Pro Wrestling Chronicle

Match #21: The Fabulous Freebirds vs. The Von Erichs (7/4/83)

The Freebirds/Von Erich feud gets a shot in the arm. 2/3 falls with a big hot crowd at the county fairgrounds. I’ve heard a lot of people are high on this one.

It should be noted that before this match, at the 6/17/83 Reunion Arena show, Ice Man King Parsons had a hair match with Buddy Roberts and ended up smearing the “Freebird Hair removal” cream all over Roberts head at the end. The Freebirds come out to “Georgia on My Mind” to lots of boos. Roberts has on boxing protective head gear to cover up, though it doesn’t appear they even made him shave his head.

Two great things before the match begins: Mark Lawrence on commentary and the Freebird/Von Erichs having a subtle ring wear fashion battle. The match starts out slower than their recent battles; I’d characterize it as more traditional tag structure, especially the way they give early match ups the highlight personalities. Kerry and Hayes, the leaders, go first. That gives way to David and Gordy, the enforcers, with Gordy bumping around, than Kevin gets tagged in, and Roberts needs the other two to gain the advantage. The Freebirds get the heat on Kevin, showing some personality, as we hit the five minute mark.

The Freebirds get nasty, so Kerry and David jump in. They get in shots, but Hayes smartly grounds Kevin once the ref separates everyone. Great timing as the fans were fired up from the faces coming in, so the crowd response was there, and it was safe to bring it down for thirty seconds. When Kevin powers out, he gives the hot tag to David, who clears out Hayes and Roberts, delivers his big knee, then gets nailed with a big crossbody off the top from Gordy. 1-2-3, Gordy pins David. The Von Erichs are down one fall.

The seconds falls starts with a motivated David frustrating the hell out of the Freebirds. The ‘birds played there characters so well, they are definitely the real reason the Von Erichs were so over. Hayes’s bumping and selling has periodically bothered me the whole set, but here it’s not to bad. The Freebirds eat a Von Erich triple dropkick, but manage to tag in and out to keep David trapped. Hot tag to Kerry, and he really shines clearing the ring as all the Freebirds bump like crazy for him. Roberts thumbs Kerry’s eyes, so now he’s the third member of the three man brothers to play FIP (Face in peril). Gordy does the most interesting and intense damage with the quick tags in and out. Roberts, who looks suspect in singles matches, is fine here because of the quick tags.

I’ll take this time to give my only flaws of the Freebirds after watching almost ten of their matches (and a ton of their Mid South stuff): Hayes bumping/selling—or more to the point his dancing selling while standing—is suspect at times. Roberts offense, especially punches, can look bad at times. Gordy is a monster who over bumps, in my opinion, for a man of his size at times. Because they usually have matches as a unit, and they usually have capable opponents, these (perceived) weaknesses are usually hidden or nullified. In short, they are mostly awesome.

Gordy’s cheering at ringside when he thinks Hayes has Kerry pinned to end the match is priceless, as is his reaction to the kick out. Kerry’s FIP stuff is the most dramatic, which is good for this point in the match, as the Freebirds desperately try to stop him from getting to his corner—especially the undersized Roberts.
Kerry breaks free a moment later when Kevin takes care of Hayes/Gordy interference, and Kerry/David double-chop Roberts for the pin at 7:13 of the second fall. We’ve seen roughly 15 minutes of wrestling and each team has a fall as we go into the final.

Interesting turn of events as the Von Erichs continue to beat up the Freebirds following the second fall: Senior Ref David Manning is mad at both teams for constant interference. He says this is for the six man world belts, but he’ll DQ the next team that doesn’t tag in a guy legally. He asks ref Bronco Lubich to come out so there can be two officials to follow the action. Manning is a little self-important at times for a WCCW official. Hayes, of course, hates this. Old Bronco gets to shove the Freebirds to the delight of arena fans.

Kerry beats the piss out of Roberts, so Gordy comes in and works over Kerry something fierce. The crowd is on fire. This doesn’t feel like my favorite match on the set, but it feels very important. I think I’ve seen better work at times in shorter bursts from everyone involved, but here it’s laid out over three falls and given some time. I feel like I’m resisting something that might be classic, perhaps looking for holes because I’m not fully sucked in (I was with both Flair/Kerry matches, Kevin/Flair, Gordy/Kerry, and some of the tag matches in this feud.)

This match is so hot that they get huge heat for Kerry selling a bear hug from Hayes. Gordy picks up the bearhug once Hayes is tossed to the corner. The fans are waiting on the hot tag. They give you a hope spot, and Gordy carries Kerry back to Freebird country. Roberts loses the bearhug for the team, but Hayes tags in and cuts him off. Lawrence comments that this is the fourth Freebird against the same Von Erich, which is true, as they’ve “batted around” as they say in baseball. Finally, Kevin gets the hot tag, can’t get the Iron Claw on Hates face, so he does the claw to the abdomen (which I hate, but it’s a taste thing. The fans love it.) We’re five minutes into the the third fall. Gordy cheats on the apron, ten tags in. He’s a monster in this one. Pile driver tease leads to a Kevin comeback, but he smashes into David Manning in believable fashion going under a Hayes leapfrog. Hayes kicks him out to the floor while Kevin is confused. The match breaks down as everyone is in the ring, and Mark Lawrence comments he hopes there’s no disqualification. The fight rages in the ring, but Kevin—on the outside—trips up Hayes running the ropes, then climbs to the top rope and delivers his signature twisting crossbody for the pinfall in roughly twenty-two minutes. I guess they needed that second ref after all.

I said my piece about this above. I’m guessing there will be a big moment to rank this number one or close, and it is a great match (I liked it even more by the end), I just don’t think this is the best match on the set. Maybe it is and I’m thinking of flashes of greatness from matches with worse finishes and shorter stages. I think it’s fair to praise this as the quintessential Von Erich/Freebird match, and I can’t go lower than four stars, but a part of me thinks some of the singles title matches with angle finishes were better in the body of the match. I might have to watch this again at the end of the process. 4 stars and 8.2/10.

EDIT: This has since been moved ahead of the Flair/Kerry matches, this being nearly perfect and the defining feud of World Class week in and week out for years.