Tracking the Territories 1984- Volume Three

by Liam Byrne

  Solie and Colt spend some more time talking about how dynamic and dangerous Scott McGhee is, before we are shown footage from a couple of weeks ago that sees Pez Whatley use a three quarter nelson into a cradle to roll up Black Bart for the three count. As Bart kicks off at ringside about getting defeated, Whatley effectively restarts the match, saying he will do it again. The second match begins with Whatley telegraphing a back body drop with a big knee of his own, before nailing a flying headbutt/body attack for a clear three count. With Bass and Bart on their way to Mid-Atlantic, they are doing the job much more so than usual.

  After a brief segment in which Billy Jack is accompanied by a small girl to talk about the missing children pleas that the company run weekly on the show, The Hollywood Blonds are accompanied to the ring by Oliver Humperdink as they take on the Breakdancer and Tommy Wright. Clearly, Florida have already given up on a push for the Breakdancers as a collective, though he does start the match with a leapfrog and two quick armdrags, a sequence of moves repeated by Wright on the other Blonde. It takes an eye rake to initially slow down Wright, though he takes Blonde #2 (Solie’s words, not mine) down to the canvas with another armdrag. The Breakdancer doesn’t even hit the rope after a duck down by the Blonde in an awkward spot that ends with a knee to the face.

  Again, the Blonds try and bend the rules with an illegal forearm off of the apron, but they can’t maintain any control. Wright is firing up with punches and dropkick for both Blonds, only to miss a dropkick and hit the mat hard. A top rope clothesline/back suplex combination is enough for the Blonds to pick up the victory. As a team, the Blonds don’t have the offense to make them interesting, as their whole schtick is just showing ass for the face team; not the most conducive set up for an interesting squash match as it relies too heavily on jobber teams to lead offensively, something many are not particularly good at.

  It can be odd watching Florida as the same people come out for both local promotional segments and legitimate in studio segments, without either necessarily linking or having any relevance to each other. We have the One Man Gang back with Blackjack Mulligan, this time focusing on Oliver Humperdink signing a contract for a tag team match with Humperdink and the Saint. Gang has his chance, as have a lot of people across the various wrestling shows, to laud the Olympic athletes at the moment, even though it has no real relevance to his promo. Gang introduces footage of Billy Graham and Ron Bass beating him up; the very attack that allowed Gang to see the light. Before he left the group, Gang talked about cutting the evil with a knife. Mulligan has his chance to talk at the end, telling Sullivan that eventually everyone will defect from him, leaving him with nothing.

  The last match of the night is the Saint versus John King and King actually gets an early one count with a back body drop, only to get dumped hard with a back suplex to turn the tide immediately. King does manage to use a small package to earn himself a two count out of nowhere, but a slam and a headbutt has the Saint picking up a nearfall. Colt is talking to Oliver Humperdink at ringside and asks if the Saint is from Cuba, something Humperdink refuses to answer. A kneedrop is only enough for a two count for the Saint, whilst King hits a roll up out of the corner for another close fall. Two dropkicks have King seemingly in control, but the Saint telegraphs a back body drop and hits his swinging neckbreaker for the win.

  Just before the show closes out, Kevin Sullivan comes out to the commentary booth to tell Blackjack Mulligan and Pez Whatley (for some reason) that he is not scared of them and has the power to beat them.

  Due to the way wrestling television works in this time period, with myriad squashes and interview segments, it often only takes a decent match to make them watchable. McGhee versus Bass was a really good contest that built nicely on the much shorter match from before and carried this show singlehandedly, especially with nothing else being particularly egregious.

  MACW World Wide Wrestling 18.8.84

  Brian Adidis and Kurt Von Hess open up the show for us this week as we head straight into the action with an Adidis armbar. A shoulderblock, leapfrog, flying headscissors and armdrag show off Adidis’ aerial and technical chops. Von Hess tries to use two drop downs to confuse Adidis, but a bodyslam and second armdrag take the match back down to the canvas. The armdrag is a reliable offensive manoeuvre for Adidis as he again uses it to halt a brief Von Hess comeback, and then again after the two men tease a test of strength. An airplane spin is enough for the victory in a perfectly acceptable match to showcase Adidis’ work in the ring.

  Paul Jones and JJ Dillon are alongside David Crockett, with Dillon decked out in his wrestling gear. Jones mentions the bad blood that the two men have apparently had for each other, with him saying it is only due to them being in separate places and their attempts to monopolise the greatest wrestling talents seeing themselves pulling away from each other. Dillon’s words are somewhat different, as he speaks about how Jimmy Valiant has become a thorn in the side of Jones, so Dillon dropped all of his business elsewhere to come and support his friend.

  Angelo Mosca Jr. is next in the ring as he meets Doug Vines, with the Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Champion refusing an early handshake. Vines attempts a cheapshot out of a clean break, but Mosca Jr. fires back with a punch, a dropkick and a bodyslam. Vines does catch Mosca Jr. with a back elbow and several turnbuckle smashes, only for Mosca Jr. to reverse an arm wringer into one of his own. Mosca Jr. once again has to fight his way back into the contest after getting trapped in the corner, yet he slows the contest down with a side headlock takedown. A handful of hair helps Vines win a battle over a top wristlock, though his control is brief as an armdrag allows Mosca Jr. to work the arm.

  Similar to Adidis in the first match, Mosca Jr. is reliant on the armdrag and armbar combination, using it after Vines misses an elbowdrop. Vines is being somewhat competitive and rocks Mosca Jr. in the corner with a punch, but Mosca Jr. reverse a suplex and lands a crossbody off of the top for the three count. I’ve seen worse matches, but Mosca Jr.’s matches are always let down by his lack of exciting offense outside of the top rope crossbody.

  After shilling for a show at the Roanoke Civic Center that sees Don Kernodle and Ivan Koloff talk about a two out of three falls, no disqualification match against the Youngbloods for the NWA World Heavyweight Tag Titles, we cut back to ‘The Awesome Twosome’, Tully Blanchard and Wahoo McDaniel, though Blanchard has a word to say to Crockett as he dubs them the ‘Gruesome Twosome’. We are shown footage once again of Wahoo McDaniel interfering in a match with Blanchard against Dusty Rhodes before the American Dream gets planted with a piledriver, as well as Blanchard saving McDaniel after a match with Ric Flair and nailing him with a spike piledriver. As often is the case, the Awesome Twosome’s words work so much better as they have complete courage in their conviction that they’ve been cheated out of titles and decisions. McDaniel pretty much calls Flair a coward for seeking help from Blackjack Mulligan, though he warns Mulligan to think long and hard before getting into his business.

  Adidis, Mosca Jr. and now Rufus R. Jones…the calibre of wrestler being showcased isn’t exactly improving as the show goes on. Jones is taking on Gary Royal this week and he is juking and jiving early after avoiding multiple attempts to lock up. A punch to the stomach, a turnbuckle smash and an elbow to the forehead see Jones in control, whilst an attempted dropdown by Royal fails as Jones comes crashing down with a splash. Jones lands a headbutt to the small of the back and an atomic drop, but Royal does at least try and fight back with several punches. He isn’t able to snapmare Jones though, and Jones regains control with an arm wringer.

  Royal does manage to shake Jones with some punches, only to make the mistake of trying to use a turnbuckle smash. Jones shrugs it off, but rather than firing up, he gets a one count off of a body slam and locks on an arm wringer once more. Royal misses a second rope crossbody off of an Irish whip into the corner and Jones hits him with the Freight Train shoulderblocks and headbutt for a win. Jones should never be in a match that goes longer than a
few minutes as he really is all schtick and no substance.

  Paul Jones is back for more words with Crockett, though this time he is with the Assassin who has both of his hands taped this time. Jones mentions how people are worried about the registry, the taped fists and Valiant’s health, before the Assassin growls down the microphone about the names for his fists (Cannibal and Animal) and how they tell him they’re hungry. It skirts the line between being intense and ludicrous, but just about manages to keep on the right side all in all as the Assassin claims that he has never hated a man like he hates Jimmy Valiant.

  Outside of the odd novelty match, I hadn’t realised that JJ Dillon still wrestled during this time period, but the next match sees the manager up against Sam Houston. Houston manages to control Dillon in the early going with a side headlock, with the use of the turnbuckle to help him take the match down to the canvas. Houston keeps the side headlock on for a while, but there is no clean break in the ropes by Dillon as he uses a shoulderblock to the stomach to turn the tide of the contest. Stomps and kicks lead to a brief chinlock before more punches to the face. However, Dillon misses a dropkick, allowing Houston to hit a bodyslam and a dropkick, yet just as it looks like he is firing up, a missed knee in the corner lets Dillon hit a slam and an elbowdrop for the win. There is really no point in Dillon being in the ring at this moment and I feel sorry for Houston taking the pinfall loss.

  Ric Flair is in the building and joins Crockett. Flair begins by talking up the quality of the region, before turning his attention to Wahoo McDaniel. Not wanting to take away from McDaniel’s qualities over the years, Flair questions his decision to join up with Tully Blanchard. We then see the exact same video we saw the week before when Flair was talking to Bob Caudle, in which Mulligan accepts Flair’s offer to return to the area. Unlike last time, Flair doesn’t go into bug-eyed Nature Boy mode, but he does look incredibly satisfied with himself as we cut back for one last pop at Blanchard before he leaves. It feels like a bit of a waste to have the same video played two weeks in a row, especially when you have the NWA World Heavyweight Champion in the house ready, willing and able to do promos.

  Following a commercial break, Crockett introduces a video from Florida with Barry Windham wiping out a jobber in less than a minute with a jumping lariat. The push is now on for both Windham and Mike Rotunda, as he is also coming into the territory and we get footage of him from Florida. The focus on Rotunda’s footage is all about the quality of his ability on the mat as he primarily grapples with a jobber before winning with the airplane spin, though it does make him look like a lesser prospect than Windham.

  After some more shilling which sees Johnny Weaver and Rufus R. Jones talk about a match against the Long Riders before the Youngbloods promote their challenge for the NWA World Heavyweight Tag Titles, Wahoo McDaniel takes on Keith Larsen. Tully Blanchard is on commentary and instantly chews Crockett out for dubbing McDaniel one of the best ‘Indian athletes’. A waistlock takedown by McDaniel sees him unable to keep Larsen down, but some strikes rather than a clean break allow the Chief to slap on a chinlock, one that is maintained after a handful of hair. McDaniel is happy to break the rules, going to the eyes before an elbowdrop leads to a neck crank.

  As it looks like Larsen might be firing up for a comeback, McDaniel uses a handful of tights to send Larsen to the ringside floor. The two men trade strikes initially, only for McDaniel to post Larsen and head back into the ring. Strikes and a wristlock allow McDaniel to keep Larsen grounded, and a turnbuckle smash halts a brief Larsen comeback. A big chop off of the Irish whip and a slingshot suplex earn McDaniel the win, though Larsen kicks out just after three in a move that shows gumption considering McDaniel’s well known legitimate tough guy status backstage.

  When the first four of five matches showcase Adidis, Mosca Jr., Jones and Dillon, you can assume this show isn’t up there with the best of them. Whilst McDaniel and Blanchard are still doing their best to make things watchable, you can’t do wonders with such a poor supporting cast.

  World Class Championship Wrestling 18.8.84

  Bill Mercer is with us for another week of World Class Championship Wrestling and this time, he is probably right to be excited by the main event as Killer Khan meets Terry Gordy. Mike Von Erich will also fight ‘Wild’ Bill Irwin, but we are to begin with an Encore match as Kerry Von Erich takes on Gino Hernandez.

  We join the Von Erich versus Hernandez match in progress. Here is what I had to say about the match from when it is joined:

  Hernandez tries to head to the top but is caught with a slam, with Kerry then using a more orthodox press slam to dump Hernandez on the canvas. A stalling suplex earns Von Erich a two count, but Hernandez blocks a big splash with his knees to halt Kerry’s momentum. Hernandez sends Von Erich face first into the turnbuckle and then through the middle ropes before indulging in some more posing in the center of the ring. Von Erich stalks the outside as Hernandez does his best to keep his opponent at bay, but a slingshot splash after some brawling in the ropes again sees Von Erich collide with his opponent’s knees.

  Seeking to put the match to bed, Hernandez goes for his top rope back elbowdrop, only to miss completely. Von Erich is fired up, punching Hernandez in the face several times and sending him up over the ropes with an Irish whip into the corner. A charging Kerry ends up taking out David Manning by mistake, allowing Hernandez to pull out a foreign object. Kerry initially avoids it, but a punch from Hernandez is enough to keep Von Erich down for the three count. A really fun match that kept Hernandez strong whilst giving the fans a reason to continue to dislike him. There are few wrestlers in the country right now who are more unlikeable than Gino Hernandez.

  It feels like a bit of an odd match to showcase in this situation, especially considering Mike Von Erich won the NWA American Heavyweight Championship the previous week.

  In a moment that is incredibly corny, Mercer mentions how we are going to take a moment out for something artistic: a musical montage. There isn’t much rhyme or reason to this outside of showcasing various members of the roster in action, alongside shots of fans having some fun. Oddly, they choose to highlight some wrestlers who aren’t on their roster anymore, such as King Kong Bundy and Kamala. Take it this way – it isn’t a Joel Watts’ production.

  A wrestler I had enjoyed seeing but has fallen off of a cliff somewhat in terms of showcasing on World Class television, Kelly Kiniski, is up next against Skip Young. Kiniski has somewhat fallen by the wayside with the continued Von Erich/Freebirds/Devastation Inc. feuding, which is a shame as he has been a good heel foil so far. Young rolls forward as soon as the bell rings to leave Kiniski backing up into the ropes, whilst a charge by Kiniski then sees Young spring over the top of him. They try to repeat that spot, only for Kiniski to clip the legs by mistake and to pretty much send Young crashing head first to the canvas. Young doesn’t seem adversely effected by it, landing two quick armdrags and a dropkick that send Kiniski to the outside.

  Young regains control as Kiniski comes back in, taking the match to the canvas with a side headlock. Kiniski does manage to turn it into a top wristlock battle and even seems to be winning it, only for Young to power back and drop Kiniski to the canvas. Two leapfrogs followed by a crossbody earn Young a two and he is straight back to the side headlock. The athletic assault of Young costs him eventually as a jumping attack is caught by Kiniski, with Young getting dumped stomach first across the top rope. This gives Kiniski a chance to take advantage, hitting a neckbreaker and a kneedrop for a two count of his own. His weardown hold of choice is a rear chinlock, which is punctuated by a side kick, a body slam and a snapmare as he applies it three times over a period of time.

  Kiniski makes the poor decision to try and turnbuckle smash a black wrestler in 1984, with Young taking the opportunity to work Kiniski over with a headbutt and some punches in the corner. A floatover allows Young to avoid an onrushing Kiniski and back drop him coming out of the corner, all a set up for a second rope dropkick for the finish. Kini
ski kicks out at 3.1, which I usually hate, but I’d rather have Kiniski winning personally. Before the dust has settled, The PYT Express are in the ring, with Koko Ware dubbing Young an ‘Uncle Tom’. Young does get back into the ring, but it is a foolish choice as he gets beaten down by both Ware and Norvell Austin. The match itself wasn’t anything special, whilst there are suggestions the Express has a history with Young, but nothing is made particularly clear about what it is, which doesn’t help.

  Before Mike Von Erich takes on ‘Wild’ Bill Irwin, Gino Hernandez steps into the ring to confront Von Erich, promising that he will do whatever it takes to regain the American Heavyweight Title. After Irwin has been announced, Von Erich grabs the microphone, and even with the few words he utters before getting jumped, it is clear he should never be allowed near a microphone. Irwin isn’t able to keep Von Erich down for long though, as he misses a charge into the corner and Von Erich takes him down to the canvas with a side headlock takedown. Irwin does land a chop to the chest and a knee to the head, but once again, a side headlock takedown allows Von Erich to slow things down and regain his senses.

  Irwin brings the match back to standing and into the ropes, but whatever control he gains by hitting a knee on a charging Von Erich is lost when he misses a splash off of the second rope. A standing side headlock by Von Erich seems to be the go to move by Von Erich, but it does allow us to see a fracas at ringside as Skandor Akbar and Scott Irwin leave the ringside for some unconfirmed reason. Irwin fights his way out of the headlock, lands a gutwrench suplex and a kneedrop for a two, before a press slam off of an Irish whip sees Von Erich slide out of the back and roll-up Irwin for a two. A rear chinlock keeps Von Erich down initially, but as he seeks to gain momentum with some elbows and a charge at Irwin, the heel moves out of the way and throws Von Erich through the middle rope. The two men end up trading strikes, which Von Erich wins, but as he looks to push for a finish, David Manning enters the ring and stops the match!