Posted on by bdamage1
Griffin Kaye
Before the World Wrestling Federation firmly cemented their dominance in the commercial North American wrestling industry, one of the most promising NWA territories was World Class Championship Wrestling out of Texas. The home of The Von Erich family, it broke off from the NWA in 1986 to establish its own world titleholder. Yet, unlike companies such as the WWF and ECW, it soon found that the grass was not greener on the other side.
Introduction to World Class
Since its inception in the mid-1960s, the promotion has undergone several names, from Big Time Wrestling to World Class Championship Wrestling to World Class Wrestling Association.
In 1966, the Dallas and Fort Worth areas of Texas were brought out from promotor Paul Boesch to two promotors. One such promotor, Ed McLemore, the owner of the Dallas Sportatorium venue, died within a few years of the purchase, leaving the arena to the other owner.
That other owner was Jack Adkisson, better known to wrestling fans as Fritz Von Erich. Fritz, who had come to nation fame through his gimmick of portraying himself as a trooper from Nazi Germany, making him one of the most reviled heels of his era. He also patented the iron claw submission hold, which he would pass down to his children.
Always wanting to be the NWA World Heavyweight champion but unable to win the belt, Fritz Von Erich made his sons the stars of World Class.
The Von Erichs in Brief
Renamed WCCW in 1982, the promotion’s slick appearance served as part of its appeal. The production was unique, pioneering techniques like character vignettes and wrestlers with musical entrances.
The Von Erich brothers David, Kerry, and Kevin caught on as the most popular performers in the promotion, beloved by the loyal fanbase. The group’s iconic rivalry with The Fabulous Freebirds is perhaps what the entire company is best remembered for today, although they too feuded with Chris Adams, Gino Hernandez, and Jake Roberts amongst others.
In 1984, David Von Erich tragically passed away. Critically regarded as the best wrestler of the Von Erich troupe, he was allegedly in line to win the NWA world title at the time of his death. Fritz lobbied the NWA to instead gift the belt to Kerry Von Erich, who won the belt from Ric Flair in David’s honour at his memorial show.
Believing the Von Erichs would never be NWA champions again and that the company needed tighter control on a world title, in 1986, World Class withdrew from the NWA.
The Belt Beforehand (1966-1986)
[The belt effectively served as the tool for promotor Fritz Von Erich]
Although only its own world heavyweight belt from 1986, the championship beforehand can trace its lineage through multiple names back two decades.
Much like the more famous case of Verne Gagne’s American Wrestling Association, the belt served as the tool for the promotor’s self-aggrandising.
In all, the Von Erich patriarch won the strap on 16 known occasions, holding it for a combined time of well over seven years (2,715 days). Some reigns were year-plus affairs whilst others lasted a matter of days – or a day – whilst some tenures have simply been lost to history. Even in his retirement match, Fritz held the belt aloft a final time, retiring with the belt at the age of 52.
Even if you have zero knowledge of WCCW, you will have heard of some of the greats to hold the title belt. These include but are not limited to: Baron Von Raschke, Barry Darsow, Blackjack Mulligan, Bruiser Brody, Ernie Ladd, The Great Kabuki, Jimmy Garvin, Ken Patera, King Kong Bundy, Ox Baker, Tatsumi Fujinami, Terry Gordy, and Wahoo McDaniel.
Unreliable Champions
[Rick Rude, the incumbent titleholder when World Class withdrew from the NWA]
The first recognised World Class Wrestling Association champion was Rick Rude, who had held the belt since November 1985 but WCWA champion since World Class withdrew in February 1986.
On the March 1st edition of WCWA TV, on-screen representative Ken Mantell held a press conferenced in which he announced: “From this day forward, the World Class Wrestling Association is going to recognise the holder of the American belt, Rick Rude, as our world heavyweight champion…We feel that this is for the betterment of the sport and for the wrestling fans.”
Champion Rick Rude, a top heel but far from the name he would become, would also reign as the Television champion during his reign before dropping the top strap to Chris Adams. Taking place at the Independence Day Star Wars event in front of 11,500 people, the popular “Gentleman” Chris captured the belt after a misplaced cane shot from manager Percy Pringle.
Although Adams was indeed white hot, by September, the title was taken off Adams. He had signed with Bill Watts’s Universal Wrestling Federation (UWF), explaining that: “I had to relinquish my [WCWA] belt when I couldn’t make a venue on the west coast.” At the same time, he was also sentenced to a spell in prison for assaulting a co-pilot mid-flight in a drunken rage.
As former booker and manager Gary Hart mused in the documentary The Triumph and Tragedy of World Class Championship Wrestling, “As much as I love Chris [Adams] and as good as Chris was, he wasn’t Harley Race and he wasn’t Ric Flair. And neither was Rick Rude.”
The Englishman later recalled in a shoot interview that he was underwhelmed at his replacement titleholder: Black Bart. A perennial mid-carder, the move did much to damage the belt’s prestige, even if Bart was always bound to be a transitional champion. As TheSportster commented: “Bart had no standing whatsoever as a champ, let alone a “World” one, a classic cowboy character with bad ring work…it kick-started WCCW’s slide to its demise and this once-great promotion falling badly in record time.”
It lasted just a month before the belt was on someone new, this time, the oldest living Von Erich, Kevin, who had previously been overlooked for world title material. Kevin stated: “Winning the title is something I’ve always dreamed about. The greatest moment of my life.”
The publication Inside Wrestling, which was the source of scathing criticism of the choice of Bart as top titleholder, wrote: “There’s been a black cloud hanging over the World Class area for the past six months, threatening the very future of the federation. But Kevin Von Erich’s victory over Black Bart for the WCCW title indicates that a resurgence might be taking place.”
A Tarnished Product
[One particularly tasteless angle had Fritz fake a heart attack]
The Von Erichs however were not as hot as before. The flat Lance Von Erich angle had tested fans trust in the family, Mike was never the same after his shoulder injury (taking his own life in April 1987), and Kerry still recovering from the motorcycle accident that would leave him without a foot.
After nearly a year on top, it all came to an end after Kevin was forced to vacate the title. Kevin was unable to defend the belt after collapsing in the ring. He was given CPR and later recalled: “All of a sudden, I saw stars. I collapsed and had a seizure in the ring.” This was played off as a kayfabe reaction to a heart punch from Brian Adias, with the title given to top contender Al Perez.
One more notable title misstep was when the belt was won by Iceman King Parsons. As a part of a doomed attempt to recreate the Four Horsemen without Michael Hayes, Parsons defeated Kerry Von Erich for the top strap. In what has been described as “the proverbial upset of upsets,” Parsons became their first and only black world champ after using a power outage to his advantage, subsequently pinning Kerry. This angle also came after a poorly-received angle in which Fritz had faked a heart attack, a storyline that won WCWA the Wrestling Observer Most Disgusting Promotional Tactic Award – WCWA’s fourth in a row!
The SuperClash Disaster
In December 1988, World Class joined the AWA and Jerry Jarrett’s Championship Wrestling Association (CWA) for the AWA Pay-Per-View SuperClash III. The promotion’s only such PPV event, it was headlined by WCWA champion taking on AWA champion Jerry Lawler for both belts.
Some speculate Kerry wrestled intoxicated. Whether he was or not, the future Texas Tornado cut his under arm open with a razor blade by accident prior to the bout. This was just one aspect of a match marred by promotional squabbling and backstage politics.
In no uncertain terms, the event bombed; it was an utter financial flop and disastrous for all promotions involved.
Despite its marquee status, SuperClash III drew just a reported 1,672 fans to the UIC Pavillion, an arena that author Ronald Snyder notes can hold up to 10,000. In comparison, the inaugural SuperClash in 1985 had over 20,000 live spectators.
As for PPV buys, it racked up just 45,000 buys. The buy rate for the WWF’s Survivor Series the previous month was 310,000, nearly seven times as many customers. Tim Hornbaker’s The Death of the Territories notes that the event got a 0.5% percentage buy rate, far short of the 1% needed for a profit.
The Wrestling Observer reported a dismal $25,081 gate.
Ring announcer Gary Michael Cappetta wrote in his autobiography that SuperClash was “the worst pay-per-view event I have ever been associated with.”
The PPV was not helped by its placement between Survivor Series the previous month and Starrcade less than two weeks later. Some genius also thought it would be a brilliant idea to host this event on a Tuesday. A Tuesday!
AWA promotor Verne Gagne reportedly did not pay many of the wrestlers such as Jerry Lawler, stripping him of the AWA belt.
Although the biggest embarrassment was for the AWA, the biggest company and one of the final nails in the coffin of a promotion that would see its demise within a few years, it was not exactly edifying that World Class’s world champion could not draw.
The End
[Continental Wrestling Association promotor Jerry Jarrett]
Lawler would turn out to be their last world champion.
The dates and events leading to the end of World Class are rather messy. Fritz sold off his shares in the late 80s, telling a D magazine reporter “I’m just tired.” He left the company to his sons, whose lack of business acumen led to further haemorraging of cash. Facing hefty debt of over $100,000 and due rent at the Sportatorium, the business was sold to promotor Jerry Jarrett.
Jarrett, owner of CWA, merged the WCWA with his own company to make the United States Wrestling Association (USWA), effectively ending World Class as we knew it.
To say the WCWA world heavyweight title was the cause of World Class would be a far too monocausal and misguided insight. Instead, it was a multi-factor downfall that had caused WCCW to be a sinking ship for several years until its end. Instead, the belt does tell us of a spiraling company who believed it was big enough and could recapture previous popularity but through unproven workers, out-of-ring incidents, and pure bad luck, fumbled the symbol of what should have represented the best of the promotion.