Three questions about the Von Erich's old stomping grounds that have been driving me batty for a little while:
1. Does anyone remember a guy named Awesome Kong? He wore a mask but had a Vader-like body. Was he ever someone another character?
2. Beauty and the Beast. Was the Beast ever anyone else?
3. Beauty and the Beast cont. Beauty (he would only wrestle on a pink mat!). I remember his real name as Terrence Garvin or something like that. Maybe even Terrance Gordy (although he's about 100 pounds lighter than the more famous Terry Gordy). Does anyone have his real name? And again, was he ever another character?
1. Awesome Kong was eventually joined by another big fat guy and they were called the Colossal Kongs. They eventually ended up in WCW, as I remember them on a Clash, managed I believe by Robert Fuller.
2. Don't Know.
3. Terry Garvin changed his name to Terry Simms (his real name) after the Titan scandals broke and the other Terry Garvin was implicated in them.
"The best reason for committing loathsome & detestable acts -and let's face it, I am considerably something of an expert in the field - is purely for their own sake. Monetary gain is all very well, but it dilutes the tastes of wickedness to a lower level that is obtainable by anyone will an overdeveloped sense of avarice. True and baseless evil is as rare as the purest good - and we all know how rare THAT is." - Acheron Hades, THE EYRE AFFAIR by Jaspar Fforde
The Kongs, Booker (The Ebony Experience), Lightning Kid, Beauty and the Beast were all either in the USWA version of World Class (after Jarrett bought out Fritz) or Global (Joe Pedicino).
TO me, World Class stopped really being "world class" either:
1) after the Von Erich started dying 2) Gino died 3) talent jumped from WCCW to the UWF 4) Fritz split from the NWA 5) some combination of all the above
"The best reason for committing loathsome & detestable acts -and let's face it, I am considerably something of an expert in the field - is purely for their own sake. Monetary gain is all very well, but it dilutes the tastes of wickedness to a lower level that is obtainable by anyone will an overdeveloped sense of avarice. True and baseless evil is as rare as the purest good - and we all know how rare THAT is." - Acheron Hades, THE EYRE AFFAIR by Jaspar Fforde
Davids death was the 1st blow but the promotion survived and thrived for a year and a half after he passed but Fritz could not survive Mike's shortcomings in the ring nor his health problems that paved way to his death, Gino's death right before the start of a big time angle with his Dynamic Duo partner Chris Adams and Kerry Von Erich deciding to take a Motor Cycle ride without his shoes which caused the old man to get him back into the ring WAY sooner than he should of, were some of the reasons I think WCCW fell so far so fast.
I also think the economy in Texas played into it as well not to mention things like a fake heart attack by Fritz or like a fake Long lost relative like Lance.
there is an article on the Von Erichs from 87 a month after Mikes death in fact on a night where Kevin passes out in the ring and all hell breaks loose at the Will Rodgers Coiseum. It can be found here http://site.yahoo.com/muchnick/oc19bor.html everything that you wanted to know about the Von Erichs and then some before the deaths of Kerry and Chris can be read here and boy this thing was built on a house of cards and you can see why it came down as quickly as it did.
“We have suffered two terrible tragedies in the last week – the blinding of Chris Adams and the death of Gino Hernandez,” Bill Mercer World Class Championship Wrestling Announcer relaying the news to WCCW fans of the death of Gino Hernandez drug overdose.
There is no such thing as Old School or New School...There is only one School either you get it or you don't...
Oddly enough, I'd say World Class may have peaked because of David's death, the first Parade of Champions in Texas Stadium, when Kerry beat Flair and the Von Erichs beat the Freebirds in a six-man match.
I did forget about the motorcycle accident and Lance Von Erich, which would also be in the top ten reasons World Class died.
And the recession in the Southwest not only helped kill World Class, but also Mid-South, right when Bill Watts was trying to go national.
"The best reason for committing loathsome & detestable acts -and let's face it, I am considerably something of an expert in the field - is purely for their own sake. Monetary gain is all very well, but it dilutes the tastes of wickedness to a lower level that is obtainable by anyone will an overdeveloped sense of avarice. True and baseless evil is as rare as the purest good - and we all know how rare THAT is." - Acheron Hades, THE EYRE AFFAIR by Jaspar Fforde
A nice Easter egg would be Flair's Sept. 14, 1998 return to WCW. The Greenville, SC, crowd went batshit for the man, and he was obviously affected by it. This ended in the possessed "fire me, I'm already fired/you: Abuse of power!