Bugsy McGraw & Little Coco vs. Killer Tim Brooks & Hillbilly Eaton

 

This isn't anything more than you would expect it to be.

 

Terry Gordy vs. Kevin Von Erich (10:48)

 

This was exactly the kind of match you would want to see between these two after the Freebirds' heel turn. Great wild brawl with Gordy's size allowing him to smother and overpower Kevin while Kevin is able to use his speed to even the odds against the slower Gordy. Kevin's been impressing me a lot so far. He seemed to have so many skills perfected. Here, we see Kevin's great fiery babyface routine and his great brawling. Not as much of his cool athletic mat stuff, which makes sense, but he does manage to roll under a clubberin' blow from Gordy and turn right around to blast him with a forearm in one cool spot. Gordy is Gordy. It's not like I have to sell you on him or anything. Match ends in a double DQ, which might bug some people, but it's World Class, what do you expect? It doesn't really detract from the match that much, anyway. I think it's a solid nomination.

 

Tully Blanchard vs. Eric Embry

 

The disc takes a brief interlude to Southwest. Blanchard is feuding with Bob Sweetan, and he inserts himself into this match against fresh-faced youngster Embry with the intent of sending a message to Sweetan. Embry is on fire here, hitting a lot of nice offense on Tully early and then selling the Blanchard beatdown like a champ and bleeding like a stuck pig. If he got any kind of comeback at all, I probably would have nominated this. Bonus points for Bob Sweetan's disgusted babyface guest commentary, and the awesome post-match promo where he holds up a bloodied Embry and swears revenge against Tully, which may have been good enough by itself to make it on the set as an extra.

 

Tully Blanchard vs. Bob Sweetan

 

This is a Texas Death Match, JIP seemingly pretty deep into the match, and probably isn't quite what you would have hoped for from these two after what came just before it.

 

Kabuki & Dragon vs. Kevin Von Erich & Al Madril

 

2/3 falls, as many of the TV tag main events have been, and with two referees. I've been hoping to find a match in the "Kevin Von Erich is so good that you don't mind the other mediocre-to-terrible guys in the match" sub-genre that was good enough to nominate, and I think this is it. Kabuki is probably the second best worker in the match, which doesn't say a lot for Madril or Dragon, but Kevin looks so good brawling with the heels, selling their gimmicky offense, playing face-in-peril, and getting heat on Madril when necessary that you can kind of go along with what the other three are doing, to the point that you can actually care a little bit when, say, the heels are double-teaming Madril. They actually seem to respond to this, too. This is the first Magic Dragon match I've seen where he isn't completely irredeemable, and Madril looks pretty fired up for the second half of the match. People who were bugged by Gary Hart no-selling for Flair might be bugged by the finish of this match, but they were doing an angle where King Kong Bundy was "on strike" and Gary Hart had to fill in for him in his matches, so putting him over as a legit in-ring threat like that might not have been the worst idea.

 

Kerry Von Erich vs. Michael Hayes (15:49)

 

This is billed as the first time these two ever faced each other, and it's certainly strange to think of a time when these two had never met before. Then again, it's even stranger to think of a time when the Von Erichs and the Freebirds were pals, and I've already seen that. In any case, this match has the kind of weight to it that this sort of historic meeting should have. Both of these guys have reps as poor workers that seem very clearly undeserved to me. Kerry is about as good of a big match performer as you could ever ask for, and this is a great chance to see him prove that against someone other than Ric Flair. Hayes holds up his end of the match with good-looking offense (he seems to have signified his heel turn by trading in his kicks for bionic elbows) and Michael Hayes-level stooging. It adds up to an exciting, back-and-forth match with a ton of heat, and it's an easy nomination for me.

 

Freebirds Interview (3:07)

 

This was a totally fine Freebirds interview, but is kinda hampered by standing in the shadow of....

 

Freebirds Interview @ Drive-In (3:42)

 

Bill Mercer puts on his best old duffer hat and heads out to a drive-in burger joint (on foot) where the 'Birds have agreed to meet him for lunch. They're there in their custom van, where Mercer finds them way more interested in their lunch than in actually being interviewed. Hayes complains about Mercer being "nosy" and "asking too many questions", while Gordy bitches about Mercer following them around everywhere and being unprofessional during interviews. Then Buddy Roberts pops up from the back seat and starts chewing Mercer out for ignoring him, and eventually, they all get fed up and leave without paying, forcing Bill to pay the tab for an angry waitress. Awesome stuff, definite nomination as an extra.

 

Terry Gordy vs. Kevin Von Erich (15:00)

 

A major letdown compared to their match earlier on the disc, as they really did not have the fire they had earlier.

 

Interview w/ Lewin, Brooks & Gary Hart

 

Fun interview with a pre-bald-for-life Gary Hart insisting that he could get Brooks and Lewin to work as a team, insisting that the "proof is in the pudding" moments before Brooks and Lewin blow up at each other and Hart gets busted open slightly trying to break it up. He succeeds in doing so, which he tries to spin as proof that he could keep the two under control.

 

Mark Lewin vs. David Von Erich

 

Pretty short, but still the best David Von Erich singles match I've seen so far. David as fired-up babyface brawler seems to be the one role he can do kinda well, though his execution is still pretty weak, and Lewin kinda sucked here. Still this was a fun little match, just because David brought enough fire to make you care.

I almost forgot, the tape list thread misses a match between King Kong Bundy and (Yoshiaki?) Yatsu after the Kevin/Madril vs. Kabuki/Dragon match. There's not much to it, and so it's pretty easy to overlook, but what's there was pretty fun. Yatsu drops Bundy with an impressive bodyslam and pins him after about seven seconds of action, but then Bundy gets back to his feet, and the two have a cool little pull-apart with a bunch of other guys getting in on the act. Way too short to be anything, but I thought you all should know it was there, and it was enjoyable for what it was. I'd definitely like to see a longer match between these two.

Bugsy McGraw & Little Coco vs. Killer Tim Brooks & Hillbilly Eaton

 

Nothing of substance here.

 

Terry Gordy vs. Kevin Von Erich

 

I thought this was tremendous. The brawling here is stiff and tight as all get out. This was the perfect bout coming off the cage angle. I also dug the claw spots from Kevin. It had a Jake Roberts feel to it. This is a nomination, and like the finish given the start of the feud.

 

 

Kabuki & Dragon vs. Kevin Von Erich & Al Madril

 

I nodded off, so I'll give it a rewatch

 

Kerry Von Erich vs. Michael Hayes

 

I thought this was blast. I would have preffered more of a brawl though. Both men work the leg well. KVE coming off a knee injury, and a big bout with Flair made sense in P.S going after it. Overall, this was good stuff, and deserves a nom.

Bugsy McGraw & Little Coco vs. Killer Brooks & Billy the Kid

 

Bugsy was fun here and the midgets were par for the course although there was a fun little chicken fight but this wasn’t nothing.

 

Terry “Bamm Bamm” Gordy vs. Kevin Von Erich (1/10/83)

 

This was a brawl from the bell with Kevin bringing the aggression on offense and Gordy selling hard before trying to get some offense in that would be squelched by an iron claw by Kevin. The story here was that Kevin as doing whatever he could to get Gordy in the iron claw and would succeed but Gordy would always find a way to get out using his size advantage. Gordy would sell greatly here and even does his reverse bump in the corner before Hayes would come out which would inspire Gordy to fight harder but also inspired Kevin as well and he would hit a cross body block for a nearfall. Hayes would of course get involved and attacked Kevin although Bronko Lubich didn’t call for a DQ before Kerry showed up in street clothes to make the save where Lubich finally called for the DDQ. The crowd is nuts for the Von Erich’s cleaning house sending the Birds packing. This was very fun even with the screwed up finish and this definitely moves forward because of the tight work by the wrestlers.

 

Then we get some Southwest which I’ve seen.

 

2 out of 3 falls: The Great Kabuki & Magic Dragon vs. Al Madril & Kevin Von Erich (11/15/82)

 

Nothing much to the 1st fall although the faces were fine here with Madril doing okay on selling but Kevin was really fun in everything he did showing lots of fire trying to take on both heels at the same time. Madril would come back in and Dragon would hit his balls to the face finisher from the top rope to get the win. 2nd fall started with Madril taking more punishment and Kevin nearly killing himself trying to tag in which he didn’t get although he attacked Kabuki anyway before making the formal tag. Madril would come back in and showed fire but he wasn’t very good with anything he did although I did like his lucha submission on Dragon to take the fall to even it up. Funny thing about Gary Hart I noticed before the 3rd fall was that he left the ring by stepping over the top rope like he was fuckin Kane or something, that made me laugh. The faces would start the 3rd fall by working over Dragon’s legs before it would break down into a fun little brawl featuring Hart coming into the ring and hitting a piledriver using the tights on Madril as he had the submission he used to win the 2nd fall on Dragon. Dragon would roll over on him for the pin and the reason why Hart did that was that he was being used as a worker at this time due to King Kong Bundy doing his “strike” angle. This was just average to me at best and not a nomination.

 

World Class TV Title: Yoshiaki Yatsu © vs. King Kong Bundy (2/7/83)

 

Yatsu had just won the title by forfeit over Kabuki who was “injured” by Yatsu and Bundy was the pick by the fans. Yatsu would sneak up on Bundy as he was talking shit to Armand Hussein and hit a bodyslam on him in 11 seconds to get the win. Bundy would attack Yatsu after the match and there was a brawl until the other guys cleared the ring. Bundy would then slam Madril and hit his Avalanche on him as Brian Adias & Bugsy McGraw looked on. This was hilarious to watch and should be extra material.

 

“Modern Day Warrior” Kerry Von Erich vs. Michael Hayes (2/7/83)

 

This is their first singles match ever and it starts as you would expect with Hayes running from Kerry and Kerry pounding him when he catches him and this is the antithesis of the first Gordy/Kevin battle as this was Hayes being a stooging heel stalling around keeping the match at his pace and Gordy being the tough guy giving it as well as he took it going at a faster pace. The match would take a twist as Kerry missed a diving knee drop allowing Hayes to go to work on the left knee which he would relentlessly although Kerry would soon get back on offense and just no-sold everything Hayes did. Hayes then chunked Kerry to the floor and resumed his offensive advantage once Kerry returned to the ring. Kerry would throw some great punches here to counter Hayes and sent him back to the floor to stall some more. Kerry would then go to work on Hayes’ left leg after he came back to the ring as payback from earlier. Hayes would then no-sell Kerry’s leg work and hit a vertical suplex to regain the advantage before he would start grunting loudly to let everyone know he was pissed. It wouldn’t last long though as Kerry started firing punches in bunches before Hayes would try a piledriver that Kerry would block. Kerry then went for his own piledriver until Gordy ran out for the DQ and as they tried for a piledriver on the floor, Kevin would run out to make the save as the crowd went wild. This was very fun and heated and a solid match that moves forward easily.

 

Then we get a promo by the Freebirds that is extra material followed up by the drive-in promo with Mercer that I’ve talked about earlier which is a definite extra.

 

Next is the Gordy/Kevin American title change from 1/21/83 that I’ve already seen.

 

Then we get a fun promo with Gary Hart with hair along with Killer Brooks & Mark Lewin who brawl with each other and bust Hart open in the process.

 

This is then followed by a fun brawl between David & Lewin from 10/15/79 featuring Boyd Pierce as the ring announcer which he worked for Fritz before working for Watts.