8. Harley Race vs Kevin Von Erich - Reunion Arena,

I thought this was a tale of 2 matches. The 1st part was mediocre, but the 2nd part with Race in control was tremendous. I thought the 1st part had some cool aspects. I liked how Kevin almost caught Race with some near falls early. This was neat to me because Race had just won the title and showed he wasn't prepped for a title defense. I thought fucking up the body scissors spot twice was brutal to watch. Once Kevin took that bump on the table and started selling the shoulder was gold. Kevin's selling was tremendous and I believed he hurt his shoulder.Race just murdered that shoulder, but gave Kevin enough hope spots to pop the audience and keep things interesting. I loved how Kevin was still able to get the claw on for a great false finish. I still don't know how Kevin putting his hand in his own trunks was going to alleviate the pain in his shoulder. Overall, this gets a nomination from me.

I liked this even more than you did, as I liked the first part of the match just fine. Kevin' early attempts at the bodyscissors seemed like they were just supposed to be failed attempts rather than him fucking up, although it was still kinda weird looking. But in general, I thought he looked good early on, and he hit maybe the best looking top-rope crossbody I've ever seen. Bonus points for Race stomping on David's head leading to his interference and the DQ. I think it's an easy nomination.

 

[WCCW Ft. Worth/Dallas 1982-83 (Disc 3)]

NWA World Heavyweight Title: Harley Race © vs. Kevin Von Erich (6/17/83)

 

This was billed for a while to be Flair vs. Kevin but he lost the belt days earlier to Race so they had to change the match of course and since the whole feud had been with Flair it sorta took the air out of this match. There was a good story though that Race was susceptible to defeat since he wasn’t prepared for Kevin so he wasn’t on his A-game to start. Kevin hit his trademark 180 splash off the top rope for a nearfall very early leading to Race to go to the floor to regroup. The action would continue to go back and forth with Kevin getting the claw on Race really putting him in trouble but again being Race he worked out of it although Kevin kept the advantage as Race was just being worked over early. Race chunked Kevin to the floor but he hit his left shoulder on the table as he fell to the floor and it looked like it hurt like hell. Kevin sold it like death and Race loves working on the shoulder so this worked well for the match. Kevin would still put up a fight though even with the bad shoulder and the fans were hot for Kevin every time he tried a comeback. Kevin would get the claw back on after Race come off the top rope and it looked like he might get the win but Race pulled him back through the ropes again landing on the floor. David Von Erich would then come out to help Kevin back in the ring so Race would attack him leading to David coming in for the DQ. David would hit his high kneelift and started pounding on Race then talked shit to him how he couldn’t beat a one-armed man. The finish was to setup David for a shot at the NWA title as he said to Race that if he couldn’t beat him then he would retire from wrestling so it worked in a way. The match was damn solid and a fairly easy nomination.

6/10 or 6/17?

It's 6/17 from the Star Wars show.