Pro Wrestling Chronicle

Ric Flair vs Kerry Von Erich (World Class 8.15.82)

Ref Neely, a ref foreign to the World Class promotion, is in charge of this match. That becomes important as the match progresses.

This is World Class so you’ve got to expect some sloppiness, awkward stylings, and unorthodox brawling. This is why I’m not too disappointed in Von Erich miscues that happen every few minutes in this 2/3 falls match. They make up for it in determination and the crowd is off the charts hot for this anyway. That’s your audience and they love it, so I’m taking it into account.

First fall ended in DQ win from a discus punch on Ref Neely, though there was a nice swerve where local ref David Manning came in after the accidental punch meant for Flair. They go another 2-3 minutes of fast paced stuff with Flair ultimately going out to the sleeper. He’s unconscious as ref Neely gets in to argue that he’s the ranking official and the first fall will end in a DQ win for Flair. Flair is awesome here, selling the sleeper for the entire three-plus minutes between falls.

Second fall is a bit harder and faster, with no need for feeling out or longer holds. This fall ends with a bloodied Flair going and being counted shoulders down from a Von Erich Iron Claw. Minutes earlier they did an abdominal claw spot, which is one of those moves I’m glad died with the territories. A lot of Kerry’s sloppier stuff would have been weeded out by late in his career by promotion’s road agents or wrestlers themselves, or by fan reactions. The regular Iron Claw I was a mark for as a kid, so I’ve still got a place for it in my heart. I’ve always felt it would have worked best with blading (hate to say that), so Flair being the opponent and doing it here is optimum. Crowd here was so into the journey and Von Erich looked so dominant while Flair wasn’t a shmuck, a title change would have been completely rational on this night.

The third fall begins at maximum crowd heat with everyone thinking the belt is going to Kerry tonight. The two men go at it at a furious pace, and it should be mentioned that Flair played his character the best here of the “Flair is chickshit heel” versions here for me as a fan. He does a lot of calling off and playing from the bottom for the faces big comebacks and control periods, but he also has moments of bad ass champion motivation that have a lot of presence and add to the legitimacy and drama of the match. This doesn’t last long as a fall as about 37 minutes in that outsider ref calls for the bell after neither man listens during a brawl and continues to fight. A double DQ verdict leads to Ric Flair remaining the world champ. The local refs are incensed. Old Fritz Von Erich comes out and almost attacks the ref. The fans are hot as hell at the finish, but since it’s 1982, they really wanna see the rematch with a better ref. Eventually you’d get the fans choosing a ref in Michael PS Hayes for a Christmas show main event in a cage that completely set the promotion on fire.

This was 4 to 4 ¼ stars for its time (I’m guessing), and even if you’re totally jaded by watching too much wrestling from the 90s and ’00, it’s still well over 3 stars. I’d check it out because it’s compelling and has some history to it. The crowd itself isn’t a bad reason to watch this match. At the same time, don’t expect anything mind blowing, as I’ve seen better from the two a few years later in Mid South, and others would argue for matches in World Class itself.