Taped from Dallas, TX
Airdate: May 23, 1987 (taped 05/08)
Attendance: unknown
Hosted by Bill Mercer
Can the Fantastics retain the World tag team titles? Or will they be exiled from Texas? Who’s the newcomer? Plus, Brody, Huber, and Borne!
Opening montage.
Match 1: “Maniac” Matt Borne versus “Handsome” Hank
Highlights:
- Hank gave Borne a cross corner whip but ate boot on his follow-through.
- When he fed Hank a gutwrench suplex, Borne dealt him a fireman’s carry slam.
- Hank rebounded with a leg drop, but Borne retaliated with a knee to the midsection.
- As he dropkicked Hank, Borne suplexed him for 2.
- Hank reversed a cross corner whip but ate a clotheslines.
- After he mounted the top turnbuckle, Borne scored with a flying senton splash.
- 1-2-3.
- Borne won at 4:37.
Rating: *
Summary: Showcase match for Borne.
Match 2: Spike Huber versus Mr. Zen
Highlights:
- I have NO CLUE who this Zen guy is.
- As Zen applied a cross arm breaker, he fed Huber a swinging neckbreaker for 2.
- Huber rebounded with a rollup for 2.
- When Zen dealt Huber a gutwrench suplex, he got 2.
- He delivered a double underhook suplex but only got 1.
- After he hit a back elbow, Zen got caught with an inside cradle.
- 1-2-3.
- Huber won at 4:45.
Rating: *
Summary: Showcase match for Huber, but Zen brought some workrate. Unfortunately, the Dallas faithful sought refreshments during the match.
Match 3: Bruiser Brody versus Perry Jackson
Highlights:
- If I could muster a guess, Jackson must’ve been Brody’s favorite enhancement talent.
- Brody tossed Jackson down to the floor, joined, and bounced him face-first off Lowrance’s table.
- When he grabbed Lowrance’s chair, Brody SMACKED Jackson with it.
- He fed Jackson a big boot and tied him in the ropes.
- As he dealt Jackson another pair of boots, Brody scored with a fourth big boot.
- 1-2-3.
- Brody won at 2:52.
Rating: *
Summary: Quite the decisive showcase match for Brody.
Match 4: The “Latin Heartthrob” Al Perez (w/ Gary Hart) versus Jeff Raitz
Highlights:
- Perez rolled up Raitz and got 2.
- As he gave Raitz a cross corner whip, Perez followed with a kick to the midsection.
- Raitz gave Perez a cross corner whip but ate a boot to the midsection on his follow-through.
- When Perez hooked a backslide, he got 2. Needless to say, but Raitz ain’t no Ric Flair.
- Nevertheless, Raitz rebounded quickly with a slam, hooked an inside cradle, and got another 2.
- Perez missed an elbow drop, so Raitz dropkicked him.
- After he gave Perez a cross corner whip, Raitz followed with a back drop.
- Perez fed him a flying forearm and trapped Raitz in a spinning toe hold.
- While Raitz passed out from the pain, Perez pinned him at 6:19.
Rating: **
Summary: These two worked together in Mid-South, so familiarity led to a mostly crisp match in Perez’s WCWA debut.
At ringside, Mercer interviews Hart with Perez. Hart mentions that Nord the Barbarian was injured at Texas Stadium but won’t disclose the details. When Jeep Swenson’s name gets dropped, Hart states “(he) fainted, and he hasn’t been around.” Methinks the mercenary has been..
Perez touts Hart as a great manager and is ready to get what he wants. Lastly, he does everything in the name of wrestling.
POINT OF ORDER: The World title match at Texas Stadium becomes Nord’s final match in the WCWA as he won’t return to the ring until November. For those unaware, Nord remains with us albeit confined to a wheelchair and suffering from ALS a.k.a. Lou Gehrig’s Disease.
Match 5 for the WCWA World tag team titles: The Fantastics (champions) versus Brian Adias & Al Madril (w/ “Gentleman” Jim Holliday)
Highlights:
- Special stipulation: The loser of the fall must leave Texas.
- Rogers leapfrogged Madril and hooked a flying headscissors.
- When Fulton tagged in, he mounted the second turnbuckle and lowered the boom onto Madril.
- Fulton secured an inside cradle, but Madril used leverage to put himself on top for 2.
- As Madril popped him, he trapped Fulton in a sunset flip for 2.
- Adias tagged in as Mercer teased him about his leopard tights.
- After Fulton fed Adias a cross body block, he got 2.
- Rogers tagged in and dropkicked Adias for another 2.
- While he clotheslined Adias, Rogers couldn’t get 3.
- Adias dealt Rogers a back elbow for 2.
- Ducking a haymaker, Rogers delivered a German suplex with a bridge for 2.
- Adias gave Rogers a cross corner whip but ate boot.
- Tagging in, Madril popped Rogers, but Fulton tagged in to return fire for 2.
- Madril slammed Fulton and got 2.
- Enclosing Madril in another inside cradle, Fulton got 2.
- Each team made saves back and forth, and all four wrestlers were in the ring.
- Calling for the bell, referee Rick Hazzard ruled the bout a double disqualification.
- BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Rating: ***
Summary: Frenetically paced match where it looked like someone would leave town.
After the match, Rogers and Madril get rammed together, and Adias disposes of Rogers. The heels double-team Fulton until Adias inadvertently nails Madril. Heated, Madril shoves Adias, so Holliday interjects himself. Madril tries to pop Holliday, but Adias talks him out of it. When Madril turns his back, Adias blasts him. WE HAVE A FACE TURN!
After getting kicked, a fired-up Madril fires back. Wisely, Holliday takes a powder to the floor. While Adias and Madril battle inside the ring, the Fantastics manhandle Holliday at ringside. Madril knocks Adias into the middle of 1988 and requests Holliday from the Fantastics. Much to the delight of the Dallas faithful, Madil pops Holliday who sells it like he’s been shot. On the floor, a beleaguered Holliday rises to drag Adias back to the locker room.
Madril grabs the microphone and demands Adias’ return to the ring for another fight. Although the Dallas faithful are on their feet, Adias doesn’t return, but Madril promises a war.
At ringside, Mercer interviews an angry Adias who refers to Madril as “Mexican” in a not-so-politically-correct manner. He tells Madril that he “blew it.” Vehemently, Holliday promises that Madril “will pay.”
Conclusion: I knew there had to be some sort of compensation for Madril to job so easily to Mascaras last week. As Madril’s face turn was executed well, Adias did everything possible to generate heel heat. Considering he’s a local favorite and Von Erich ally, that’s not easy, so he flipped a switch that wouldn’t see the light of day nowadays.
The highlight of the remainder of the episode is Perez’s debut followed by Hart’s interview.
Next week, the Rock’n’Roll RPMs battle the Fantastics!
On 5/11, Kevin Von Erich collapsed in the ring during a match in Fort Worth. According to an article by Dave Rosenbaum, Kevin stated:
“It was in an eight-man tag team match: me, Bruiser Brody, and the Fantastics against Brian Adias, Al Madril, Al Perez, and Black Bart. I was in the ring with Brian Adias and he slammed my head into the turnbuckle, but I hit it the wrong way. All of a sudden, I saw stars. I collapsed and had a seizure in the ring…
“It turned out that I had suffered a concussion and I’m still not ready to return.”
I’m not sure if/when WCCW will address this, but I wanted to clear any rumors regarding his collapse.
TV Rating: NONE
Stay tuned for WCCW 05-30-87!
Comments? Suggestions? Send them to me at rsg@rockstargary.com and follow me on Twitter (@rockstargary202).