Posted February 1, 201015 yr comment_5447493 Lee and I were talking about the WON awards and the Most Disgusting Promotional tactic awards, and noticed that World Class had a stranglehold on it for most of the 1980's. I thought it would be fun to have an extra section of all the award winning disgusting angles.
February 1, 201015 yr comment_5447504 That is a great idea and there will be plenty of them to go around.
February 3, 201015 yr comment_5447557 Thirded. I figure you could get an entire disc out of disgusting/creepy/just plain wrong stuff to include as extras.
February 5, 201015 yr comment_5447601 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Wrest...motional_Tactic We need to find someone w/ the yearbooks to check for runner-ups.
February 9, 201015 yr comment_5447727 From my own notes thus far: Von Erichs: Front Row Ringside The rest of the disc is the "Von Erichs: Front Row Ringside" special, which shows some matches interspersed between scenes of the Von Erich family's home life and sound bytes from the family about their lives. Some of the extraneous stuff might belong as extras due to the creep factor. Particularly jarring/ironic/hilarious if you have a certain sense of humor is a bit near the end plugging a follow-up special that promises a more in-depth look at the lives of the Von Erichs, including the promise that we'll "learn about the family's hobbies", a point made while they show either Kevin or Mike shooting a rifle. WCCW Ft. Worth 1/30 - 5/21/84 (Disc 1) The Freebirds vs. The Von Erichs (Six-man Tag) (27:43) Von Erich team is supposed to be Kevin, David, and Kerry, but the 'Birds jumped Kevin backstage. They are quite pleased about this until they find out Mike will be taking his place, and then they freak out. I was OK with Mike Von Erich as overmatched, underskilled rookie trying to live up to the family name, but now we have a real problem. The Freebirds being terrified of Mike, to the point of nearly walking out of the match, is absurd. They took out the most experienced and skilled Von Erich and got the least (and the least prepared for this match, presumably) in his place. Mission accomplished, right? Right? Anyway, if you've ever wanted to see a six-man Von Erich team that had both David and Mike on it, this is pretty much your only chance as far as I know. Otherwise, you can skip Fritz forcibly shoving Mike down the road to suicide and watch something else. David Manning announces David Von Erich's death (2:28) Not a lot you can say about this clip, other than that I thought it would be more uncomfortable to watch than it was. David Von Erich died 13 days before I was born. I'm experiencing this way out of context, and in a time where wrestlers dropping dead at young ages is all too common. I'm living in the age of the Owen Voice, maybe it's just that I don't have that handy indicator to guide me, but all things considered, everyone seems really chillax with David dying. Maybe it would seem different if I had full TV episodes or whatever, but at a time when this was actually uncommon, everyone seems to be rolling with it alright, and it's doubly disconcerting when you consider it's the promoter's son who died. It's not in this segment, but you've got Mark Lowrance on commentary throughout the rest of this thing making brief asides about David's death before moving on to more important matters, like the Nitro announce crew making offhand remarks about whatever match they were supposed to be calling before going back to talking about the nWo. "Of course, we're all saddened by the passing of David Von Erich.....boy, you have to be excited at Kerry getting an NWA Title shot at Texas Stadium!" "Hurricanrana by Mysterio....so, who do you suppose was driving the Hummer?" "David will surely be missed....you know, professional wrestling is still the top money earner for fundraisers!" "Guerrero tags out to Jericho....I know wrestling experts will be debating for years when the nWo got to Scott Steiner." I mean, the WWE has shown us that spending inordinate amounts of time eulogizing dead employees doesn't actually mean you care, but wrestling is all about illusion, anyway. I don't know. Ric Flair vs. Mike Von Erich (10:20) Mike easily handles the champ for 10 minutes. Yuck. David Von Erich Tribute Video (3:44) Probably deserves to be an extra. WCCW 2/22 + 3/8/86 Mike Von Erich is presented with the PWI Inspirational Wrestler of the Year Award Mercifully edited. Apter may have wanted to hold on to that plaque a little longer. "The Two Tragedies" You know what I'm talking about. What's worth mentioning that usually doesn't get mentioned is that the vignette where Chris Adams says his good-byes to the American fans - blinded and with his career presumably over - is actually really well-done but it gets completely overshadowed because his worked blinding is forced to share equal billing with the actual death of Gino Hernandez. I think even independently of the sleaze factor, that vignette is strong enough that it really should be included as an extra. WCCW + NWA WWW 4/26/86 Fritz Von Erich & Michael Hayes Interview Fritz cutting a babyface promo where he talks about beating his kids might belong as an extra on general principle. Pretty good, in any case. WCCW 5/86 & NWA WWW 5/31/86 Jill Floyd sings "Heaven Needed a Champion" Jill is not the most gifted singer I ever heard, though I don't think the song itself was that great to begin with. USWA Best of Kerry Von Erich (UK) Kerry Von Erich & Steve Simpson vs. Buddy Roberts & Iceman King Parsons Bill Mercer actively soliciting charitable organizations on commentary is just sad. OK match, not much to it. Romdam 2 Bruiser Brody vs Abdullah the Butcher - cage match; Cotton Bowl 10-12-86 I liked this a bit more than shoe and Kris did. The cage kept them from brawling outside the ring, but I thought Abby's in-ring straight brawling looked really good. Also, after watching the Mid-South set, I can get down with the tough old retired wrestler still being something of a threat, and I thought Fritz didn't try to steal the spotlight too much until the end of the match. Still, that finish was pretty egregious case of Fritz putting himself over the actual wrestlers in the match, and Brody wasn't very exciting here, so I would agree that this isn't a nomination. Romdam 5 Pro wrestling This Week match 6 women mud pit battle royal - Texas Stadium, 5-3-87 Speaking as a pervert, I never really got the appeal of mud wrestling. Solie pointed out afterwords that it was hard to tell who was who, and that's exactly right. How can I be titillated by beautiful, scantily-clad women when I can't even see them? I mean, I know some people thought Rebecca Romijn was sexy as Mystique in the X-Men movies, but...well, I just don't get it. The most effective part of this match is Candy throwing mud at Percival Pringle. Spike Huber vs Eli the Eliminator - Ft Worth What little is shown of the match is OK, but that is one sad looking crowd. Romdam 11 The Freebirds go after Mike and Chris Von Erich Cringe-worthy performances from the lesser Von Erichs, who are called on to do about three things here and manage to fail at four. For this exact reason, it probably belongs as an extra. Romdam 13 Kerry Von erich video "Here I Go Again"...kinda sums up Kerry's career in a nutshell, doesn't it? Watching it kinda got me to thinking which Von Erich was the most tragic. They all have pretty good cases, and this video kinda puts an interestingly hopeful spin on Kerry's case, one that's even more poignant now knowing that he was an amputee. Definite extra. Lots of people fighting Music Video ("War") Another good extra. It is weird. If these music videos are any indication, death-bed WCCW was surprisingly self-aware. The videos, aside from being chock full of great clips of dudes kicking ass, seem a lot more poignant in terms of their choice of music than we're used to seeing. Again, looking back at how things turned out for so many people who came through World Class - especially since the video ends with Fritz being loaded into an ambulance after his ailment that was in no way whatsoever supposed to be a heart attack (we swear!) - one certainly does look back at these wars and wonder what they were good for. Extra. Romdam 14 Bill Mercer hunts with Kevin Von Erich You guys ever see "The Rules of the Game"? Anyway, this is an extra. Romdam 26 Von Erichs "Holding Out for a Hero" Music Video Man the contrast between what Kerry and Kevin are doing here and what Mike is doing is sadly hilarious. "Where's the streetwise Hercules" being sung over a slow-motion shot of Mike taking off his ring jacket...talk about your lyrical dissonance. Also the dramatic slo-mo of Mike bodyslamming Jimmy Garvin when Kerry slams King Kong Bundy later in the video and it seems like an afterthought. Probable extra in any case. WCCW 11/86 - 6/87 (Disc 2) Mike Von Erich "musical" tribute number I use quotation marks because it's sort of a William Shatner-style spoken word song set to a Casio keyboard pre-set. Extra by virtue of sleaze and oddness. WCCW 11/87 - 4/88 (Disc 1) Fritz Von Erich has a heart attack heart attack heart att not a heart attack Obviously a heart attack extra. int: Kerry Von Erich This would have been touching if the angle behind it weren't so slimy. It's an extra either way.
