WCCW 11-06-82

Will Kevin get the best of Irwin? Who will triumph in a tag match featuring McGraw, Madril, Checkmate, and Dragon? Also, what’s happening with the Freebirds this week? Lastly, who’s returning to help me tell my story?

Match 1 (handicap): The Great Kabuki (w/ Arman Hussein) versus the Samoan & Raul Castro

Unlike other handicap matches where partners tag, this match resembled a three-way dance. In other words, Kabuki had to defeat both Castro and Samoan to win.
While ring announcer Marc Lowrance introduced him, Kabuki displayed a nunchucks exhibition.

Kabuki delivered a spinning thrust kick to Samoan followed by a flying bodyscissors to Castro.
When Castro hip-tossed him, he succeeded with a flying headscissors.
He then dropkicked Kabuki but missed a second one.
As Samoan charged, Kabuki scored a standing thrust kick.
He then supplied Castro with a pair of knee crushers, and referee John Renesto called for the bell.
With Castro out of commission, Samoan dropkicked Kabuki.
He then gave Kabuki a cross corner whip followed by a shoulder block to the midsection.
After a pair of head butts, Samoan mounted the top turnbuckle but came up empty on a splash attempt.
Kabuki then delivered a pair of knee crushers to Samoan who submitted immediately.
As a result, Kabuki won.

After a commercial break, Irwin and King Kong Bundy storm the ring to ambush the Freebirds. Bundy then attempts to deliver an avalanche to Hayes, but Gordy clotheslines him. Both teams brawl while Gran Markus II and Destroyer I have no effect in separating them. As Lowrance instructs fans to keep away from the ring, Mercer offers up the idea of a cage match between the teams.

When McGraw bumbles in, he tosses Destroyer I through the ropes down to the floor. Referee David Manning then threatens Bundy and Irwin with a $500 fine and instructs them to return to the locker room immediately. What an awesome segment!

Gordy reversed an Irish whip and backdropped Destroyer.
As he slammed Destroyer, Gordy delivered a knee drop.
Shortly after, Gordy tagged in, mounted the second turnbuckle, and lowered the boom on Markus.
Hayes tagged in but got double-teamed in the heel corner.
When he countered a side head lock with a belly-to-back suplex, Hayes tagged out.
Gordy then tossed Destroyer to the floor, and the Freebirds hit a spike piledriver on Markus.

1-2-3.
The Freebirds won.

After the match, Hayes grabs the microphone and cuts a promo on Bundy and Irwin.

KERRY VON ERICH UPDATE: In week 2 of his recovery, Kerry sits down with Mercer and states he’s “mentally ready” for both the NWA World title and especially “Nature Boy” Ric Flair. We then revisit the Flair interview from 10/16 when Flair dismisses Kerry as a challenger. Kerry then declares “the game is over...and this is war.”

Match 3: Bugsy McGraw & Al Madril versus Checkmate & Magic Dragon (w/ Arman Hussein)

This week, Checkmate wore a mask that resembled that of the Grappler.

Checkmate played possum, and McGraw threw a tantrum trying to outsmart him.
When Checkmate whipped McGraw into the corner, he ate knee on his follow-through.
Again, Checkmate played possum but missed a charge when McGraw left an opening.
McGraw then slammed Checkmate but missed a splash.
As Checkmate played possum a third time, McGraw joined him. HA!

Madril tagged in, but Checkmate gave him a cross corner whip.
While Checkmate gave Madril another cross corner whip, McGraw cushioned the blow for his partner. Clever!
Dragon attempted to do the same for Checkmate upon Madril’s cross corner whip; however, Madril redirected Checkmate to the original corner instead. Woohoo!
After Madril whipped Checkmate into a McGraw right, Dragon tagged in.
Shortly afterward, Checkmate tagged in and catapulted Madril into a Dragon elbow.
Checkmate then made a second attempt, but Madril nailed Dragon instead.
When Checkmate attempted a Boston crab, Madril escaped.
Hot tag McGraw.
As he delivered an atomic drop, McGraw immediately yet incredulously tagged Madril.
With all four wrestlers in the ring, the heels tried to whip the babyfaces into one another.
On the other hand, since we’re in Texas, the babyfaces knew how to perform a do-si-do and clobbered the heels.
The babyfaces then whipped the heels who also knew the do-si-do but nevertheless clobbered them.
After Madril hit a flying shoulder block, he charged but came up empty on a second attempt.
Dragon then mounted the second turnbuckle, leaped, but an incoming McGraw popped him.
When Madril mounted the top turnbuckle, he delivered a cross body block.
1-2-3.
Madril and McGraw won.

Summary: Exciting match that followed the tag formula and had a warm, satisfying ending for the Dallas faithful.

Match 4 (non-title): NWA American champion Kevin Von Erich versus NWA American tag team champion “Wild” Bill Irwin

Kevin leap-frogged Irwin and followed with a dropkick.
As the Dallas faithful chanted “we want the claw,” Kevin reversed a cross corner whip and supplied Irwin with a flying headscissors.
He then delivered a series of knees to the midsection before implementing a rolling bodyscissors for 2.
When he gave Irwin a cross corner whip, Kevin attempted another flying headscissors, but Irwin escaped.
He then slammed Kevin for 2.
After Irwin hit a knee to the midsection, Kevin got the upper hand on an abdominal stretch.
Off-camera, Irwin, Kevin, and referee John Renesto all hit the canvas, and Renesto called for the bell.
Kevin won by DQ.

Summary: According to Saldi, Irwin used Renesto to break the hold and cause the DQ. How dastardly! At the very least, the rolling bodyscissors was the highlight of the match.

After the match, Irwin tosses Kevin over the top rope to the floor to truly cement his DQ loss. Valiantly, Kevin returns to the ring to chase Irwin away.

Conclusion: The pre-match brawl between the Freebirds and Bundy/Irwin puts a new wrinkle on the program creating never-seen-before (1982) excitement. Also, the McGraw/Madril/Checkmate/Dragon match was much better than expected. Check this episode out, and you won’t have to worry about any audio difficulties this time around.