WCCW 1983 - Releasing the Grip of the Iron Claw
Mar 25, 2024 15:21:46 GMT -5
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DALLAS SPORTATORIUM
JANUARY 1983
WEEK ONE - FRIDAY
Both Cocoa Samoa and Tony Borne turned up this morning to finalize their deals. Cocoa was on-board with my plan to align him with Tonga, Samu, and The Barbarian. I'll test out their chemistry and then officially christen them with a name for their group. I just hope that the rumors that he has a temper are only that.
Looking into the Texan problem and it soon became apparent that I was never going to have a full-strength roster on the day of my big monthly shows. I'd have to get bigger, more financially secure, and then try and tie down people which I'm sure Dad would object to. With that being said, Butch Reed, Billy Graham and Ron Garvin all looked like they could fill the gap between the openers and even main-event the odd show. I immediately went to my father's black book to call up promoters to try and get dates for them. Reed and Graham were better known as heels but I was confident I could get the Sportatorium crowd to get behind them.
Graham himself was the one to tell me that he wouldn't be coming, he preferred the short WWF-style matches to what I wanted him to do and he flat out refused to do 20 minute matches without it being a six-man.
DALLAS SPORTATORIUM
JANUARY 1983
WEEK ONE - SATURDAY
Verne Gagne is sinking money into his own TV product. He must have something up his sleeve to spend money, ask anyone who wrestled in Minnesota and they'll tell you that Verne doesn't dip into his pocket for no reason.
Killer Kowalski is coming in as a Road Agent, hopefully he can quell some of the partying and pass on his knowledge. His first bit of news is that Wahoo McDaniel would be a waste of money because he's effectively halfway into retirement and won't want to wrestle full-time.
DALLAS SPORTATORIUM
JANUARY 1983
WEEK ONE - SUNDAY
WWF have further increased their production values. Unless I get a note from the Networks saying it's hurting our show quality, I'm not getting involved in what will likely be the AWA, Crockett, and Vince having a pissing match on who can spend the most.
DALLAS SPORTATORIUM
JANUARY 1983
WEEK TWO - TUESDAY
Butch Reed drove into Dallas and met me at my office. He was a bit taken aback by not playing heel but we desperately need people to fill our midcard. I was trying to give him the hard sell but he'd already signed and he'd already packed what he owned in the back of a Station Wagon.
"Butch, if you can catch on and stand out then I'll get behind you. Headlining a Star Wars show, that's the aim."
He shook my hand as he left. Dad had been listening in though.
"We've got Ron Garvin arriving tomorrow, you going to tell him the same thing?"
It was a valid question. Ron'd get the same chance to prove himself but I had a feeling that Jimmy's brother would get bigger reactions out of the gate than someone with over a decade and a half less experience in the ring.
WORD CLASS CHAMPIONSHIP WRESTLING #2
AMARILLO SPORTS ARENA
JANUARY 1983
WEEK THREE - THURSDAY
I'd made the drive to Amarillo the day before. I wanted to make sure that I could get my paperwork done for the day early and finalize the booking sheet without Dad there to try and talk me around to how he'd do it. After finding out we'd lost $14k in the last week, I knew we needed some supporting stories to keep the crowd hot for us vs The Freebirds and set about creating some more feuds.
Brian Adias was paired with The Spoiler, then it was down to the new signings. Cocoa Samoa would have to wait to see what chemistry I could find so he could bring the younger guys up the card. But for Garvin and Reed, I'd lined up King Kong Bundy and Magic Dragon respectively. Garvin could get the best out of Chris (Bundy) in the ring and Magic Dragon gave Butch a smaller wrestler who would make him look good selling.
What I didn't expect was for Butch Reed to be MOBBED upon arrival. When he pulled up with Lothario he could barely move for fans wanting his autograph. The unexpected outcome from this was Garvin's arrival went unnoticed. Going back to the office, I put a pen through my original plans and switched them around. Bundy and Reed could well get the other over and with Skandor Akbar to rile up the fans on the microphone and his other Devastation Inc charge, Gran Markus being a solid hand in the ring - we might get a sleeper hit. Garvin would be good for Sonoda (Magic Dragon) to get involved with.
WCCW #2 - BOOKING SHEET
- King Kong Bundy and Akbar opened up the show with Bill Mercer catching them as they arrived at the arena. Bundy remained stoic, a death glare on his face throughout. Mercer asked them what they thought 1983 held in store and Skandor said "Devastation!" without even pausing to think. When Mercer asked them how they felt about Butch Reed signing, Akbar pointed at Bundy and told the debuting star - "Don't look for property or places to stay because he'd soon be a permanent resident of St Anthony's Hospital just down the road."
RATING: 50
- SAMU & COCOA SAMOA d. MIKE BOND & TOLA YATSU
A quick match to introduce Cocoa and see how he fared with Samu. There was nothing bad in them teaming together but they also didn't set the world alight with chemistry. A Flying Headbutt put Yatsu away. The main positive was how well Cocoa got his gimmick over with the fans.
Rating: 39
- DUTCH MANTELL d. BUGSY MCGRAW
A piledriver got Mantell the win in his debut. His Cowboy gimmick did predictably well in the hometown of the Funks and as an added bonus, Bugsy turned in a solid but unspectacular performance.
Rating: 53
- THE BARBARIAN & TONGA d. THE ROCK N SOUL CONNECTION (BUCK ZUMHOFE AND ICEMAN KING PARSONS)
This might be the only thing I can do with Parsons and Zumhofe is someone I have zero plans for. The match itself was passable but Tonga and The Barbarian couldn't get on the same page.
Rating: 45
- RON GARVIN CUT A PROMO
Garvin was a pro here and got the crowd pumped-up as we entered the second hour of TV. The people bought into him being a badass. "Magic Dragon, you've cheated the great people of Texas for the last time. I'm going to make sure that I run you out of World Class as my welcome gift to the fans!". This made Armand Hussein and Magic Dragon appear and they said that after the intermission/advert break, they had a few friends who'd want to put Garvin in his place so if he'd had a chance to make any friends, he'd need them now!
Rating: 59
- RON GARVIN, JOSE LOTHARIO AND BRIAN ADIAS d. THE SPOILER, MAGIC DRAGON AND CHECKMATE
Was this match subtle at kicking off the feuds? Not in the slightest but Lothario and Adias came out to join Garvin from the crowd as The Spoiler and Checkmate stood at the entrance with Dragon. The match gave each of them a chance to show me what they had and Lothario got the nods for the pin but he seemed off his game. One to keep an eye on and if Checkmate shows improvements in the ring, Jose might find himself taking a further backseat.
Rating: 60
- THE FREEBIRDS HATE TEXAS!
Gordy and Hayes came out and told the Amarillo crowd that Buddy Roberts couldn't even bring himself to appear tonight because just being in the Sports Arena made him sick! Huge heat for that. They reminded the fans that they wouldn't see them wrestle tonight and only appeared for the promo to avoid being fined by Fritz von Erich.
Rating: 77
- AL MADRIL AND BUTCH REED d. BILL IRWIN AND KILLER TIM BROOKS
Butch Reed got the win but his Old School Face routine didn't connect with the fans as much as I'd hoped. The positive was that inside the ring, he put in a performance that would be top 6 or 7 in the company by my reckoning. Bill Irwin stood out too but Brooks and Madril were just kind of there. A legitimate looking Shoulder Tackle got the debuting Reed the win for his team.
Rating: 54
- MAIN EVENT: KEVIN VON ERICH d. JIMMY GARVIN TO RETAIN THE WCCW AMERICAN HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE
Bill Mercer mentioned how I was the only von Erich in the building but the fans could catch Kerry and David at a signing tomorrow afternoon in downtown Amarillo. Jimmy made this match easy for me to look good in, him and Sunshine are a dream team together. We sent the fans home happy with the Iron Claw after 15 minutes, I wanted 20 but Jimmy didn't want to risk blowing up...something to worry about.
Rating: 60
- THE FREEBIRDS AMBUSH ME!
After the bell, Hayes and Gordy caught me in the aisle as I headed to the back. As Gordy dropped shovel boot after shovel boot on me, Hayes grabbed a fans Texas flag and tore it in half saying "Georgia is the Jewel of the South!". I briefly rallied against the two of them BUT BUDDY ROBERTS BLINDSIDED ME as we went off the air.
Rating: 70
OVERALL RATING: 65 - Increased our popularity in 9 regions
DALLAS SPORTATORIUM
JANUARY 1983
WEEK TWO - FRIDAY
With little sleep from getting in at dawn from Amarillo, I headed into the office to be met by my Dad.
"Two bits of news for you...Gran Markus fractured his jaw last night in Mexico."
It wasn't ideal but I had no plans to use him in a featured role beyond being a body for Reed to stomp through. I was worried that something had happened to Jumbo or Kabuki on their way back from the All Japan show.
"Don Owen, the crazy SOB, is sinking money into improving how his TV looks. The guy is running on his last dollars and can't get a tune out of Larry's lad but spends it to please the TV Network?"
I'd already started mentally pitching taking over Oregon if we could, running a few spot shows to test how popular we were but I held onto that plan for now.
"Dad, I've got to get on." I was trying not to get asked about the show last night, it wasn't terrible but we'd have to do better to compete in 1983.
I started to walk off but he called after me.
"Kevin!"
I turned.
"Well done on the house last night. Gary phoned me from the road last night, we cleared over fifty-grand!...You might not be a fuck-up after all!"
Good old Uncle Gary.
"Just imagine if you'd booked one of your brothers on top instead of you!
JANUARY 1983
WEEK ONE - FRIDAY
Both Cocoa Samoa and Tony Borne turned up this morning to finalize their deals. Cocoa was on-board with my plan to align him with Tonga, Samu, and The Barbarian. I'll test out their chemistry and then officially christen them with a name for their group. I just hope that the rumors that he has a temper are only that.
Looking into the Texan problem and it soon became apparent that I was never going to have a full-strength roster on the day of my big monthly shows. I'd have to get bigger, more financially secure, and then try and tie down people which I'm sure Dad would object to. With that being said, Butch Reed, Billy Graham and Ron Garvin all looked like they could fill the gap between the openers and even main-event the odd show. I immediately went to my father's black book to call up promoters to try and get dates for them. Reed and Graham were better known as heels but I was confident I could get the Sportatorium crowd to get behind them.
Graham himself was the one to tell me that he wouldn't be coming, he preferred the short WWF-style matches to what I wanted him to do and he flat out refused to do 20 minute matches without it being a six-man.
DALLAS SPORTATORIUM
JANUARY 1983
WEEK ONE - SATURDAY
Verne Gagne is sinking money into his own TV product. He must have something up his sleeve to spend money, ask anyone who wrestled in Minnesota and they'll tell you that Verne doesn't dip into his pocket for no reason.
Killer Kowalski is coming in as a Road Agent, hopefully he can quell some of the partying and pass on his knowledge. His first bit of news is that Wahoo McDaniel would be a waste of money because he's effectively halfway into retirement and won't want to wrestle full-time.
DALLAS SPORTATORIUM
JANUARY 1983
WEEK ONE - SUNDAY
WWF have further increased their production values. Unless I get a note from the Networks saying it's hurting our show quality, I'm not getting involved in what will likely be the AWA, Crockett, and Vince having a pissing match on who can spend the most.
DALLAS SPORTATORIUM
JANUARY 1983
WEEK TWO - TUESDAY
Butch Reed drove into Dallas and met me at my office. He was a bit taken aback by not playing heel but we desperately need people to fill our midcard. I was trying to give him the hard sell but he'd already signed and he'd already packed what he owned in the back of a Station Wagon.
"Butch, if you can catch on and stand out then I'll get behind you. Headlining a Star Wars show, that's the aim."
He shook my hand as he left. Dad had been listening in though.
"We've got Ron Garvin arriving tomorrow, you going to tell him the same thing?"
It was a valid question. Ron'd get the same chance to prove himself but I had a feeling that Jimmy's brother would get bigger reactions out of the gate than someone with over a decade and a half less experience in the ring.
WORD CLASS CHAMPIONSHIP WRESTLING #2
AMARILLO SPORTS ARENA
JANUARY 1983
WEEK THREE - THURSDAY
I'd made the drive to Amarillo the day before. I wanted to make sure that I could get my paperwork done for the day early and finalize the booking sheet without Dad there to try and talk me around to how he'd do it. After finding out we'd lost $14k in the last week, I knew we needed some supporting stories to keep the crowd hot for us vs The Freebirds and set about creating some more feuds.
Brian Adias was paired with The Spoiler, then it was down to the new signings. Cocoa Samoa would have to wait to see what chemistry I could find so he could bring the younger guys up the card. But for Garvin and Reed, I'd lined up King Kong Bundy and Magic Dragon respectively. Garvin could get the best out of Chris (Bundy) in the ring and Magic Dragon gave Butch a smaller wrestler who would make him look good selling.
What I didn't expect was for Butch Reed to be MOBBED upon arrival. When he pulled up with Lothario he could barely move for fans wanting his autograph. The unexpected outcome from this was Garvin's arrival went unnoticed. Going back to the office, I put a pen through my original plans and switched them around. Bundy and Reed could well get the other over and with Skandor Akbar to rile up the fans on the microphone and his other Devastation Inc charge, Gran Markus being a solid hand in the ring - we might get a sleeper hit. Garvin would be good for Sonoda (Magic Dragon) to get involved with.
WCCW #2 - BOOKING SHEET
- King Kong Bundy and Akbar opened up the show with Bill Mercer catching them as they arrived at the arena. Bundy remained stoic, a death glare on his face throughout. Mercer asked them what they thought 1983 held in store and Skandor said "Devastation!" without even pausing to think. When Mercer asked them how they felt about Butch Reed signing, Akbar pointed at Bundy and told the debuting star - "Don't look for property or places to stay because he'd soon be a permanent resident of St Anthony's Hospital just down the road."
RATING: 50
- SAMU & COCOA SAMOA d. MIKE BOND & TOLA YATSU
A quick match to introduce Cocoa and see how he fared with Samu. There was nothing bad in them teaming together but they also didn't set the world alight with chemistry. A Flying Headbutt put Yatsu away. The main positive was how well Cocoa got his gimmick over with the fans.
Rating: 39
- DUTCH MANTELL d. BUGSY MCGRAW
A piledriver got Mantell the win in his debut. His Cowboy gimmick did predictably well in the hometown of the Funks and as an added bonus, Bugsy turned in a solid but unspectacular performance.
Rating: 53
- THE BARBARIAN & TONGA d. THE ROCK N SOUL CONNECTION (BUCK ZUMHOFE AND ICEMAN KING PARSONS)
This might be the only thing I can do with Parsons and Zumhofe is someone I have zero plans for. The match itself was passable but Tonga and The Barbarian couldn't get on the same page.
Rating: 45
- RON GARVIN CUT A PROMO
Garvin was a pro here and got the crowd pumped-up as we entered the second hour of TV. The people bought into him being a badass. "Magic Dragon, you've cheated the great people of Texas for the last time. I'm going to make sure that I run you out of World Class as my welcome gift to the fans!". This made Armand Hussein and Magic Dragon appear and they said that after the intermission/advert break, they had a few friends who'd want to put Garvin in his place so if he'd had a chance to make any friends, he'd need them now!
Rating: 59
- RON GARVIN, JOSE LOTHARIO AND BRIAN ADIAS d. THE SPOILER, MAGIC DRAGON AND CHECKMATE
Was this match subtle at kicking off the feuds? Not in the slightest but Lothario and Adias came out to join Garvin from the crowd as The Spoiler and Checkmate stood at the entrance with Dragon. The match gave each of them a chance to show me what they had and Lothario got the nods for the pin but he seemed off his game. One to keep an eye on and if Checkmate shows improvements in the ring, Jose might find himself taking a further backseat.
Rating: 60
- THE FREEBIRDS HATE TEXAS!
Gordy and Hayes came out and told the Amarillo crowd that Buddy Roberts couldn't even bring himself to appear tonight because just being in the Sports Arena made him sick! Huge heat for that. They reminded the fans that they wouldn't see them wrestle tonight and only appeared for the promo to avoid being fined by Fritz von Erich.
Rating: 77
- AL MADRIL AND BUTCH REED d. BILL IRWIN AND KILLER TIM BROOKS
Butch Reed got the win but his Old School Face routine didn't connect with the fans as much as I'd hoped. The positive was that inside the ring, he put in a performance that would be top 6 or 7 in the company by my reckoning. Bill Irwin stood out too but Brooks and Madril were just kind of there. A legitimate looking Shoulder Tackle got the debuting Reed the win for his team.
Rating: 54
- MAIN EVENT: KEVIN VON ERICH d. JIMMY GARVIN TO RETAIN THE WCCW AMERICAN HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE
Bill Mercer mentioned how I was the only von Erich in the building but the fans could catch Kerry and David at a signing tomorrow afternoon in downtown Amarillo. Jimmy made this match easy for me to look good in, him and Sunshine are a dream team together. We sent the fans home happy with the Iron Claw after 15 minutes, I wanted 20 but Jimmy didn't want to risk blowing up...something to worry about.
Rating: 60
- THE FREEBIRDS AMBUSH ME!
After the bell, Hayes and Gordy caught me in the aisle as I headed to the back. As Gordy dropped shovel boot after shovel boot on me, Hayes grabbed a fans Texas flag and tore it in half saying "Georgia is the Jewel of the South!". I briefly rallied against the two of them BUT BUDDY ROBERTS BLINDSIDED ME as we went off the air.
Rating: 70
OVERALL RATING: 65 - Increased our popularity in 9 regions
DALLAS SPORTATORIUM
JANUARY 1983
WEEK TWO - FRIDAY
With little sleep from getting in at dawn from Amarillo, I headed into the office to be met by my Dad.
"Two bits of news for you...Gran Markus fractured his jaw last night in Mexico."
It wasn't ideal but I had no plans to use him in a featured role beyond being a body for Reed to stomp through. I was worried that something had happened to Jumbo or Kabuki on their way back from the All Japan show.
"Don Owen, the crazy SOB, is sinking money into improving how his TV looks. The guy is running on his last dollars and can't get a tune out of Larry's lad but spends it to please the TV Network?"
I'd already started mentally pitching taking over Oregon if we could, running a few spot shows to test how popular we were but I held onto that plan for now.
"Dad, I've got to get on." I was trying not to get asked about the show last night, it wasn't terrible but we'd have to do better to compete in 1983.
I started to walk off but he called after me.
"Kevin!"
I turned.
"Well done on the house last night. Gary phoned me from the road last night, we cleared over fifty-grand!...You might not be a fuck-up after all!"
Good old Uncle Gary.
"Just imagine if you'd booked one of your brothers on top instead of you!