1. NWA American Title Match:

Kevin Von Erich © vs. King Kong Bundy

 

As matches where the booker's kid gets to dominate a more intimidating opponent go, this was pretty fun. It helps that the booker's kid is Kevin Von Erich, who really puts on a show here, doing some really athletic mat exchanges in the early goings and throwing some nice looking dropkicks in between them. Bundy bumps pretty well and pretty credibly against Kevin. He doesn't get to do a whole lot in this match, but he gets brief moments of control where Kevin really makes it look like he has to struggle mentally and physically to take back the match. The bit that comes to mind has Bundy throw Kevin out of the ring, and when Kevin recovers, he has to figure out how he's going to get back in without falling prey to an attack from Bundy. Kevin gets it - and Bundy in general - over as a real challenge despite dominating the bulk of the match. As lame 80's finishes go, the one they had here was actually pretty neat, if only because it involved a ref bump where the ref wasn't actually comatose for an hour. I enjoyed this. I don't see it going far, and I probably wouldn't go to the wall for it, but I dug it enough that I thought I'd throw it out there.

 

2. $10,000 Check on a Pole Battle Royale

 

Here's a slightly Rusoriffic concept for you. This starts as a normal battle royale with a whole bunch of guys who can be eliminated by pinfall or being thrown over the top rope, but when it gets down to three guys, the ref hangs a check for $10,000 at the top of a pole, and then the first guy to grab the check wins. Actual battle royale portion of the match is kinda lame, but then it comes down to Iron Mike Sharpe, Ken Mantell, and Brian Adias in the finals, and they all rush the poll and start frantically trying to climb all over one another to get to the check first. Sharpe is particularly vicious. This show is making me think he's a guy to look out for on the set. He throws these great body shots, and with him and two other guys all bunched up in the corner, he looks like he's brawling in a phone booth. Really intense stuff. Shame the bulk of the match is so weak.

 

3. NWA World 6-Man Tag Team Titles Decision Match:

David Von Erich, Michael Hayes, & Terry Gordy vs. Mike Sharpe, Ben Sharpe, & Tom Steele

 

This is to crown the first ever World Class Six-Man Tag Team Champions. David and Kevin Von Erich cut a promo before the match lamenting that they won't be in the match because of Kerry's World Title shot later that night, but as it turns out, Buddy Roberts couldn't make it to the arena due to weather problems, so David offers his services as a replacement. If nothing else, this match needs to be on the set because with all the Freebirds matches with Michael Hayes as a great scuzzy heel that will inevitably make the cut, this match stars Hayes as the hidden great babyface of the 80's. Faces control the first part of the bout, and that is all about Hayes as energetic dancing babyface throwing a lot of kicks. He sort of looks like the best possible missing link between Mr. Wrestling II and Kofi Kingston. It really makes you wonder how he ever developed a rep as a poor worker. He throws a lot of kicks and has all kinds of fruity embellishments. If he were working today, dudes on the internet would be fawning all over him. Then he spends most of the rest of the match as face-in-peril, and he's awesome doing that, too. He gets put in chinlocks and bearhugs and whatnot, and he really frantically tries to fight out instead of just lying around doing nothing. He really gets over the struggle. There's one great part near the end where he's in a rear chinlock, and he's brought all the way down to the mat, but in desperation he manages to turn it over so he's on top and just starts wailing on his opponent. Gotta give the assist to Iron Mike Sharpe and Tom Steele, both of whom weren't afraid to bring the hurt here. For a guy I've never even heard of before, Tom Steele really impressed me, and while I haven't watched a ton of this stuff yet, I already feel like doing a "Texas Stock Picks" post where I can pimp Iron Mike Sharpe. Terry Gordy was Terry Gordy. Whenever he was in the ring, he laid a hurting on people. David and Ben were the obvious weak links of their respective teams, but not enough to hold this match back significantly. Just crazy action from start to finish, and an amazing babyface performance from Hayes that you probably wouldn't expect. I think it's a slam dunk nomination.

 

4. Steel Cage Match for

the NWA World Heavyweight Title

with Special Guest Second Referee Michael Hayes:

Ric Flair © vs. Kerry Von Erich

 

This is a real easy pick. Kerry looked great here, just the consummate fiery babyface and ate the steel door like a champ. Flair threw some of the hardest chops of his career, bounced around the ring like a pinball, and bled like a stuck pig. Hayes was great as the special guest second ref. All the more reason to include the six-man from earlier in the night that I nominated, because it really gives you an idea of the gravity of the turn to see Hayes deliver this great babyface performance as a Von Erich friend in the prior match, and then spend most of this match as the tough but impartial referee who gradually loses his cool before the big heel turn. This is kinda like the DiBiase/Duggan multi-stip match in that with all the overbboking in this match, it seems kinda easy to dismiss to the untrained eye, but every aspect of the match actually fits perfectly.

 

On this disc, the main show is followed with clips from a later show featuring Bill Mercer interviewing Kerry Von Erich and David Manning about the match that I think have to be included as extras. They really go a long way in painting the portrait of one of the biggest angles of the 80's.

I've talked about all of these except.

 

 

3. NWA World 6-Man Tag Team Titles Decision Match:

David Von Erich, Michael Hayes, & Terry Gordy vs. Mike Sharpe, Ben Sharpe, & Tom Steele

 

I thought this was a good solid bout & 2nd all that is said about P.S. His face work was great. I thought the heels were solid. The finish was good. I don't feel this is a slam dunk; but feel people should view this bout. I feel it's more of an extra.

American Heavyweight Title: Kevin Von Erich © vs. King Kong Bundy (12/25/82)

 

Another solid match between these two and this was the best one I’ve seen as Kevin was fluid on the mat then showed fire on offense and sold well. Bundy was again great with his power game using his weight to weaken Kevin and used his strength to keep the claw away from his head. Kevin would finally lock in the claw but Bundy would get the ropes to break it that would piss Kevin off. Kevin would climb up top to hit Bundy with a chop but hit David Manning instead and Bundy would chunk him to the floor. Kevin would get rolled back in the ring and Bundy would try to hit his Avalanche in the corner but fucking David Manning would pull Kevin out of the corner then threw Kevin right into Bundy so he could pound on him as the crowd goes nuts. Kevin would hit a dropkick on Bundy and sent him to the floor with Manning raising Kevin’s hand for a DQ finish because he threw Kevin over the top rope. Horrible finish to a damn good match which really hampered it but after rewatching the match I will give this a nomination.

 

$10,000 Pole Battle Royal won by Ken Mantell (12/25/82)

 

The ending part of this was fun but other than that it was just another battle royal with a pole. I agree with SLL about Sharpe being pretty good here.

 

David & Kevin Von Erich cut a promo next talking about David joining up with The Fabulous Freebirds for the next match due to Buddy Roberts not making the arena due to weather issues. The best part about this promo is Kevin saying that he doesn’t know much about the Freebirds when he was working with and against Hayes & Gordy respectively on WTBS over a year earlier.

 

Decision Match for the vacant World Class Six-Man Tag Titles: The Fabulous Freebirds (Terry “Bamm Bamm” Gordy & Michael Hayes), & David Von Erich vs. Ben Sharpe (Johnny Mantell), Iron Mike Sharpe, & Tom Steele (Kelly Kiniski) (12/25/82)

 

It sucks we don’t get the pre-match promo by Hayes talking about David joining them. I wonder why Iron Mike’s partners used fake names here and how did they get this match since they weren’t regulars. I totally agree with SLL about Hayes as he was fucking awesome as a babyface which he doesn’t get the credit for because of his legendary heel routine. Gordy was of course great here looking fired up hitting some high impact moves on Kiniski. David was fine here but wasn’t the focal point of course as they had to get the Birds over for later in the night. Steele isn’t a factor here although funny to see him in this gimmick before he became Johnny Mantell. Kiniski showed some charisma here as Steele which is more than he did as himself and had some decent offense. Iron Mike was the total MVP of his team by stooging around and hitting some hard-hitting offense especially on Hayes who was great as the FIP of course. It would break down into a wild brawl at the end featuring David hitting his high kneelift on Iron Mike for the win and a great celebration after the match to some great crowd heat. The promo after the match was key with David handing over his part of the titles to the Birds for Buddy. Hayes’ actions through all this is interesting as he was in sorta disbelief over David’s decision. This definitely moves forward as it was a very good match.

 

NWA World Heavyweight Title - SR: Michael Hayes: "Nature Boy" Ric Flair © vs. "The Modern Day Warrior" Kerry Von Erich (12/25/82)

 

This is a grand slam nomination and one of the greatest matches of the 80's, just that simple.

 

Then we get interviews afterwards from Kerry & David Manning about the situation and these are definite extras.