WCCW #18 Page #2

Chris Adams Turns Heel and Turns Around World Class

Since arriving in World Class in early 1983 Chris Adams had achieved tremendous popularity as a babyface. Chris' genial manner, good looks, accent, talent, and allegiance to Sunshine and the fans placed him as easily the most popular non-Von Erich in the promotion. However, truth be told, his popularity had ebbed a bit by the late summer of 1984. Fans still loved Chris, but it was not the same as it had been. Fans never took to his new ally Stella Mae as they had to Sunshine and it rubbed off on Chris a bit. Furthermore the issue with Gino Hernandez seemed more like Stella's feud with Chris as a bystander. Chris lacked a foe that was his own as with Jimmy Garvin. Chris Adams needed a spark to revitalize his career. For that matter World Class needed a spark to revitalize the promotion.

When The Freebirds had feuded with The Von Erichs the Sportatorium sold out on a regular basis. Fans could not get enough of this feud. Any variation of this feud made guaranteed money. Now the feud was over and the promotion needed to fill the gap. To that end Gino Hernandez and Jake Roberts were pushed to the top and Killer Khan and The Missing Link also saw a renewal of their push. The idea was to fill the heel gap from within along with a newcomer. It did not work as well as had been hoped. Crowds noticeably dipped for the first time in nearly two years, not to the levels of the late 1980s to be sure, but the empty seats were there after a long stretch of sellouts. One issue was that none of the heels promoted from within seemed like a new threat to the Von Erichs in the manner that The Freebirds had been. Gino had been around on and off for years and while the fans despised him as much as ever; he was perhaps taken a bit for granted. Khan and Link had been beaten so many times that they were diminished to a great extent and not even Khan pinning Kerry in a tag team match could reestablish them as top heels. As for Jake Roberts, strangely he just never clicked. Some of that was the promotion not really getting behind him enough and some of it was a change in the booking that left Jake as the odd man out before he could really stake his claim.

In September of 1984 Chris Adams became the protégé of Gary Hart. For months Hart had sought a new wrestler to manage and had seconded numerous babyfaces over the past few months. Now he had a true to blue chipper in the Gentleman. Hart had nominally been a babyface and Chris insisted that this was a business relationship that had no bearing on Chris' attitude and wrestling style. He also pointed out that Gary Hart was a changed man who could be trusted. It would therefore be business as usual. In the ring, Chris tagged up with Kevin Von Erich a couple of times and it seemed as if a good friendship would become a fruitful partnership. They teamed to face Gino Hernandez and Jake Roberts at The Sportatorium in late September. As always, Stella Mae was at ringside. This time her interference against Gino backfired and cost Chris and Kevin the match. Chris Adams and Gary Hart were both furious and berated Stella Mae unmercifully. Kevin felt it was going too far and tried to calm Chris down. Kevin then turned around to see Gary Hart angrily grabbing Stella Mae. This was taking things to far in Kevin's mind. He immediately made a move to stop Hart only to be nailed from the blind side by a Chris Adams superkick. The fans had been shocked into silence. Adams then departed with Gary Hart while   

Kevin Takes Center Stage

Kevin Von Erich really stepped to the plate in the fall of 1984 and shined when the promotion needed him to. Kevin was the oldest and most experienced of the Von Erichs, but over the past couple of years had played second and even third fiddle to Kerry and David. In recent months even Mike Von Erich received a bigger push via his feud with Gino Hernandez and stint as American Champion. Now Kevin at last moved to the forefront. His down to earth nature and regular guy appeal had always made him popular and that attitude fit perfectly as a man who had been betrayed by his close friend Chris Adams. Furthermore Kevin, while renowned for his aerial skills, loved to brawl and that roughhouse style fit in perfectly with a feud built more on hatred and emotion than scientific wrestling and championship encounters. This feud drew well and brought World Class back to consistent sellouts and turn away crowds. Kevin more than deserved his share of the credit for the turnaround in business by virtue of being the perfect hero in contrast to Chris' perfect villain. 

Feuds

As is obvious, after nearly two years the Von Erichs vs. Freebirds war was over with the boys from Badstreet heading to the WWF. Chris Adams vs. Kevin Von Erich now took center stage and after taking some time to develop during the fall of 1984 would go on to become one of World Class' all time greatest feuds. Stella Mae French continued to clash with Nicola Roberts while Mike Von Erich did battle with his arch foe Gino Hernandez. The PYTs and Buck Zumhofe developed a bitter rivalry. Kerry Von Erich focussed much of his energy on Devastation Incorporated and was supposed to eventually lock up with Butch Reed. Iceman Parsons' feud with the Irwin brothers had passed and he now battled with rising newcomer Jake "The Snake" Roberts. 

The State Fair of Texas - Cotton Bowl Extravaganza

Saturday October 27, 1984, The Cotton Bowl, Dallas, TX

World Class Championship Wrestling held a fall Supercard at the Cotton Bowl as part of festivities during the ongoing State Fair of Texas. A crowd of 12,000 filled the venerable stadium for what proved to be an eventful afternoon of wrestling, even by World Class' standards.

Killer Khan defeated Jules Strongbow

Killer Khan wasted little time in demolishing the outgoing Strongbow. World Class was at a bit of a loss as to what to do with Devastation Incorporated at this point although that would quickly change.

Kevin Von Erich defeated Chris Adams

For sheer importance this bout with the Kerry vs. Flair cage match that started the Von Erichs vs. Freebirds feud in the history of this promotion. As was customary in World Class, the two opposing captains of six man teams faced off in a singles bout earlier in the card in a "Captains Match". Despite the great enmity, Kevin and Chris wrestled a scientific match with Kevin scoring the win. Chris fumed over his loss, but Kevin extended an olive branch. Against his better justice, Kevin offered to make peace with Chris and mend fences. In Kevin's mind the root of the trouble was Gary Hart. If Chris severed ties with Hart, Kevin promised to forgive Chris for his betrayal. As Kevin and the fans awaited Chris' response, Gary Hart attempted to sneak up on Kevin. Kevin turned to face Hart and in the process turned his back on Chris Adams. Chris took advantage and clobbered Kevin with a wooden chair. Kevin bled profusely and fell unconscious while Adams and Hart walked to the dressing room smugly rejoicing in their handiwork. Back in the ring referee David Manning hysterically called for a doctor and stretcher. Fans at ringside registered the gamut of emotions from anger to sadness to sheer panic. On the TV broadcast Bill Mercer put the whole thing over as if Kevin's very life hung in the balance. The stakes and intensity of this feud had stepped to the level of the true classic rivalries in pro wrestling history and this was only the beginning. If Chris' betrayal at The Sportatorium was the opening shot, then this was the true declaration of war.

Norvell Austin vs. Skip Young, draw

Another somewhat surprising result as The PYTs were in line for shots at the American Tag Title and Young was headed out of the territory.

Buck Zumhofe defeated Koko Ware

This result was no shock. The PYTs had recently attacked Buck and then broken the Rock n Roller's heart by smashing his beloved boom box. Buck vowed revenge and achieved it by pinning Koko Ware. The booking logic here is that Buck gained revenge by pinning Koko in singles competition instead of teaming with Skip Young perhaps and thus putting World Class in the position of jobbing out the number one contenders to the American Tag Team Title to a pair of low midcard guys right before The PYTs were about to begin a series of championship challenges.

The Missing Link defeated George Weingroff

Link gained a strong victory in this bout as World Class hoped to keep Devastation Inc. as over as possible.

The Fantastics defeated Kelly Kiniski and El Diablo to retain the American Tag Team Title

Tommy Rogers and Bobby Fulton were very new to World Class at this time and had not even been American Tag Team Champs for a week yet. In fact many fans only learned that The Fantastics were the champs that day as the titles had just switched five days earlier and that match had not yet aired on TV (it would air this same night). The new champs made quick work of their foes. I'm not certain of El Diablo's identity. Meanwhile Kelly Kiniski debuted his crew cut in World Class and now looked more like his father Gene Kiniski than ever.

Kerry Von Erich defeated Butch Reed by dq. in an arm wrestling match

Okay, here's the deal. Butch Reed was one of the hottest heels in pro wrestling in 1983 and 1984 based in the nearby Mid-South promotion. With his big mouth and great promo ability, his muscular physique, and fine wrestling ability, Butch made a natural foe for Kerry Von Erich. Reed had made a number of guest appearances in World Class over the past couple of years most recently at the Labor Day show. Now the plan was for Butch to come in as semi-regular. Butch would still work for Mid-South Wrestling, but would hit the TV tapings and many important house shows for World Class. This was Butch's first major show as a part of the World Class crew and also his last. A dispute with Fritz Von Erich over pay and booking plans caused Butch Reed to head out of the promotion and back to World Class on a fulltime basis.

For now however, Kerry and Butch had an arm wrestling match, rematch from Labor Day. Reed was in no rush to lock up with Kerry. In fact Butch stalled seemingly for ever, moaning about everything from the chairs to the table to Kerry's grip to crowd noise (especially one whistling fan) and sometimes just complained for no apparent reason at all. To his credit, Kerry Von Erich kept his cool and even wryly smiled at Reed's antics at one point. Eventually they locked up for arm wrestling. Reed gained the upper hand at one point only for Kerry to make a comeback. Butch Reed, sensing defeat was imminent, overturned the table and attacked Kerry only to be fought off by the Modern Day Warrior. Reed angrily voiced threats and a series of matches pitting him against Kerry was in the offing. Unfortunately Reed walked and those bouts never came to pass.

Mike Von Erich and Stella Mae French defeated Gino Hernandez and Nicola Roberts

Mike's feud with Gino and Stella Mae's feud with Nicola raged on, but the real story of this bout was the return of Sunshine. The immensely popular Sunshine arrived unannounced via helicopter before the match to thunderous applause. Sunshine certainly made her presence felt, tripping up Nicola Roberts and enabling Stella Mae to get the win. Gino was apoplectic over the loss. Sunshine was back!

Butch Reed vs. Iceman Parsons, time limit draw

Butch Reed was coming off a hot run in Mid-South and World Class had plans for him. Iceman was a bit past his peak as a drawing card so this result is a bit surprising. With Kerry vs. Reed coming up, one would expect Butch to dominate. Perhaps this puzzling decision was partly what irked Butch Reed.

Chris Adams, Gino Hernandez, and Jake Roberts defeated Kerry and Mike Von Erich and Bobby Fulton to win the World Class Six Man Title

Needless to say, Kevin Von Erich was not available for this bout. With fans told that Kevin lay in the emergency room of a local hospital, Kerry and Mike soldiered on in their defense of the Six Man Title with Bobby Fulton of The Fantastics standing in as a substitute partner. The fans were furious to say the least with Chris Adams. The heat Adams was getting could have melted an entire glacier. Gino as always ran his mouth and enraged the fans and the master of mind games Jake Roberts toyed with the fans and got more than a bit amorous with Nicola Roberts (no relation, although she'd later marry Jake's brother Sam Houston). Fans fully expected Kerry, Mike, and Bobby to avenge the wrong committed against Kevin. They got their shots in, but the heels got the win and the World Class Six Man Title. In the post match locker room interview, with Gino proudly displaying his three shiny new championship belts in the background, Chris staked his claim as the top star in World Class Championship Wrestling. He had no remorse for what happened to Kevin. Chris Adams with Gary Hart by his side along with allies Gino Hernandez and Jake Roberts, Chris would no longer play second fiddle. His time was now. 

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