Posted August 14, 200817 yr comment_5434037 1. Kevin Von Erich vs. The Dragon This is 2/3 falls with Kevin's American Title on the line against Dragon's mask. From the way things are looking early on, I think Kevin Von Erich might really end up opening some eyes on this set. Haven't seen him in that one stand-out match yet, but he is a guy who brings a lot of skills to the table, and seems to do at least one really cool thing per match that will keep you interested in it no matter what. The Dragon is really terrible. His deliberately silly martial arts offense might be the worst deliberately silly martial arts offense I've ever seen, but Kevin has these neat athletic escapes to early matwork and generally keeps you interested while Dragon does everything in his power to make you stop caring. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Dragon's finisher - throwing his opponent into the turnbuckle, climbing to the top rope, pointlessly backflipping off, landing on his feet, and then delivering a superkick. Even Rob Van Dam would've thought that was silly, although he at least would've executed it gracefully. Kinda surprised Shawn Michaels never tried that. But yeah, Kevin rips off Dragon's mask at the end, gets the win, and next time we see him...he still has his mask. I almost nominated this match by virtue of Kevin making me give a shit about a match with an opponent this bad, but thought better of it. 2. Al Madril vs. The Dragon Al Madril is no Kevin Von Erich, that's for sure. 3. Harley Race vs. Kerry Von Erich (17:20) Harley lays in a pretty great beating. There's not a whole lot more to this match than that. I liked it a bunch to be sure, and I could see someone else giving this match a nomination, but I'm going to pass on it, myself. 4. David Von Erich vs. Ric Flair (36:54) This is a long Flair title defense against a big name opponent, so I imagine someone is going to nominate this. It just won't be me. David Von Erich has been pretty underwhelming so far. I think this was better than the least of the Flair/Taylor matches, but not as good as the other two. The last five minutes or so where Kerry comes to ringside for moral support through the post-match brawl was pretty awesome. I'll give it that much. If this match as a whole doesn't make the set, that stuff might be worth considering as an extra. But the bulk of this match really just bored me, and when I start caring about 30 minutes in, that just makes me wonder why they couldn't make me care for the 30 minutes prior. 4. Kabuki & Dragon vs. David & Kevin Von Erich 2/3 falls for the Von Erichs' All-Asian Titles. Kevin has to share the spotlight with David here, so he doesn't get to do as much cool stuff here as in other matches, but he does get to do a handstand escape from a Dragon clawhold. Again, the temptation to nominate the match on the basis of an awesome performance in the midst of a bunch of sucky ones was there, but I decline. 5. Ric Flair vs. Kerry Von Erich (JIP) 2/3 falls for Flair's NWA Title. This comes in at the very end of the second fall, and the third fall lasts about a minute, if that. The finish to this match helps set up the big rematch at the Christmas Star Wars card, but outside of that, nothing here of note. 6. Ric Flair vs. Kerry Von Erich (Cage match 12/82) 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.
July 9, 200916 yr comment_5441736 1. Kevin Von Erich vs. The Dragon This was o.k, but nowhere near a nom. 2. Al Madril vs. The Dragon Nope. I've discussed all the other bouts.
November 2, 200916 yr comment_5445545 2 out of 3 falls American Heavyweight Title vs. Mask: Kevin Von Erich © vs. Magic Dragon (Haru Sonoda) (9/20/82) The 1st fall was all Kevin using his legs as offensive and defensive forces to keep the Dragon at bay but would fairly quickly eat Dragon’s finisher, which was a backflip off the opponent then a thrust kick to the stomach. Kevin almost kicked out of the pinfall as well. Dragon then smartly works over Kevin’s right leg but Kevin would make a comeback and went back to work using his legs and hitting a swank looking victory roll to even the falls up 1-1 with these falls going like 3 minutes a piece. The 3rd fall would start with Kevin working a headlock but Dragon would comeback and went right for his finish but Kevin blocked it by grabbing the foot and locking on the iron claw. Kevin wrenches it in but Dragon would rake his eyes to break free so Kevin decides to lock on a body scissors and unties the mask but Dragon would turn over getting a headbutt to the stomach to break the hold. Dragon goes nuts on Kevin stomping him and kept up the pressure until Kevin would bounce off the ropes hitting him and ripping off the mask which made the fans go wild. Kevin then climbed up top and hit a big reverse cross body block off the top rope for the win. Dragon was unmasked but his hair covered his face and of course he went right back to wearing it on future shows. Kabuki came out after the match for revenge and worked over Kevin until David made the save. Kevin was great here but Dragon didn’t hold up his end of the bargain so not a nomination. 2 out of 3 falls: Al Madril vs. Magic Dragon (Haru Sonoda) (10/11/82) Madril takes this to the floor early and makes this a brawl although not a good one as both men threw some shitty looking strikes at times. I did like Dragon’s jumping kick and Madril did show some fire here plus the finish of the 1st fall was interesting as Dragon hit cock smash off the top rope as he held Madril’s head and crashed right into it. The 2nd fall would start with more of the same but Madril would get a flash cradle on Dragon to even the falls up. 3rd fall was more of a brawl with both men trading shots and the crowd going nuts for Madril who would start working over Dragon’s left leg leading to his cool standing leglock finisher but Kabuki would run out for the DQ where he would attack Madril who would roll out to the floor. There were parts of this that made it better than the Kevin match but still not a nomination. #1 Contender Match for the NWA World Heavyweight Title: “Modern Day Warrior” Kerry Von Erich vs. Harley Race (6/6/82) This is from Texas Stadium and Kerry’s first big spotlight singles match on a big show. The first big spot of the match happens as they go to the floor and Harley goes for a piledriver on the turf but Kerry would give him a backdrop before going back to the ring. Race would gain control though and started working over Kerry but he would soon eat punches followed up by the discus punch for a nearfall that would knock David Manning out of the ring. Race again would take control and hit a piledriver for a nearfall but Kerry would soon get up fighting back until Race ended that using a headbutt sending Kerry out of the ring. Race would then smash Kerry into the scaffold on the floor causing him to juice before posting him as Kerry made his way back to the ring. Harley then hit a brainbuster on the turf for good measure and just kept Kerry from entering the ring until Kerry would turn the tables and posted Race who would also juice. Kerry would then lock on a sleeper that Race would resort to using a low blow to break out of before hitting a big suplex for a nearfall. Harley would go up top but Kerry would slam him down for a nearfall before Kerry would start punching the shit out of him until a double collision would take them both down. Kerry would pick Race up for a slam but their momentum would take them both over the top rope to the turf where they would engage in a slugfest with Kerry getting the better of the situation but Race would go for a cross body block off the top rope on his way back and Kerry would tuck and roll to get the win. This was a match of nothing but highspots basically but still damn fun nonetheless and deserves a nomination. NWA World Heavyweight Title: “Nature Boy” Ric Flair © vs. David Von Erich (10/11/82) I loved this match as it had a lot of heat and both men brought it in the ring with Flair being his normal great self and David hanging tough with him. Lots of great back and forth action with a lot of the Flair formula being used but some differences like Flair breaking out a modified Indian Death Lock which I really liked. Kerry would come to ringside on crutches since he has beef with Flair from two months ago and would motivate David to go on the ring and destroy Flair adding some real drama here. Flair would work him over though until David would get an inside cradle for a nearfall before being chunked back to the floor with Kerry back motivating him but David would soon eat a post shot and multiple turnbuckle shots causing him to juice. Flair becomes relentless here and even decks Kerry going for his injured leg prompting David to grab Flair’s belt to smash him in the leg to break it up. David then goes nuts getting Kerry’s crutch and bashing Flair’s head into it for the DQ. David then tries to injure Flair’s left leg by slamming it into the post numerous times as Flair is bleeding profusely. Bugsy McGraw would come out to restrain Kerry & David but Flair would go to them to get some punches thrown at his head before cooler heads would finally prevail. Flair was about to cause a riot here as the fans were going nuts on him forcing a police escort out of ringside. This was some great stuff and a definite nomination. 2 out of 3 falls for the All-Asian Tag Titles: David & Kevin Von Erich © vs. The Great Kabuki & Magic Dragon (12/5/82) Again, Kevin looked great here using a great looking headscissors to get out of a Dragon clawhold attempt and the Von Erichs showed a lot of fire in the 1st fall but Kevin would fall prey to a double-team by the heels and would eat the pin by Kabuki to lose the fall. Kabuki would go back to work on Kevin to start the 2nd fall but Kevin would lock on the iron claw before Dragon broke it up but that didn’t stop Kevin who started throwing mad punches on Kabuki who was helpless on the mat. David would tag in and kept the pressure on Kabuki before tagging Kevin back in but he would climb up top and hit a big sunset flip off the top rope on Kabuki to even the falls up 1-1. 3rd fall would be fast paced as both teams would quickly trade the advantage ending with David hitting a big high kneelift on Dragon to retain their titles. This was a good match but not a nomination. Then we get Flair/Kerry in the cage which I’ve already seen.
