Match #22 Oct. 1983, WCCW, Fabulous Freebirds vs. Kerry & Kevin Von Erich (Country Whipping Match)

The Fabulous Freebirds of Michael Hayes and Terry Gordy taking on the Von Erich's here in a 'Country Whipping' match. The premise of the match is basically both teams have straps and are able to use them inside the ring. That is pretty much the whole match as both teams just whip each other and there are pretty much no wrestling moves used in this contest.

A brawl, pretty much here until Kevin Von Erich is thrown over the top rope causing a disqualification. Both teams keep brawling until the Von Erich's are able to get the advantage and fight off the Freebirds as they scramble to the back.

My Grade: C
A good match if you're wanting to see a brawl, but other than that, not really a match.

Match #21 Aug. 31, 1983, Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling, Harley Race vs. Ric Flair, NWA World Heavyweight Championship

A year after Ric Flair's controversial title win over Kerry Von Erich, Harley Race has won the title also in controversial fashion, and this is the rematch for the ten pounds of gold. This match is more of angle progression due to the finish of the match, but it's a good match here put on by the two, but nothing real special.

Flair had by this time become a babyface after losing the title in shady circumstances, and had the crowd behind him to win back the NWA title. Race had the bounty on Flair as well so he would not have to defend the title against Flair again. These two go back and forth with both men trying to get that slight advantage to get the victory. Flair would almost have the win, having Race in the figure-four, but Bob Orton Jr. and Dick Slater would come out and break it up and try to break Flair's neck. They give him a spiked piledriver as Race looks on in delight. Roddy Piper and Wahoo McDaniel would come out to chase them off and check on Flair.

My Grade: B
A good match, but more used to advance the Flair/Race rivalry.

Match #20 May 23, 1983, Bob Backland vs. Sgt. Slaughter, WWF Championship

Bob Backland is back with his fourth WWF Championship defense on the list against Sgt. Slaughter. The back story to this match, is that Slaughter viciously beat Backland with his riding stick causing this title match.

Backland starts off the match just laying into Slaughter. He throws him into all four corners of the ring, repeatedly. Backland has control for about seven minutes into the match until Slaughter is able to take over. After that the match slows down tremendously and gets sloppy. The fans seem to lose interest as well after being really hot for the first few minutes. The finish would come when Backland would have the crossface chickenwing applied and Slaughter would finally get to the ropes. His manager, The Grand Wizard, would hand him the riding stick and Slaughter would hit Backland in the head with it causing the disqualification. Slaughter would toss the ref out and look to beat Backland again with the stick, but Backland would outsmart Slaughter and get the stick himself. Slaughter would run for the back as the crowd finally comes back for this as Backland tried to get his revenge for the earlier beating.

My Grade: D+
Just not a good match from these two. The drama was there, but they seemed to not capitalize on it.

Match #19 Apr. 12, 1983, Nick Bockwinkel vs. Hulk Hogan, AWA World Heavyweight Championship

'The Incredible' Hulk Hogan takes on AWA Champion, Nick Bockwinkel in another match marred with controversy. A very slow paced match here, as it takes about four minutes just to have a lock up. Hogan pretty much controls the pace of the match, hitting lots of offensive maneuvers that take Bockwinkel down. I would say Hogan is more fluid here in the ring then he would be later on in his career.

Bockwinkel would take back control with a sleeper hold as Hogan has to carry him on his back. Hogan would try to drive Bockwinkel into the corner but the referee would be there as well causing a ref bump. Hogan would dump Bockwinkel over the top rope to get out of the sleeper and wake up the ref. When Bockwinkel would get back into the ring, Hogan would take back control of the match, hitting the leg drop to win the AWA Championship.

Unfortunately, if you look at title histories, you will see that Hulk Hogan did not win the AWA Championship on this date. As a matter of fact, after the match, the AWA President would rule since Hogan dumped Bockwinkel over the top rope, that Hogan would be disqualified, meaning Bockwinkel would retain the title. The fans would be very upset, pelting the ring with garbage. Hogan would then beat up both Bockwinkel and his manager Bobby Heenan and then proclaim that the AWA Championship was the fans title and that he was their champion. A definite precursor to Hulkamania.

My Grade: C+
Not the greatest match, but an interesting finish to say the least.

Match #18 Aug. 24, 1982, World Class Championship Wrestling, Kerry Von Erich vs. Ric Flair, NWA World Heavyweight Championship (2/3 Falls)

As Jim Ross once said, 'you want to talk about controversy', I would say is an appropriate way to describe this encounter. Ric Flair defends the NWA Title against Kerry Von Erich in WCCW. Von Erich is pretty much the 'man' in Texas at this time and these two go to war for the ten pounds of gold.

A pretty back and forth match here as it take about twenty-five minutes to decide the first fall. A ref bump would occur as Von Erich accidentally strikes the referee. A WCCW ref would come down to fill in while the ref was down and Von Erich would get a sleeper hold on Flair. Flair was pretty much out as the ref went to check on him and the bell rings. The original referee had disqualified Von Erich for striking him and crowd goes nuts. They believed that Von Erich should have won the first fall and be up 1-0, but it is Flair who is wins the first fall.


The second fall sees Ric Flair work over Kerry Von Erich's knee. Flair would use every trick he had to try and destroy the knee of Von Erich to snap in the figure-four and try to win this fall. Flair would get the hold, but Von Erich had the where with all to reverse it. Von Erich would gain the advantage by applying the Iron Claw to Flair. Flair would get busted open as a result of the hold and be pinned as well giving fall two to Von Erich.

The third fall would get underway and see both men just laying into each other. Von Erich would get the advantage and just start pummeling Flair. The ref would try to get Von Erich off of Flair but was unable to. As a result, the referee would disqualify both men and making Flair retain the title. Once again the crowd is livid feeling as though Von Erich was screwed out of two falls here. Fritz Von Erich would come down to ringside, Kerry's father, and get into the face of the referee. This would be after Flair and Von Erich would continue brawling after the match was over. Fritz even tried to choke out the ref and fight him as he felt his son had been screwed out of the title as well. A controversial end to a great title match you could definitely say.

My Grade: A+
Great drama and great action here by two of the best.

Match #17 Aug. 18, 1982, Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling, Jack Brisco vs. Ric Flair

Ric Flair is in the midst of his first reign as NWA World Champion here as he takes on former champ, Jack Brisco. This was not the intended match, as Flair refused to wrestle his intended opponent, whose name I did not catch, but due to Wahoo McDaniel coming out and forcing Ric to wrestle or else he would fight him there, Flair wrestles Brisco.

Brisco dominates most of the match here, with Flair not being prepared for this match. Flair tries to cheat, but those efforts are thwarted and to no avail. Flair is able to get in the figure-four late in the match, but it is quickly reversed by Brisco. Brisco would try a figure-four of his own, but Flair was able to get out of it quickly. They exchange a series of near falls, but Brisco is able to execute the backslide on Flair for a three count and the victory.

My Grade: B
A solid match here from two hall of famers.

Match #16 Jan. 16, 1982, Bob Backland vs. Greg 'The Hammer' Valentine, WWF Championship (Steel Cage)

World Wrestling Federation Champion, Bob Backland is back with another title defense inside the steel cage. The hard hitting, Greg Valentine is his opponent tonight, but in unfortunately, another clipped match. I would've like to see this match, as Backland has been really good in his title defenses thus far, proving why he held the title for five years. Backland would end up beating a bloodied Valentine after a piledriver to walk out of the cage and retain the WWF Championship.

My Grade: N/A
Not enough footage.