WCCW #29 Page #2
Rick
Rude held the American Title and stood as the top singles heel. Rude was still
searching for his footing at this point, lacking that one top babyface rival who
could raise his profile as Jerry Lawler had in Memphis and Wahoo McDaniel in
Florida respectively. Rude’s manager Percy Pringle, quite a personality in his
own right, also guided The Grappler and added The Great Kabuki to his Pringle
Dynasty, replacing the newly babyface turned Missing Link. The now unmasked
Dynamic Duo of Chris Adams and Gino Hernandez ruled the tag team scene. Chris
and Gino remained unpopular, but had past their peak as heel draws. The Fabulous
Freebirds made a violent return, which we’ll examine in further detail later
in this article. Hollywood John Tatum and Missy Hyatt garnered tremendous heat
for their issues with Sunshine. Both played their roles well. One Man Gang
stayed on as a part of the heel slate. Jack Victory had settled into a role as a
midcard heel that could both drop down to the prelims or occasionally occupy a
higher spot on the bill. Victory essentially replaced the departed Kelly Kiniski
in occupying this spot on the roster; a role Kiniski had played in World Class
for ages.
The
Von Erichs vs. The Freebirds, throughout 1983 and 1984 all World Class
Championship Wrestling had to do was put that match on the bill and then count
the ticket money from sellout after sellout. Since the big cage match in Fort
Worth on Labor Day 1984, the two teams had not met as combatants. Since Terry
Gordy’s handshake with Kerry at the 1984 Thanksgiving card, peace had reigned
over the two former enemies. The two sides had even united as partners for the
big 12 man tag team event at Texas Stadium for the Parade of Champions in May
1985. Terry Gordy’s belligerent attitude at the Thanksgiving show in November
1985 pointed to signs that animosity bubbled beneath the surface. The sneak
attack in Fort Worth reignited the feud into a firestorm. One of professional
wrestling’s truly legendary feuds lived again.
Apart
from this major issue, the other main feud consisted of the valet clash between
Sunshine and Missy Hyatt. The fans loved Sunshine as much as ever and hated
Missy Hyatt and her spoiled rich girl gimmick with an almost unhealthy
intensity. Just the anticipation that these two might fight was enough to get
the World Class fans going. Apart from this, the promotion milked the now stale
Von Erichs vs. Dynamic Duo feud to the point of excess. This feud had run its
course and, with The Birds back on the scene, Chris and Gino needed something
new, although instead of fresh challengers they ended up getting something much
different. Brian Adias and The Grappler formed a rivalry around the Texas Title.
Meanwhile Rick Rude lacked a main rival for his American Title despite an effort
to give him one in the form of Lance Von Erich.
Standing
atop the World Class title heap was Ravishing Rick Rude who held the American
Title. Lance Von Erich and Iceman Parsons earned the bulk of the title matches.
Kerry and Kevin Von Erich still held the Six Man Title along with their pal
Brian Adias. They had lacked logical challengers until The Fabulous Freebirds
came back. Speaking of Adias, he lost the Texas Title to The Grappler in Fort
Worth on December 9, 1985. Nothing against Adias or The Grappler, but the Texas
strap had by this time evolved into a midcard championship that could not
headline a show unlike even earlier in 1985. The Dynamic Duo of Chris Adams and
Gino Hernandez defended the American Tag Team Title mostly against Kerry and
Kevin Von Erich. The TV Title had been vacant since October when Rick Rude
injured Iceman Parsons. That belt was filled in Fort Worth on December 2, 1985
when Dave Peterson bested The Grappler. Just one week later, Peterson lost the
TV Title to Jack Victory in Fort Worth. Victory dropped the hot potato TV Title
to Mark Youngblood in Fort Worth on December 23, 1985.
The
holidays signaled another return to Reunion Arena for World Class Championship
Wrestling. This card featured several returning stars plus some big names from
New Japan Pro Wrestling. In the past World Class had associated itself with All
Japan Pro Wrestling. The change in affiliation stemmed from Bruiser Brody. Brody
had recently changed his own Japanese wrestling affiliation and used his
contacts and influence to arrange for New Japan competitors to appear at this
show. Alas the World Class/New Japan connection would not last beyond this
event.
Rather
alarmingly for World Class Championship Wrestling, this event drew only a crowd
of approximately 8,300. Reunion Arena held more than twice that amount for
wrestling and had been filled by World Class for numerous events over the past
few years. The comparatively small attendance sadly served as harbinger for hard
times to come for this promotion. Around this time attendance for the weekly
shows at the Sportatorium in Dallas and Will Rogers Coliseum in Fort Worth began
to slide. Increased competition in the wrestling business, troubles in the Texas
economy, over familiarity with some of the wrestlers, and the lack of a new and
truly compelling feud on top of the promotion were among the reasons for the
decline. Still the promotion was in solid enough shape to have optimism heading
into 1986, perhaps too much optimism as events unfolded. That’s a story for a
different day though. In the meantime let’s get to the Christmas action from
1985.
The
show began with a bout between two lower card wrestlers. Mantell had largely
worked as a babyface in World Class, but wrestled as a heel in this bout en
route to the win. Montana seemed at one point like a wrestler who the promotion
might push in the long run. However by this time he was jobbing his way out of
World Class.
Jack Victory wrestled Dave Peterson to a
time limit draw
Victory
and Peterson gave World Class a pair of competent young wrestlers with some
promise for the future, but not necessarily immediate returns. They battled to a
draw in this bout.
Iceman
Parsons and Brian Adias defeated The Great Kabuki and The Grappler
Percy Pringle accompanied the heels to ringside; taking pride in The Grappler’s newly won Texas Title. Brian Adias clearly marked Grappler for revenge. Kabuki now wrestled for the Pringle Dynasty. His on again off again feud with Scott Casey now permanently off due to Casey’s imminent departure from World Class. Iceman and Adias came out on top of this encounter.
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Tatsumi
Fujinami was already a major star for New Japan and en route to becoming a
legend by the end of 1985. He made a rare U.S. appearance in this bout. Who did
he defeat? Match records are incomplete and my efforts to identify his foe did
not yield success. In any case, Fujinami made essentially a one shot performance
that had no bearing on the bigger picture of the promotion.
Lance
Von Erich defeated Rick Rude by disqualification. Rude retains the American
Title
One
of World Class' top priorities was to position Lance Von Erich as a true
superstar with the fans. Lance was not to be viewed a “Von Erich Come
Lately” or a weak link in comparison to Kerry and Kevin. World Class wanted
fans to view Lance as an equal to Kerry and Kevin. To that end Lance went
straight to the top of the card. He had even faced Ric Flair in Fort Worth in
what turned out to be Flair’s final appearance in a World Class ring.
To
help cement Lance’s status, World Class booked him against Rick Rude for the
American Title at the Christmas Wrestling Star Wars show. Fans expecting a title
change had history on their side. Kerry, Kevin, and Mike had all won the
American Title during their first years in World Class while David had won the
Texas Title. Rick Rude was a tough customer however. He also had the determined
if misguided Percy Pringle by his side. Lance put up a good fight and Rude
needed a disqualification in order to walk out with his championship belt.
Terry
Gordy and Buddy Roberts defeated Dave Peterson and Mark Youngblood
Two
thirds of The Fabulous Freebirds took out a pair of lower ranked babyfaces as a
tune up in preparation for the main event later in the evening. Gordy and
Roberts seemed energized to be back in World Class rings, Meanwhile Mark
Youngblood had a rather inauspicious major show debut for World Class
considering that he seemed like someone the promotion wanted to push upon his
arrival.
Link
made short work of Jack Victory. Afterwards Rick Rude, accompanied by Percy
Pringle, entered the ring to attack the Link. Sunshine used her can of air
freshener (a hold over from her days with Jimmy Garvin) to ward off the heels.
In the process Sunshine gained a new protégé. The match took place in order to
set up the post match angle that strongly put over Link’s recent babyface turn
and began his new Beauty and The Beast relationship with Sunshine.
Kerry
and Kevin Von Erich defeated Chris Adams and Gino Hernandez by disqualification.
Adams and Hernandez retain the American Tag Team Title.
Chris
and Gino didn’t plan on facing the Von Erichs yet again. In fact they saw to
it that Kerry and Kevin were moved out of title contention. The promotion
scheduled a new and mysterious team called The Cosmic Cowboys for the title
shot. The Dynamic Duo erupted in fury, but had no choice in the matter. The
match went forward. The unprepared Dynamic Duo soon found itself on the short
end of the match. Kerry and Kevin controlled every aspect of the bout. They used
quick tags and high impact offense to keep an increasingly vulnerable Chris
Adams in the ring. Chris desperately needed to tag out. However when he went to
Gino, the Handsome Halfbreed refused the tag in a display of cowardice that
shocked even his fiercest critics. Kerry and Kevin had Chris on the brink of
defeat and Gino preferred to stand on the apron in fear rather than come to his
partner’s rescue, even refusing several more tags. Eventually rage and
adrenaline combined to give Chris enough energy to toss Kevin over the top rope
for an automatic disqualification, allowing The Dynamic Duo to retain the title.
Now Gino wanted to celebrate as if he hadn’t just stabbed Chris Adams in the
back. Gino grabbed the American Tag Team Title belts and attempted to hand Chris
his belt. Adams not only spurned the belt, he floored Gino with a punch and
stormed out in anger. The Dynamic Duo had teamed for the last time.
As
usual, the ladies received most of the attention, brawling in their typically
unhinged style. Tatum and Casey only served as afterthoughts. The fans just
wanted to see the ladies fight. This match was Scott Casey’s swan song in
World Class before heading to Texas All Star Wrestling. However Sunshine’s
issue with Missy and Tatum would continue unabated with The Missing Link picking
up the slack as Hollywood John’s main rival.
Antonio
Inoki, one the most famous wrestlers in the world, made his Reunion Arena debut
in this bout. Then known as Kanji Inoki, he had wrestled some bouts at The
Sportatorium back in the 1960s in the early days of his career. Now Inoki
returned to face Steve Williams. Dr. Death wrestled in the Mid-South promotion
on a regular basis, but made a special appearance on this card. Inoki’s return
to Dallas proved successful.
During
Brody’s intermittent stops in World Class since the summer of 1985, he and One
Man Gang engaged in a stop-start feud. The issue at hand extended to which man
was tougher. For the fans it all added up to wild, blood spattered brawls
between two behemoths. Neither Brody nor OMG gave the other man even an inch. In
a match that essentially settled the issue, Bruiser Brody defeated One Man Gang
and reasserted himself as the top big man in World Class Championship Wrestling.
Unusually
for a battle between these two teams, the Six Man Title was not at stake. That
championship belonged not to the three Von Erichs, but to Kerry, Kevin, and
Brian Adias. The Von Erichs and Freebirds had teamed together in the 12-man tag
team match at the Parade of Champions the previous May; however this
confrontation marked their first meeting as foes since Labor Day 1984. Despite
this gap in time, it only took these trios a few moments to settle back into a
groove. Even newcomer Lance found his place. With past battles and the recent
Fort Worth ambush still fresh in the minds of the fans, the heat naturally
reached the boiling point. The Von Erichs sent the fans home happy with a win,
but The Freebirds vowed revenge and made good on that promise in short order.
The Von Erichs won the battle, but not the war.
NEXT MONTH:
Heading out of 1985 and into 1986, World Class Championship Wrestling had several major feuds set heading into the new year, The Von Erichs vs. The Freebirds, Sunshine and Link vs. Hyatt and Tatum, and Chris vs. Gino. Business had admittedly taken a bit of a slide, but the promotion continued to be healthy overall and had every hope of recovering lost ground. In our next edition we’ll review the action from early 1986.