This starts with the beginning of the World Class/Wild West tie in as Wild Bill Irwin gets jumped by Brian Adias who had appeared at the Wild West taping the week before which I’ve watched already. Adias then brings in his Wild West allies in Iceman King Parsons & Buddy Roberts.

 

Next is a great promo by Chris Adams talking about his hatred for the Iceman.

 

“Gentleman” Chris Adams & Maniac Matt Borne vs. “Flamboyant” Eric Embry & “Latin Heartthrob” Al Perez (12/14/87)

 

Borne hit an awesome powerslam on Perez early in the match that was reminiscent of his former partner Buzz Sawyer. Adams was awesome here throwing some great punches and a nice enzuigiri on Embry who was bumping for both faces then played FIP doing a good job in that role. Borne got the hot tag and the 4-way brawl was on before Adams got the sleeper on Perez so of course Iceman & Buddy would jump the faces for the DQ. Adams then gets bloodied and this was a good angle.

 

Embry then cuts a promo about his match with Shaun Simpson at Reunion on 12/25/87 followed up by Perez & Gary Hart regarding Kerry coming back.

 

Next we get Front Row Ringside with Fritz Von Erich.

 

Then we get clips of Tatum/Victory vs. The Fantastics from Fort Worth with Solomon Grundy as the one man lumberjack on 1/4/88 followed up by a promo by Tatum & Victory.

 

Next is a promo by Iceman, Buddy, & Angel of Death regarding their feud with the Von Erichs & Adams followed up by a promo with Gary Hart.

 

Then we get a promo with the referees about the Thunderdome Steel Cage.

 

Shaun & Steve Simpson vs. “Hollywood” John Tatum & Jack Victory (1/11/88)

 

This was really fun as Tatum & Victory were as usual very solid in all areas and did a great job working over Steve Simpson who was equally as solid in the role. Rick Hazzard would get bumped so Bronko Lubich would show up and as Shaun Simpson had Tatum in an abdominable stretch, Tatum tossed him over the top rope to the floor in front of Hazzard. Victory would eventually hit Shaun with an elbow off the top rope as he was covering Tatum for the 3 count but Rick Hazzard would tell Lubich about the over the top rope situation and the decision was reversed. This was on the border of a nomination but fell short.

 

Adams then cuts a promo about his match with Iceman coming up in Dallas on 1/22/88 and taking the title from Al Perez. Kerry & Kevin Von Erich then follow with promos of their own swearing revenge on the Freebirds.

 

Then we get clips of Adams vs. Iceman from Dallas on 1/2/88.

 

2 out of 3 falls: “Gentleman” Chris Adams vs. Buddy Roberts (1/11/88)

 

The 1st fall had some good back-and-forth action with Adams holding the edge until he missed a diving kneedrop off the top rope allowing Roberts to work over his right knee but Adams would still cradle up Roberts to take the fall. In between falls, Roberts gets into a jawing match with a fan so Adams just walks over and jacks his jaw before bringing the action back to the ring where Roberts would do the Andre the Giant arms tied in the ropes spot with Adams delivering numerous knees to the ribs. Adams continues to dominate Roberts until Iceman & Angel of Death come to ringside allowing Buddy to get the advantage and Iceman to use a steel chair to hit Adams as he went for an O’Connor Roll for the DQ. Kerry & Kevin would then run down to run the heels off. Von Erichs then called the Freebirds back out then Roberts ends up being handcuffed by Kerry as Kevin had him in the iron claw with Adams holding them off with a steel chair but Angel would finally pull Buddy out. Angel & Iceman would then return to the ring for a standoff and a brawl as it went off the air. Good stuff.

 

Gary Hart cuts another promo about the greatness of Al Perez.

 

Then we get a synopsis of the World Class/Wild West feud followed up with a promo by Wild Bill Irwin.

 

Then we get a synopsis of the Fantastics vs. Tatum/Victory feud.

 

Next are highlights of the whole Fritz heartattack angle.

 

Lights Out Match: “Gentleman” Chris Adams vs. Iceman King Parsons (12/21/87)

 

Adams enters the ring brandishing a steel chair chasing Iceman around before dropping it so the brawl can begin with Iceman getting control early because of Buddy Roberts distracting Adams on the floor. Iceman then pounds on Adams before trying a piledriver on the floor that Adams would reverse with a backdrop. Adams then took over as they brawled all over the place with Adams using Iceman’s cane across his head as a highlight. This would end up with Steve Simpson & Buddy Roberts involved and with the Birds running out. This was great stuff but not a nomination although it should be extra material.

 

Then we get clips of Al Perez vs. Kevin Von Erich in Fort Worth on 9/4/87.

 

Next are clips of Adams & Kerry vs. Iceman & Buddy in a lumberjack match in Fort Worth on 2/8/88. This ends up in one big wild brawl.

 

Eric Embry vs. Bob Bradley (2/22/88)

 

This was an okay match nothing special.

 

Michael Hayes then comes out cutting a promo about his upcoming concert in Dallas on 3/4/88 where he gets offered a shot at Al Perez’s title two days later. Hayes accepts and Buddy Roberts comes out saying that he would be there to support Michael and this ends up with Hayes shoving Buddy around.

 

The Missing Link vs. Playboy Vince Apollo (2/22/88)

 

Link was pretty bad here at the end of his career and this was not a good match.

 

Then we get clips of the Badstreet Match between Gordy & Roberts vs. The Von Erichs from 2/12/88.

 

Next is a promo from the new Freebirds about Michael Hayes.

 

“Modern Day Warrior” Kerry Von Erich vs. Iceman King Parsons (2/22/88)

 

Adams is at ringside to offset Buddy and this doesn’t go long because they brawl on the floor as soon as the bell rings then Kerry brings the cane into the ring which Iceman would use for the DQ.

 

Gary Hart then comes out talking about Al Perez defending his title in South Africa against Spiros Arion & Mario Milano which was hilarious since both guys were retired for years. Hart then promises to refund the fans money if Chris Adams beats Perez in their match in Dallas on 2/19/88.

Adias, Roberts, Iceman, & Irwin do stuff

 

Adias bores me to tears, and Roberts is uncharacteristically dull, and then Ice man grabs the mic and makes everything better. "Chris Adams?! I thought that sucker was back in jail!"

 

Simpson & Adams Interview

 

Adams stresses the importance of acting and not reacting.

 

“Gentleman” Chris Adams & Maniac Matt Borne vs. “Flamboyant” Eric Embry & “Latin Heartthrob” Al Perez (12/14/87)

 

Really good match that falls short of a nomination. Post-match beatdown is really good, though.

 

Shaun & Steve Simpson vs. “Hollywood” John Tatum & Jack Victory (1/11/88)

 

This was an excellent match in an excellent feud. Tatum works a bit more seriously than usual, which is a bit of a letdown, but he and Victory do bring the hurt when working over Steve, and the Simpsons are pretty fun and easy to get behind. The finish is kinda interesting as World Class non-finishes go, as it is basically a reverse Dusty Finish with the heel champs getting a pinfall win from Bronko Lubich before Rick Hazzard gets the decision reversed and gives the DQ win to the faces, which draws a suitably Tatum-esque reaction from Tatum. I'm gonna throw this on the block as a low-end nomination.

 

Adams, Kerry, & Kevin Interview

 

"This Thunderdome match...people are gonna get hurt....I guess this is where wrestling is going in the 90's...." Kevin, you have no idea.

 

2 out of 3 falls: “Gentleman” Chris Adams vs. Buddy Roberts (1/11/88)

 

Oh, man, this just kills me. The first fall, by itself, would be a slam dunk nomination. Like Kris said, great back-and-forth action, with these two playing off of each other perfectly. The second fall was a lot of fun, but Adams dominates until Iceman and AoD run in leading to a DQ and Adams winning in straight sets. He looks great dominating, and if this weren't a 2/3 falls match, if Roberts kicked out at the end of the first fall and this were just a continuation of a one-fall match, this is still a slam dunk nomination. But it's a 2/3 falls match, and it makes this feel structurally wrong to the point where I can't see nominating it, and that really drives me nuts. The post-match stuff is awesome, and feels like extra material, I just wish I could justify including the whole thing.

 

Disc 2:

 

Fantasics vs. Tatum/Victory feud synopsis

 

Awesome series of angles that really get you hyped up to see these guys fight each other. Extra.

 

Lights Out Match: “Gentleman” Chris Adams vs. Iceman King Parsons (12/21/87)

 

Heel Iceman usually wasn't as stiff as face Iceman, but Lights Out matches seem to have been his excuse to cut loose, as he really lays it in to Adams here. Adams takes over and gives as good as he gets. This is just an awesome fight, barely even gets into the ring, like a prototype Necro Butcher/Bull Pain match. Unfortunately, it's also very short, but it's still a slam dunk extra.

 

Eric Embry vs. Bob Bradley (2/22/88)

 

Good but not great match. Bradley kinda stinks when he's not being carried by the Warrior (that's still such a weird sentence to write), but Embry keeps things interesting.

 

Michael Hayes Interview

 

Why couldn't Stephanie McMahon have married Michael Hayes instead? This goes in the Freebird Explosion file, another great chapter of a great angle.

 

The Missing Link vs. Playboy Vince Apollo (2/22/88)

 

Short, but fun for what it was. Link was fine here, and Apollo actually looked pretty good. Loved when he hit the bionic elbow on Link's head and hurt his arm in the process. Did a good job being both aggressive and evasive. I don't see the problem here.

IS this another set of discs I sent you guys but have no idea where it is at? Is the Lights Out match on any other disc?

They are from my stash I sent to SLL.

Yeah, I've got the copy of this that Kris sent me. As far as I can tell, it's not on any other disc.