Michael Hayes sends in a taped promo and announced that he got a mangers license and is bringing in someone to take care of business in the Great Kabuki.

 

Bruiser Brody vs. Michael “PS” Hayes (4/4/86)

 

Hayes would get some shots in here and threw his patented left hook that took Brody down before throwing Brody on the ringside table where he continued to work him over. Hayes would get frustrated though because he gave all he had but Brody kept standing up to him and would eventually pull him to the floor with him pounding his head on the ringside table. Brody would then lock on a bearhug after they returned to the ring but Hayes would fight out and would go back on offense until Brody regained the advantage. Brody would miss his big legdrop though allowing Hayes again to throw punches but Brody would hit him with the big boot until Gordy would show up attacking Brody for the DQ. The Birds would then handcuff him to the second rope where they would pound him until Lance made the save. This was a hard hitting match with Hayes hanging with Brody surprisingly and I’m throwing this on the block.

 

Then we get another World Class special video followed up with a Sunshine/Missy video that is extra material.

 

Gauntlet Match: The Great Kabuki vs. Mark Youngblood (5/4/86)

 

Kabuki is quite tanned here I mean he has a Tenryu type skin color here. Youngblood got quite a bit of offense but would fall to Kabuki.

 

Gauntlet Match: The Great Kabuki vs. Jerry Allen (5/4/86)

 

Jerry Allen is also better known as Jerry Oske. Kabuki again eats some offense but would finish off Allen fairly easily.

 

Gauntlet Match: The Great Kabuki vs. Steve Simpson (5/4/86)

 

Simpson gets more offense than the others so far and would get a sunset flip on Kabuki to get the huge upset victory. Simpson then got double-teamed after the match until Chris Adams made the save.

 

Texas Heavyweight Title: Brian Adias © vs. “Mr. Electricity” Steve Regal (5/4/86)

 

Both men looked fine here and this was a good but unspectacular match. Adias gets the win using a victory roll and I will put this in the maybe file.

 

Lumberjack Elimination Match w/straps for the World Class Six-Man Tag Titles: The Fabulous Freebirds (Terry “Bamm Bamm” Gordy, Michael “PS” Hayes, & Buddy Roberts) © vs. Steve Simpson, Kerry & Lance Von Erich (5/4/86)

 

Kevin can’t wrestle due to having his arm in a sling so Simpson steps in his place. Good stuff at the start with Kerry & Gordy with Gordy hitting a cross body block off the top rope but Kerry rolled over for a nearfall followed up with a fun slugfest. Hayes would then take a beating inside and outside the ring with the straps across his back as Fritz was laying in the shots. Birds would recover though and manhandled Simpson before he could tag in Kerry who would clean house on all the Birds but would eat a double clothesline by Gordy & Hayes and was eliminated. Simpson would then get pounded again with Gordy just working him over before Buddy hit an elbow off the top rope to eliminate him leaving Lance alone against Gordy & Buddy. Gordy would continue his awesomeness here beating on Lance and hitting a sweet German Suplex before Lance would recover with a dropkick sending Gordy over the top rope as he was eliminated where he would get strapped. Lance then placed the iron claw on Buddy to get the win. This was pretty fun and I’m throwing it on the block.

 

Next we get a great video for Rick Rude set to Robert Palmer’s Addicted To Love filled with women working out in a gym and this is a definite extra.

 

Bruiser Brody & Lance Von Erich vs. One Man Gang & “Ravishing” Rick Rude (5/16/86)

 

This had some fun stuff with Brody & Gang but had a clip in the middle where we missed Lance’s FIP section but we would get some Brody FIP with Rude & Gang working good together as a team. Gang would pick up Brody for a slam but Lance would sneak in and dropkicked Brody on top of Gang for the win in a surprise fashion. This was pretty good but I’m not sure on a nomination so it gets a maybe from me.

 

World Class World Heavyweight Title: “Ravishing” Rick Rude © vs. Bruiser Brody (5/4/86)

 

There wasn’t a whole lot going on early in the match until Brody threw Rude to the floor where he would slam him before Rude could post him. Brody would get back in the ring though to make his comeback where he would get a nearfall on Rude after a powerslam. Brody kept the pressure on Rude until he countered a suplex with one of his own for a nearfall as Pringle would try to keep Brody’s foot off the rope which Rick Hazzard would see. Brody would chase Pringle on the floor into the ring where Rude would sneak attack him but Brody would fight him off. Brody would then get pissed and threw Rude over the top rope for the DQ. This was just okay to me and the finish was pretty sloppy.

 

Iceman King Parsons vs. The Great Kabuki (5/16/86)

 

Iceman threw some good looking dropkicks here along with good punches while Kabuki did his normal chops and kicks but took a lot of bumps here as well. There was some good back and forth action here but had a sloppy finish that ended up being Kabuki backdropping Iceman over the top rope for the DQ but the positioning was odd so it made it look bad. Fun while it lasted.

 

“Hollywood John Tatum” vs. “Gentleman” Chris Adams (5/16/86)

 

Tatum comes out wearing glasses and using a cane which was pretty funny since Adams was still wearing an eyepatch. Adams would attack Tatum before the bell rang and the women would have their catfight as Adams clotheslined Tatum with the cane before going to spank Missy. Tatum then attacked Adams with the cane and they would ring the bell to start the match. Tatum held the advantage before missing a fistdrop off the top rope thus giving Adams the chance to recover where he would unload on Tatum before trying a Superkick that Tatum would put on the brakes and headed to the floor. We get a clip coming back with Tatum sending Adams to the floor and getting a chair from Missy where he would hit Adams in the back with it. Tatum then worked over Adams’ back as the crowd chants for Adams who would fight back before missing a dropkick. Tatum would get a nearfall after a big diving elbow before going back to work on Adams’ back. Adams would again break free and just launched Tatum through the ropes to the floor where he would bash his head into the ringsteps. Missy then broke out a towel which held some spray canister and when Adams went for an O’Connor Roll, she sprayed him in the face allowing Tatum to get the win. Tatum then is awesome after the match posing and laughing. I loved this match and the angle involved so I’m throwing this on the block.

 

Then we get clips of Abdullah the Butcher’s debut in Fort Worth on 5/26/86 where he would destroy Jerry Allen and Bronko Lubich. This is extra material for sure.

 

Blackjack Mulligan vs. Mark Youngblood (5/30/86)

 

Mulligan returns to Dallas for the first time in many years and is a heel managed by Percy Pringle. Pretty much a squash.

- Michael Hayes + Kabuki promo

 

 

1. Bruiser Brody vs Michael Hayes

 

I thought this was o.k. It didn't set the world on fire. I thought Hayes did what he could with Brody. It's hard to get heat on Bruiser Brody. He's more of a gimmick than worker. This was fine, but not a nomination.

 

- stars of Parade of Champions III video

 

- recap of Missy Hyatt/Sunshine feud

 

Sure fire extra. These girls are stiff.

 

2. Kabuki vs Mark Youngblood, Jerry Allen, Steve Simpson, + Chris Adams - Texas Stadium

 

As a kid I never understood why Allen was a jobber. Adams looked like he gained some weight here.

 

3. Brian Adias vs Steve Regal - Texas Stadium

 

I thought ths was alright. It started dragging though. Adias seemed to have more presence here.

 

4. Freebirds vs Steve Simpson, Kerry, + Lance Von Erich - Elimination lumberjack strap match; Texas Stadium

 

Fritz in his promo neutered Kevin as a man. It seems Fritz still tells Kevin what he can and can't do, and Kevin does whatever Fritz tells him to do. Hayes was great with his stooging. Bam Bam was just killing Simpson with some mean looking suplexes. Simpson and Gordy worked real well together.Gordy was a freakin suplex machine. In this match we see LVE use the claw for the first time and the crowd popped huge. The finish was hot. I didn't know getting tossed over the top rope was cause for elimination. This was good, but we have a ton of better 6 man bouts. I'll pass on a nomination.

 

5. Lance Von Erich vs John Tatum

 

This went 2 minutes.Missy getting spanked was fun.

 

- Rick Rude video

 

Possible extra.

 

6. Bruiser Brody + Lance Von Erich vs Rick Rude + One Man Gang

I thought this was solid. I dug the Brody/OMG interaction.

 

 

7. Rick Rude vs Bruiser Brody - Texas Stadium

 

I thought this was good. Rude bumped hard. I thought Brody treated Rude like a jobber at times.

 

8. Kabuki vs Iceman Parsons

 

This was alright. The wrestlers seemed to work well enough with one another. I loved how Kabuki's chops had no effect on Ice's head.

 

9. Chris Adams vs John tatum

 

Tatum's blind schtick was awesome. Tatum's bump off Adam's kicking his cane out from under him was tremendous. Tatum smacked Adams in the back with a chair. This lead Tatum to work over Adam's back. This was good. It had some wrestling mixed in with some athletic brawling. A nomination. Tatum has been great in UWF, and Texas.

 

10. Abdullah the Butcher vs Jerry Allen; Abdullah attacks Bronco Lubich - Ft Worth

 

This a great squash, and an extra. This is as awesome as I remember as a kid.

 

11. Blackjack Mulligan vs Mark Youngblood

 

Brody is bringing in some big wrestlers to work with in the Mulligans and Abdullah's.

- Michael Hayes + Kabuki promo

 

Man, Kabuki is really good at being introduced by managers as their new hire. I don't know if that's really a skill that he's employing, but every time a manager brings him in as their hired gun, it makes for a good interview, and this, being a Michael Hayes promo, was no exception.

 

Bruiser Brody vs. Michael “PS” Hayes (4/4/86)

 

I wasn't crazy about this. Basically an long competitive squash, and I didn't think it was a particularly good one, even by Brody's standards. Not a nomination.

 

- recap of Missy Hyatt/Sunshine feud

 

Surefire extra.

 

Kabuki vs Mark Youngblood, Jerry Allen, Steve Simpson, + Chris Adams - Texas Stadium

 

Forget Tenryu, Kabuki looks like Aja Kong with a wig, a mastectomy, and gastric bypass surgery here. Really, you watch this match, and you kinda wish Hustle had brought in Maury Povich at some point to do Kabuki/Kong paternity test angle. Have to think that Mutoh bringing in kid sister Kong as his new tag partner would have been a way more compelling way to shake up All Japan's main event scene than bringing in Masakatsu Funaki. Anyways, I'm getting off track. I really liked Kabuki's babyface work with Sunshine, because apparently he could sell and eat offense really well, which you didn't usually see from him otherwise. Here, he also lets his opponents control most of the match on offense, and I really like Kabuki being booked like Foley or Necro as a guy who can eat a lot of offense but hang tough and come back to win with a nerve hold. Not sure that's as good of a performance choice for a heel as it is for a face, and I kinda question the booking of this match, but I'm not here to judge the quality of the booking, just the quality of the wrestling. And well, this was quality wrestling. Honestly might be good enough to go on the set, but I don't see myself fighting for it, so I guess I'll pass.

 

Texas Heavyweight Title: Brian Adias © vs. “Mr. Electricity” Steve Regal (5/4/86)

 

I thought this was a really strong bout. Adias gives a rare great performance, as he takes a pretty good beating and his offense looks unusually crisp. Speaking of crisp offense, Mr. Electricity was the man here, with lots of great looking strikes and some big throws. He controlled most of the match and looked good doing it. Also took Adias' comebacks well, including taking a really great flying back-first bump into the corner. A bit low-end, but fuck it, I'm throwing it on the block anyway.