Since the day is a slow one,I thought that I would pull a topic out of the "slow day" file and discuss the recent release by the WWE that covers the Triumph and tragedy of
World Class Championship Wrestling.
The WWE purchased the tapes from Kevin Adkisson (Kevin Von Erich) last year and planned on releasing this DVD back in June,but the release date was just a few days after the Chris Benoit tragedy.
The company decided that since much of the WCCW documentary must cover the various deaths of the Von Erich boys,that did not make that the best time for this release.
This is the second documentary on WCCW to be produced,as last year Heroes of World Class was released shortly before the sale of the tapes to the McMahon gang,as you know, once they get their hands on them,that no one will get permission to use them.
Honestly,if you want to get a wider range of truth/opinion-it is best to watch both DVD's,as some players of the era appear on only Heroes such as Johnny Mantell,number 2 announcer Mark Lourance and the late Chris Adams,courtesy of RF Video allowing them use of the Adams shoot interview.
The WWE version has some exclusives as well,most prominently Michael Hayes and some appear on both-top announcer Bill Mercer and manager/booker Gary Hart.
The first thing to realize before you watch either of these is this-Kevin Von Erich is full of crap.
He seems like a nice enough fellow,but generally full of crap.
Between his RF shoot appearance and interviews on the two documentaries,he often tells three different stories on any topic that is broached,so if you are a casual fan or someone that knows little about wrestling and watching one of these with no background-prepared to be bewildered.
The Fritz Von Erich would have won the Olympic gold medal in the discus,if he had not been married story was laughable to say the least.
Kevin claims that Fritz's best all time throw would have won the gold in the 1952 Helsinki Olympics and that he was not allowed to participate since he was married.
Can anyone believe that during the Cold War that the USA Olympic committee would let that stand in the way of beating the Soviets in competition?
Any basic research shows that to be false on both statements.
And of course the age-old lie that Kerry Von Erich was deprived of discus gold due to the 1980 boycott of the games is a favorite.
Pretty tough to believe that someone was robbed of Olympic gold,when that same person was not even All-Southwest Conference at the University of Houston,but it sounds good- so go with it.
In summary,enjoy Kevin's segments,but don't believe much of it,unless proven to be right.
Michael Hayes patted himself on the back quite often and he deserves it.
Hayes and his work on the mic deserves much of the credit for the best run of success for the company for the Von Erichs-Freebirds feud and Michael agrees with my assessment!
Hayes was not allowed to appear on the Heroes DVD by the WWE and neither was Ric Flair.
I would have liked to seen more of Flair on the WWE product since his title matches with David,Kerry and Kevin really were the impetus to setting the territory on fire.
Jimmy Garvin looks totally different to the point of without a graphic of his name,I would never have recognized him.
We did not see WCCW here during their peak period and the exposure to Garvin mostly came during his run with the Crockett/WCW company and frankly we found his work to be uninspired,annoying and lazy.
But watching his Texas clips,his work makes us want to see more as he captured the self assured heel perfectly,as the arrogance came across to the audience without being overbearing as his later work was.
Gary Hart offered interesting perspectives on both DVD's,but seems to really dislike former booker Ken Mantell as he blasts Mantell (Who appears on neither film) constantly.
The match selection could have been better,although it is great to have the famous Flair-Kerry cage match in great quality.
Triumph and Tragedy is worth watching,as long as you keep a few things in mind,but for a bigger picture look-check out Heroes of World Class as well.
It has shortfalls and untruths as well,but adds things that having just the WWE version does not...
Bullpen Notes
The Marlins signed Jose Castillo as a free agent and may start him at third base this year.
Castillo was always more potential than production as a Pirate,but I was never as hard on Castillo as other have been.
He could just need a fresh start and he had better hope that it is the case as he likely will not get another chance to start over as the starter.
Horse racing lost its all-time trainer (victories) in a car accident in Indiana on Sunday.
Dale Baird was returning to his home base in West Virginia and perished in the accident.
Baird never had high quality stock,but rolled up his record in predominantly claiming races in West Virginia.
Baird was 72.
Tom Friedman offers a new phase to us-the Noah phase,in which he writes about the need to save species before total elimination in the New York Times.
The column will be the last from Friedman until spring as he works on a new book on the environment and energy.
Finally one addition on the signing front as former batting champion Bill Mueller signed two cards for Ryan and I.
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