Just S'pose 6.03.07
Posted by Ron Gamble on 06.03.2007
"What if I had never let you go? Would you be the man I used to know?" - Kate Winslet
Wait a second! Since when did this become some sappy place?
Since my "true confessions" from two weeks ago, I guess..
I got quite a few emails from my last column, most of them dealing with the fact that I am now officially Over The Hill And Proud Of It. A few people wrote to congratulate me, and a few others took the same tack as the guys at Hidden Highlights, JP Prag and JT Thomlinson, trying to make me out to be a heroic character for making it this long.
Thank you all for the kind words, but I am NOT a hero. If anything, I am the main character in a cautionary tale. Look at the example I have laid out for all of you, and run far, far away. Listen to me, because I have lived the nightmare: eat right and exercise regularly. If you have that deep-fried whatever, stop at one, and don't have another for at least a month. You don't need to run a marathon every day, but be active about thirty minutes a day. Trust me. I wish I had listened to older people when I was 17, but back then, I was indestructible. I was a none-too-solid 175, eating whatever I wanted, but I was in marching band, going to the pool in the summer, playing football in the fall, pretending to play basketball in the winter, and basically moving almost constantly. My senior year in high school, we had two weeks between finals and graduation ceremonies, and in those two weeks, I did nothing but sleep, eat, and drink at other graduation parties. In those two weeks, I gained 30 pounds, and have not been able to get rid of it since.
As I said, I am not a hero. In fact, right now, if we're going to use a movie metaphor, I am the guy in the audience of a horror movie, screaming, "DON'T OPEN THE BASEMENT DOOR!" to the screen. I know what will happen if the character goes down there; the killer will play hack-em-up, and the character will never make it out of the basement. If you take nothing else from my life story, remember this: YOU ARE NOT TWELVE FEET TALL AND BULLETPROOF.
Anyway, let's move on. I owe yunz a story.
I WANT TO BREAK FREE
Before I begin, I must admit the idea for this story did not start with me, but rather Terry Funk. In his book, "More Than Just Hardcore," Funk writes of Vince McMahon's expansion in 1984,
Vince also had location on his side. If something doesn't come from New York
or Los Angeles, it's not considered "in." And coming from New York gave the
WWF the legitimacy for the national push. If Vince had been heir to a wrestling
promotion in Oregon or Oklahoma, I think things would have turned out very
differently for him, and for this business.
Vincent K. McMahon was conflicted. On the one hand, his father had just sold him his wrestling company, and it felt like a 16-year-old getting the keys to the Porsche from dad. On the other hand, he got the company because his father was dying. Still, he had big plans for the company. There were some very talented wrestlers working for him, but no one that he thought would be the rocket to take it from a regional company to a national one.
The next day, he met with his new employees in the dressing room before a house show. "I promise you this, we are not going to remain a small, regional company as part of the NWA," he told them. "We are going to become a national company, on our way to becoming an international company. Dallas is just too small for my plans!"
In the world we know, Vincent K. McMahon bought the World Wrestling Federation, with its territory including Madison Square Garden in New York, in 1983. If you don't know what happened to McMahon or the WWF after that, you're reading the wrong website. But, Just S'pose Vince McMahon bought the World Class Wrestling Association from his father. What might have happened?
In December 1983, Vince talked a young wrestler named Hulk Hogan into rejoining the company. Hogan wrestled for his father a couple years earlier, and since that time had become a star in Japan. He also wrestled for the AWA, but was upset that he was not being given a chance to run with the World title, despite being bigger, stronger, and about fifteen years younger than their champion, Nick Bockwinkel. Working for World Class would be his first time in America since June 1983.
Hogan's first televised match for World Class was in Fort Worth, where he beat Rusty Brooks. Two weeks later, he made his debut in the Sportatorium in Dallas, beating Greg Carson. During the match, announcer Vince McMahon asked the rhetorical question, "Hulk Hogan has wrestled against many top wrestlers in the world, including Andre the Giant, Antonio Inoki, Harley Race, and Nick Bockwinkel. Why is he here now in World Class?"
On the next show, he answered that question. While in Japan, he met with David Von Erich, who convinced Hogan to come to WCCW and help he and his brothers take care of some business against Gary Hart's stable of Kendo Nagasaki, Great Kabuki, Bugsy McGraw, and Big Daddy Bundy. "So, Dangerous David, Killer Kevin, and Crusher Kerry, I am here, and I am ready to help you take care of business!"
Almost on cue, Gary Hart came out to the interview set to accost Hogan. When Hogan grabeed Hart, he was attacked from behind by Nagasaki and Kabuki. While fighting them off, the brawl headed toward the ring. Hogan threw the Japanese wrestlers in the ring and continued to fight them, when Bundy and McGraw hit the ring. During the four-on-one attack, Bundy splashed Hogan twice, injuring his ribs.
Where were the Von Erichs, you ask? The camera showed their locker room door, blocked off by several beer kegs and benches. Von Erich allies Brian Adidas and Chris Adams ran to the ring to help Hogan, but they were kept outside by Kabuki and Nagasaki. The five men left the ring, satisfied they had damaged the new threat to their power.
Next week, Hogan teamed with David Von Erich against Kendo and Kabuki. Von Erich had been blinded by powder thrown by Nagasaki, and was rolling around on the floor. The Japanese team threw Hogan to the ropes for a double clothesline, but Hogan ducked, bounced off the opposite ropes, and responded with a boot to Nagasaki's face, knocking him out of the ring. He then punched Kabuki, slammed him, and bounced off the ropes, hitting Kabuki with a perfect legdrop. As the referee's count reached two, Hart kicked Hogan in the ribs, breaking up the pin and losing the match by disqualification.
When Hogan finally stood up, he was met by Big Daddy Bundy again, who threw Hogan to the corner and splashed him again. This time, Kevin and Kerry Von Erich were able to come from the locker room, joined by Adidas and Adams, and the four of them, as well as David, ran the Hart gang off. Hogan needed help to get to the locker room, and when he appeared on the interview set later in the show, his ribs were heavily taped.
Three weeks later, tragedy hit World Class. David Von Erich, on a tour of Japan, was found dead in his hotel room. The next week, WCCW television showed highlights of David's career, and everything in World Class was put on hold.
At the beginning of March, Vince McMahon announced a major card would take place in Texas Stadium on May 6. NWA World champion Ric Flair would be in town defending the title, and the show would be a tribute card to David, called the "Parade of Champions." The traditional challenger for the World title was the Texas Heavyweight champion, but since that was David Von Erich, a tournament would be held to decide both the new champion and Flair's challenger on May 6. Hogan defeated Terry Gordy in the final match to win the belt and the title shot.
On May 6, with Fritz, Kevin, Kerry, Mike, and Chris Von Erich watching from ringside, Hulk Hogan beat Ric Flair in 17:12 to win the NWA World title. As Hogan celebrated, the Von Erichs lifted him on their shoulders.
On May 12, Hogan's title win was shown on WCCW programming, followed by an interview with Hogan. The next week, the program started with a statement from Vince McMahon:
"Welcome to World Class Championship Wrestling. I'm Vince McMahon. As you saw last week on this show, Hulk Hogan defeated Ric Flair on May 6 at the David Von Erich Parade of Champions to win the World championship of the National Wrestling Alliance. The NWA has been in existence since 1948, and is the most prestigious title in the world. We here in World Class are very excited to have the new World Heavyweight champion here.
"Ric Flair, and his home promoter in North Carolina, Jim Crockett, have filed an official protest with the offices of the NWA, and the NWA Board of Directors have ruled in their favor. They have demanded that Mr. Hogan return the world title.
"The World Class Wrestling Association Board of Directors, on the other hand, have watched tapes of the match several times, and have found no legitimate reason for an appeal or overturning the results of the match. Therefore, the WCWA has decided to back who we believe to be the rightful NWA World champion, Hulk Hogan. As a result, World Class Championship Wrestling has officially seceded from the National Wrestling Alliance. Since Mr. Hogan is, in our minds, the rightful world champion, he will be declared the World Class World champion, and a new world title belt will be delivered to him within the week. The NWA World title belt has been returned to NWA President Bob Geigel with a letter informing him of this decision.
"As of this moment, Hulk Hogan is the WCCW World champion, and has issued an open challenge to all wrestlers, no matter where their home territory may be. At the same time, unless specified in the contract, every match Hulk Hogan wrestles will be an official title match. We also invite any and all NWA territories to join us here in World Class to continue to recognize Hulk Hogan as the true world champion. Thank you."
The response by wrestling fans around the country was, well, underwhelming. Very few groups supported the "Hogan-as-world-champ" movement, especially after World Championship Wrestling on WTBS showed footage of Flair beating Hogan in Tokyo in a non-title match five days after their match in Dallas.
Still, Hogan and McMahon went ahead with plans to become a national territory. World Class was able to get national television coverage through USA Network after the cable channel cancelled their contract with Southwest Championship Wrestling in San Antonio. They were also able to book successful shows outside of the Texas/Oklahoma area, including Baton Rouge, LA, Omaha, NE, Kansas City, KS, and even a couple shows in Mexico away from border cities. Growth outside of that area, however, was difficult. One show in Seattle, WA, sold 1100 tickets for a building that held 17,000.
In 1985, Hogan continued to defend the title throughout Texas, Oklahoma, and Japan, but other NWA territories refused to leave the organization and join WCCW. At the second "Parade of Champions," Hogan defended the title against Sgt. Slaughter, while the Von Erichs (Kevin, Kerry, and Mike) beat the Freebirds in a six-man elimination match when Mike used the Iron Claw on Buddy Jack Roberts.
In July 1985, WCCW fans were split down the middle when Kerry Von Erich challenged Hogan to a title shot. The match was shown on the Ft. Worth show, not the national telecast, and ended when The Freebirds hit the ring and jumped both men. On the next week, Hogan and Kerry teamed with Kevin to beat The Freebirds. However, at the end of the match, Kevin accidentally hit Hogan, knocking him out of the ring. After the match, while Kevin and Kerry were celebrating, Hogan re-entered the ring and threatened Kevin. Kerry, not seeing the original accidental punch, jumped Hogan, knocking him down with a discus punch, then using the Iron Claw on Hogan's head. Kevin tried to pull Kerry off Hogan at first, then stopped and joined him in the attack.
Hogan needed to find other allies in his war against the Von Erichs, since they were joined by longtime friends Brian Adidas and Chris Adams, as well as former enemies managed by Gary Hart and Scandor Akbar. Because they were now allied with the Von Erichs in trying to rid their territory of the "invader," Hart and Akbar's troops found themselves cheered. Indeed, Hulk Hogan had become a miracleman: he managed to get Akbar over as a face manager in Texas.
Before the war could continue, however, there was another force, far more devastating that Devastation, Inc. The national recession had finally reached the oil sector of the country, and between oil wells drying up and people losing jobs in refineries, Texas and Oklahoma crowds dried up. Meanwhile, the national expansion Vince McMahon had hoped for never materialized. No matter how many shows they had booked outside of their home base, crowds were not coming. In late 1985, McMahon had to admit that his big plans had failed.
On January 4, 1986, Hulk Hogan lost his WCCW World title in a unification match to Ric Flair in Dallas. The World Class Wrestling Association was welcomed back into the National Wrestling Alliance, but the NWA World champion, no matter who it was, never again defended his title in the WCCW area.
By 1989, Hogan had left WCCW for the AWA, Gary Hart and many of his wrestlers went the other NWA territories, and World Class was left with Kevin and Kerry Von Erich (Mike had retired after health problems) fighting against Al Perez and The Angel of Death. In 1990, World Class Championship had merged with Terry and Dory Funk's wrestling organization in Amarillo, TX, and the two groups continue to book shows to this day under the Southwest Championship Wrestling banner.
BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY
Before I go away for a week or so, I have to say congrats to Mad Pro Wrestling, here in central Ohio. You may remember Mad Pro from my "My Midnight Snack with Pondo" column a few months back. This weekend, they had their two-year anniversary celebration with shows in Columbus and Chillicothe. Here's hoping for more Madness and more Proness for years to come!
