Mark Lewin vs. Pro. Tanaka

 

Oh, wow. This was terrible. Mark Lewin was really not good at this point. Tanaka was no great shakes, either, and if all of that weren't enough, this has the epic return of Paul Boesch on commentary. Ends with a big angle where Lewin turns face, FWIW.

 

Mark Lewin vs. Rip Oliver

 

Shorter and more tolerable than the previous match. Still nothing special.

 

Terry Gordy vs. Kerry Von Erich (14:13)

 

This is a No DQ match for Gordy's Brass Knux Title. Both guys have their right fists taped, and they put them to good use, as this is a serious slugfest. I mean, it's not just them punching the shit out of each other, but that's most of the match and that's where the appeal lies. The finish kinda sucks, but this was such a fun, heated brawl that I figured I may as well nominate it and see where it goes.

 

Freebirds Interview feat. Buddy Roberts (1:45)

 

Hyping up Roberts' hair match with Iceman King Parsons at the upcoming Star Wars. Freebirds interviews are always fun.

 

David Von Erich vs. Jimmy Garvin

 

This feels like a pretty solid nomination to me. The finish feels a bit abrupt, but works well enough, and certainly isn't as jarring as some World Class finishes can be. This is also the first match I've seen where David looked as good as his brothers, and Garvin was really on point as well. I enjoyed it thoroughly.

 

Buddy Roberts vs. Iceman King Parsons

 

Really fun hair match that I considered giving a nomination to, but ultimately decided against. Both of these guys have some unorthodox but nifty-looking offense, and Parsons throws some ridiculously stiff chops that I didn't know he had. Roberts also sells and stooges like a champ. On top of everything else, Parsons was crazy over here. I mean, the crowd really was as wild for him as they were for any of the Von Erichs, and this had great heat throughout. The finish bugged me more than most goofy World Class finishes. You just can't have that kind of ambiguous finish in a hair match. Yes, Roberts ended up getting cueballed, but if they were going to do that, they could have at least had the ref restart the match after he realized Roberts pinned Parsons with the handful of tights, and let Parsons get the win proper, rather than just having the ref realize it, presumably throw out the finish, and then have the presumably post-match brawl where Roberts gets a taste of his own depilatory medicine. Very frustrating for a lucha fan such as myself, and left me thinking that there's probably a more satisfying match between these two that I can nominate instead.

 

Kevin Von Erich vs. Harley Race (20:30)

 

I liked this even more than Shoe 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.

 

Bruiser Brody & Kerry Von Erich vs. Michael Hayes & Terry Gordy (10:23)

 

OK match, would've been better if it weren't built around Brody getting the hot tag. Brody is overrated as hell, but he was basically fine here. Still, for flawed heavyweight asskicker who's weaknesses can be hidden by having him work off of the hot tag, not sure Brody delivers in that role appreciably better than BJ Whitmer.

 

KErry Von Erich Music Video ("Eye of the Tiger")

 

I don't think this is quite gay enough to make the cut as an extra, though the images of a shirtless, headband-clad Kerry riding a horse and the introduction where the announcer who isn't Bill Mercer or Mark Lowrance sternly intones that training involves "stalking your prey....like the tiger!" and then stares into the camera for a while before the video starts up were hilarious.

 

Buddy Roberts vs. Kevin Von Erich (3:44)

 

This was action packed while it lasted, unfortunately it didn't last very long.

 

Buddy Roberts vs. Iceman King Parsons

 

This was shaping up to be the Parsons/Roberts match that I was going to nominate. Had everything going for it that the hair match did, plus it wasn't a hair match, so there was a good chance that the inevitable screwjob finish wasn't going to bug me as much. Unfortunately, we never got to the inevitable screwjob finish. David Manning goes down, Bronko Lubich steps in, and the tape ends. AARGH!

I've covered all of this except the Lewin bouts, and those were nothing.

 

Oops I forgot the last Parsons/Roberts bout and that was great. Both worked hard and had a great bout. It feels like a nom even with the bout ending without a finish. It looks like the bout is on the verge of getting thrown out. It feels like a nom, but will until KrisZ reviews it. Good Stuff.

This starts with Lewin vs. Toru Tanaka from Houston in November 1979 featuring Lewin’s babyface turn which is then followed up by Lewin squashing a young Rip Oliver.

 

Texas Brass Knuckles Title: Terry “Bamm Bamm” Gordy © vs. Kerry Von Erich (6/10/83)

 

This title didn’t get defended enough IMO. Kevin wearing daisy duke jean shorts in Kerry’s corner is hilarious. For a match based on punches with a title based on punches on the line this was a fucking great match as both men just teed off on each other especially Gordy who was throwing bombs. Plus we had juice here which is always a plus to go with the molten heat. Kerry’s comeback was fucking great as he was so awesome in that position then we had Kevin & Hayes get involved which was legal but distracted Kerry so he could get pinned. Fantastic match and a slam dunk nomination.

 

Next we get Hayes & Buddy in the locker room at Reunion Arena pimping the upcoming hair match with Iceman.

 

Decision Match for the vacant Texas Heavyweight Title: “Gorgeous” Jimmy Garvin vs. David Von Erich (6/17/83)

 

This was a damn good match with both men working hard and looking good in everything they did both on offense and defense along with some great selling. The crowd was great as usual adding an extra element to the match as it helped give it a big-match feel which it was. The finish was a little odd because Sunshine missed her spot but she would get it the 2nd time and Garvin would win the title. Bronko Lubich then finds out what happened and decides to hold the title up again with Garvin going nuts. Like I said a very good match and a nomination.

 

Hair vs. Hair: Iceman King Parsons vs. Buddy Roberts (6/17/83)

 

Roberts has the infamous Freebird hair cream in his hand so he’s ready. Both men come out just going to war on each other throwing great strikes and Iceman’s headbutts and chops were equalizers during the good back and forth action. Roberts would reverse an O’Connor Roll and pulled Iceman’s tights almost off to get the pin but David Manning is leery of this. Roberts then goes for the hair cream then fights Manning over it before Iceman knocks him down then hits the Butt Butt. Iceman then gets the hair cream and puts it all over Buddy’s head anyway. Hayes comes down as Iceman dances then Hayes would get his ass kicked before leaving the ring. The crowd goes nuts and I think this deserves a look for nomination.

 

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.

 

American Tag Titles: The Fabulous Freebirds (Terry “Bamm Bamm” Gordy & Michael Hayes) © vs. Bruiser Brody & “Modern Day Warrior” Kerry Von Erich (6/17/83)

 

The story here was that the Birds were doing all they could to keep Kerry from tagging in Brody but he would and when he did he just beat the hell out of the Birds. Brody did though let the Birds get some offense in before tagging in Kerry leading to a 4-way brawl. Brody would catch Kerry in the air and he would throw him on Hayes for the win. Fun match but not a nomination.

 

Then we get the Kerry video set to Eye of the Tiger by Survivor and this is a definite extra.

 

Kevin Von Erich vs. Buddy Roberts (5/30/83)

 

Kevin wins very quickly after Buddy jumps at the bell and doesn’t even take his ring jacket off.

 

Iceman King Parsons vs. Buddy Roberts (6/6/83)

 

Buddy had cost Iceman the TV title to the Mongol the previous week and Iceman is out for revenge. This was a very fun match that we would never get the finish of because the tape ran out so no go on a nomination.