The SmarK Rant for World Class Championship Wrestling–12.28.82

The SmarK Rant for WCCW – 12.28.82

Taped from Dallas, TX

Your host is Bill Mercer

This show is all about one match, but it’s a match that turned an entire territory around in one night.

Let us take you back to the original Flair v. Von Erich match, a 2/3 falls match that ended in a draw when both guys were disqualified in the third fall for beating on the referee. Since there was three different refs involved and lots of shenanigans, the NWA and World Class negotiated a special deal where four impartial choices for special referee would be voted on for the rematch to make sure no favorites were played. New Von Erich ally Michael Hayes won the vote. Earlier in the night, the Freebirds teamed up with David Von Erich to win the first six-man title tournament to really solidify their friendship.

Kerry Von Erich tells us how excited he is to be getting this title shot, in a manner that suggests he just did a bottle full of pills.

NWA World title: Ric Flair v. Kerry Von Erich

It’s a cage match, with Michael Hayes as the special impartial enforcer referee in the ring, and Terry Gordy is stationed outside the cage to make sure no one interferes. Kerry takes him down and works the knee, then gets an impressive standing dropkick to escape a hammerlock. Flair has nowhere to run, so they slug it out in the corner and Flair goes down with his first Flair Flop. Flair takes over with chops, but Kerry reverses a suplex into the sleeper and then takes him down and goes for the claw. Flair escapes and chokes away in the corner, which ENRAGES Michael Hayes, who will not abide cheating under his watch. Flair with a suplex for two, but Kerry spins him into an abdominal stretch and runs him into the cage a few times. And since it’s 1982, when someone gets run into a cage and rubbed into it like a cheese grater, they BLEED. Kerry slugs Flair down, but a cheapshot turns the tide as Flair goes for the knee. He pounds away on it in the corner while Hayes keeps yanking him back by the hair. This is a man who is COMMITTED to his role as fake referee. He’s literally only there for one purpose but he’s going to make the people believe that it’s his secret desire to be a respected referee. Kerry fights back, but misses a kneedrop because he’s an idiot. Flair gets the figure-four, and he’s got it locked in so tight that I’d swear he was going to break that ankle off. Kerry reverses it and Flair does the most dramatic sell ever, bridging straight up and screaming for his life. So now Kerry starts going after the knee and beating on him in the corner, but Flair climbs to the top and drops an axehandle. Kerry catches him with the claw in mid-air, and Flair is in trouble. Flair barely touches the bottom rope and Hayes calls for a break, then yanks Kerry off because he’s so dedicated to the role. And then, in the most famous moment in Texas wrestling history, Michael Hayes get sick of Flair’s shit and knocks him out, then tells Kerry to pin him and win the title. Kerry refuses because he’s a good guy, and goes after Hayes, but Terry Gordy slams the cage door in Kerry’s face to protect his buddy, and Hayes counts a bogus pin on Kerry before walking out. The Freebirds leave and the crowd is NUCLEAR against them, but oddly everyone’s memory of Kerry hitting the cage door and getting pinned immediately is not correct. Flair continues beating on Kerry and gets two, then rams him into the cage for two. Kerry keeps fighting and hits the discus punch, but he can’t make the cover because he’s still loopy, and David Manning stops the match at 18:43 due to concussion on Kerry’s part. So really, the whole Freebirds-Von Erich feud stemmed from Michael Hayes wanting to be the world’s best referee. ***1/2

The Pulse

Well, it was one match, but it was arguably in the top 10 most historic matches of all time, so that’s pretty cool. The Freebirds v. Von Erichs feud instantly caught fire, and you’ll notice now as we proceed that suddenly EVERYONE was coming into Texas to get a rub and a payday out of it.