week’s show at length so it’s not as if time was a factor.

Highlights
Brody stiffing the hell out of Jack Victory.
Percy’s mannerisms.
The Fantastics living up to their name.
I’m. An. American Badass.

Thoughts
A fairly weak episode with a lot of fucked finishes. At least Madril, Adias, The Fantastics and Eli looked good out there.

Verdict: Skippable.

Available here on WWE Network.

World Class Championship Wrestling TV [Mar. 28, 1987]

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World Class Wrestling Association
World Class Championship Wrestling
—
The Sportatorium, Dallas, Texas, United States
ca. 13th-20th March 1987
—
Lead announcers: Bill Mercer

Line-up:
Red River Jack vs Tim Brooks
—
Eric Embry vs Rick DuBois
—
David Manning & The Dingo Warrior vs Gary Hart & Nord the Barbarian
—
Bob Bradley & The Grappler vs The Rock ‘n’ Roll RPMs
—
$2,500 Challenge
Brian Adias vs Mike von Erich

Red River Jack vs ‘Killer’ Tim Brooks

‘Killer’ Tim Brooks, trainer of many, taking on the white-masked Bruiser Brody under the suspiciously WWF-sounding ring name Red River Jack. Fashion statements are being made as Brooks seems to be wearing a Nazi SS skull-inspired waistcoat. Brody seems to be wearing a Super Médico mask (Staff of Hermes on the side of the mask). I guess he picked it up in Puerto Rico since it usually belongs to José Estrada Jr.

It’s a basic contest, some hard chops and slaps exchanged with Brody using a big boot, an effortless-looking body slam and a driving knee drop to get the pinfall. ■

Evil manager Gary Hart pops up to challenge “Red River Brody” to face Nord the Barbarian, who tosses chairs with reckless abandon. Genuinely scary. Nord is “HUSS”ing loudly at ringside long before his run as The Berzerker while commentary more or less confirm it’s Brody under the mask. What is the point of the mask if everyone calls him Brody? Maybe they will eventually explain why it’s an open secret.

Eric Embry vs Rick DuBois

Eric Embry, who I only know from USWA, faces Rick DuBois, or “DeBro” as he is announced. Mercer also calls him “Mark” on commentary, bit harsh. Never heard of him so I guess he’s getting squashed. Embry decided to bring his “powder-puff box” to ringside and surprisingly it’s not filled with cocaine, or hell, maybe it is! Embry sexily eyes the camera for unknown reasons. It’s always strange to me seeing relatively average-looking guys portray pretty boy wrestlers, seeming to be especially prevalent in Southern promotions. Is it part of the heel appeal or are these guys genuinely seen as handsome? Eric may be “flamboyant” but DuBois is the one wearing the white tiger-striped tights. Embry enjoys some attention from the “World Class Girls” who are the ring attendants. The powder box is shown, appears to be a floral-design black plastic hinge box. I was kind of expecting porcelain. 

Embry’s hammerlocks and arm wringers are reversed when he is patting himself on the back a bit too much. A rather silly looking flying headbutt by Embry followed by a fist drop and piledriver gets the pinfall. ■ Shades of Jerry Lawler while wooing like Ric Flair. Embry carefully powders the semi-conscious “puff” (DuBois) after the match.

The Formation of H&H International
Bill Mercer speaks with Gary Hart, Jim Holliday and Nord the Barbarian with Jeep Swenson

Gary Hart introduces ‘Gentleman’ Jim Holliday as a sports agent he is now working with. Hart & Holliday will now co-manage guys like Nord, Eli the Eliminator, Jeep Swenson and whoever else under the name “H&H International”. Nord asks if he looks like a “local yokel from K-Mart”. Well…I don’t know how to tell you this, but you absolutely do, Mr Nord.

David Manning & The Dingo Warrior vs Gary Hart & Nord the Barbarian

They cut to a different date at the Sportatorium where Red River Jack’s flight was delayed or missed, so the Dingo (not quite Ultimate) Warrior had made for an unusual substitution! This particular match appears to be from the 13th of March.

Referee Manning had wronged Gary Hart leading into this match it seems, no specifics given unfortunately. Huge Argentine backbreaker on Manning by Nord! Dingo Warrior and Nord boringly hammer on each other until *gasp* it’s Red River Jack! Looking way smaller now. And Bruiser Brody shows up too! Hart and Nord technically win by disqualification as Nord got Jack’s suitcase smashed over his dome. ■

I have no idea what’s going on. Partial match, partial explanation, and we have Brody and “Jack” in the same ring at the same time. Help! According to various online sources, Rick Davidson was under the mask here. Brody had lost a ‘loser leaves town’ matched with Abdullah the Butcher the Christmas of 1986 so this was their way around that stipulation. I don’t normally look things up if I feel like the show will explain or remind me of things, but I am picking up this story half-way in.

I suppose having a way to portray Bruiser Brody with someone else under the mask would also be useful if Brody refused to play ball. Interesting.

Bob Bradley & The Grappler (Len Denton) vs The Rock ‘n’ Roll RPMs (Mike Davis & Tommy Lane)

I assume Len Denton is the masked Grappler because he is built. Bradley has some fetching tiger-print trunks for this bout. I always felt the RPMs were underrated, always in the shadow of the Rock ‘n’ Roll Express, the Freebirds and so on, let’s see shall we?

RPMs working with The Grappler was good, Denton is quick on his feet! Bradley the odd-man-out until he delivers a soaring headbutt from the top behind the ref’s back! Lane makes the save, gets bundled out by Bradley, who then catches a rather lame clothesline takedown from Davis. He’s not even the legal man but takes the pinfall. ■

The RPMs celebrate on the floor, the crowd couldn’t care less about that one. Bob Bradley looks like he’s absolutely flummoxed. Me too, pal.

Brian Adias vs Mike von Erich
$2,500 10-Minute Pinfall Challenge


Here’s the main event, which appears to be from the 20th March. This is a time limit challenge with $2,500 of Adias’ money going to Mike if he can score a pinfall in under 10 minutes. Mike boasts a 5-second pinfall over Adias so this is Adias’ chance to save face and prove it was a fluke. I’ve never seen Mike wrestle in a singles match but I’m not expecting much. This is shortly after Adias turned his back on Mike, the Von Erichs and the fans.

Small package from Mike to start off! Teasing a very early win, much like the “world record” 5-second pinfall victory Mike previously scored. Huge fan support for Mike, they want him to get that cash! Adias is already trying to time-waste to hit the 10 minute time limit. Rough attempts at pinning combinations, desperation maybe? Evil Adias is quite enjoyable, but it’s a bit silly he’s almost being pinned after sustaining little damage. The Iron Claw gets applied to the abdomen of Adias! Mike isn’t too bad in the ring, bit wild at times. Tragically, Mike von Erich died 23 days after this match by suicide – this may actually be his final singles match. By this stage of his life, he had suffered brain damage, but I’m sure he would have improved over time too. He was almost expected to take the place of his deceased brother David, whose memorial show was heavily plugged on this show. Anyway, back to the match. Adias is taking trips to the outside to eat away at the time limit, so Mike ramps it up near the end of the time limit by hitting a glancing missile dropkick! It might have been enough but pandering to the crowd cost Mike big time! The 10 minutes are up! This match is a draw. ■ Well, that finish makes Mike look very dim indeed, and makes both guys come across as losers to a certain degree.

Adias quickly leaves with his cash in a bag with some of his pride restored but it very much looks like Mike von Erich has his number. Not an awful final match if this is it for Mike.

Highlights
Mike von Erich wrestles 1-on-1 – Note: This was his final singles match.
Brian Adias as a heel.
Ultimate Warrior’s early days.
Bruiser Brody with a masked gimmick.
Len Denton defies his bulk.
The expressive Sportatorium crowd.
Gary Hart verbally swatting Bill Mercer.

Thoughts
I wasn’t sure what to expect from WCCW as I had only seen a few matches and shows. They cater well to their wild crowd and boast some good talent but the matches are mostly casual. The refereeing and match quality can be a little rough but you can see why World Class were popular.

Verdict: Historically interesting, skippable.

Available here on WWE Network.

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