Posted September 17, 200817 yr comment_5434646 This starts with Bill Mercer at the hospital interviewing Kerry and his doctor about his knee injury. Michael Hayes vs. Wild Bill Irwin (10/12/82) Wow, Hayes comes out to I Love Rock n Roll by Joan Jett and this is a very rare occasion to see a Freebird come out to a non Freebird theme. Not a bad match that had lots of heat as Hayes was mega over from the start that would end in a DQ when Irwin backdropped Hayes over the top rope as he tried a piledriver. Bundy announces that he is on strike from H&H because he is tired of not getting paid like he should and we should have this whole angle as an extra due to it leading to the formation of Devastation Inc. (10/26/82) The Fabulous Freebirds (Terry “Bamm Bamm” Gordy & Michael Hayes) vs. The Destroyer & Wild Bill Irwin (10/26/82) No idea on who Destroyer was and this is Gordy’s TV debut here. This is a pretty long match with the Birds selling quite a bit for the heels here especially Destroyer whoever it was. Birds would make the comeback though and prevailed in the end. Holy shit Gordy murders Destroyer with a powerbomb right on the head for the finish. The Fabulous Freebirds (Terry “Bamm Bamm” Gordy & Michael Hayes) vs. The Destroyer & Gran Markus (10/26/82) I don’t think this is the real Gran Markus. Bundy & Irwin jump the Birds before the match and it becomes an all out pull apart brawl. Fun stuff and then they actually have the match which the Birds take care of easily. Then we get a Kerry update on his return to the ring. Kevin Von Erich vs. Wild Bill Irwin (10/26/82) Kevin looked good here and he used his bodyscissors which I loved from his arsenal of moves. Irwin would injure his hip so Kevin went for an abdominable stretch that Irwin would use to swing Kevin into the referee for the DQ. Fun while it lasted. Then we get highlights of Checkmate vs. Brian Adias from 9/28/82. The Fabulous Freebirds (Terry “Bamm Bamm” Gordy & Michael Hayes) vs. Killer Brooks & Captain Frank Dusek (11/9/82) Birds were solid here as a team and had great heat. The heels were fine as well so the match was fine. I loved how they said that Gordy was weighing 345 lbs on commentary when he looked like 280-300. Fritz Von Erich gives Gary Hart a xeroxed copy of a “check” that Ric Flair wrote to Hart for the bounty that Kabuki collected by injuring Kerry. Hart asked how did he get it and Fritz said that Bundy gave it to him instead of Hart because he is on strike. Bundy got it from Flair in Atlanta and Fritz gave him $5,000 for the check. This was a good angle and should be an extra in either the Bundy strike angle or the Flair/Kerry saga. Handicap Match: The Great Kabuki vs. Sal Oliveras & The Samoan (Samu) (11/9/82) Squash. Bundy comes out and confronts Kabuki after the match wanting to face him but Kabuki leaves after pulling out the knunchuks. Checkmate (Tony Charles) vs. Bugsy McGraw (11/9/82) Checkmate is wearing a Tiger Mask and Bugsy is wearing a tuxedo shirt 70’s style with suspenders so quite the fashion statements being made here and Jay Saldi namedrops Tiger Mask on commentary so props to him. This is quite the antithesis of wrestling and the best spot in this match was Checkmate getting in his base stance on the mat confusing Bugsy so he dropped besides him and got in the same stance. Checkmate was solid here throwing good punches and headbutts to go with his Euro style but Bugsy would counter with his brawling tactics forcing Checkmate to the floor often to regroup. Bugsy would get frustrated and eventually just gave Checkmate a bearhug on the apron forcing a double countout. This was a fun match due to the styles clash. The Fabulous Freebirds (Terry “Bamm Bamm” Gordy & Michael Hayes) vs. The Great Kabuki & Magic Dragon (Haru Sonoda) (11/9/82) The gorilla returns to offset Hussein. The match itself was okay but featured Hayes accidentally hitting Bronko Lubich on the ear that you could tell shook him up. Gordy played FIP here which was interesting and the fans were into it because they were really into the Birds here as a face act. Gordy made his own comeback though never making a hot tag as when Dragon did a springboard leap off the top rope, Gordy dropkicked him then followed with a diving elbow for a pinfall. The finish was really anti-climatic and just came out of nowhere. Mercer then interviews Bundy on the loading docks and this is yet another slam dunk extra in the Bundy series. “Modern Day Warrior” Kerry Von Erich vs. Killer Brooks (11/9/82) Brooks jumps Kerry at the bell but Kerry hits a flying headscissors so he can take his robe off with help from Bronko Lubich, which was a cool spot. This was a fairly short and sloppy match. Mercer interviews David Von Erich on the ranch and he vows revenge on Kabuki for injuring Kerry. David Von Erich vs. The Great Kabuki (11/23/82) You can tell here that the attendance is picking up as the product is starting to get hot and the fans are all over ringside wanting autographs. David comes out brawling and just taking it to Kabuki preparing him for the claw, which he tries to attempt by Kabuki does his best to block it. David then applies it to the stomach instead but Kabuki would go to the eyes and used his own claw to break free. Kabuki then started using his martial arts game to weaken David with one thrust kick sending him to the floor. David would come back to the ring bleeding with Kabuki going for the cut but David would start firing punches for his comeback. David would hit the Harley Race high kneelift for a nearfall but Kabuki hits another thrust kick to the throat to regain the advantage before going to the nerve hold. David would get free again and hit a dropkick taking Kabuki down then locking in another stomach claw as Kabuki tried a scissors kick. David tightens the claw up before taking it to the head as Kabuki is basically passed out but Kabuki recovers and goes back to the eyes again. Kabuki would kick David right in the head before going back to a nerve hold but David again fights out of it. Kabuki then goes up top but David presses him off before locking in a sleeper until Kabuki took him into the corner where he hit head first. Hussein jumps on the apron leading to David putting the sleeper on him as Kabuki gets up behind David but he gets tricked as David turns around and puts the sleeper on him. Magic Dragon then jumps in for the crappy DQ and they double up on David until Kerry makes the save. The finish was blah but this was a damn solid match especially for Kabuki and it had great crowd heat. I’m throwing this up on the block.
November 19, 200915 yr comment_5445906 Interview with Kerry Von Erich and his doctor This did what it had to do. Michael Hayes vs. Wild Bill Irwin (10/12/82) Good match with a great babyface performance by Hayes. King Kong Bundy goes on strike Extra material. The Fabulous Freebirds (Terry “Bamm Bamm” Gordy & Michael Hayes) vs. The Destroyer & Wild Bill Irwin (10/26/82) Good match, could've stood to be about half as long, though. The Fabulous Freebirds (Terry “Bamm Bamm” Gordy & Michael Hayes) vs. The Destroyer & Gran Markus (10/26/82) Jose's bio of Gran Markus says that he did work Texas and World Class in the early 80's, so it might have been him. Pre-match brawl could be an extra. Hayes' post-match promo where he calls Bundy "the guy who looks like a washing machine smoking a cigar" is great, too. Kerry Von Erich Interview With the added bonus of a Ric Flair interview in there as well. Kevin Von Erich vs. Wild Bill Irwin (10/26/82) Not particularly exciting. The Fabulous Freebirds (Terry “Bamm Bamm” Gordy & Michael Hayes) vs. Killer Brooks & Captain Frank Dusek (11/9/82) I totally dug this. Another great babyface performance from The Freebirds, and the heels kinda took me by surprise as well. Brooks has looked pretty bad in everything I have seen from him on these discs, but he brought the goods here. Quality stooge, and he had great facial expressions. Dusek was much the same. He is a guy I mainly know as a troll on the WrestlingClassics boards, so not particularly inclined to like him. But he won me over, he gives a great expressive performance here, and he an Brooks make a great team, playing off of each other and the Birds really well. Neat moment early on where Gordy backs Dusek into his own corner, and Dusek gives Brooks this "I've got nothing" look as he casually tags out, and then Brooks gets in, and we get a nice close-up of a man who clearly has no idea what to make of Gordy. That finish was deceptively nasty-looking, too. I'm gonna go ahead and put this on the block. Fritz Von Erich/Gary Hart Interview Hey, that check is from Rick Flair! This proves nothing! Oh well...definite extra, of course. Checkmate (Tony Charles) vs. Bugsy McGraw (11/9/82) I don't know if I have the words necessary to describe what the hell is happening in this match. But I know what I like, and I liked this a lot. I'd really like to see a Bugsy match make the set, and this seems like it would be a great pick. It goes on the block. The Fabulous Freebirds (Terry “Bamm Bamm” Gordy & Michael Hayes) vs. The Great Kabuki & Magic Dragon (Haru Sonoda) (11/9/82) Lubich taking that shot on the ear threw me a bit. This wasn't a terribly exciting bout. King Kong Bundy Interview Definite extra. “Modern Day Warrior” Kerry Von Erich vs. Killer Brooks (11/9/82) Nothing special, although the robe bit was neat. Gary Hart Interview Hart says the check wasn't for a hit, it was to help buy Ricky a Cadillac station wagon. Extra. David Von Erich vs. The Great Kabuki (11/23/82) I thought this was pretty bad. World Class was a really stiff promotion, but David's dainty offense stuck out like a sore thumb. I think every move until the first claw was blown. You'd probably have to blame Kabuki for not getting any height off of the hiptoss, but that shitty headscissors takedown was all David. For match built around dueling clawholds, this is smoked by the Kevin/Kabuki lumberjack match.
December 7, 200915 yr comment_5446232 Michael Hayes vs. Wild Bill Irwin Hayes was great as a face here. The Fabulous Freebirds (Terry “Bamm Bamm” Gordy & Michael Hayes) vs. Killer Brooks & Captain Frank Dusek I thought this was solid. I've thought Dusek was a damn solid worker. Still this drags. So I'll go no. The Fabulous Freebirds (Terry “Bamm Bamm” Gordy & Michael Hayes) vs. The Destroyer & Gran Markus (10/26/82) Solid. I don't know if this is Markus or not. Alvarez made mention on a Fig 4 pod that Adams worked some Lucha shots and liked how the wrestlers worked. Kevin Von Erich vs. Wild Bill Irwin I thought this fun but short. Checkmate (Tony Charles) vs. Bugsy McGraw This did nothing for me. I want to see Checkmate vs Adams or Kevin. The Fabulous Freebirds (Terry “Bamm Bamm” Gordy & Michael Hayes) vs. The Great Kabuki & Magic Dragon (Haru Sonoda) (11/9/82) I thought it was boring but did kinda liked the finish. Kerry Von Erich vs. Killer Brooks Nothing to it. David Von Erich vs. The Great Kabuki This was another bout that did nothing for me.
