World Class Championship Wrestling - USWA Dallas

USWA Dallas

The Dallas Sportatorium was refurbished with a new ring, and ring aprons with the Renegades Rampage logo. Section D also had a large yellow banner promoting Renegades, which did not sit well with some longtime patrons who were more used to the American flag or the World Class banner displayed there. The main camera position was also relocated to the Section D area, and the broadcast table returned to its original position on the southern end of the arena. For a time, a USWA wrestling banner was placed above the Section D sign, but was later moved adjacent to the E and F sections of the Sportatorium, or the east corner of the arena.

Its syndicated programs, World Class Championship Wrestling and Wild West Wrestling were later renamed USWA Challenge and USWA Main Event respectively. The latter program featured a main event of its Saturday Championship Sports program, with the remainder of the program featuring past World Class cards dating as far back as late-1987. These two programs aired in this format until 1991.

Some of the hot feuds of the era included Chris Adams & Toni Adams vs. Phil Hickerson & Tojo Yamamoto; Kerry Von Erich vs. Tarras Bulba (with Kerry doing a stretcher job against Bulba, pinned by Bulba's iron claw); and Eric Embry vs. Billy Travis. Travis later feuded with Chris Adams, Jeff Jarrett and Kevin Von Erich. Kerry later wrestled against Mark Calaway, who was known as The Punisher at that time, while Embry was involved in a blinding angle (similar to the angle used with Chris Adams nearly four years before) involving a white bottle (which may have been Freebird Hair Cream) which Travis used against Embry to blind him.

In fact, Billy Travis became the Sportatorium's biggest heel wrestler who would often sing a line of various songs during ringside interviews, heckle the crowd (a la Gino Hernandez), and on several occasions smash a wooden guitar over the head of several wrestlers. One notable such incident occurred in October 1989 when he cold-cocked Percy Pringle with a guitar during an interview, then claimed that the guitar was given to him by Mick Jagger.

During one incident, Travis spanked Toni Adams in the center of the ring at the Sportatorium (a la Sunshine six years before at the Dallas Fair Park Auditorium), with Chris handcuffed on the ring rope; and in another infamous incident, Travis cold-cocked Adams with a coke bottle over his head, prompting announcer Marc Lowrance to announce that Adams may be dead. Chris only received a minor cut on his scalp and returned to wrestle the following day, even disguising himself as another wrestler to gain revenge against Travis.

In December 1989, Adams and Embry began feuding. The angle, developed by Embry and Adams, was brought about when Adams and Embry blamed each other for two significant losses in tag team matches, including one during a tag team tournament between Billy Travis and Gary Young. A few weeks later, a six man tag match between Adams, Embry and Bill Dundee vs. Travis, Young and Skandor Akbar, was held. After taking punishment for 11 minutes by Young, Travis and Akbar, Adams was thrown out of the ring. Embry and Toni Adams attempted to help Chris, and an argument ensued, which led Embry to shove Toni down to the floor. As Embry attempted to help her back up, Chris attacked him, and a brawl between Adams and Embry ensued. Dundee attempted to help stop the carnage, but was hit by Embry, while Akbar, Young and Travis stood in the ring cheering. The carnage was broken up when wrestlers from the back, including Steve Austin and Matt Borne, came in to help get order restored.

Two weeks later, Adams and Embry faced each other in the ring, with the majority of the crowd cheering for Embry in the beginning, and the hint of a possible heel turn by Adams. As the match progressed with no true true dominance by either wrestler, Embry hit referee Bronko Lubich during the bout, which resulted in a DQ. As referee Tony Falk came in to stop the fight, Adams hits him, and another brawl between Embry and Adams ensued, with wrestlers again coming out to separate the two.

According to Embry, the idea was for Embry to turn heel and start a long feud with Adams, but the crowd would not boo for Embry and turning Adams heel wouldn't work either, since he is a beloved figure in the area himself. The angle was short-lived, and Embry left the organization for a while, but returned a few months later and reteamed with Adams and continued his battles with Akbar's group until the USWA pulled out of Dallas.