Other than the special features, how does the two-disc retail release of Heroes of World Class differ from the original mail order-only version?

The only major change to the documentary itself appears to be the removal of the Flaming Lips' song "It's Summertime (Throbbing Orange Pallbearers)", which was heard during the Sportatorium demolition sequence in the original version.  Presumably due to rights issues, the tune (from the band's 2002 CD Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots) is replaced in the Big Vision reissue by another song with a similar lyrical message, apparently written especially for the film -- although the disc's menu still lists the closing chapter as "It's Summertime/Credits".  Following this sequence is an updated graphic mentioning the Adkisson family's plans to move to Hawaii in early 2007.

The first disc of the set also contains twenty minutes of deleted scenes including an alternate opening title sequence, David Von Erich's last match on WCCW syndicated TV (against Terry Gordy, taped a week before David's death) and a segment in which Bill Mercer and Mickey Grant, standing in the Sportatorium's parking lot shortly before demolition began in February 2003, talk about the venue's history.  These scenes have not been reinserted into the documentary, but are presented as a separate feature.


The Heroes of World Class documentary says Gino Hernandez died on January 30, 1986, while WCM says it was February 4.  So who's right?

We have no idea where the January 30 date came from, although we've seen it on multiple websites over the years and, to be perfectly honest, were guilty of quoting it ourselves once or twice on message boards before this site was launched.  But, according to the Dallas Times Herald article "The Final Fall of Gino Hernandez", Gino's body was discovered on the Tuesday of the following week after his final Fort Worth match on January 27 (the hair vs hair bout with Chris Adams) -- in other words, eight days later.  The article states that Gino was last seen alive and "bar-hopping" on Thursday night and early Friday morning (January 30-31), although one poster at Kayfabe Memories paints an entirely different picture, maintaining -- as does David Manning in HOWC -- that Gino was far more panicked and paranoid during his last days than the Times Herald story suggests.  Gino then failed to appear for a match in North Richland Hills on Saturday, February 1;  the results for the 1/31 card in Dallas don't include him, either, but it's not known whether or not he was scheduled to wrestle that night.

Though Gino's actual date of death appears most likely to have been January 31 or February 1, it was never determined conclusively.  Therefore, we list it here as the day on which, according to the Times Herald article, his body was found:  Tuesday, February 4, 1986.


In Heroes of World Class, to whom is Gary Hart referring when he says "they killed" WCCW in two years?

The documentary doesn't make this entirely clear, which has led to this question being asked on several message boards; but our assumption is that he's talking about the Jerry Jarrett/USWA period, which lasted roughly two years.  (Gary's exact words:  "...What it took myself, Bill Mercer and Mickey Grant to build in eight years, they killed in two or three.  I mean, they took it from the most prestigious wrestling organization of its time to something that was second-rate and second-class.")

Under Jarrett and booker Eric Embry, the promotion began to rely more heavily on tasteless and offensive angles (classic example:  Embry vomiting in the ring after being beaten with a baseball bat by Skandor Akbar's crew), violence against women, screwjob finishes in gimmick matches once considered feud settlers, etc.  While USWA Dallas was fairly successful for a time, its Memphis-influenced style alienated many who were used to WCCW's more traditional, no-nonsense approach, and is still controversial among longtime World Class fans today -- even though the rest of the pro wrestling world essentially caught up with it a few years later. 


In a clip in Heroes of World Class, Gary Hart says, "Bill Mercer was supposed to be here today, but he's up at North Texas State matriculatin'."  Huh?!?

The term matriculation is defined as "going through the formal process of being admitted into a college or university".   Gary's use of the word in this clip was an inside joke, referring to a comment made many years ago in an interview that never made it on the air...and thanks to Mercer's memoir Play-by-Play:  Tales from a Sports Broadcasting Insider, we now have the full story of what the longtime WCCW commentator calls his all-time favorite interview.  Apparently, Mercer had incurred Hart's wrath by expressing concern for his safety due to an upcoming match in which the "Playboy" was scheduled to wrestle Fritz Von Erich.  Gary objected to Mercer "thinking he was so smart" because he was a professor at North Texas State University (now the University of North Texas).  Hart declared that he, too, had been to school, prompting Mercer to ask, "When did you matriculate?"  Gary, unfamiliar with the word, paused for a moment, then rendered the entire crew helpless with laughter by ad libbing, "Oh, two or three times a week."