World Class Championship Wrestling
World Class Championship Wrestling was yet another division of the NWA butÊ in 1986 they broke off from the NWA to become World Class Wrestling Association.Ê Cal Farley was the original promoter of the NWA, but eventually it was passed down through many people such as Dory Funk Sr. and Jr., Terry Funk, Dick Murdoch and Bob Windham.Ê Finally, in 1986, Jack Adkisson a.k.a. Fritz Von Erich took over as the promoter and changed the name to the World Class Wrestling Association though it continued to be referred to as WCCW.Ê Fritz Von Erich would turn this association into a household name.
It seems impossible to think of World Class Championship Wrestling without thinking of the Von Erichs. Fritz Von Erich along with his sons Kerry, Kevin, David, Chris and Mike would captivate the audiences and pack the house.
Many wrestlers started their careers in World Class. Some of the stars of the late 80Õs and the 90Õs got their start there. Future AWA and WWF champion Shawn Michaels made his debut in the area as well as The Dingo (Ultimate) Warrior, Rick Rude,Ê Paul Bearer (better know in the region as Percy Pringle), and even The Undertaker.Ê Other famous wrestlers also showed up in WCCW such as Andre the Giant, Mil Mascaras, and the Big Cat Ernie Ladd.
The World Class roster had so many stars that it became one of the more popular associations in the 80Õs:Ê The Freebirds: Michael Hayes, Buddy Roberts, Terry Gordy, the late Gino Hernandez, Gentlemen Chris Adams, Rick Rude, the late Bruiser Brody, Kamala, Abdullah the Butcher, The Missing Link, Hercules Hernandez, Steve and Shaun Simpson, Scott Casey, John Tatum, Jack Victory, Brian Adias, Steve Cox, Austin Idol, The Great Kabuki, Iceman King Parsons, Brickhouse Brown, Killer Tim Brooks, The Fantastics (Tommy Rogers and Bobby Fulton), and the Midnight Express.
Some of the more colorful managers and valets that were part of the World Class roster were Gary Hart, known for his running feud with the Von Erichs, General Skandor Akbar and the more unusual members of his stable, and Jim Cornette.Ê Jim was famous for carrying his tennis racket around and interfering in the matches. Sunshine was one of the most popular managers.Ê She first got her start as the valet of Jimmy Garvin. Other valets would show up such as Precious who would replace Sunshine and also Missy Hyatt, who with John Tatum personified the whining, spoiled rotten brat.
It was in the 1950's that Fritz Von Erich started to wrestle for the NWA and quickly made his name known.Ê His first son to wrestle for the NWA was Kevin Von Erich, followed by David. Kerry was next and soon came Mike. Chris, the youngest, also followed in his familyÕs footsteps. World Class became well known for their exciting weekly cards at the Sportatorium in Dallas, Texas. World Class would also hold a card once month at the neighboring Reunion Arena.Ê
You could see these matches all over Texas in small and large towns. They had a nationally syndicated TV show found five days a week on ESPN, which helped to broaden their audience.Ê
The World Class Wrestling Association had the help of many promoters. Fritz Von Erich was the promoter from 1986-1987. Ken Lusk, Kevin and Kerry Von Erich did it from 1987 to 1988 and then the promotion was bought by Jerry Jarrett (Memphis/CWA) who ran it from 1988 to 1990, and created the USWA along with AWA. Again Kevin Von Erich took over and ran the promotion from 1990 to 1991.
Although it was based in Dallas, Texas, World Class soon became popular around the world. Fans from Japan to Israel would pack the arenas to see World Class Wrestling. It was known for its gutsy and unusual matches such as strap matches, six man tag matches, hair matches, barbwire matches, cage matches, lumberjack matches, and yes even a mud match.
The Von Erichs were the heart and soul of the WCCW. What follows is a heart-felt tribute to the family, as written by Eric Hale (http://www.kayfabememories.com/Regions/wccw.htm)
February 18,1993 will be a day IÕll never forget as long as I live. I received a call at work telling me that my boyhood idol "The Modern Day Warrior" Kerry Von Erich was dead. This was the same man who just one week earlier had been arrested on drug charges and was facing jail time for violating his probation. This was the same man who 3 years earlier was the World Wrestling Federation Intercontinental Champion. This was the same man who seven years earlier had lost his foot in a motorcycle wreck and had wrestled hundreds of matches on a prosthetic foot without anyone being aware of it except friends and family. This was the same man who nine years earlier on May 6,1984 had defeated "The Nature Boy" Ric Flair in front of 35,000 fans at Texas Stadium in Irving, Texas for the National Wrestling Alliance World Heavyweight title. All of a sudden my life had changed along with thousands of Kerry's fans around the Dallas area and around the world. You see growing up in a small town just outside of Fort Worth, Texas in the 1980's, I was taught 3 thingsÉ The Dallas Cowboys were "Americas Team"É The Texas Rangers would never make the playoffs in baseballÉ and the Von Erichs were the first family of wrestling and were the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex's favorite sons.
After hearing the news my mind raced back in time some ten years to an eleven-year-old boy in his room with his fathers bathrobe on and the music of Rush"s "Tom Sawyer" record playing. I was wearing a championship belt made of posterboard, the bed was the ring and a pillow was Ric Flair. I was Kerry Von Erich if only in my dreamsÉyou see, in Texas in the 1980s you could not possibly go anywhere without seeing or hearing about the Von Erichs. Whether it was on a pizza commercial, a radio station commercial, or being on radio shows, seeing them twice a week on World Class Championship Wrestling on television, or all the fund raiser shows World Class put on in high schools gyms around Texas, or even seeing them on posters in sporting goods stores, thatÕs just the way Texans liked it. The Von Erichs were here to stayÉ or so we thought.
The first tragedy to hit was DavidÕs death. On February 10,1984 in Japan, David died of what was announced as acute enteritis, a severe inflammation of the intestines, but what has been speculated as drug related and also rumors of not wanting to wrestle but to be a rodeo star. David was perhaps the biggest star of the Von Erichs before his death. He was rumored to be in line for a reign as NWA World Heavyweight Champion. His feud with "Gorgeous" Jimmy Garvin in 1983 was a classic where he even won the services of Garvin and his valet "Sunshine" as his maids for a day. What classic footage of them it was, as Sunshine was at his house doing dishes and washing his dog, while Garvin was cleaning his cattle stalls. It all came to a bitter end though that night in 1984.
We were all shocked and saddened by his death, but it would not be the last time the Von Erichs and their fans would suffer tragedy. When Mike Von Erich made his wrestling debut on Thanksgiving night 1983 no one including Mike was expecting what was going to be thrown his way in a matter of months. When David died, everyone looked at Mike to take his place. Mike looked a lot like David in the face but was not as tall as the 6'7" David was and was a skinny kid at the time. Mike also did not have the skills David had nor the charisma, and was not ready for the pressure put on him by the fans and by his father Fritz. In 1985, Mike went into the hospital for shoulder surgery and then was released and went home. Once there, Mike's temperature rose to 105 degrees and was he was rushed to the hospital and treated for toxic shock syndrome, a condition usually only contracted by women. Mike made it through it, but was never the same afterwards. He returned to the ring about a year later and was only a shell of his former shelf and you must remember he was not the best wrestler at the time of his injury. The pain of not being able to perform at the level of his brothers and being in DavidÕs shadow was too much for him to handle and on April 12,1987, he took an overdose of the tranquilizer, Placidyl, left a suicide note and wrapped himself in a sleeping bag and died. Sadly though, the Von Erich tragedies were far from over.
In the summer of 1986, Kerry Von Erich was driving his motorcycle on a very busy Texas road and went to pass a car. As he did, he didnÕt see the police car stopped to make a turn. Kerry went flying over the top of the car and tore up his right foot and ankle and contrary to the rumors was not riding barefoot. There are two conflicting reports as to what happened next. One says the operation went well and Kerry in a still drugged state after the surgery got up and walked on it and totally destroyed the foot. The other report is Kerry's father Fritz who had seen attendance go down since Kerry had been gone rushed him back too soon. Kerry re-injured the foot and ankle again in his first match back and that caused him to lose his foot. Needless to say, whichever story is true, this is what eventually caused Kerry's addiction to pain killers. Still yet, the tragedy was far from over.
Chris Von Erich was sometimes seen around his brothers at shows
either during interviews or even involved in a few angles now and again and
Chris wanted to follow in his brotherÕs foot steps into the world of pro wrestling.
Chris, however, did not have the ability or the size at just over 5 feet tall
and only around 150lbs. Chris was born with asthma and it stunted his growth.
Chris also had very brittle bones due to the medication, and in one tag team
match with his brother Kevin, teaming against Michael Hayes and Buddy Roberts,
his arm was broken due to this. Chris also had big shoes to try to fill as he
was not only living in the shadows of his brothers but was also featured in
wrestling magazines as a early teenager being billed as a future World Champion
and as the kid who would lead the Von Erichs into the 21st century. Sadly, this
would never come true and on September 12,1991 after feeling like he had let
his father down and all the fans down, Chris took his own life with a gun. If
this werenÕt enough, more was yet to come.
When Kerry Von Erich was pulled over and arrested for possession of cocaine,
he was being stopped after a warrant had already been issued for his arrest
for forging prescriptions for the pain killers he needed after his motorcycle
wreck. He had also recently been divorced from his wife of nearly ten years,
was in trouble with the IRS for tax purposes and had been fired from the World
Wrestling Federation for failing a drug test. Realizing it was possible that
his best days as a wrestler were over and also facing jail time, Kerry made
the decision to also take his own life.
While Kerry, Mike or Chris did not know what their future might have held, it is apparent they didnÕt understand that there is life after wrestling. A perfect example of that is the oldest and only remaining son Kevin, who has a very successful cattle business and has been quoted as saying he does not keep up with wrestling nowadays and had lost his desire to compete after DavidÕs death in 1984. Kevin officially retired in 1995 but really had quit years earlier. Kevin now leads a somewhat quite life with his wife and kids. Fritz died in 1997 from cancer. ItÕs always sad when a parent outlives their kids much less 5 of them, including Jackie, a son who died as a infant in 1958, like Fritz and his ex-wife Doris did but they will always have the memories as will all of the Von Erich fans around the world. I would just like to take this time to say thank you to the Von Erichs for the memories and there will always be a place for you in wrestling history as well as the hearts and minds of all your fans around Texas and the world.
Other sources: http://www.kayfabememories.com/Regions/wccwintro.htm
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