WCCW #25 Page #2

Marc Lowrance later interviewed Kevin and Brian “at the airport” in one of the more fake looking wrestling skits you’ll ever see, although credit the promotion for at least trying to make this title change look like a big deal. Meanwhile Killer Brooks claimed the TV title in Fort Worth on June 10, 1985, losing it to Iceman Parsons on July 15, 1985 in the same location. 

A Hot Feud Gets Hotter 

In the summer of 1985 the feud pitting Kerry and Kevin Von Erich against Chris Adams and Gino Hernandez grow even more intense than before. These two teams created the same kind of magic that the Von Erichs had created with the Freebirds. One element was that they always seemed evenly matched. There is a misconception that due to their push and power within the promotion, the Von Erichs never sold or let their opponents get the edge. On the contrary they gave Chris and Gino plenty, even more so than the Birds in many ways, and that added so much to their feud.  

The dynamics of the teams also added depth. Gino and Chris both cheated constantly, but Gino often took the role of the dirty, underhanded, and often wimpy heel, bragging while riding high only to cower in a plea for mercy when the tide turned. Chris tended to show his vicious streak and came off like a true bully in the ring. Over on the other side of the ring Kevin alternated between offensive flurries while showing some of his dad’s tough guy streak and playing the imperiled babyface, selling for The Dynamic Duo in order to set up a hot tag for Kerry. For his part Kerry, while bigger and more muscular than either opponent, tended to de-emphasize his power at least to the extent that Chris and Gino could stand toe to toe with him.  

The Saga Of The Green Jacket 

One of the promotion’s primary feuds of the summer of 1985 pitted Sunshine against Jim Cornette. The idea was to run a women’s lib angle to get over Sunshine. She would be presented as a strong, intelligent, and capable woman who could not only hold her own, but also excel in the male dominated world of pro wrestling. Meanwhile Jim Cornette, who was portrayed as a wimpy mama’s boy and the opposite of macho, played Sunshine’s enemy. He would oppose her while spouting off every condescending, sexist, male chauvinistic cliché about the inferiority of women in general and Sunshine in particular. Jim Cornette’s gift of gab made him especially effective as a heel. In theory the angle sounds pretty good. In execution it did not work as well. This was due to a green jacket. 

While attempting to escape a beating from Scott Casey and Sunshine, Jim Cornette barely escaped with his life. However he didn’t escape with his sports coat. This green jacket, which Cornette claimed was a gift from his mama for winning the mixed doubles tennis tournament at the country club, became the centerpiece of the feud. For weeks Cornette, the Midnight Express, and Rip Oliver attempted to reclaim this garment without success. The basic premise of the feud had so much too offer. It is too bad that the focus could not have been a title. For instance Casey and Oliver could have battled for the Texas Title or Casey and Kabuki could have feuded with The Midnight Express for the American Tag Team Title. The appallingly ugly green jacket just seemed like too superfluous an item to be such a concern, even if the feud was really about the principle of Sunshine outsmarting Jim Cornette again and again. 

Gary Hart Goes On The Attack 

Gary Hart had rebuilt his stable, adding old standbys Killer Tim Brooks and Mark Lewin to the fold, joining mainstay One Man Gang. They continued to face the Von Erichs on a frequent basis and eventually claimed the Six Man Title. This feud also served as a means to reintroduce Iceman Parsons to the area. Mike Von Erich had suffered yet another shoulder injury. To explain the injury, World Class concocted a phantom match. In a bout that supposedly took place in Detroit at Joe Louis Arena, Mike’s shoulder was injured as he teamed with Iceman Parsons against One Man Gang and Killer Brooks. Hart’s men took credit for the injury. Iceman claimed that Mike had punched Brooks so hard that he threw out his shoulder. The real point was to draw some money off the injury with Iceman returning to World Class after a sabbatical of six months or so to avenge Mike. 

Thursday July 4, 1985, Tarrant County Convention Center, Fort Worth, TX 

A holiday meant that the time had come for another Wrestling Star Wars. Approximately 14,200 fans attended the event. Let’s take a look at the results and their ramifications. 

Scott Casey defeated Jack Victory 

Sunshine’s man got the win over the young New Jersey Heartthrob. It is a bit surprising to find Casey this low on the card. The promotion had made a point to push him hard during the summer of 1985. However on a supercard, it seems a little more acceptable 

Brian Adias battled Jim Powers to a no contest 

This befuddling result defies explanation at the moment. Both men were entrenched in the babyface camp. I have no further information about the bout and will guess that someone ran in on the affair, most likely members of the Gary Hart camp. 

The Fantastics defeated Rip Oliver and Kelly Kiniski 2 falls to none in a best of 3 falls bout 

The Fantastics’ main enemies of the past few months, The Midnight Express, had already departed for Jim Crockett Promotions. The Fantastics themselves were soon to leave as well. In the meantime they shut out Kelly Kiniski and Rip Oliver, Jim Cornette’s remaining protégé in World Class Championship Wrestling. 

Killer Tim Brooks defeated Iceman Parsons 

The returning Iceman wanted revenge on Brooks for knocking Mike Von Erich out of action. As this was the beginning of the feud rather than the end, Brooks escaped with the win to set up future matches. 

Kerry Von Erich defeated One Man Gang in a Chicago Death Match 

This was a Texas Death Match with rules a name change to give OMG an advantage. Despite giving up size and power as well as wrestling two matches in one night, Kerry got the win over his main enemy of the first part of the year. 

The Great Kabuki defeated Chris Adams 

The American Title was not at stake in this encounter, only pride and the question of which move was superior, the Super Kick or the Savate Kick. Ultimately it was a misguided attempt at cheating that settled the bout rather than one of those kicks. Adams grabbed a chair to use against Kabuki. Sunshine grabbed the other end in attempt to stop him. As they struggled for the chair, Kabuki rolled up Chris from behind to get the win. Despite this loss, Chris would not leave Fort Worth without a major win still to come later in the evening. 

Sunshine defeated Jim Cornette 

Jim Cornette had maintained for weeks that no woman could outsmart or outfight a man and he aimed to prove it. Cornette promised not just to beat Sunshine, but do so while blindfolded and with one arm tied behind his back. Once Jim had been secured in his handicapping devices, the bell rang. Before long Sunshine’s second Scott Casey entered the ring and knocked out Jim with one punch. Sunshine then covered the mouthy manager and scored the pin. Jim Cornette nearly had a heart attack. He thought that Sunshine had knocked him out! Sunshine had accomplished her goals. She had defeated Cornette in the ring, embarrassed him, and outsmarted him. Jim Cornette slinked off to JCP while Sunshine reigned over World Class once again. 

Chris Adams and Gino Hernandez defeated Kerry and Kevin Von Erich to retain the American Tag Team Title and earn a rematch under stipulations of their choice 

This bout not only featured outstanding action, but also set into motion a series of angles that set the stage for the remainder of 1985 for World Class. The two teams had had numerous violent encounters heading into this match. A Texas Tornado match between the two teams ended with Chris and Gino viciously clobbering Kerry and Kevin with the American and Texas Title belts, footage that World Class repeated often over the ensuing months. Each team had a goal heading to the Independence Day Wrestling Star Wars. The Von Erichs wanted revenge for Chris and Gino smashing the Lincoln Continental at Texas Stadium in May. Chris and Gino wanted a match with the Von Erichs under their stipulations and terms, a “fair fight” as they claimed. To that end stipulations were laid out. A Von Erich win gave them the right to smash up The Dynamic Duo’s red Corvette. Victory for The Dynamic Duo gave Chris and Gino the right to select the stipulations, date, and venue of their choice for a rematch. 

This match was an exciting, wild brawl from the start with a famous finish. Referee David Manning took a bump and went careening into the ropes. His head became twisted between the top and second ropes so that Manning was essentially being choked out while flailing about in a futile effort to get free. The already hot crowd exploded at this point because Manning was in a predicament that well exceeded any kind of ref bump that the fans had seen and worse yet, his incapacitation prevented him from counting a winning fall for the Von Erichs and enabled Chris and Gino to put their cheating into overdrive. Announcer Marc Lowrance went into a panic over Manning’s plight. He frantically put down his microphone and headset and abandoned the broadcast table to free Manning from the ropes Lowrance succeeded after a bit of a struggle. Upon returning to the broadcast position he remarked to the TV audience that Manning “could have been killed!” Meanwhile as Manning regained his breath, Gino tossed powder in Kevin’s eyes while Adams scored the winning pin. This match and especially the crazy finish set the table for some big houses for the rest of the summer. The infuriated fans desperately wanted The Dynamic Duo to get theirs after stealing this important win and wanted Kerry and Kevin Von Erich to be the ones to dole out the punishment. 

In the aftermath of this incredible match came two important developments. First of all The Dynamic Duo left the arena to find that someone had smashed their prized Corvette smashed to pieces. The Von Erichs denied involvement and this claim proved to be true. The actual culprit was Bruiser Brody! Brody had returned to World Class Championship Wrestling for the first time in nearly two years and had targeted Chris and Gino and for starters their car. Secondly, smashed car not withstanding, The Dynamic Duo gave Marc Lowrance an interview later that evening during their victory party at a local nightclub (Toni Adams could be seen among the partiers dancing in the background). Chris and Gino wanted to get a win that would humiliate Kerry and Kevin in front of a huge live crowd and the entire world watching on television. Therefore they named Sunday October 6, 1985 outdoors at The Cotton Bowl as the venue. The official would be Alfred Neely, the heel referee who infamously cost Kerry an NWA World Title match against Ric Flair back in 1982. The stipulation was the coup de grace. From a velvet pouch Chris and Gino revealed a pair of gold plated scissors. Both members of the losing team would have their heads shaved bald! 

NEXT MONTH:

As you can see we have plenty to discuss next time around. Plenty of action and wild times happened indeed as well as a brush with tragedy. We’ll go over it all in our next article. See you then.

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