[molson]

WORLD CLASS WRESTLING (TV TAPING)
Tuesday, Week 4, March 1984
Dallas, TX (Small Venue)
Expected Attendance: 5,247; Ticket Prices: +$4 over default
Actual Attendance: 5,000 (SOLD OUT)

-This show will air this Sunday, after Saturday's Last Man Standing event. Since the big event isn't for a few days, we don't have to worry too much about fatigue issues coming from tonight's show. Still, a lot of the top stars will have the night off, since a lot of our top storylines will be probably be dramatically alerted by the events of Last Man Standing.

-Pre-Show Dark Match
The Road Warriors defeat Al Perez & Super Kendo in 6:54 when Animal pinned Perez. (D+). After the match, Lance Russell interviewed the Road Warriors about their win. (D+)

-Pre-Show Dark Match
Owen Hart defeats Villano V in 3:47 by pinfall. (C-)

-As the show opens, the announcers hype the main event - Kevin Von Erich v. King Kong Bundy for the WCCW TV Title. They note that with the world title vacant until the King of Texas Wrestling Event at the end of next month, Kevin is currently the top singles champion in WCCW. (C+)

-Fritz Von Erich comes to the ring and announces that the opening match on tonight's show will be a first in professional wrestling history. A triple threat tag team ladder match. A briefcase, hanging above the ring, contains a contract for a WCCW World Tag Team Title Match. The winners of the contract will get a shot against The Sheepherders - the catch is, that title match will take place immediately. (D+)

-Triple Threat Tag Team Ladder Match
-Winner gets WCCW World Tag Team Championship Title Shot
Buddy Landell & Iceman Parsons defeat Frank Dusek & Doug Sommers and Villanos IV and V to win the contract. (D)

-WCCW World Tag Team Championship Match
The Sheepherders defeat Buddy Landell & Iceman Parsons in 8:04 when Miller pinned Parsons. (C). The Sheepherders make their 2nd title defense. Landell & Parsons were clearly weakened from the prior match.

-Ricky Morton defeats Brian Adias in 7:56 by pinfall. (B-). After the match. Lance Russell interviews Morton about the win, and his recent altercations with Nikita Koloff and Boris Malenko. Malenko interrupts the interview, and he and Morton argue. Suddenly, Koloff attacks Morton from behind, wrapping a steel chain around Morton's neck, as Malenko kicks Morton in the chest. Malenko and Koloff eventually enter the ring, leaving Morton a bloody, unconscious mess. (C+) Morton is checked on by the referee and Marc Lowrence. Lowrence then makes a request over the house mic for a doctor to come to ringside. (D) Eventually, Morton is stretchered away. (C) Still in the ring, Malenko and Koloff taunt Morton, mocking him as he's stretchered away. (C)

-Kerry Von Erich comes to the ring and cuts a promo, saying that he's going to get into the King of Texas Wrestling tournament next month, and be the next WCCW World Champion. He says that fate may put one of his brothers between him and his goal that night, but he'll do what he has to do. (C)

-Kerry Von Erich defeated Chris Adams in 22:26 by pinfall. (D+). The announcers point out the slump Adams has been in since losing the managerial services of Gary Hart.

-Bill Mercer interviews Kevin Von Erich about his upcoming title defense against King Kong Bundy. (C+)

-WCCW TV Title Match
Kevin Von Erich drew with King Kong Bundy in 10:00 when the time limit expired. (B-). Kevin makes his 6th defense of the TV title.

Overall Show Rating: C (The show can be considered a success, it should have improved our overall popularity).

THOUGHTS:

-This was a pretty crappy show, but good enough to increase our popularity across the country (except for Texas and the midwest)

-Kevin and Bundy really saved us from getting a horrible rating with the decent main event. I've really changed my opinion on Bundy - at one point, I was considering using him as a non-wrestling bodyguard, but now, he's wrestling decent matches.

-I'm pretty shocked by the crapfest that was Kerry and Adams. I've been using JR Foley as my new primary road agent, and I'm wondering if that's having a negative effect on my match ratings. Foley has better "Psychology" ratings than former top agent Bronco Lubich, and has the same rating in Respect. Those are the two relevant road agent ratings, as far as I know. From now on, they'll split duties. But back to Kerry and Adams, that was awful - especially since I gave them over 20 minutes. Kerry really hasn't established himself too well, he's clearly the #3 Von Erich at this point. I'm glad I didn't throw major money at Adams.

-Morton/Koloff are getting a fair amount of time for their feud. Mostly, they're benefiting from the fact that most of my other storylines are awaiting Last Man Standing, so they're getting the chance to shine in the meantime. They've done fine considering where they are on the roster.

-I pretty much have no challengers for The Sheepherders at this point, so the gimmicky ladder match deal was just a chance for them to get an easy title defense. I've actually learned a few things about the wrestling business during this game - for one thing, building a good tag division is extremely difficult. There's a tendency to put anyone that's worth anything in singles matches, leaving mostly guys you have no ideas for in the tag ranks. Plus, in the era of pay-per-show contracts, you have to pay twice as many guys for a tag team match. Plus, you're naturally going to have way fewer tag teams than singles wrestlers, so you're going to burn out our matchups pretty quickly. So for now, The Sheepherders will continue to dominate everyone in their path until either Koko & Eaton come back, The Road Warriors improve, or I bring in another high profile team.