Mike von Erich

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

Line-up:
Red River Jack vs Tim Brooks
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Eric Embry vs Rick DuBois
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David Manning & The Dingo Warrior vs Gary Hart & Nord the Barbarian
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Bob Bradley & The Grappler vs The Rock ‘n’ Roll RPMs
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$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.