Posted November 1, 200817 yr comment_5435486 Kerry gives Mike his old ring jacket "Taken in the context of not yet knowing Mike was a useless sack of shit, he comes off as a modest, likable kid, who gets cruelly victimized by Hayes, causing him to snap and deliver the mildest beatdown ever, before Kerry mercifully comes out to finish the job and keep Mike from further exposing himself." Fritz Comments on the above angle Country Whipping Match: Kerry & Kevin Von Erich vs. Michael Hayes & Terry Gordy Michael Hayes & Terry Gordy vs. Kamala & The Missing Link This was a bunch of fun. Really cool to see Hayes working as dancing, high energy face this deep into his heel run, and the Devastation Inc. guys are such great monsters. Easy nomination. Kevin Von Erich vs. Jimmy Snuka We take a sudden detour to Georgia for this match. Snuka's roid body and skintight mesh jacket make me wonder if Antonio Pena was as inspired by Jim Barnett as Victor Quinonnes was. Snuka and Terry Gordy are tag partners in Georgia, and it's kind of interesting to see a bit of the Von Erichs/Freebirds feud play out in Georgia. Snuka was on the tail end of his period of greatness, but still had some gas left in the tank. And I've praised Kevin plenty at this point. I'm starting to think he might have been the best worker of 1983. He throws a lot of neat armdrags in the beginning, and busts out his cool rolling jujigatame takedown. Middle is a bit slow, with Snuka throwing on a bunch of restholds, but Kevin has a high energy comeback. Really cool finish, too. Kevin actually kicks out of the Superfly Splash, which, some 25 years later, is still pretty mind blowing. He tries to follow up with a clawhold, but Kevin blocks it, smacks his hand away, and then applies his own Iron Claw, forcing Gordy to run in for the DQ. Really cool studio match. I actually see it as a low-level nomination. Kerry Von Erich vs. Harley Race "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." NWA World |Heavyweight Title Match: Ric Flair vs. Kerry Von Erich (8/15/82) I'm not quite as high on this as some other people are, but no question that it's a great match and that it belongs on the set.
