[1990-08-27-WWF-Summerslam] Mr Perfect vs Kerry Von Erich

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

Last few minutes. This probably would have been an excellent match a few years earlier. I don't understand the claw-to-punch transition, but the crowd pops big for his win. The Texas Tornado is the new WWF IC champion.

 

Heenan and Perfect do some high-quality bitching and moaning after the match. I love it!

[El-P]

So, basically Kerry got the IC title because Beefcake got that parasailing accident. Either a IC champion with no face (and no talent) or a IC champion with no left (right ?) foot (and no brain left). Yeah, would have been a huge match a few years earlier.

[Matt D]

I actually always dug the Claw > Punch. The punch was sort of silly but he immobilized the opponent temporarily with the Claw. Kerry had a way of making it look like magic.

[PeteF3]

This match was a real disappointment when I first saw it on Coliseum Video all those years ago. In hindsight Kerry probably would have been better off making the jump in 1986 (leaving the motorcycle accident aside entirely). This is a super-hot Philly crowd, though, that adds to every big match.

 

Backstage Okerlund is scheduled to interview Sapphire, who's disappeared after her arrival at the arena which mercifully spares us the Sapphire/Sherri match. Heenan and Perfect crash the scene and Heenan is practically crying over the officiating, while Perfect vows that the title will return to the Family. Really good promo.

[soup23]

Bobby does a great WM 8 level freakout.

 

Nice moment for KVE in the WWF.

[Kevin Ridge]

Corner post is not Mr. Perfect’s friend. Claw into Discus Punch and Von Erich wins. Gene was suppose to interview Sapphire but she never showed up. Perfect will win back the IC Title. Him and Heenan are not happy.

[PhilTLL]

Pretty good promos from both guys before the match. I always liked Perfect's ability to go from joking to serious in an instant, and Kerry is pretty clear-headed and just right between goofy and confident. His little tornado analogy is cartoonish enough to be fun and sensible enough to be a good boast. Perhaps they gave him an outline.

 

Match is a decent enough 6:00. Kerry is clearly fired up. Perfect shows the kids the pitfalls of hubris, literally losing right after mouthing off, and what a pop.

[garretta]

Kerry used the discus punch as his main finisher in the WWF because he whirled like a tornado just before he threw it. Like a tornado, get it? Huh? Huh?

 

What we saw here was nice, and Curt and Bobby were golden in their promo afterward. Even as much as he had to be hurting by now, Bobby still brought the goods just like always. Mean Gene does a perfect job selling shock over the extent of Curt and Bobby's anger, and Curt vows vengeance, which he would get before the year was out. Somehow, I doubt anyone missed Sapphire.

 

I thought that Vince and Rod acknowledged Fritz and Doris watching back home in Dallas after the match, but it must have been prior to it instead. Still, it was a nice gesture that wouldn't be repeated, as from that point on every effort is made to completely erase from the fans' minds that there ever was a Kerry Von Erich. (It's already started, as Howard Finkel announces the new IC champion simply as "The Texas Tornado".)

[flyonthewall2983]

I never remember hearing them acknowledge his folks, was that in the live broadcast?

[garretta]

I believe so, Fly. I remember Vince at least acknowledging Fritz. I wouldn't doubt that it was cut out of the home video release, though. By then, the change to "Texas Tornado" exclusively was well underway.

[Outsider]

Kerry had the best physique in wrestling. Look at the photos of him in the ring next to Ultimate Warrior and Kerry makes Warrior look like crap. (Survivor Series)

[Outsider]

After elementary school I would rush home to watch WCCW on ESPN and they would show old programs. At the time Kerry was huge star world wide. I had uncle in Beirut, Lebanon who was big Von Erich fan.

[Hawk Cogin]

Love Kerry!

[flyonthewall2983]

Eerie coincidence that this match, probably Kerry's high-water mark in the WWF, took place the same day fellow Texan Stevie Ray Vaughan died in a helicopter crash.

[drew wardlaw]

Good for Kerry. I like the Claw into the punch finish. Use the Claw to immobilize the person, then spin around for a hard shot to finish them off. Great response from the crowd too.

[GSR]

Last minute or so and Hennig is browbeating Kerry in the corner telling him he’s ‘in there with Mr Perfect, the Intercontinental champion’. A couple of punches have no effect and Kerry grabs his legs and catapults him into the corner. He flies over the turnbuckle and bumps his head on the ring post, Iron claw, discus punch and we have a new Intercontinental champion. Perfect like a trooper is still selling the discus punch after the match, staggering around at ringside while ‘The Brain’ is arguing with the referee.

 

Gene Okerlund had planned to speak to Sapphire, she arrived at the Spectrum earlier in the day with Dusty Rhodes but for some reason she’s not available. He is interrupted by an irate Bobby Heenan who claims that was the worst officiating he’s ever seen in his life! There was no justice in there and the Texas Tornado broke every rule from the moment the bell rang until the match was over. Okerlund tells him not to cry and ‘The Brain’ almost grabs him and tells him to get off his case or he’ll knock him out! Perfect says that Kerry Von Erich came from under everyone and took the Intercontinental championship, but he will be back to reclaim what rightfully belongs to the family. Heenan continues to work himself into a frenzy complaining about the officiating, and that the referee can’t count, while Perfect again tells him that he’ll be back.

 

Huge pop for Kerry winning and I liked Curt’s wobbly legged selling of the claw. You knew he was going to bump for that discus punch too! Fantastic post-match interview with ‘The Brain’ losing it and almost clocking Okerlund. Again, remember where Kerry was just over a month ago!

[dawho5]

Perfect's selling of the discus punch was pretty amazing. Loved the Perfect/Brain stuff post-match as well.