He went to a ten-minute TV draw with Ric Flair and had Flair on the run when Flair took a count out loss. Numerous times Lawler had Nick Bockwinkel in trouble only to have a decision reversed or interference lead to Bockwinkel holding on to the title. 

The promotion put the spin on the upcoming event as if Lawler would really retire if he lost which no doubt made some fans really consider that this truly was Lawler’s last chance despite the fact that retirement in wrestling is a time-honored tradition to break. Jerry Jarrett even appeared to highlight upcoming appearances by World Class stars indicating this was his back-up plan in case his top attraction, Lawler, retired. With Lawler’s track record of being such a consistent winner yet always falling short in the big match the point was driven home even more so to fans. This was Lawler’s last chance at the world title. 

Lawler and Curt Hennig had met several times before. Once in December 1987, Lawler downed champion Hennig in a non-title Memphis bout. The memory of Hennig’s loss set a nice balance against the possibility that Lawler would retire if he couldn’t beat Hennig. Sure, Lawler had come up short time after time but he did have a win over the champion Hennig. 

With Lawler’s time mostly being consumed with his feud with Eddie Gilbert & Missy Hyatt in the spring the promotion quietly laid the groundwork for the May 9 match. Shortly after the announcement of the match it was also revealed that Hennig was demanding a special referee for the match claiming the Memphis-based referees were unfairly biased for Lawler.  

The solution presented was to let the fans decide who would be the referee. Hennig would get a selection as would Lawler. The fans would then vote via a phone line (which charged callers a flat fee each time they called as the Memphis promotion jumped on the 900-line business much of wrestling had also discovered). Hennig’s selection to be referee was his father, the legendary AWA and WWWF star Larry “the Ax” Hennig. Lawler’s selection was area legend Jackie Fargo.  

To build suspense (and add revenue to the phone-in selection process) weekly reports leading up to the match indicated that Hennig’s selection, his father, was leading the selection process. Lawler claimed Hennig had hired people to vote for him and that it really was up in the air as to who would referee the match which in turn encouraged fans to call in for Fargo to referee the match. 

On the final TV show before the Memphis match it was announced that Fargo had won the phone poll by 74 votes (1974 was the year of Lawler’s first world title shot) and would referee the match. In a phone interview, Fargo wished his partner and former enemy well but vowed to call the match in a fair manner. Manager Kenny Dees, who had turned on Lawler a week earlier to side with Eddie Gilbert and Missy Hyatt, interrupted Lawler’s interview time to let Lawler know he would be in Hennig’s corner for the match. 

Curt Hennig had held the AWA title for close to a year when he pulled into Memphis for his showdown with Lawler. While the AWA title had a long illustrious history the promotion had fallen on difficult times in the wake of the move to take wrestling national. (See the 1987 article, Part I for more details.) The move to make Hennig champion had been a move many in the business and many who closely followed the business liked. Hennig had earned his dues in the business by making a name for himself in the Pacific Northwest and the WWF. The previous four or so years, Hennig had quietly, yet steadily been a shining star for the AWA. With defections in Verne Gagne’s company right and left and new talent fizzling before their time, Hennig’s work was finally rewarded when the AWA made Hennig champion. 

Once a babyface, Hennig had turned into cocky arrogant heel prior to his championship win. In ring, Hennig’s work had always been solid. His athletic ability mixed well with other ingredients a second-generation wrestler seems to instinctively know. As a heel though Hennig was able to spotlight one of his best talents as a wrestler, his bump-taking ability. Nearly every Hennig match featured some action by Hennig that could best be described as Hennig becoming a human pinball. As he rocked and reeled around the ring, and sometimes over the ring ropes, he always found some nefarious way to pull out a victory though. Despite his dishonorable ways of winning matches it was clear that Hennig was the best the AWA had to offer at the time. Lawler, meantime, had long gotten by on his reputation, interviews and psychology. At the time most of the top layer of talent in the U.S. resided with the WWF or Jim Crockett’s promotion, Hennig and Lawler though were two exceptions to that rule. 

May 9 was designated Jerry Lawler Day in Memphis and Shelby County by a number of dignitaries. Longtime announcer Lance Russell, once Lawler’s most vocal opponent who had become his most vocal supporter, cut a vacation short to return for the big day. As showtime neared about 8000 fans turned out to see what they believed would be Jerry Lawler winning the world title. The promotion offered a free Lawler poster with each ticket purchase. Select ringside fans would be able to attend a reception for Lawler, win or lose, after the card.  

The undercard featured AWA tag champions Pat Tanaka & Paul Diamond, Steve Keirn & Mike Graham (Florida’s U.S. tag champions) and two big grudge matches, Robert Fuller vs. Jeff Jarrett and Eddie Gilbert vs. the returning Superstar Bill Dundee. While the undercard was one of the strongest of the year in Memphis, all eyes were anxious for the night’s main event. 

By 1988, spectacular ring entrances were few and far between. Most every promotion did use music to cue the audience to the appearance of a wrestler but the constant use of this idea makes it less special. On this night in Memphis the promotion tried something a little different. Lawler had previously entered the arena in a variety of ways including on horseback and on a camel. For his big night in 1988, Lawler, King of Memphis wrestling, was carried to the ring on a throne as the crowd cheered at their hero’s entrance.

Jackie Fargo, without his trademark dyed blonde hair, served as referee. Fargo set the tone early in the match. Kenny Dees tripped Lawler. When Fargo realized what Dees had done he tossed the manager into the ring, snatched him up and delivered his patented finisher, the atomic drop on Dees, who tumbled out of the ring. Fans should have understood then something special was taking place.  

Despite Dees being taken out of the mix, Hennig was able to fight back and slam Lawler into the ringpost. A cut above Lawler’s eye opened. Lawler though fought back, quietly pleading with referee Fargo to let the match continue despite the cut. Meantime, Lawler’s comeback saw him bounce Hennig around the ring. Eventually, Lawler propelled Hennig into a boomerang move sending Hennig headfirst into the turnbuckle. Hennig, in true pinball fashion, bounced off the turnbuckle and onto the mat. Lawler covered Hennig while Fargo counted the pinfall for a Lawler win at 24:27. The crowd was so into the pinfall attempt that when Fargo fell to the mat to begin the count the crowd took his contact with the mat as the first count so the crowd popped for the win at Fargo’s actual two count. Jeff Jarrett, Bill Dundee and others rushed to the ring to congratulate Lawler as the crowd roared its approval. 

Finally, Jerry “the King” Lawler had achieved the goal he had pursued for years. He was the world champion. Lawler’s win was headline news in Memphis as the TV newscasts all prominently featured the story. The promotion held a news conference after the card to present Lawler as champion before the local media. 

Despite the hoopla, Lawler had to get down to business. He was world champion and the contenders were all lined up for him. Lawler made the following Saturday Memphis TV show to thank the fans for their support and to plug his first Memphis defense the following Monday before he left town to make an AWA TV taping in Las Vegas. Since it was Memphis and a Monday logic followed that Lawler’s first title defense would be against the man he likely had battled more often on Mondays in Memphis than anyone else, Superstar Bill Dundee. Lawler said he and Dundee had made a pact that if one of them ever won the world title then the other would be the first to get a title shot. 

Lawler’s successful defense against Dundee was just the first of a number of defenses in Memphis in 1988. Although the AWA’s travel schedule was nothing like it once had been or was nothing like the travel schedule of former NWA champions or even those who wrestled at the time in the WWF or with Crockett, Lawler did travel some with the title taking him away from the area on occasion. Lawler would defend the title in AWA cities as well as in the Jarrett territory but also defended the title in World Class and Continental rings as well as various independently promoted cards. 

Along the way Lawler stepped into the ring against a number of interesting competitors. Lawler defended the title against such stars as Iceman King Parsons, Kerry Von Erich, Austin Idol, Buddy Landell, Ronnie Garvin, Tommy Rich, Tatsumi Fujinami, Dutch Mantel, Jim Garvin, Kimala and others. Of course, Hennig would get some rematches along the way, most notably after he appeared on the live Memphis TV show one Saturday and ripped apart the TV studio demanding a rematch. Since the two were natural opponents because of the title switch between them it would prove to ultimately be a short-lived feud as during the year Hennig left the AWA and signed with the WWF where he went on to greater fame as Mr. Perfect. 

With Hennig out of the title picture, one face in particular became a constant contender to Lawler’s AWA title. That face was the star of the World Class promotion in Texas, Kerry Von Erich. Kerry’s father, Fritz (Jack Adkisson) had never been shy about believing any of his sons were championship material. He was so confident in their abilities he had built his promotion around them. Von Erich had briefly held the NWA title in 1984. His good looks, physique, athletic ability and unique charm made him popular with many fans. For a time the World Class promotion and the Von Erichs were the hottest tickets in the wrestling business. That time though had passed by the summer of 1988.  

Wrestling though is a cyclical business. Those in it and who follow it realize what was hot yesterday may one day have its day again. Sometimes on the carousel a second chance to grab the gold ring does comes along. It was becoming obvious as Lawler and Von Erich were often paired against each other that someone somewhere still believed there was magic to be made between Memphis’s King and the heir-apparent to a once might wrestling kingdom. By the end of the year that idea would be tested. In the meantime though, the long grueling chase for a world title finally ended for Jerry Lawler as he became AWA World champion.  

July, August and September 1988 

Phil Hickerson downed Max Pain to become CWA champion.  Hickerson then battled Brian Lee to an inconclusive finish rendering the title held up which it would stay until November. 

The CWA tag titles held by Scott Steiner and Billy Travis remained in their possession until the Rock n Roll RPMs: Mike Davis and Tommy Lane returned to win the belts. 

The summer saw such stars in the area as Shawn Baxter, The Great Senshe, Jimmy Valiant, AWA champion Jerry Lawler, Jeff Jarrett, Robert Fuller, Jimmy Golden, Max Pain, Tojo Yamamoto, Sylvia, Rough & Ready, Brickhouse Brown, Tommy Gilbert, Gary Young, Cat Garrett, Kerry Von Erich, Pat Rose, Buddy Landell, Bam Bam Bigelow, Nature’s Best: Darrell & Bill Justin, Sid Stryker & Sonny Street, Ray Odyssey, Bill Dundee, Eric Embry, Candi Divine, The Mongolian Stomper, Austin Idol, Jaime Dundee, Tommy Rich, David Haskins, Cactus Jack, Soldat Ustinov, Sgt. Slaughter, Iceman Parsons, Michael Hayes, Ronnie Garvin, Mike Enos, Greg Gagne, Steve Cox, The Samoan Swat Team: Samu & Fatu, Buddy Roberts, Tejiho Khan, Colonel DeBeers, Chavo, Mando and Hector Guerrero, Pat Tanaka and Paul Diamond, Debbie Combs, Madusa Micheli, Kevin Von Erich, The Rock n Roll Express: Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson, Wendi Richter, Top Guns: Jon Paul and Ricky Rice, Chief Wahoo McDaniel, The Beast (Mark Guleen), Magnificent Mimi and more. 

In September the promotion hosted several supercards in several area cities that not only featured CWA stars but also AWA and World Class stars. The coalition between the groups was building toward a major show in December in the pay-per-view field as the AWA’s TV taping was held in conjunction with the supercards. 

World Class Goes Memphis

 Once upon a time in one of the U.S.’s most populous cities, the wrestling world would begin to be ruled by Jack Adkisson and his sons. Adkisson had earned fame in the wrestling business first as German heel Fritz Von Erich. Over time, Fritz transformed into one of Texas’ favorite ring heroes. Behind the scenes, Adkisson gained control of the NWA promotion based in Dallas-Ft. Worth and, as he slowed his own ring career down, his sons began their careers. With dad at the helm of the office and with powerful allies within the NWA it seemed like the fairy tale-like rise of the Von Erichs and the World Class promotion, would become true.  

Professional wrestling though is as harsh to fairy tale endings as it is to real life. Real life would deal a harsh hand to the Von Erichs in the 1980s. 

Jack Adkisson became Fritz Von Erich in the 1950s. Though Von Erich was a German heel, Adkisson was a Texan who had attended Southern Methodist University. The rangy and peculiarly charismatic Adkisson turned Von Erich into a major drawing card in the U.S. in the 1950s and by the mid 1960s had held the AWA title and become a major star in Japan. The success of Fritz Von Erich spun off another German heel, Waldo Von Erich (Bill Sheppard), billed as Fritz’s brother. 

In 1965 Adkisson had returned to Texas and became a key player in a promotional war with existing NWA Dallas promoter Ed McLemore. Adkisson, who was a major attraction for many promoters, used those promotional connections in his war with McLemore. It was enough to lead Adkisson to become the owner of the Dallas territory. With promoters Joe Blanchard of San Antonio and Paul Boesch of Houston, Adkisson formed an alliance to provide most of Texas with top notch wrestling with Adkisson supplying talent to Blanchard and Boesch and in return getting a share of the profits the two promoters made. (Another NWA office did business in Texas at the same time as Dory Funk, Sr., then his sons Dory, Jr. and Terry, ran a territory in Amarillo which also included parts of New Mexico and Colorado.) 

Texas was able to lure many top stars for work there including Ernie Ladd, Wahoo McDaniel, Johnny Valentine, Bobby Duncum, Bruiser Brody, The Spoiler, Jose Lothario, Killer Karl Kox, Dusty Rhodes, Tim Woods, Bronco Lubich, Wild Bull Curry, Boris Malenko, Blackjack Mulligan, Thunderbolt Patterson, Rocky Johnson, Red Bastein, Mil Mascaras, Jimmy Snuka, Mark Lewin, Superstar Billy Graham, Pak Song, Stan Hansen, John Tolos, Playboy Gary Hart, Toru Tanaka and countless others. Adkisson made Texas one of wrestling’s top territories through his booking and connections. 

After getting control of the Dallas office, Adkisson did what most all wrestler/owner/bookers do. He turned himself hero. Fritz Von Erich was easy to be noticed with his deep baritone and long-limbed physical appearance and combined with his engaging personality it wasn’t long before the once-despised Von Erich was noticed as one of Texas’ favorite wrestlers as he turned back challenge after challenge. 

Behind the scenes, Adkisson played the political end of the business well and remained established as a leading promoter. By 1975, Adkisson was named president of the NWA. Not long after his rise to the Alliance’s top authority role, Adkisson’s sons would begin debuting in the business. Adkisson made it clear to those in the business that he thought his sons were NWA championship material. 

Still playing off the Von Erich name, Jack’s wrestling sons became Von Erichs. By the early 1980s, David, Kevin and Kerry were becoming household names in NWA hotspots such as St. Louis, Florida and Georgia as well in their home base of Texas. With the mainstream newsstand wrestling magazines adding to the hype as well, the Von Erich boys truly seemed destined to one day wear world title gold. David, physically built most like his father, was considered the best and hardest working in-ring of the three. Kevin, who often wrestled barefoot, was the high-flyer of the brothers. Kerry had the most impressive athletic credentials, although exaggerated, and looks to appeal to the female fans the promotion would capture. 

In Texas, Fritz had stepped away from the wrestling spotlight to let his sons step into it. With a weekly TV show as a vehicle to get his sons over with the growing fan base, Fritz then presented his sons as God-fearing, All-American boys who just happened to be incredible athletes and top-notch pro wrestlers. Riding along the wave of World Class Championship Wrestling, the best produced TV wrestling show in the business, Texas fans, especially female fans, bought into the Von Erich image. Unfortunately, the image of the Von Erichs was misleading as they were hardly the good little boys Fritz projected them to be to the fans. 

Fans watched the weekly antics of the promotion via the TV show set to a rocking music soundtrack. While Texas fans saw firsthand the appeal of the Von Erichs, fans across the U.S. and some overseas were able to follow them via the strong syndicated television network the promotion built. When the trio of The Fabulous Freebirds: Buddy Roberts, Terry Gordy & Michael Hayes hit the area in 1982, the contrast was set. The heroic, brave, white hat-wearing Von Erichs had met their opposites in the cocky, bad attitude, black hat-wearing Freebirds. On Christmas night 1982 in Dallas, Kerry’s shot at NWA champion Ric Flair in a cage match fell short as referee Hayes allowed his Freebird partner Gordy to slam the cage door on Kerry’s head. It would be the cage door slam heard all over Texas. The ensuing Von Erich-Freebird feud would have enough steam to keep the territory fire-hot for three more years and the feud would be revisited for nearly a decade to follow in various forms. The feud turned World Class into one of the most successful promotions in the world. The fame that followed the promotion’s success lead to an even wilder lifestyle than before and one that remained in sharp contradiction to the image the fans were still being sold concerning their heroes. 

While there were good times that would follow the popping of the territory, the times ahead would be largely overshadowed by tragedy. In February 1984 while on a tour of Japan for Shohei Baba’s All-Japan group, David Von Erich died at the age of 25. Fans were told David died of an ailment (acute enteritis) and had been kicked in a match which lead to his death. The fact though was that David had yet to wrestle in Japan on the tour. Over the years, his death has been attributed to illegal drug use. David was the second Adkisson son to die. Eldest son Jack, Jr., then six years old, died from an unusual electrical accident in 1959.

On May 6, 1984, Kerry Von Erich downed Ric Flair to win the NWA title at a show in Texas Stadium outside Dallas held in memory of David. The show drew over 32,000 fans. Kerry’s title reign was short as he dropped the title back to Flair just over two weeks later in Japan. 

After David’s death, Mike Von Erich debuted. Mike was pushed as a major star right from the beginning although soon after his debut it was obvious he was not as athletic or charismatic as Kevin, David or Kerry. Mike was smaller than his brothers as well which hindered him some as well. Kevin, David and Kerry also had the advantage of working in other territories some to gain valuable experience. By the time of Mike’s debut, the territorial system was falling apart. Mike would deal with a rare case of toxic shock syndrome during his wrestling career. He bounced back somewhat and although his career spanned several years, Mike’s time in the business was riddled with several scrapes with the law mostly related to illegal drug use. In April 1987, Mike died from a drug overdose.  

Mike’s drug death was not the only drug related death in the World Class promotion during the 1980s as the fast lane many of those who worked there traveled on was too much for some. Gino Hernandez (Charles Wolfe) was discovered dead while working for the promotion in early 1986 and cocaine was a factor in the death. Kerry, himself, had a drug arrest or two on his record as well. In the business, World Class became known as an area where the lifestyle lived by the stars who headlined the wrestling shows there was fast. While some escaped and some suffered it was clear to some, even some who worked for the promotion, that the Von Erich boys were in the middle of it all, a stark and dissonant contrast to the images Fritz had sold to a rabid audience. Unfortunately, Fritz either never saw the inconsistency between reality and what was portrayed as reality or looked over it all believing the hype he helped generate about his family still hoping to leave his impact on the business through his sons.

Kevin was hardly immune from trouble either. He suffered several injuries from his brand of wrestling including shoulder injuries and some concussions over the years. In one match he passed out and nearly died. Kevin cut back his ring career some in the 1980s as his injuries mounted and as the tragedies swirled around the family. 

Kerry, who had the world title reign on his resume, and who out of all the sons, had the look to appeal to fans in the mid 1980s, could not control the success he achieved. In 1986 he had a serious motorcycle accident injuring his leg. Hoping his return would boost business which had sagged, Kerry returned to the ring too soon and re-injured his foot. It came to be widely believed in the business that Kerry actually had part of his foot amputated after re-injuring it.

With the WWF expansion beginning in 1984, every territory went through changes. The once robust Texas territory had splintered several years earlier with Joe Blanchard’s Southwest territory based out of San Antonio doing well for a number of years. World Class and Southwest often competed against each other in some cities after the split. Houston promoter Paul Boesch used his city much like Sam Muchnick used St. Louis and brought in stars from a number of different territories for big cards. Over time though, Boesch would align with Oklahoma-based promoter Bill Watts. Meanwhile, Adkisson successfully ran a territory highlighted by a Friday night card at Dallas’ famed Sportatorium and a Monday night card in Ft. Worth. Every so often Adkisson would run large cards at Reunion Arena in Dallas or at various outdoor venues, most notably Texas Stadium, home to the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys. The business was good enough for a time that it ran with the weekly stopovers in Dallas and Ft. Worth supplemented by spot shows in other towns the rest of the week. 

During the WWF’s national expansion, the WWF took ideas other promotions had used and made them their own. A number of territories had incorporated rock music into their promotion including the Memphis, Mid-South and World Class promotions. The WWF though took it even farther by incorporating pop star Cyndi Lauper into the thread of their storytelling. By the same token, the well-lit, well-shot and well-produced World Class TV show had become a standard to be measured against. Vince McMahon took many of the techniques that made the World Class TV show so revolutionary, including a multi-camera set-up that seemed to take the viewer inside the ring, and made them better and in the process made them WWF trademarks. 

World Class was not immune to talent raids either during wrestling’s turbulent 1980s. Most notably, Dingo Warrior left to become the WWF’s Ultimate Warrior. Likely though the most harmful raid occurred in 1986 when Bill Watts lured booker Ken Mantell away from World Class. Mantell, who had booked much of the glory days of 1982-85 period was able to persuade other World Class stars to work for Watts including The Fabulous Freebirds, Missy Hyatt, King Parsons, Chris Adams and others. 

The national expansion would lead to Jim Crockett also coming to power. With Ric Flair dominating the NWA title, Crockett was able to position things to where he would get a share of the gate for any show Flair worked for other promoters. Adkisson, a former NWA president who had dreamed that his sons would hold the NWA gold, withdrew his NWA membership and recognized his own World Class title as a world championship. 

The glitter though was gone from World Class. Although the promotion still drew decently from time to time factors such as the national expansion, the troubled Von Erich sons and bad business decisions, including Fritz feigning near-death in a 1987 angle and other promotional attempts to cash in on the tragedies the family had endured, saw the fairy tale promotion had turned into a sad nightmare as Jack Adkisson sold his interest in the company as 1987 ended. 

In the spring of 1988, the Jarrett promotion brought in several World Class stars for some cards. An alliance of sorts seemed to be struck as World Class stars made occasional appearances in Jarrett’s territory on into the summer and fall. During this time AWA champion Jerry Lawler would meet his next major foe, former NWA champion Kerry Von Erich. 

With the Jarrett promotion pushing September supercards featuring AWA, World Class and CWA stars some thought a true legitimate opponent for the national promotions was forming. Their goal was a December pay-per-view event billed as having numerous promotions involved, another fairy-tale scenario.

In the fall though, Jarrett purchased the financially strapped World Class promotion from the three major owners, Kevin and Kerry Von Erich and Ken Mantell, who had returned to the promotion. For a decade, Jack Adkisson had a major say in what went on with World Class wrestling and by extension the careers of his sons. Even after he sold his stock in the company in 1987, Fritz likely still had influence in what happened through Kevin and Kerry. With Jarrett’s purchase though Jack would no longer have any say. It was now up to Jerry Jarrett what to do with the once mighty promotion and the remaining Von Erich boys. 

Jarrett’s idea was to continue to build to the December pay-per-view with Lawler defending the AWA title against Kerry, who was World Class champion. Jarrett also planned to do his best to merge the two promotions into one while having two separate TV shows, one tailored for Tennessee and the other for Texas. Jarrett’s plan for this though was rather muddled initially as fans mostly cheered their promotion (Texas fans cheered World Class stars, Tennessee fans cheered CWA stars). The problem with continuity between the two promotions as it related to how the various stars were presented was a major stumbling block at the start of the merging efforts. Notable though in the early part of the feud was when CWA authority figure and former wrestler Eddie Marlin feuded in-ring with World Class authority figure and former wrestler Frank Dusek, a member of one of wrestling’s most famous families. 

The most significant thing that occurred in the fall between the two promotions though after the merging was when Kerry Von Erich dropped the World Class title to AWA champion Jerry Lawler. Lawler was then promoted as a Unified World champion. The move though seemed somewhat perplexing as it came about two months shy of the pay-per-view showdown between the two. It seemed more logical to some to have Kerry hold on to the strap and defend the title against worthy contenders and have Lawler do the same with his title. This would hold off the unification and make it even more unique and special providing a reason for fans to purchase the pay-per-view. The promotion though headlined many cities with the Lawler-Kerry match leading up to the December card. The frequency of the match would seem to dilute any drawing power it would have on a pay-per-view basis. 

As the pay-per-view set for Chicago and dubbed SuperClash III (although it was the first SuperClash on pay-per-view) neared, a freak incident occurred in Las Vegas. Kerry Von Erich was wrestling Colonel DeBeers. DeBeers accidentally pulled off Von Erich’s boot revealing the partial foot that had been rumored as having been amputated. Despite denials about Kerry’s foot by the AWA, World Class and the CWA, word was leaked by the WWF to the Illinois State Athletic Commission. The WWF wanted Von Erich declared unfit to wrestle on the card due to a sixty year old statute about performers having to have all limbs. Such a move would eliminate one of the two major performers on an opposing pay-per-view event at a time which would cripple its drawing power. The commission would dismiss the WWF’s efforts to harm the pay-per-view four days before the card. 

On December 13, 1988 in Chicago, Jerry Lawler met Kerry Von Erich with the world title in the balance. Lawler would win the match when Von Erich was deemed too bloody to continue. The card drew less than 1500 live and probably just over 30,000 on pay-per-view making it a flop money-wise. 

For the most part, the Lawler-Kerry Von Erich feud ended with the pay-per-view. In Tennessee, Lawler stepped into a feud against longtime rival Dutch Mantel. In Texas, Jarrett began making sense out of the chaos. He would use some of Memphis veterans such as his son, Jeff, as well as Gary Young, Cactus Jack, Robert Fuller and Jimmy Golden mingled in with a mix of veterans who mostly lived in the Dallas area. His work was cut out for him on a number of levels. Wealthy Ted Turner had purchased the Jim Crockett promotion late in 1988. Turner’s deep pockets would enable his promotion to sign away valuable talent Jarrett had at his disposal. Turner’s involvement in the wrestling business, while a challenge to the established and profitable WWF, would actually make it even more difficult for promoters, like Jarrett,  operating on a small budget to compete. 

With the problems of piecing together two promotions and competing with the WWF and Turner’s group, Jarrett’s troubles grew by year’s end. The other partner in the SuperClash II pay-per-view, Verne Gagne, was unhappy. Gagne claimed the pay-per-view was a money loser. Jarrett though wasn’t sure about the numbers Gagne provided. The alliance that had formed in order to survive the evolving wrestling landscape was coming apart.  (For more information about the World Class promotion please visit the archives here at Kayfabe Memories).           

October, November and December 1988 

Brian Lee won a November tournament to claim the vacant CWA title.  His run ended in December when Sid Vicious captured the title. 

The Rock n Roll RPMs: Mike Davis and Tommy Lane held the CWA tag titles until running into the combination of Bill Dundee and Todd Morton.  The tag titles were held up after the match.  A tournament followed with Gary Young and Cactus Jack winning to claim the belts.  This caused friction with fellow Stud Stable mates Robert Fuller and Jimmy Golden who won the tag titles in November. 

Working in the area the remainder of the year were Terry Adonis, Phil Hickerson, Downtown Bruno, Scott Steiner, Brickhouse Brown, Nature’s Best: Darrell and Bill Justin, Rough and Ready, Jerry Lawler, Tatsumi Fujinami, Frank Dusek, Chigusa Nagoya, Candi Divine, Jaime Dundee, Mike Miller, Michael Hayes, Cat Garrett, Buddy Landell, Steve Cox, Kerry and Kevin Von Erich, Eric Embry, Tommy Rich, Jimmy Valiant, Rick Casey, Don Bass, Beauty and The Beast: Terry Garvin & Mark Guleen, Freezer Thompson, Fatu, Buddy Roberts, Jeff Jarrett, Wendell Cooley, Ricky Morton, Tracy Smothers, King Parsons, Dutch Mantel and more. 

With the CWA, and their new entity World Class, working with the AWA to promote the SuperClash III pay-per-view, the new field of pay-per-view seemed ripe for great possibilities. Professional wrestling had turned into a major phenomenon and worked it’s way onto many TV schedules of stations and networks across the U.S. The pay-per-view event though was a flop. Squabbling would follow, mostly between Jerry Jarrett and Verne Gagne. It became obvious that Jarrett, who had enough vision to understand the trends that changed wrestling in the 1970s then 1980s, had once again had vision enough to understand the potential the field of pay-per-view held. It also became obvious that he had partnered with someone who had totally misjudged the business for most of the 1980s in Gagne. In the process, Jarrett had likely lost out on a potential major revenue stream to make his promotion more competitive.  

Recap

The Memphis/CWA promotion went through a number of changes during 1988. Owner Jerry Jarrett purchased the struggling World Class promotion in the fall. By year’s end he was trying to determine a way to run the two territories. The TV show continued its tradition of exciting weekly studio shows hosted by legends Lance Russell and Dave Brown. Jeff Jarrett continued his ascent to the top of the area by feuding with veteran Robert Fuller, who headed the year’s top heel group in the area, The Stud Stable. The area’s top star, Jerry Lawler, had his hands full early in the year with Hot Stuff Eddie Gilbert and Missy Hyatt. In May though, Lawler’s fourteen-year chase of the elusive world championship ended when he downed AWA champion Curt Hennig to win the title. 

NEXT MONTH:

A special look at the history of TV wrestling in Memphis

Special Thanks

Edsel Harrison, Mike Rodgers, Scott Teal, Charles Warburton and David Williamson.