The first pro wrestling match I can remember being emotionally invested in was Strongbow & Whitewolf vs. The Executioners (#1 and #2, of course), managed by Cap'n Lou. Whitewolf would routinely get the snot beat out of him, than the chief would come in on the hot tag and no sell the beating he was getting as he went "on the warpath".
We were ringside in Joe Louis Arena and I looked at the Iron Sheik and said "USA!" and he looked at me and said "USA sucks!" and he spit on the floor in front of me LOL. Later on I yelled at Honky Tonk Man "Shake, Rattle & Roll!" and when he did his finish he pointed at me and said "This one's for you!". I think this was Dec 26, 1985 or 86. Don't remember the year but I know it was the day after Christmas when we were visiting my brother in Michigan.
Very cool. If Honky was there, then it would have been '86. In fact, I found results from the excellent thehistoryofwwe.com site: WWF @ Detroit, MI - Joe Louis Arena - December 25, 1986 (8,500) Barry O defeated Jerry Valiant Lanny Poffo defeated Jack Kruger Pedro Morales defeated Frenchy Martin The Honkytonk Man defeated Scott McGhee Dino Bravo defeated SD Jones Billy Jack Haynes pinned the Iron Sheik The Junkyard Dog defeated King Kong Bundy via disqualification Don Muraco & Bob Orton Jr. defeated Mike Rotundo & Danny Spivey WWF IC Champion Randy Savage defeated George Steele via count-out Roddy Piper pinned Adrian Adonis
This is a great transition between oldschool carny nonsense and the idea that a dude like Arn Anderson is the scariest thing you can see under a sheet. Not some jacked UFC champ, just a hairy dude with farm strength who will straight up wreck you.
That might be it, although I am not sure. I don't remember much about it but I DO remember the Sheik, Honky and George Steele. In fact, I also remember George Steele calling shots during the match which was out of "character". It must've been Dec 25 and not the 26th but this was a long time ago, I would've been 15.
Another great episode od Dark Side Of The Ring. Last night's episode was on the Von Erichs. Kevin seems to be at peace and as far away from Texas as possible. Such a sad story. In the 80's I was WWF only so I only knew of the family in name. I knew Kerry and that was it and then he headed north to the WWF. I didn't know the rest of the story until much later about the family. I have the World Class DVD and I enjoyed it. So many great organizations back in the day and I regret not paying attention to the others (other than Smoky Mountain since I grew up in Knoxville). But if you get a chance, check out the Vice episode on the Von Erichs it will be on again next Wed (I believe as they do repeats a week later).
I would recommend you try to find Heroes of World Class. WWE has a tendency to screw around with history in its historical DVDs. The World Class one isn't awful but it should be viewed in conjunction with Heroes of World Class.
I also noticed on the back it says featuring matches from "Dingo Warrior" and I was curious to see it but there is nothing on it with Dingo/Ultimate.
I agree. The WWE one isn't bad as far as I remember (only watched it once though, IIRC) but it pales in comparison to Heroes of World Class which is just excellent.
that WWE release says dingo warrior matches? I have that release if that's what you are saying and need to check
The only thing the WWE set has over Heroes is more matches. The most important people are missing and so are their stories.
Latest 83 Weeks podcast discusses the trip to North Korea. A great, great listen. Also the event is now on YouTube:
The big thing WWE has over a lot of the independent documentaries is they own all the footage. The World Class set wasn't terrible its not in the Rise & Fall of WCW level of bad where they made a lot of historical inaccuracies.