1961 The first Parade of Champions was held on at the
Dallas Sportatorium in
Dallas, Texas. It was promoted by
Southwest Sports, the predecessor to World Class Championship Wrestling. With a capacity crowd in attendance, the event celebrated Ed McLemore's 22nd anniversary promoting pro wrestling in Dallas and also served as a benefit show for the
March of Dimes. Five matches were contested at the event and each match featured a championship on the line. The main event was a
two out of three falls match for the
NWA World Heavyweight Championship, in which defending champion
Pat O'Connor fought
Dory Dixon to a ninety-minute time limit draw, thus retaining the title. In other title matches on the card,
Danny Hodge retained the
NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship against Jerry Kozak with 2-0 score,
Don Manoukian retained the
NWA Texas Heavyweight Championship against Alex Perez in the first defense of the title in Dallas during the reign, Hogan Wharton and
Pepper Gomez defeated Jet Monroe and
Sputnik Monroe to retain the
NWA Texas Tag Team Championship and
"Wild" Bull Curry defeated
Tosh Togo to retain the
NWA Texas Brass Knuckles Championship. ;Show results
January 1963 The second Parade of Champions was held on at the
Dallas Sportatorium in
Dallas, Texas. It marked the twenty-fourth anniversary of Ed McLemore promoting wrestling shows in Dallas. Five championship matches were contested at the event including three title matches. The main event was a
two out of three falls match for the
NWA World Heavyweight Championship, in which defending champion
Lou Thesz retained the title against
Ray Gunkel via a double count-out at 1-1 score. Other title matches at the event saw
"Wild" Bull Curry and Relampago Cubano beat Ivan the Terrible and
Tony Borne to win the
NWA World Tag Team Championship and
Rip Hawk retain the
NWA Texas Heavyweight Championship against
Bill Dromo by losing via disqualification. ;Show results
June 1963 The third Parade of Champions was promoted by Southwest Sports on June 4, 1963 at the
Dallas Sportatorium in
Dallas, Texas. It marked the first time that a Parade of Champions event was held twice a year. In other prominent matches on the card,
Chris Adams and
Sunshine defeated
Jimmy Garvin and
Precious in a
mixed tag team match,
Fritz Von Erich,
Kevin Von Erich, and
Mike Von Erich defeated
Fabulous Freebirds (
Buddy Roberts,
Michael Hayes, and
Terry Gordy) to win the
WCCW World Six-Man Tag Team Championship, Rock & Soul (
Buck Zumhofe and
Iceman King Parsons) defeated The Super Destroyers (
Super Destroyer #1 and
Super Destroyer #2) to win the
NWA American Tag Team Championship, and
Kamala wrestled
The Great Kabuki to a double disqualification. The NWA World Heavyweight Championship match between Kerry Von Erich and Ric Flair was awarded the
Match of the Year by
Pro Wrestling Illustrated. In 2013,
WWE wrestler
Cody Rhodes considered the NWA World Heavyweight Championship main event, a five-star classic match.
2nd Von Erich Memorial Parade of Champions The 2nd Von Erich Memorial Parade of Champions was held on May 5, 1985 at the
Texas Stadium in
Irving, Texas. It drew a crowd of 26,153. Nine
professional wrestling matches were contested at the card. The
main event pitted
Kerry Von Erich against
One Man Gang. The match stipulated that if Von Erich won, Gang's manager
Gary Hart would have his head shaved bald, but if Kerry lost, his father
Fritz Von Erich would have to come out of retirement and face One Man Gang one-on-one. Kerry won the match and as a result, Fritz's head was shaved bald. Another major match at the event featured
Ric Flair defending the
NWA World Heavyweight Championship against
Kevin Von Erich. The match ended in a double count-out, meaning Flair retained the title. In an other prominent match on the card, The Von Erichs (Kerry Von Erich, Kevin Von Erich and
Mike Von Erich) and
Fabulous Freebirds (
Michael Hayes,
Terry Gordy and
Buddy Roberts) defeat The Dynamic Duo (
Chris Adams and
Gino Hernandez),
Rip Oliver, One Man Gang,
Kamala and
"Dr. Death" Steve Williams in a
twelve-man tag team match, where the winning team would split $100,000 and the wrestler who eliminated the last wrestler won a brand new Lincoln Continental. Kevin Von Erich scored the win by pinning Steve Williams. Also at the event,
The Fantastics (
Bobby Fulton and
Tommy Rogers) controversially defeated
The Midnight Express (
Bobby Eaton and
Dennis Condrey) (with
Jim Cornette) in a two-ring
no disqualification match to win the vacant
NWA American Tag Team Championship. The event was praised by critics. One critic stated "From the world title match to the 12-man best of five match to the tag team title match, this show completely overshadowed last year’s event."
3rd Von Erich Memorial Parade of Champions The 3rd Von Erich Memorial Parade of Champions event was held on May 4, 1986 at the
Texas Stadium in
Irving, Texas. It was the first Parade of Champions promoted under the
World Class Wrestling Association banner after WCCW separated from the
National Wrestling Alliance in early 1986 and rebranded as WCWA. The card drew a crowd of 24,121. Ten
professional wrestling matches were contested at the event including eight televised matches. The
main event was a
lumberjack elimination match, in which
Fabulous Freebirds (
Michael Hayes,
Terry Gordy and
Buddy Roberts) defended the
WCWA World Six-Man Tag Team Championship against
Steve Simpson,
Kerry Von Erich and
Lance Von Erich. Simpson, Kerry and Lance won the match and the titles. In other prominent matches on the card,
Rick Rude retained the
WCWA World Heavyweight Championship against
Bruiser Brody via a disqualification, Bruiser Brody defeated Terry Gordy in a
barbed wire match and
Brian Adias defeated
Steve Regal to retain the
WCWA Texas Heavyweight Championship.
4th Von Erich Memorial Parade of Champions The 4th Von Erich Memorial Parade of Champions event was held on May 3, 1987 at the
Texas Stadium in
Irving, Texas.
Fritz Von Erich promoted it as a tribute show for his sons
David Von Erich, who died in 1984, and
Mike Von Erich, who committed suicide in 1987. It drew a crowd of 5,900, the record lowest attendance in Parade of Champions events. Eleven
professional wrestling matches were contested at the event. The main event was a six-woman
Mud Pit match, won by
Candi Divine. However, it was not included in the video. The televised main event saw
Bruiser Brody defeat
Jeep Swenson. In other prominent matches on the card,
The Fantastics (
Bobby Fulton and
Tommy Rogers) and
Steve Simpson defeated the
Rock 'n' Roll RPMs (
Mike Davis and
Tommy Lane) and
Eric Embry in a
scaffold match and
Kevin Von Erich retained the
WCWA World Heavyweight Championship against
Nord the Barbarian via a double count-out. This event won the 1987 award for
Most Disgusting Promotional Tactic from the
Wrestling Observer Newsletter; the combination of Mike Von Erich's name attached to the event (his suicide had been less than a month before it) and use of stipulations such as a scaffold match and women's mud wrestling was seen as exploitative.
5th Von Erich Memorial Parade of Champions ==References==