Big Time Wrestling (1966–1981) WCCW was originally known as Big Time Wrestling and, until the late 1970s, was dominated by its owner, Fritz Von Erich. In 1966, Von Erich and Ed McLemore-owner of the Dallas Sportatorium- bought out the Dallas/Fort Worth Wrestling Office, breaking away from Houston Wrestling Office, which was managed by
Paul Boesch. In 1969, Von Erich took sole control over the Office after McLemore died from a heart attack, and also gained ownership of the
Dallas Sportatorium. Initially playing his longtime role of a snarling, goose-stepping Nazi monster heel and sometimes teaming with "brother"
Waldo, Fritz turned babyface in late 1966 and began feuding with
Gary Hart and his stable of wrestlers (which at this time included
Karl Von Brauner,
Al Costello and the masked Spoilers); the feud between Hart and Fritz (and his sons) would continue off and on for more than two decades. Fritz's other classic rivalries during this early period were with such stars as
Johnny Valentine,
Stan Stasiak,
Professor Toru Tanaka,
Lord Alfred Hayes,
The Sheik,
Bruiser Brody and
The Great Kabuki. Babyface wrestlers playing secondary roles in the promotion at various times included
Wahoo McDaniel,
Pepper Gomez,
Red Bastien,
Jose Lothario and
Lonnie "Moondog" Mayne. Many of these wrestlers were regular mainstays of the
Grand Olympic Auditorium wrestling promotion in Los Angeles, who would compete in Dallas regularly, as did Fritz and several Texas-based wrestlers doing the same for Gene and Mike LeBell's promotion in L.A. As his sons began to launch wrestling careers of their own in the mid-to-late 1970s, Fritz gradually cut back on his in-ring appearances and concentrated on promoting, finally retiring from the ring altogether after a 1982 NWA American Title win over
King Kong Bundy at
Texas Stadium in
Irving. By then, the promotion had switched to the World Class name and was centered on Fritz's sons,
Kevin,
David,
Kerry, and later,
Mike Von Erich.
Boom years (1982–1986) served as a booker and on-screen manager for the promotion Developed and booked by manager and behind-the-scenes booker Gary Hart, World Class' most storied feud was the legendary and long-running battle between the Von Erichs and the Freebirds, which began on December 25, 1982 during an
NWA World title match between
Kerry Von Erich and champion
Ric Flair at
Reunion Arena in
Dallas. After several of Flair's title defenses against Kerry ended in controversy with the champion retaining the belt by various illegal means (including an earlier match which involved a corrupt referee, Alfred Neely), the promotion had finally booked a rematch between the two in a steel cage to prevent any interference, and announced a write-in poll in which fans could vote for the wrestler they wanted to serve as special referee for the match. Freebird
Michael Hayes, whose popularity in WCCW at that point was second only to the Von Erichs themselves, was selected to officiate, and his tag team partner
Terry Gordy was at ringside to guard the cage door. However, when Kerry refused to pin Flair following unwanted interference on his behalf by Hayes, the Freebirds turned on Von Erich, with Gordy slamming the door on Kerry's head. Backup referee David Manning banished Hayes and Gordy to the dressing room, and the match ended shortly thereafter, with Flair retaining the title yet again as Manning stopped the match due to Kerry's inability to continue the match. Shortly after, Gary Hart left WCCW, due to money issues with Von Erich; the Freebirds wanted to follow suit, but Hart persuaded them to stay in WCCW. A year later, Gordy would have his head slammed by the cage door from
Fritz Von Erich, in retaliation. The Freebird-Von Erich rivalry was one of the most violent feuds in modern-day wrestling history and continued off-and-on for much of the decade; Parsons, Adams,
"Gorgeous" Jimmy Garvin and members of
Skandor Akbar's Devastation Inc. stable were also involved in the Freebird-Von Erich feud directly or indirectly during the course of the angle. The official last match between the Freebirds and the Von Erichs took place in April 1993 in Dallas.
1983 Buddy Roberts was involved in several conflicts in 1983 with "Iceman" King Parsons, including a match in which Roberts lost his hair in a
hair vs hair match despite
winning the match. Parsons, who lost the match, managed to grab the infamous
Freebird Hair Cream (used as a plot device in earlier matches as a fictional hair remover) and rub the contents onto Roberts' head. This prompted Roberts to wear a wig and headgear to cover his bald head, whose hair grew back in a time span of six months. A secondary feud was born between Jimmy Garvin, who had spent much of 1983 feuding with David Von Erich, against England's Chris Adams. Adams faced Garvin for the first time on August 26, 1983 at the Dallas Sportatorium, both wrestling to a time-limit draw. Afterwards, both Garvin and Adams exchanged insults, calling each other a
coward, with Adams challenging Garvin to a title match on October 7, as Garvin was about to face David Von Erich (which proved to be the last-ever match between Garvin and Von Erich). The angle reached new heights on October 21 when Adams disguised himself as
The Masked Avenger and faced Garvin. Playing possum, Adams surprised Garvin with some wrestling moves, and then as he threw Garvin to the ropes, Chris superkicked him, which stunned the Sportatorium crowd and announcer
Bill Mercer who said '"a thrust kick...HEY that looks like...here it is; 1, 2, 3; a superkick". Afterwards, he unmasked to reveal himself as Chris Adams, which proved to be a turning point in Adams' tenure in World Class; elevating him from mid-card to main-event status.
Sunshine, who used to be Garvin's valet, joined Adams' side two weeks later, and with Sunshine in his corner, Adams defeated Garvin for the American title on November 24 at Reunion Arena; the first of five NWA American/World Class heavyweight title reigns for the British star. Adams and Garvin traded the American title on numerous occasions and engaged in mixed tag team matches involving Sunshine and Precious. It was said to be among the first mixed tag-team matches in modern wrestling history and would pave the way for future mixed tag team matches, including one Adams promoted himself six years later involving two of his ex-wives (Jeanie Clark and Toni Adams) and his protégé
Steve Austin.
1984 On February 10, 1984, at the height of the Von Erich-Freebird wars,
David Von Erich died from an intestinal rupture caused by a stomach ailment just after arriving in
Japan for a tour for
All Japan Pro Wrestling. as "cousin"
Lance Von Erich to fill the gap while Mike was recovering. Fritz billed Lance as the "son" of Waldo Von Erich, with whom Fritz tagged years earlier, but was not related to Fritz in any way. Vaughn made his WCCW debut at the 1985 Cotton Bowl event. To this day, it was considered to be the worst idea that Fritz came up with. The main participants on the Israel tour included Kevin and Mike Von Erich, Chris Adams, Gino Hernandez, Iceman King Parsons, Freebird Buddy Roberts, Scott Casey, Brian Adias, Rip Oliver, Kelly Kiniski and Johnny Mantell.
Independence from the NWA (1986–1988) On February 4, 1986, local authorities and friends of Gino Hernandez - now one of the company's major stars - discovered him dead in his apartment. In addition, the NWA President at the time,
Jim Crockett, Jr., had also decided that he would no longer book the NWA World Champion at the time, Ric Flair, to wrestle in the state of Texas. World Class, still reeling over the death of Gino Hernandez, withdrew its membership from the NWA on February 18, 1986, became known as the World Class Wrestling Association, yet they retained the "World Class Championship Wrestling" name for its broadcasts and matches after the 1985 Cotton Bowl event were sanctioned by the World Class Wrestling Association. The NWA American Heavyweight Championship, which had been the promotion's top championship for nearly 20 years, was immediately renamed and declared it to be their "World" title and
Rick Rude, the holder of the American Heavyweight Championship, was recognized as the promotion's first World champion. While there is no official means of granting a championship "World" title status in professional wrestling,
Pro Wrestling Illustrated didn't recognize the championship's status as a "World" title as it had with the
American Wrestling Association (AWA), NWA, and
World Wrestling Federation (WWF) championships. It was rumored that the NWA didn't want to give Kerry the title back, and the NWA didn't recognize the faster pace of the sport. The new corporation also gained a deal with ESPN to air a weekly show on the network as well. attendance for WCWA shows began to drop greatly;
Final days of the WCCW (1989–1990) After SuperClash III, Ken Mantell and Fritz Von Erich sold WCCW to CWA owner
Jerry Jarrett. According to Skandor Akbar, Jarrett got sued by Kevin, although his brother Kerry welcomed Jarrett to the promotion. The combined federation became known as the
USWA, originally called the United States Wrestling Alliance. Jarrett would run the new USWA out of two headquarters: one in Dallas (the weekly shows in Fort Worth being discontinued at this point, however several Fort Worth cards were still held), the other in Memphis. The deal made Jarrett 60 percent owner of World Class, with Kevin and Kerry Von Erich being 40 percent owners. In addition, the Sportatorium began to run free wrestling tapings for its
Championship Sports broadcast on KTVT and for several months on its
Wild West Wrestling program, which in some markets accompanied its
World Class Championship Wrestling broadcasts, featuring its top stars wrestling preliminary wrestlers and up-and-coming stars, very similar to the Memphis Wrestling programs seen there. These broadcasts lasted until August 1990. A few markets, including Las Vegas, included a three-hour block of wrestling from the USWA promotion (two hours from Dallas and one hour from the Memphis' CWA promotion). John Keaton left the promotion soon afterwards and was replaced by former Wild West Wrestling referee Harold Harris. Following the merger of World Class with the CWA and AWA, the promotion originally developed an angle pitting wrestlers from Texas against wrestlers from Tennessee. This would eventually evolve into a new angle that would bring a return to sellout crowds to the Sportatorium for the first time in over six months: Eric Embry against Devastation Inc. Embry, who became the promotion's booker and lead babyface, was originally offered a contract by Skandor Akbar to join Devastation Inc., which he refused to join. This resulted in several gangups on Embry by his stable, including
Cactus Jack Manson, King Parsons and
Gary Young.
Jeff Jarrett, who was feuding with Embry over the World Class light heavyweight title, joined Embry's side and helped out fight off Akbar's Army, with
Brickhouse Brown and later Chris Adams (returning to World Class after a six-month hiatus) getting involved. On two occasions, Embry duped Akbar, who referred to Embry as "the flamboyant piece of trash", into signing a contract to join Devastation Inc., once in which he took his $5,000 cash bonus and decked Akbar after quitting; and again when Embry and Akbar signed a document which was revealed by matchmaker Frank Dusek to be a wrestling match between the two. The popularity of Embry reached its high point when he lost a loser leaves town match to Gary Young, due to outside interference by Cactus Jack Manson. This prompted the return of Percy Pringle to the promotion, who would later campaign to bring Embry back to World Class, as well as being the victim of several attacks by Akbar and his troops. The campaign led to Embry's reinstatement to World Class, but it would cause Dusek to be temporarily suspended by WCCW Board Member Elmore Hayes. Among the famous incidents that occurred during this angle include Embry being hit with a baseball bat by Akbar, Cactus Jack and Gary Young (in a mask as
The Zodiac) during an April 1989 battle against Akbar; both of whom were hiding under the Sportatorium ring for some three hours.
Frank Dusek, who served as the special referee, was also lit up with the baseball bat and piledriven by Young during the melee. Afterwards, Embry induced vomiting in the ring (which was censored on television). Prior to that, another infamous angle occurred when Embry, who was a special referee in a match between Kerry Von Erich and Gary Young, was fighting with Akbar. The battle carried out into the Sportatorium parking lot, when a hand came through the fire door to kidnap Embry (later revealed to be Killer Tim Brooks). Chris Adams, Kerry Von Erich and Jimmy Jack Funk then carried a bloodied Embry out of the parking lot back into the arena following that vicious attack. Another angle involved the late referee Harold Harris. Harris, who was using a British accent to make people believe he was from England (prompting Frank Dusek to say that if Harris was from England, then Chris Adams was
Paul McCartney), drew controversy for favoring the heels, and on a few occasions, like the WWE's
Danny Davis and the NWA's
Teddy Long, Harris would execute fast three-counts on the heels and slow three-counts on the babyfaces. During one infamous incident, Embry piledrived Harris as he was attempting to get a spot as a referee in some matches. Harris was eventually "fired" by matchmaker Frank Dusek following a controversial Texas heavyweight title match in which Gary Young, dressed as "The Super Zodiac," defeated Eric Embry for the title, when Young grabbed a chain from the pocket of Harris (who took a bump by Embry) and blasted Embry for the win. Shortly afterwards, during an interview segment in which Akbar introduced Harris as the "sergeant of arms" of Devastation Inc, Harris, Iceman King Parsons, Brickhouse Brown, Gary Young, Cactus Jack Manson and Skandor Akbar orchestrated a six-on-one gangup on Dusek, with Harris smashing a wooden chair over Dusek's head.
Marc Lowrance exclaimed the incident as being "absolutely sickening," then later said that he was told not to use those words. Lowrance, outraged by the incident, later told Akbar to "kiss my ass" as the tag team match between Kerry Von Erich and Jeff Jarrett vs. Mick Foley and Gary Young was about to begin; and even walked away from the broadcast table while Akbar was conducting a tirade of his own. Foley and Young won the match, again due to interference by Akbar.
Tojo Yamamoto was then introduced as the "President of World Class," who drew the ire of the fans due to his lack of action for the Dusek incident(Even putting the blame on Dusek himself for firing Harris in the first place), then later getting involved in several altercations with various wrestlers, including a vicious attack against Dusek in an empty Sportatorium, resulting in Dusek's left arm being in a cast. Lowrance was also physically restrained by P.Y. Chu-Hi (
Phil Hickerson) as manager Tojo Yamamoto berated Lowrance, after Lowrance called Yamamoto a liar and having no respect for him. Embry came out to save Lowrance from any further harm. Prior to that, Lowrance was involved in an heated confrontation against Yamamoto, including one instance in which he started off by calling Yamamoto "a disgrace to wrestling and to himself.", which led to Yamamoto angrily grabbing the mic that Lowrance was holding after Lowrance attempted to cut him off. At the end of that interview, an unusually angry Lowrance said "go to black", signaling for a commercial message.
The United States Wrestling Association (1989–1990) With all of these aforementioned occurrences, everything came down to a battle for control of World Class on August 4, 1989 at the Dallas Sportatorium. Embry wrestled Hickerson in a
steel cage match, with the winner gaining control of World Class (Embry representing the USWA, and Hickerson representing WCCW). During the match, Yamamoto shouted instructions at Hickerson, with Lowrance grabbing the mike out of his hands on several occasions. Finally, after a 10-minute battle, Embry managed to avoid a
body avalanche from Hickerson and pin him to win, thus officially changing World Class into the USWA. This was necessary in reality because the Adkissons owned the World Class name and would no longer allow Jerry Jarrett to continue using the name any further after this event. After the match, Embry and manager Percy Pringle walked to the D section of the Sportatorium and tore the World Class Championship Wrestling banner off of the wall (in the same spot where the American flag once was displayed). Various wrestlers such as Matt Borne then stomped and spit on it. Lowrance and Chris Adams, who celebrated Embry's victory in the ring, did not partake in the post-match festivities, showing respect to the Adkissons and the World Class name, and neither Kevin nor Kerry were on hand during the celebration. Other World Class banners, all owned by the Adkisson family, above the Sportatorium were later removed, replaced with various World flags. The red World Class ring aprons were covered by the Renegades Rampage logo except for one section of the ring, but all of the aprons would be replaced as well as the ring itself. The Dallas Sportatorium was refurbished with a new ring, and ring aprons with the
Renegades Rampage logo. Section D also had a large yellow banner promoting Renegades, which did not sit well with some longtime patrons who were more used to the American flag or the World Class banner displayed there. The main camera position was also relocated to the Section D area, and the broadcast table returned to its original position on the southern end of the arena. For a time, a USWA wrestling banner was placed above the Section D sign, but was later moved adjacent to the E and F sections of the Sportatorium, or the east corner of the arena. Its syndicated programs,
World Class Championship Wrestling and
Wild West Wrestling were later renamed
USWA Challenge and
USWA Main Event respectively. The latter program featured a main event of its Saturday
Championship Sports program, with the remainder of the program featuring past World Class cards dating as far back as late-1987. These two programs aired in this format until 1991. Some of the hot feuds of the era included Chris Adams and Toni Adams vs. Phil Hickerson and Tojo Yamamoto; Kerry Von Erich vs. Tarras Bulba (with Kerry being pinned by Bulba's iron claw); and Eric Embry vs.
Billy Travis. Travis later feuded with Chris Adams, Jeff Jarrett and Kevin Von Erich. Kerry later wrestled against
Mark Calaway, who was known as
The Punisher at that time, while Embry was involved in a
blinding angle (similar to the angle used with Chris Adams nearly four years before) involving a white bottle (which may have been Freebird Hair Cream) which Travis used against Embry to blind him. In fact, Billy Travis became the Sportatorium's biggest heel wrestler who would often sing a line of various songs during ringside interviews, heckle the crowd, and on several occasions smash a wooden guitar over the head of several wrestlers. One notable such incident occurred in October 1989 when he cold-cocked Percy Pringle with a guitar during an interview, then claimed that the guitar was given to him by
Mick Jagger. During one incident, Travis spanked
Toni Adams in the center of the ring at the Sportatorium, with Chris handcuffed on the ring rope; and in another infamous incident, Travis cold-cocked Adams with a coke bottle over his head, prompting announcer Marc Lowrance to announce that Adams
may be dead. Chris only received a minor cut on his scalp and returned to wrestle the following day, even disguising himself as another wrestler to gain revenge against Travis. In December 1989, Adams and Embry began feuding. The angle, developed by Embry and Adams, was brought about when Adams and Embry blamed each other for two significant losses in tag team matches, including one during a tag team tournament between Billy Travis and Gary Young. A few weeks later, a six-man tag match between Adams, Embry and Bill Dundee vs. Travis, Young and Skandor Akbar, was held. After taking punishment for 11 minutes by Young, Travis and Akbar, Adams was thrown out of the ring. Embry and Toni Adams attempted to help Chris, and an argument ensued, which led Embry to shove Toni down to the floor. As Embry attempted to help her back up, Chris attacked him, and a brawl between Adams and Embry ensued. Dundee attempted to help stop the carnage, but was hit by Embry, while Akbar, Young and Travis stood in the ring cheering. The carnage was broken up when wrestlers from the back, including Steve Austin and Matt Borne, came in to help get order restored. Two weeks later, Adams and Embry faced each other in the ring, with the majority of the crowd cheering for Embry in the beginning, and the hint of a possible heel turn by Adams. As the match progressed with no true dominance by either wrestler, Embry hit referee Bronko Lubich during the bout, which resulted in a DQ. As referee Tony Falk came in to stop the fight, Adams hits him, and another brawl between Embry and Adams ensued, with wrestlers again coming out to separate the two. According to Embry, the idea was for Embry to turn heel and start a long feud with Adams, but the crowd would not boo for Embry and turning Adams heel wouldn't work either, since he is a beloved figure in the area himself. The angle was short-lived, and Embry left the organization for a while, but returned a few months later and reteamed with Adams and continued his battles with Akbar's group until the USWA pulled out of Dallas. Two major feuds erupted in 1990: one between Chris Adams and
"Stunning" Steve Austin, and the other between Kerry Von Erich and
Matt Borne. The Adams-Austin feud started slow, but eventually picked up huge heat thanks in part to good promoting by Adams, who decided to bring in former girlfriend Jean Clarke (also known as Jeanie Adams for a time, and later married to Austin) and then-wife Toni Adams into the feud; resulting in a mixed tag-team war very similar to the Adams-Sunshine vs. Garvin-Precious battles of the early 1980s. On a few occasions, Jeanie was spanked by Adams in the center of the ring; and on one interview segment, Clarke and Austin showed pictures of Adams with different women, including a 1986 picture with Sunshine and the World Class belt, and another of Adams and Clarke from his early days in England. The angle, which Adams created and wanted to promote initially in 1986 with Jeanie and the late Gino Hernandez, even gained national headlines, as the National Enquirer ran a story on the Adams-Toni-Jeanie-Austin angle. The climax of the Austin-Adams feud occurred just before the USWA/World Class breakup; when Austin wrestled in a come-as-you-are match, with Austin wearing his football gear from his playing days at UNT, and Adams wearing his Judo gi and using a kendo stick. The Kerry Von Erich-Matt Borne feud began in May 1990 when Borne turned heel by attacking Chris Von Erich during an interview segment with the soon-to-be departed Marc Lowrance at the Sportatorium. A week or so later, Borne and Von Erich battled in a
pinfall counts anywhere in the building match, which eventually continued outside the Sportatorium. During the outside confrontation (in a thunderstorm, among other things), Von Erich slammed Borne onto the hood of a parked vehicle and also attempted to attack him with a piece of two-by-four. Minor damage occurred with the vehicles, and the ensuing fight continued until Chris Adams, Jeff Jarrett, and others broke up the brawl. Promoter Max Andrews
suspended Kerry for his actions, but no time frame was given as to how long he was suspended. This drew the ire of Borne, who demanded the USWA forfeit Kerry's Texas heavyweight belt. Instead, Kerry was reinstated days later as the two battled for the belt, which Borne won thanks to interference by Percy Pringle. Pringle joined Borne in his feud with Kerry, until June 1990, when Von Erich left for the WWF. Borne also left a short time later to join that organization as
Doink The Clown. Percy later joined Austin and Clarke in their feud with Chris and Toni Adams, with
Chris Von Erich and at times Kevin Von Erich getting involved. Borne also had a few matches against Kerry's brother Kevin. Another feud that drew headlines was between "Hollywood" John Tatum and Bill Dundee, with valet Tessa in the middle of the feud. Originally brought in by Tatum, Tessa, like Sunshine years before, turned face and joined Dundee's side. During a match against Tatum, Kevin Von Erich, who beat Tatum, swept Tessa off her feet and carried her into the dressing room much to the dismay of Tatum. During a July 1990 match, Tatum knocked Tessa unconscious following a superkick to the head, resulting in Tessa being carried out on a stretcher. In that same event, Toni Adams was carried out on a stretcher following a flying splash from the top rope onto Toni in the ring by Steve Austin, while Toni was on top of her husband Chris, who was piledrived on the concrete floor by Austin earlier, to protect him. These two incidents resulted in a few stations canceling its
USWA broadcasts due to its violent nature. During this time, other wrestlers such as Terry Taylor made brief appearances, and future GWF wrestling star
Rod Price made his debut by attacking Kerry during an interview segment. Under Jarrett, World Class/USWA Dallas was finally able to turn itself around financially, and became modestly profitable during the 1989–1990 period. However, because of a revenue dispute with the Adkissons (who still owned 40 percent of the Dallas promotion), Jarrett ultimately pulled the promotion out of Dallas after the September 7, 1990 card. A week before Jarrett's departure, KTVT dropped its long-running Saturday night wrestling telecasts; according to some reports, the cancellation was the result of frequent on-air profanity (mostly from Eric Embry), despite multiple warnings from station management, as well as the controversial superkick incident between John Tatum and Tessa. Kevin Von Erich, without the benefit of television (as the result of KTVT's cancellation of Saturday Night's
Championship Sports), the absence of his brother Kerry, and longtime World Class guru Gary Hart (who was starting his Texas Wrestling Federation promotion at the time), began promoting Sportatorium wrestling himself, bringing back the World Class Championship Wrestling name on September 14, 1990. Longtime World Class mainstays Chris Adams, King Parsons, Kevin's brother Chris Von Erich, Percy Pringle, John Tatum, David Sheldon, Steve Austin, Jeanie Clarke and Toni Adams remained, while wrestlers associated with the Memphis end of the USWA left. Steve Simpson and Brian Adias also returned to the promotion, with a few appearances by former WCCW referee David Manning. Initially, the return of World Class proved to be a modest success (which included the return of ring announcer Marc Lowrance and a few appearances by Bill Mercer), but financial sources ran out quickly and attendance at the Sportatorium dropped considerably to sometimes fewer than 500. As a result, on November 23, 1990, Von Erich held its last World Class Championship Wrestling show at the Sportatorium, which featured Kevin winning the Texas heavyweight championship from The Angel of Death in the show's final match. After that match, referee
Bronko Lubich announced his retirement from the sport. Lubich would return a few times as a special referee afterwards in the
Global Wrestling Federation, with his last appearance in 1994. A month later, the USWA returned to the Sportatorium, but only for a limited basis, as promoters Max Andrews,
Joe Pedicino, and
Boni Blackstone were getting their Global Wrestling Federation promotion ready to go for the summer of 1991. WCCW veterans went on to compete in other promotions, including Gary Hart's Texas Wrestling Federation group in North Dallas.
Legacy Several attempts to revive WCCW since then have been modest at best: in 1991, Kevin Von Erich began a working agreement with Boston-based International Championship Wrestling, which renamed itself
International World Class Championship Wrestling. During that brief time in IWCCW, Kevin had a legendary interview in which
Tony Rumble, aka The Boston Bad Boy, made derogatory remarks about Kevin and his brothers, after which Kevin ran Rumble out of the interview studio. The following year, Kevin began promoting a few scattered cards under the WCCW banner (featuring Kerry, who had been released from the WWF, and Chris Adams). Finally, in 1997, Gary Hart – with no participation by either Kevin or Fritz—launched a World Class-in-name-only independent promotion at the Sportatorium. This organization, known as
World Class II: The Next Generation, featured only a few of the surviving wrestlers from the original WCCW group (most notably Chris Adams, Iceman Parsons and Maniac Mike Davis), as well as Gary's son, Chad Hart; it folded in less than a year. That promotion was also co-owned by Bill Mercer and Mickey Grant, and some believe that Adams was also a silent partner in World Class II. Adams, Mike Davis and Terry Gordy died in 2001, and the Sportatorium, which stood since 1934, was demolished in 2003, but not before Kevin Von Erich toured the damaged arena for the last time, along with filmmaker Brian Harrison. In 2008, Gary Hart died from a heart attack shortly after returning home from an shoot interview. Two years later, Skandor Akbar and Toni Adams had died, and in 2013, Percy Pringle, who was one of the last surviving heel managers in World Class, passed. Kevin Von Erich released a compilation DVD of classic Von Erichs matches in 2004. Rumors of an impending WWE buyout of the WCCW syndicated broadcast video library began to spread on internet message boards the following year, and on June 5, 2006, the company issued a press release announcing that the purchase had been finalized. Footage from KTVT's "Championship Sports" telecasts was not included in the buyout and is not owned by the WWE. WWE released a DVD titled
The Triumph and Tragedy of World Class Championship Wrestling on December 11, 2007. A documentary by
Chicago filmmaker Brian Harrison on WCCW and the Von Erichs,
Heroes of World Class, A 2023 sports drama film,
The Iron Claw, produced by
A24 chronicles the history of the Von Erich family and World Class' history as a whole. The film is directed by
Sean Durkin, the film stars
Zac Efron,
Lily James,
Jeremy Allen White,
Harris Dickinson,
Maura Tierney,
Maxwell Jacob Friedman,
Chavo Guerrero Jr. and
Holt McCallany. ==Programming==