WCCW #30 Page #2
The
newest and perhaps most interesting feud concerned Chris Adams and Gino
Hernandez. Chris and Gino had been almost inseparable as best friends and tag
team partners. Together they were The Dynamic Duo, a seemingly unstoppable team.
In fact the duo was stopped not by external forces, but by internal elements and
the compass of blame pointed right at Gino. On Christmas night at Reunion Arena,
Gino had allowed Chris to take a beating from the Von Erichs, refusing to take a
tag and refusing to enter the ring to aid his partner. Chris ended the bout by
tossing Kevin over the top rope for a disqualification. The Dynamic Duo retained
their title, but Chris refused to accept his belt, angrily decking Gino.
Not
long afterwards Gino appeared on Championship Sports in Fort Worth with Marc
Lowrance and dismissed the incident. The Handsome Halfbreed declared that he and
Chris were still the champs and still the best of friends and even that he had
knocked out Chris with one punch in the locker room to teach Chris a lesson. At
that moment a furious Adams walked up. He wanted to know why Gino had not picked
him up to go to the Will Rogers Coliseum as promised, forcing Chris to take a
cab. When Marc helpfully recapped what the increasingly nervous Gino had just
said, Chris Adams snapped. To the delight of the crowd he began beating up Gino
in a very ungentlemanly manner. Gino managed
to escape, but The Dynamic Duo was no
more. The feud was on and a grudge match signed for the Star Wars card at
Tarrant County Convention Center.
The Fabulous Freebirds reclaimed the Six Man Title on Friday January 3, 1986 in Dallas at The Sportatorium by defeating Kerry and Kevin Von Erich and Brian Adias. The bout did not air on TV and later when Bill Mercer interviewed the new champs and questioned Hayes, Gordy, and Roberts about their illegal tactics during the title victory, it turned out that The Birds had conveniently destroyed the videotape of the bout in question. The American Tag Team Title sat vacant following the split of The Dynamic Duo. World Class officials did not announce any plans to fill the championship and the tag title soon dropped from view. At times World Class de-emphasized certain titles in order to feature others. In this case the American Tag Team Title moved to the sidelines in favor of a renewed push of the Six Man Title. The American Title remained securely around the waist of Rick Rude. The Grappler held the Texas Title. The TV Title meanwhile bounced around some more. It began the year around the waist of Mark Youngblood. Youngblood then lost the TV title to Buddy Roberts in Fort Worth on Monday January 6, 1986.
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Wrestling
Star Wars, Tarrant County Convention Center, Fort Worth, TX, Monday January 27,
1986
Jerry
Allen defeated Tommy Montana
Jerry
gained his greatest fame in the WWF as a prelim wrestler, but also received
pushes in some promotions as Jerry Oske or Oski and in the AWA as Jerry America.
World Class pushed him as a young up and comer, looking to make his mark. Tommy
Montana’s small push had eroded and he lost this bout without putting up much
of a fight.
Chris
Adams defeated Gino Hernandez by disqualification
The
split of the Dynamic Duo brought them to this encounter. World Class had done a
great job of turning Chris Adams babyface without undermining the angry edge he
had gained as a heel. Gino as always played his role as a cowardly cheat to
perfection. Since the two men had recently suffered the humiliation of losing a
hair match and had only recently had their hair grow back to a decent length,
the plan was for the defeated man to lose his hair once again courtesy of the
special Freebird Hair Cream that the Birds had utilized in several territories.
The
bout came to a sudden and shocking end when Gino took a vial of the mysterious
solution and splashed it into Chris’ eyes. Chris fell to the mat in agony as
referees and others tried to wash out his eyes using water as well as soft
drinks from concerned spectators. Gino slinked away to the back. This incident
was supposed to touch off a major angle that would culminate with Chris
eventually returning and gaining revenge on Gino at the Parade of Champions in
May. Alas tragedy intervened, a tragedy we will discuss in greater detail next
month.
Mark
Youngblood defeated Jack Victory
Chief
Mark Youngblood got the victory over Jack Victory. However by this time
Victory’s push had ended while Youngblood’s push had definitely stalled.
Thus the win did little to enhance Mark’s place in the standings.
Iceman
Parsons and The Missing Link defeated Rick Rude and The Grappler
Percy
Pringle escorted his American and Texas Heavyweight Champs to the ring. Sunshine
stood by The Missing Link who enjoyed massive popularity in his new monster
babyface role. Iceman Parsons remained popular even if he seemed a bit old hat
by this point.
John
Tatum defeated Brian Adias
This
match featured two men headed in opposite directions. World Class had tried and
failed to make Brian a star as the top non Von Erich babyface in 1985 as it had
in 1983 with Iceman Parsons and in 1984 with Chris Adams. Brian just lacked
the talent and charisma necessary for the role, qualities that Parsons and Adams
possessed. Adias settled at his natural midcard role as 1986 began. John Tatum
meanwhile continued to rise. His heel shtick, with his pouting, preposterous
bragging, comedic selling, and especially the presence of one Missy Hyatt at
ringside, saw fans and promoters take an interest in Tatum unlike anything
before. Tatum’s win over Adias confirmed their differing trajectories.
Kerry
and Lance Von Erich and Bruiser Brody defeated The Fabulous Freebirds by
disqualification; The Freebirds retained the Six Man Title
Injuries
put Kevin Von Erich on the sidelines. Bruiser Brody stepped up to take his place
and in the process started one of World Class Championship Wrestling’s most
brutal feuds of all time against Terry Gordy. The long running Von Erich’s vs.
Freebirds rivalry certainly didn’t abate either as boys from Badstreet
retained their Six Man Championship belts on a disqualification, an underhanded
method that World Class would soon legislate out of existence.
Sunshine
defeated Missy Hyatt by count out
No
one would ever mistake these two for scientific wrestlers who put sportsmanship
above all principles. All holds and all decorum were tossed out the window. This
was just a good old-fashioned catfight with the ladies brawling with more
intensity than normal for these sorts of matches. In the end Hyatt and Tatum ran
for the hills, giving Sunshine the count out win.
I believe I referred to their Christmas war in Dallas as the final battle in this bloody feud. My mistake, THIS was the final battle. As you’d expect, both men brawled uncontrollably and spilled immense amounts of blood as Brody closed the book on his war with OMG. For Brody a new rival awaited. A brutal and bloody feud with Terry Gordy loomed on the horizon.
NEXT MONTH:
As we leave January behind, we look towards a very eventful February. Tragedy would strike World Class Championship Wrestling once again. The promotion took a giant step out of a hallowed professional wrestling institution. Sunshine brought a Fantastic tag team back to World Class. Kabuki got a Fabulous manager. This is only the tip of the iceberg. We’ll go into everything in our next column.