Ft. Worth 1979

We have now entered the VHS dub era as the DVD starts off partway through the first match and with tracking lines. We are so spoiled by modern technology and the masters of these shows being released from every facet of the wrestling industry. I remember struggling through fourth gen copies of the first Super J Cup and now dozens of pristine copies exist at the click of the button. In less than ten seconds the commentator mentions the Von Erichs and worrying about the future of David Von Erich so we are clearly watching World Class.

With the video and audio, it takes me a minute to figure out who is in the ring with Les Thornton. Once I see the mask, it helps narrow it down and I determine it is El Halcon. Cagematch says they wrestled on September 20th, 1979 from the Sportatorium but this is from the Will Rogers arena. Thornton is getting outworked in the technical wrestling by Halcon as Halcon has an immediate counter for everything. I assume Hechicero watched this match before facing off with Zack Sabre Jr for the first time assuming this would go the same way and became sorely mistaken the first time he was football punted and called a dickhead in the match. This match is really good about having a quick flurry of exchanges to ramp the crowd up and then move into a submission before repeating that process. It doesn't really drag and has you anticipating what will happen next. The last thirty seconds of this goes to black and I only have audio which is disappointing because this was so good leading towards the finish and you could tell that they were in a flurry. This was really fun, I loved the pacing of this and these two had such amazing exchanges.

These exchanges are so smooth yet still feel like such a struggle.

He is a Mad Dog and not a Killer yet. Kevin has boots on I think based on the blurry video so needless to say, I imagine he will feel restricted. I wonder if this will be like when Fatu was forced to wear boots by Captain Lou and couldn't figure out how to fly off the top rope. Brooks knows the job as he flies around the ring of Kevin's offense. Brooks made Kevin look like the world killer in this as even when Brooks is on top, Kevin is constantly fighting from the bottom with the spotlight on him. Kevin can't get the job done with the Claw but gets Brooks in a body scissors which gets him the victory.

The boots didn't stop him from shining.

We get a David and Fritz Von Erich interview. They hype up the airing of David getting a pin on Harley and then go to a commerical.

This is interesting that we are getting a handicapped match. The match starts off with a pretty interesting interaction where the commentator speculates that Fritz Von Erich had never been the NWA Heavyweight Champion and wants to start and potentially prove that he is still a contender. Interesting thought. Fritz changes his mind and lets David start though. It is also interesting that instead of being on the ring apron, Fritz has a chair at ringside. Apparently this is less a handicapped match and more a gauntlet for Race having to beat both but one at a time. For how over the Von Erichs were in Dallas, it definitely makes every other crowd they wrestle in front of outside of Texas seem subdued in comparison. The match is all David for the first five minutes working a long side headlock on the ground. Harley really gave David a lot in this match and wanted to make him look like a star. Did he have a portion of St. Louis at this point? I feel like he did. Harley was so great at identifying talent and attempting to build them. Race takes over at the halfway point and the mood completely shifts. There is a great spot where Race goes for the diving headbutt and gets caught in the IRON CLAW~! The claw is apparently so powerful that he is squeezing blood out of Race's head. And the claw manages to finish off the NWA Champion! If this was the 2000s, there would be a built-in future feud between David and Fritz after David wins the title but unfortunately none of this came to be. Nevertheless, a fun match that could have built up to so much more. It also just shows how slow these builds were to put a title on someone as it seemed like there were future plans for a run all the way back in 79 but David wouldn't even win the Missouri title until 83.

Race taking a back body drop on what you could consider mats outside.

Two out of three falls for this one. It is weird that Murdoch wants to be the one to have a clean wrestling match but Sullivan ain't having any of it. Finally after teasing it, Murdoch throws a stiff shot at Sullivan to let him know they can both play at that. But then Murdoch tries to go back to mostly straight wrestling but then gets punched in the throat by Sullivan. I don't think I've ever seen Murdoch do a leap frog as high as he did here and after a back elbow and then a bombs away elbow drop takes the first fall. The second fall is when Murdoch really comes out and his elbows and punches just look so good. Two falls would be all that Murdoch needs though as he would get the pin after a stalling suplex of all things.

Wasn't expecting Murdoch to get up for this but wow!

Dusek just looks like a star here, talk about aura. This here is a working Dusek, no real relation to Joe but the son of Wally who was trained by one of the biggest badasses to ever exist in John Pesek so lets see if any of that rubs off on Frank second hand. Dusek lets Burns have most of the match and they spend a great portion of it with Burns working Dusek's arm. I can't tell if this DVD is just a compilation of 79 Fort Worth tapings or just matches save for posterity. This match is the beginning of an episode so I'm guessing the latter but wow, this is just slow and plodding. Burns went for a flying mare and Dusek just face plants with it instead of rolling through. I mean this with the utmost sincerity when I ask if this was just an off night for Dusek or was he the shits? I can't judge him off this one match but yeesh was this a miss. He gets the win but he looked lost and confused here.

Definitely not the level of back body drop Race gave.

I'm starting to notice a pattern here with who the younger Von Erichs are getting paired up with. Kerry, as always, looks jacked. This starts off a lot slower than with Kevin as they trade headlocks. Kery is definitely not as coordinated as Kevin. This has to be early in Kerry's career because he is not as polished as he would later be and I think is discovering what works for him (like power moves) and what doesn't (like moves requiring coordination). This crowd absolutely loves him though and in the late 70s that is all that matters. Kerry loves the dropkick as he throws over half a dozen during the match. This interestingly goes to a time limit draw with Kerry finishing up on top like he was close to winning.

A young Kerry figuring out his wrestling moveset.

Another two out of three falls match. Tor immediately starts the match choking Tiger with the microphone cable. The crowd is chirping for this match. It starts hot and heavy and then slows down with Kamata locking in a submission on Tiger. Conway is great when we has some energy behind him and Kamata is great in his role here. I have been watching this in pieces so the one hard part about going from current wrestling back to 1979 is the pacing of the match. There are better crowd reactions here but everything just feels so spaced out and less high impact. It isn't a bad thing but takes a second to remember you are watcihng a different era. Kamata does dastardly tactics and then bows to Conway. It gets even better when Conway counters and provides the bow right back. Conway leads Kamata with slaps to his head to instigate Kamata to come at him and when Kamata finally does, Conway hits him with armdrags which is honestly a great sequence. Kamata after realizing he has been outflanked gives a smile and backs away. It is just such a fun little "Oh, I fucked up" moment that allows Kamata to regroup but makes Kamata portray the character of a foreigner who doesn't understand. Once he starts getting really rough with Conway and the ref tries to extracate the two from the ropes, Kamata gives a bow before returning to the violence to act like he doesn't understand but he clearly understands and wants to inflict damage on Conway. And now I am so upset as the DVD cuts off the rest of this match and I'm left to wonder if the evil Tor Kamata managed to get the win on Conway or if the flashy and charismatic Tiger Conway Jr. managed to best old Tor to get the victory. I guess I'll have to find it on YouTube which means this match which felt slow at first pulled me in and did its job.

The way that Tiger Conway Jr. suckered Tor Kamata into this is great. The response from Kamata after being suckered is also brilliant.

There is a second disc to this that starts out with chiseled from absolute stone Reggie Parks and Frank Dusek but since I am struggling to get these out weekly as it is, lets catch up on that next. Tallyho?!

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RESPECT TO THE DEATH VALLEY PLAYAZ~!

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