In 1986, however, legendary ex-wrestler and promoter Bill Watts wanted to expand his regional wrestling phenomenon, the Mid-South territory, nationally as Vince McMahon, Jr. (WWF) and Jim Crockett, Jr. (NWA) had done before him. Watts renamed his longstanding promotion the Universal Wrestling Federation (UWF), secured a hefty television syndication deal and set his sights on the Dallas-Fort Worth professional wrestling market, wanting as many big names from the popular World Class promotion as possible in order to give the UWF the additional drawing power he felt it needed in that region, and to compete successfully with WCCW.

In May 1986, shortly after the third annual Parade of Champions, Watts set his plan of Texas and Southwest dominance into motion when he hired Ken Mantell away from WCCW to be his primary booker. Mantell, who was highly respected by both Jack Adkisson and the talent in the World Class locker room, was able to lure many of his old associates (including the Fabulous Freebirds, Iceman King Parsons, Chris Adams, Skandor Akbar, Missy Hyatt, John Tatum, Sunshine, the Missing Link, the One Man Gang and Kamala) over to the revamped Mid-South area, where they would be featured prominently on Watts’ weekly television show.

From there, things would seemingly get worse for WCCW in the latter half of 1986 as the Texas oil recession, which accounted for many job losses throughout the state of Texas, resulted in declining attendance at WCCW house shows. The near fatal motorcycle accident of World Class’ most popular wrestler Kerry Von Erich, which would keep him out of full-time action for nearly 18 months, would be the final nail in the coffin for a promotion that had been vastly successful just a few short months earlier.

In the fall of 1984, World Class planned to have Chris Adams turn heel. The problem, however, was that Chris was then World Class’ most popular wrestler other than the Von Erichs, and the turn had not quite taken hold yet.

It appeared that World Class would need a stroke of genius to turn its fans against the "Gentleman". However, one stiff chair shot on Saturday, October 27, 1984 at the Cotton Bowl would convert Adams into a full-fledged heel, and reignite World Class Championship Wrestling in the process.

The main event of this first annual Cotton Bowl card was scheduled as a World Class Six-Man Tag Team Title defense, with champs Kerry, Kevin, and Mike Von Erich putting the prestigious trophy on the line against Adams, Gino Hernandez and Jake Roberts.

Kevin and Chris wrestled earlier on the card in a captain's match, which remained purely scientific with Kevin winning using a bridge. After the bout, Kevin offered to make amends with Adams, provided that Chris parted company with manager Gary Hart. However, when Kevin turned away from Chris, Adams nailed him with a wooden chair. While Adams stated in later years that it did not seem to him that he had hit Kevin particularly hard with the chair, Kevin did suffer a legitimate concussion from the blow.

As WCCW referee David Manning called frantically for an ambulance, and Kevin lay on the mat with blood streaming from his head after the attack, ringside fans -- especially the young females in attendance -- were in hysterics, crying loudly: "Don't die on us, too, Kevin! We love you!"

Although the attendance for the show was disappointing (this was before national and international syndication took off, and prior to the arrival of the Fabulous Freebirds), with approximately 6,000 fans in attendance, the card was nonetheless a turning point in the history of World Class as the elder Von Erich stepped aside and allowed his sons Kevin, David and Kerry to become full-fledged superstars of the sport.

Complete results of the event:

• El Solitario defeated Rene Guajardo to win the NWA World Light Heavyweight title.
• Andre the Giant defeated Bugsy McGraw by disqualification.
• Andre the Giant won a bodyslam battle royal.
• Lola Gonzales defeated Irma Gonzales.
• Wild Bill Irwin defeated Ken Mantell.
• The Spoiler defeated Frank Dusek.
• The Great Kabuki and Magic Dragon defeated David & Kevin Von Erich to win the All-Asian Tag Team titles.
• Kerry Von Erich defeated Harley Race in a no disqualification match.
• Fritz Von Erich defeated King Kong Bundy in a falls count anywhere match to win the American Heavyweight title in his retirement match.

They were to soon find out…

In the summer of 1986, the state of Texas’ petroleum economy had declined at such an alarming rate that thousands of local Dallas/Fort Worth residents suddenly became unemployed. This obviously caused a lot of families to tighten their belts, leaving little surplus cash available for leisure activities -- which, for thousands of Dallas/Fort Worth area residents, included attending World Class Championship Wrestling house shows.

From May 1986 onwards, attendance at World Class cards dropped considerably, to say the least. Just the year before, at the height of the Von Erich-Dynamic Duo wars, the promotion was drawing turnaway crowds. Now, though, WCCW's regular venues -- some of which held 10,000 to 15,000 people -- were lucky to have 1,000 fans in attendance.

The promotion at this point seemed to be struggling with little direction, with surprisingly substandard booking. Popular angles were being rehashed with little success (for example, longtime Von Erich ally Brian Adias, a la Chris Adams before him, turning on the beloved family); television main events consisted of matches with little buildup, making them seem less important to the viewer; and numerous wrestlers who had been lower to mid-card in other regions were now receiving top billing in World Class.

Not only did the talent drift away from WCCW, but Bill Watts began booking his promotion in popular World Class venues. Watts' roster at the time (consisting of the Freebirds, Steve ”Dr. Death” Williams, Ted DiBiase, “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan and Eddie Gilbert among other superstars) was seen as being equally talented as anyone working for the WWF or the NWA -- while a typical World Class main event during this period would consist of Master Gee versus Lance Von Erich.

The once mighty World Class seemed to have surely fallen.

The individuals who bought Fritz out were his sons Kevin and Kerry, as well as longtime associate Ken Mantell, with the latter returning to merge his recently-launched Wild West Wrestling promotion into World Class. Unfortunately, the once striving promotion had dwindled down to a financial vacuum, and the trio was steadily losing money.

By the fall of 1988 the promotion was in serious jeopardy and, at the suggestion of Kerry Von Erich, longtime Tennessee wrestling promoter Jerry Jarrett stepped in and purchased WCCW for a staggeringly low sum.

“Fritz's sons had zero business experience”, Jarrett stated. “They were not running shows, the syndication arm with Max Andrews was closed, and they owed considerable money to the building and Channel 11, when Kerry called and asked if I was interested in (purchasing World Class).”

Jarrett almost immediately named wrestling veteran Eric Embry as his booker, and things in World Class quickly picked up.

“We went to Texas and got the building (the Sportatorium) back”, Jarrett continued, “got the television back, built the gates at the Sportatorium from zero to sell-out in about 8 weeks, paid off all the bills from the past, and enjoyed great profits in about 6 months.”

On an extremely hot, late-spring day that saw on-field temperatures at Texas Stadium (home of the Dallas Cowboys) hit 100 degrees, an emotional 32,000-plus people in attendance celebrated the life of its “Yellow Rose of Texas”. They saw Kerry Von Erich fulfill his family’s professional dream and capture the NWA World title from Ric Flair; Fritz Von Erich coming out of retirement for one day to help his sons battle the Freebirds and capture the prestigious WCCW Six Man Tag Team titles from their long time rivals; and the return to World Class of Gino Hernandez.

“The electricity was high that day and the crowd I was sitting around was popping big for anything,” said longtime World Class fan Paul Barton.

Local singer-songwriter Glen Goza even recited a poem for the crowd he had written in tribute to David, and had his song “Heaven Needed a Champion” sung to Texas’ largest professional wrestling crowd ever, as many fans unashamedly shed tears throughout the event.

Full results of the card:

• Johnny Mantell drew Kelly Kiniski (15:00)
• Chris Adams & Sunshine beat Jimmy Garvin & Precious (6:00) when Adams pinned Garvin
• Butch Reed pinned Chic Donovan
• Kamala wrestled to a double disqualification with The Great Kabuki (12:00)
• Junkyard Dog beat The Missing Link (6:00) via DQ
• Iceman King Parsons & Buck Zumhofe beat The Super Destroyers to win the American Tag Team titles
• Fritz, Mike & Kevin Von Erich beat The Fabulous Freebirds (Michael Hayes, Terry Gordy & Buddy Roberts) to win the Six Man Tag Team titles
• Kerry Von Erich pinned Ric Flair (11:24) to win the NWA World Title

Hernandez, at the time of his passing, was World Class’ top heel and was readying for a big program with former Dynamic Duo partner Chris Adams. His passing had evidently occurred less than a week after the duo’s bout on January 27, 1986 at the Will Rogers Coliseum in Fort Worth, in which Gino “blinded” Adams with "Freebird hair cream" during a hair versus hair bout.

Gino, often described by his peers as a “heat machine”, excelled at his role as a wrestling heel. He had an unlimited amount of charisma, and knew how to draw the ire of the most placid wrestling fan in attendance on any given night.

The death, which the Dallas coroner’s office ruled as a cocaine overdose, shocked the professional wrestling world as it occurred at a time when wrestlers were not dying at the alarming rate that many would grow accustomed to in the 1990’s and into the 21st century.

World Class referees David Manning and Rick Hazzard, along with Gino’s friend Walter Aymen, found Gino’s badly-decomposed body sprawled on the floor beside his bed, with no evidence of forced entry or trauma.

Incredibly enough, in those days of strict kayfabe, wrestling fans actually believed that Gino’s ex-tag team partner Chris Adams might have committed the crime to avenge his “blinding” from a few days earlier, a notion that law enforcement authorities quickly dismissed.

The year of 1986, which saw World Class’ separation from the National Wrestling Alliance, Kerry Von Erich’s near fatal motorcycle accident, a massive talent raid from the UWF, the defection of booker Ken Mantell and the death of Gino Hernandez, proved to be World Class Championship Wrestling's most newsworthy year to date.

While recovering from surgery back in Dallas, Mike's temperature suddenly shot up to a frightening 107º and his kidneys ceased to function. During the operation, he had contracted an infection which was determined to be toxic shock syndrome -- normally associated with tampon use, and extremely rare in men.

After a long absence, Mike was thought to be ready to resume his wrestling career. After his return at 1986's Fourth of July Star Wars, however, it became clear that his illness had impaired his memory and coordination, and his performances suffered as a result. Mike, who had always been haunted by self-doubt about his ability to live up to the family image, soon began behaving more and more recklessly, running afoul of the law on several occasions. Sadly, he decided to end his own life after an arrest on DWI and drug possession charges in April 1987.

Having never fully gotten over the death of David in February 1984, Mike’s suicide seemed to completely take the wind out of the Von Erichs' sails: less than a year later, family patriarch Jack Adkisson would sell World Class Championship Wrestling to his sons Kevin and Kerry and longtime confidant Ken Mantell, opting to leave the business that now served as a painful reminder of what he had lost.

As Kevin, who cut back his wrestling appearances considerably after Mike’s death, put it: “Wrestling just quit being fun.”

The spanking, reminiscent of the famous scene in John Wayne's 1963 film McLintock! in which the Duke turns Maureen O'Hara over his knee, helped to keep David’s tough guy image intact without sacrificing his character's good guy appeal, as this occurred long before women were being struck by men on a regular basis in a professional wrestling ring.

Sunshine, the forerunner to such strong-willed female managers such as Tammy Lynn Sytch and Woman (Nancy Benoit), was portrayed as an independent and dignified woman (by pro wrestling standards) who would do anything she felt necessary to ensure the success of the man she accompanied to the ring.

After desensitization by today’s wrestling product, in which women are put through tables and wrestle men for championships, Sunshine’s spanking can now be looked at as campy fun. In 1983, however, it was one of the biggest stories in the sport, as a man hitting a woman in any fashion was definitely newsworthy.

During the summer of 1983, the heated feud between “a rough and ready Texan” and “a preening pretty boy” was about to take an entertaining turn of events, with a seemingly simple match stipulation becoming a classic moment in the television history of World Class.  

On June 17, 1983 at Reunion Arena, Gorgeous Jimmy Garvin lost to David Von Erich during the peak of their heated rivalry, and as a result of that night’s match stipulation, the “Gorgeous One” -- and his valet Sunshine -- had to serve as Von Erich’s “valets for a day” on his 75-acre ranch property.

Needless to say, WCCW cameras and announcer Bill Mercer were on hand at David’s ranch in Denton County, Texas to document the humiliating events that both Garvin and Sunshine endured as David’s personal “ranch hands”. 

Performing such manual (and, in their eyes, demeaning) chores as cleaning horse stables, building fences, pitching hay and washing David’s dog, Garvin and Sunshine groaned and whined throughout the day, much to the delight of the taunting David Von Erich. World Class viewers found it hysterical watching both Garvin’s and Sunshine’s expressions of disgust and fatigue each time another order was given by Von Erich. 

By the end of the day, Garvin had had enough of being humiliated by his arch enemy, and abruptly left the ranch by shoving Von Erich into a horse stable, triggering a brawl.