2 Out of 3 Falls: Ric Flair, Jumbo Tsuruta, Kerry Von Erich

Hey yo,

I like a Green Day song (O Love). I am starting to take stock in this Mayan Apocalypse.

Just as I have revolutionized the late night scene in Cambridge and Ann AhhhhBahhhhh, today I revolutionize the stagnant Wrestling Review paradigm with my BRAND NEW “2 Out Of 3 Falls” concept. For far too long wrestling reviews have been written as static pieces in a vacuum. Much like the episodic TV model wrestling follows, each blog will build on the foundation of the previous one. I intend this cumulative experience to be a living document that will re-evaluate its assessment of wrestlers, promotions and matches upon access to new information derived from watching matches and promos.  This truly dynamic approach will be undertaken by positing certain “universal truths” about wrestlers and testing if they hold up against the evidence. No more hear-say about the Flair Formula, Bob Backlund being boring, or Hulk Hogan can’t work. It is time for me to ascertain the truth for myself and I would love for you to come on the journey with me by watching the matches with me and asserting your own claims, but all opinions should be backed up with evidence.  Yeah, Martin, I know all the ladies in the club have been swooning as soon your describe this grandiose undertaking. Shut up, it is cool, goddamnit, my mother said so!

It has been dubbed “2 Out of 3 Falls” because I will begin by listing three wrestlers and the common assertions assumed about each wrestler. I will then set out to argue these assertions based on my primary source findings. These findings will be contained in my recap and analysis of the three matches, each pitting one against the other, I have selected. In the end, there will be some discussion over my ranking of each wrestler. However, the main focus will be returning to the original posit and a discussion of my findings. Since each blog will only contain 2 matches per wrestler, it will be hard to prove anything right away. To reiterate (Insert Moments ago WWE video package) this will be a dynamic document that will constantly re-evaluating its stance on wrestlers, promotions and matches. 

For example, I will be trying to answer the question: “What is the Ric Flair Formula and how closely did he adhere to it?”. Today, I will be writing about his matches with Jumbo Tsuruta and Kerry Von Erich and will analyze the question in the context of those matches. However, I have matches against Koko Ware and Butch Reed sitting on my hardrive (DREAM MATCHES~!; They are supposed to be very good, actually). I am sure when I watch these matches I will unearth new information that will force me to re-evaluate my earlier opinion. This dynamic re-evaluation is what will make this blog very unique and interesting. It will be a living document rather than many wrestling reviews that are written as static pieces done in a vacuum. Enough tooting of my own horn, but I sure do love it, this blowhard is finally ready to unveil the first line-up of “2 Out of 3 Falls”: “Nature Boy” Ric Flair, “Modern Day Warrior” Kerry Von Erich and Jumbo Tsuruta. To celebrate the inaugural 2 Out Of Three Falls, all the matches are 2 Out of 3 Falls matches. I don't sing it, I just bring it.

NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair

  

It was a testament to Flair’s ability in and out of the ring that he could venture to any territory in the world and draw as a credible main event act against a myriad of opponents including, but not limited to  the Von Erichs in Texas, Dusty and Windham in Florida, Jumbo and Tenryu in Japan, Brisco and Steamboat in Mid-Atlantic, DiBiasie and Reed in Mid-South, Lawler in Memphis, Sting and Luger in WCW. Ric Flair was the last of the touring National Wrestling Alliance World Heavyweight Champions, a responsibility entrusted to a few men in history to draw large crowds no matter the region he entered. The National Wrestling Alliance was not a monolithic entity like today’s WWE rather it was comprised of promotions in United States, Canada, Mexico, Caribbean, Japan, and Australia. All these promotions recognized one World Heavyweight Champion, who they expected would come to their territory and pop a great attendance after building up a successful hometown challenger. In a very condensed form, this was the successful business model of pro wrestling in the 60s, 70s and early 80s. In the 80s, it was tasked to Ric Flair to execute this business model.    

The secret to Flair’s success purportedly was his well-crafted, universal formula that he could apply to any wrestler in any territory with a great deal of success. This formula exploited the lack of national TV exposure each territory received. As we will see in the upcoming match reviews, Flair had the challenging task of wrestling such diverse opponents as Jumbo Tsuruta in Japan and Kerry Von Erich in Texas. The assertion is that Flair was able to work in similar spots into his matches because he knew the people in Texas would not see his match in Japan and vice versa. Ric Flair was the last touring champion in wrestling history. In order to expedite his work, he developed basically a one-man match and all the other person had to do was execute the spots Flair told him to (creative license usually was allowed in the comeback/finish). I always thought it was a compliment that everyone said Ric Flair could wrestle a broom to a three star match, but it seems it may have been a subtle dig at the “Ric Flair Show”. My exploration over the next weeks or so is to see how strictly Flair adhered to any formula and what that formula is.

My own feelings going into this is that there is a loose formula he follows and some trademark spots, but it is wildly over-stated how closely he follows that formula. I have noticed in the past what Bret Hart has called “ Flair’s rampant non-psychology”, where Flair will shoehorn spots into a match that do really fit into the flow of the match. A good example of this is Rick Martel and Jerry “The King” Lawler doing press slam spots when they are clearly too short to do so. My hypothesis is that formula is the following:

Babyface Shine (Flair is repeatedly frustrated that face is getting the upper-hand on the mat) -> Flair in frustration starts to take short-cuts, but still cant get the upper-hand ->Transition to heat segment -> Heat segment (usually over the leg) -> Comeback (opponent dependent) -> Finish

ASIDE: If you asked me a couple months ago, who the greatest pro wrestler was of all-time. I would have said without reservation: Ric Flair. Now I have doubts, not because I have someone better (Nick Bockwinkel’s stock has gone way up in the past couple weeks) or that I think Flair is worse. It is just strange that I have anointed Flair the best when I have only watched his career from 1988-Now. Yet his peak was between 1981-1990. I was capturing just three years of his peak before. How can one make an affirmative statement of greatness based off post-peak years? It was clear to me that I was simply braying the wrestling axiom that ensnared so many wrestling minds: Ric Flair was the greatest because that’s what we are told to say. I aint no sheep, so it is time to put Flair to the test and evaluate his performance in as many scenarios as I can obtain. Also as a matter of opinion, I love formulas. It is beyond irritating when people trumpet experimentalism for the sake of experimentalism. If you are the Rolling Stones, more power to you, not many can pull off succeeding in a myriad of genres. If you are AC/DC, more power to you, not many can pull off that many hits playing basically the same song. Just give me what I like. When I say formula in a wrestling match, I am talking about the structure of his layout. I acknowledge that Flair is a versatile performer that could work a 10-mintue TV sprint, a technical Broadway masterpiece and a wild, bloody brawl. There is no doubt in my mind regarding that. My doubts stem from the accusations that formula merely plugged wrestlers interchangeably into spots. I do not like the idea that Lawler, Luger and Steamboat are interchangeable wrestlers.

Wrestling's Favorite Horseface (I kid, I kid)

Von Erich and Tsuruta could not be more different opponents. Kerry was cast in mold of Hogan and Luger with the body of Adonis, but who without a certain degree of structure could lose his way in a match. Plenty of people have sold Kerry short as a complete package wrestling citing he needed the hot Texas crowds to enhance his matches and his selling and bumping were sub-par. He was wildly popular in Texas, total freakin rock star package and it did not really matter what the fuck he did in the ring; it was probably going to get over. However, as a fan of wrestling (rather than a mark for Von Erich) Kerry definitely benefits from a set structure, which facilitates how and when he sells, his offensive psychology and his own pacing. Flair’s style affords him a means to elevate to a level of being an upper echelon performer. I seek to evaluate Kerry as a wrestler and see where and when he breaks down as a wrestler especially in matches from outside Japan. By watching him face Flair in Texas as a challenger and Tsuruta in Japan as the champion, I will be given a good comparative metric to evaluate how Kerry is as a worker in different environments and how he interacts in each. As the Von Erichs were the Rockstars of Texas, Tsuruta was the King of All-Japan Pro Wrestling. That is where the comparisons stop.   

Jumbo Tsuruta, AWA World Heavyweight Champion and All Japan Triple Crown Champion

Jumbo Tsuruta is the great unknown gem in this set of three. Before my exploration, I saw Jumbo as the veteran of the All-Japan Pro Wrestling Early 90s scene, who passed the torch to the vaunted Four Pillars of Heaven (Mitsuharu Misawa, Toshiaki Kawada, Kenta Kobashi and Akira Taue). Yes, he had some terrific classics against Misawa in the early 90s but much like Flair that was his post-prime work. So I set out to discover if Jumbo Tsuruta could stake his claim to be the greatest Japanese pro wrestler in history. Before this exploration, I would say that Kawada, Misawa and Liger are really in a league all their own, but that conclusion is derived from watching 90s puroresu (Japanese for pro wrestling). So much like Flair, I am hoping from watching 80s puroresu that I will gain a new appreciation for Jumbo Tsuruta and his identity as a performer. Ultimately my goal with Jumbo Tsuruta is determine how he ranks against his successors: the Four Pillars of Heaven.  

NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair vs Kerry Von Erich

August 18, 1982 Dallas, TX
2 Out Of Three Falls

Unlike the other two matches, I have viewed this match beforehand and I absolutely loved it upon first viewing. Each time, I discover new spots and elements that make it a better match. Such as during the abdominal stretch, Von Erich makes a point to exaggerate his gesture that he is looking to put on the Claw, which really whips the crowd into a frenzy. The crowd was nuclear for Kerry from the get-go and totally rabid at the prospect of him dethroning Ric Flair especially after defeating previous Champion Harley Race in a de facto No. 1 Contender’s match just months previous to this. Flair, as usual, is a cardio freak, but my favorite moment is how he slowly ramps up his heelishness. At first testing his strength and clearly being bested, he resorts to hair pulling to win an over the top wristlock. Another thing, I love is that when Kerry has Flair in a head scissors in the beginning, they do not just lie on the mat. Flair is very broadly attempting to escape the hold, but cant. This does two things, it puts over Kerry’s strength and most importantly, keeps the audience engaged. Flair does a lot of things really well, but he is exceptional at keeping the audience engaged even during perfunctory matwork.

The beginning is all about putting over Kerry’s strength. This is accomplished by holding multiple head-scissors, winning over the top wristlocks and a visually impressive arm wrench that Flair bumps wells, which the crowd pops loudly for.  Flair gets some offense in the corner, which is Flair’s domain. Besides Vader, I do not think there is a wrestler that is better in the corner than Flair. Flair takes over with a knee-lift and begins taking shortcuts like the aforementioned hair pull. Off a missed elbow, they do a well-executed tussle for the ab stretch I brought up earlier. I love how they made each other work for it with Kerry ultimately winning. An eye-rake (Flair shortcuts) breaks it up, but Kerry hits two pretty impressive dropkicks. Flair’s next shortcut is to hold the rope down as Kerry crashes to the floor, which leads to Flair’s big flurry of offensive: dropping Kerry across the top rope, knee drop and piledriver. Kerry catches Flair with back body drop, but Flair blocks the corner. Flair pushes the ref, but as Kerry winds up for the discus punch he catches the ref in the head. Kerry puts on the sleeper, BUT THERE IS NO REF, here he comes and now the bell is ringing. KERRY WINS THE FIRST FALL!!! Right!?!?! Right!?!?!?

THE CLAW~!

 The original referee disqualifies Kerry for the punch much to the dismay of the crowd and to relief of a visually exhausted and desperate Flair. I liked the finish to the first fall even if it was a clusterfuck because Kerry was clearly put over as more dominant than Flair. Flair’s escape with a DQ finish in the first fall allows for Kerry to once again be perceived as the underdog as he has the unenviable task to win two straight falls against The Man. Another great element is that all of Flair’s control segments were initiated by shortcuts thus always making Kerry look better in comparison.

The second fall rules all and by itself would probably be one of my favorite matches of all time. Flair is still coughing from the sleeper hold and begs off immediately. Kerry and the crowd smell blood. Kerry slaps on the sleeper, but Flair makes use of the Bret leverage move to send Kerry crashing to the floor. Flair capitalizes this by wrenching Kerry’s leg across the apron. NOW WE GO TO SCHOOL!!! Flair is absolutely crazed during this control segment as he clearly a desperate champ doing anything to take down the physically superior Kerry Von Erich. Flair hits the shinbreaker to a physically diminished Von Erich side-headlock. After Flair works over the leg, it is time for the Figure-4 Leglock whipping the crowd into frenzy. Just minutes ago, they thought their hero had the first fall in the bag and now it looks he is about to lose two straight falls. WAIT!!! Kerry had reversed the pressure and now Flair scrambles for the ropes. Flair tries to go back to the knee, but Keryr blocks with the vaunted Von Erich Claw. Flair blades like a champ off the claw and eventually is pinned. Flair’s control segment was fuckin awesome and Kerry sold his knee like champ. Then when it came to the hit finish everyone erupted when the claw was slapped on just when it seemed like Flair had this one in the bag.

Flair is drenched in sweat and blood and looking for a fight with the universal sign of “Put up your dukes”. A spirited two-minute intense brawl breaks out and the ref loses control of the match. At first, I was disappointed by the finish, but in retrospect it is a really good to put over the intense nature of the match and it would ultimately setup the Huge Christmas Day 1982 Cage match.

The basic idea of the Flair formula was executed, which is to make your opponent look like a million bucks and keep the audience engaged. However, Flair was not always a chickenshit heel as he vacillated among begging off, desperation and crazed. There was an urgency to each fall. Kerry felt like he NEEDED to win the first one and came out hot, but was robbed. Kerry NEEDED to win the second one or he lost, but by the same token Flair felt he NEEDED to win based off Kerry’s stellar performance in the first fall. Kerry played his part well and definitely added more than just his Texas star power. He sold well and worked hard to keep up with Flair and sell the importance of the match. I LOVE this match because there is never a dull moment and the match builds perfectly on itself until the wild brawl at the end.

NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair vs Jumbo Tsuruta
June 8, 1983 Tokyo, Japan
2 Out Of Three Falls

I have no idea why I did not think to look up more of Flair in Japan before this because this shit rocks. It was like finding wrestling nirvana. Flair in Japan is just BITCHIN~! I have only watched this match twice, but both times I was impressed by that pace they cut (SPOILER ALERT: 60 Minute Draw) and by the interesting, yet peculiar match progression. It struck me how both matches contained a desperation Flair control segment and I think that is an overlooked element of the Flair Formula. Not only does the formula make the opponent look good, but Flair busts out plenty of big moves for when he kicks into high-gear and tries to win the match at all costs.

The beginning match see Jumbo work over the back of Flair (most announcers would say here that Flair broke his back in a plane crash in 1975, which is true. However, the commentary is in Japanese so I don’t know if they added that bit in) which begins with most BEAUTIFULLY seamless hiptoss block into an abdominal stretch you will ever see. Another note is how well Jumbo sells Flair’s punches. In Japan, the no punching rule is taken very seriously and when one wrestler punches another wrestler they make sure to sell it like death and the crowd always Oooooos and Aaaahhhhs. First unusual Flair spot is that he POWERS out of a camel clutch. O so you think you’re Hogan now. Flair takes over in the corner and kind of botches a short arm scissor. I just watched Bockwinkel/Hennig work an awesome short arm scissor sequence and this one came off a bit lackluster. Flair transitions into a hammerlock as we reach the 15th minute mark.

Jumbo counters with a sweet drop toehold into a leg scissors and then immediately returns to the back with one his signature moves: the Boston Crab. After Flair makes the ropes, Jumbo hits an atomic drop (which pops the crowd thinking he would go for the back drop driver) and Flair’s butterfly suplex (have not watched enough Jumbo to know if that is a Jumbo move). I will say the atomic drop seemed out of place because from a storyline point of view he should have just hit his finisher that being said the atomic drop may be a Jumbo move. Flair uses Jumbo’s own momentum to send him crashing to the floor. Flair kicks out of a Jumbo sunset flip only to hit Jumbo with Jumbo’s own finisher: the back drop driver. They do a random arm stretch/standing surfboard sequence, which kind of harkens back to  Flair’s arm psychology and allows Flair to do a test of strength spot. Flair transitions into his own abdominal stretch where he actually grapevines his leg around Jumbo’s leg. GORILLA WOULD BE PUMPED!!!! Jumbo hiptosses out of it and gets a two off a cross-body block. A slugfest erupts while they are on their knees and Flair’s verbal selling becomes a real highlight. Another thing where I think Flair has no peer is verbal selling. Flair and Jumbo are chopping back and forth until Jumbo says “FUCK IT” and belts Flair with an enziguri. Flair ends up outside and goads Jumbo over only to catch his leg and wrench it across the apron. You will see this is a great tactic because the audience will think they are entering the Flair control segment only for their hero is pull it right out. Flair picks up a single leg only to get belted again with an enziguri. Jumbo wastes no time and MURDERS Flair with a high-knee and then polishes him off with his Back Drop Driver at the 30^th minute mark. If the match ended there, it would have been a great match with some weird Flair-ism spots, but still a great match. However, there is more, much, much more!

DANGEROUS~!

Flair is visibly rattled as they start the next fall and Jumbo immediately goes in for the kill with uncharacteristic stiff strikes. Up until that point, Jumbo had been using only wrestling holds and throws unless provoked. Flair goads him into the corner and takes over with a well-executed suplex and piledriver sequence. Then Flair enters the front face-lock control segment attempting to get pinfalls off of it. Flair hits a second piledriver and then drops Jumbo throat-first across the ropes (another unusual Flair spot as that is a strength spot). Flair hits a pair of standing elbow drops for a  2 count. Flair, frustrated throws him to the outside, but on the suplex attempt back in Flair is the one who ends up on the outside. The newly vicious Jumbo sends Flair head first into the post and consequently Flair blades off that. Jumbo gets a ten punch count in the corner  and Flair is putting over his exhaustion by whiffing on a couple of punches. A series of wick hot near-falls occur as Jumbo gets two off a high-knee and vertical suplex. Whoever said Japanese crowds are quiet and respectful have never listened to this raucous crowd as they cheered on their hero, Jumbo Tsuruta. Jumbo whips Flair into the corner and does his Flair Flip only this time he gets caught in the Tree of Woe. Jumbo pounces and Flair is in deep trouble. So what does the Dirtiest Player in the Game do, well he hits him below the belt of course. They do the Flair bridge into a backslide sequence, which was another hot false finish as that ends 45 minutes of the match.

Jumbo misses a move off the top as Flair connects with a punch to the gut, but Flair is too exhausted to capitalize, which allows Tsuruta to hit the missile dropkick on Flair, which gets two. Now Flair is up and bodyslams him only to be slammed off the top by Jumbo. Why, Flair, why?!!?!?  Huge Tsuruta chant rings out through the arena. Flair ducks out of the way of a Jumbo high-knee which sends him careening to the floor. Immediately, Flair FINALLY begins his leg work in earnest and the crowd grows worried. Flair grabs the first figure-4, but Jumbo reverses the pressure. Flair wraps Jumbo’s leg around the steel ring post then follows that up with a delayed vertical suplex, standing elbow drop and a trademark WOOOOO for two. Figure 4 another two more times, but Jumbo refuses to give in before the time limit draw.

 I thought for sure given the context of this match Jumbo would be the one with the hot string of near falls at the end before falling just short due to the time limit draw. This ending seemed more appropriate if Flair was the challenger as the fans would be rooting for Jumbo to hang on. Instead as the viewer, I felt like well whether Flair wins this fall or it goes to a draw it doesn’t really matter because Flair retains either way. The only thing you could root for as a Jumbo fan would be the fact that since Jumbo never lost a fall and indeed gained a fall on the champion that he would be due a rematch, but overall I think the ending hurt it. I think if you swap the final 15 minutes with the 30-45 minute portion the match becomes a ***** classic even with the bits of Flair non-psychology. As it stands it is incredible fun, well-worked, brisk one hour draw that had a shit ton of action. I think it is below the Flair vs Kerry match. However, Jumbo has another chance to top Flair as his match with Kerry Von Erich is next.

NWA World Heavyweight Champion Kerry Von Erich vs Jumbo Tsuruta
05/22/1984 Tokyo, Japan

2 Out Of Three Falls

Earlier in the month, Tsuruta dropped the AWA World Heavyweight Championship to Rick Martel. Therefore the Japanese crowd is extra hot to see their hero regain a World Heavyweight championship and there is some more credence to their cheers because of his AWA title victory over Nick Bockwinkel in February of 1984. Von Erich, FINALLY, dethroned the “Diriest Player In The Game” Ric Flair on May 6, 1984 at the David Von Erich Memorial down in Texas. Kerry went on tour immediately having great matches with arch-rivals Terry Gordy and Ric Flair. As was customary, Kerry ventured across the Pacific to defend against the top Japanese challenger: Jumbo Tsuruta.

Whoever made the up the fact about quiet Japanese crowds is dead wrong after watching these past two matches. The first fall is about respect with non-clean breaks teased. Both wrestlers sit the other on top the top turnbuckle as to say I am just toying with you. Besides a claw attempt, this is all Jumbo, who eventually finishes with his super hot combo of two high knees -> Enziguri -> Back Drop Driver to take the first fall.

A bloody Kerry takin a lickin from Jumbo Tsuruta

Jumbo starts the second fall much like the second fall against Flair with lots of stiff, hot strikes. Kerry actually blades off these punches and the Japanese crowd thinks another World Heavyweight Championship is coming home to them. Kerry has a pretty good dropkick that no one ever talks about and he is very much on the defensive. Jumbo follows up a big slap with a piledriver. However, it seems Jumbo has punched himself out. Kerry capitalizes on this opening with a discus punch followed by THE CLAW~! Jumbo bridges out of THE CLAW~! In an impressive feat of strength. However, he ultimately succumbs to the undeniable force of THE CLAW~!

There is a great visual during the respite between the second and third falls as Jumbo is being attended to by all the Japanese ringboys and the crowd is exhorts him. A bloody Kerry Von Erich is a man alone, isolated and visibly pissed that he is in a middle of this war with no help. It is just a great juxtaposition. Now it is Kerry’s turn to start hot, but the claw attempt is blocked only for Jumbo to take that claw hand and dismantle it. I mean if it was metal, Jumbo was throwing that hand into it. Von Erich connects with a punch, but is immediately sent back reeling in pain because of how brutally Jumbo has attacked it. Von Erich makes a comeback with a flurry of back suplex, an elbow, piledriver, but misses the Tenryu elbow drop from the top. Jumbo connects with the high-knee and employs his favorite hold: the Boston Crab. Kerry powers out of it and after a couple of roll-up exchanges they end up on the outside. Kerry puts the CLAW~! On, but Jumbo executes the Back Drop Driver on the floor only for the referee to count out both men. In a double countout, Kerry Von Erich retains the title, but hometown hero Jumbo Tsuruta gets the moral victory of being the last man standing.

I still do not feel like I have good grasp of what a Kerry Von Erich match looks like and what his offensive arsenal is. Everything seems to revolve around THE CLAW~! In addition, towards the end of the match he started to use his hand again to punch taking away from the whole hook of the match. It was a spirited, intense title match that I liked a lot mainly due to the well-executed hand psychology and Jumbo’s large repertoire of moves.

OVERALL ANALYSIS

1. Ric Flair – So I will say that picking a Jumbo match was not probably the best way to gauge a Flair Formula match because Japan is much different than Mid-Atlantic or Mid-South.  What it did prove is that under extreme circumstances Flair could and would adapt to different situations. He wrestled way “bigger” against Jumbo than any of his other opponents. He matched Jumbo bomb for bomb in an excellent one hour bomb-throwing contest. Against Kerry, Flair vacillated between showing ass for Kerry, being desperate and being violently crazy. He showed a range of emotions that were created by what was going on in the match in an organic fashion. It is truly one of the most superb Flair performances. I would say there is a Flair Formula, but it is no different than the verse-chorus-verse formula. It is what you do with that formula that matters. Nobody is going to get the Ramones confused with Judas Priest. Nobody would get Flair vs Jumbo and Flair vs Kerry Von Erich confused as they great variations on a tried and true formula.

2. Jumbo Tsuruta – I need to watch more Jumbo matches to really understand if he is more in the mold of working holds to target a certain body part (Kerry’s hand) or if he is a bomb thrower (Flair’s match). Jumbo reminds me very much of Kobashi with his very expressive face especially during Kerry’s match as opposed to the more stoic approach of Misawa. Of course, Kobashi was inspired by Jumbo, not the other way around. I just happen to be more familiar with Kobashi. There are very few people that cannot be upstaged by Ric Flair. Unfortunately for Jumbo, he was upstaged by Ric Flair. I do know this is that he was excellent in both these matches, which are two of the greatest matches of all time. I have watched his encounters against Bockwinkel and Martel, which will be reviewed at some point and are very good. I think the new question to ask about Jumbo is whether he is a bomb-thrower or a limb psychologist. 

3. Kerry Von Erich - There is no shame in taking third place behind Flair and Jumbo when both are candidates for the greatest of all time. It feels as if Kerry is a one trick pony that his matches revolve around the Claw. I think that is root cause of what will be a repetitive formula. Flair and Jumbo have enough tricks and gimmicks to ensure their matches are not the same. However, with just the CLAW, Kerry will be at a disadvantage to have unique matches. I do not have a good sense of what Kerry spots are. In the Flair match, he was clearly working Flair spots that were built around his Claw. The Jumbo match was built around his hand and the claw, which was really cool. I have watched a couple Kerry matches and have never seen this psychology employed before so it may be an isolated Jumbo employment.  He sold well in both his encounters besides the punches towards the end of the Jumbo match, which I thought took away from the hook of the match. As an 80s heavyweight babyface, I accept the fact he will not be bumping like a pinball for the heels and will let that slide.  The Japan match proved that Kerry could work really well in an environment outside of Texas. In addition, Kerry was athletic and demonstrated good psychology. I look forward to watching more Kerry Von Erich and evaluating him further.

The next 2 Out of 3 Falls will definitely include Hulk Hogan. If anybody who reads this happens to have an opinion they can say whether they want the pairing of Terry Funk & Stan Hansen or Harley Race & Bob Backlund they can let me know.  

     

   

Macho Madness: A Son's Revenge

Hey yo bromigoes and bromigas,

Is the Cult actually relevant in 2012? No fucking way. Digging the hell out of their lead single, “For The Animals”.

Let’s not waste time, since I can never get enough Flair/Savage, lets review the early part of their series from 1995. It all began with the tag team main event between Flair and “The Mastodon” Vader against the Mega-Powers (Hogan and Savage).

The idea is simple here let’s get the four biggest names in WCW (save for Sting) in a tag team match to sell a PPV based on their name value. Vader and Flair had both unsuccessfully attempted to wrest the World Title from Hulk Hogan. Vader is one of my top 5 favorite wrestlers and is who I consider to be the greatest big man in the history of wrestling. I toss around “All-Man” sometimes, but VADER IS ALL FUCKIN MAN! The idea should have been simple have the Monster VADER BEAT Hogan for the title and then have Hogan chase and slay the monster. Hogan’s egotism got in the way. Savage had joined WCW in late 1994 and had been aimless until this match.

ITS VADER TIME!!!!

The Mega-Powers (WCW World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan & “Macho Man” Randy Savage) vs  “Nature Boy” Ric Flair & Vader.

Slamboree 1995

Since the Mega-Powers was possibly owned by the WWF, they have re-branded themselves as the Monster Maniacs, bwhahhahaha. I refuse to call them that, on the principle that I am not a tool. The faces have a cheap Ultimate Warrior rip-off with them dubbed the Renegade and the heels have Flair’s trusty side-kick, Arn Anderson.  Savage and Hogan are out in matching yellow and red. Vader and Flair don’t have quite the same co-ordination and I fear for their ability act cohesively. Renegade, who is a spaz to put it lightly, puts the fear of God in Double A, who will defend his Television Championship against the Renegade at the next PPV. One last pre-match note, Savage’s father, Angelo Poffo is at ringside for the match, having been inducted in the short-lived WCW Hall of Fame that very night.

Vader/Hogan to start. VADER FEARS NO MAN!!! AND FEELS NO PAIN!!!!  Still waiting for this match to start, come on, Hogan. Vader bumps for Hogan’s clothesline and Savage’s double axe-handle and is being treated like a jabroni. No wonder Hogan/Vader never drew. Vader takes both of the Mega-Powers out with a clothesline. Was there a tag? Flair and Savage kind of just decided enough of this snore-fest lets go. Flair Flip leads to a Hogan boot on the apron then a Flair Flop. Flair and Vader are bumping like madmen for the Megapowers. Savage invites Vader in because he is Looney Tunes.

Test of strength offered by Savage gives Flair their chance to hit a thumb to the eye. Savage is able to make the tag to Hogan. Jimmy Hart’s high-pitched whine into the mega-phone is particularly annoying tonight. Flair takes control with what else a thumb to the eye and loses control how else by going to the top and getting slammed off. Hogan adds insult to injury by slapping on a horrible looking Figure 4. This match needs more Vader. In an odd moment, Anderson comes in and gets cradled by Hogan. Ummm dude, he is not even in the match. Flair is able to clip the knee and tag in VADER~!

Vader puts on a step-over toe-hold not exactly the most eye-popping spot. The Giant makes his debut tonight by looking on, he would later join the Dungeon of Doom. Hogan no-sells a vertical suplex and lays into Vader. Why I love Vader? Instead of kicking Hogan in the face for telegraphing a back-body drop, he just runs him the fuck over. I love it. Flair chokes Hogan while Vader manhandles the ref.  Big Vader splash on Hogan in the corner. VADERBOMB~! Watching Vader dismantle the Hulkster while Flair struts is chicken soup for my soul.
Hogan moves out of the way of a second Vaderbomb. Flair strolls over allowing Hogan to tag. Savage is a house of fire, o fuck yes. Over-aggressive takes a reverse elbow from Flair. Flair gets press slammed off the top this time by Flair. BIG ELBOW~! Double A pulls Savage out, which allows Vader to chest bump Savage so hard that he goes down like a pile of bricks. Thank God, Savage is the face in peril. SAVAGE TAKES A VADERSAULT!!!!! SAVAGE IS ALL FUCKIN MAN!!! He then kicks out. Way to kill that finish. Jesus, just put a foot on the ropes. Jimmy Hart, shut the fuck up.  Flair back in with shotgun chops.

Both men are down after Savage hits a desperation lariat on Flair.  Savage makes the tag and Flair begs off into corner. Yep, 10 count punches. Hogan gouges Vader’s eyes before the big bodyslam. There is your role model, folks. Hogan’s knee gives out and a Vader splash and things look  bleak for our heroes. Savage goes after Vader, not smart. HULKING UP~! False Hulk-Up, but heel miscommunication between Flair and AA leads to Hogan dropping the leg on Flair.

Randy Savage and his father Angelo Poffo

The post-match is what is important: Flair and Anderson take it to Savage, but Randy’s dad tries to save his son only to get a beatdown from the Horseman punctuated by a Figure 4. Hogan runs them off having been detained by Vader. Thus leads to a year-long feud between Flair and Savage.

The tag match was standard Hogan fare. Vader made it fun, Flair seemed bored, Savage didn’t get enough time. Hogan didn’t want to deviate from his formula. Average match **1/2. The beatdown was too abbreviated.

Of course the next PPV, Great American Bash, would be headlined by the grudge match between the Macho Man and the Nature Boy. Finally this gives Savage his own storyling having been relegated to Hogan’s lackey for the beginning of 1995.



“Macho Man” Randy Savage vs “Nature Boy” Ric Flair
Great American Bash 1995

This may be my favorite match of all time. My two favorite wrestlers competing one of the greatest hate-filled, relentless, fight to survive matches I have ever seen. I remember being so excited to finally see Savage vs Flair, my two favorites of all time, when I finally started searching youtube 2006 and immediately it was the Wrestlemania VII match that I wanted to see it. It is a great match and a great moment in the culmination of the overarching Randy Savage Wrestlemania story arc dating back to Wrestlemania III. Something was missing. It was missing that truly out of control feel and energy that Flair and Savage can bring. Watching this match in shitty quality on dailymotion in 2008, I was transfixed. Savage was a relentless ball of fury. Lunging at Flair at ever turn. There were just these little things that made it feel like a shoot. Savage attacking Flair from behind in such a way that was scary. Or Savage just suffocating Flair even on the begging off section. There just was not the customary time. The selling was selling of exhaustion of a fight. Savage's selling of the knee was spot on and why he was one of the greatest of all time. While Savage gives a truly special performance, it would be an amazing match without Flair. Flair sells the match as a fight to survive. He is blasting the fuck out of Savage and he dives onto Savage from behind, which is another wicked bump. The way he sells. He is in pain and fatigued, but if he even takes one moment to breathe, he may not last. So he just keeps fighting. I can not say how much I love this match.

My video includes opening remarks from Savage with the interview being conducted by “Mean” Gene Okerlund. He vows revenge against Flair and the momentum is on his side. Incidentally, today is Father’s Day and a happy accident for this storyline He finishes with one of my favorite lines from him: “Too hot to handle, too cold to hold”. Flair is adorned in a black and white sequined robe decorated with Monarch Butterflies in white diamonds. Savage is also donning the black and white and HE IS NOT ALONE. His father, Angelo Poffo, is with him after the attack from the Horsemen, but with the aide of a cane. This is NOT FAIR TO FLAIR. DOUBLE A! DOUBLE A! Where art thou?

Once Poffo is settled in, Savage hits the ring and Flair heads for the hills. Savage gives chase.  Savage wants to kill Flair and any offense Flair can muster is because Savage is overzealous. Savage is hitting hard tonight. This aint a wrestling match. THIS IS A FIGHT~! Flair stops Savage’s momentum by sending him into the steel ringpost and then the guardrail. Flair with an uncharacteristic axe-handle off the apron to the back of Savage. The bump Savage takes was just violent and gripping to watch. I love it, Flair knows that Savage wants to kill so he adapts by pulling out all the stops. Angelo Poffo gets out of the chair with a look of concern as Flair is taking Savage apart with his trademark moveset of chops and kneedrops.  Savage connects with a flurry of jabs and in a fit of  rage chokes Flair and grabs at his nose. Flair takes the Bret-bump into the corner more choking. Flair tries to powder out, but Savage nails him from behind wicked hard. These are the moments that make it feel like a shoot. Flair takes his usual bump off the top rope. How does he not have crippling back injuries? Flair flip now onto the outside and now he goes after daddy. The Brain and I share the same sentiment as us that was fuckin dumb. Flair is smarter than both of us because he suckered Savage into checking on his Daddy and then clipping the knee. What follows is a shinbreaker across the guardrail, which is another crazy bump. The Brain wonders if “Did Daddy bring two canes because his son is going to need one.” The Brain continues to the tell story well, “Flair was smart he knew he was going to be able to slug it out with Savage, a man possessed. So he went to take a body part out. Flair has a plan.”

Savage throws punches from his back in a show of valor and courage. Kicking and clawing at Flair with whatever he can muster and Flair like the prick he is just keeps going back to knee. This is masterful psychology. Savage is killing it right now with his selling. NOW WE GO TO SCHOOL!!! Flair of course gets to the ropes for that additional leverage. Savage is fighting only for his father and in a truly moving spot, Mr. Poffo attempts to get the ref’s attention that Flair is cheating. This is one of the most emotional matches I have ever had the pleasure of watching. SAVAGE REVERSE THE PRESSURE!!!

Savage hops on one leg only to dive on Flair and keep punching. Flair and Savage are just laying it all on the line. Flair flip for a second time, runs down the apron but Savage hits him in the gut as he comes done. SAVAGE HITS HIM WITH BIG ELBOW!!!! He pins Flair, but pulls him at 2. NOT ENOUGH SAYS MACHO MAN  as he grabs the ring bell (shades of Ricky the Dragon) and the crowd is whipped into a frenzy. The Brain says Savage is out to maim Flair. At some point, Savage has been busted open under his eye. Holy shit, what a brawl so far. The ref saves Flair from the bell and Savage crashes and burns hard on the guardrail. What a bump, the fans in the front row are freaked out because he hit so hard. Flair is pissed off because Savage has tried to maim him. Flair goes for Angelo, Poffo chokes him with cane, but Flair knocks out Angelo and gains control of the cane. Savage having checked on his dad does not realize this. Flair waffles him with cane. Flair picks up the tainted victory.

This match epitomizes why I love wrestling: Raw hatred for each other with stiff shots, high-energy no resting with brilliant story-telling and acting. WATCH THIS MATCH! Contender for best WCW match of the decade. The last Match of the Year contender, Flair or Savage would ever have. I would say the best babyface Savage performance of his career in WCW or WWF.   ****1/2.

I would be remiss not to quote the Brain’s post-match gloating over Flair’s victory, “Take a slug of some Geritol and get up on your feet, Poffo…I want to see replay again. Ted Williams would be envious of that swing. The new Sultan of Swat, Ric Flair. You having a good Father’s Day, Mr. Poffo. What did you get for Father’s Day? You should have got a wheelbarrow to take your son back to the dressing room.” Beautifully incendiary.  

One of my favorite "regular" robes for he Nature Boy

Flair’s tainted victory means of course there needs to be a re-match. With next PPV emanating from sunny Southern California being themed the Bash At The Beach, they would logically have a Lifeguard match, which is just a lumberjack match where the wrestlers on the outside wear lifeguard outfits. Their job will be do throw back each wrestler into the ring so that Flair can to run away. Of course, inevitably, the heel lumberjacks beat on the babyface adding to drama of the match Why this sucks? This takes the outside away from Flair and Savage who some of their best wrestling outside the ring.

“Macho Man” Randy Savage vs “Nature Boy” Ric Flair – Lifeguard Match
Bash At The Beach 1995

This is on the Savage DVD so I get to review this in stunning high-quality, yippee!  This PPV was shot on location at a beach. I mean literally no seats and most men are shirtless standing on the sand. Macho Man’s dad is here, but this time he is safely among the fans. WCW held events in weird places like Road Wild being held at the big bike rally Sturgis, SD because it made them different. I will give them that. Flair is a fabulous pink robe, one of my other favorites from this era and Savage is in Mega-Powers colors and just his normal level of crazy. Not the BATSHIT INSANITY~! We witnessed in the last match. Too bad. The lifeguards include DDP, Hacksaw Jim Duggan. Ric Flair’s best friend: Arn Anderson, Harle Heat, Johnny B. Badd, Dick Slater, Bunkhouse Buck.

Savage revves up the crowd, but decidedly less pissed, lame. Savage sends Flair outside the ring for the first time. Flair’s friends try to protect him as Savage chokes him with his foot. Flair gets an atomic drop out of the corner and Savage sells like he has been shot. Over-selling, much? Flair sends Savage outside, but Savage’s friends protect him from Double A. Flair flip to the outside followed by Flair sending Savage out with a leverage move. Savage hits so hard, he lands on the beach.

Tony with some insightful commentary notes, “Savage is sweaty and now that sand will collect on his back. This will be rough going for the Macho Man.” Hahaha, Tony, ever the intrepid reporter. They perform a spot usually teased, but not executed as Savage suplexes Flair onto the outside, but it looks ugly as hell. A thumb to the eye and a reverse elbow turns the tide for the Nature Boy. This leads to a sleeper hold for Flair, Savage is just swinging almost nails the ref. Leverage move sends Flair into the top turnbuckle and this leads to the first Flair Flop. I do not know what the fuck happened, but Flair somehow cracked his jaw onto Savage’s head coming off the top and I think he really hurt himself by accident. Flair being all man, hits a shinbreaker and begins to work on Savage’s knee. Savage always game to sell the knee like a champ makes this entertaining. NOW WE GO TO SCHOOL!!!

We are in the middle of the ring, no cheating, but also no rope break opportunity for Savage. Can he reverse pressure? MA-CHO! MA-CHO! MA-CHO! Yes he does! Delayed vertical suplex by Naitch and he covers for the pin, but Savage kicks out at two.  Savage makes his comeback with jabs, blocks the atomic drop and sends Flair over the top. Flair makes a break for it, but the lifeguards track him down and sends him back in. Double axe-handle off the top, Anderson senses the end and distracts Savage long enough for Flair to get a thumb to the eye. Flair gets tossed over and is caught by the Nasties in mid-air and whil everyone is focused on that. Anderson slips in like a thief in the night and plants Savage with a DDT,
Randy, are you ok? Randy, are you ok? Are you ok, Randy? You were just hit by a smooooooth criminal.  Our hero, ever-valiant, kicks out at two and this spurs the crowd to chant MA-CHO! MA-CHO! MA-CHO! Now time for one of Savage’s favorite spots: the backslide, Savage gets him down for two. Savage is fuckin horrible at avoiding the reverse elbow and Flair sucks at executing a move from the top. Savaeg with another double axe-handle, scoop slam and now he hits THE BIG ELBOW~! The pin is academic. Macho Man gets revenge for his father.

A very good Savage/Flair match, but lacking the passion and intensity of the previous match. It just seemed like just another Savage/Naitch match when Savage should have been fighting for the honor of his father. This match was better than I remembered and was well-worked, but lacking good dramam until the Anderson DDT. ***1/2

They included this match on the DVD set because it was the blowoff match and Sacage won, but the GAB match is clearly the better match. Definitely give that a look-see. The other two matches are entertaining, but I would not go out of my way to watch them unless you are Savage or Flair completest like I am.

Macho Madness: Icon Vs Icon

Hey yo bromigoes and bromigas,

Shockingly, I am actually executing my vision for writing a second column for the Macho Madness retrospective. From the little feedback I received from some top wrestling newsletters/websites, I need to tighten up my reviewing style. It is no secret I can be a bit bombastic (just a bit?) and will hope to be lucid and concise in the following review.


First I would be remiss, not to mention that my boy, Bron Bron led his team to victory today over the Indiana Pacers and that a victory for the Heat is a victory for Love. For more on the Miami Heat, check out my blog: The First Letter of Martin to the Haters and the Hypocrites, which will be a concurrent series to this one. So I will not belabor their win and shall move right along to the Main Event.

My favorite wrestler of all time is Randy “Macho Man” Savage and has been since I can remember. In April of 1998, when I was just 8 years old I remember begging my parents to buy the Spring Stampede PPV because my hero, Savage would be challenging the Stinger for the World Heavyweight Championship. This may come as a shock to some people, who have met me in the past couple years, but I was a terribly shy child. I am forever indebted to wrestling because it helped me become very comfortable in my own skin and gain a ton of self-confidence. It was a such big deal to me at the time that I remember announcing it to the entire class during one of those stupid “share something important from your life” activities. I don’t really remember the reaction to be honest. However, the Macho Man inspired something in me that I would have never otherwise done. I talked in front of the entire class full of enthusiasm about something I loved and quite frankly I didn’t give a fuck what people thought. While I would refine my public speaking skills, it all began there because of the Macho Man.

My second favorite wrestler has closed the gap in the recent years and that is none other than the ridiculously over the top “Nature Boy” Ric Flair. Whether it is Flair telling a fan that his “Shoes cost more than his house”, wrestling a 60 minute match or just his trademark “Woooooo”, Ric Flair is the personification of pro wrestling and is the single greatest pro wrestler of all time.  I have not gave this much thought, but I can confidently state that the Savage-Flair saga in both WWF and WCW is one of my top 5 favorite feuds of all-time. Today we look at the second half of their feud in WCW (late 1995-1996) with matches from Starrcade, Nitro and Superbrawl.

Arn Anderson, Ric Flair, Brian Pillman 1995 Four Horsemen (Chris Benoit not shown)

Here we will see Savage change his strategy from wrestling the powerful Luger to the wily Flair. Flair matches are hallmarked by Flair’s strategy, the backstory and the consequent questions:

• ·         He will cheat like a muthafucka. He is dubbed the Dirtiest Player In The Game for a reason. Flair has set himself up with a stable of allies called the Four Horsemen with sole purpose of gaining and maintaining Flair’s championship reigns.
• 
  
• ·         He makes them into track meets. They are long matches, where he will make his opponents expend a ton of energy.
• 
  
• ·         Finally he will work over the knee mercilessly to set up his patented Figure 4-Leglock
• 
  
• ·         Now Savage is a ball of fuckin energy, but that makes him prone to making mistakes and walking into Flair’s cheap traps. Flair will have to counter the fact that Savage hates his guts for trying to sleep with his wife and beating up his father. However, these are all a part of Flair’s psychological warfare against Savage to get Savage to be over-aggressive and make those mistakes.
• 
  
• ·          Can Savage keep his emotions in check? Who has the best cardiovascular conditioning? Can Savage counteract the incessant cheating from Flair and his cronies? Who will make the fatal mistake?

Backstory: Starrcade is traditionally considered WCW’s Wrestlemania (Starrcade actually pre-dated Wreatlemania by 2 years). However, with Hogan out filming a movie, WCW went with some interesting booking choices. They set up a best of seven series against New Japan Pro Wrestling. In the main event, Randy Savage would defend the World Championship against the winner of the triple threat between Ric Flair vs Sting vs Lex Luger. We have established why Savage hates Flair and Luger. He is suspicious of Sting because it is Savage and he is a paranoid fucker. Sting is trusting of Luger even though Luger is a prick (we have all been there). Sting hates Flair because he tricked him into being his partner and then proceeded to beat the ever-loving shit out of him with Arn Anderson and the Horseman. Flair and Luger have hated each other since 1988, so yeah, nobody likes anybody.

Sting

 

Bonus Review:

“Nature Boy” Ric Flair vs “The Franchise” Sting vs “Total Package” Lex Luger
Starrcade 1995

Ric Flair is a bleach blonde, millionaire playboy type character. When Flair is on during his promos, it is the most spellbinding experience in the world. Sting is a colorful, exuberant California bleach blonder surfing/bodybuilding. Sting represents all that is good and innocent about wrestling. Seriously, there is not a bad bone in his body. Lex Luger is built like a shithouse and is a shrewd, cowardly, arrogant bully. I have not seen this match in ages and should be tons of fun.

This is not conducted as a modern triple threat match would be. Rather, two men in the ring with tags to the third man, which does offer an interesting dynamic as opposed to the free-for-all nature of the modern triple threat. Luger is without Jimmy Hart and Dusty Rhodes is on commentary. YES! YES! YES! Flair is only an 11-time world champion at this point, later bookkeeping would put him at about 20-time world champion. Flair is pumped tonight and is jaw-jacking with everyone.

Flair and Sting to start and Flair immediately does the Best Hits of Flair showboating. Dusty does a good job describing that these three guys were the foundation of WCW and then immediately puts himself in that class. I love big Dust. Sting gets the advantage quickly and goes for his Scorpion Deathlock. You see, Sting and Luger have already wrestled in the WCW/NJPW series so they will want to get the match over early. Flair immediately powders out and shows his hand that will be willing to drag this out as he hits an early hammerlock.  Dusty is bringing it on commentary pointing out that Flair is a 60-minute man so his strategy will be to make this a track meet. One of Flair’s wicked chops and a bit strutting wakes up the Stinger and now it is time for the over-confident Flair to beg off.  Sting connects with a gorilla press slam and then 10 punches in the corner. Flair takes a walk again and this is Flair’s domain. Sting no-sells a whip into guardrail and Flair’s offense, but a missed dropkick gets Flair back in on offense and plenty of strutting follows. Dusty goes on a HILARIOUS rant about playing possum and the Brain declares “You have never heard of playing possum. Get him out of here.” Back outside and Flair is destroying the Stinger with a variety of  strikes and throws. Flair is trying valiantly to gain a pinfall. Luger like a fuckin moron just stands on the outside. What a dumbass. This is the Flair show and I love it. Off the delayed suplex, Sting decides to no-sell and that ends with Flair taking a press slam and a superplex.  The superplex takes a lot of Sting, but Luger NOW makes the move to break it up. Sting gets all sassy and Luger is all like Dude, chill, I just want to win. Flair high-knees Sting into Luger, which accidentally brings the fresh Luger into the match

Flair-Luger now follows their formula from 1988, which I love. Luger flexes; Flair begs off; crowd goes wild. Luger carries Flair like a sack of potato back into the ring, but as the ref tries to get a clean break in the corner, Flair stuns Luger. However, Luger no-sells Flair offense and hits a gorilla press slam for 4^th press slam for Flair, which leads to our first Flair Flop. After Flair kicks out, we get out first Flair eye-poke, which leads to a chop block to Luger’s knee. NOW WE GO TO SCHOOL!  Luger is under-rated seller when motivated. His vocal selling could use some work. The crowd comes alive with disdain as Flair hits Luger with a steel chair across the knee shades of Starrcade 1988. Nobody, but nobody works a knee or a crowd into a frenzy like Flair. When you can just pick up someone’s foot and the make a crowd go crazy, you know that you are a fuckin good at what you do. Figure-4 is on and Flair does some old-school cheating by grabbing the ropes for additional leverage. Luger powers up and reverses the pressure, which causes pain to Flair now, but to is easy to break the hold at that point. Luger suplexes Flair into the ring, but Luger hesitates on the crowd due to his bad knee. In a crowd-pleasing spot, Luger press slams Flair off the top and Luger no-sells Flair’s offense, which leads Flair to the desperate move of tagging in Sting.

“Put down the popcorn, Grandma” – The Brain as we are about to see the most interesting pairing of the three. Sting vs Lex Luger, the best friends go at in the squared circle. Dusty decrees that respect has just left town, but the Brain declares that Sting is a softie drawing their ire of his colleagues. Collar and elbow tie-up leads to a clean break in the corner by both men. Now it is time for the test of strength but Luger being the prick he is kicks Sting in the gut. This is so weird. This is such a Luger dynamic. It is like he does a mid-match turn. He wrestled babyface against Flair, but is now calling for a timeout like a cowardly heel. Good power match between the two with great energy from the Stinger. Luger is still selling the knee, good for him and now stands on his friend’s throat and the announcers are incredulous. Sting gets a pinfall attempt off a flying cross-body, but gets caught with knees to gut off a Vaderbomb attempt by Sting. Sting is looking for the Scoprion Deathlock as Luger catches him with a blatant low-blow. Tony wonders how this will affect this friendship and Dusty thinks that friendship is garbage. This portion of the match is too discontinuous. No real flow, just disconnected power move spots. The only real story is Luger’s heelish antics. As Luger gets Sting in the rack, the ref is bumped giving Flair a chance to clip Luger’s knee and toss them both over the top. The count is on and just as Sting was about to make it back in Luger holds Sting back. Oooooooooooooooo drama!

Will I ever review a match with a clean finish? Flair by virtue of a countout will be facing the Macho Man later tonight for the World Title. Discontinuous match, which was really three separate matches. The Flair portions rocked, Luger-Sting was weird. I give it ***.

WCW World Heavyweight Champion “Macho Man” Randy Savage vs “Nature Boy” Ric Flair
Starrcade 1995

The Brain goes a brilliant rant to put over his man, The Man, Ric Flair and punctuates with a Flair-esque WOOOOO!!!! Savage is rockin the doo-rag rather than the Technicolor hat and takes the mic just to say OOOOOHHHH YYEAAAAHHHHH! Michael Buffer does the intro’s in a bid by WCW to gain credibility. Savage’s arm is taped up and Flair is now being managed by the “Snake in the Grass” as Dusty affectionately calls Jimmy Hart.

Lock up to start and Savage goes for a backslide quickly. This should be quick because both men have already wrestled. Savage peppers Flair by jabs. Mr. Wonderful in a neck brace is out to watch because the Horseman piledrove on the cement in an angle that went nowhere.  Flair attempts the Figure-4 but Savage kicks him off. A Flair Flip leads to Savage attempting a double axe-handle to the floor. Flair takes over on the floor, which is his domain. He sends Savage into the post bad arm first showing his excellent psychology.  Even Jimmy Hart gets his kicks in and the commentators are confused why Hart is managing Flair.

Back in the ring, Flair uses the ropes to assist his hammerlock, Flair is so smooth and so good. Savage’s selling builds sympathy so effectively. This is such good match chemistry that always leads to the viewer rooting for Flair to get his comeuppance. Apparently, Tenzan, Savage’s opponent earlier in the night, already worked on the arm.  Flair halts a bit of Savage momentum with a short-lived sleeper. Savage almost gets a pinfall off a wicked right hook. Savage goes up top for the double axe-handle, but gets caught. Hart throws the mega-phone to Flair, but Savage snags it and busts Flair open. This leads to a Savage big elbow. HORSEMEN TIME!!!

Savage is able to throw Pillman into Benoit, but Double A whacks Savage with brass knucks. Anderson drapes Flair over Savage as Flair wins the title for the 12^th time breaking his own record. Pillman is doing his brilliant Loose Canon gimmick. Good match, but too short to be a true classic. However, Savage vs Flair is like ice cream it is always damn good. ***

Now for the return match

WCW World Heavyweight Champion “Nature Boy” Ric Flair vs Randy “Macho Man” Savage

January 22, 1996 Monday Nitro

WAHOO!!! Finally a match off the Macho Madness WWE DVD. Hooray! For crystal-clear audiovisual quality. This is from the beginning of the Monday Night War as Bischoff is trying to prove to the fans that Nitro is the superior show by giving them superior matches and must-see TV. What is more must-see than World Heavyweight Title Match between two of the biggest icons EVAH~! Well you will see.

Savage begins with the mind-games by bringing about a bunch of beautiful women and announces that he is steaming hot. Hogan, ever the hog of lime-light, does some brown-nosing before Hogan challenges for the title that Savage has not even won. Hogan, by the way, had a shot at the belt two weeks ago. Give me a break, Hogan. Woman, a former valet of Flair, is out with Savage.. OOOOOOOOOO DRAMA!!!! Yes they decided to name a character, Woman I may be a proud fan, but I still recognize how fuckin stupid wrestling can be.

Bischoff announces the return of Miss Elizabeth (Savage’s ex-wife and long-time valet) tomorrow night as Savage’s valet. Flair is  out with Jimmy Hart. I am going with Savage’s entourage, BABY! Flair agrees with me and immediately goes out to flirt with Woman.  Flair ends up like I do on most weekend nights with a sore, red left cheek. Savage jumps him, but Flair escapes to the ring. Savage does not give Flair a clean break in the corner because he is a badass. Flair takes over with a reverse elbow out of the corner and then peppers him with chops and punches. Hart gets some shots in on Savage out on the floor. Savage takes a great bump by doing a front-flip over the guard-rail. Savage escapes with a back-body drop only to take the Pillman bump onto the guardrail off a failed attempt at a double axe-handle. Back from commercial, Savage has recovered and gives Flair ten punches in the corner leading to a whip into a corner and a Flair Flip. We get a Flair Flop out of sheer exhaustion and Savage goes for one of his favorite spots the backslide. Flair hits the shinbreaker leading to uS GOING TO SCHOOL!  The Dirtiest Payer In The Game gets caught using the ropes for additional leverage on the Figure-4, which leads to the hold being broken. Flair and the ref get into a shoving match in a spot that always pops the crowd.

Savage crawls towards Flair because he is INSANE! Flair hits a running knee-drop, but he goes to the top leading to Savage press slamming off the top. Savage connects with a series of double-axe-handles. Savage is distracted by Hart as Double A comes down to interfere on Savage’s behalf., Anderson mistakenly hammers Flair with knucks. Hogan is out to detain Anderson and Savage hits the big elbow. SAVAGE WINS HIS SECOND WCW WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP!

What can be bigger than a title match on live, free TV, why a title change of course. That is how Nitro was winning the ratings war with must-see TV by having big, marquee matches on free TV. Better match than Starrcade because they were more well-rested and the match had way more spark to it for it.   ***1/2

Because Flair lost the title, he was due a champion’s return match, which was set-up at the next PPV in February of 1996 at Superbrawl in a Steel Cage. This time Savage would have the Lovely Elizabeth in his corner and Flair having reunited with Woman after she turned on Savage probably by hitting him in the eye with her high-heel shoe.

WCW World Heavyweight Champion “Macho Man” Randy Savage vs “Nature Boy” Ric Flair in a Steel Cage Match

Superbrawl VI


WAHOO!!! Found a high-quality version of this on youtube instead of my shitty downloaded version. Flair is looking awfully confident as a challenger in his fabulous purple, sequined robe. This may be my favorite robe of Flair ever. Woman is of course in matching purple. Tony reasons that his confidence stems from the fact that the Steel Cage is Flair’s domain. Savage is rocking Michigan colors going Maize and Blue because he is FUCKIN MACHO~! Elizabeth is looking foxy in a matching blue dress with a high-slit up the left leg. (RIP)

 “Being from Beverly Hills, I never took a woman to the chicken coop and I hired someone to fight for me” –Bobby The Brain retorting to Dusty about his high school days.

Flair does some stalling by offering Elizabeth the chance to “Kiss a real man” on the mic. Savage answers for Liz with “Ohhhhhhh Noooooo”, good exchange. Tony starts creepily fantasizing about the women of WCW leave it for the shower, Tony. Finally Savage lets Flair in the cage and it is a fight in the corner with jabs and chops.  Early on, Flair already hits his knee out of the corner and Flair sends Savage in the corner. Flair decks the ref. Why? Because he is RIC MUTHAFUCKIN FLAIR!!!!

Savage goes for his backslide, but no ref. Savage with a back-body drop and a couple clotheslines to take control of this match leading to some excellent verbal selling by the master, Ric Flair.  Savage tries to send Flair into the cage, but Flair desperately pushes Savage into the cage. This takes he steam out of the Savage Crazy Train. Savage sells fatigue better than anyone else. Savage has a burst of energy and Flair clobbers him with a reverse elbow. Flair rams the back of Savage’s head into cage in a show of brutality. Savage catches Flair off the top with a press slam, what a shocker. Savage slaps the Figure 4 on Flair to embarrass him as much as to hurt him.  Great evidence of the cerebral strategy that Savage employs. Flair gets to the rope, but it is a cage match, so it doesn’t fuckin matter., boo hoo, Flair. Savage lets go only pummel Flair with strikes as he goes for the first fall of the match.

HOLY SHIT! Savage goes to the top of the cage only to get a punch into the gut as he jumped off the 10-foot high cage for a double axe-handle. A vertical suplex gets Flair two as Brain smugly mocks Savage and thinks it is academic that Flair will his 13^th world title. Flair sends Savage head first into the cage and Savage looks well-done. Dusty attempts to say Modus Operandi, but he is from West Texas, use your imagination to figure out how well that turned out.

Flair slaps on the Figure 4 and now Savage gets the ropes, but the ref decides he will break the hold. Has there ever been a case of worse biased officiating? BE FAIR TO FLAIR!!! Woman is shrieking at ringside to encourage Flair. This leads Brain to say “I have never let a woman yell at me” I found that humorous. Flair tries another Figure 4, but Savage reveres with an inside cradle, but Flair has the presence of mind to kick out. Savage finally sends Flair into cage to firmaly take command.

Now Savage rakes Flair’s face into the cage to the delight of the blood-thirsty fans.  I don’t know what is more annoying. Woman shrieking or Tony saying ewwy as Savage is raking Flair’s face. Flair is busted open and is taking some serious punishment from the cage. Flair reverses with an atomic drop, but cant  take advantage as he is exhausted as does a Flair Flop. As Flair attempts to escape over the cage, Savage pulls down Flair’s draw exposing his bare ass drawing laughs from the crowd and the Brain to say, “This maybe Tamps, but it is a Moon over Miami, right now” O Brain! As Flair breaks free, he “accidentally” crotches himself on the top rope with his ass hanging out. Brain announces “We still have a lot more Flair to see”. I have actually seen that exact spot done in 2005 on a WWE house show and bare Flair ass is not a pretty sight, but always gets a reaction.



Flair stalks the Macho Man with a crazed look as crimson blood soaks his hair and drips down his face. Flair is so pissed that he does what all pissed people do, choke his enemy. Flair looking to leave again, leads to some more Flair ribald humor with his ass hanging out. Both men are exhausted and collapse from the incredible pace they have cut. Savage sends Flair back into the cage, head-first and works over that open-wound. WCW, being a bunch of chumps, goes for the WIDE-ANGLE LENS OF DISCOMFORT because of the amount of blood on Flair’s face. Woman looks to throw a unknown white powder into Macho Man’s eyes. If that shit was cocaine, she better watch out that shit is like spinach for the Macho Man.

O FUCK NO! Elizabeth has handed her high-heeled shoe to Flair and he spikes him in the face for his 13^th World Title. This was truly a shocking turn of events because this was before all the late 90’s non-sensical turns just for the sake of having a turn for shock value. Elizabeth was a quiet, almost meek woman that did not have a bad bone in her body. Nobody, but nobody expected a heel turn. The motivation behind this was apparently Elizabeth had divorced Elizabeth and she was taking Savage’s fortune to be with a REAL MAN, Ric Flair. Hogan comes out to “tend” to Savage and gets a nice “Hogan Sucks!” chant. Ladies and gentlemen, you're number one babyface! He was controversial before Cena made controversial, "cool".

To the victor goes the spoils: Woman, Ric Flair, Miss Elizabeth

The match was one of the best of their series with each other. It was a well-structured cage match that plays to both men’s strengths and had a little color (both blood and comedy). With these two well-conditioned performers, you know they will cut a tremendous pace. The story was clear Flair was going to attack with precision on the knee and cheat if he had to. Savage wanted to overwhelm Flair with high-risk moves when that backfired he was fighting on guts and using the cage as his ally. Overall, I am giving it ****. Killer match, DIG IT!



These two would feud for the rest of the summer with no big blow-off because the entire company was basically re-set with the nWo storyling beginning.

I have not decided on tomorrow’s offering, but it will assuredly be MACHO~!