The WCCW Parade of Champions was a series of
professional wrestling supercards promoted by
Fritz Von Erich's
World Class Championship Wrestling first in 1961, in 1972 and then annually from 1984 through 1988. Von Erich used the "Parade of Champions" name in 1984 as a way to honor his recently deceased son,
David and the subsequent Parade of Champions were all "Von Erich Memorial" Parades of Champions. At the inaugural Von Erich Memorial event, in front of the largest crowd ever to watch a pro wrestling event in the United States up to that point,
Kerry Von Erich defeated
Ric Flair for the
NWA World Heavyweight Championship, only to lose it back to Flair 18 days later in
Yokohama, Japan. Over the next few years, Von Erich altered the names as tragedy repeatedly struck his family. The Parade of Champions was the most recognized event that
World Class Championship Wrestling, later known as World Class Wrestling Association, promoted. There was a Parade of Champions super card held by Southern Sports (precursor to WCCW) in 1961 and another held by Big Time Wrestling (the previous name of WCCW) in 1972. All Parade of Champions supercards were held at
Texas Stadium in
Irving, Texas. A wrestling organization out of Texas called NWA Southwest ran an event in late August, 2010, called Parade of Champions, which it claimed was the "Longest Running Wrestling Event In Texas History Dating Back To 1972," but there was no actual connection between the WCCW show event other than the name.
The Southwest Sports Parade of Champions was a major
professional wrestling event held by
Dallas, Texas based
Southwest Sports on January 31, 1961 at the
Texas Stadium in
Irving, Texas. Southwest Sports would later be named Big Time Wrestling, then World Class Championship Wrestling and finally World Class Wrestling Association.
The Southwest Sports Parade of Champions was a major
professional wrestling event held by
Dallas, Texas based
Southwest Sports on January 29, 1963 at the
Dallas Sportatorium in
Dallas, Texas. Southwest Sports would later be named Big Time Wrestling, then World Class Championship Wrestling and finally World Class Wrestling Association.
The Southwest Sports Parade of Champions was a major
professional wrestling event held by
Dallas, Texas based
Southwest Sports on June 4, 1963 at the
Dallas Sportatorium in
Dallas, Texas. Southwest Sports would later be named Big Time Wrestling, then World Class Championship Wrestling and finally World Class Wrestling Association.
The Big Time Wrestling Parade of Champions was a major
professional wrestling event held by
Dallas, Texas based
Big Time Wrestling on March 26, 1974 at the Memorial Auditorium in
Dallas, Texas. Big Time Wrestling would later be named World Class Championship Wrestling and later on World Class Wrestling Association.
The 2nd Von Erich Memorial Parade of Champions was a major
professional wrestling event held by
Dallas, Texas based
World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW) on May 5, 1985 at the
Texas Stadium in
Irving, Texas. The event was held by WCCW promoter
Fritz Von Erich in memory of his son
David Von Erich that had died in February, 1984. As a result of
Kerry Von Erich's victory over the
One Man Gang, manager
Gary Hart had his head shaved bald. If Kerry lost, Fritz would have to come out of retirement and face One Man Gang one-on-one. The match between
The Fantastics and
The Midnight Express for the vacant
NWA American Tag Team Championship was held in two rings side-by-side. The Midnight Express' manager
Jim Cornette was handcuffed to the Fantastics cornerman, "Little John", who stood over 7 feet tall. Referee David Manning awarded the match and the title to the Fantastics, although Manning's pin count of a Fantastics member pinning a Midnight Express member started after referee Rick Hazzard's pin count of a Midnight Express member pinning a Fantastics member ended at 3. This match appears on the WWE Home Video "The Triumphs and Tragedies of World Class Championship Wrestling" DVD. Per stipulations, the winning team of the main event split $100,000 and the wrestler who eliminated the last wrestler won a brand new Lincoln Continental. Kevin Von Erich won the event with a spectacular dive from one ring over the ropes to another to pin Steve Williams. After the match, Gino Hernandez destroyed the windshield of the Lincoln Continental with a chain, with Chris Adams placing a boot on the destroyed windshield for good measure causing it to cave in.
This event won the 1987 award for
Most Disgusting Promotional Tactic from the
Wrestling Observer Newsletter; the combination of Mike Von Erich's name attached to the event (his suicide had been less than a month before it) and use of stipulations such as a scaffold match and women's mud wrestling was seen as exploitative.
^"Historical Cards: David Von Erich Memorial Parade of Champions (May 5, 1984. Irving, Texas)". PWI Presents: 2007 Wrestling Almanak and book of facts. Kappa Publications. p. 172. 2007 Edition.
^"Historical Cards: Parade of Champions 2 (May 5, 1985. Irving, Texas)". PWI Presents: 2007 Wrestling Almanak and book of facts. Kappa Publications. p. 172. 2007 Edition.
^"Historical Cards: Parade of Champions 3 (May 5, 1986. Irving, Texas)". PWI Presents: 2007 Wrestling Almanak and book of facts. Kappa Publications. p. 172. 2007 Edition.
^"Historical Cards: Parade of Champions 4 (May 3, 1987. Irving, Texas)". PWI Presents: 2007 Wrestling Almanak and book of facts. Kappa Publications. p. 173. 2007 Edition.
^"Historical Cards: Parade of Champions 5 (May 8, 1988. Irving, Texas)". PWI Presents: 2007 Wrestling Almanak and book of facts. Kappa Publications. p. 173. 2007 Edition.