Posted February 9, 200916 yr comment_5437111 This starts with some Southwest that I will watch later in the Southwest pile. “Supersock” Jose Lothario & Al Madril vs. The Fabulous Freebirds (Michael Hayes & Buddy Roberts) (2/4/83) The Birds spent the early part of the match selling and bumping their asses off for the babyfaces with Madril looking okay but Lothario looking old and slow. Madril would get caught in the Birds’ corner for a double-team which would start the Birds’ control section but would roll around to his corner to get the hot tag to Lothario. The 4-way brawl begins but would end when Roberts sent Lothario to the floor before rolling him back into the ring for his FIP section. Lothario would get the hot tag to Madril fairly quickly and he started cleaning house until he missed a flying shoulderblock into the corner where the Birds would follow up with a double beatdown for a DQ before David Von Erich would run out to clear the ring. Birds looked great here but the babyfaces not so much. Flair cuts a promo with Bill Mercer regarding his match against Terry Gordy coming up. NWA World Heavyweight Title: “Nature Boy” Ric Flair © vs. Terry “Bamm Bamm” Gordy (2/4/83) A rare heel vs. heel match for the NWA title and a rare Flair vs. someone outside the Von Erich family match in World Class. Kerry comes out before the match and brawls with the Freebirds before he ducks out. Flair would use this to his advantage working over Gordy early but Gordy would hit a couple of big press slams to change the pace. Flair would fight back though and threw Gordy into the turnbuckle where he would hit his big bump that was almost as good as the Flair bump. Flair would then work over the back using a Boston Crab and a half crab to soften him up for a backdrop suplex. Gordy fought back though hitting Flair with a big shot that would send him over the top rope to the floor before going back to work on him as he got back in the ring. This would then turn into a back-and-forth battle with both men looking awesome before Flair locked on the figure-four leglock with Gordy selling hard before turning it over so Flair could break the hold. The battle would continue with both men going at it hard before Gordy would miss a big cross body block hitting the top rope chest first with Flair rolling on him to get the win. Tremendous match and a definite nomination. David Von Erich vs. Michael Hayes (2/21/83) Gordy & Kerry are in their respective corners along with Jimmy Garvin & Sunshine who are videotaping the match. This had some good hard hitting action to start with both men getting their shots in trying to keep the advantage that Hayes would get after hitting a swinging neckbreaker. Hayes starts working David over relentlessly before chunking him to the floor where the attacks would continue after David re-entered the ring as he would eat a bulldog headlock for a nearfall. David would make his comeback though after reversing a piledriver attempt and started throwing shots leading to a sleeper hold. David would wrench it in but Buddy would run out for the DQ leading to Kerry having to fight them off as David got thrown to the floor. Hayes would drop a knee off the top rope on Kerry as Gordy holds him over his knee as TV time runs out. This was good stuff but we have better in this feud so not a nomination. Lumberjack Match: David, Kerry, & Kevin Von Erich vs. The Fabulous Freebirds (Terry “Bamm Bamm” Gordy, Michael Hayes, & Buddy Roberts) (2/18/83) The heat for this is molten hot as the Birds come out waving the stars & bars of the Georgia flag and the Von Erichs come out to LaGrange by ZZ Top which was a great entrance that they only used when they all teamed up. Sportatorium is packed full to the rafters in a trend that would continue for quite a while. This is the first six-man TV match between these two and it is just a fantastic match with everyone being great in their own right with a shitload of heat to fuel their fire. The finishing sequence was fucking great and this is a slam dunk nomination. David Von Erich vs. Buddy Roberts (2/18/83) Everyone comes down to the ring so Bronko Lubich forces them out of the are to keep this one-on-one. Garvin & Sunshine stay at ringside though filming the match and this is the beginning of the Garvin/David feud. The bump Roberts took into the corner which was ribs first looked like it hurt. The match ended up being a DQ when the Birds would attack David before his brothers would make the save. The crowd was eating this up and more to the extras for this feud.
January 9, 201015 yr comment_5447025 Bob Sweetan confronts Tully Blanchard We're starting the disc in Southwest. Sweetan wants a title shot and interrupts a Blanchard interview, pen and contract in hand, but Blanchard walks away. Tully Blanchard vs. Scott Casey Sweetan follows Blanchard to ringside to hassle him some more. Blanchard is so distracted that Casey rolls him up and Sweetan counts three. Match hasn't actually started, but still, Tully is so ticked off that he signs the contract just to get Sweetan off his back. However, Bob reveals on commentary that not only was the contract for a title match, but it was for a cage match where Tully had to show up and where Adrian Adonis was barred from ringside. Meanwhile, Tully tries to have his match with Scott Casey, but is so flustered that he ends up just walking out. This and the above segment are extras. This was such a cool feud. Clips from The Grapplers vs. Ken Lucas & Rick McGraw Supposed to be Lucas and Mike Graham, but Graham is jumped before the bell and can't compete, so McGraw comes out to take his place. Cut to the end where the ref is knocked out, the Grapplers hit the Demolition Decapitation on McGraw, but Graham comes back out to attack them and puts McGraw on top of the legal Grappler as the ref comes to to count the pin. Bob Sweetan vs. Gino Hernandez Sweetan has the belt now. Good match that is basically just a pretext for the original Dynamic Duo to reunite when Tully Blanchard runs in to attack Sweetan. Wahoo McDaniel makes the save for Bob to send the Duo to the back. The Grapplers Interview They take offense to the Dynamic Duo calling themselves the best team in wrestling. The Grapplers vs. Wahoo McDaniel & Scott Casey Really good match with a strong performance from the cowboy & Indian team, particularly Wahoo, who brings the heat as usual and even busts out some cool technical exchanges that you wouldn't expect from him. Grapplers cheat to win, and I'd really like to see a rematch. The Dynamic Duo Interview They issue a challenge to The Grapplers for the tag titles, and you can color me intrigued. Eric Embry vs. Gino Hernandez JIP at the very end as Gino wins with the second-rope elbow. Blanchard comes in afterwords to lay the boots to Embry, but Gino calls him off to Tully's dismay. They've been reunited for, what, two or three weeks? I didn't know Russo booked Southwest. The Grapplers vs. The Dynamic Duo (Tag Team Titles Match) Seriously, the turn is really well executed, but they were together for, what, four weeks? Still, actual turn is really well done, and the body of the match is excellent, with both teams bringing the hurt. This moves forward. Bob Sweetan & Gino Hernandez Interview Sweetan talks about the various goings-on in Southwest before Gino comes in to hand him a video cassette and swear revenge on Tully. Possible extra. Tully Blanchard vs. Bob Sweetan (Cage Match for the Southwest Heavyweight Title) This was from the tape Gino gave Bob in the previous segment, the missing footage of Sweetan winning the belt. Assuming we don't have the match in full, this should be an extra. Meanwhile, back in Dallas.... “Supersock” Jose Lothario & Al Madril vs. The Fabulous Freebirds (Michael Hayes & Buddy Roberts) (2/4/83) This match had it's ups and downs. Lots of good stuff here, but ultimately falls short of a nomination. Ric Flair interview Gordy & Hayes interview They all talk about the impending Flair/Gordy title bout, and Flair says that after he wins, he wants to come back to Texas to take on Hayes. NWA World Heavyweight Title: “Nature Boy” Ric Flair © vs. Terry “Bamm Bamm” Gordy (2/4/83) Interesting that the match seems to largely be worked with Flair as the face. The pre-match stuff with Kerry ends with him and Flair signaling to each other in a way that suggests that while there is still bad blood between them, the Freebirds are the real issue right now. Flair also works this match totally clean and has the support of the crowd, though Gordy gets a few moments that would appear to be babyface hope spots. In any case, phenomenal match that should be a top 20 pick for me. David Von Erich vs. Michael Hayes (2/21/83) Good but not great match. Hayes keeps things interesting, but David still wasn't doing anything for me at this point.
