DVD Review: The Ultimate Ric Flair Collection

One of my favorite DVD sets ever. This has the best possible choice of matches, and they skipped the documentary part of it and just weaved the matches into the narrative. They'd take care of the doc on the next Flair set. It’s broken up into what program Flair was in, and the first disk is Harley Race, Dusty Rhodes, and Barry Windham. They totally skip the first 7 or 8 years of his career, mostly because Flair was a pudgy mid-card guy in the AWA, and then was a top heel in Mid-Atlantic, but never really a guy that was considered to hold the NWA World Title until Race had decided that he needed a break after being champion for most of the previous 5 years. They generally wanted the champion to be a subtle heel, so the title was transitioned from Race to Dusty Rhodes, and then to Flair on September 17, 1981. (Flair said in his book that Dusty didn’t want to drop the title so soon after winning it, since he’d only had it for 3 months. They had the match in Kansas City, where Flair was pretty over, and Lou Thesz was the special referee.)



Harley Race:

Flair held the title for about 2 years, until June 10, 1983, when he dropped it to Race in St. Louis. They show clips of that one, where Flair hits a belly-to-back suplex, but Race rolls his shoulder to win his seventh NWA World Title. (According to Flair and Race, Race needed the title to pop some houses in the KC territory, which he owned. It didn’t work, and after he lost the title, he sold the territory to Vince McMahon and went to work for the WWF. Race says that Vince offered him a substantial amount of money to skip Starrcade to screw the NWA by bringing the belt to New York, but Race said that there’s no way he could have lived with himself if he’d done that.)



There are some excellent extras, as Race offers $25,000 to anyone who can get Flair out of wrestling:

8/31/83: Flair and Race are having a match on TV, and Dick Slater comes in to collect the bounty. Flair runs him off, and here’s Flair ally Bob Orton, who turns on Flair, and he, Race, and Slater do the heel beat down on Flair, injuring his neck with a spike piledriver, until Roddy Piper and Wahoo McDaniel make the save. Flair does the stretcher job. In the back, Jim Crockett yells at Race, Slater, and Orton as Race pays them off.

Two weeks later, Flair, from his home, with a neck brace on, announces his retirement.

9/21/83: Slater and Orton are squashing some jobbers on TV, and Flair attacks with an aluminum baseball bat. He’s seriously swinging full speed, and he and Orton duel with Flair’s bat versus Orton’s chair. He goes up to the interview set, and announces that “He’s only just begun!” and tears off the neck brace. He threatens to murder Orton and Slater, then promises to take a piece of Race, namely the World Title.

There’s a press conference announcing that the NWA has given the NWA World Championship rematch to Crockett Promotions, who will hold it Thanksgiving Night in Greensboro, NC, at Starrcade ’83. (It was subtitled “A Flare for the Gold”, making the outcome a foregone conclusion.)

Pre-match interviews from Starrcade, with a SUPER YOUNG Tony Schiavone: Flair; Flair and Wahoo; Race; and Race, Orton, and Slater.



1983.11.24

NWA World Championship Cage Match

Harley Race (champion)

Vs

Ric Flair

Former NWA Champ Gene Kiniski is referee Flair gets a HUGE face pop, and is super gracious to the fans. Race, of course, is a dick. Flair starts with a headlock, and they go to the ropes. Race gets a knee in, then they break it up. They go back to the ropes, and Flair gets a knee of his own in, then snapmares Race into a chinlock. Race escapes, and hits a high knee. He misses a falling headbutt, however, and Flair goes to a headlock. I should take the time to point out how slow and awful Kiniski is as referee. Race rolls Flair over into a couple of two counts, and Flair thwarts that by going into a front facelock. Race hits a suplex out of that, but misses an elbow. I like the build in this one, as Race keeps hitting one move, then missing the follow-up. It shows Flair as being a smart wrestler, able to think while he's being pummeled, and keeping one step ahead of the seasoned champion. Flair goes for a slam, but Race falls on him for two. He pushes Flair into the corner, and drops knees on him, UFC style. Race looks to be working very stiff here, and Flair sells it all like he's being murdered. Race is just DRIVING those knees to the head. He hits a piledriver, then drops an elbow for a slow two. God, Kiniski blows. Race uses a very old-school, mat based, plodding style. Rolling neck breaker gets two. Lots more knees to the head by Race. He sends Flair to the cage, then hits a powerslam for two. Race looks to be pissed legit at Kiniski for his slow counts, as it REALLY disrupts the pace and flow they are trying to establish. Flair fires back at Race, but he's got nothing behind it. Race nails a falling headbutt, then runs Flair to the cage. Flair gets a few shots in, but he goes right back into the cage. Race tries the old eyebrow-busting trick that we all read about in Mick Foley's first book, then he just headbutts Flair again. Flair's blade-job is really something to behold, as it is 5X better than anything I've seen in years. He has the crimson mask going, and his hair is rapidly turning pink from the blood. Race tries to send him to the buckle, but Flair reverses, then sends Race to the cage. Harley blades right away. Flair with a kneedrop, then Flair’s patented bad piledriver. I mean horrible. Just terrible. That must be the only move that he couldn't do well. It gets two anyway. Underhook suplex gets two. Race to the cage. Kiniski shoves Flair around for daring to try to get the match out of first gear. Race grates Flair's head into the cage, and Kiniski gives HIM shit about it. Race tells him to fuck off. He sends Flair into the cage again, but Kiniski keeps getting in the way. Flair gets a punch in, then about fifteen rapid-fire punches in a row. Flair gets the figure four, but Race manages to roll into the ropes. Flair is insanely bloody at this point. Race goes for a slam, but Flair falls on him for two. Race headbutts Flair down, then nails a second rope headbutt, but hurts himself in the process. He gets two. Vertical suplex get two, and Flair refreshes his blade job. Race works the cut, dropping knees to the head. Flair is taking one of the worst shit-kickings I have EVER seen. I've seen about fifteen years of North American wrestling, and this may be the worst beating I have seen. Kiniski drags Race away from Flair, and Flair hits a nice suplex. He misses an elbow. Race goes for a headbutt, butt hits Kiniski, and since, according to Scott Keith, Race's head is loaded, Kiniski goes down to his hands and knees. Flair goes to the top, and hits a crossbody and Race tumbles over Kiniski, and Flair gets the pin for his second NWA Title. Great old school match, if you can look past Kiniski's HORRIBLE officiating. (23:42 **** ¾ (Dave Meltzer gave it *****, but Kiniski’s refereeing job just keeps me from giving it the full Monty.))



As a side note, the finish of the match was a bit screwed up, and watching it, you can tell. Kiniski was out of position, and instead of school-boying Race, he pretty much tripped him down. In recent years, Race has bitched about Kiniski's horrible job in several interviews. Following the fall, all the babyfaces celebrate with Flair in the ring, and his wife even comes in and gives him a big kiss, right through the blood. Now that's devotion. Flair, in a great moment, tearfully thanks all the fans in attendance, and all those watching on closed circuit. This was voted Match of the Year by WON and PWI for 1983.



They helpfully provide the post-match interviews with Race, Flair, Steamboat, and Jay Youngblood. Race vows to get the title back, which he did for a few days in the spring of ’84, but the switches were in New Zealand and Singapore, and never authorized or acknowledged by the NWA until years later.



Dusty Rhodes:



Dusty challenged Flair right after his victory, and they spent the next four years feuding with each other on and off. Dusty had the book at this point, so he booked himself as the top babyface, along with Magnum TA and the Road Warriors. Flair says that he had a lot of fun against Rhodes, and he puts Dusty over huge.



The extras show the buildup following their match at Starrcade ’84 (which Flair won on a referee stoppage for Rhodes’ blood). This was so unbelievably red-hot at the time, so much better than anything that was going on in the WWF.

9/29/85: Flair defeats Nikita Koloff in a cage match in Atlanta. Flair gets jumped by the Russians, and Rhodes makes the save. Flair takes exception to this, and they just beat the shit out of Dusty, locking themselves in the cage, and breaking Dusty’s ankle. The mid-card babyfaces attempt to save Rhodes, but they also take a beating. The crowd nearly riots, and Arn Anderson has stated that they essentially had to fight their way back to the locker room.

Flair cuts a promo on Dusty

Dusty’s legendary “Hard Times” promo challenging Flair for the title at Starrcade.

1985.11.28

NWA World Championship

Ric Flair (champion)

Vs

Dusty Rhodes

This is an amazing showcase for these two. Tommy Young is the referee. The hatred from the fans in attendance is palpable. Dusty is wearing a “protective boot” which is just a boot that is different from the one that he normally wears. They fight out of the corner, and Dusty busts out the Flip, Flop and Fly early, and Flair scurries to the floor. He gets some shots in, but Dusty fires back with some elbows. Flair takes another walk. Rhodes works a hammerlock, and there’s this annoying fan who just keeps yelling “Dusty Rhooodes! Woo, woo, woo!” It’s super distracting, and at some point, he stops, which makes me think someone told him to STFU. Flair with chops and punches, snapmare, and finally a Kneedrop for 2. He kicks the injured ankle, and Dusty takes a walk into the crowd. Rhodes drapes Flair over the top rope, hitting elbows. He starts working on Flair’s leg, getting a leg lace. Flair’s selling is amazing, raising the rating of this match by *. Rhodes with an elbow to the knee, but Flair causes the break with a thumb to the eye. Flair goes for a suplex, but his knee gives out. Rhodes reverses, and drops an elbow to the knee. He goes back to the leg lace. Rhodes with a shoulderblock, but Flair gets a sleeper. Rhodes runs Flair to the buckle and wraps his leg around the ring post. Elbow to the ankle, then he no-sells some chops and fires back. He misses an elbow, and Flair goes up. Dusty slams him off and goes for the Figure Four, but Flair kicks him away, hurting Dusty’s ankle. Flair goes for the Figure Four, but Dusty kicks him away a couple of times. Flair stomps the ankle, but Dusty manages to send him to the corner. FLAIR FLIP! He tumbles all the way to the floor. Dusty runs Flair to the railing, and Flair blades. Back in, and Flair tosses him over the top out of sight of the referee. Dusty comes back in with a top rope body block for 2. He works the cut on Flair’s forehead. Flair’s blade job is quite good, as he’s got the red halo and a 2/3 crimson mask going on. Flair flop! Dusty with a Flip, Flop, and Fly; causing Flair to beg off. He whips Flair to the corner, and we get another flip, and Flair runs down the apron. He comes off the top, but Dusty buries a punch to the gut. Dusty goes to kick him, but Flair moves, and Dusty kicks the bottom rope. Flair turns into the pit bull and just starts dismantling the leg. Figure Four gets a couple of near-falls. Flair keeps yelling at the ref to ask Dusty if he wants to quit. Dusty won’t submit, and he eventually rolls it over. Flair makes the ropes to force the break. Rhodes no-sells some chops. Clothesline gets 2, and on the kick out, Rhodes lands on Tommy Young. Young gets knocked to the floor on a collision, and Dusty gets a Figure Four. Here’s the Andersons! Dusty knocks Arn to the floor, and Arn wipes out Young completely. Ole levels Dusty, and Flair covers for 2, as another ref has come out. Dusty gets an inside cradle for the pin, and we’ve (temporarily) got a new champion. (22:06. ****) Probably the best Flair-Dusty match ever. They sent the fans home happy, but Dusty was forced to return the title because Tommy Young had recovered and seen the Anderson’s interference and was about to DQ Flair.



More extras:

Tony Schiavone brings out Tommy Young to explain what happened and why they returned the belt to Flair. I love little shit like this. It’s something that you never see anymore.

Flair has a great promo after the match.

Barry Windham:



Flair says that Windham is the most natural wrestler he’d ever seen, and was the only guy who could keep up with him both inside and outside of the ring.



Extras:

Windham gets jumped by Flair and the Horsemen following a Tully Blanchard TV Title defense. Barry challenges the Horsemen.

Flair cuts a promo on Windham, saying he “Cried the Blues!”

1.13.87 World Wide Wrestling: Windham and Flair have a confrontation, and the other Horsemen are there. Dusty Rhodes and the Rock ‘n’ Roll Express come out to even the sides. Windham just tosses Flair all over the ring. Seriously, Windham controls like 95% of this. He gets a Figure Four, but JJ Dillon rakes Barry’s eyes. Flair crotches him on the top rope, but Barry hits a cross-body for 2. Windham slams Flair off the top, hits a missile dropkick for 2. Lariat! Then it totally breaks down, and Windham wins by DQ as all the faces clear the Horsemen out of the ring. It was about 10:00 or so. This is a great set-up for the program.



1987.01.20 World Wide Wrestling

NWA World Championship

Ric Flair (Champion, with JJ Dillon)

Vs

Barry Windham

This is old school, as they spend a lot of time mat wrestling. I can’t describe how over Windham was here, as the crowd pops HUGE for a shoulderblock. Dusty Rhodes is on commentary, and he spends the entire match putting himself over as the “Greatest Professional Athlete in the World”. I shit you not. Tommy Young is the referee, and he might be the best there’s ever been as the third man in the ring, doing his best to keep order and always being in the right spot for whatever is going on. They spend the first segment working a bunch of spots around a Windham headlock. Flair hits a stun gun, and we head to commercial. Back from the commercial, and Windham gets a head scissors, eventually turning that into a headlock. Flair rolls him over for 2. Flair tosses him to the floor. He sends him to the railing, then goes in and Windham runs his shoulder into the post. Flair goes to an armbar, and they work around that for a bit. Windham does the mounted 10-punch in the corner, and there’s the FLAIR FLOP! Flair with a knee to the gut, and they duke it out. Flair double-legs him in the corner, and gets a couple of rope assisted 2 counts. Windham sends Flair to the buckle shoulder first, then knocks him over the top. Commercial. It really gets going here, as Flair drops a knee. Chop, then an elbow sends Windham to the floor. Barry has bladed, but floats over on a suplex, hitting a clothesline for 2. Flair dumps him to the floor, but Windham comes back in with a sunset flip for 2. Flair with a sleeper, but Windham turns it into a belly-to-back suplex. Second rope clothesline for 2, but Flair has his foot on the ropes. Flair gets his knees up on a splash. Big suplex by Flair, and there’s a double kayo. Windham misses a top rope elbow. Flair misses a knee. Windham kicks at his knee, and a punch sends Flair over the top rope. He continues working the knee, and gets a Figure Four! A couple of 2 counts, and Flair makes the ropes. Flair hits a reverse Atomic Drop. Commercial. They go toe-to-toe, and Barry gets an abdominal stretch. Flair hip tosses him onto the referee. Five minutes left until the time limit. Shotgun dropkick from the top by Windham. Ref is late, and it gets 2 ½. Four minutes left, Windham with a sleeper. Flair with a belly-to-back suplex, but Windham whips him to the corner, and FLAIR FLIP! He hits a cross body from the top, but Windham rolls through for 2. Sleeper by Windham. Three minutes. Rolling reverse by Windham gets 2. 10-punch in the corner. Two minutes left. Toe to toe again, and Windham clotheslines Flair off the apron. Windham suplexes Flair in from the apron. Kneedrop gets 2. One minute left! Windham with a backslide for 2, fifteen seconds! Clothesline gets 2 as the time limit expires. That was the most amazing match on free TV EVER. (until Flair-Steamboat at Clash VI) **** ¾



More extras:

Dusty has post-match analysis

Flair cuts a promo to end the show

Easter Egg: Babyface Flair promo from 1985, as he runs down Tully Blanchard and Dusty. He talks about Buddy Landell and Magnum T.A. Finally, he talks shit to Nikita Koloff. Landell is in the ring with JJ Dillon, and Flair makes fun of his robes, saying he’d offer him a loaner, but he’d get lost in the sleeves. Flair calls JJ Porter Wagner and we’re out.

DISK TWO:

Rick Steamboat:

Steamboat was traded from Georgia Championship Wrestling to Mid-Atlantic in 1976-ish for the One Man Gang. Flair wanted to get something started with Steamboat then, and they did, but it wasn’t successful. They got something going in the early-80’s, and it was a big program for Crockett Promotions. Flair puts Steamboat over as the best babyface ever (not the best wrestler, because he never worked heel, Flair says that HE was the best wrestler). He says Steamboat was the best he was ever in the ring with. They show highlights of the Chi-Town Rumble match where Steamboat won the title from Flair in February of 1989.

1989.04.02

Clash of the Champions VI: Rajin’ Cajun

NWA World Championship, 2/3 falls

Rick Steamboat (champion)

Vs

Ric Flair

Jim Ross and Terry Funk are on commentary, and they did a smart thing with this show: There were matches that were meant to be included on the show (Specifically a Sting TV Title defense and a Lex Luger US Title defense) but TBS and WCW decided to put this one on in order to ensure that it could be seen in its entirety on TV. This was also the last in the mini counter-programming war that had gone on since 1987. This one was opposite Wrestle Mania V, and drew an insane rating. I watched it with my dad in the family room, which was something that NEVER happened at the homestead when I was a kid. 1st Fall: Steamboat slaps Flair at the beginning. Flair goes to a headlock, and they do a quick reversal sequence. Steamboat slaps him again. Flair gets an overhand wristlock, and they fight over it. Steamboat takes him down, and they go to the ropes. Flair takes a walk. Back in, and they lock-up. Flair with a headlock and they go to the ropes. Flair with a shoulderblock. Steamboat with a hip toss. He grabs a side headlock and does a takeover with it. Flair rolls him over for a couple of near-falls. Steamboat with a shoulderblock, and Flair drops down, and Steamboat grabs a headlock. They go into the corner for the break. Flair with a shoulderblock, then kicks and chops. They trade shots, and Steamboat with a flying headscissors, then another. He takes Flair over with a side headlock, then transitions into a front facelock. He drops a couple of knees. Then a snap mare into a reverse chinlock. Flair gets an elbow to the ribs, but Steamboat fires right back, hitting a nice dropkick for 2. Flair begs off, but gets in a cheap shot. Punch drops Steamboat. Steamboat with a rolling reverse for 2. Clothesline by steamboat, and he goes back to the headlock, transitioning again to the front facelock. Steamboat works it a bit, concentrating on the back. Steamboat hits a bunch of chops, then the Flair Flop! Steamboat jumps on him for 2. Steamboat with a cross-body for 2, then a shoulderblock for 2. Double chop for 2. Flair bails out, and it just turns into the stiffest chop battle you will EVER see. Steamboat goes for a splash, but Flair gets his knees up. Underhook suplex gets a series of TWELVE near-falls. Steamboat fights up, kipping up while locked in the knuckle-lock. Steamboat misses a dropkick, and Flair goes for the Figure Four, but Steamboat turns it into an inside cradle for 2, and Flair rolls that over for his own pin at 19:33. Flair is up 1 fall to 0. 2nd Fall: Flair grabs a headlock, and Steamboat leapfrogs that, gets a big press-slam, then a top rope double chop. Front face lock then he goes to a side headlock. Flair with a belly to back suplex. Kneedrop, but the follow up kneedrop misses. Steamboat drops an elbow on Flair’s knee, and since that worked well, he drops FIFTEEN MORE. Wow. Steamboat with a Figure Four. Flair can’t escape, but finally makes the ropes. Steamboat with a big swing and drop. Boston Crab, but Flair makes the ropes. Steamboat works him over in the corner. Flair with a bunch of chops, and Steamboat fires back. Another side headlock takeover. Steamboat with headscissors. Steamboat bridges out of a pin into a backslide for 2. Flair bails out, then pulls Steamboat out. He sends him to the railing. Slam, then a break of the count. He sends him to the railing again. They go to the apron, and Flair clotheslines him on the top rope, then punches him on the apron. Flair with a delay suplex in for 2. Flair with an abdominal stretch into a pin, getting about nine 2 counts. Flair uses the ropes on a lateral press and gets another series of near-falls. More chops. This is so amazing. I can’t tell you how stiff they are. Flair goes for a backdrop suplex, but Steamboat gets a rolling reverse for 2. Flair goes up, but Steamboat crotches him and Superplexes him. Steamboat goes to the back, and Jim Ross brings up the plane crash in 1975 that broke Flair’s back in three places. Steamboat gets the double chickenwing, and Flair SUBMITS for the first time in his career at 34:14 to even it up at 1 fall apiece. 3rd Fall: Strong style chops, and Steamboat zeroes in on the back. Flair with a kneebreaker. Figure Four, but Steamboat makes the ropes. Flair gets in the ref’s face, and they trade chops. Flair Flip, and Steamboat nails a clothesline on the apron. Flair begs off, but gets a double-leg and a couple of 2-counts. He targets the knee some more, and we’re 40 minutes in. Steamboat gets caught in the corner, twisting his knee. Flair dives on it, and gets a Figure Four, right in the middle of the ring. They trade slaps, and Steamboat’s shoulders are down for a couple of 2’s. Steamboat finally rolls him over into the ropes. Flair bashes Steamboat’s knee off the apron, but Steamboat comes back with some chops. Flair Flip! High cross-body for 2. Steamboat goes over backwards trying a body slam, and that gets 2. Flair misses an elbow, and Steamboat gets a headbutt for 2. High cross-body from the top for 2. He misses an elbow, but hits a swinging neckbreaker for 2. Flair dumps him to the floor, and Steamboat with a sunset flip in, they fight over it, and eventually Flair goes over for 2. Flair grabs a sleeper, the arm drops once, twice, and about half the way on the third time, but Steamboat is fighting out. He runs Flair into the buckle, and Flair bails out. Steamboat can’t find him, and Flair chops the knee. 10 minutes left. Steamboat fires back, but Flair gets an inverted atomic drop (and it’s a tie between Steamboat and Rick Rude as the best all-time atomic drop seller of all time). Steamboat blocks a clothesline. Flair with a backdrop suplex, and he goes up to the top with 6 minutes left. Steamboat slams him off, and locks in the double chicken wing again. His knee gives out, but he turns it into a bridge, rolling his shoulder over and getting the pin. (55:49. *****) Replay shows that Flair’s foot was under the ropes, which leads to one final rematch. This is without a doubt the best match ever shown on North American free TV.

Flair talks a little bit more about the Steamboat Series, and he brings up that he’s flattered that these are considered some of the best matches ever, but he says that they’ve had literally dozens of matches that were better than these that nobody except the people in the arena saw.

1989.05.07

Wrestle War ‘89

NWA World Championship

Rick Steamboat (champion)

Vs

Ric Flair

This was Flair’s 100% last chance to win the title back. To prevent anything from causing a non-finish, there are three judges at ringside: Former NWA World Champions Terry Funk, Pat O’Connor, and 6-time (kayfabe, counting the NWAssociation reigns) Champion Lou Thesz. They’ll choose a champion if it goes to the time limit. Steamboat starts out with an armdrag, and Flair gets a cheapshot in the corner. They trade chops, and again, they are some of the stiffest I’ve ever seen. Flair falls right out to the floor, and comes back in, grabbing a headlock. They do the overhand wristlock spot. Steamboat goes to an armbar, then drives knees to the shoulder. He works the arm, and here’s an armdrag. Armbar now, and he works it into a hammerlock. Flair with a drop toe hold, but Steamboat works it back into a headlock. Flair gets some chops in, but Steamboat gets an ankle pick and goes back to the armbar. They go to the corner, and Flair drives a forearm to the head. They trade chops, and Flair flops. Steamboat goes right back to the armbar. Back to the hammerlock. Flair picks him up and puts him on the top rope. Steamboat with a hiptoss, then dropkicks Flair over the top rope. He teases a dive, but the ref stops him. Flair comes in, and Steamboat gets another armdrag. He continues working the arm. Flair with a hiptoss, but he misses the follow-up elbow. Steamboat arm drags him, then grabs another armbar. Flair with a cheapshot to take over. After the first 15 minutes, all three judges have Steamboat leading the scoring. Flair tosses him out, but Steamboat comes right back in. He whips him across, and Flair hangs up in the corner. Flair pushes Steamboat over the top and goes after him. He knocks him over the railing. The fans are really concerned, and Steamboat fires back. He chases him, and Flair gets a chop coming in. Flair Flip, but Steamboat gets a clothesline on the apron. Snapmare, and he goes back to the armbar. He goes for the splash, but Flair tumbles to the floor. Steamboat slingshots him back in. Flair gets a belly to back suplex for a series of near-falls. Kneedrop, underhook suplex for 2. Elbow gets 2. Flair hits a stun gun, but Steamboat is in the ropes. Flair chokes him with his shin, and he goes to the floor. He pulls Steamboat out, and suplexes him on the floor. Flair suplexes him back in, but Steamboat floats over and gets a rolling reverse for 2. Steamboat with a high cross body, and they tumble to the floor. Flair goes up, but Steamboat slams him off. Back body drop, and Flair grabs him and tries a belly to back suplex. Steamboat flips over and gets a rollup for 2. Steamboat hits a superplex! That was the set-up for the chickenwing during the second fall of the previous match. He goes for the chickenwing, but Flair gets the ropes. Steamboat with a top rope chop, and he goes back up, and Flair crashes into the ropes, knocking him to the floor. Steamboat’s knee is injured, and thus begins the end of Steamboat’s reign as NWA World Champion. Flair is like a pitbull, going right after it. Figure Four gets a HUGE pop. Steamboat is amazing at selling it, and it gets several near-falls. Steamboat makes the ropes at the 30-minute mark. Jim Ross makes a crack about how when you hear “Thirty minutes gone” that you know they are out here wrestling, not playing a bunch of music and posing. Steamboat fights back, hitting an enziguiri. He goes for a slam, and Flair turns it into an inside cradle for the pin and his 6th NWA World Title. Best North American match ever. (31:37 *****)

The best thing about this is that Steamboat and Flair do the mutual respect bit in the ring following the fall. Jim Ross comes in to interview Flair, and Terry Funk gets a little overzealous in his judging, first congratulating Flair, then challenging him, and finally attacking him, eventually piledriving him through the ringside judges table.

Steamboat Extras:

1989.01.21 World Championship Wrestling:

Eddie Gilbert & Mystery Partner

Vs

NWA World Champion Ric Flair and NWA US Champion Barry Windham (with JJ Dillon)

Gilbert’s mystery partner is Rick Steamboat, returning to the NWA after a five-year run in the WWF. EVERYONE is shocked by this. He dominates his portions of the match, and when I was a kid watching this, I was marking out so bad that my head almost burst. Steamboat hits a press-slam on Flair, and they exchange chops. It’s clipped to Gilbert making the hot tag, and Steamboat gets the high cross body for the pin. Clipped to about 7 minutes from about 30. I’ve seen the whole thing, and it was **** easy.

Steamboat’s three-man workout on WCW features a very young Dustin Rhodes. Flair comes out to scream at Steamboat, and we go to commercial. During the break, Flair and Steamboat got into it, and Steamboat tears Flair’s suit off.

2.15.89 Clash of the Champions V: Flair is in the ring with a bevy of chicks and Hiro Matsuda. He calls out Steamboat, and it’s fine until Steamboat flips out when Flair tells him to “Help the missus with the dishes, because I’m going downtown!” Steamboat attacks him and destroys another suit. (I remember being so pissed at this show, because the main event was supposed to be Sting, Michael Hayes, and Junkyard Dog challenging the Road Warriors and Genichiro Tenryu for the NWA World Six-Man Tag Team Titles, but Kevin Sullivan and the Varsity Club locked the babyfaces in their locker room, leading to a three-way brawl and no match. I was livid. So was Giant Baba, as it effectively ended the WCW/All-Japan working agreement for having Tenryu involved in such foolishness.)

Flair’s lawyer demands a rematch following the match at Clash VI.

Jim Herd grants a rematch, scheduled for Wrestle War on May 7

Promos from Flair & Steamboat

Terry Funk:

Funk’s attack on Flair led to an insane angle that lasted literally the next six months. It wound up being Flair and Sting versus Funk, the Great Muta, Dick Slater, the Dragon Master, and Gary Hart. There was an attack at the September Clash that led to a tag team cage match at Halloween Havoc ’89. That, of course, finishes with a controversy, so it set up the following match:

1989.11.15 Clash of the Champions IX

“I quit” Match/NWA World Title

NWA World Champion Ric Flair

Vs

Terry Funk (with Gary Hart)

Gordon Solie has joined Jim Ross and Bob Caudle on commentary, and his presence lends an air of importance to the proceedings. Funk has stated that he will shake Flair’s hand if he can make Funk say “I Quit” on the mic. Flair knocks Funk over the top rope right away. It’s a straight fight right away. Flair with a super-stiff chop (Flair said in his book that he blatantly stole his chops from Funk, making this kind of ironic). They fight up the aisle, and Funk beats him with the microphone. They go all over the place, and go back into the ring. Funk with punches in the corner, screaming “Say it!” and pummeling Flair with the mic. Flair won’t give up, and he atomic drops Funk out of the corner. Funk paintbrushes him, and this just sets Flair off. He chokes him, fires off some chops, and punches him to the floor, where he runs Funk into the railing. Back in, and Flair screams for Funk to quit. Gary Hart distracts Flair, and Funk ambushes him. Funk pounds the neck, telling Flair that he should quit before Funk hurts him. This is some serious drama. He piledrives him on the floor! Funk sets up a table, and Flair fires back, running him into it. He tackles Funk, then mauls him with chops. He sends Funk across the table and into a chair. Flair attacks Hart for no reason other than he’s right there. He atomic drops Funk on the railing and nails a huge chop. Back in, and Flair hits a knee drop. Inverted Atomic Drop, and Flair goes for the knee. Funk tries to run, realizing that he’s run out of time. Flair gets the shinbreaker and goes for the Figure Four, but Funk kicks him to the apron. Flair suplexes him from the inside to the apron, then drags him back in and locks in the Figure Four. Funk screams and screams on the mic and FINALLY says “YES! I QUIT!” (18:33. *****) Following the match, Funk shakes Flair’s hand. (WWE Home Video cuts it off there, but there was so much more, as Hart attacks Funk, and Flair comes to his defense. The Great Muta comes in, and Sting makes the save. Lex Luger attacks them both, setting up the Iron Man Tournament at Starrcade ’89.)

Funk Extras:

Press conference announcing Flair Vs Funk at Great American Bash ‘89

9/22/89 Funk tries to kill Flair with a plastic bag

Promos from Flair and Funk

Other DVD Features:

The Plane Crash

The History of the Horsemen

A Day in the life of the Four Horsemen

DISK THREE: THE WWF YEARS

In 1991, Flair had a falling out with WCW VP Jim Herd, who thought he knew more about wrestling than the guys who had been doing it. Flair has never ever passed up the opportunity to blast Herd for being an idiot who knew nothing. Herd is almost universally disliked by fans and wrestlers because he took what WCW had in 1989 and just turned it into a steaming pile of shit. Basically, he wanted to take the title off Flair and move him down the card and start pushing guys like Sting and Lex Luger. Flair’s contract expired, and he was still champion. Herd wanted him to drop the title, initially to Barry Windham at a house show. Eventually, Herd said screw it, we’re stripping you of the title, and I’m sending Doug Dillinger over to get the belt. Flair told him to have $25,000 plus interest because of his deposit. Herd said keep the belt, and Flair called Vince McMahon and signed a contract. He went to the WWF and had a great 18-month run. (Bobby Heenan was an announcer on Wrestling Challenge with Gorilla Monsoon and Jim Neidhart, and as they were wrapping the show one weekend, HE HAD FLAIR’S BELT WITH HIM. My head almost EXPLODED. Flair showed up on TV not long after, and they were off to the races.)

At the end of 1991, there was some controversy in consecutive WWF Title matches, so the title was vacated and would be awarded to the winner of the Royal Rumble. Hulk Hogan and the Undertaker, the previous two champions, would be given preferential treatment and would be allowed to pick from numbers 21-30. The smart money was on one of them winning the match and the title. It didn’t turn out quite the way people thought it would.

1992.01.19

Royal Rumble for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship:

WWF President Jack Tunney makes a little speech, and draws a loud chorus of boos, and then we get to the match.

#1 is Davey Boy Smith and #2 is Ted DiBiase. Davey Boy clotheslines DiBiase out really quick, maybe even a little early. DiBiase was nearing the end as a singles guy, and wound up in a good tag team spot with IRS before the end of the year. #3 is Flair, and Bobby Heenan goes crazy. DBS roughs him up until Nasty Boy Jerry Sags comes out at #4, but he doesn’t last even 90 seconds. Haku is #5 and he goes after Davey Boy, then Flair, who runs like hell. Haku hits a piledriver on Davey Boy, but he no-sells, and clotheslines Haku out. #6 is Shawn Michaels, and he and Flair have an awesome mini-match throughout the time that Shawn is in the Rumble. Tito Santana is #7. Damn, Shawn shows his stuff on the near eliminations, he’s so great. Barbarian is #8, and then Kerry Von Erich is #9, and he and Flair go for old times’ sake. #10 is Repo Man, and nothing happens. Greg Valentine is #11, and he and Flair exchange chops for old time’s sake (They had a great tag team in Mid-Atlantic in the 70’s). Nikolai Volkoff is #12, as Valentine gets the figure-four on Flair. Cool. Repo dumps Volkoff. Big Bossman is #13. Repo dumps Valentine, then Bossman dumps Repo. Flair backdrops Davey Boy out, then Kerry Von Erich. Shawn and Tito eliminate each other. Hercules is #14, and he dumps the Barbarian, then gets dumped by Bossman. Flair tries to dump the Bossman, but he slides under the bottom rope, then he eliminates himself on a crossbody that Flair ducks. Flair flop, as Heenan screams that Flair should be the new champion, but we’re only halfway home, Bobby. Roddy Piper is #15, and he and Flair fight it out on the floor. Back in, and Piper locks in a sleeper. Jake Roberts is #16, and he just allows them to continue fighting. Eventually, Jake hits the short clothesline on Flair, but Piper saves Flair from the DDT (!) Heenan apologizes to Piper for everything he’s ever said, but retracts it when Piper turns on Flair. Hacksaw Duggan comes out at #17, and goes right after Flair. #18 is IRS, then Superfly Snuka is #19, as the ring begins to fill up again. The fans are getting a little restless, waiting for a big star to come in and start clearing out the dead wood. Undertaker is #20, and he tosses Snuka right away. Randy Savage is #21, and he goes right after Jake, fends off a UT attack, and dumps Jake out. He jumps off the top to the floor on Jake, but the rules were different then, so he wasn’t eliminated. ‘Taker and Jake beat on Savage on the floor. Berserker is #22, and the clock is just all over the place, sometimes coming in at 2 1/2 minutes, others at 1:45. Piper and ‘Taker choke out Flair, and then each other. Virgil is #23, Col. Mustafa (Iron Sheik) is #24, and Rick Martel is #25. Nothing of note happens. Martel and IRS nearly eliminate Flair, then Savage dumps Mustafa. Hulk Hogan is #26, and of course, he goes right after Flair. Heenan is great here, pleading with God to let Flair win it. Hogan clotheslines Undertaker out, rather unceremoniously, then Duggan and Virgil eliminate each other. Skinner (Steve Keirn) is #27. Hogan and Flair tease every fan in North America who’d been begging for years to see it, as they have a little tussle. I really feel like they missed the boat with Hogan Vs Flair not headlining WrestleMania VIII. Sgt. Slaughter is #28. Martel dumps Skinner. Hogan and Piper tangle. Sid Justice is #29, and he almost tosses IRS, then chokes Flair out in the corner. Warlord is #30, and we’ve got: Hogan, Flair, Martel, Savage, Slaughter, IRS, Piper, Justice and Warlord. Hogan and Flair brawl on the floor, with Hogan hitting a nice suplex. Sid literally flings Slaughter out of the ring over the corner post. Piper pulls IRS out by the tie, and Hogan and Sid team to dump the Warlord. Sid dumps Piper and Martel at the same time, and our final four is: Hogan, Flair, Sid, and Savage. It’s like WCW in 1999… Sid and Flair dump Savage, and then Sid dumps Hogan, to a huge pop. Hulk grabs Sid’s arm, and Flair manages to dump Sid to win the Rumble and the WWF title, and his ninth or tenth overall World Championship. Great Rumble, in fact the best Rumble ever. (62:02 *****)

WWF Years Extras:

Various promos from Flair and Heenan

Flair debuts on Prime Time Wrestling

Flair is on the Funeral Parlor, calling out Piper and Hogan, saying he’s been challenging Hogan for years.

On Superstars, Flair is coming to the ring, and he attacks Piper at the announce table. Piper, in a blind rage, clobbers Vince with a chair.

Heenan interviews Flair on Superstars

Flair’s awesome post-Royal Rumble promo is a sight that needs to be seen and heard to believe.

Sting:

Flair went 45 minutes with Sting at the first Clash of the Champions in March of 1988, and that match MADE Sting in North America. Hilariously, when this DVD was released WWE didn’t have the master copy of the Clash, so we only got clips of the match. They eventually got a complete version, but it was a second or third gen copy. Only WCW could lose the original of something like that. I’m sure the master is around somewhere, since they’ve got so much to go through. Flair puts Sting over as a great worker and an even better guy. He really put Sting over in his book as well.

1994.06.23 Clash of the Champions XXVII

Unification Match:

WCW World Champion Ric Flair

Vs

WCW International World Champion Sting

I’m not going to get into the whole back story behind this, but it boils down to the fact that Sting’s belt, while being the nicer, better looking belt, was essentially a worthless title. They needed to get the belt to Flair, so they had this match to unify the two titles. It saddens me that Sting and Flair had so many good matches, but time and injuries really prevented them from having a ***** classic. This is a pretty good match, and Flair was slowly turning heel in the weeks leading up to it. Sherri Martel was scouting both men as she was looking to represent one of them. It’s Sherri, of course she was going to go with Flair, I mean, come on. She comes out with Sting’s face paint on, and everyone is wrong. Flair is really distracted during this match, and isn’t performing up to his usual levels. Bobby Heenan, on commentary, blames this on Hulk Hogan signing with WCW and getting into Flair’s head. This was true on both a real and kayfabe level. Sting press slams him, and Flair goes to the floor. Sting no-sells chops, and Flair keeps leaving the ring. Sting with an inside cradle off a Figure Four for 2. The end comes when Sherri gets wiped out on a Sting pescado. Flair takes over in the ring, but Sting gets a backslide. Sherri gets up on the ring apron, and this distracts Sting long enough for Flair to roll him up out of nowhere for the pin to unify the titles at 17:17 ***. This wasn’t even close to their best match, and you can tell both guys weren’t happy with the Hogan thing. Sherri, of course, turns on Sting, and they put the boots to him until Hogan makes the save.

Sting Extras:

Sting gets kicked out of the Horsemen

9.19.03

Big celebration for Flair in Greenville, SC

DVD Extras:

1976.03.01

Ric Flair Vs Pete Sanchez

This is Flair’s MSG debut. The pace is slow, and Flair heels it up. Sanchez works an armbar. Flair is still kinda pudgy here, probably about 260 or so. Sanchez continues working the arm until Flair gets a knee to the gut. Suddenly, Vince McMahon is on commentary, and he starts mid-sentence, which leads me to believe that he was doing it all along and they somehow lost the audio track until five minutes in. Vince doesn’t think that Flair is in as good of shape as Sanchez. Flair works an armbar for a while, and this is really boring. Sanchez comes back, but Flair dumps him throat first on the top rope. Picks up a little at the end, as Flair slams him off the top, but misses a kneedrop. They trade punches, and Flair misses a charge in the corner. He hangs himself upside down, but manages to hit a kneedrop and a vertical suplex for the pin at 10:21. * ½

Early 80's MACW: Flair does a workout on TV, which leads to a brawl with Roddy Piper, which leads to Greg Valentine attacking Piper and Bob Orton making the save.

11.19.89: Flair gets his PWI Wrestler of the Decade for the 1980’s at Clash of the Champions IX.

3.26.01: Flair cuts a promo in-ring on the last Nitro, putting the promotion over, even though he was so mentally beaten down by the suits at this point that he was glad to see it die. He makes a match with Sting for later in the show. (It’s not included, but that’s okay, Flair was REALLY out of shape, to the point where he had to wear a shirt in the ring. Sting got the Scorpion Deathlock for the submission at about five minutes.)

2003.05.19 Greenville, SC

WWE World Heavyweight Championship

Triple H (Champion)

Vs

Ric Flair

HHH is nursing injured ribs thanks to Kevin Nash. They lock up, jostle around a bit, and clean break in the corner. Flair with a thumb to the eye to take over. Chops abound, and the crowd plays right into it. HHH with a back elbow, but can’t suplex him. Flair with a shot to the ribs, then a chop. HHH flies over the top rope and to the rail. Flair with a suplex on the floor. They go back in, and Flair with a delayed vertical for 2. Hunter hits a spinebuster, but can’t follow up. He kicks and chops, and whips Flair to the corner, and Flair busts out the FLAIR FLIP! Double ax off the top, and he chops the knee and goes right to the figure four. HHH makes the ropes. He grabs a sleeper, and the ref gets squished in the corner. Great, a ref bump. Who’s booking this, Vince Russo? Hunter goes to hit him with the belt, but Flair gets a thumb to the eye and a belt shot of his own for 2. Figure Four, but HHH kicks him to the buckle. He goes for the Pedigree, but Flair backdrops out of it. He hits one right away though, and that’s enough for the pin at about 10 minutes or so. **

(After the show goes off the air, the whole locker room empties to pay homage to the Man. Vince McMahon comes strutting out, and this leads to the exchange of the day:

Mandy: “Why is he walking so funny?”

Me: “Bad knees. You know, that guy is a billionaire.”

Mandy: “Can’t he pay someone to walk for him?”)

Flair gives an emotional speech in the ring as everyone drinks beer with him.

Easter Egg: Flair cuts a studio promo on World Championship Wrestling, circa 1987 or so.