Dundee attempted to help stop the carnage, but was hit by Embry, while Akbar, Young and Travis stood in the ring cheering. Fritz Von Erich The deal made Jarrett 60 percent owner of World Class, with Kevin and Kerry Von Erich being 40 percent owners. The angle reached new heights in the fall of 1984 when Sunshine, arriving on a helicopter at the Cotton Bowl, interfered in a match, allowing French to pin Roberts. Lowrance did return to the Sportatorium as ring announcer in September 1990 (as did Mercer, who filled in for Lowrance on a few cards), when World Class seceded from the USWA, and appeared occasionally during the 1990s in other Dallas-based promotions such as the Global Wrestling Federation. The next day on Championship Sports, announcer Marc Lowrance recapped the incident throughout the course of the two-hour program. Several unsuccessful attempts had been made in 1987–88 to take World Class national; among them was a sparsely-attended Von Erichs over America tour, and a merger between World Class, the AWA and CWA the following year. There was one high mark in that feud, when Kevin passed out from concussion complications during an eight-man tag team match. When McLemore dies of a heart attack in ’69, Fritz becomes the territory’s sole owner and a hero to the wrestling fans in Texas. Lowrance, who was 21 at the time, was originally hired for a three-week stint until a permanent replacement was found for Pierce. The popularity of Embry reached its point when he lost a loser leaves town match to Gary Young, due to outside interference by Cactus Jack Manson. Valerie French started in wrestling as the valet for her real life cousin Jimmy Garvin in Championship Wrestling from Florida and as a mainstay World Class Championship Wrestling in 1983. In 1966, Von Erich and Ed McLemore-owner of the Dallas Sportatorium- bought out the Dallas/Fort Worth Wrestling Office, breaking away from Houston Wrestling Office, which was managed by Paul Boesch. The new angle was developed by Ken Mantell, Gary Hart, Chris Adams and Fritz Von Erich, which was born out of a conversation between Adams and Hart, where Adams wanted to change his image and try his luck as a heel wrestler. WCWA Neither Kerry or Adams showed animosity towards each other to stay on kayfabe terms since Adams' heel turn would not be seen on television for at least another week. Adams won the match by DQ as a result. During World Class' heyday, the Adkissons owned the majority of the promotion, with partial ownership held by Bill Mercer, Mickey Grant, Gary Hart and Bronko Lubich. David's funeral took place two days later, and an estimated 5,000 people paid tribute to the fallen star; one of the largest funeral gatherings to take place in the Metroplex at the time. Afterwards, World Class promoted the renewed Freebird-Von Erich rivalry pitting Terry Gordy, Buddy Roberts, King Parsons and The Angel of Death against Kevin and Kerry Von Erich and Chris Adams, with Steve or Shaun Simpson also helping to even the odds. Freebird Michael P.S. Afterwards, he unmasked to reveal himself as Chris Adams, which proved to be a turning point in Adams' tenure in World Class; elevating him from mid-card to main-event status. 5,170 likes. Dallas, Texas The two-on-one gangup continued (which included Roberts' patented DDT) until Buck Zumhofe and David Manning ran in to chase Roberts and Hernandez away. High Society 7. This resulted in several gangups on Embry by his stable, including Cactus Jack Manson, King Parsons and Gary Young. Originally owned by promoter Ed McLemore, by 1966 it was run by Southwest Sports, Inc., whose president, Jack Adkisson, was better known as wrestler Fritz Von Erich. Serving as the bout’s special guest referee, Von Erich ally and Freebirds leader Michael “P.S.” Hayes knocks out The Nature Boy and then blows a gasket when Kerry refuses to cover him. As the match wound down, the One Man Gang was about to launch a major assault on Kevin with a chain. With The Freebirds out of the picture, and attempting other angles that proved to be not as highly successful as the Freebirds-Von Erichs wars, World Class decided to turn Chris Adams heel and start a long and legendary war which lasted for over a year, and at the same time, drawing revenues that exceeded the Freebirds-Von Erichs angle. Headlining for Mantell's group were such former World Class stars as Fabulous Lance (formerly Lance Von Erich, who by then had walked out on Fritz in a dispute over money), Wild Bill Irwin, The Missing Link, Buddy Roberts, Brian Adias, Jack Victory, Tatum and Parsons. Upon returning, Adams worked an angle with Al Perez and manager Gary Hart, engaging in several matches — including one in which he supposedly won the World Class title following a victory over Perez. Many wrestlers believed at one time that Kevin Vaughn, formerly Lance Von Erich, was responsible for the lights being turned off which resulted in the unknown attack on both Hayes and Kerry. During that brief time in IWCCW, Kevin had a legendary interview in which Tony Rumble, aka The Boston Bad Boy, made derogatory remarks about Kevin and his brothers, after which Kevin ran Rumble out of the interview studio. The Freebirds and The Von Erichs, Gino Hernandez & Nickla Roberts vs. Mike Von Erich & Sunshine/Stella Mae French, Chris Adams & Gino Hernandez vs. The Von Erichs, who took David's death extremely hard, did not compete again until February 27, when they teamed with Adams to defeat Butch Reed, Jimmy Garvin, Michael Hayes and Terry Gordy. Unfortunately, Mike Von Erich suffers a shoulder injury during a bout. Finally, after a 16-minute battle, Embry managed to small-package Hickerson and pin him to win, thus officially changing World Class into the USWA. Afterwards, Kevin made a deal with Chris: leave Gary Hart and go on his own and all would be forgiven. Its syndicated programs, World Class Championship Wrestling and Wild West Wrestling were later renamed USWA Challenge and USWA Main Event respectively. Adams missed at least six weeks of action as a result of his injury. After using the brand name "Big Time Wrestling" for some fifteen years, Adkisson made the terms "World Class Championship Wrestling" and "World Class Wrestling Wrestling Association" (used interchangeably during the same period) famous around the world in the early 1980's. The February 13 card, featured Marc Lowrance and David Manning in the ring alongside Sunshine, Adams, Parsons, Adias, Junkyard Dog, Chief Jules Strongbow, Jimmy Phillips, Bronko Lubich and Johnny Mantell as a ten-bell salute to honor David Von Erich was carried out. On a few occasions, Jeanie was spanked by Adams in the center of the ring; and on one interview segment, Clarke and Austin showed pictures of Adams with different women, including a 1986 picture with Sunshine and the World Class belt, and another of Adams and Clarke from his early days in England. Afterwards, both Garvin and Adams exchanged insults, calling each other a coward, with Adams challenging Garvin to a title match on October 7, as Garvin was about to face David Von Erich (which proved to be the last-ever match between Garvin and Von Erich). World Class Diamonds 1. Adams and Garvin traded the American title on numerous occasions, and engaged in mixed tag team matches involving Sunshine and Precious. WCCW takes advantage of their surprising fame in the Middle East by holding a series of small shows in Tel Aviv. The Dallas Sportatorium was refurbished with a new ring, and ring aprons with the Renegades Rampage logo. This angle, similar to the one used with Chris Adams in 1984, proved to be unsuccessful, and pairing Adias with Alberto Madril to form a newer version of The Dynamic Duo (and even going so far as using Adams and Hernandez's "Bad to the Bone" as their ring entrance music) made matters worse. The past, present and future of wrestling - the world's friendliest wrestling database. Longtime World Class mainstays Chris Adams, King Parsons, Kevin's brother Chris Von Erich, Percy Pringle, John Tatum, David Sheldon, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Jeanie Clarke and Toni Adams remained, while wrestlers associated with the Memphis end of the USWA left. The Superstars of World Class: photos. ( WATCH), April 1, 1982Bigger ThingsLooking to give his company more of a national appeal, Fritz changes the name of his Big Time Wrestling to World Class Championship Wrestling. The documentary featured interviews from several of the key figures in World Class, including Kevin, Mercer, Grant, Hart, Adams, Skandor Akbar, Marc Lowrance, David Manning and Johnny Mantell. An updated "Director's Cut" DVD of Heroes of World Class, 30 minutes longer than the original, was released in December 2006. After walking to the ring to his brother’s entrance theme, Tanya Tucker’s “Texas (When I Die),” The Modern Day Warrior defeats “The Nature Boy” to win the title and fulfill a family dream. Chris was attempting to block the second piledriver, and injured his hand in the process. For a time, a USWA wrestling banner was placed above the Section D sign, but was later moved adjacent to the E and F sections of the Sportatorium, or the east corner of the arena. However, his tenure was cut short due to conflicting European music tours. However, because of a revenue dispute with the Adkissons (who still owned 40 percent of the Dallas promotion), Jarrett ultimately pulled the promotion out of Dallas in September 1990. However, before the match began, Terry Gordy ran in and made disparaging remarks about Kerry and his motorcycle accident, which started a fight. I remember being clued to my TV on Fridays and Saturdays watching wrestling on regular TV and cable. After taking punishment for 11 minutes by Young, Travis and Akbar, Adams was thrown out of the ring. Lowrance and Chris Adams, who celebrated Embry's victory in the ring, did not partake in the post-match festivities, showing respect to the Adkissons and the World Class name, and neither Kevin or Kerry were on hand during the celebration. The carnage was broken up when wrestlers from the back, including Steve Austin and Matt Borne, came in to help get order restored. One high mark in this renewed rivalry was a February 1988 country-whipping match between Kevin and Kerry against Gordy and Roberts. Two weeks later, Adams and Embry faced each other in the ring, with the majority of the crowd cheering for Embry in the beginning, and the hint of a possible heel turn by Adams. Adams came in wondering what Taylor was doing in World Class, and then later went on a tirade against Perez, demanding a title shot. Folks along the Trinity River packed the house on Friday nights to see The Spoiler, Boris Malenko and The Golden Terror try to wrestle the American Title away from their hero, Fritz. Steve Simpson and Brian Adias also returned to the promotion, with a few appearances by former WCCW referee David Manning. A few markets, including Las Vegas, included a three-hour block of wrestling from the USWA promotion (two hours from Dallas and one hour from the Memphis' CWA promotion). Gary Hart also left World Class during this time, and would not return to Dallas again until 1991 under the Global Wrestling Federation banner. World Class Championship Wrestling. Kevin Von Erich released a compilation DVD of classic Von Erichs matches in 2004. WCCW was originally known as Big Time Wrestling and, until the late 1970s, was dominated by its owner, Fritz Von Erich. Parent During a July 1990 match, Tatum knocked Tessa unconscious following a superkick to the head, resulting in Tessa being carried out on a stretcher. Roughly 1980: Southwest Sports, Inc. changed its brand name to World Class Championship Wrestling.. 1980s: WCCW played host to the legendary feud between The von Erichs & The Fabulous Freebirds.. Event history As a result, on November 23, 1990, Von Erich held its last World Class Championship Wrestling card at the Sportatorium, which featured Kevin winning the Texas heavyweight championship from David Sheldon (The Angel of Death) in the card's final match. World Class Championship Wrestling In the late-1970s and early-1980s, Gino worked for Dallas-based territory, World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW) (called NWA Big Time Wrestling, at the time). Among the main participants on the Israel tour included Kevin and Mike Von Erich, Chris Adams, Gino Hernandez, Iceman King Parsons, Freebird Buddy Roberts, Scott Casey, Brian Adias, Rip Oliver, Kelly Kiniski and Johnny Mantell. Oct. 28, 1985A New Von ErichFollowing the shocking death of David Von Erich, Fritz looks to add a new family member to WCCW by introducing a distant “cousin” named Lance Von Erich. But after recognizing that the championship is becoming a main part of Jim Crockett’s Mid-Atlantic promotion, Fritz makes the decision to split away from the NWA and establish his own title. She was called Sunshine and helped him in his feud with David Von Erich.Garvin received some criticism for hiding behind Sunshine when he was in trouble. Raw results, March 8, 2021: Bliss plays with fire and Orton gets burned by Styles, SmackDown results, March 5, 2021: Bryan runs over Uso in the Cage and moves into WWE Fastlane against Reigns, WWE NXT results, March 3, 2021: Bálor prevails as next week's showdown with Cole looms, WrestleMania 36 results: Drew McIntyre conquers The Beast to claim the WWE Title, Sasha Banks’ aerial attacks: WWE Top 10, March 3, 2021, Photos: Bobby Lashley enters the Hall of WWE Champions, Watch the trailer for HEAVEN, WWE Network's groundbreaking documentary, WWE 24 bonus scene: Why Big E began throwing his jacket at Corey Graves. WCCW's fortunes declined further in 1986–87 with the Texas oil businesses entering a recession and Mike Von Erich's health and substance abuse problems and eventual suicide. By May 1988, World Class and the Memphis-based CWA began a working agreement with Renegades Rampage, allowing wrestlers from both organizations to appear either in Dallas or in the Memphis area. Adams had the match won, but picked Hernandez up twice to dish out more punishment, and while he was arguing with referee Rick Hazzard, Hernandez grabbed the hair cream and threw the contents in Adams' face, thus "blinding" him. This would eventually evolve into a new angle that would bring a return to sellout crowds to the Sportatorium for the first time in over six months: Eric Embry against Devastation Inc. Embry, who became the promotion's booker and lead babyface, was originally offered a contract by Skandor Akbar to join Devastation Inc., which he refused to join. Jimmy Garvin and Precious also departed WCCW during this time to join the AWA. Wow! ( WATCH) A handsome and well built young competitor, Lance is received well by the fans, but his cocky behavior begins to wear on Fritz and the family in the locker room. Another angle involved the late referee Harold Harris. The card itself, which featured the infamous country-whipping match, had at least a half-dozen piledrivers performed in the ring; including two by Taylor on Adams, another by Gordy on Kevin Von Erich, and two from Kerry – one on Gordy and another on Roberts. Hayes. During one match at the Sportatorium, Michael Hayes and Kevin Von Erich took turns attacking Khan, shoving each other away in the process. The February 10 non-televised card at the Dallas Sportatorium was to have Kamala, The Missing Link and Jimmy Garvin face Chris Adams and Kevin and Kerry Von Erich in the main event. A month later, Kevin returned the favor by smashing a chair into Adams' head after losing to him, and that resulted in Chris being helped out of the arena with a minor concussion and nearly losing his left eye when a piece of the wooden chair lodged onto his nose after the chair shot, very dangerously close to his eye. Style The upcoming Parade of Champions card held in May was renamed in honor of both David and Mike Von Erich. Founder Back then, when it was Big Time Wrestling and the mighty Fritz Von Erich ran the show and wrestled in the main events, it was a local thing. During WCCW's golden years (1981–1985), the company was booked for the most part by Ken Mantell, with David Von Erich, Gary Hart, Bruiser Brody and (after David's death) Kevin Von Erich as the go-to people to keep the success of World Class going. It was said to be among the first mixed tag-team matches in modern wrestling history, and would pave the way for future mixed tag team matches, including one Adams promoted himself six years later involving two of his ex-wives (Jeanie Clark and Toni Adams) and his protégé Steve Austin. In fact, Billy Travis became the Sportatorium's biggest heel wrestler who would often sing a line of various songs during ringside interviews, heckle the crowd (a la Gino Hernandez), and on several occasions smash a wooden guitar over the head of several wrestlers. American Wrestling The red World Class ring aprons were covered by the Renegades Rampage logo except for one section of the ring, but all of the aprons would be replaced as well as the ring itself. The pair promotes shows in the area with Fritz usually competing in the main event against opponents like The Spoiler and Joe Blanchard. Meanwhile, Kerry Von Erich won the World Class title from Perez; and lost it to Iceman Parsons following an infamous incident during a March 1988 card in which the lights at the Sportatorium went out during the match, and when the lights returned, Kerry was down on the mat, with Parsons pinning him. Hayes, who was still in the NWA, but would eventually return to World Class, as a face, wrestling alongside the Von Erichs, starting a civil war between Hayes, Roberts and Gordy. Embry came out to save Lowrance from any further harm. As Embry attempted to help her back up, Chris attacked him, and a brawl between Adams and Embry ensued. NWA Big Time WrestlingWorld Class Championship Wrestling As Kabuki and Rude was distracting referee Bronco Lubich, Adams entered the ring and superkicked OMG, then rolled Kevin on top of him and alerted Lubich that a pin was occurring in the ring. However, by the time this angle aired on television a few days later, Hernandez was dead; his death, which was revealed by an autopsy to be the result of a cocaine overdose, ended any prospects of a hot feud between the former partners. A documentary by Chicago filmmaker Brian Harrison on WCCW and the Von Erichs, Heroes of World Class, was released on DVD on June 15, 2006, to rave reviews from fans and critics alike. In an attempt to keep World Class hot, by means of running long-term angles, Brian Adias, who was billed as the childhood friend of the Von Erichs (which is legitimate, since Brian grew up with the Adkissons in Denton and also went to high school with Kerry), began a storyline with them by turning heel against Mike Von Erich during a match, then eventually began feuding with Kevin Von Erich later on. This prompted the return of Percy Pringle to the promotion, who would later campaign to bring Embry back to World Class; as well as being the victim of several attacks by Akbar and his troops. Wrestling fact: Would have competed in his first … The climax of the Austin-Adams feud occurred just before the USWA/World Class breakup; when Austin wrestled in a come-as-you-are match, with Austin wearing his football gear from his playing days at UNT, and Adams wearing his Judo gi and using a kendo stick. Shortly before Jarrett's departure, KTVT dropped its long-running Saturday night wrestling telecasts; according to some reports, the cancellation was the result of frequent on-air profanity (mostly used by Eric Embry), despite multiple warnings from station management, as well as the controversial superkick incident between Tatum and Tessa.