World Class Championship Wrestling World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW), later known as the World Class Wrestling Association (WCWA) (1986–1991) was an American professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas. Originally owned by promoter Ed ...

(WCCW), based out of

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County w ...

held a number of major

professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...

super shows under the name ''Wrestling Star Wars'' between 1981 and 1989, with three of these being held in 1982. Promoter

Fritz Von Erich Jack Barton Adkisson Sr. (August 16, 1929 – September 10, 1997), better known by his ring name Fritz Von Erich, was an American professional wrestler, wrestling promoter, and the patriarch of the Von Erich family. He was a 3-time world champion ...

held two "Wrestling Star Wars" events, one in March and one in August as well as a special "Christmas Star Wars" on December 25 of that year. The driving storyline behind both the second and third Star Wars show of 1982 was Von Erich's son

Kerry Von Erich Kerry Gene Adkisson (February 3, 1960 – February 18, 1993), better known by his ring name Kerry Von Erich, was an American professional wrestler. He was part of the Von Erich family of professional wrestlers. He is best known for his time with ...

's quest to defeat

Ric Flair Richard Morgan Fliehr (born February 25, 1949), known professionally as Ric Flair, is an American professional wrestler. Regarded by multiple peers and journalists as the greatest professional wrestler of all time, Flair has had a career spanni ...

for the

NWA World Heavyweight Championship The NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship is a world heavyweight professional wrestling championship owned and promoted by the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), an American professional wrestling promotion. The current champion is Tyrus, who is in ...

, a quest that was ultimately unsuccessful due to the

Fabulous Freebirds The Fabulous Freebirds were a professional wrestling tag team who attained fame in the 1980s, performing into the 1990s. The team usually consisted of three wrestlers, although in different situations and points in its history, just two performed ...

turning on the Von Erich family, starting the most well known storyline in WCCW as the Von Erichs and the Freebirds fought for years following the December Christmas Star Wars.

Wrestling Star Wars (March)

Wrestling Star Wars (March 1982) was a

supercard In sports, a card lists the matches taking place in a title match combat-sport event. Cards include a main event match and the undercard listing the rest of the matches. The undercard may be divided into a midcard and a lower card, according to ...

show that was held on March 15, 1982 The show was produced and scripted by the Dallas, Texas based

(WCCW)

professional wrestling promotion A professional wrestling promotion is a company or business that regularly performs shows involving professional wrestling that has little relationship to the rules of the amateur olympic form. "Promotion" also describes a role which entails man ...

and held in their home area, Dallas/Ft. Worth, Texas. Several matches from the show were taped for WCCW's television shows and broadcast in the weeks following the show. The show was the fourth overall show in the "

Wrestling Star Wars Wrestling Star Wars, also billed as BTW Star Wars, WCCW Star Wars and WCWA Star Wars was a series of professional wrestling supercard shows promoted by the Dallas, Texas based World Class Championship Wrestling World Class Championship Wrestli ...

" event chronology. The show was held at the

Fort Worth Convention Center The Fort Worth Convention Center (formerly known as the Tarrant County Convention Center) is a convention center and indoor arena located in Sundance Square in Fort Worth, Texas. The complex opened on September 30, 1968, and was expanded in 1983 ...

Results

Wrestling Star Wars (August)

Wrestling Star Wars (August 1982) was a

show that was held on August 15, 1982. The show was produced and scripted by the Dallas, Texas based

(WCCW)

" event chronology. The show, held at the Fort Worth Convention Center, drew 18,000 spectators, the maximum capacity of the Conventions center when configured for wrestling shows. The main event of the show was

National Wrestling Alliance The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) is an American professional wrestling professional wrestling promotion, promotion and former professional wrestling governing body operated by its parent company Lightning One, Inc. Founded in 1948, the NWA ...

(NWA)

World Heavyweight Champion At boxing's beginning, the heavyweight division had no weight limit, and historically the weight class has gone with vague or no definition. During the 19th century many heavyweights were 170 pounds (12 st 2 lb, 77 kg) or less, tho ...

defending the championship against

in a "Best two-out-of-three" falls match. Flair won the first fall on a DQ after Kerry accidentally hit special appointed NWA referee Alfred Neely with a discus punch, while Von Erich won the second fall by pinfall with the Iron Claw. In the third and final fall Ric Flair and Kerry Von Erich battled to a Double Disqualification.

Results

Christmas Star Wars

(WCCW) held their second annual Christmas Star Wars, a major

show held on December 25 each year from 1981 through 1987. Some of the matches on the show were taped and later shown on television as part of WCCW's weekly shows. The focal point of the show was promoter

's son

challenging

for the

in the main event. The fifth and the eight match of the night were both shown on WCCW television programs on December 27, 1982 and the main event match between Von Erich and Flair was the focus of the WCCW television show on December 28, 1982. These episodes were later made available as part of the

WWE Network WWE Network is a subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and digital television network owned by the American entertainment company WWE. It primarily distributes original professional wrestling events, films, television and ...

. One of the undercard matches was a six-man tag team match to determine the first ever holders of the

WCCW Six-Man Tag Team Championship The WCWA World Six-Man Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling championship promoted by the promoted by the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex area-based World Class Wrestling Association (WCWA) from 1982 until 1988. The company was known ...

as the team of the

( Michael Hayes,

Terry Gordy Terry Ray Gordy Sr. (April 23, 1961 – July 16, 2001) was an American professional wrestler. Gordy appeared in the United States with promotions such as Mid-South Wrestling, Georgia Championship Wrestling, World Class Championship Wrestling, Jim ...

and

Buddy Roberts Dale Hey (June 16, 1947 – November 26, 2012) was a Canadian-American professional wrestling, professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Buddy Roberts. Primarily a tag team wrestler, Roberts is known for his appearances as one of The H ...

) were slated to take on the team of Tom Steele Mike and Ben Sharpe representing Canada in the tournament. Prior to the match Michael Hayes announced that due to bad winter weather Buddy Roberts was not in the building. Following that announcement

David Von Erich David Alan Adkisson (July 22, 1958 – February 10, 1984) was an American professional wrestler, better known by the ring name David Von Erich. A member of the Von Erich Family, Von Erich is best known for his appearances with World Class Champion ...

came to the ring and offered to team with the Freebirds. Von Erich and the Freebirds won the match and the championship, after which Von Erich relinquished his part of the championship to Buddy Roberts. The final match of the show was actually shown on TV before WCCW showed the match between Ric Flair and Kerry Von Erich, allowing them to dedicate the entire December 28 episode to the match between Ric Flair and Kerry Von Erich. At the August Wrestling Star Wars Ric Flair had managed to escape the match against Kerry Von Erich with the championship still in his possession. Following that show the storyline was that Ric Flair had offered a bounty to anyone who could injure Kerry Von Erich. The

Great Kabuki , better known as , is a Japanese retired professional wrestler. He is famous as the first to blow Asian mist in his opponents' faces. Professional wrestling career Mera was born on September 8, 1948 in Nobeoka, Japan. He started wrestling in 1 ...

collected the bounty as he hurt Von Erich's knee, giving them a storyline reason to cover for Von Erich's legitimate knee surgery. The Championship rematch was made into a

Steel Cage Match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "concept" or " gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a ...

and Fritz Von Erich decided to add a special guest referee to ensure everything was handled fairly. WCCW held a write in vote to determine the referee with the fans choosing Fabulous Freebird member Michael Hayes for the job alongside regular referee David Manning. After the introductions Terry Gordy came to ring side to hold the key that locked the steel cage door, to ensure that no one could get in and attack Von Erich who was a close friend of the Freebirds. During the match Von Erich applied the Iron Claw to Flair and held it for several minutes. During the hold Hayes thought that Flair had his foot under the bottom rope, a call that David Manning disagreed with, but Hayes made Von Erich break the claw hold anyway. Once he realized what he had done Hayes appeared to be upset and struck Ric Flair, knocking him down. When Hayes urged Von Erich to pin Flair Von Erich refused, which upset Hayes greatly. This led to Hayes leaving the cage while Von Erich tried to stop him. Moments later Terry Gordy slammed the door shut on Kerry Von Erich, striking him in the face and cementing that the Freebirds had just turned on their long time friend. Hayes returned moments later and counted Von Erich's shoulders down even though he clearly kicked out at 2. Subsequently David Manning ejected the Freebirds and announced that the match was not over. Minutes later Manning had no choice but to call for the bell as a bloodied Kerry Von Erich was unable to continue. The circumstances around the match was the start of the storyline feud between the Freebirds and the Von Erich family that would last for several years and has been the focal point of several DVD features such as "Heroes of World Class Wrestling: the Story of the Von Erichs" in 2007 and "The Triumph and Tragedy of World Class Championship Wrestling" released in 2011. ;Battle Royal order of elimination

References

{{World Class Championship Wrestling 1982 in professional wrestling World Class Championship Wrestling shows 1982 in Texas Events in Dallas Professional wrestling in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex March 1982 events in the United States August 1982 events in the United States December 1982 events in the United States