WCCW Christmas Star Wars 1982

Legacy Review- From The Vault

WCCW Christmas Star Wars 1982

Recorded Christmas Day, 1982 at Reunion Arena in Dallas, TX

 

Commentary: Bill Mercer

 

Welcome to the start of a new intermittent series I'll be doing on here- reviews from shows that have been uploaded to the WWE or WCW Vault on Youtube (an acceptable substitution for the old Hidden Gems section on the WWE Network, especially since that never made it to Peacock) and aren't generally considered major PPV level shows. To be clear this will be full or nearly full shows. Individual matches may eventually be a separate series down the line, one I'm also thinking of starting up to dust off my old wrestling DVD collection.

 

WCCW was one of the prime NWA territories in the '80s, based in Dallas and the home of the Von Erichs and the Fabulous Freebirds. In these days when the idea of the closed circuit TV/PPV supercard hadn't been invented yet (which it would be the next year by another NWA affiliate, Jim Crockett Promotions, with Starrcade), WCCW would have major cards 3-4 times a year under the "Wrestling Star Wars" name, with one always being on Christmas Day. These weren't broadcast on TV live, instead the major matches were chopped up and shown on their regular weekly TV program. These three matches were part of an eight match card on the night, but only these three were later shown on TV. Normally I like to review shows as they happened in the arena, but in this case it's more practical to stick with the broadcast order.

 

This Vault copy is actually two hour long episodes of WCCW TV edited together into one video. First up, crowning the inaugural champions of Texas edition of the NWA six man tag titles. You know I love my title histories, so buckle up for this one. The NWA had a six man title dating back to the '50s. However, it was deactivated in 1981 when the territory is was based in at the time, NWA Mid-America, folded. Seeing the void, WCCW decided to create their own version of the title, and there's a very specific story purpose behind it as we'll see. This title will always be known as the "Texas version", because in 1984 JCP's Mid-Atlantic territory revived the original NWA six man titles for their own territory. And then proceeded to never feature them on any major shows, but that's another story.

 

Inaugural NWA World Six Man Tag Team Championship (Texas Version): The Fabulous Freebirds & NWA Texas Heavyweight Champion David Von Erich def Ben Sharpe, Mike Sharpe & Tom Steele (c) in 17:59- Yes, the Freebirds were faces at this time. David of the Von Erich clan is substituting for Freebird Buddy Roberts despite the fact he defended his title earlier in the night in a non-televised match. They're all good friends so it's cool. He's teaming with Terry "Bam Bam" Gordy and THE Freebird, Michael PS Hayes. On the other side, the most familiar name is probably Mike Sharpe, who was a jobber in mid-late '80s WWF as "Iron" Mike Sharpe, Canada's Greatest Athlete (before Lance Storm). Tom Steele also had a WWF run where he was Cousin Luke in Hillbilly Jim's extended family. During intros Hayes takes the mic, wishes all the girls screaming at him a Merry Christmas, and says Buddy Roberts is stuck in Denver due to a snowstorm and can't make it tonight. While he's talking David walks in to a huge ovation as his replacement. David basically says it's his honor and they all hug it out because they're best friends FOREVER. Gordy and Mike start. Lockup and Gordy takes a swing. Mike hides in the ropes in the corner. More stalemate lockups. On a rope break Mike tries a cheap shot. That only sets Gordy off and Mike hides in the ropes again. I just realized there's two refs in the ring. Two refs in a tag match?! It's Gorilla Monsoon's wet dream. Hayes tags in and hits Mike in the back with a kneelift while Gordy is still locked up with him. Front facelock from Hayes that leads to a suplex leverage fight. They end up in the ropes by the face corner like that. David blind tags in and goes to work on Mike, hitting a dropkick and kneedrop for 2. Mike is able to muscle David into the heel corner. Ben tags in and gives David a hiptoss. David comes back with shots to the gut and an uppercut. Ben hits a slam but misses a kneedrop. David tags out to Gordy. Backdrop for Ben. Gordy walks around with Ben and hits a powerslam, followed by a kneedrop for 2. Delayed suplex from Gordy for 2. Double elbow on Ben from the Freebirds. Slam from Hayes and he struts to the second rope for an elbow drop for 2. Ben gets some shots in on Hayes, getting him in the wrong corner and tagging out to Steele. Hayes counters a Steele backdrop attempt and hits a running kick. David tags in and hits another dropkick. Piledriver! Or "atomic drop" according to Mercer. In '82 that would be an instant finisher in a lot of places. But they're too close to the ropes for a pin. Mike snaps David over the top rope and starts working him over. David sneaks under his legs and gets a tag out to Hayes. Hayes with a backdrop and elbow drop on Mike for 2. Mike gets cornered and can't decide who to run away from, then finally manages to get to the floor for a mental reset. Full reset in the ring and Hayes struts around a bit more for the crowd. Mike backs up and rolls out again. When he gets back in he continues to stall and offers a handshake. Hayes overacts off the offer as only he can, and I mean that in a good way. He grabs Mike and snap mares him across the ring, causing Mike to beg off again. The heel corner distracts Hayes, finally giving Mike an opening to hit him from behind. That puts Hayes officially In Peril. Ben hooks on a chinlock that Hayes does his damndest to fight, but he slowly starts to fade down. Kneedrop from Ben for 2. Steele traps Hayes in the corner, chokes him a bit, then snap mares him into another chinlock. David and Ben move toward each other on the apron. One ref keeps them separated, while the other keeps his eye on the legal men. THAT'S WHY YOU HAVE TWO REFS! Bear hug from Mike on Hayes that again Hayes tries to fight like crazy, but slowly gets worn down. Hayes literally dangles down in Mike's arms. Both refs do arm drops, one on each arm. Hayes powers up and hits an elbow to Mike's head to get free. Both heels try to come in without a tag. Gordy cuts one off, but the refs force David out when he tries. Hayes remains in peril. Steele puts him in a sleeper. Hayes manages to fight out, but Steele gives him an elbow and puts it back on. Hayes manages to reverse and pounds away on Steele! Again Gordy chases Ben off, but Steele got the sleeper back on in the meantime. Hayes bridges back up, snap mares Steele over, and mistakenly goes for an elbow drop that Steele dodges. Fistdrop from Steele. Corner whip. Hayes dodges and Steele knees the corner! Diving tag to Gordy! Steele quickly backs off. Gordy doesn't care. Steele dodges in the corner and Gordy goes shoulder first into the post! Both guys are very slow to get up. Steele gets a tag to Mike. Mike slams Gordy. Gordy dodges an elbow drop and tag to David! EVERYONE IN THE POOL! David hits Mike with a high knee, and that gets the pin to win the titles! The Freebirds celebrate by themselves in the corner while David looks on clearly left out, then Hayes realizes and goes over to hug David. Inadvertent heat of the moment stuff I'm sure. Very fun match. There's no belts though. ***1/2

 

In the postmatch interview David voluntarily relinquishes his third of the title to the absent Buddy Roberts to let all the Freebirds be the champions. The Von Erichs and the Freebirds, best friends forever. For some reason Hayes doesn't look very happy about it though.

 

Mercer is with one of the refs to explain the rules for the upcoming battle royale. "16 or 18 men", you can be eliminated by pin, submission or over the top rope. When there's three wrestlers left they'll stop the match, put the $10K on the pole, and it will change to a pole match with all three guys vying to get the check down, but still have eliminations under the same rules.

 

$10,000 On a Pole Battle Royale- Some of the bigger names in here are David Von Erich (again), Bill Irwin, both Sharpes (again), Jose Lothario, King Kong Bundy and Bugsy McGraw. Most of this is your normal battle royale craziness so I'll mostly check out until we get down to the final three guys. We're reminded the money will be hung on the pole ONLY after the match gets down to three guys. The bell rings and it's a very slow start. Guys are locking up in a battle royale, which is hilarious to me. It's definitely slow moving for the first part. David is the first elimination after all the work he's already done tonight. There's a guy out there called the Magic Dragon. He does not look like a dragon. David continues fighting with someone from the apron after his elimination. That doesn't seem sporting. About 5 guys try to stack on top of Bundy to pin him. He still pushes them all off, but then a jumping knee to the back from McGraw sends him over the top and out. The eliminations finally start coming more quickly after that. McGraw just about eliminates himself off a whip. We do a full stop and reset when it gets down to four, but we need it down to three to move on. Al Madril is the last eliminated, and we go to commercial as the check is put up. Back with the final three: Mike Sharpe, Brian Adias (not adidas) and Ken Mantell. The ref says go and everyone dives for the pole. There's lots of towers with one guy trying to climb and the other two pulling him down. Sharpe tosses Mantell over the top, but he lands on the apron so he's still legal. Adias sees the opening and speeds to the pole. Sharpe grabs him by the waist, pulls him down, runs him across the ring and tosses him over and out to eliminate him. But behind that Mantell gets up the pole! Sharpe tries to stop him. Mantell pushes him off and gets the check to win! Fine for what it was. **

 

Mantell kisses and gets sweat all over the check he's supposedly going to have to turn into a bank later. Hope the tellers have hand sanitizer. That closes out episode one.

 

Episode two is focused solely on the NWA World Championship match. Ric Flair won his first "test run" World title in September '81 over Dusty Rhodes in Kansas City. He's not fully RIC FLAIR as we know him yet, but he tends more that direction here because it was tradition in those days that the NWA World champ was a face in his home territory, but a heel when he went out on tour so the crowd could cheer for their local favorites. Remember all wrestling TV at this point was still regional, not national. Flair does drop "Diamonds are forever, and so is Ric Flair" in his otherwise understated prematch promo. The episode opens with footage of their previous match, which took place at the last Star Wars in October. It was a two out of three falls match. Kerry thought he had the first fall won with a sleeper, but the decision was reversed to Flair by DQ because Kerry pushed the ref. Kerry won fall two by pinning Flair with the Iron Claw. Fall three ended with a double DQ because the match was too chaotic, meaning Flair kept the title. Due to that WCCW is calling Kerry the "uncrowned champion" to add some more juice to this rematch, and to get a definitive winner they're going inside the steel cage, which was a huge deal back then.

 

Steel Cage Match for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship: "Nature Boy" Ric Flair (c) def Kerry Von Erich in 24:33- I know I've seen this match before, most likely by itself in the old Hidden Gems section of the Network. It's a smallish cage compared to what we're used to now, the top of it is only slightly taller than the wrestlers. Due to the results of their last encounter this match will have two referees in the ring/cage, a regular ref and Freebird Michael Hayes, who was supposedly voted in as the second ref by the fans. Commentary says Hayes "once refereed a world title match in Tokyo so he has experience". I have no idea if that's true or not but it's hilarious in a good way justification either way. Hayes takes the mic and says there's nothing more important than world title matches, and because of that he's brought along his Freebird brother Terry Gordy to make sure no one gets out the cage door. This is under normal pin/submission rules, only WWF did escape rules for cage matches. Hayes is the one to ring the bell to get us going. Kerry wants to go and Flair wants everyone to chill a bit. Lockup and Kerry gets a very quick leg takedown, then drops a couple of elbows on Flair's leg. Flair tries to muscle around into a hammerlock counter but Kerry gets another leg takedown (with Flair screaming all the way down). Another elbow to the leg and Kerry cranks on it again. Again Flair slowly works around and this time gets the hammerlock into an arm wringer. Kerry reverses and hits a standing dropkick! Flair can't get away quick enough but the cage is holding him in, as designed. Flair reverses Kerry in the corner, hits the first chop and some jabs and clubbing blows. Kerry pounds free with a bunch of punches to Flair's head. Flair Flop! Flair gets a couple of knees to the gut. Snap mare/kneedrop combo. Another big chop. Both refs force Flair to break when Kerry's against the ropes, cage match or no. Kerry hits some more punches to put Flair back down. Now Hayes forces Kerry out of the corner. The regular ref thought that was a bit too quick and he and Hayes get into it a bit. Flair tries a suplex. Kerry flips over into a sleeper! Flair back suplexes to get free. Kerry gingerly walks up the very loose ropes, using the cage, and just manages to come down with a kneedrop in Flairs' vicinity. Another straight kneedrop and I think Flair might be bleeding. Kerry goes nuts on Flair's forehead. He goes for the Claw but Flair blocks it. Back elbow from Flair. He picks Kerry up and drops him across the top rope. Both refs get on him for that. He chokes Kerry on the top rope and Hayes literally pulls him off to break it. Another snap mare with an elbow drop for 2. Both refs are counting falls at the same time. Kerry gets back up swinging again. Abdominal stretch attempt spin that Kerry wins. Flair hiptosses free. Kerry dodges an elbow drop. Flair's run into the cage! Now things are really heating up. Another one! Kerry rakes him across the cage! Flair's definitely bleeding now. Another hard cage shot! The crowd is really starting to believe now. Flair cuts off another Claw attempt. Flair's a bloody mess but fighting back again. He wraps Kerry's knee around the second rope and cranks it. Hayes physically pulls Flair back again. Flair leg takedown and he continues to get the knee work going. He goes for the figure four but Kerry pushes free. Twice. Kerry runs Flair into the cage again! Flair hits the knee again while he's down. Kerry shrugs it off and lays into Flair with more punches. Flair dodges a kneedrop! That's not going to help Kerry's knee. Flair gets the figure four on! He gets a couple of near falls off it. Kerry fights and slowly gets the reversal! Flair's in agony now and lets go. Kerry pops up and goes right back to work on Flair's knee. Flair tries to beg off. He even tries to climb the cage. Kerry pulls his trunks down and we get a Flair full moon. Even in '82. Hayes literally tosses Kerry across the ring forcing a rope break. Well, he's been consistent about that at least. More cage shots for Flair with Flair selling it all as only he can. He gets some separation with a chop, then slowly climbs up to the top rope. When he comes down Kerry gets him in the Claw! Flair goes all over the ring to try to get free but can't and fades down. Hayes and Gordy are discussing something as the other ref counts near falls. Flair just barely gets a foot on the bottom rope and Hayes very quickly calls for a break. The other ref disagrees but Hayes insists. He tries to pull Kerry off Flair! And does! HUGE boos for Hayes from the crowd after that. Kerry gets in his face, but Hayes insists Flair got a foot on the rope even if the regular ref disagrees. Flair comes in with a knee to Kerry's back while they're arguing. That also opened the cage door. Gordy closes it again. Now it's Flair Hayes is trying to force a corner break on again. Hayes turns Flair around and punches him! That's not referee decorum. He screams at Kerry to cover Flair. Kerry won't win it that way. Hayes grabs Kerry by the hair and pulls him onto Flair. Kerry gets right back up. Hayes shoves Kerry! He goes to walk out of the cage but Kerry tries to stop him. Another knee to the back from Flair off the distraction. Hayes falls out of the cage. GORDY SLAMS THE DOOR INTO KERRY'S FACE! Now Hayes gets back in and tosses the other ref away! Flair covers. Kerry kicks out at 2 but Hayes counts 3 anyway, then tries to raise Flair's head. The regular ref has had enough and tosses both Freebirds out. Flair ground and pound on Kerry as the ring clears out. Kerry takes a cage shot. More ground and pound from Flair as Kerry looks done. Snap mare into a cover for 2. Another cover for 2. Kerry won't die. He takes another cage shot. Kerry's bleeding a bit now and Flair attacks it. Kerry wildly tries to swing back. Discus punch! But he's too hurt to cover. The ref checks him, and calls for the bell because in his judgment Kerry can't continue. The doctor is called into the ring and Flair is handed back the belt to the boos of the crowd. Tremendous stuff, match and angle. ****1/4

 

Kevin and David Von Erich angrily get in the ring as doctors continue to check Kerry, arguing about how the Freebirds conducted themselves during the match. David takes a mic and says "TERRY GORDY! Now I know what you've gotten me and my family for Christmas!". This, ladies and gentlemen, was the very start of the legendary Freebirds/Von Erich war. Because that's what it was, feud doesn't even do it justice. Possibly the most well known and successful feud that was confined to one territory and never went national there ever was. Evidenced by the fact everyone knew about it despite it staying pretty much in Texas.

 

Since this isn't really a full, proper show I won't put a final grade on it, but it was very good viewing with two good to great title matches, and hugely important historically in kicking off one of the hottest angles there's ever been.