Best of the Von Erichs

[Xenorama ™]

just rented this from Netflix- it is interesting to watch so far. Kevin's still not much better on the mic than he was back then, but seeing the clips really makes me miss wrasslin'.

i've never seen David wrestle before, and he was arguably the most talented von Erich. i still have to wonder about Kevin- he says most of them didn't want to be wrestlers, but is happy they were... ? hello?

gotta hate those Freebirds! they were that good. gee, even the JYD made appearances here!

David

[RoadWarriorYajuta]

Fritz definitely lived vicariously through his kids. The Von Erichs went from being the first family of wrestling to its greatest tragedy. Truly a shame. I never got the hype about David. I always dug Kerry and when he wasn't high he was a capable worker. The last I saw of Kevin in the ring was when Savoldi's ICW merged with World Class and became IWCCW. Kevin was billed as the Texas Champ but they never did anything with it. That was about 91 or 92.

[Xenorama ™]

it's a good disc, a little TOO much about the kids, and Kevin never breaks kayfabe at all during it. he does commentary with one of the refs, and it's pretty funny how they just don't break character at all.

i had always thought Kevin was lankier than Kerry, but they were both pretty built. David really did have the charisma, since he got to go out of the territory and work heel in Florida.

to make this DVD better they needed more clips of other workers and dates of the matches they were showing. i think most came from before 83- at least before David and Gino died. Kerry looks pretty coherent the whole time. Kevin pushes the whole All American Family thing, when we all know that's not quite true.

still, it's worthwhile and the matches are quite good.

David

[Xenorama ™]

just rented this again, and it's more fun this time. i'd like some more backstory to some of the fueds- why did heel Killer Khan attack heel Terry Gordy? things like that. this was apparently the first of a series of planned tapes, but i'm not sure any more were released.

[RoadWarriorYajuta]

Yeah, and sadly there won't be anymore released as Kevin sold the library to Vinnie Mac about 2 months ago.(Vince in all fairness would probably put out a much better set than Kevin did.) What I saw of it was good. I got all nostalgic when I heard Freebird and saw PS, Buddy Jack, and Bamm Bamm. I did get a huge chuckle out of Kevin sitting there barefoot. My Brother In Law woke up when I was watching it and I schooled him on the metoric rise and tragic demise of the Von Erich boys. Only one of them didn't die due to suicide or drugs. It seems if Fritz had been more of a Dad and less of an enabling protmoter those boys might still be around.

Here is your background info on the Khan-Gordy feud.(courtesy of obsessedwithwrestling.com)

Ron Valliere wrote Being that I was raised on World Class Championship Wrestling I thought you might find the following info useful for the Kahn profile and maybe a few others. Killer Kahn was a key player in a major world class storyline(which took place in the mid 80's) that led to one of the most historic moments in wrestling history. The story begins: Terry Gordy leaves fellow Freebirds Michael Hayes and Buddy Roberts behind in the U.S. to briefly tour Japan. While in Japan Gordy meets Killer Kahn and a friendship is born. Kahn teaches Gordy the Oriental or Asiatic Spike. Gordy returns to the states with a dangerous new offensive weapon and a powerful new ally. The Freebirds plan to use Kahn to give them an edge over their hated rivals the Von Erich Bros. and also to establish themselves as the premier rule breaking group in world class which infuriates General Skandor Akbar the boss of Devastation Inc which at that time included Kamala, Missing Link, Great Kabuki, and the Super Destroyers. The Freebirds began feuding with both the Von Erichs and Devastation Inc. over "control" of World Class Wrestling. Some particularly brutal matches took place between Gordy and Kevin Von Erich, Gordy and Kerry Von Erich, and Kahn and Kevin. By this time World Class officials discussed banning the Spike because of the toll it was taking on other World Class stars. However the move was not banned. In a stunning development General Akbar secretly bought the services of Killer Kahn and Kahn turned on the Freebirds. Gordy, feeling responsible for Kahn, vows to destroy Kahn. The feud was a brutal one and neither had a clear advantage before world class officials stepped in. World Class officials felt that normal referees could no longer control or be safe in matches involving Gordy and Kahn. World Class officials decided that Gordy and Kahn would square off one more time with a special referee- Kerry Von Erich ! Terry Gordy defeated Killer Kahn and finally ended the feud. After the match a bloody Terry Gordy and Kerry Von Erich shake hands in a sign of mutual respect !

[Xenorama ™]

thanks for posting that Chad. one of the real drawbacks to ANY of these "best of" discs is that there is no history of the matches- how they got set up, the stories. we went and watched the matches on tv because we cared and wanted to see the outcome of them. just showing the great matches is fun, but a little background would be great.

[RoadWarriorYajuta]

I agree with you about the background info. That is one reason I love the Wrestling Gold set. I always put on Cornette and Meltzer's commentary because you get a ton of great info on the match and the participants on it. I'd really love to see another one of those sets come out. I was kind of incorrect, there were two brothers that didn't die due to drugs, the oldest son, I believe his name was Jack died of electrocution in some weird accident when he was five, and then there is ofcourse Kevin.

This disk reminded me alittle of the stuff Mike Graham was putting out before he sold the Florida li9brary to Vince. No real background was given and matches just seemed to be pretty much thrown on there for no rhyme or reason. Heck, I paid ten bucks about a year ago, the set was called Wild Men of Wrestling and was mostly shows from 85-6, but there was some great old school matches with Jack Brisco, Mr. Wrestling I, and Cowboy Watts on there. Truth be told, I didn't mind that set at all, it was great seeing some of the shows I watched when we lived in Florida and you can't knock getting to hear Gordon Solie call matches.

I just wish that Watts' ex, Kevin, and Mike Graham could have gotten together with Jerry Jarrett, Robert Fuller, Verne, and the Owens family to secure the rights to put out their stuff as a collection of classic wrestling before Vince bought the libraries. Man, that would have so rocked, as there could have been matches from World Class, Midsouth, Florida, Memphis, Alabama, The AWA, and Protland. If they could have gotten that quality of a library to work with, and hired someone like a Cornette to host the DVDs, man that would have been golden. Damn, could have gotten intouch with Angelo Poffo for his ICW, Joe Savoldi for his ICW, The Bruiser's family and Bob Luce for their WWA-Chicago stuff, The Harts for Stampede, The Blanchards for Southwest, maybe see about getting the St. Louis library, and even checked to see if the LaBells had any of their LA stuff. Man, I mean a series of well done classic DVDs done with that library, damn what could have been. This would have allowed those owners to retain their library and put out a product any die hard fan would have wanted and they could have minimized the hassle to pu out these sets, Man, truly a shame nobody had the cash to pull that one off.

[Xenorama ™]

i just picked up the "director's cut" of Heroes of World Class. i have no idea what any difference is between the original, but it's a great documentary. it's a two disc set, and the first disc has the doc and some deleted scenes which are nice.

the second disc is pretty useless, except for an "interview" with Corny about his time in World Class.

still, for $15, this is highly recommended, before VKM puts out his own version of it.

[RoadWarriorYajuta]

Sweetness, I have looked for it let me know how it is.

[RoadWarriorYajuta]

If you get a chance could you make me another copy of this? The one I have only works for a couple of matches. Ignore my question about the Heroes of World Class, I see you already answered it here.

[Xenorama ™]

sure thing. sorry about the first disc!

[RoadWarriorYajuta]

Don't ever be sorry about stuff like this. Really cool of you to send me the things you do. This disc was like the Midsouth one with the Roadies a few matches work and then it gets all pixalated and quits. I truly appreciate anything you send my way and I won't ever complain if something doesn't work. The thought far outweighs the actual item.

Same old song and dance I know but Crystal's schedule has been wicked weird this week and as soon as we get the chance to hit the post office your package will be out.