Actually, the 60s and 70s were the strongest for all the territories, by the numbers, but WCCW made the 80s great and at least entertaining with their format, slick production, decent storylines, solid talent, and breakthrough syndication on TV. All the WWF/WWE did was eliminate the competition and buy/steal their main talent from the AWA, NWA, WCW and others then sadly turned it into the cartoon network or what they have the temerity to call "entertainment"...which isn't very entertaining for real fans who know the difference. Now, pro wrestling as we knew it is indeed dead and fans are either forced to watch musclebound freaks who don't have a clue about a real wrestling hold and/or ring psychology, abysmal storylines, oversaturation of women wrestling on WWE, or try to find an indy promotion which strives to produce shows with the 1970s & 80s feel and style of wrestling. If fans try to find something/anything on TV where the wrestlers actually wrestle, they are SOL and will only find the "real stuff" on the WWE network when they run old NWA, AWA, WCW, WCCW, etc. cards or here on RUclips. You can't blame anyone other than the McMahons for this because the fans have no control over what crap they are force-fed. You also can't blame the young fans because they have only been exposed to the McMahon circus. People need to show them real wrestling on RUclips so they are at least educated marks...
The territory days were exciting for fans, but I bet they got pretty boring for the wrestlers lol. They'd wrestle the same exact matches (twice a day on the weekends!) for weeks or even months in a row for different territories. They worked their asses off back then. Not saying they dont now, but definitely not as hard. Jake Robert's said he wrestled Ricky Steamboat 93 days in a row one stretch lol. That's insane.
Today is like the 70s and 80s because we don’t only got WWE but we got AEW, NJPW, ROH, MLW, NWA Power, Impact Wrestling, Envole Wrestling, and all of the promotions in England and across the world
@neil most def the 80s were the true golden area if not only for the introduction to cable tv but also the worldwide exposure from guys like hogan n savage
WCCW is what got me into watching pro-wrestling as a kid in the 80's...now, at least to me, wrestling is lame, documentaries like these and shoot interviews are far more fascinating (no nostalgia).
I've been making documentaries for 40 years since I created World Class, mostly about wars. I really enjoyed your documentary, very well made and great story telling!!
You created everything that Vince later stole. Thanks Micky, it's like Gary Hart said"the wrestling didn't change it was the way Mickey shot wrestling was the difference
Mr. Grant, you truly made some of the all-time great documentaries in the history of this fine sport. The way that you shot the action (your vision) is what drew me in and made me a fan. I had seen a lot of wrestling…but I had never seen anything like WCCW. You are undoubtedly a legend in this sport and your contributions are still seen to this day. Hell, they’ve become staples that get the business over these days. For all of your contributions to the sport that we all love so much…thank you, sir. 🙏🏼
I'm from Gainesville, Texas (same small town as Jake "the snake" Roberts) and the Von Erichs were out of Lake Dallas. I was born in 87, so I missed a lot of these territory days. Most of them, actually. I got a small glimpse, of course, but that's it. I went to visit my aunt and cousin as a kid, and my aunt took me to a wrestling event in Salina, Kansas (where I live now, coincidentally). I actually got to take a picture with Kerry Von Erich in the ring! He let me and my aunt come right in. I remember at the time he was the biggest dude I'd ever seen. When he picked me up for the picture, I remember being afraid he was going to body slam me lol. It's one of my earliest memories, and I literally remember it like it was yesterday. Just a year or two later he shot himself. My aunt and cousin also got a picture backstage with kevin von erich. They were pretty good dudes. Interacted with all their fans.
I think Chris Adams trained Sean Michaels to do that kick. I didn't look it up. I just heard it from a documentary like this one. I remember Micheals when he was a skinny kid in World Class and Mid South as a baby(I mean baby)face jobber
If David had not died when he did, I believe that the NWA would have been in a better position to challenge the WWF. The long-term plan was to develop a major rivalry between David and Ric Flair. Instead, David's death marked the beginning of the end of WCCW. It went out of business six years later.
@@tijindersingh4928 You and me both. Before the WWF, WCCW was the strongest wrestling promotion in the business. Its matches were shown in more than 50 television markets in the US, Australia, Japan and other countries. And this was before cable television. And in one second, it was all over.
No they would not have been able to challenge. They are really the one big promotion that were not effected by WWE, they destroyed themselves. Fritz made bad business decisions, and it ruined WCCW. Fritz did not even wanna challenge WWE or any other promotion. He stayed loyal to the territories, and that was his big downfall. He left the NWA, but always stayed loyal to them. So much so that he refused to go on the road, and then when he finally did he refused to take the camera crew. Fritz had a great eye for the most aspects of the wrestling business, but he was horrible at the business side of wrestling. WCCW literally went from being the biggest promotion in wrestling for a few years, and within a couple years they self destructed. WCCW is like the Death Row Records of wrestling, they got huge, then destroyed themselves.
David was an incredible, once in a lifetime talent. Wrestling’s history would have been soooo different had he lived and become NWA World Heavyweight Champion. The NWA governing body was divided between Flair and David. Some felt David was better suited for being their champion, and Harley Race was amongst those. Remember that Flair’s 2nd title reign began at Starrcade 83, and by that time Race wanted to drop the belt to David, not to Flair, but the NWA brass favoured Flair then. David would have challenged Flair’s hegemony as NWA champion, being almost a decade younger, and that I think would have caused a change in wrestling’s history. Long live The Yellow Rose of Texas!
love to see an alternate reality where that worked out that he was at least able to get a shot at that. Feel like Kerry could of also had a great career if not for some of the tragedy and drug addiction. WCCW is my favorite non WCW/WWF precursor and likely would of been more fond of it than WWF in the early 80's. They had a great run of heels. An had young Undertaker, Shawn Michaels and Stone Cold. Blows your mind to think how differently history may of gone without David's death and some better timing or breaks.
@@yehezkelnafshy8754 I really enjoyed the different territories, the wrestling was different, everything seems the same now. People kicking out of finishers, same techniques and styles. Mic skills are a thing of the past.
The documentary is really a history of the Von Erich Family. Scant attention is paid to the years before Fritz took over. The Ed McLemore years were some of the wildest in wrestling history, especially after Ed was sued by some of the his wrestlers in the early ‘50s because his televising of matches throughout Texas hurt their box office appeal. A wrestling war began in 1952 when McLemore quit the NWA and the Houston promotion appointed Norman Clark to run the territory for the NWA. While the NWA featured Lou Thesz as champion, McLemore’s champion was ex-Oklahoma U. wrestler Roy Dunn. The feud got so hot that the Sportatorium was partially destroyed in a fire that was said to be an act of arson. McLemore settled with the NWA in 1954. It was a most interesting time, but is never mentioned n the documentary. A much better accounting not of the Von Erichs can be found in the VICE series The Dark Side of the Ring.
Nice job on the doc..im sure older wrestling fans remember WCCW fondly. Im sure fans remember bronko lubich (Lou-Bitch). The only ref to do a 3 count w/ his foot....lol
near the end he just got too old to really move and getting up and down just wasn't going to happen any more. The first photo's you can find of him he already looked like he was in his 50's .
Lubich was actually a wrestler for many years in Canada, Detroit, and the Dallas area, et al. Then he became the manager of the Macho Man's father, Angelo Poffo! Later on he became a referee.
No one even mentioned my championship run, where I went undefeated against my brother and a couple of my cousins ,I sure got a lot of heat from my parents for those matches.none of them where works either.
I had my biggest rival being a dude that was one grade higher then me we had some epic battles over the years including a side porch half cage match first one to the ground wins he jumped over the side to beat me as I was crawling down the steps after taking a beating, also we ended up being against each other years later in a tag team invite at a church someone had keys to for cleaning lol
world class was the first company i got into. their tv was on kdoc channel 56 out here in l.a. when i was a kid. everyime i watch something on them, it's kind of sad. all those guys died so young
What a great documentary on WCCW! I grew up in DFW during the Von Erichs rise and fall. The boys were truly beloved by the community, maybe to a fault, they got away with a lot of mischief. But we still miss them... The documentary was even better than I expected! Thank you for working so hard on producing it!
Thank you for making this video. WCCW is part of my childhood. The song at the end, which artist and title of song is it? Tried to Shazam it and couldnt find it. It's the song that came out when Kevin was walking in the Sportatorium before it was demolished.
In my opinion wccw was the only wrestling to compete with the Attitude Era I love the storylines I loved the matches they had it was great and I grew up in this era by the time the Attitude Era come along I was a young man
I was sooo “naïve “ to the Von Erich drug talk. Never even knew they did drugs. I grew up watching Championship Sports on Saturday night on ch. 11 and then waking up Sunday morning to watch World Class Chaampionship wrestling on ch. 39
I had friends in that area at that time and they told me that in Dallas it was well known they were heavy partiers. But after Fritz secured the PTL deal to air nationally they seriously covered up all news stories about the boys legal trouble
Texas wrestling was less on psychology than on near shoot fights . I was used to a different product in MidSouth but both shows played one after the other locally so they complimented each other .
Yea but as a kid I was completely blind to the kliqs drug use or the British bulldog who was my brothers favorite wrestler,winning the ic belt after a summer of smoking crack and needed to be carried thru the match by bret, we were oblivious to any of that stuff so u definitely aren’t alone.
@@jeyDsixx18how could you even tell that the bulldog wasn’t in good shape for that match?! Even watching it today I can’t tell. He gets blown up really easy but besides that it’s a 5 star match
I am proud to have been a part of World Class with my thanks to King Parsons for spending hours training me amongst other wrestlers of the day 80-85...thanks for this accurate upload.
I’m 20 and have lived in Dallas since i was five. I love hearing abt these old stories especially bcs i grew up with all the old people talking abt how amazing it was to see the freebirds and von Erich’s back then
I MISS THOSE NIGHTS IN THE DALLAS SPORTATORIUM. IT WAS HOT, HUMID, AND THE BEER WAS WARM. BUT EVERY NIGHT I WENT WAS AN UNFORGETABLE EXPERIENCE. I HAVE A DVD SET WITH A LOT OF GOOD MATCHES ON THEM. GOT TO MEET FRITZ AT THE AUTORAMA. LOVED THE WCCW.
You are very, very lucky for those memories, when we first got cable tv 📺 in 84 espn would run an hour every Saturday morning of wccw and that is how I learned about the von erichs and so many more. Where I'm from all we had wwf up intil this time..
World Class was awesome back in the day. Between World Class and Mid South, Vince would have not won the war if he didn't buy everyone out. Ultimately if the Von Erichs didn't suffer such tragedy, World Class could have been the best. RIP to all the deceased Von Erichs, especially uncrowned NWA Champ David Von Erich.
@@lakebay972 yes he did. He said that in the Wrestlemania All Day Long PPV in 2000. He did put everything into it and it totally rocked, which put him on the map. The rest as they say is history. I think if the Von Erichs had not died like they did and stayed strong then World Class could have been a driving force. Mid South was AWESOME as well and if Vince was unable to buy them out then they could have had the best roster. It sucks now because there's not really any competition for WWE so what you see is what you get. AEW is good but it's slowly losing steam. TNA was getting really good when Samoa Joe faced Kurt Angle and they dropped the ball on that angle. But it also shows how WWE is different. They have the experience and they have McMahon who is a genius despite his recently bad bookings LOL. Triple H can carry WWE to new heights if Vince let's him.
Wow. He lived in some crack house here when I was growing up in Jr High. I heard his son sold crack. Just what I heard. Don't know if it was true or not.
I grew up on Long Island. I used to watch old WCCW reruns on ESPN after school. It always amazed me how over the Von Erichs were in Dallas. If one of those boys shot the pope nothing would happen.🤣 What a time it was to be a wrestling fan.
Yeah man, Ymir’s wrestling magazines were the best, I would read them from cover to cover. I really liked when they did the rankings. And it was cool when there would be a guy in the ranks that I didn’t know, so I would try and track him down however I could to watch a match or something, good times.
It reminded me when I saw One Man Gang that Gary Hart said OMG got Kerry and Kevin's names tattooed on his head. I'm sure he eventually got them covered but that's some dedication.
Thank you,!!! for Uploading this Documentary ,,, I remember watching Wrestling Show as A kid along with my Brother mid 80's on ESPN ,,,Out in Southern California,!!! 805,,!!! Once again , Thanks. !!!
Loving this one thanks for sharing very information blessed love to all knowledge is power hopefully everyone pays attention keep up the good work 🙏🏿🙏🏿🙏🏿🇯🇲🇯🇲🇯🇲
WCCW was my favorite promotion as a kid, yeah I got to actually go to my hometown promotion in Houston, but WCCW had all that story telling and drama. Not to mention the tragedy, it was like a family and I was part of it.
My cousins grew up in Dallas. I'm so jealous. Every weekend they went to the Sportatorium. I'm from North Dakota. At the border of Minnesota when I was a kid so I was AWA. But I always had an admiration for the Von Erich boys. And my local video rental store had a great pro wrestling section. And that's where I got familiar with World Class. Where I discovered Terry Bam Bam Gordy. I always liked that dude. Even though I was a kid and always cheered for the Babyface's. I think it was because of the Freebirds style. That those guys went in there and turned it upside down. But Kerry was my favorite. So I knew Rick Rude, Percy Pringle, Dingo Warrior all before the went to New York. I knew about what happened in World Class? But like a year or so later. And my cousins that went to the Sportatorium? Barely remember??? No! I don't believe them. They lying because now they adults and pro wrestling is beneath them.
I remember running home after getting off the school bus to watch the WCCW ‘encore presentations’ that ran on ESPN. At one point WCCW was so much more believable & exciting than WWF. I LOVED Chris & Gino as ‘The Dynamic Duo’ & hated that Von Erich’s always went over! Amazing memories. It’ll never happen again with the way ‘wrestling’ is today.
A full feature film is being released on December 22 about the Von Erichs called The Iron Claw. Im sure it will be a let down for those of us that already know so much history of the family and WCCW.
I grew up in South Texas and we had the best wrestling in the country ( in my opinion) Houston Wrestling and WCCW out of Dallas was or were the two best wrestling promotions in the Country ...they had all the good wrestlers .. Fr Rom the von Erich's to Dusty Rhoads..Freebirds . Bruiser Brody..Wahoo Mcdaniel..Ric Flair...to name a few...not to mention all the great tag teams..yeah growing up with South Texas wrestling was AWESOME!!!
I don’t remember hearing that Mike had been arrested for DUI only days before his suicide, very similar to what happened with Kerry, who was looking at serving time for a drug offense right before he passed. Mike was never right after the toxic shock anyhow, he sounded like his brain was mush.
find the clip. of him coming out in the corvette at the cotton bowl for a wave. it's really sad because you can see in his eyes that he's not all there
Von Erich freebirds rivalry was great. Dynamic duo was a great heel team. 1982 to late 1985 world class was the best. However, Fritz was not a good promoter compared to Vince McMahon.
You didn't talk about a work horse's of WCCW such as Killer Tim Brooks, Cowboy Scott Casey, Cowboy Johnny Mantel and The Missing Link. They deserve the Mention.
He was murdered... I saw the crime scene photos two years after his death. It looked fishy... He always locked his dead bolt lock and when he was found it wasn't locked so someone let themselves out. He had cocaine in his stomach. Someone helped him out after becoming jealous because he was being used as the best drug delivery to many in the area.
The feud between the Harts and the Von Erichs is still being played out today in MLW every week here on RUclips. Teddy Hart, Davey Boy Smith Jr, Brian Pillman Jr are New Era Hart Foundation while Marshall and Ross are the Von Erichs now.
Did you say December 1998 for Superclash 3? I guess you meant 1988. I remember the main event being promoted as no countout and no DQ, yet Jerry Lawler was still hiding his weapon from the ref.
38:31 I think he meant to say 1988 there, not 98'.... The AWA did not survive into the attitude era, though that would have been damn interesting . . . 🤔
@@russblack443 I am glad to hear. Gulas was huge in the South. He helped launch many careers including Jerry Lawyer. On the other hand, he was notorious for his dealings.
![ARGENTINA vs. BOLIVIA [6-0] | RESUMEN | ELIMINATORIAS SUDAMERICANAS | FECHA 10](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/C3wPtKNbAOA/mqdefault.jpg)
😢 I miss World Class Championship Wrestling! The 80's were truly the greatest time in wrestling history.
Actually, the 60s and 70s were the strongest for all the territories, by the numbers, but WCCW made the 80s great and at least entertaining with their format, slick production, decent storylines, solid talent, and breakthrough syndication on TV. All the WWF/WWE did was eliminate the competition and buy/steal their main talent from the AWA, NWA, WCW and others then sadly turned it into the cartoon network or what they have the temerity to call "entertainment"...which isn't very entertaining for real fans who know the difference. Now, pro wrestling as we knew it is indeed dead and fans are either forced to watch musclebound freaks who don't have a clue about a real wrestling hold and/or ring psychology, abysmal storylines, oversaturation of women wrestling on WWE, or try to find an indy promotion which strives to produce shows with the 1970s & 80s feel and style of wrestling. If fans try to find something/anything on TV where the wrestlers actually wrestle, they are SOL and will only find the "real stuff" on the WWE network when they run old NWA, AWA, WCW, WCCW, etc. cards or here on RUclips. You can't blame anyone other than the McMahons for this because the fans have no control over what crap they are force-fed. You also can't blame the young fans because they have only been exposed to the McMahon circus. People need to show them real wrestling on RUclips so they are at least educated marks...
The territory days were exciting for fans, but I bet they got pretty boring for the wrestlers lol. They'd wrestle the same exact matches (twice a day on the weekends!) for weeks or even months in a row for different territories. They worked their asses off back then. Not saying they dont now, but definitely not as hard. Jake Robert's said he wrestled Ricky Steamboat 93 days in a row one stretch lol. That's insane.
Today is like the 70s and 80s because we don’t only got WWE but we got AEW, NJPW, ROH, MLW, NWA Power, Impact Wrestling, Envole Wrestling, and all of the promotions in England and across the world
Entire episodes are on RUclips
@neil most def the 80s were the true golden area if not only for the introduction to cable tv but also the worldwide exposure from guys like hogan n savage
WCCW is what got me into watching pro-wrestling as a kid in the 80's...now, at least to me, wrestling is lame, documentaries like these and shoot interviews are far more fascinating (no nostalgia).
I always thought the Von Erich and Freebird feud was the best in wrestling history. BADSTREET!!
I've been making documentaries for 40 years since I created World Class, mostly about wars. I really enjoyed your documentary, very well made and great story telling!!
Thank-you, I appreciate that , means alot!
Sorry Mickey Grant I hit thumbs down by accident..just changed it!
Didn't you do "gentleman's choice" Mr Grant? That was really good.
You created everything that Vince later stole. Thanks Micky, it's like Gary Hart said"the wrestling didn't change it was the way Mickey shot wrestling was the difference
Mr. Grant, you truly made some of the all-time great documentaries in the history of this fine sport. The way that you shot the action (your vision) is what drew me in and made me a fan. I had seen a lot of wrestling…but I had never seen anything like WCCW.
You are undoubtedly a legend in this sport and your contributions are still seen to this day. Hell, they’ve become staples that get the business over these days.
For all of your contributions to the sport that we all love so much…thank you, sir. 🙏🏼
I'm from Gainesville, Texas (same small town as Jake "the snake" Roberts) and the Von Erichs were out of Lake Dallas. I was born in 87, so I missed a lot of these territory days. Most of them, actually. I got a small glimpse, of course, but that's it.
I went to visit my aunt and cousin as a kid, and my aunt took me to a wrestling event in Salina, Kansas (where I live now, coincidentally). I actually got to take a picture with Kerry Von Erich in the ring! He let me and my aunt come right in. I remember at the time he was the biggest dude I'd ever seen. When he picked me up for the picture, I remember being afraid he was going to body slam me lol. It's one of my earliest memories, and I literally remember it like it was yesterday. Just a year or two later he shot himself. My aunt and cousin also got a picture backstage with kevin von erich. They were pretty good dudes. Interacted with all their fans.
Man Chris Adams super kick was a thing of beauty, n far ahead of its time. Would of loved to see him take on Dynamite Kid
I think Chris Adams trained Sean Michaels to do that kick. I didn't look it up. I just heard it from a documentary like this one. I remember Micheals when he was a skinny kid in World Class and Mid South as a baby(I mean baby)face jobber
Miss this wrestling terribly! Greatest time to grow up!
If David had not died when he did, I believe that the NWA would have been in a better position to challenge the WWF. The long-term plan was to develop a major rivalry between David and Ric Flair. Instead, David's death marked the beginning of the end of WCCW. It went out of business six years later.
Sad, but true. I wish all the Von Erich's were alive to this day.
@@tijindersingh4928 You and me both. Before the WWF, WCCW was the strongest wrestling promotion in the business. Its matches were shown in more than 50 television markets in the US, Australia, Japan and other countries. And this was before cable television. And in one second, it was all over.
No they would not have been able to challenge. They are really the one big promotion that were not effected by WWE, they destroyed themselves. Fritz made bad business decisions, and it ruined WCCW. Fritz did not even wanna challenge WWE or any other promotion. He stayed loyal to the territories, and that was his big downfall. He left the NWA, but always stayed loyal to them. So much so that he refused to go on the road, and then when he finally did he refused to take the camera crew. Fritz had a great eye for the most aspects of the wrestling business, but he was horrible at the business side of wrestling. WCCW literally went from being the biggest promotion in wrestling for a few years, and within a couple years they self destructed. WCCW is like the Death Row Records of wrestling, they got huge, then destroyed themselves.
@@chrisgullett4332. Damn, Chris…the Death Row Records analogy is spot on. Well put, my friend…well put indeed. 👏🏼
David was an incredible, once in a lifetime talent. Wrestling’s history would have been soooo different had he lived and become NWA World Heavyweight Champion.
The NWA governing body was divided between Flair and David. Some felt David was better suited for being their champion, and Harley Race was amongst those. Remember that Flair’s 2nd title reign began at Starrcade 83, and by that time Race wanted to drop the belt to David, not to Flair, but the NWA brass favoured Flair then. David would have challenged Flair’s hegemony as NWA champion, being almost a decade younger, and that I think would have caused a change in wrestling’s history. Long live The Yellow Rose of Texas!
love to see an alternate reality where that worked out that he was at least able to get a shot at that. Feel like Kerry could of also had a great career if not for some of the tragedy and drug addiction. WCCW is my favorite non WCW/WWF precursor and likely would of been more fond of it than WWF in the early 80's. They had a great run of heels. An had young Undertaker, Shawn Michaels and Stone Cold. Blows your mind to think how differently history may of gone without David's death and some better timing or breaks.
I was a kid in Arlington TX in 1983 when I discovered pro wrestling via World Class. Been a life long joy ever since!!
Wccw was a giant part of my childhood
Same
I remember watching WCCW with my mom as a child. I was a huge AWA fan, but my mom was WCCW all the way.
Wccw was better than present day WWE garbage
@@BAF-ch4ts Sounds like you had a great childhood.
@@yehezkelnafshy8754 I really enjoyed the different territories, the wrestling was different, everything seems the same now. People kicking out of finishers, same techniques and styles. Mic skills are a thing of the past.
Well done documentary. Im fasinated with the history of wrestling as I watched during the 80s and 90s
When Kerry signed with the WWF he was told that he COULDN'T use the iron claw. Kerry was very very upset.
That's Vince for ya lol!
Don’t think Vince allowed him to be billed as KVE, either. ☹️
@@mab1959 yup. Only Texas Tornado but he did use the claw here n there but not as a finish. Had this discus punch
@@jimodirakallumkal5351tornado punch! 😂
The documentary is really a history of the Von Erich Family. Scant attention is paid to the years before Fritz took over. The Ed McLemore years were some of the wildest in wrestling history, especially after Ed was sued by some of the his wrestlers in the early ‘50s because his televising of matches throughout Texas hurt their box office appeal. A wrestling war began in 1952 when McLemore quit the NWA and the Houston promotion appointed Norman Clark to run the territory for the NWA. While the NWA featured Lou Thesz as champion, McLemore’s champion was ex-Oklahoma U. wrestler Roy Dunn. The feud got so hot that the Sportatorium was partially destroyed in a fire that was said to be an act of arson. McLemore settled with the NWA in 1954. It was a most interesting time, but is never mentioned n the documentary. A much better accounting not of the Von Erichs can be found in the VICE series The Dark Side of the Ring.
Nice job on the doc..im sure older wrestling fans remember WCCW fondly. Im sure fans remember bronko lubich (Lou-Bitch). The only ref to do a 3 count w/ his foot....lol
near the end he just got too old to really move and getting up and down just wasn't going to happen any more. The first photo's you can find of him he already looked like he was in his 50's .
Lubich was actually a wrestler for many years in Canada, Detroit, and the Dallas area, et al. Then he became the manager of the Macho Man's father, Angelo Poffo! Later on he became a referee.
No one even mentioned my championship run, where I went undefeated against my brother and a couple of my cousins ,I sure got a lot of heat from my parents for those matches.none of them where works either.
Sir Al this is great! 😂😂
We all remember those battles, Sir Al
Sir Al vs. His Cousins was hotter than Freebirds vs Von Erichs for a minute.
I had my biggest rival being a dude that was one grade higher then me we had some epic battles over the years including a side porch half cage match first one to the ground wins he jumped over the side to beat me as I was crawling down the steps after taking a beating, also we ended up being against each other years later in a tag team invite at a church someone had keys to for cleaning lol
world class was the first company i got into. their tv was on kdoc channel 56 out here in l.a. when i was a kid. everyime i watch something on them, it's kind of sad. all those guys died so young
Shawn Flanagan Everyone was doing a ton of cocaine and steroids.
@@yankees29 pretty much.
Man some of those feuds felt so real at the time 😂
What a great documentary on WCCW! I grew up in DFW during the Von Erichs rise and fall. The boys were truly beloved by the community, maybe to a fault, they got away with a lot of mischief. But we still miss them... The documentary was even better than I expected! Thank you for working so hard on producing it!
I miss these times. I used to attend these shows with my grandchildren
I love that you used the Zumhoff mugshot. I love these documentaries.
Thanks lol
I loved watching that radio getting busted over his head every Sunday morning...lol
Zumhofe is TRASH. Absolute trash of a human being.
Thank you for making this video. WCCW is part of my childhood. The song at the end, which artist and title of song is it? Tried to Shazam it and couldnt find it. It's the song that came out when Kevin was walking in the Sportatorium before it was demolished.
In my opinion wccw was the only wrestling to compete with the Attitude Era I love the storylines I loved the matches they had it was great and I grew up in this era by the time the Attitude Era come along I was a young man
I was sooo “naïve “ to the Von Erich drug talk. Never even knew they did drugs. I grew up watching Championship Sports on Saturday night on ch. 11 and then waking up Sunday morning to watch World Class Chaampionship wrestling on ch. 39
I had friends in that area at that time and they told me that in Dallas it was well known they were heavy partiers. But after Fritz secured the PTL deal to air nationally they seriously covered up all news stories about the boys legal trouble
Texas wrestling was less on psychology than on near shoot fights . I was used to a different product in MidSouth but both shows played one after the other locally so they complimented each other .
Yea but as a kid I was completely blind to the kliqs drug use or the British bulldog who was my brothers favorite wrestler,winning the ic belt after a summer of smoking crack and needed to be carried thru the match by bret, we were oblivious to any of that stuff so u definitely aren’t alone.
@@jeyDsixx18how could you even tell that the bulldog wasn’t in good shape for that match?! Even watching it today I can’t tell. He gets blown up really easy but besides that it’s a 5 star match
I am proud to have been a part of World Class with my thanks to King Parsons for spending hours training me amongst other wrestlers of the day 80-85...thanks for this accurate upload.
Did Iceman get along with Hayes off camera and Chris Adams??
This Was A Great Time For Wrestling Watching This On My Satalite Dish Back When You Could Watch Anything
I’m 20 and have lived in Dallas since i was five. I love hearing abt these old stories especially bcs i grew up with all the old people talking abt how amazing it was to see the freebirds and von Erich’s back then
Phenomenal work You do on these documentaries.
As a Fan, A GIANT Thank You 🇺🇸
I love these documentaries I learned a lot from wrestling's past as well as the territories
I MISS THOSE NIGHTS IN THE DALLAS SPORTATORIUM. IT WAS HOT, HUMID, AND THE BEER WAS WARM. BUT EVERY NIGHT I WENT WAS AN UNFORGETABLE EXPERIENCE. I HAVE A DVD SET WITH A LOT OF GOOD MATCHES ON THEM. GOT TO MEET FRITZ AT THE AUTORAMA. LOVED THE WCCW.
You are very, very lucky for those memories, when we first got cable tv 📺 in 84 espn would run an hour every Saturday morning of wccw and that is how I learned about the von erichs and so many more. Where I'm from all we had wwf up intil this time..
The Von Erich's are Dead But not Forgotten R.I.P.
We still have Kevin. The sole survivor
And Kevin's 2 sons Ross and Marshall who currently wrestle in MLW..
I swear that "triple cage of doom" commercial looks like it was produced by Prestige Worldwide😅 God I miss the 80's!
LOL!!
this was on my local UHF channel 25 Saturday at 11am. it was a must watch for me.
So many ups and down throughout their storied history. Wow,great documentary,thank you for this..From a life long fan in Iowa.
World Class Forever.
Damn right!
I have watched this every 3 months. This is what we watched in NC in the 80's
World Class '(82-'86) was the best company in the 80s , must watch tv back then . fun.
World Class was awesome back in the day. Between World Class and Mid South, Vince would have not won the war if he didn't buy everyone out.
Ultimately if the Von Erichs didn't suffer such tragedy, World Class could have been the best.
RIP to all the deceased Von Erichs, especially uncrowned NWA Champ David Von Erich.
Jason Kraatz Vince put all his chips into WrestleMania at that time. If it flopped, WWF would’ve been gone in less than a year.
@@lakebay972 yes he did. He said that in the Wrestlemania All Day Long PPV in 2000. He did put everything into it and it totally rocked, which put him on the map. The rest as they say is history.
I think if the Von Erichs had not died like they did and stayed strong then World Class could have been a driving force. Mid South was AWESOME as well and if Vince was unable to buy them out then they could have had the best roster.
It sucks now because there's not really any competition for WWE so what you see is what you get. AEW is good but it's slowly losing steam. TNA was getting really good when Samoa Joe faced Kurt Angle and they dropped the ball on that angle. But it also shows how WWE is different. They have the experience and they have McMahon who is a genius despite his recently bad bookings LOL. Triple H can carry WWE to new heights if Vince let's him.
Loved watching that when I was s kid
Terrible tragedies, my companion is with Kevin, he lost all his brothers. Very sad 😥
THANK YOU FOR THIS! Brings back so many memories!
Iceman King Parsons was underated and one of my favs...keep in mind - I was 10.
He was asshole real life
Wow. He lived in some crack house here when I was growing up in Jr High. I heard his son sold crack. Just what I heard. Don't know if it was true or not.
There’s a video floating around on RUclips with Kevin’s sons in a tag with Iceman and Lacey Von Erich as manager or valet.
One of the most underrated wrestling promotions in ring history. 😁
Bravo!!! Extremely well done. I am a a log time wrestling fan, and I learned some things I did not know before!! Great job.
Growing up in small town Central NY state, I couldn't watch WCCW. But I knew of them because of the wrestling magazines.
I grew up in that territory Friday night at sportorium was place to be
Grew up there in wccw territory
I grew up on Long Island. I used to watch old WCCW reruns on ESPN after school. It always amazed me how over the Von Erichs were in Dallas. If one of those boys shot the pope nothing would happen.🤣 What a time it was to be a wrestling fan.
Yeah man, Ymir’s wrestling magazines were the best, I would read them from cover to cover. I really liked when they did the rankings. And it was cool when there would be a guy in the ranks that I didn’t know, so I would try and track him down however I could to watch a match or something, good times.
It reminded me when I saw One Man Gang that Gary Hart said OMG got Kerry and Kevin's names tattooed on his head. I'm sure he eventually got them covered but that's some dedication.
Been watching these documentaries all week, thanks for the work you put into them. Great content. "What's that smell kid?"🤣🤣🤣
I ddnt know Gary Hart was such a pioneer in wrestling.....
Da man
Gary was much of the reason that WCCW was so popular. He was the booker for them for almost 20 years.
Wrote one of the greatest wrestling books.
"Playboy" Gary is a legend/icon. They broke the mold with him for sure.
So many many memories !!! Thank u !!
Gary Hart gave me bad dreams when I was a kid.
it’s still real to me dammit!
Thank you,!!! for Uploading this Documentary ,,, I remember watching Wrestling Show as A kid along with my Brother mid 80's on ESPN ,,,Out in Southern California,!!! 805,,!!! Once again , Thanks. !!!
Thanks for watching!
Loving this one thanks for sharing very information blessed love to all knowledge is power hopefully everyone pays attention keep up the good work 🙏🏿🙏🏿🙏🏿🇯🇲🇯🇲🇯🇲
omg the memories this brings back
Great Documentary! Thank you for putting all these together.
I always thought Kerry Von Erich would be a superstar and become the WWF champ to but one bike wreck changed it all for Kerry.
WCCW was my favorite promotion as a kid, yeah I got to actually go to my hometown promotion in Houston, but WCCW had all that story telling and drama. Not to mention the tragedy, it was like a family and I was part of it.
My cousins grew up in Dallas. I'm so jealous. Every weekend they went to the Sportatorium. I'm from North Dakota. At the border of Minnesota when I was a kid so I was AWA. But I always had an admiration for the Von Erich boys. And my local video rental store had a great pro wrestling section. And that's where I got familiar with World Class. Where I discovered Terry Bam Bam Gordy. I always liked that dude. Even though I was a kid and always cheered for the Babyface's. I think it was because of the Freebirds style. That those guys went in there and turned it upside down. But Kerry was my favorite. So I knew Rick Rude, Percy Pringle, Dingo Warrior all before the went to New York. I knew about what happened in World Class? But like a year or so later. And my cousins that went to the Sportatorium? Barely remember??? No! I don't believe them. They lying because now they adults and pro wrestling is beneath them.
Time to do a documentary on Southeastern Wrestling (Knoxville & Pensacola)
NWA Mid-America is next!
These docs are fantastic. When a new one pops up, I click. Only complaint...voice is too low in the mix...maybe a new mic?
The version of dangerzone by Kenny logging that you used is awesome. As a matter of fact I was singing it in my head.
Thanks!
@@OriginalWrestlingDocumentaries you're welcome
Devastation Incorporated
I had no idea all the stars that came through World Class! Austin, Rude, Warrior! Wow👍
I remember this as a child and watching them growing up. Great bookings
Sean Michaels,Undertaker,Mick Foley,Sid Vicious
Gary Hart made the WCCW 250k in business with his good booking and was only paid 3.5k for it by Fritz...so he left.
I remember running home after getting off the school bus to watch the WCCW ‘encore presentations’ that ran on ESPN. At one point WCCW was so much more believable & exciting than WWF. I LOVED Chris & Gino as ‘The Dynamic Duo’ & hated that Von Erich’s always went over! Amazing memories. It’ll never happen again with the way ‘wrestling’ is today.
Where did u find that picture of Kerrys motorcycle after the accident???
That quick shot of King Kong Bundy with layered and feathered 70s hair is goin to haunt my nightmares.
abbreviated history of WCCW... thank you
Maybe an Australian nwa doco -it was huge in the 70s and 80s all the big names came -I saw them
Hell Yeah! Caught the Brawler at a House show in Flint, MI, way back when.
Another top doco -love your channel
Thank-you!
Wow that was great stuff .. World class a true class. Excellent job bro!
Terry Gordy was the greatest. R.I.P. Brotha
World class was great ! Sad it all ended in such tragedies !
A full feature film is being released on December 22 about the Von Erichs called The Iron Claw. Im sure it will be a let down for those of us that already know so much history of the family and WCCW.
I've never seen that version of the NWA heavyweight title (at 13:15) -- where'd you find it?
I grew up in South Texas and we had the best wrestling in the country ( in my opinion) Houston Wrestling and WCCW out of Dallas was or were the two best wrestling promotions in the Country ...they had all the good wrestlers .. Fr Rom the von Erich's to Dusty Rhoads..Freebirds . Bruiser Brody..Wahoo Mcdaniel..Ric Flair...to name a few...not to mention all the great tag teams..yeah growing up with South Texas wrestling was AWESOME!!!
I don’t remember hearing that Mike had been arrested for DUI only days before his suicide, very similar to what happened with Kerry, who was looking at serving time for a drug offense right before he passed. Mike was never right after the toxic shock anyhow, he sounded like his brain was mush.
find the clip. of him coming out in the corvette at the cotton bowl for a wave. it's really sad because you can see in his eyes that he's not all there
The theme song of WCCW Rules!
One of the best orchestrated beginning theme sounds of any tv program. Sounds like imperial gladiator music to me!
I absolutely love the Brooklyn brawler...
Jeez, the Brooklyn Brawler has lost some weight!
Pat Paterson likes his guys thin
@@daleholbert3111 😂🤣🤟
6:08 King Kong Bundy with Hair.
freaky
Fritz and Gary Hart feuded for a long time! LOL Imagine if the Freebirds would have went with Gary Hart to Mid Atlantic!$$$$$
They really didn't get along read Gary's book
We would go to the Sportatorium often. Dad would drive us down from Wichita Falls, TX.
I miss Michael Hayes adjusting his jeans more than anything in the 80s 😝
That moonwalk!
I had to laugh at 17:35 when they mentioned Buck Zumhofe & his mug shot appeared.
6:09 Bundy with hair lol.
I always thought Bundy with eyebrows was creepy looking.
Von Erich freebirds rivalry was great.
Dynamic duo was a great heel team.
1982 to late 1985 world class was the best.
However, Fritz was not a good promoter compared to Vince McMahon.
Brooklyn Brawler?! More like the Brooklyn gentrifyer... "whurrs dat manz cee-gauh an joisey wit da holez in it?"
Great Documentary & Story But What Is The Music From 00.06 to 02.32
Rock N Roll Buck Zumhoff! Legend only because Hulk Hogan didn't know who he was.
Sadly he would later go to prison for child molestation.
Why is there no shoot interviews with Bill Watts and Kevin Von Erich. About how Watts tried to take over the Dallas office
Original Wrestling kicks ass sir
You didn't talk about a work horse's of WCCW such as Killer Tim Brooks, Cowboy Scott Casey, Cowboy Johnny Mantel and The Missing Link. They deserve the Mention.
As well as Bugsy McGraw for all of the Three Stooges fans out there.
This should have been renamed Von Erich documentary
I watched Dark side of the Ring on Hernandez. Adams wife said he was acting strange in the months before his death paranoid.
I watched that too! I remember hearing on TV about Gino's death.
He was murdered... I saw the crime scene photos two years after his death. It looked fishy... He always locked his dead bolt lock and when he was found it wasn't locked so someone let themselves out. He had cocaine in his stomach. Someone helped him out after becoming jealous because he was being used as the best drug delivery to many in the area.
Cocaine is a helluva drug.
Best thing bundy ever did was shave his head.....sheesh.
It took me like 2 seconds before I realized that was King Kong Bundy with hair =P Yeah he looked so much better and bad ass with shaved head! ;) =)
I just watched the intro, and this series needs to be on Netflix, or Vice.
The feud between the Harts and the Von Erichs is still being played out today in MLW every week here on RUclips. Teddy Hart, Davey Boy Smith Jr, Brian Pillman Jr are New Era Hart Foundation while Marshall and Ross are the Von Erichs now.
Not the same Harts.
David Redacted yes it was. Read this lastwordonprowrestling.com/2019/05/10/the-harts-and-von-erichs-a-feud-over-60-years-in-the-making/
Chris Adams was blinded by 'Nair', not by a chair.
Okay, so you did cover that - I guess Chris Adams was a fan of 'I'm blind' angles. My mistake.
Did you say December 1998 for Superclash 3? I guess you meant 1988. I remember the main event being promoted as no countout and no DQ, yet Jerry Lawler was still hiding his weapon from the ref.
38:31 I think he meant to say 1988 there, not 98'.... The AWA did not survive into the attitude era, though that would have been damn interesting . . . 🤔
Could you do one on Nick Gulas? He promoted in the Chattanooga area when I was growing up and is a controversial figure.
He said in the comments on this video that gulas is the next one he is going to do
@@russblack443 I am glad to hear. Gulas was huge in the South. He helped launch many careers including Jerry Lawyer. On the other hand, he was notorious for his dealings.
gulas was one of the biggest cheapskates ever on the promoting side, and that covers tons of ground