Post by GiantFan1980 on Aug 13, 2020 20:06:23 GMT
Von Erich was absolutely huge in Texas.
You sound like you know your stuff.
Remember when he beat Flair for the NWA strap but they took it off him like 19 days later and gave it back to Flair because he was unreliable - but it was a 'gift' so to speak for the David (was it David or another brother?) Von Erich Memorial - i.e. they put Kerry over Flair in Texas for the strap right after his brother's death. Texas crowd went nuts and ate it up.
Anyway - the name was huge - and like you said - I don't think Vince handled him too well. Sure he took the IC strap off of Hennig which was big - but I thought he should have been in the Main Event Picture.
How's this for booking. Andre beats Hogan for the strap and goes on a dominant heel run as Champ for a few years. In comes Kerry. WWF hold 'Mania in Texas outdoors - Kerry knocks Andre off for the strap at 'Mania in Texas. I think it would have been huge. Or even Kerry coming in and facing Hogan which would have been face vs. face. I know he tagged with Warrior. Could have had him face Warrior, Savage, etc.
Just think they really missed the boat with him (but I guess with all of his personal demons he wasn't viewed as too reliable). There's a match out there (used to be on Youtube) where he's facing Martel and he's out of it (i.e. screwed up in the ring) - was sad to watch.
Remember the Tornado was also wrestling with a destroyed foot that he was trying to hide from everybody. He wasn't long for the WWE.I don't think his run lasted more than 6 months.
Vince was eager to put the belt on the guy who only debuted like 2 weeks prior but then they quickly started regretting it because there was a fear going around backstage about Kerry being drugged out, depressed and suicidal so they got the belt off him as quickly as possible. That's what some historians say anyways.
Kerry actually stuck around until the Summer of 92. He was supposed to face Papa Shango at SummerSlam but was replaced by Tito Santana and was quietly released in August.
After his title run, Kerry was pretty much a jobber and was doing nothing by late 91. So really, he was only a serious contender for about 6 months and then he was just riding out the contract gravy train after that.