Was David Von Erich promised an NWA title reign?
No one can say for sure that such a promise was ever made by the National Wrestling Alliance, but many within the industry feel it was inevitable that David, had he lived, would have one day worn the “ten pounds of gold”. Ric Flair, in his autobiography To Be the Man, commented: “…David would have been an NWA champion and could have carried it.” And evidence does suggest that David was being groomed for such a reign; former WCCW announcer Steve Harms has recalled (on the Kayfabe Memories message board) viewing the famous May 27, 1979 episode of the St. Louis program Wrestling at the Chase, in which David defeated then-champ Harley Race with the Iron Claw: During the match David puts the claw on Harley’s face and the blood flows. I dont remember if it was outside the ring so there was a double countout or it was a non-title match [NOTE: it was actually a non-title handicap match, with Race taking on both David and Fritz], but David beat him without winning the belt—-on TV in the NWA
