Heroes of World Class Wrestling (2006)

In 1983 World Class Championship Wrestling and its franchise stars, the Von Erich brothers, were known around the world. A small Dallas based promotion running out of a shack of a venue, the Sportatorium, World Class was one of the most syndicated television programs in America, making the Von Erichs household names. Run by legendary wrestler Fritz Von Erich, a.k.a. Jack Adkinsson, World Class made his oldest sons, Kevin, David and Kerry, three of hte biggest stars in the world of wrestling. Little did anyone know that just as the Von Erichs and World Class were reaching worldwide stardom they would begin a downfall that would cast a full eclipse on their meteoric rise to fame. Directed by Brian Harrison who, as a ten year old in 1983, watched on television as wrestling's world of staged combat between good and evil took a sharp turn into a surreal and tragic reality. Harrison heads to Texas to find his childhood hero, Kevin Adkisson, a.k.a. Kevin Von Erich, the oldest and sole surviving Von Erich brother. Harrison pays tribute to the prime years of this legendary era and its fallen stars.

The OTHER Side Of The World Class Story

Before I get started, just let me point out for the record that I saw WWE's documentry on World Class first so eventhough this one came out before WWE did their version, just keep in mind that I saw this version after that one. Now just like I stated in my review for the WWE version of his documentry, I'll be honest in that I didn't have the chance to see World Class until I got WWE 24/7 a year ago as it wasn't available to me growing up but after seeing the wonderful WWE documentry & founding a new respect for what I saw there & on the 24/7 channel, I decided to give this video a try. The format of this DVD was different than the usual ones I see (like WWE and others like Forever Hardcore & History Of TNA) in that this came off more as a mix of a documentry movie (like Beyond The Mat). You'll see & hear from various familar faces like Kevin Von Erich, Skandar Akbar, Gary Hart, Bill Mercer along with comments from Chris Adams via an old RF Video shoot interview he did before he died.

The documentry begins talking about the orgins of Fritz Von Erich & World Class Championship Wrestling with the advanced camera & audio production along with bringing in Bill Mercer. The idea of doing something different as far as brining in new young talent such of the Von Erich boys, Chris Adams, Great Kabuki, and the Freebirds is discussed next. The high number of syndication markets the show got is talked about next with very interesting details of how they kept getting new syndication every week along with even getting bigger ratings than the popular Saturday Night Live & even got high ratings than the local territories did in their own markets...including the WWE. Scandar Akbar's devistating stable of Kamala, Missing Link, and the Super Destroyers called Devistation Inc. is profiled next along with their feud with the Von Erich's. How the NWA Champions toured the territory, Brusier Brody, and the companies big events called "Star Wars" were talked about next before the thoughts of WCCW alumni regarding Mike Von Erich as a wrestler were discussed next followed by the personality profiles they would do on talent including showing the one with Jimmy Garvin & Sunshine working on the Von Erich's ranch. David Von Erich's death due to stomach problems in Japan is heavily discussed next including the story how thousands showed up to the funeral & burial before moving on to the tribute show & Kerry winning the NWA Championship. Highlights of the Freebirds/Devistation Inc./Von Erich rivarly is shown next before going into Chris Adams turning heel on Kevin & joining up with Gary Hart. Gino Hernandez's run is profiled next showcasing how he lived the high life, his association with Nickla Roberts, forming the dynamic duo with Chris Adams, and the hair feud with the Von Erichs. Highlights of the Midnight Express & Fantastics' feud is shown before heavy discussion regarding the Mike Von Erich shoulder injury that led to his toxic shock syndrome & how he was brought back too soon. The Lance Von Erich incident is briefly mentioned before the heavy drug problems of Gino Hernandez that led to his death is heavily discussed with some people thinking that it was more than just a drug overdose. Brief notes regarding pulling WCCW out of the NWA due to the politics of Jim Crockett along with the ESPN deal were shown before the negative effects of Fritz Von Erich still respecting the old school "territorial code" is talked about. Kerry Von Erich's motorcycle accident, absence for 18 months, and the lifetime effects of that accident were focused on next before the suicide of Mike Von Erich was talked about along with how his memorial show showed how WCCW was on a downward spiral. The downfall of the company in regards Fritz's selling the company, attendance dropping, failed merge with AWA before Jerry Jarrett changing it to USWA is noted over before going into the details of the murder of Brusier Brody in Puerto Rico & how that effected people to the point where a wrestler on this documenty stated that he will never go to Puerto Rico. The suicide deaths of Chris & Kerry Von Erich, Fritz' death due to cancer, and Chris Adams murder close out the documentry before Kevin Von Erich takes one last emotional walk through The Sportatorium before the building is torn down.

DVD extras include an alternative documentry beginning, footage of the Von Erichs & Bill Mercer going on a duck hunt, David Von Erich's last interview & match on the World Class show against Freebird Terry Gordy, Bill Mercer & WCCW Executive Producer Mickey Grant infont of the Sportatorium one last time (the audio is very bad on this one), trailers for the documentry, various audio interviews & segments, and the section of the ROH shoot video with Jim Cornette where he talks about his time in World Class including a funny & gross story regarding Percy "Paul Bearer" Pringle & french fries.

Unfortunally I saw WWE's documentry on World Class before this one so things I would normally point out as a negative in regards to the documentry itself, I can't because whatever was missed or glanced over in WWE's documentry (Devistation Inc., Brusier Brody, Jim Cornette & Midnight Express, Star Wars, Fritz's & Chris Adams deaths) was picked up here & visa versa (Freebirds, AWA merge, seperation from NWA, Lance Von Erich). Very similar to how the "Forever Hardcore" documentry on ECW was to "Rise & Fall Of ECW," both are a perfect alternative to the other. Now outside of the documentry, one big negative I felt was that for a DVD set on a wrestling promotion who actually owned their own footage, there weren't any matches from the feuds they highlighted in the documentry past David's last match. You would think that when you own footage & wrestling matches of popular wrestlers & legends that you would want to put matches on here to attract that non-average viewer/fan of World Class featuring Ric Flair, Jake Roberts, King Kong Bundy, Midnight Express, Junkyard Dog, Rick Rude & Percy "Paul Bearer" Pringle. I personally would have enjoyed those more than the bonus audio interviews. In the end, it's the exact same thing I said about the WWE documentry...this isn't just a documenty I just recommend as a wrestling fan who wants to "take a walk down memory lane" in regards to World Class Championship Wrestling but also one I would recommend for parents to show their children as well who are wrestling fans when teaching them the dangers of heavy drug use & the negative effects of suicide. October 4, 2008

Pretty good

Just go this one too. It's pretty good. I had no idea some of those folks were so messed up. Very sad. It's a good documentary - but very sad at the same time. September 29, 2008

If you enjoyed Triumph and Tragedy. This is a must own.

Heroes of World Class is a non WWE documentary on the WCCW. The WWE version focused alot more on the Von Erichs. This documentary does also, but everyone WWE didn't cover Heroes picks up and runs with it.

Directed by Brian Harrison, this documentary features Kevin Adkisson(Von Erich), John Mantell, Bill Mercer, Gary Hart, and many others. They take you on a real inside journey to WCCW. They talk about upgrading the camera work for matches, booking, and having to coordiante going into territories.

They go really indepth with the Von Erich deaths and ailments. Wrestlers like Brody who were barely touched in Triumph and Tragedy. Are better discussed here. Gino Hernandez's death is discussed all the way to the point where it's not believed to be suicide. To not give away too much,I'll just say this one surpasses the WWE version by a large margin. I came out of this one learning some new things.

I won't recommend getting this one and forgetting about WWE's. I say get them both, sit back and enjoy. Between the both of them you will have the complete legacy of the WCCW. The DVD had several extras containing interviews. The best one to me is, Jim Cornette's. I highly recommend this if you're a fan of wrestling and sports entertainment.

April 5, 2008

Heroes Delivers in spades!

I just watched this last night. The main documentary is about 2 1/2 hours long but worth every minute to watch! It really explores the glory and downfall of WCCW without all the political influence of the WWE release (which was good despite that). While the production values are low budget and the tone of the video is darker than the WWE version, it still comes off quite well in telling the story of WCCW.

Who I was most impressed with was Kevin Von Erich himself. This man has had the proverbial "scars of time" roasted onto him yet he manages to see the positive in nearly everything. Through all that tragedy and the loss of his brothers and father, he manages to stay sane! I found him to be a very inspirational man. Definitely pay close attention to how he deals with all of what he's been through because if he can go through that and still stay strong, none of us have any excuse since most of us have never had to deal with that kind of tragedy.

I also liked the interviews with former ring announcer Mark Lawrence, III (who is now a minister), Gary Hart, ring commentator Bill Mercer and others that I remember from that era but can't think of their names at the moment. They provided great insight into the rise and fall of World Class as well as their views on the Von Erich family.

My disc came with two DVD's. On Disc 1, it has the main documentary plus nearly 30 minutes of deleted scenes from the film. One of the "deleted scenes" was a match between the late David Von Erich and the late "Freebird" Terry Gordy! The match was only about 2 minutes but it was wild and it does give you a glimpse into the talent of David and why he was being touted as the next NWA World Champion before his untimely death in 1984. Counting this added footage, there is really about 3 hours of footage on Disc 1 alone!

Disc 2 is interviews with various people about World Class Championship Wrestling. The main ones of interest are Jim Cornette and Bill Mercer but all the interviews total up 4 hours so you are really getting about 7 hours of footage with this set!

There are some things that are done better on this one than on WWE's "Triumph And Tragedy Of World Class Championship Wrestling." The deaths of Bruiser Brody, Gino Hernandez and Chris Adams are covered better here than they were on the WWE release (in fact, neither Brody's nor Adams' deaths are even brought up on their documentary). The Fabulous Freebirds, while given due credit for their part in WCCW's success, aren't as praised on here as in the WWE release (though they certainly weren't slammed in any case). Plus, the death of Fritz Von Erich is discussed in detail here too.

To give credit where its due, the WWE's version discusses the end of World Class in more detail than this release does (though "Heroes" does mention it as well as their union with the AWA).

Overall, I can't say enough good things about this documentary. My personal recommendation is to get both "Heroes Of World Class" & WWE's "The Triumph And Tragedy Of World Class Championship Wrestling" because what one of them lacks, the other fills the gaps. My fancy way of saying that between the two videos, you will have a near complete look at one of the best NWA territories and organizations ever in the 1980's! See it! February 12, 2008

Good Bye Sportatorium.

I remember staying up late on saturday nights in junior high/ high school to catch World Class wrestling on Channel 17 in Philadelphia 82-85. What a great promotion. This docu captures all the inside action of the WCCW promotion and also it's downfall in the late 80's. It was sad to see the Sportatorium in the condition it was left. True wrestling fans will be impressed. It's kind of low budget, but done well. Gary Hart and Bill Mercer do a great job of explaining the behind the scenes action. February 8, 2008

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