I never paid much attention to David Von Erich. Give me a break, his buff, sexy brothers Kevin and Kerry were a bit of a distraction!
But the NWA Classics website I subscribe to recently posted this well-wrestled match from 9/28/79 featuring David in bulgey red spandex and I felt very entertained.
The big man takes control.
The Spoiler looks like a bad-ass in his spectacular silver mask and black costume. After a few pretty Armbars by Von Erich, the masked freak dominates with a series of clubbing Forearms and gut-wrenching blows to the pale kid’s vulnerable belly.
Check out David gripping the top rope rather than using that arm to defend himself. I never knew a Von Erich to act so wonderfully helpless!
More rough stuff and I’m suddenly aroused.
We get to enjoy more Concussion-Causers by the evil masked man, drilling the kneeling Baby-Face with Jack-Hammer Elbows to that soft spot at the back of his skull. And the 82-year-old ref stands around utterly ineffective, I love him.
David just kneels and takes it, again holding the ropes like a jobber. His lean pale flesh looks so exposed and breakable under the bright lights, I’m really digging his suffering.
And let me say a brief word about the tall white boots on the heroic “Yellow Rose of Texas”. There is a gold star stuck on the side of his boots, and I used to love if wrestlers pasted stars all over their gear. This is just another weird little fetish resulting from watching too much wrestling.
Maybe my favorite aspect of the match was these repeated Sleeper attempts by David, wrapping his long arms around the Spoiler’s throat, his right hand gripping that mask as he squeeeeezes for all he’s worth.
But the Spoiler keeps escaping fairly easily, for example reaching up to claw David’s eyes which of course makes David release immediately.
Another Sleeper attempt has us on the edges of our seats.
Damn, if I had known David applied these gorgeous Sleepers all the time, I would have been a bigger fan and watched more of his matches! (Actually I didn’t have access to the Von Erich wrestling programs on my local television back in the 1970’s or 80’s, but I was aware of the buff young VE brothers, and they appeared often in my fantasy wrestling fed.)
David clamps on the pressure but again he is unsuccessful and the Spoiler finds an escape. One of the recurring themes in this match is David’s repeated failures, his inability to gain a consistent advantage over the wily masked man. This gives him a tragic vibe, as if fate will never let Our Hero catch a break.
If you know about the Von Erichs and their powers, you know they were masters of the Iron Claw. In fact, this image of David clawing some brute to sleep appeared in my very first WordPress blog article, “I’m Baaaaack” posted on 1/1/11.
But the Spoiler really humiliates David in this match by punishing HIM — a Von Erich — in the fucking Iron Claw!
In sharp contrast to his omnipotent father and brothers, David proves to be a real failure in this match — which further humiliates him by comparison.
His numerous (I think four) Sleeperholds failed to put the Spoiler out cold. He loosened, but could never quite peel off, that tight mask. And instead of applying the Von Erich Iron Claw, David suffered in the Spoiler Iron Claw. The match ended in a time-limit draw, so he couldn’t even pull off a last-second victory which his brothers did all the damn time. Given his hopeless Underdog status, maybe David is my favorite Von Erich after all…
Yeah, stars on the boots are neat! Dave has great boots in many of his matches. Made even better when he has his thick tall socks rolled over the tops of the boots. Check him out more on Youtube.