Tracking the Territories 1984- Volume Three

by Liam Byrne

  World Class Championship Wrestling 1.9.84

  Bill Mercer spends the opening segment of the show trying to subsequently avoid (in the case of Gino Hernandez) and overuse (in the case of Kevin Von Erich and Chris Adams) the word ‘handsome’. The main event will see Von Erich meet with Hernandez, whilst we are also promised action with Skip Young and the Pretty Young Things. With their imminent arrival in the WWF, the Fabulous Freebirds are conspicuous by their absence.

  It is ‘Handsome’ Chris Adams (Mercer’s words, not mine) up first with a match against George Weingeroff. Gary Hart is notably at ringside as he is scanning the action for some new talent to guide to the top. A handshake suggests the spirit with which this match will be conducted, with Adams getting an early one count off of a crossbody and controlling Weingeroff with a side headlock. However, Weingeroff is no slouch as he grabs a rollup for a one count of his own, whilst utilising a headscissors to keep Adams grounded. Adams go to move is the side headlock, allowing him to halt Weingeroff’s momentum and slow the match down. A succession of slams by Adams leads to two drop downs by Weingeroff as the Brit hits the ropes and a crossbody block that sends both men over the top rope.

  This move allows Weingeroff to take control, almost grabbing an upset with a small package and continuing to pressurise Adams with a suplex. As Adams goes for a suplex of his own, Weingeroff blocks it, only for Adams to slip out the back and use a schoolboy roll-up for a three count. A pedestrian beginning gave way to a decent enough finishing stretch, but nothing to really shout about.

  Mike Galleger has the unfortunate task of taking on Killer Khan in the following contest, with the action going exactly how you might expect. Khan shrugs off Galleger’s strike attempts and uses his own blows, stomps and chokes to manhandle his opponent. Galleger attempts a dropkick, but it has no effect on Khan. A backbreaker sees Khan take Galleger across the ring, placing him in position for the second rope kneedrop which earns him the victory. Pure dominance.

  After a commercial break, we join Gino Hernandez with Mercer at ringside, with some harsh words for Stella Mae French especially as she apparently cost him a match against Ric Flair alongside the other distractions she has caused for the ‘Handsome Halfbreed’. Hernandez is great as the paranoid heel, with his promise to French being that he will have the last laugh in the end.

  In a match that does feel a little bit too much like ‘put all the black wrestlers into one contest’, Skip Young teams with Iceman King Parsons against the Pretty Young Things. Austin and Young begin the contest and Young has the crowd on their feet after a monkey flip to Austin is followed by a punch to Ware’s face for good measure, with Parsons and Young indulging in a jumping double high five to the cheers of the fans. Young takes the match to the canvas with a side headlock, a move he also uses after mocking an attempt by Austin to use a drop down to confuse Sweet Brown Sugar. Parsons gets his chance to blast Austin with a headbutt moments later, before applying a side headlock of his own. Austin has no success and Ware doesn’t gave much either as he gets hit with a punch by Parsons and a slam by Young upon entering the contest.

  However, it is Ware who turns the tide for his team as he strikes Young before dumping him with a beautiful powerslam off of an Irish whip. Austin milks a side headlock which has Young within inches of making a tag, yet it takes a back suplex out of the hold to allow Parsons to play the house on fire. His momentum is brief though as Ware cuts him off with a boot to the stomach, allowing the Pretty Young Things to cut the ring in half once more. Parsons fights his way out of a sleeper hold, only to charge into a knee to the breadbasket by Ware. The onslaught continues, with an attempt by Parsons to punch his way out of the corner seeing him collapse through sheer exhaustion. Considering the struggle thus far, Parsons just ends up tagging in Young without really building to it, leading to all four men in the ring.

  As the referee tries to deal with Parsons, the PYT try and hit a double clothesline, only for Young to duck and catch Austin with a crossbody that almost sees him overshoot. It is enough for the victory though, but the PYT are not finished as they jump Young and Parsons post-match. It does lead to Ware slipping off the top rope as Parsons gets in the way of an attempted double team, lending a slightly farcical tone to the end of the contest. Still, the story that was told was good enough with the tag team having too much for the thrown together team for the most part, only to get caught out whilst illegally double teaming.

  The main event is next as Kevin Von Erich and Gino Hernandez, with the crowd firmly in the corner of Kevin unsurprisingly. Hernandez doesn’t engage very quickly, instead choosing to avoid Von Erich and jaw with the fans more than anything. The first move is a monkey flip that sends Hernandez to ringside and the fans into raptures, even more so when Von Erich then quickly runs Gino down on the house mic. A dropkick after Hernandez berates Von Erich in the midst of an arm wringer also has Hernandez at ringside, though we finally get some concerted action in the ring with a Von Erich chinlock and body vice. A bell clap adds to the suffering, whilst Von Erich rolls it over into a two count before rolling back into the vice.

  Hernandez takes the easy way out in the end by biting on the toes of Kevin, yet as the match returns to standing, he is dropped with an axehandle off of the second rope. Gino begs off, but gets no respite. However, a Von Erich splash finds nothing but knees, only for Hernandez to get caught on the top rope and chucked off. Luckily for him, Hernandez is close to the ropes as Von Erich applies the claw, forcing a break. The claw is reapplied moments later, but an eye rake by Hernandez is what stops it this time. Von Erich is sent to ringside to allow Hernandez to recover, only to eat a kick to the face the moment Von Erich returns to the ring. A third claw attempt again sees them in the rope, but as Von Erich is forced to break, Hernandez pops him with an illegal object and gets the three count!

  Hernandez may have won the contest, but Stella Mae hits the ring to attack Hernandez. Unsurprisingly, the illegal object is found in the resulting melee, as Hernandez can’t just get the win by illegal means as it is against a Von Erich. The result is reverses and Hernandez is disqualified. Hernandez is such a good heel that the match is pretty good, yet Kevin’s monopoly on offense was just too much this time. It was as if he took all the match because he knew he was going to be pinned, even if that wasn’t the official decision. A post-match interview closes the show, with Von Erich having to be almost explained to that they had already found the illegal object, a comment from Mercer that Kevin shrugs off as coming from him still being groggy.

  A strong show this week, but as is often the case, the booking of the heels or a Von Erich with a heel leaves a sour taste in the mouth. It shouldn’t have been too much to let Hernandez get one over once on Kevin.

  WWF Championship Wrestling 1.9.84

  Vince McMahon and Tony Garea welcome us to another episode of Championship Wrestling, but the line-up that they rundown is anything but inspiring. We are promised matches with B. Brian Blair, Nikolai Volkoff, and Big John Studd. The only saving grace is Roddy Piper on Piper’s Pit, though McMahon does also suggest a few surprises along the way.

  It is Nikolai Volkoff who is out first, accompanied by Freddie Blassie, and he proceeds to sing the Russian National Anthem to obvious disgust from the fans in attendance. Weirdly, his opponent isn’t in the ring at this point and gets somewhat of an entrance, even though it is only S.D. Jones. The initial exchanges just showcase Volkoff’s power as he pushes Jones out of a collar and elbow tie-up twice, as well as powering his way out of a top wristlock. The lack of a clean break allows Volkoff to uses punches and chokes to control Jones, but backs off for no real reason. Jones lands two punches of his own, only for Volkoff to nail a headbutt to the gut and slap on a chinlock, one that is maintained via a hair pull (or ear, depending on whether you believe McMahon on commentary).

  Jones tries to fire up with two shoulderblocks, but the second is cut off by a knee to the stomach. However, this only briefly halts Jones as he nails Volkoff with a head
butt and sends him into the corner, though this just sets up for a missed charge and Volkoff’s press slam/backbreaker combination for three. An oddly stilted and strangely competitive squash match that didn’t do much for Volkoff whatsoever, especially when you compare it to how he was blasting through jobbers in Georgia.

  After a pre-taped interview that has Mean Gene Okerlund discussing pistachios with the Iron Sheik (…honestly) before saying he looks like Yasser Arafat, Charlie Fulton is the opponent for B. Brian Blair. Blair uses a drop toehold to take Fulton to the canvas and grabs a quick cradle for one, whilst a hammerlock into a fireman’s carry allows Blair to control the pace. The fans aren’t happy though and it is soon clear why: Brutus Beefcake is wandering around ringside. A leaping side headlock has Blair back in control after a Fulton hiptoss, before an interesting little spot sees Blair dodge a drop toehold and use one of his own. We get somewhat of a reset as both men get back to their feet, with Blair getting a surprisingly close fall by reversing a side headlock takedown into a pin.

  The match is very headlock heavy as Blair goes back to one of his own following two drop downs after Fulton ends up getting sent into the ropes. Fulton isn’t messing around anymore though, nailing two punches and a backbreaker, one which Fulton holds onto to turn it into a submission. Fulton actually gets a two count off of the hold, yet misses an elbowdrop. This is the window for Blair to fire up and he duly nails Fulton with a running forearm and an elbow off of the second rope. Moments later, the abdominal stretch into a pin is enough for a Blair victory. Another match that falls under the ‘strangely competitive’ category, though it isn’t good for it to be honest as it was headlock city in an effort to prolong an otherwise pretty pedestrian contest.

  The next shill has Dick Murdoch once again promoting the six man tag match with Adrian Adonis, Captain Lou Albano, the Wild Samoans and Mil Mascaras all involved. He seems to equate Albano and Mascaras as equals initially, before implying that turning it into a six man tag in which they don’t have to defend the titles is the best thing the WWF booking committee has done for them. The rest of the promo gets cut off, unfortunately.

  One of wrestlers who wasn’t in the initial rundown for the card is Jesse Ventura. If he is the only surprise, things haven’t improved significantly by his addition. He is up against Billy Travis, but is greeted by a ‘We want Puttski’ chant as the fans want Polish Power. The two men trade arm wringers, though a yank of the hair brings Travis to the canvas. David Wolff is once again on commentary promoting the Fabulous Freebirds, whilst Ventura methodically beats down Travis with strikes. A bear hug is turned into a reverse atomic drop and a modified rear chinlock has Travis in a spot of bother.

  Wolff is spending time talking about the quality of Michael Hayes as a musician as Ventura is spending time doing double bicep poses in the ring. Travis gets a brief moment on top with several punches, though Ventura holds onto the ropes on an Irish whip and fires back with a kick. A slam is followed by a slam onto the top rope that eventually sees Travis fall to ringside, which leads to the over the shoulder backbreaker when he returns for the easy Ventura victory. This was more of a squash than the last two, but Ventura’s slow and plodding offense does very little to be engaging.

  Next is a moment that could have been a huge deal, but would end up being a damp squib in the end: Wolff is with Okerlund backstage and introduces the Fabulous Freebirds. Michael Hayes does the introductions for the members of the team, as well as talking about their upbringing on Badstreet and how they are here to defend the rock and roll lifestyle. Gordy and Roberts get some words in before the end, but this is carried by Hayes. The Freebirds in WWF during the era of Rock and Wrestling seems like a can’t miss deal – it’ll be interesting to see how they are handled in the brief time they are with the company.

  WWF Update this week focuses on ‘Mr Wonderful’ Paul Orndorff, with McMahon mentioning a researcher finding out Mr Wonderful’s real name – Paul Parlette Orndorff Jr. We are then shown footage from a match which Orndorff wins with a piledriver, though McMahon then undermines him as the ‘researcher’ notes that his first two initials of his full name as the letters ‘PP’. This is one of those moments where you see McMahon’s juvenile humour come to the fore. When you are the boss, I guess you can include what you want.

  Fresh from his victory earlier in the show, Nikolai Volkoff joins Roddy Piper for Piper’s Pit, with Piper turning the conversation instantly to the Olympics and the happiness countries must feel by Russia’s boycott as it will allows their athletes to win more medals. Blassie’s complaints are all about how people never show Volkoff respect when he tries to sing the anthem, something that Piper gives him free reign to do. An interview segment with Volkoff which basically doesn’t allow him to talk probably is the best I could have hoped for.

  Big John Studd is next up in the ring, facing off against Jeff Lang. Like Ventura with Puttski, Studd gets Andre the Giant chants to rile him up, though they don’t really help Lang much as an attempted slam is pitiful in its execution. Studd spends more time focusing on the fans as he shouts ‘who’s the giant?’ after a big shoulderblock, following up with a clothesline and elbowdrop moments later for a pinfall in around a minute, if that. It served a purpose is about the best I can offer this match insofar as it allowed the fans to show their support for Andre.

  We then head to the WWF Review, with this week’s montage looking at Salvatore Bellomo versus Bob Backlund of all matches. Side headlocks and headscissors are the order of the day, alongside some shots of Bellomo’s more athletic cartwheels and dropkicks. The montage then moves on to look at Greg Valentine more generally, as he slaps around a jobber with an array of suplexes and slams before slapping on the figure four leglock.

  The last shill of the match is also the last segment of the show, with Jesse Ventura beginning an interview with Okerlund whilst wearing a witch’s hat and speaking of how he was in mourning for Truman Capote, the man who was apparently going to write Ventura’s biography. After talking about how he would cremate Okerlund, Ventura moves on to levitating Hogan into the body vice and crushing him. The drugs were very good in the 80s, clearly.

  The show as a whole lived up to the promise of the opening rundown, which basically was very little. When the best part of the show is the ridiculous nature of the last promo, the previous fourty minutes haven’t exactly been the most engaging action I’ve seen during this project.

  Mid-South Wrestling 6.9.84

  It is the Watts boys once more as Joel takes the lead on running down the action this week. Hercules Hernandez will face three men in a handicap bout, whilst the Fantastics and the Midnight Express will sign contracts for a Mid-South Tag Team Title match which will have some special stipulations. Alongside this, we have Steve Williams versus Chris Adams, Terry Taylor teaming with Johnny Mantell to take on Ernie Ladd and Krusher Kruschev, as well as Adrian Street, Butch Reed and Buddy Landell.

  They are selling the fact that it is a three man handicap match as a first, with Hercules Hernandez going up against Terry Ellis, Rick McCord and Paul Brown. Jim Cornette – still with a mask that apparently covers his lack of hair following involvement with Jim Duggan - gets on the microphone pre-match and makes it clear that he will pay each man $500 if Hernandez cannot win in less than ten minutes. Hernandez starts off by whacking McCord with a back elbow and knocking his two partners off of the apron. Hernandez locks on the shinonomake after a big slam on McCord, with even the punches of his partners not enough to break the hold. McCord is out, but this is an elimination match apparently, so he then beats down the other two before applying the shinonomake to keep Cornette’s money safe, with Ellis in particular getting a methodical beating before the submission.

  After the commercial break, we have The Fantastics and the Midnight Express in the ring, alongside Jim Ross and Grizzly Smith, as we have a reading of the stipulations for the Mid-South Tag Team Title match. Firstly, it is no-disqualification, although a question by Cornette suggests that that doesn�
�t extend to the use of weapons. The second rule is no substitutions, meaning if one member isn’t able to perform, the match would be forfeit, as well as the belts in the case of the Midnights. The men then sign the contract, even though the third stipulation wasn’t read out. Once Cornette clarifies that the match has been signed, the Midnights attack the Fantastics, using powder and steel chairs to completely lay them out and bust them open in the process. A swift and brutal beatdown puts the title match at risk.

  After the commercial break, both of the Watts boys are still in shock, with Bill saying had spoken to Grizzly Smith backstage and he was lost for words. There are plans to punish Cornette and his team, but nothing concrete as yet.

  In a move away from the norm in Mid-South, we go to an arena show for the footage of Chris Adams against Steve Williams. It clearly comes from the time when Williams has Terry Taylor’s medal, though this is ignored by Watts. Williams slaps Adams around the face during an attempt at a clean break, though a second attempt sees Adams duck and blast Williams with a slap of his own. Adams takes the bigger man to the canvas with a side headlock, with a second side headlock takedown following a hiptoss as the Brit has the best of the early exchanges. It is a knee to the bread basket that halts Adams, with a follow up punch by Williams sending Adams through the ropes to ringside, a place that Williams tries to keep him as he knocks him off of the apron a couple of times before dragging him back in to a chinlock.

  Williams’ advantaged is short lived, with Adams actually winning a mid-ring collision to send Williams to the outside, before greeting him with a dropkick, a body slam and a headbutt for a two count. However, he misses a dive off of the second rope, with Williams capitalising with boots and a suplex, only to miss his own second rope dive to allows Adams back into the match. Adams nails Williams with a superkick, but as Adams tries to attack him in the corner, Williams trips him up and puts his foot on the bottom rope for additional leverage and a three count. Williams is improving, and it is testament to Adams that he got such a good match out of a guy who is still so green.