We start off with Jim Ross in front of the Mid South backdrop introducing The Rock and Roll Express in a music video to Van Halen's "Jump!". Ah, the old 80s music videos where they introduce a team and say to hell with music copyrights. This does feel just like 1999 with the varying level of tracking lines and graininess of the footage. It makes me wonder how much footage will never be released by WWE due to having imperfections with the footage and now suddenly I'm getting myself down. Hopefully they know there is a section of absolute sickos who will watch this no matter what the quality. Doesn't even need to go on WWE Vault, make a new YouTube called "Third Gen Dubs".

After the music video, we cut to a Junkyard Dog promo with Jim Ross. Cornette comes out and cuts off the Junkyard Dog calling him a liar and talking about him putting on a mask, calling himself Stagger Lee, and helping fathead Bill Watts in the Last Stampede. I am just theorizing on this, and again, I never got these types of VHS tapes but when they were popular but I am guessing that these were condensed segments of shows to help people see the hot segments of the show that were sent so people could keep up. Again, just guessing. Condrey and Eaton make the save and attack Junkyard Dog. Butch Reed comes out and while JYD is held down dumps paint on him and starts to paint him until the faces come out to make the save.

JYD lifting Cornette up by the throat.

We jump from Mid South to World Class with Mark Lowrance interviewing Jimmy Garvin. He calls Stella Mae a goofball and crazy and starts calling Sunshine a fat pig. McAdam cuts out the footage from the match so I hope we get to see the match as I cannot recall who Stella Mae French is.

We hear the chords of Badstreet and get a glimpse of Terry Gordy and we are going to get our first match of the disc. The second Kerry Von Erich's music hits, the crowd goes absolutely insane with Kerry, sporting the NWA championship and the David Von Erich memorial jacket, fights his way through the crowd of women trying to kiss him and give him yellow roses. This match is for the NWA Heavyweight Championship. Lowrance says this is Kerry's first title defense and this is definitely a great first match to have. The match starts hot and it is a testament to how good Gordy is that Kerry can move a mile a minute and Gordy can keep up with him. For as much as people complain about the performance and theater of wrestling nowadays, one thing you rarely see and needs to come back are the comically big bumps and drunken staggers from the heels. Let me see Logan Paul do that instead of a no-sell to go into a third finishing move in those neverending sequences. I feel like you didn't often see a concentrated camera shot on the fans in the territory days but during an abdominal stretch on Kerry, they pan to the crowd and see them urging Kerry on and shouting "Go, Kerry, Go!" until he reverses it and locks the Iron Claw onto Gordy's mid-section. I am not an anatomy person so I had to look up what organs were on the right side that Kerry had the hold applied and locked onto Gordy. He was a little too high to be trying to squeeze and pop Gordy's appendix but was just in the right spot to rip at his Lever and Gallblader and potentially part of the Pancreas. If Gordy had a particularly rough night at the bars the previous night then this Iron Claw could have leaked all of the toxins from the alcohol into his blood stream. Now THIS is what I would consider a deadly maneuver. This crowd is not sitting on their hands, they are exploding when Kerry is on offense and willing him on when he is on defense. Gordy is an amazing opponent for him to have in this match as I sit here and watch it now but I feel like based on this crowd, any person could have been across from Kerry and this same reaction would have occurred. Maybe not as loud because Gordy keeps the action flowing but Kerry is a superhero here. Bronko as the referee in this is comical because he is too old to even get to the ground to count the pin or even check the shoulders so he just bows to a knee and hits the mat. They pan to the crowd again and I can't help but laugh realizing that it is actually an identical shot that they just showed previously frame for frame. Someone must have loved this shot and now I begin to wonder if it actually belongs to this match and how many times they used it. Kerry gets the Iron Claw on Gordy and it is looking like it is over but Gordy gets to the rope. Kerry hits an interesting twisting elbow drop that looks like he just destroys Gordy's midsection which gets him a two count. Gordy tries for a small package but can't finish Kerry. Backslide only gets two. Lowrance notes that the backslide is how Kerry got the belt. Gordy gets the Asiatic Spike at the fifteen minute mark and the crowd thinks he is done. They are clearly re-using fan shots in the pans, I do now question if they were also piping fan noise this far back too. There are definitely people in the crowd cheering and jumping up and down but is it really this loud? That crowd shot has thrown me off. Gordy goes to the top for a cross body but Kerry rolls through to get the pin on Gordy. A very fun match but now I'm questioning so much.

Kerrry with a twisting elbow drop.

We get General Akbar at the entrance saying that MONEY TALKS and that Kabuki is with him. We get a great shot and cut of him walking to the ring.

The crowd is going crazy for The Freebirds. Nobody would ever say they were bigger than the Von Erichs in Texas but this reaction even though they are the bad guys (Or maybe tweeners as they battle Devastation Inc.?) show just how their style was getting over. The crowd gets decisively louder when Hayes gets in. The Super Destroyers take over on Hayes but it doesn't last long before Hayes gets the upper hand. Kabuki puts a stop to the momentum attacking Hayes from behind before getting the Super Destroyers bgack in. The Super Destroyers are just playing canon fodder for the faces as any time they start to gain momentum, they are getting cut off even though the heat is on Hayes. It breaks into a donneybrook after Gordy gets in and starts throwing hands at everyone. The referee can't regain control and calls it as Gordy nails everyone before the rest of the teams get in and they send Devastation Inc., specifically The Super Destroyers, to the back before the rest follow suit.

The Freebirds and Khan getting the upper hand.

We get a World Class music video showing Fritz leaving the ring followed by a Kerry montage working out, riding a horse looking like something straight out of Tarzan, and then beating up Ric Flair and taking the title. This is followed by an empty arena interview with Lowrance and Kerry. Kerry is just so bad on the microphone, it is no surprise that his reign didn't last longer.

Kerry exiting the woods looking like something out of Tarzan. Both feet two! I think.

They emphasize that this is a non-title match. The rematch from Texas Stadium. The pacing of this match is much different than the pace of Kerry and Gordy. Flair works Kerry down to the ground but gets reversed into a hammerlock by Kerry. They lock up again and Flair gets the better of Kerry until Kerry rolls through on a wristlock and hits a dropkick. I have to imagine that Flair is dictating the pace and where they are going as he will show off that he is the better wrestler but then allow Kerry to hit a big move that pops the crowd and gets the better of Flair. It isn't until Flair manages to get hold of Kerry and slam him into the corner that Flair takes the opportunity to unload punches to Kerry's forehead and then throws Kerry hard to the outside where he splats that Flair gets the opportunity to take over. To Kerry's credit, he takes a monster spill to the outside for Flair. Kerry tries to fight back but Flair is answering everything and you get the sense that Kerry is a bit loopy from the spill to the outside. Kerry manages to get a sleeper on Flair but Flair manages to get to the side of Kerry and hits a kneebreaker on Kerry. Bronko again with this kneeling count. Kerry blocks the Figure Four with an Iron Claw. Flair is never staying on top of Kerry for too long before letting Kerry work back to the excitement of the crowd. They play back to the Texas Stadium finish with Kerry getting the backslide but it only gets a two. Flair got back after the leg again after luring Kerry in towards the ropes and throating him on the top rope. He delivers kicks to the leg which Kerry starts selling and then locks in the figure four. Even this doesn't last too long though as Kerry reverses the Figure Four and then both guys get up limping. Both guys are so evenly matched in this that when Kerry gets the abdominal stretch you don't think much of it. Suddenly Kerry rolls back into a pin and wins! I did not see that one coming and I think my mind is so trained that when they call out non-title match, you figure Flair is either going to win or some chicanery is going to happen to set up a future match but we get the clean finish. After the fact though, Flair is irate and attacks Kerry but even this ends with Kerry hitting Flair with the discus punch and getting ejected. This is definitely a stamp of approval on Kerry as the NWA Champion in Dallas.

Kerry and Flair exchange punches with Kerry getting the better before we get the classic Flair flop.

Hayes enters to Badstreet and again looking at the crowd, they love him! Some past but no kisses for Kevin. I would dare say that the reaction for Hayes is on part with Kevin in this. The actual introductions sees boos for Hayes and cheers for Kevin but now when I see the identical crowd shots from earlier, I'm questioning how truthful these reactions actually were. Hayes takes some shots to the stomach from Kevin and bails. Kevin has such a great dropkick. Kevin just catching Hayes' punch while in the side headlock just looks so weird. Kevin has such explosiveness in the ring. We get a crowd shot of young girls chanting "Go, Kevin, Go!" and I wonder how many more times we will see that in this match. Hayes blocks the Iron Claw and I enjoy the struggle the two have before Kevin locks in the Abdominal Claw on the left side which, according to anatomy, which is going to be... your intestines? Where is Gorilla Monsoon when I need him. This match gets better when Hayes and Kevin decide to throw some back and forth strikes. Kevin gets Hayes in a sleeper hold with a body scissors and I actually like this because I question how he will get out. Hayes gets turned around to break the sleeper but gets stuck in the body scissors. In modern terms, he is stuck in Kevin's guard and when he tries to hit Kevin, Kevin squeezes the body scissors and temporarily paralyzes Hayes in pain. Hayes finally musters the strength to punch Kevin and break the hold. Hayes throws Kevin out of the ring directly in front of the camera man to knock him loopy. Hayes goes to the outside with such a cocky smirk on his face he shoots to the crowd as he climbs to the top rope. As he starts to come off the top rope, Kevin springs to his feet and catches him with the Iron Claw which leads to Gordy coming out but also getting the Claw. Khan enters and they overwhelm Kevin with Khan locking on the Asiatic Spike to Kevin. The face locker room clears to get the Freebirds and Khan out of the ring. Kevin is bleeding from the mouth from the spike and when he comes to starts to go beserk, kicking at the faces and trying to get to his feet. Kerry is in Japan defending his title and is presumably going to be pissed when he gets back.

Michael Hayes trying to escape guard and paralyzed in pain.

The starts in progress. This Stagger Lee is Koko Ware, not to be confused with the Stagger Lee of JYD from the beginning of the tape. Lee comes off the top rope behind the refs back with a taped fist down onto Rich which bloodies him. The camera work is decidedly different going from World Class to Memphis as some of the best shots are blocked by the referees ass. And what a great way to introduce Memphis on this tape with them brawling into the concesssion stand. I guess this was McAdam's way of saying "sure, this was a match but check out the Concession Stand Brawl" which I appreciate. The New Fabulous Ones beat the Pretty Young Things into the men's restroom to end the segment.

Stagger Lee and Tommy Rich throwing some haymakers next to the Concession Stand.

Eddie Marlin sends word that Jimmy Hart is being fined $1,000 for sending Lord Humongous into the ring during the brawl between The Fabulous Ones and Pretty Young Things. Hart pays it and tells Marlin to buy his mom something for Mother's Day with it. Jimmy then introduces his Vice President of the First Family and his bodyguard Jim Neidhart. Neidhart is pissed that Hart let Humongous protect him so says he is going out on his own. Neidhart is so fun on the mic. He then brings out his own group that he is introducing like a football team with Ox Baker, PYT, the gigantic Kareem Muhammad from the Zambuie Express, and Rick freaking Rude with Angel. It is noticeable that they had Humongous up on the stage to make him look bigger than he is. Humongous is still big but when he steps down and is next to Rude and Kareem, is not as imposing. But it doesn't matter because Humongous joins them as well. So in one fell swoop, the First Family becomes Neidhart's Raiders.

Neidhart converting the First Family to the Raiders.

Another segment with Jimmy Hart in it where Jimmy questions if Neidhart was smart enough to get Neidhart to turn on him or if Tommy Marlin and Jerry Lawler orchestrated the whole thing. Hart says he is rebuilding his stable as he has been traveling around the country and even into Puerto Rico to find his next star. He claims he found someone in Georgia that he will be bringing in to take down Lawler. The next segment is Lawler replying to Hart. We got a small glimpse of King Kong Bundy but it didn't make clear that Bundy was the guy. Unsure if this was Memphis' fault or if McAdams just cut off the segment but Lawler notes he will be battling Bundy with Hart in his corner. He then proceeds to make a number of fat jokes and Lance sends us away.

Where are we sent? To Mid-Atlantic. Gordon is interviewing Adrian Street with Miss Linda before they get interrupted by The Boogie Woogie Man Jimmy Valient who claims that Miss Linda needs a real man and not Boy George. He gives Linda flowers and candy and gives her a big kiss which she thanks him for. We get another Street segment again interrupted by Valient. Street challenges Valient to a duel and when Valient goes to accept, Street cold cocks him. Street then dumps out rocks showing that the white glove for the duel was loaded. Linda then paints up Valient's face with Street saying if Valient wants to act like a clown then they will treat him like one.

Valient says he has six old ladies and wants Miss Linda to be number seven.

Back to Memphis and we are in the Mid-South Coliseum for a falls count anywhere match with The Fabulous Ones and the PYT Express. The referee stops Lee from using a chair which is weird in a Falls Count Anywhere. When Lee breaks up the fall, Gilbert dives down onto him and they take out the ref. The ref is trying to restore order... In a falls count anywhere match. This is the weirdest falls count anywhere match because the referee expects the men who haven't been tagged into the match to just stand on the apron while the legal men fight on the outside of the ring. I'm trying to follow this match but I just can't get over the way it is being operated. Can the two legal men leave the Mid South Coliseum and the referee just expects the other two competitors to be sitting there in their respective corners waiting to hear back if the match is over? Stagger Lee stabs Gilbert in the throat with a stick and Rich is irate about the illegal tactic and the referee focuses on trying to get him back into his corner. In a falls count anywhere match. I know, I'm sorry but this is so foreign to me that there are so many rules in a falls count anywhere match. We get a hot tag to Tommy Rich... In a falls count anywhere match. Okay, I'm done. This breaks out into the donnybrook we were expecting it to be. All four men are now brawling through the building and the referee is done trying to restore order which he should have just done in the first place. Rich and Austin are fighting on the concert stage which looks pretty impressive. Rich backdrops Lee onto the stage. Gilbert and Stagger Lee are fighting up into the stands. Jerry Calhoun is trying to restore order and wants Austin to stop choking Rich but Austin lays out Calhoun. This leads to a disqualification.. In a... Nah, you get the point. The fight on the stage is really fun but wow was this dumb.

Falls Count Anywhere but apparently so do DQs?

Austin Idol is jawjacking with Angelo Poffo and Savage attacks from behind, hitting Idol with a flag. Savage is amped up, throwing Idol in and out of the ring and laying in strikes. Savage's punches are such a guilty pleasure for me. They don't look amazing and I think is what people point to as fake but every worked punch I've thrown since I was 5 looked exactly like Randy Savage's foot stomp and all. Savage is like a live wire in this match. Idol gets no offense for the first part of this match and you have no idea what he is going to do. Idol's offense comes out of desparation but Savage doesn't stay down. Savage gets Idol back up and starts laying in punches but Idol starts absorbing them and then starts throwing punches of his own. It is like watching Savage Vs. Hogan years before it happens with the exception that Idol sells a lot more for Savage at the beginning than Hogan would. Idol also applies the figure four better than Hogan. Poffo on crutches attempts to get into the ring but is unable to. Savage gives up to the Figure Four and Austin Idol becomes the new International Champion. This match was fun but could have used more time. Still always fun to see a younger Randy Savage pre-WWF.

Savage dives out onto Idol.

We join an interview with The New Generation that gets interrupted by Jimmy Hart offering his services to the young team. Lance tells them to trash the card as they walk away. Russell says that Hart was saying he was bringing in King Kong Bundy to beat up Jerry Lawler but announces that Bundy was defeated by Lawler. They then show a portion of the match starting with Bundy having the upper hand on the King. Lawler dodges a splash in the corner and the strap comes down. A number of strikes later but he can't get Lawler down. Lawler hits the ropes for a dropkick and gets Bundy off his feet. A fist drop looks to end the match but Bundy throws him off of him at two and send him outside. Hart distracts the referee but Bundy in an attempt to get Lawler back in the ring ends up eating a chair shot. Hart immediately moves away from Bundy and says his services are now open to anyone and everyone including old stablemates Dutch Mantell and Austin Idol. He then claims that Lawler and Neidhart are conspiring against him.

Lawler uses a chair to beat King Kong Bundy.

That leads us to the end of this first disc. We will catch up on Disc 2 next time along with the backlog of other things I still have to get throw including the All In Road Report, a local lucha road report coming up, and I hope this doesn't get delayed up until the point of my other future trips to Cena's Last Match, WrestleKingdom and potentially the ROYAL RUMBLE!

$+$+$+$+$+$+$+$$+$+$+$+$+$+$+$$+$+$+$+$

RESPECT TO THE DEATH VALLEY PLAYAZ~!

Back to Main Page