I’ll be the first to admit that the occasion carries far more weight here than anything these two in the ring.
This is not only the Parade of Champions stadium show in front of 30,000 people, but it’s also a memorial to the recently passed David Von Erich. David had died just three months before this, and if the plans reports of what the NWA Championship Committee had decided are to be believed, this show would have likely been his crowning moment as NWA World Champion.
The honor goes to Kerry Von Erich instead. From an in-ring standpoint, that’s probably for the best as Kerry and Flair’s a much more interesting pairing to me, and here they go for something real simple to match the occasion. No big two out of three falls, no Flair formula epic, just fifteen minutes of almost entirely babyface shine. It’s an in-ring story that’s as feel good as possible, and rightly so. Absolutely nothing that Flair tries works. He can’t get Kerry down to the ground to wear him out, his little knees to the gut only buy him seconds, minutes at most, and at every turn Kerry turns him away and lays a beating on him.
It’s not the most thrilling stuff in the world, but it does feel the most right for the moment. Kerry’s out here fighting in the place of a fallen brother, no one in Texas came here to see him get worked over. Sometimes, you just got to give the people what they want.
The post-match celebration is real touching too. Special sight seeing Kerry hold up the belt with the yellow rose for David. Wrapping the title up in the Texan flag too feels so damn cool and heroic as well. Whole stadium goes crazy and Kerry wins the big one for his family. That’s all you really need.
Rating: ***¾
