Post by Christy The Admin on Mar 16, 2007 12:12:44 GMT -5
Heroes of World Class
It might be a little strange to outsiders that I would be recommending a wrestling dvd on a Runaways message board, but I think I've made it fairly obvious where wrestling stands in my list of hobbies. Besides, I never said these would all be musically related.
World Class Championship Wrestling was a wrestling organization based out of Texas, specifically Dallas, and was the baby of Jack Adkisson, who wrestled for years as Fritz Von Erich. The company was built around great wrestlers and included all of Fritz's adult sons: Kevin, Kerry, David, Mike and Chris. The company revolutionized wrestling television, was syndicated worldwide before Vince McMahon ever got his foot in the door, and honestly, the entire wrestling landscape might be radically different today if Fritz Von Erich had decided to truly expand out of Texas. They had the tv, but not the touring companies that McMahon later used to become a worldwide leader in the business.
Essentially, many of the things WWWF/WWF/WWE has done, World Class got the ball rolling.
Unfortunately the company died thanks in part to the deaths of every Von Erich boy but Kevin, Fritz's decision not to tour nationally and the decrease in audience due to both.
Heroes of World Class is a documentary made by Brian Harrison, a longtime fan of the company. I don't think I could recommend this dvd any higher. A few minor sound problems here and there do not in any way diminish what an incredible documentary this man made.
Harrison uses interviews with Kevin Von Erich, Bill Mercer, Gary Hart, Chris Adams, John Mandell and several others, as well as classic WCCW footage, to put together the origins of the company, it's meteoric rise and its downfall. The result is a fairly complete and definitely intense story of a company that was seen across the world and inspired a new era in wrestling.
The documentary begins with Fritz, his football injury and move into wrestling playing a Nazi sympathizer. It covers the beginning of the company and the entry of the Von Erich Boys, starting with Kevin, David and Kerry, and some of the major feuds of the time. Believe me, McMahon would DIE for some of the crowd reactions that were a highlight of some of this footage. People went nuts about these guys. Special attention is obviously paid to the Von Erichs, as well as The Dynamic Duo of Chris Adams and Gino Hernandez, the Fabulous Freebirds, Bruiser Brody and the title shots against Ric Flair and Harley Race. It goes into detail about the way they changed televised wrestling, their syndication deals, and the foundation of what could have been a worldwide sensation.
Of course, just as things were going good, David Von Erich died in Japan. Kevin Von Erich and World Class staples talk about David's death and how it affected the company and the fans, tells the story of Kerry's subsequent defeat of Flair for the NWA Title and how Fritz turned to Kevin and Kerry for the future.
We even see Kevin visit the famous Sportatorium just days before it was razed, in what is one of the most emotional parts of the movie. The angles Harrison uses to show Kevin there add to the narration - you hear him and can almost see him walking to the ring with his brothers. The story of the death of the company is actually as compelling and heartbreaking as the stories of the eventual early deaths of David, Kerry, Mike and Chris Von Erich, Gino Hernandez, Bruiser Brody, and most recently, the shooting death of "Gentleman" Chris Adams.
The WCCW footage is great. The interviews are extremely insightful and the presentation is very emotional at times. Although there is a lot of sadness, there is also a lot of glory, and any wrestling fan, whether they had the chance to see World Class or not, will take a lot away from this documentary. It was very well made and doesn't have the same problem some WWE dvds do - which is when a super slick production overwhelms the story being told. It's about as raw as the Dallas Sportatorium, which is fitting.
I can't recommend it enough. I especially recommend it to anyone who thought Kerry was just "The Texas Tornado." There's a whole lot more to the Von Erich story than the Tornado, death and a prosthetic foot. There's a legacy, which Harrison documents perfectly.
It might be a little strange to outsiders that I would be recommending a wrestling dvd on a Runaways message board, but I think I've made it fairly obvious where wrestling stands in my list of hobbies. Besides, I never said these would all be musically related.
World Class Championship Wrestling was a wrestling organization based out of Texas, specifically Dallas, and was the baby of Jack Adkisson, who wrestled for years as Fritz Von Erich. The company was built around great wrestlers and included all of Fritz's adult sons: Kevin, Kerry, David, Mike and Chris. The company revolutionized wrestling television, was syndicated worldwide before Vince McMahon ever got his foot in the door, and honestly, the entire wrestling landscape might be radically different today if Fritz Von Erich had decided to truly expand out of Texas. They had the tv, but not the touring companies that McMahon later used to become a worldwide leader in the business.
Essentially, many of the things WWWF/WWF/WWE has done, World Class got the ball rolling.
Unfortunately the company died thanks in part to the deaths of every Von Erich boy but Kevin, Fritz's decision not to tour nationally and the decrease in audience due to both.
Heroes of World Class is a documentary made by Brian Harrison, a longtime fan of the company. I don't think I could recommend this dvd any higher. A few minor sound problems here and there do not in any way diminish what an incredible documentary this man made.
Harrison uses interviews with Kevin Von Erich, Bill Mercer, Gary Hart, Chris Adams, John Mandell and several others, as well as classic WCCW footage, to put together the origins of the company, it's meteoric rise and its downfall. The result is a fairly complete and definitely intense story of a company that was seen across the world and inspired a new era in wrestling.
The documentary begins with Fritz, his football injury and move into wrestling playing a Nazi sympathizer. It covers the beginning of the company and the entry of the Von Erich Boys, starting with Kevin, David and Kerry, and some of the major feuds of the time. Believe me, McMahon would DIE for some of the crowd reactions that were a highlight of some of this footage. People went nuts about these guys. Special attention is obviously paid to the Von Erichs, as well as The Dynamic Duo of Chris Adams and Gino Hernandez, the Fabulous Freebirds, Bruiser Brody and the title shots against Ric Flair and Harley Race. It goes into detail about the way they changed televised wrestling, their syndication deals, and the foundation of what could have been a worldwide sensation.
Of course, just as things were going good, David Von Erich died in Japan. Kevin Von Erich and World Class staples talk about David's death and how it affected the company and the fans, tells the story of Kerry's subsequent defeat of Flair for the NWA Title and how Fritz turned to Kevin and Kerry for the future.
We even see Kevin visit the famous Sportatorium just days before it was razed, in what is one of the most emotional parts of the movie. The angles Harrison uses to show Kevin there add to the narration - you hear him and can almost see him walking to the ring with his brothers. The story of the death of the company is actually as compelling and heartbreaking as the stories of the eventual early deaths of David, Kerry, Mike and Chris Von Erich, Gino Hernandez, Bruiser Brody, and most recently, the shooting death of "Gentleman" Chris Adams.
The WCCW footage is great. The interviews are extremely insightful and the presentation is very emotional at times. Although there is a lot of sadness, there is also a lot of glory, and any wrestling fan, whether they had the chance to see World Class or not, will take a lot away from this documentary. It was very well made and doesn't have the same problem some WWE dvds do - which is when a super slick production overwhelms the story being told. It's about as raw as the Dallas Sportatorium, which is fitting.
I can't recommend it enough. I especially recommend it to anyone who thought Kerry was just "The Texas Tornado." There's a whole lot more to the Von Erich story than the Tornado, death and a prosthetic foot. There's a legacy, which Harrison documents perfectly.
