By Jason Hess, Torch VIP member

Jason Hess has been an insider wrestling fan for two decades. His detailed account of pro wrestling from Houston, including stories on legendary promoter Paul Boesch, can be found on kayfabememories.com. Hess, a Torch VIP subscriber, will be reviewing WWE's version of the World Class Championship Wrestling story in several in-depth installments.

"Rewriting Wrestling History One DVD at a Time" - Part 1
A Guest Review and Critique of The Triumph and Tragedy of World Class Championship Wrestling, a WWE production.
By Jason Hess, Torch VIP Member

From the time it was made public that Kevin Von Erich sold the video footage of World Class Championship Wrestling to WWE, it was inevitable that a WWE-released DVD “documentary” of WCCW would be forthcoming.

Originally scheduled for a September 2007 release (according to the WWE website), the 2-disc DVD dropped last Tuesday, entitled “The Triumph and Tragedy of World Class Championship Wrestling.” The first disc features the documentary, and special features and added scenes. Nearly two hours in length (1 hour and 50 minutes), the documentary covers WCCW loosely from the '50s until 1981, and with greater detail the boom period of 1983-85 before finishing with introspection into the collapse of WCCW from 1986-88. The second disc contains matches from various times in WCCW history.

Many writers and historians of professional wrestling have better knowledge than yours truly of the legendary Von Erich propensity for taking a nugget of truth and blowing it into full-out mythology. In essence, the Von Erich legacy both good and bad is partially drawn from the propensity to lie and cover up potentially harmful information about the family to maintain their wholesome, Christian image. Sadly, another legacy is being written, rather, filmed that follows a similar, destructive path.

In what has become a striking pattern, WWE has once again released a DVD dedicated to revisiting the past and declaring their version of that past as "gospel," despite factual errors ranging from small error to blatant lie. Seemingly, as long as the version fits WWE’s preferred telling of history, those errors and lies are allowed to stand regardless of how absurd they are to viewers with knowledge of the truth, or access to that knowledge.

From the Monday Night Wars DVD to Vince McMahon's DVD to Shawn Michaels's most recent release, WWE is in effect re-writing wrestling history one DVD at a time. While this revision may be more blatant and obvious in other releases, I was struck no harder to this fact than with the WCCW-themed documentary.

Before covering the revisionist history, it must be noted that the positives of this DVD are very noticeable. As usual, the production values are tremendous, and the added features of extra scenes, matches, and Easter eggs add a great touch. Furthermore, hearing from Jimmy Garvin, Michael Hayes, Buddy Roberts, Skandor Akbar, Bill Irwin, and Gary Hart lend some credible voices to the production. Also, the Christmas Night 1982 cage match between Ric Flair and Kerry Von Erich (the match and angle that set the territory on an attendance-record pace for 1983) was a great addition.

However, the negatives outweigh the positives, and are especially frustrating considering that these negatives do not have to be there. For one, the DVD would have been much better information-wise in hearing more from Ric Flair and Michael Hayes. Both men were the catalysts behind the boom that happened to World Class in 1983-84 due to their involvement in the promotion.

Hearing from Triple H was not really necessary. During the World Class heyday, Triple H would have been 14-17 years old. His perspective would have largely been that of a fan, as opposed to someone active in the business. His time on the DVD would have been better utilized by allowing Flair and Hayes to shed light on their roles in setting WCCW on fire.

With so many matches to choose from, the matches presented are questionable in nature. Since much of the documentary revolves around Fritz Von Erich, it is mind-boggling that they didn't include more relevant matches beyond his retirement match against King Kong Bundy (June 1982 - Texas Stadium) or his coming-out-of-retirement match with Kevin and Mike against the Freebirds (May 1984 - David Von Erich Parade of Champions).

If Fritz were the legend he was (and he was), the audience would have been better served to see one of his NWA title matches against Dory Funk Jr., especially one of the Texas Stadium matches that drew in excess of 23,000 fans from the early 1970s. Furthermore, if WWE is going to include three matches from the May 1984 Texas Stadium show, why didn’t they include the main event?

Match choices and interview subjects aside, this presentation is ripe with historical inaccuracies, something that should be easy to avoid. After all, this story isn’t a WWE story. They do not have to worry about embarrassment or shame. Yet, common Von Erich myths and legends remain intact, and inexplicably at that.

In part two of this review, I will discuss and debunk errors on the DVD such as Fritz not forcing his sons to wrestle, Kevin’s claim that the 1987 heart attack angle wasn’t really about the heart attack, crowd inflations, David’s death and the mystery surrounding it, and how Fritz took over the promotion.

If you are looking for an overview of World Class Championship Wrestling, this edition is only slightly recommended. You may be better served with the independent release “Heroes of World Class Wrestling” by Brian Harrison, released in 2006. If you are like me, a World Class enthusiast from childhood, the DVD is worth purchasing if only for the Flair-Kerry cage match from 1982.

Check back soon for Part 2 of Jason's review of WWE's World Class DVD.

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