1) The Fabulous Freebirds v. The Von Erichs (August 12th, 1983)- 6
I'm way more keen on the Von Erich brothers offense in this one, not only are the Freebirds bumping like they have Colossus' skin, but all the moves are flowing and look great, unlike a lot of flops and misses we might usually see. God, Gordy was such a monster; there's a whole section where he mercilessly pounds David like it's a snuff film. Kevin puts his whole body into everything he does; so much fun watching him work, Roberts gets the knees up on a splash and you can literally see some "juice" spittle from Kevin's mouth. Seriously, he and Kevin are both built like Hercules and David is this lanky, human piece of taffy. Guess it's from all those steaks! (inside joke). This started really hot and and was weaving a tale as old and successful as any in wrestling but it cooled off considerably towards the end.
2) Jimmy Garvin & Terry Gordy v. David & Kevin Von Erich 2/3 Falls (August 15th, 1983)- 4
Hilarious moment when Gordy takes a spill over the top rope, a really reckless bump for a house show and really shitty video footage and catches his foot in a steel chair and kicks it around before almost falling on his face. Lots of leg scissors here, as if I don't feel strange enough about watching men in their underwear, here's a really long spot where both guys heads are between the Von Erich Fucksicle. Gordy's a bumpaholic, even on this show, just in his nature, haven't seen a shred of that talent in his son though. First 2 falls were both kind of basic falls with nothing special as far as pinfalls, really take this as a lower ranked show now. 3rd fall was a schmoze with sloppy brawling this side of a Tomko hardcore match.
3) Jimmy Garvin v. Chris Adams (August 28th, 1983)- 3
Not a lot going on here, a really hot crowd (go figure in Texas at this time) Adams worked a tad quicker than Garvin who struggled to keep up, but luckily a lot of headlocks and hiptosses were utilized. when Garvin took over, he just heeled it up with lame spots of throwing him outside and primping for the crowd. Terrible finish too, surprised this made it on.
4) David Von Erich v. Terry Gordy 2/3 Falls (September 5th, 1983)- 4
As basic a match as you could imagine, the 3 finishes used for each fall were a dropkick, a headbutt and a rollup. Gordy still throws a mean haymaker and takes one nasty spill but other than that, lots of restholds here. David starts garnering symphathy with a good sympathetic portrayal but in the end, he just lays around too much. Best moment was Buddy Roberts walking up behind Chris Adams (who was doing commentary) and pulling out his chair like he was on Silent Library and the nasty brawl that ensued.
5) Michael Hayes v. Kerry Von Erich, Country Whipping Match (September 5th, 1983)- 4
Not as heated as the tag version, Hayes was prancing around taking his licks like he might script Cody Rhodes to do on an upcoming ep of Smackdown. Kerry totally bonered this sweep spot he was trying as Hayes bounced around like near sighted kangaroo. My main hope was that Brody and Gordy would get into a skirmish and get this thing started.
6) The Fabulous Freebirds v. The Von Erich Brothers (September 5th, 1983)- 5
This is where the real meat and potatoes of this rivalry is contested, I don't think it all comes together unless its in a multi-man match. The only thing going against what happens here is it feels ultimately identical to the previous match on this disc in structure, and even a lot of the same spots. But the majority of them all work, Freebirds weren't the bumping machines they usually are and using Kerry as the beating post isn't near as good as Kevin or Dave.
7) Jimmy Garvin v. Chris Adams (September 12th, 1983)- 3
Another bland offering, I know these guys feuded for a while but this didn't make me want to seem them wrestle again. Adams hadn't quite become the fired up babyface he would later on, all the basic stuff felt like stalling, Garvin's act was retread from most everything else he's done so far. Still has a good right hand, both guys can strike actually.
8) Chris Adams/ Iceman King Parsons/ David Von Erich v. Michael Hayes/ Kamala/ The Mongol (October 3rd, 1983)- 6
Here Adams really shines and just becomes Stallone in "Cobra" during the opening scene and just rules everyone in sight. I really enjoyed this one; there was so much going on it was like a Guillermo Arrigla script. Kamala was just a great character to watch because you never knew what he could do. I don't care how many soap operas you've worked on, you couldn't script shit like this on your Monday night wrestling show. Hayes was great at playing off of it, Mongol had bitch tits that would bust most bras, but bless him he worked hard to keep up with Adams and David. Finish was blown but that didn't ruin the match as a whole.
9) Harley Race v. Iceman King Parsons (October 7th, 1983)- 5
Race is a man that has fought and beaten the biggest stars and the toughest men in the industry through the 70's-80's, and what he does in this match is make Iceman look like he's among that group. The crowd is just incensed at Iceman getting the pinfall and the belt which gives the match crazy heat. My problem with it is it's worked like Iceman is a terrible worker, Race kind of goes from heat spot to heat spot with no real sequences at all building up Iceman's chances, then at the end of it we get a Dusty finish. But, watch for Harley's ridiculously great brainbuster on the floor; it'll make you wish you didn't watch ANOTHER CSI rerun.
10) Buddy Roberts & Terry Gordy v. Kerry Von Erich & Johnny Mantell (October 17th, 1983)- 7
I can be sure Olivia Newton John didn't have this match in mind when she wrote "Let's Get Physical" but the above would apply as the theme song for it. It wasn't pretty but it was damn sure stiff. Roberts took a beating, I mean he was getting blasted left and right, incl. a nasty knee Kerry must have learned from Race after getting his skull split one night at the Sporatorium to which Kerry used some perkisets and the family hunting dog's mouth to cure. Yikes. Gordy was bumping like Flair, literally and he was a good 80 pounds more, he was a damn god in his time. Mantell I wasn't sure about; all he did in the first half was armwringers so he was either more old school than battle axes or greener than Oscar the Grouch's asshole; after seeing the conclusion of the match and his selling, it's clear he was a competent journeyman who seemed a little perplexed by the violent nature of the match but fit right in.
11) Terry Gordy v. Kevin Von Erich (October 21st, 1983)- 4
I don't know, i wasn't feeling this one as much as I thought I would, usually both guys bring the mean-ness like an ex wife with a prenub but a lot of this revolved around a dick measuring submission contest, where Kevin used his Jungle feet to control Gordy; they were working it as if his feet had their own brains, just really strange. They started to turn it up towards the end but the finish didn't blow my skirt up so onto the next bout.
12) Jimmy Garvin v. Chris Adams (October 24th, 1983)- 3
This had the feeling of a big time match, the ground work where they exchanged camel clutches I thought was really building up to something, but a lot like the rest of their matches together, just as they get to the heated section, a few strikes are exchanged and that's it. Garvin's DDT looked as good as wet bread tastes.
13) Jimmy Garvin v. Johnny Mantell (October 31st, 1983)- 5
Mantell was described as a rookie, these days you'd never see a guy who's already 38 yeard old and has a receding hairline just breaking in, haha. Regular Garvin formula, although Mantell does a few things that make this more worthwhile, his exuberance in quickening his dependence on pain killers by taking a nasty back body drop, then later on throwing a very Tanaka esque forearm shiver. The finish was fun, invovled the ladies at ringside (which the extras disc, if you watch them in the right order by date makes it more digestible) and is a fun surprise.
14) Michael Hayes & Jimmy Garvin v. Kerry Von Erich & Chris Adams (October 31st, 1983)- 4
There really wasn't enough in this match that kept me intrigued, Adams and Garvin i'm just not a fan of their work together, and they still failed to excite here. Kerry looked sort of sharp, liked a lot of his strikes and fire especially against Hayes. Kind of a nothing match that didn't elevate anyone or the ongoing feuds.
15) Terry Gordy & Michael Hayes v. Kerry & Kevin Von Erich (Country Whipping Match, November 4th, 1983)- 7
This was one of the damndest strap matches I've seen, just an insane atmosphere throughout this whole thing, I mean when you talk wrestling heat, this is the match to watch. Everyone had a leather strap in their hands the whole match and weren't relenting on it, every shot, ever slap had to sting like a SOB. This ended up being the next stage in an ongoing angle where the Von Erichs were trying to run the Freebirds out of town but it was a dogfight like i've never seen, just insanely violent and brutal. Loved every second of it, I couldn't imagine all the pain pills passed around in the back after this one.
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