The Great Kabuki vs. Kamala (5/6/84)

 

Kabuki & Gary Hart return to Texas for this odd matchup and this wasn’t a good match but sorta cool to watch.

 

Jules Strongbow vs. Kelly Kiniski (5/11/84)

 

Pretty boring.

 

The Fabulous Freebirds (Terry “Bamm Bamm” Gordy, Michael Hayes, & Buddy Roberts) & Killer Khan vs. The Great Kabuki, The Missing Link, & The Super Destroyers (Wild Bill & Scott Irwin) (5/11/84)

 

Quite the teams here with the Birds playing face again in this feud especially Hayes who was a great natural babyface showing lots of fire here. I loved the ancillary stuff that was going on on the floor with Gordy & Link threatening to swing chairs as Hayes was getting pounded on. Lowrance tells the story on commentary that Kabuki has replaced Kamala because he was “injured” when in fact he had jumped to WWF. The crowd went nuts for the hot tag to Gordy who was kicking mega ass here and it broke down in the Sportatorium as everyone was brawling making it a DDQ. Gordy ripped off Super D #1’s mask in the middle of this as Devastation Inc. ducked out. This was tremendous stuff and I would co-sign a nomination.

 

“Modern Day Warrior” Kerry Von Erich vs. “Nature Boy” Ric Flair (5/11/84)

 

This is non-title and it’s strange to see Kerry holding the title. The crowd was fired up for this and so was Kerry in that this was his first appearance at the Sportatorium with the title. Flair was working this very aggressively as he was out for revenge for dropping the strap to Kerry so he was chunking him to the floor and cutting him off as he would come in. It would turn into a slugfest with both men hitting some stiff shots before Kerry locked in a sleeper but Flair would counter by working on Kerry’s left leg. Flair would go for the figure-four but Kerry put the claw on him until Flair countered with a punch to the gut. The match would continue to go back and forth with Kerry throwing some fucking awesome punches leading to the discus punch for a nearfall. Kerry would soon get Flair in an O’Connor Roll for a nearfall then locked in the backslide which won him the title 5 days earlier but this time Flair kicked out. Flair went back to the left leg though as he was getting up regaining the advantage. Flair would lock in the figure-four but Kerry would soon reverse it before Flair got out but he went back for it immediately before Kerry kicked him away. The action would continue to swing for both sides with both men getting their shots in before Kerry locked in a fucking GROUNDED COBRA TWIST for the win. Then we got a fun little brawl after the match as well. Awesome finish that an awesome match and this is a slam dunk nomination.

 

Bill Ash vs. Rick McCord (11/1/85)

 

Talk about two guys whose entry into World Class is odd this is it. Ash the perennial Jr. Heavyweight heel for Southeastern/Continental and McCord the perennial blonde babyface jobber from JCP/Memphis facing off against each other. This was again your average World Class opening match with the basic style sorta like a New Japan opener with a young Tanahashi vs. veteran Osamu Kido or something.

 

“Ravishing” Rick Rude vs. Mike Bond (11/1/85)

 

Squash.

 

"Gentleman" Chris Adams vs. Kevin Von Erich (11/1/85)

 

Finally I get to see a match with Adams under the Dynamic Duo Dinamita hood. Kevin stroking his hair before the match taunting Adams was a nice touch then goes for the mask early. Kevin makes it his job to frustrate Adams here by keeping him grounded with his various scissors holds and playing with the mask. Adams would finally get the advantage with a cheap shot in the corner and would roughhouse him with dirty tactics such as choking him with the tape around his wrist and a Superkick while Kevin was on his knees. Kevin made a quick comeback though and broke out the iron claw but Adams would get to the ropes as Gino shows up in his mask where he would make the switch. Gino would then lock Kevin up in a small package to get the win and the Dinamita Duo take off fast. This wasn't enough for a nomination but should be an extra in the Von Erichs/Dynamic Duo feud.

 

One Man Gang vs. "Modern Day Warrior" Kerry Von Erich (11/1/85)

 

Gang was supposed to face Bruiser Brody but he couldn't make it so Kerry takes his spot. Kerry comes out throwing bombs with Gang bumping around like a pinball from post to post. Gang would recover though and started working Kerry over just mauling him with shots taking the match to the floor where Kerry would fight back before Rick Hazzard would call for the double countout. Kerry would bring Gang back to the ring where the brawl would continue and Gang would choke Kerry out with his chain until the babyfaces ran out to make the save. Kerry would recover to pound on Gang some more before he ducked out and left. The finish sucked but this had some good hard hitting action and I'm throwing it on the block.

I've seen everything on this disc but these:

 

Bill Ash vs. Rick McCord (11/1/85)

 

There's an error here that cause the video to stop at regular intervals. By fast forwarding at 10x speed, I can bypass it, but if the next match is nomination worthy, we'll have to be sure that the error isn't present if we include it on the set. I say "if the next match is nomination worthy" because, well, this isn't.

 

One Man Gang vs. "Modern Day Warrior" Kerry Von Erich (11/1/85)

 

This had plenty of great action, but was a bit too short and had Kerry dominating a bit too much. It would make a great extra, but I don't think it's a nomination.