1) Ric Flair v. Kevin Von Erich (April 1st, 1983)- 5
This is a much different match than Flair has with the other brothers, which is a testament to his abilities. At times it's a trainwreck, with gnarly brawling where neither guy will give an inch, and are fighting for an advantage. I like how the only hold Kevin uses to master Flair on the ground is a leglock, no pretending he isn't a technical master. They do 2 ref bumps and multiple DQ finishes before someone bows down to Dusty Rhodes on the finish, could have been really good had it went a different direction.
2) Chavo Guerrero/ Iceman Parsons/ Kerry Von Erich v. The Fabulous Freebirds (Penalty Box Match, April 29th, 1983)- 5
I had watched this match just last year and instantly remembered WCW trying to use this gimmick waaaaay too much during it's dying days. This match was more than likely far better than any of those efforts. Match had great heat and all the Freebirds were on, just dynamic sellers all in their own way with one common thread: they take punishment and play it up how much they hate it. Chavo was athletic, but pretty bland, enjoyed the Iceman v. Roberts sections, lots of charisma in them and nasty, little extra oomph on all the punches and knees they threw to play up their feud. The rules were made to be extra strict to enforce the box stip where as if they tried to do that today, no one would be in the box, but someone would do a moonsault off the top of it through 36 flaming tables wrapped in barb wire.
3) Iceman King Parsons/ Kevin & David Von Erich v. The Fabulous Freebirds (May 13th, 1983)- 4
God watching this makes me think of the 3 Freebirds figures I had adorning these very same red tights and sequeined red robes when I was a kid. Again, here this was more of a continuation of the ongoing feud, nothing will be settled here, the Birds content to let the clock run down with a long stall period, longer than the time they spent trying to wake Roberts from the dead that morning after a late Sunday night dinner of steak, cocaine, and a Lebanese hooker. Kevin really should give the heels some time to beat him up sometime, he was fighting out of the corner while all 3 guys pounded him, fighting like a blind gila monster. I like David's mean streak, you never know when he will snap and let off a sick Flair chop or just keep you on the ground with headlocks, Santana style. Ending and Freebirds work was all perfunctory, nothing new here and lacking in substance.
4) Jimmy Garvin v. David Von Erich (May 27th, 1983)-4
Tell me David didn't plow Sunshine at least once while role playing their wrestling characters and I'll go back in time and put money on the 2008 Superbowl winning Cincinnati Bengals. David spent a lot of time working over Jimmy Jam's leg while he spent a lot of time crying while not really selling it all that much. I'm not sure where David learned to punch but it very much resembled a Roper from Double Dragon. The ending didn't really build up all that well which kind of hurts the overall score.
5) The Fabulous Freebirds & Jimmy Garvin v. the Von Erichs & Iceman King Parsons (Elimination Match, May 27th, 1983)- 8
This was a neat concept, Survivor Series style, which i'm always a sucker for (we'll see how Summerslam goes tonight) but it's fought more like a Battle royal where everyone is in the ring at the same time, attacks coming from all directions. Liked the pysch of all 4 guys dogpiling the biggest dude, Gordy to pin him. Loved it even more when the Freebirds copied the same move to beat Iceman. After that, it's down to Kerry & Kevin v. Hayes & Roberts and it becomes a dogfight, the likes of which this feud is so legendary. They beat each other for another 20 minutes like they slept with each other's wives. Some really cool near eliminations and near falls and Kevin skins the cat more than once. The finish, I thought it was frankly speaking, as sexy as a wrestling sequence can get. Just awesome.
6) Terry Gordy v. Kerry Von Erich (No DQ, June 10th, 1983)- 6
This wasn't like your normal no dq match from these days, but I loved the energy and hate both guys poured into their performances. Gordy just kept using these driving knees like he was literally spiking Kerry's appendages to a cross like some angry people once did to a young Jewish boy. I also loved when Kerry was using the Iron Claw, it was like he was digging his fingernails into Gordy's skull trying to scrape the flesh right off of him. The seconds were kind of distracting, both in tight white tees, but they lead to a satisfying conclusion.
7) Harley Race v. Kevin Von Erich (June 17th, 1983)- 6
Race may be a self professed tough man in the industry, but here you would think he was JBl trying to ward off a pissed off Joey Styles. Most of the match revolved around Kevin physically dominating (which if you saw the two stand side by side, you'd laugh then have some Invisible Kool-Aid for fun) Race while Harley would sneak in offense when he could. In his defense he took everything amazingly and played up the role of champ in trouble as well as Flair had with any of the brothers. There were a couple punches from both guys and a kick from Kevin that had me cracking up knowing those two were some great Idaho potato farmers.
8) Jimmy Garvin v. David Von Erich (June 17th, 1983)- 5
A scientific grudge match? Only from David, but it was still entertaining fare. I actually am not convinced a pure brawl from these two would have been the best route. Garvin totally hung on his own, some good reversals to David's tactics but not a lot different from the previous match on this set.
9) Fabulous Freebirds v. The Von Erichs (2/3 falls, July 4th, 1983)-5
This crowd was sizzling like a fajita plate at Ruby Tuesdays. The Freebirds and the Von Erichs started with a strip off, much to the crowd's pleasure. I know now why Disc 2's theme was Willie Nelson's "Georgia on my Mind", as the Freebirds used it as entrance music to incite this crowd. The first 2 falls were very quintessential of this whole feud, great build up with everything going on, feeling out in round 1 with the Freebirds edging ahead using triple team tactics and ref distraction. They kept the advantage with Kevin as face in peril, selling more than often which helped the match keep it's authenticity, followed by classic babyface comeback. 3rd fall was muddled at best, it broke down several times with some pretty sloppy brawling for Texas standards and just confusion all over the ring. Kind of hurt the overall appeal of this bout.
10) Terry Gordy v. Chris Adams (July 15th, 1983)-7
Here is the Gentleman's first appearance on this massive set and it's a doozy. Adams works all kinds of British-type submission holds as quiet babyface, takedowns, hammerlocks, while Gordy tries to use brute strength to keep him off him. Adams has to turn on his Sid Vicious (the punk singer, not the terrible wrestler) to keep his head from being taken off. Most thrilling moment of the match is when Adams pulls out a Takayama German suplex for a literal "close count."
11) Jimmy Garvin v. Kevin Von Erich (2/3 Falls, July 18th, 1983)- 7
Another gem from disc 2, although the video quality was shittier than most female reality TV stars homemade sex tapes. Really wish that Eva Mendes was true (damn you Funny or Die!) This match was all strawberries and orgasms to borrow a phrase. Really nifty leglock sequences and ground work being displayed in the first fall that resembled the grappling stylings of Chael Sonnen from last weekend. Kevin looked like a master of Monkey Kung Fu the way he used his legs to pull Garvin to and fro and lock him up in all kinds of different scenarios. Clean 1st fall leads to nasty cockfight for the 2nd. Started building a story of both guys literally trying to rip each other's larynxes out, with numerous stun guns being utilized to injure the other guy. Plus they both were doling out numerous stiff shots, Kevin as usual with errant kicks and punches, but Garvin fought back with ghetto style stomps and elbows. 3rd fall was even now and Garvin brought the real dirty shitheel out of himself to push this well into one of the best things burned on this disc.
12) Jimmy Garvin v. Kevin Von Erich (July 25th, 1983) - 3
A truncated version of the previous match with a lot of the same spots, shortened technical sequence, more Sunshine chincanery and no pissed off fighting. Even had a very similar finish to the other matches 3rd fall. Heat wasn't there either.
13) Iceman King Parsons v. Buddy Roberts (2/3 Falls, August 8th, 1983)- 4
Two guys i've grown to like more after watching some of this set, this match felt very WWE-tvish with stuff shortened up and lots of comedy elements (ex. we now know where Kurt Angle got his idea for the headgear/wig gimmick he used in '02). You can tell a lot of a guy by how he takes his spill to the outside and Parsons fell in the pathetic category of "have to be able to dance at the club tonight so will make my bump look like slumped over on the couch with a hangover instead of being thrown violently to concrete." Their Hair match on the extras disc was much better.
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