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Thursday Week 1, June 1983
TV Taping – World Class Championship Wrestling
Jackson, MS
Attendance: 6,500 (Sell out)
Ratings: 0.60 on medium syndication I (up .05)
Pre-Show
We run another pre show meet and greet with the Von Erichs, who again sign autographs, take pictures and flirt with girls. Kevin again is underwhelming, but still it is a big hit (B-)
Main Show
In a bout that had solid in-ring action but non-existent crowd heat, Eddie Gilbert defeated Terry Gibbs in 9:19 by pinfall with a Hot Shot. These guys don’t click at all, a terrible opener (E+)
Tommy Rich comes out with Michael Hayes in tow and mentions to Bill Mercer that he got word that David Von Erich has an open contract for the main event tonight, with the Texas Heavyweight strap on the line. “Dang Mercer, y’all know that Wildfire is the man to give Von Erich a good ol’ country, take it so the woodshed, butt whuppin’ so bring on the contract and let’s get it on!” Rich was great and Hayes new gimmick, as the Freebird CEO gets an A* rating (B+) Hayes grabs the microphone and motions to the back. “Let me tell you something, the Von Erichs have screwed the Freebirds over since before the time that Texas didn’t smell like a big, nasty cow pasture and Tommy is right.” Fritz appears with a contract followed by Buddy Roberts. “That belt would look good right above the Freebird fireplace daddy, so tonight my brother Buddy is going to kick that punks ass and bring the belt back to Badstreet!!” Roberts, in fit of glee signs the contract and they all leave…..With Rich left standing there, mouth agape. (B)
The camera’s cut backstage and the mysterious masked giant, dressed in black from head to toe is seen making his way towards the arena. Mercer wonders aloud “Who the heck is this man?” (B-) In a match that had some good action and average heat, the masked man, introduced as the Masked Bully, defeated Jim Lancaster in 7:09 by pinfall with a King Kong Knee Drop as the announcers speculate on the obvious after seeing the finish. (C-)
Stan Hansen is shown in a video with a Lawyer on one side and the Masked Assassin on the other. “Jim Duggan just don’t know when to fold the tent and high tail it, so BOY, you get what you want at this month’s WCCW Tag Team cup. And here’s the kicker son, it’s gonna be a back alley street fight match! And Bill Mercer, I think you have an envelope in hand with one more surprise.” (A) As the video fades, Mercer opens the envelope that has just been dropped off and tells the TV audience. “Folks, this is a surprise indeed. The winner of a special bodyguard match between Hulk Hogan and The Assassin earlier in the card will get to be in the corner of their respective charge when Hansen and Duggan meet, with the loser banned from the building!” (C)
In a bout that featured great action and a good crowd, David Von Erich defeated Buddy Roberts in 16:44 when Buddy Roberts was disqualified when The Masked Bully ran in and attacked David Von Erich. David Von Erich makes defense number 3 of his NWA Texas Heavyweight title. (B-) After the bell it becomes a four-on-one, with Buddy Roberts, Michael Hayes and Tommy Rich joining in on the beat down, though Richs seems less than enthused. With the bell ringing like crazy, Kerry Von Erich comes running in and cleans house with the help of a baseball bat. (B)
Final Rating: B- (Solid, popularity improves in all 9 regions!)
A great segment by Stan Hansen and a great main event top off one of the better shows we have had as the boost across the board clearly demonstrates. Hopefully we keep this momentum going into the June event. I also sign Tracy Smothers to a 3 year written contract extension for the bargain price of $1,660 a month. In big news we sign a 6 month non-exclusive PPV deal with Closed Circuit US. We only get 10% of the revenue, but it is a start. Now we can cover the US big events as well!
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