Where Wrestling's Regional History Lives!
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Where Wrestling's Regional History Lives! |
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- Jason Hess Greetings, Kayfabe fans, and welcome to another installment of Houston Wrestling at KayfabeMemories.com!!! Once again, we are taking a look at one of the most unique "territories within a territory" ever, as we examine wrestling life in Houston in the 1980’s. In this edition we will examine the attempt of another promotion to make Houston their home, and their success…….or lack of. Rewind: In April 1987, Houston area fans were shocked to learn that their beloved UWF had been replaced by the WWF on KHTV 39 every Saturday night. (see previous two articles for further clarification) Although the UWF, which had been bought out by Jim Crockett, ran cards at the larger Summit arena (now called Compaq Center), their crowds were poor, and the NWA did not run Houston regularly until Paul Boesch aligned himself with them after his August 1987 "retirement." In the mean time, WWF stars still filled the longtime home of Houston Wresting, the Sam Houston Coliseum, for monthly cards. Fans, who had been used to bi-weekly to weekly cards in the past, were hungry for more wrestling at the close of 1987. Fast Forward: In a linking story, World Class Championship Wrestling, which just four years prior (1983) was the hottest territory in America, was coming back from the dead. The territory hit rock bottom in the spring of 1987 when attendance for its annual David Von Erich Memorial Parade of Champions Card drew barely 5,000 people to the 70,000+ seat Texas Stadium. At the time, the only wrestling Von Erich was WCCW champion Kevin. Within days of the card, Kevin’s future as a wrestler was also put in doubt, as he collapsed in the middle of an eight man tag team match in Ft. Worth, Texas. While speculations about the cause of Von Erich’s collapse run rampant to this very day (some say post-concussion syndrome, others say heavy drug use), the effect was even more damaging to World Class. Attendance, which had been in a noticeable decline since mid-1986 (actually attendance was slowly declining way before that, but things were still fairly good), was pitiful. More...
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