Pro Wrestling Love vol. 47: Best of World Championship Wrestling 1988-1990 (Ric Flair, Ricky Steamboat, Terry Funk)

Hey Yo Stud Muffins & Foxy Ladies,

Pro Wrestling Love vol. 46:

The Best of World Championship Wrestling 1988-1990

Objective:  Break up the Greatest Match Ever Project (hosted at http://gweproject.freeforums.net/) into more manageable chunks to help me build my Top 100 List for the project.

Motivation: Contribute to the discussion around these matches to enrich my own understanding of pro wrestling and give a fresh perspective for old matches and even hopefully discover great pro wrestling matches that have been hidden by the sands of time.

Subject: This forty-sixth volume of Pro Wrestling Love is the beginning of the Top 12 countdown of the best matches to take place in Jim Crockett Promotions/World Championship Wrestling from 1988-1990. In 1988, for all intents and purposes, pro wrestling became a duopoly of World Wrestling Federation and World Championship Wrestling. World Championship Wrestling was born out of a series of mergers and acquisitions between the Carolinas, Georgia, Florida, Kansas City and Mid-South Territory (Oklahoma, Mississippi, Louisiana). In 1988, it was still under Jim Crockett Promotions with Dusty Rhodes in charge of operations, but by the end of the year Dusty was ousted as booker and Jim Crockett sold to Ted Turner which formally changed the name to World Championship Wrestling. The year 1989 is generally considered the apogee of American Pro Wrestling as Ric Flair had probably the greatest single calendar year in the history of the business of pro wrestling between his two feuds with Ricky Steamboat and Terry Funk. The year 1990 was marred by multiple poor booking decisions and pissed away the great booking capital afforded by 1989 and the great young talent (Lex Luger and Sting) waiting in the wings. The year 1990 is a good stopping point because 1991 sees Ric Flair leave WCW.   You can revisit past Pro Wrestling Love Volumes at ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com. You can check out the full version of these reviews in ProWrestlingOnly.com by going to the forums and finding the folders associated with the date of the match.

Contact Info: @superstarsleeze on Twitter, Instagram & ProWrestlingOnly.com.

The Peanut Butter & Jelly of Pro Wrestling: The Package vs Naitch, Luger ,Flair!

Top Six Matches of World Championship Wrestling 1988-1990

#6. NWA US Tag Team Champions Midnight Express vs Fantastics - Clash of the Champions I

FUCKING AWESOME! Have loved this match for years nothing has changed, it is fucking incredible! If it was not for the Dusty Finish, this would be my choice for the greatest US tag team match of all time. I don't understand why it never gets *****, probably due to the finish who care they fucking deserve it! I almost feel like I don't need to write a review because everyone and their mother knows about this match and its sheer awesomeness. The energy and urgency is unreal. This is pro wrestling! This is what it gets me going! I will tell you what really added to this viewing watching the Pro match from the night before (3/26/88) which is a standard Southern tag with a big upset by the Fantastics in their debut. It really adds to that opening brawl. What a brawl! I was remarking on twitter the art of brawling is lost. I implore young talents to watch this, It is RAUCOUS MAYHEM! Then once it settles into a tag the party don't stop! Eaton is great taking that stooge bump. THE HOLY SHIT TRANSITION! Blind tag -> Total Elimination! Midnight Express are Gods and we are just mortals. I remember during the drop toehold and elbow sequence saying out loud "Bobby Eaton is fucking great!". Stan Lane's kicks looked awesome. Lane got mean in this too. Raking the eyes during the heat segment. Love that spot where Cornette holds up the table and they bash Roger's head into it. Fulton is great in trying to help Rogers, but hindering him at the same time. I forgot to mention there is a point in the opening brawl where Fulton hits such an awesome right to Eaton. Eaton punishing Rogers on the outside with bodyslam and bulldog on table was awesome. Rogers makes the tag but ref does not see it. I cant believe I forgot to mention Greensboro was MOLTEN for this throughout the match. Fulton is being impeded by the ref. Cornette is bashing Rogers with the racquet. Fulton basically says FUCK YOU AND TOSSES THE REF!!! CROWD LOSES THEIR SHIT! Cornette blitzes Eaton by accident with racket and Fulton clobbers Corny. ROCKET LAUNCHER~! TOMMY YOUNG 1-2-3!!!!!! Dusty Finish! BOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Awesome post-match brawl with MX kicking some Fantastics ass DOUBLE FLAPJACK and then they WHIP HIM LIKE THE DOG HE IS! Corny likes it! He really likes it! Rogers saves with chair.

INSANE!!! The heat from the crowd and from the wrestlers just WOW! Everyone was turned to fucking 11! Love that brawl and what a heat segment. JUST WOW! Loved Fulton's reaction to the ref, the Rocket Launcher! It was important for MX to get some heat after losing the upset and then the visual Rocket Launcher loss so kicking ass at the end really adds heat to the rematch!!! Everybody stop being so damn stingy with your snowflakes! Writing this review, I actually think this is the greatest US tag match in history. 

#5. NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair vs Terry Funk - Great American Bash 1989

I have been blessed to have seen the best. Man alive, what the hell do you say about this match that has not already been said through the decades. I mean Goddamn. I love Flair's entrance reminds me a lot of Starrcade 1993. The way he clenches his fists and his face dripping with emotion. You know you were in for a treat. No wrestling, baby, this here is a fight to the death. Love the ringside brawling and love that Flair gets the lion share of this match. He has to earn it. Funk is ripping him with chops and punches, but to steal a phrase from the American Dream, "This is the lickin' you get for the lickin' you gave" and Flair opens a can of whoop ass on Funk. Funk gets a slight reprieve by pulling Flair into the post, but on this night Flair would not be denied.  The vertical suplex from the apron to the floor was a spot you teased but these two deliver. Then there is the famous neck for neck psychology as Flair becomes an evil chiropractor trying to unscrew Terry Funk's head from his body. Everything Flair does directed at Funk's neck. Kneedrops and of course not one, but two piledrivers. Thats the lickin you get for the lickin you gave. Funk has been selling great from jump coming up with new ways to sell all this. We get the faces, the hands cramped and contorted, the spasms, the falling ass first out of the ring just every way Funk can put over that Flair has kicked ass and wrecked his neck. Here we go...after all this punishment doled out it is time for the Figure-4. Thats when Funk blasts Flair with the branding iron drawing blood. Now we kick it into the heat segment and that means going after Flair's injured neck (the famous piledriver on the table angle that set up this match). We get that very piledriver, but Flair is thankfully near the ropes. Funk gets the bright idea to really end Flair's career by piledriving him on exposed concrete. Talk about high drama. Flair backdrops out, phew. There is a great moment where Funk kinda just dives on Flair from the apron and nixes the head and neck. Flair just starts hollering and grabbing his ear. It is just classic awesome Flair selling. Here's a part I had forgotten. Funk refuses to win the match by pinfall. Instead, he repeatedly hits swinging neckbreakers on Flair, but is calling for him to submit. Gary Hart wants him to take the pinfall but he wont. It looks like they already knew they wanted to do the I Quit match. Flair finally breaks Funk's control by busting him open with the branding iron. Thats the lickin you get for the lickin you gave. Flair is rip roaring now. He comes in hot with a big high knee but misses. Up until Flair's branding iron shot, I remembered everything but I totally blanked on the finish. I thought Muta triggered a DQ. It is actually a clean finish. Funk goes for the spinning toehold, but Flair breaks free for the figure-4 and then Funk inside cradle and reversed for Flair to win. You couldnt go with a decisive blood feud finish, but it seems like an odd choice for the finish to be so technical. Still it was nice to Flair as a babyface get a win in his comeback match to a huge pop. So I am not going to decry the finish. Now Muta comes in and sprays Flair with the green mist. I am not going to go blow by blow but this may be the greatest post-match brawl in pro wrestling history Sting makes the save and it is just on like Donkey Kong. Flair looks like Father Christmas with the red blood and green mist as he cuts a killer promo to send us home. Easily a Top 100 match of all time. High energy, amazing selling, hard hitting, big time drama, huge babyface appeal of Flair making his comeback, this match has it all.

#4. NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair vs Ricky Steamboat - Chi-Town Rumble

What a crowd! There have been hotter crowds, but this crowd really lent a real sports feel to this match by how they were reacting. They cheered a Steamboat headlock takeover. The Steamboat double chop early was an electric moment and the following nearfall was treated like a big deal by the crowd. Every nearfall was getting big reactions and they were all on their feet for the finish. Of course, the reason why the crowd was so damn invested was because it was two of the greatest wrestlers of all time going toe-to-toe for the World's Heavyweight Championship. Ric Flair gave an absolutely masterful performance. It is incredible how well he sells in the early part of the match to shine that babyface up, but it also sets up his desperation heat segment. This was a great example of the three-pronged Flair strategy: breaking momentum on the outside, crowding in the corner and creating movement to cause mistakes. As Jim Ross said, "The Dragon was breathing fire tonight!". Steamboat was always one step ahead of the Nature Boy. Flair would BLAST him with a chop and he would fire two right back. In a battle of quickness, he was always getting the upper hand. What really sent Flair to the hills were all those pinfall attempts he was racking up early. In the shine segment, Steamboat was great, but I thought Flair took it to the next level. The transition was Flair dragging Steamboat outside into his domain and ramming him head first into the railing, clawing the eyes and hitting such a tremendous chop it had the Chicago Bears sitting ringside marking the fuck out. Flair is so good at turning the violent streak on in his heat segment. Loved the Steamboat hope spot on the roll through that got a great pop again a crowd totally 100% invested in the match. Flair, who has been freaking out about these nearfalls, pouncing on Steamboat and immediately putting him in the figure-4. EXCELLENT PSYCHOLOGY! I don't like to complain in these reviews, but anyone who says Flair does not have psychology can suck it. Steamboat is money during the heat segment as he rallies the crowd behind him. If Flair is the better seller during a babyface shine, it is Steamboat's selling that takes the heat segment to the next level. Amazing, how the wrestler underneath is dictating the energy of the match! In the post-modern world where offense rules the roost, that never happens anymore and that's why crowds are not 100% invested like this amazing Chicago crowd. Steamboat tries to make his last stand firing back with chops but Flair looks to have an insurmountable lead as they take a big tumble over the top rope onto the floor. Flair is throwing suplexes and is in command. He just cant put the Dragon away and Flair gets frustrated pushing the ref around and jawing with the crowd. Then we see the rays of hope as Steamboat starts building momentum with a string of nearfalls. Steamboat comes roaring out with a flying karate chop. All of sudden, Flair is on the defensive and it looks like Steamboat will hit the flying bodypress that got him the pinfall victory on Flair in January and the visual pin at the Clash. Except, he wipes out the ref! OH NO! Flair with the trunks, but no ref! STEAMBOAT CRASHES AND BURNS ON THE FLYING BODYPRESS Flair goes for the Figure-4, inside cradle and Steamboat wins the World Championship!

Given Crockett's past, the finish has you believe something screwy is going to happen, but Steamboat does win the championship to a huge pop. It was almost like swerving on the swerve, so that finish is put this decisively behind Clash VI for me, but I have this above Wrestlerwar. Spectacular match! Both wrestlers hit it out of the park! Those chops exchanges, HOT DAMN! Flair knocked this one out of the park, he did all the right things every single time. Steamboat's selling carried the day set himself up for a hot comeback. My knock against Steamer will always be offense on the comeback, but they did such a great job building up the flying cross body and his cradles that it felt super hot and you were totally invested through his selling. Incredible pace! Easy, easy top 50 match of all time if not higher. 

I just rewatched this and I think that this match does so well is be so competitive without being "my turn, your turn" everything is earned. It is two combatants just throwing everything they have at each other. There is no waiting for the other to make a comeback you gotta go take it. It also never feels like a blowout. Steamboat takes an early lead but Flair is a master of breaking momentum. I like gradualism of the heat segment with Steamboat slowly losing that fire as the match wears on only to finally break through. If there is one flaw in the match it is the transition to Steamboat's comeback. To me this is the pinnacle of 80s workrate. I think there are better examples of Flairism as a style as this tones down a lot of the Flairism tropes in favor of being a workrate spectacle. We talk 5, 10 minute sprints, these two had a 20+ minute sprint. Insane!

#3. NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair vs Terry Funk - Clash of the Champions IX

I am so glad I watched this at 14. The Ric Flair DVD collection came out in 2003 and never had I wanted something for Christmas so bad. Honest to God, I had a great childhood, but I dont remember one Christmas gift I got before 2003. Thats not an indictment on my childhood that's an indictment on the fact I just dont really care for material things. To me this represented everything I wanted: a chance to finally see everything I had read about. For me, this was my absolute favorite match on the set. I have probably not watched this match in 8 years, but you wouldnt have known because I was calling every spot before it happened and lapping it up with a spoon. Flair jumping on Funk's back by the guardrail gets me everytime. Pumping my fist in the air. Slamming Funk's head into the table and then of course the iconic spot when Funk slides across the table headfirst into the chair. It was a great brawl. Was it missing blood? Sure, but I thought they more than made for it with the intensity and stiffness of their shots. After the first heat segment when Flair goozled Funk, Goddamn! It was on like Donkey Kong! The way he rifled him with chops. Then Funk fell out of the ring before Flair was done with him. Flair gave chase. The look in Flair's eyes, boy, he looked like a Man possessed. Funk was selling like a million bucks for him. Funk was great on offense. Using the thumb in the eye early during one of their scraps on the mat gave him the advantage early. My all-time favorite pro wrestling insult has been and always will be "egg-sucking dog". I have no fucking clue what it means but I pop everytime I hear Funk say it. I love that is a thumb to an eye or a Gary Hart distraction that always get Funk the advantage. The microphone berating from Funk is awesome. Remember the wreck, remember your neck. A chance to say I Quit before the Piledriver and then bang! Piledriver. Flair is such an amazing verbal selling, the greatest of all time. I will say you know what didnt feel as big this go-around was the piledriver on the floor. I think there should have been more pause to add weight to it. Maybe even some Funk mic time. Flair comeback is glorious and just a showcase of what makes him great with all the vim and vigor you expect out of the Nature Boy. I love how when Flair grabs the foot of Funk and begins to drag it to the ropes the entire arena COMES ALIVE! You know you are fucking over when you can just drag a man by his foot and the crowd goes nuts. Funk delays the inevitable but Flair applies the Figure-4 and wins the match! 

Fun fact because I have only seen this on my DVD set, I had never seen the post-match! Great post-match. I knew Gary Hart berates Funk, but I never saw him kick Funk in the knee and then Flair jumps Hart. Here comes Muta & Nagaski only for Sting to save. Then Luger comes out tussles with a fan for the chair and waylays the faces. Excellent set up for the ill-fated Ironman tournament at Starrcade 1989. They really screwed the pooch with the double turn. They should have built to Luger as the number one heel for at least all of 1990 if not 1991 too and then built to Luger vs Sting in either 1991 and 1992 as Sting's ascent. Luger should have been a money heel champion.

In 2003, this was the greatest match I have ever seen. I dont I hold it in as high regard anymore, but still a mortal lock for the Top 100. I prefer this to the GAB match, which is excellent, but this has the more decisive finish. The brawling in the GAB is more physical and bloody, this is more chaotic and with the bigger spots. Five Letters, Two Words, I Quit. 

#2. NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair vs Lex Luger - Starrcade 1988

NWA/ WCW Match of the Year, 1988

As great as the Total Package was in this match, Ric Flair was the undeniable man in this match. Understanding who the Nature Boy was in between those ropes as the NWA World Heavyweight Champion. A lot of this was covered verbally during Part 1 of Fair to Flair, but lets go through the minutia using this match as a case study.

The match begins with Flair cocky as ever going so far as to taunt the Total Package. At one point, he gets down on one knee and flexes! Flair’s goal early on is psych out the inexperienced challenger and assert himself. You see crowd Luger in the corner, but Luger’s immense power overwhelms him and sends him flying out of the ring. Now, Luger poses to a massive pop, which is a great payback spot as Flair is left doubting himself rather than the other way around. The key to Flair is that he is always going to try to win the match legitimately at first. He is only apprehensive right now, not out and out desperate. The key difference to me between Flair and Harley Race is that Flair makes you earn your shine because Flair is going to apply a hammerlock, throw a chop and try a back elbow, but the challenger fights through this offense and when they gain the upper hand it is more meaningful. Now Flair is going back to the core of his strategy: breaking the rhythm of his opponent. The challenger is going on a fast break and the crowd is hot. Flair uses the ropes like a basketball team would use a timeout. Luger can taunt all he wants, but Flair is in command. Of course, Flair can’t win the match either this way he can only slow Luger down. Now, he moves the second phase of his two-pronged strategy leverage his superior cardiovascular stamina to defeat powerful, muscular Lex Luger. He tries to turn into a track meet by coming off the ropes and we see Luger do a really IMPRESSIVE leapfrog. Luger is ready to use power via a shoulder tackle to thwart the Nature Boy. Big Press Slam! Flair is in the ropes and it is not looking good.

Luger begins to try break down Flair via the arm and Flair’s verbal selling is great. He whips Flair hard into the turnbuckles who takes it shoulder first. Here comes Flair with his perpetual motion offense of chops and shoulderblocks to stop the bleeding, but nothing is working on the challenger. Finally, about ten minutes in, Flair finally thumbs Luger in the eye. For ten minutes, Flair try to best Luger and could not. Out of desperation, he finally resorted to nefarious tactics. That’s beautiful storytelling. Flair goes to his number one weapon, the chops. JR gets in a good point about chops as wearing down the opponent. Incredibly, he does NOT take it to the logical football analogy of running up the middle in the first quarter for 2-3 yards, but keep pounding the ball up the gut so that it turns into 5-7 yards in the fourth quarter. The chop is a similar strategy and in addition it is evacuating the air out of Luger’s lungs, which plays into Flair’s overall strategy. Remember, we are only ten minutes into this contest, so when Flair chops Luger they have an effect, but they have taken their true toll on the Total Package yet. The result is one of the MOST ELECTRIC NO-SELLS of all time with Luger coming out of the corner looking like a million bucks and the crowd and me losing their shit. Flair retreats to the outside and admittedly due to small ringside area things do get a little awkward with Luger trying to navigate his way to get Flair and then he wrenches Flair’s arm around the railing.

Another Flair strategy is use of shortening the distance like a boxer would or what could be called crowding when he takes Luger from the armbar into the corner. Flair is an underrated puncher and I have always thought his punches look nasty. Flair tries to combat Luger’s power by using the ropes to get a running start to increase his momentum and add some wallop to his blows. Luger at this stage of the game is a Flair-seeking missile and will not be denied. I love the suplex back in the ring as it is just the perfect babyface move. Oh, you want to try to run from me, let me bring you in the hard way. Luger misses his big elbow and lets out quite the yelp. Flair pounces with a short kicks to abs and now using that running start to really topple Luger. He throws Luger to the outside for a hard, hard fall. He attacks Luger using the railing. This is when Flair is at his sadistic best. He slows down the pace and really grinds his opponent down. Kneedrop and double footstomp! This is offense that allows him to recover without expending too much energy, but at the same time non-kayfabe allows the heat to sink in and for Luger to sell. Luger gets his second wind so Flair immediately goes back to trying to create movement, but ends up in a sleeper! Again Luger earns the comeback fighting through his chops and then winning the criss-cross exchange! Flair hits a back suplex counter. He realizes he can not waste anymore time and goes for his one surefire home run, the figure-4. INSIDE CRADLE! Only two. Flair crashes down with a elbow to stymie Luger. You feel his hold on the match is tenuous at best. He wants to go up top to get some free velocity and really crash down on Luger, but he gets caught with the superplex, awesome nearfall. Luger now applies the figure-4 as a slap in the face and as a strong match-ender spot.

Flair gets the ropes and now here comes the Luger home stretch. Luger accidentally hit the ref on the backswing of his punch. He gets a top rope crossbody for two only because the ref was out of position. Backslide that’s how Kerry beat Flair. Flair takes the flip in the corner. Luger suplexes him back in and PRESS SLAM! The challenger is pouring it on. Now it is up to JJ to do what Flair can’t break his momentum. Luger is on a fast break so putting himself into harm’s way distracts Luger. Flair trips Luger up and goes full psycho smashing a steel chair into the knee of the Total Package. Flair goes to town on the knee. This is an absolute clinic of how to work the knee and how to sell a knee both psychically and verbally. Flair Figure-4! Time to test the mettle of Lex Luger, who like a real man reverses the pressure. Flair is right back to the knee. He goes up top to try win the match with a cross body, but gets caught in a press slam. Luger was able to fight through pain for that one moment, but the pain is too much has to crawl to Flair and can’t capitalize. Flair desperate just throws him out of the ring. Sunset Flip by Luger! That’s how Garvin won the title. Flair tries one of those running, jumping forearms, but just bounces off Luger! It is hot baby! Luger fighting through the pain hits the clotheslines and powerslams to set up for the torture rack. In my probably my favorite finish of all time, Luger hoists up the champion only to have his knee give out and Flair lands on top, puts his feet on the ropes and wins the match.

WOW! Incredible match and one that I hope I did justice. I really don’t think I can in all honesty it is something that needs to be watched. Everybody seems to like the Wrestlewar match, which I think is an all-time classic, but I have this a notch above. Clearly, the Starrcade finish is better than the Wrestlewar finish. This told an absolutely incredible story and just stayed so true to both characters. The selling was just pitch perfect. I have always seen this match ranked ****1/2. I can’t go below ****3/4 and right now I can’t think of a reason not to go the full monty. For my money, this is the perfect Flair vs power wrestler match. It is Flair’s best power wrestler opponent, Luger, putting a great selling and offensive clinic. His timing on those no-sells was great. Flair gave a heel performance in this match that I don’t know has ever been topped. I am going *****, but would love to hear arguments to the contrary.

#1. NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ricky Steamboat vs Ric Flair - Wrestlewar 1989

NWA/WCW Match of the Year, 1989

I think the thing that has stuck with me most about this match since first seeing it in 2003 was Jim Ross' call. This is the NWA where we wrestle. He really made this feel like a contest. Even though, try to contend pro wrestling is more of a shoot than amateur wrestling was a little much. 

It has been so long since I watched the Trilogy together and I expected this to be a distant third, but it is not and it feels really unique. This is the most physical of the three matches. This feels more like a Ronnie Garvin match with lots of chops and firefights. Flair is going for big heavy blows early and often. The Dragon returns with slashes of his own. They play off the Double Chickenwing submission with Steamboat going after the arm. Great arm work by Steamboat it is varied and tight. Flair does a great job selling it in and out of the holds. Flair looks to use the Chop to get out of the hold and back in control, but each time Steamboat fires back and overwhelms the Nature Boy. I loved the bit where Flair hiptossed Steamboat and just his body language made the spot feel huge. The crowd reacted as such. It is amazing that with the right characters, a simple hiptoss can feel like a high spot. Flair misses the elbow drop and Steamboat goes back to the arm. Towards the end of the first half of the match, Flair goes to what I believe is his best strategy and that is throw the man out of the ring. The first time Steamboat lands on his feet and furiously comes back in and fires back. The second time, Flair uses a running Steamboat's own momentum against and hurls him over the top rope and he takes a nasty spill. Flair takes advantage of this bu chopping him over the railing and punishing him on the outside. It should be noted Flair has not begged off yet probably because he is turning babyface at the end of the match and wants to look strong. He is wrestling a very physical style and this has been a great hard-hitting match through the first half. 

Flair yields his position as King of the Mountain to come back out against Steamboat on the floor, but the Dragon roars back. Blistering the Nature Boy with chops. Flair Flip and Steamboat catches him running down the apron. Flair's saving grace is Steamboat takes another high risk as the Dragon leaps and Flair moves and Steamboat hits the top rope and falls to the floor. Now Flair in his element. He measures Steamboat and really kicks his ass. Great chops and punches. The kneedrop. Butterfly Suplex. Great pins. Steamboat tries to lunge but gets hotshotted that was an awesome hope spot turned into a cutoff. Steamboat is too close to the ropes to cover as as Flair argues with the ref he puts his shin on Steamboat's throat. Great stuff! Steamboat chops hard and as Flair falls he picks the ankle of the weary Steamboat and pulls him outside and does more damage namely a suplex to the floor. This is an amazing heel Flair performance. They pick up the pace in the ring. Whipping everyone into frenzy and they pay it off with the bump I always remember the out of control crossbody where they both tumble to the floor. PRESS SLAM! Steamboat is feeling it! The Dragon is Breathing Fire! SUPERPLEX! DOUBLE CHICKENWING! GREAT SEQUENCE! High Drama! Flair scrambles for the ropes and forces the break. I love the spot where Steamboat is poised for either a top rope chop or top rope crossbody and Flair falls into the ropes jostling them and causing Steamboat to take a nasty spill hurt his leg. This entire match so much of Flair's offense is set up by Steamboat's mistakes or happenstance. Now Steamboat's leg is hurt for the master of the Figure-4 it is almost too easy. Flair zeroes in on the leg and suplexes him back in. FIGURE-4! Rope break. There is a great sequence where Flair has the foot. He is pounding on the knee as Steamboat is chopping him. It feels like this gargantuan struggle. ENZIGUIRI! The Dragon looks poised for a comeback. Lifts Flair up but his knee gives out and Flair cradles him 1-2-3! Amazing match!

For some reason, I came in thinking this would be #3 but I think this is my #1. The Chi-Town Rumble is the great pure workrate sprint with crazy ending and Steamboat winning the big one, but it does lack the physical edge. The Clash match is the great, lengthy, classic championship match but there are lulls in it and it is a bit messy down the stretch. This has all the tightness of the Rumble match, the psychology of the Clash, but the added physicality of a Flair/Garvin. Gun to my head: WrestleWar, Chi-Town Rumble, Clash. All are ***** and really no matter how you rank it, it doesnt matter they all rock. 

Pro Wrestling Love vol. 46: Best of World Championship Wrestling 1988-1990 (Ric Flair, Lex Luger, Sting)

Hey Yo Stud Muffins & Foxy Ladies,

Pro Wrestling Love vol. 46:

The Best of World Championship Wrestling 1988-1990

Objective:  Break up the Greatest Match Ever Project (hosted at http://gweproject.freeforums.net/) into more manageable chunks to help me build my Top 100 List for the project.

Motivation: Contribute to the discussion around these matches to enrich my own understanding of pro wrestling and give a fresh perspective for old matches and even hopefully discover great pro wrestling matches that have been hidden by the sands of time.

Subject: This forty-sixth volume of Pro Wrestling Love is the beginning of the Top 12 countdown of the best matches to take place in Jim Crockett Promotions/World Championship Wrestling from 1988-1990. In 1988, for all intents and purposes, pro wrestling became a duopoly of World Wrestling Federation and World Championship Wrestling. World Championship Wrestling was born out of a series of mergers and acquisitions between the Carolinas, Georgia, Florida, Kansas City and Mid-South Territory (Oklahoma, Mississippi, Louisiana). In 1988, it was still under Jim Crockett Promotions with Dusty Rhodes in charge of operations, but by the end of the year Dusty was ousted as booker and Jim Crockett sold to Ted Turner which formally changed the name to World Championship Wrestling. The year 1989 is generally considered the apogee of American Pro Wrestling as Ric Flair had probably the greatest single calendar year in the history of the business of pro wrestling between his two feuds with Ricky Steamboat and Terry Funk. The year 1990 was marred by multiple poor booking decisions and pissed away the great booking capital afforded by 1989 and the great young talent (Lex Luger and Sting) waiting in the wings. The year 1990 is a good stopping point because 1991 sees Ric Flair leave WCW.   You can revisit past Pro Wrestling Love Volumes at ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com. You can check out the full version of these reviews in ProWrestlingOnly.com by going to the forums and finding the folders associated with the date of the match.

Contact Info: @superstarsleeze on Twitter, Instagram & ProWrestlingOnly.com.

DOUBLE CHICKENWING~!

Honorable Mentions

NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ricky Steamboat vs Ric Flair - NWA/WCW 3/18/1989

The house show match from the vaunted 1989 series. Flair always asserts that him and Steamboat were having even better matches on the house show loop. What this match tells us is that they were definitely not taking days off. They were putting every bit as much effort into this match as they did Clash VI, which is impressive. Since this match has almost no audio, I liken this to watching the best possible silent movie and these are two of the best silent movie actors.

Horsemen (Flair, AA, Tully) vs Blond Ambition (Sting, Luger & Windham) - Main Event 4/3/88

NWA World Tag Team Champions Lex Luger & Barry Windham vs Arn Anderson & Tully Blanchard - NWA World Championship Wrestling 4/23/88

The first match I want to re-watch again at some point because I think I short-changed the rating, but I don’t think it would make it into the Top 12. I remember an incredibly fun, popcorn match with the MOST MOLTEN CROWD EVER! Luger, Sting and Windham, the 90s sure as hell looked bright! The 4/23/88 match is the Luger heel turn and is a solid match, but should definitely be watched for the angle.

NWA US Champion Barry Windham vs Eddie Gilbert - NWA World Championship Wrestling 12/24/88

Terry Funk vs Eddie Guerrero - WCW 5/20/89

Two great TV matches here. The first one is more competitive and is a great veteran champion vs young lion match. Windham looks primed to be the heir to Flair as the heel World Champion. Funk vs Guerrero is one of the best squash matches of all time.

Ric Flair & Barry Windham vs Midnight Express - Clash of the Champions IV

Flair & Windham vs Steamboat & Gilbert - NWA World Championship Wrestling 1/21/89

Ric Flair & Sting vs The Great Muta & Dick Slater - Clash of the Champions VIII

We don’t talk about Flair as a tag wrestler too often, but in these matches he absolutely rocks it. He is a joy to watch on the apron as a babyface in the match against Muta and Slater. The Horsemen vs MX dream match actually lives up to the hype. The Flair/Windham vs Steamboat/Gilbert match is one of the all time great TV angles and really set up Flair vs Steamboat at Chi-Town Rumble as something big.

NWA World Champion Ric Flair vs The Great Muta - World Championship Wrestling 11/18/89

NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair vs Bobby Eaton - NWA Main Event 1/7/90

NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair vs Brian Pillman - 2/17/90

Ric Flair was not just getting it done on PPV in this era. He might as well have been the TV champion given the frequency he was on TV and just how amazing his output was. Flair vs. Muta was a dream match at the time and it comes off great. I think Flair vs Eaton and Flair vs Pillman are two of the best free TV matches of all time. In the Eaton match, Flair at his babyface best and just a month later he is at his heel best against Pillman. So very physical. Especially against Pillman, definitely had the same vibe as with Garvin. Flair vs Pillman on a PPV or Clash in 1990 or 1991 would have been gang busters.

NWA US Tag Team Champions Midnight Express vs Fantastics - NWA Pro 3/26/88

NWA US Tag Team Champions Midnight Express vs Fantastics - NWA Worldwide 5/14/88

NWA US Tag Team Champions Fantastics vs Midnight Express - Great American Bash 88

Tremendous series of matches that dates back to 84 in Mid South and then in World Class, but these are their best matches. What a way to debut a tag team to give the Fantastics the entire hour of Pro. That’s special and they hit out of the park. These two teams defined 80s workrate in the tag team division as a blend of comedy, high end offense and big time selling. There is one match conspicuous by its absence I wonder how high it made it?

NWA US Tag Team Champions Midnight Express vs Southern Boys - GAB 1990

A lot of people love this match and myself included, but it falls short of the Top 12 for me. The Midnight Express of Lane and Eaton had such a strong run in this period in a stretch without Flair they would have placed more in the Top 12. This is the Midnight Express at their best, a perfect mix of comedy, high-end offense and a big time finish run. It still holds up.

NWA World Tag Team Champions Doom vs Horsemen (Arn Anderson & Barry Windham) - NWA Starrcade 1990

Another match I want to revisit. Just a gnarly, violent brawl between four big hosses. This is a Bill Watts Mid-South special but with extra violence. Great sprint.

NWA US Heavyweight Champion  Lex Luger vs Ricky Steamboat - GAB 1990

NWA US Heavyweight Champion Lex Luger vs Brian Pillman - Halloween Havoc 1990

It gets overshadowed by Ric Flair’s out of this world 1989 just how strong Luger’s campaign was in 1989. A really terrific heel turn against Steamboat that led to an awesome match as Great American Bash and then a really strong match against a wet behind the ears Brian Pillman. The Pillman showed us what a NWA Champion Luger would look like and it looked damn good.

Western States Heritage Champion Barry Windham vs Tully Blanchard 

 NWA World Championship Wrestling 1/23/88

This last match to be cut and I think it is a great hidden gem find by Where the Big Boys Play Podcast because I had never heard of it anywhere else. Great old school babyface vs heel match. We all know Tully can bump & stooge with the best of him. Windham forces Tully to work a strong heat segment by selling so well. This is by far the best Tully Blanchard control segment I have ever seen. Barry’s comeback was just so dramatic. Definitely check this hidden gem out.

Top 12 Matches of World Championship Wrestling 1988-1990

#12. WCW US Tag Team Champions Steiner Brothers vs Nasty Boys – Halloween Havoc 1990

I remembered this match fondly, but this was even better than I remembered. It was not just a heavyweight bombfest, but actually a very well-structured match with great progression. It actually felt very All Japan with all the bombs, saves, suplexes and just general chaos. Loved how they just started with a brawl and Saggs throwing Scotty into the railing and bouncing a chair off his back. Saggs is definitely my favorite Nasty Boy. The Steiners' shine is awesome. Top Rope Belly-to-Belly Suplex, Butterfly Powerbomb and Steiner Bulldog. Electric! Nasty Boys smash Scotty's back with a chair and now we go to work. Nasties are throwing all sorts of suplexes on Scotty's back and working great holds. Loved the belly 2 belly out of the bearug as a hope spot. Rick is a little overzealous thinking Scotty would make the tag and hits a MONSTAH STEINERLINE! Then takes a wicked tumble over the top rope and was so pissed he smashes the back of Saggs' skull, which he blades off of. The work on Scotty's back continues and the Nasties are actually really damn good working cutoffs and building the drama to the tag. When Scotty does tag, the place explodes and Rick just destroys everything with huge Steinerlines. I love the double Steinerline from the top rope and Saggs takes it like a man to the back. Rick signals for Scotty to for the Frankensteiner and the place explodes in anticipation. Scotty hits the MUTHA OF ALL FRANKENSTEINERS! Everyone always says Nasties' best match or a contender with their '94 Cactus brawls. But the Steiners actually don't really have a laundry list of great matches either. In fact, you could make the argument this is the Steiners' best match without it being the Nasties best match. I need to rewatch that one great MVC match, but other than that I got this at number two for the Steiners. Incredible bombfest with a relaly strong middle section that builds to the finish. One of the best North American tags of the decade! ****1/2

#11. NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair vs Sting – Clash of the Champions I

First 15 minutes: Ric Flair in that bearhug is a great exhibition of why he is one of the greatest of all time. The pain expression, biting his thumb, clenching his fist and the wails of agony. God, he makes even the most boring holds very entertaining. I feel like this is a cross of the "musclehead" Flair match (Nikita/Hawk) and the Butch Reed style match. The first five minutes is tests of strength but also plenty of traditional shoot off into the ropes, criss cross movement Flair style. You feel like they are not telegraphing the draw. However, once they hit the Butch Reed headlock portion is when I felt that the telegraphing became evident. While I didnt care much for the Butch Reed matches, I thought these were better because they worked in and out of the headlocks more frequently and with more interesting, dynamic portions. I really liked the spot where Flair throws Sting out of the ring and he lands on his feet and he immediately leaps back into the ring. Watching a lot of Flair that is a typical Flair spot to buy himself some time and ultimately take over on the outside. This shows that those tricks would not work. He used this spot with Magnum when he was working that series in 1985. I really liked Sting catching Flair in the press slam on two occasions on the criss cross. Flair loves to use motion in a kayfabe sense to create offense and in a non-kayfabe sense to generate excitement, you see the early portion Sting winning all these battles usually with the press slam. You are generating excitement from the motion and the payoff is the babyface press slam is just smart pro wrestling psychology. Then on one drop down, Sting just jumps on him with and clamps down the headlock. This shows Sting is smart (which is a shocker) because he is not just blindly following routine he sees an opportunity goes for it. Flair's majority of offense is coming from non-clean breaks as one would expect. He lands a couple good shots to the ribs, but cant sustain any momentum. Again, this makes Sting look like a viable champion because he is not just ragdolling Flair, but overcoming his shortcuts. There was one awkward sequence when Sting misses a dropkick but Flair takes a Flair Flop. The first third of the match is that great bearhug that I opened with. I really think thats the best bearhug I have ever seen. This is way better than I remember. It is quite engaging and Flair is doing a great job leading in the match. 

Middle 15 minutes: Tremendous Ric Flair heat segment. I am actually a little disappointed they did so many Sting hope spots because I think they had so much in the tank. This middle section is is defined by the overeager Sting making rookie mistake after rookie mistake. As Ric Flair is hollering out "My back, my back", Sting lets go of the bearhug. I get it. He was frustrated and had grown impatient, but that was the start of the downfall. I love how gradual the transition is. First Sting misses an elbow drop but he can still whip Flair hard into the corner, but he goes charging in and Flair moves and Sting hits hard on the buckles and hurts his ribs. Still Sting perseveres and tries to mount for the ten punch in the corner but Flair comes out and hits the inverted atomic drop. Now it is Rolex Time, brutha. He throws Sting out and whips him hard into the steel railing repeatedly. Flair is targetting the back and great selling from Sting. I really, really liked the backrakes and then fishhook! Flair was getting nasty. Sting did a lot of No Selling to get back into the match. I like No Selling; it definitely beats just going back on offense. At least it signals to the offense something cool is happening. I also like that each time it looked like Sting would gain momentum he would get overeager and fuck up. First it was a flying lariat into the steel post and then a lariat over the top rope onto the floor. The side headlock and bearhug were serving Sting so well as soon as he started leaving his feet he started to dig himself in a hole. I love that these moves were being treated as high risk moves because they are! They are NOT gimmes! What I didnt like is that there were so many of them that they lost their luster. I think they could have built off the flying lariat to the post that they went back to Sting on offense too quickly. I did like the top rope Sting crossbody as a nearfall. Then as the second 15 minutes was ending Flair hits a kneecrusher. We had three different body parts and four major momentum swings to Flair in a 15 minute time period. As much as I enjoy Flairism and its chaotic nature, this was too much and things were not allowed to breathe. It is amazing that you can claim things are being rushed in a 45 minute match, but they were. Flair works the leg very well as expected. Kneecrushers, kicks, knees and chops to the knee. It only dawned on me recently but he really loved the back suplex as his setup move to the Figure-4. It makes sense you need to get your opponent flat on his back and it is cooler than a bodyslam. I thought they established a good foundation in the first 15 minutes. I liked the story of Sting making a ton of rookie mistakes in this 15 minutes but it is tempered by the fact that I thought it was a little rushed and the Flair heat segments did not feel fleshed out. 

Final 15 minutes: Ok it is official, this match is way, way better than I remember it. I loved this thread they weaved of Sting being able to ever hit a move when he leaves his feet. If Sting just works holds, he can  stay in control, but he cant win the match either that way. So needs to take these chances but they never pay off. Until he finally hits the Stinger Splash with 30 seconds left and then applies the Scorpion Deathlock...I mean how fucking great is that! Lets take it from the top, Sting is in the Figure-4 at the start of this third. I really thought there was some exceptional selling from both men. I really thought Flair sold the turnover well. Stinger goes for a splash on the mat, but Flair gets the knees up. See Sting cant buy a big spot. But when it comes time to put on the abdominal stretch he can get that. If Sting can keep it basic, he can use his strength, but he cant put the match away that way. He grabs Flair by the feet and pulls him over into the corner and posts him! I love it! Sting uses the figure-4 see now this is a submission hold. Of course this does not get it done, but now we go into overdrive with Flair doing the Flair Flip right over the celebrity judges and Sting kicking ass on the outside. We get all the great Flair sunset flip spots; I really liked the Flair Flip->Crossbody roll through for nearfall for Sting. In this fracas, Sting absolutely crashes and burns on a Stinger Splash in the corner and ends up on the outside. Nasty bump. Great reinforcement that Sting has controlled the match, but cant hit the home run. Then with time dwindling and all the rapid nearfalls, we finally get that Stinger Splash that finally lands and the Scorpion Deathlock as time expires. It is ruled a draw. 

I thought I was going to like this match, but I ended up loving it! I had seen twice before, but I think once I picked up on the thread that Sting just couldnt buy a highspot and they really treated high risk moves as just that high risk moves that match was really enhanced. The first 15 minutes is very basic but establishes that Sting can do Pro Wrestling 101, but you cant beat the Nature Boy that way. The middle 15 minutes is Flair gaining his advantages because Sting is impatient and keeps making mistakes going for the home run. Flair is great on offense during this time. The last 15 minutes is just balls to the wall can Sting pull out a major upset. Whats amazing is half of Sting's offense was just fucking No Selling. Flair took a greenhorn and made him look like The Man. Flair was just on fire. I cant say enough about his selling in the holds. Just so damn good. Look how good he was when he going for those backrakes and fishhooks, he looked nasty. In that last 15 minutes when it is all cardio and it is a race against the clock thats Flair in his element. This is A-Grade Flair Spot Calling combined with a very compelling Flair performance and a game opponent, thats all the recipe for one of the best matches of all-time. You know whats crazy, is I think they needed more time! I think some of this match was rushed that they could have spread out some of those Sting mistakes that this match would be even better! Only Ric Flair could ever need more time than 45 minutes to take his match to next level. He rocks! I am saying it here this match has become so overrated that it is now underrated. Clash of Champions I with MX vs Fantastics at ***** for me and Luger/Windham vs AA/Tully at ****3/4 and with this at a whopping ****3/4, it is undeniable to me that Clash I is the greatest US card of all time! 

#10. NWA World Tag Team Champions Arn Anderson & Tully Blanchard vs

Lex Luger & Barry Windham – Clash of the Champions I

Balls out sprint! Luger killed it at the beginning. Manhandling the Horsemen and he came to win. Signals for Torture Rack and hoists Blanchard up, but AA attacks the leg. I love babyfaces going for quick victories. They work a short but energetic heat segment on Luger's leg, Luger kicks Arn into Tully and they knock heads. Here comes Windham to kick some ass. Powerslam, Lariat and sleeper. Love Blanchard in this he is a total schmuck in the best way possible. AA rubs his shoudlers after sleeper great spot. Windham gets clocked in ab stretch by The Enforcer who drops him in a heap on a DDT and then SPINEBUSTER1 Just like that the Horsemen are in control. Windham does some awesome next level selling. I love the extended barrage of hope spots needed to earn the hot tag. He is just throwing desperation right hand bombs against the Horsemen. SLINGSHOT SUPLEX! KICKOUT~! HOLY SHIT! Greensboro is fucking rocking tonight! MOLTEN ALL NIGHT LONG! Best crowd in US history? Windham clocks Blanchard and falls into the Total Package! LUGER DESTROY! JoJo Dillon has a chair and Luger sends Double A's skull into the chair. 1-2-3! GREENSBORO EXPLODES! ONE OF THE LOUDEST POPS EVER! Luger's celebratory leap is the number one thing I remember from this match having been burned into my mind from previous viewings.

Blanchard made the faces look like a million bucks. Arn brought the street cred. Windham brought that awesome babyface selling and Luger was an offensive dynamo! Amazing sprint tag team match!

#9. Midnight Express vs Rock ‘n’ Roll Express – Wrestlewar 1990

What I think is so amazing about this match is its ability to seamlessly transition from comedy to dramatic wrestling. So many matches would have felt disjointed given this format, but that is why the Midnights and RnRs are the best of the all-time because of their deft execution of this layout. This has to be one of the best face shine segments in the history of wrestling. I have watched a lot of Midnights shining up babyface tag teams so thats really saying something now in 2019. It establishes the RnRs as clearly the best tag team, the Midnights bump & stooge in a way that keeps that million-watt smile on your face and it never feels like heel in peril. As the biggest "Sweet" Stan on the internet, is there a better Stan Lane performance? I dont think so. He is so on his game in this match. He takes the beginning of the match. He just makes Gibson look great. I love that spot where Lane goes for the monkey flip and Gibson fist drops him. It is just perfect fun wrestling. Then of course the Lane/Patrick confrontation that leads to great Cornette/Patrick confrontation that always puts an ear to ear smile on your face when you watch. Another great spot is Lane gets hit with an atomic drop and collides with Eaton. Then Lane shoves Eaton. It is so rare that there is dissension that does not lead to anything so that makes it stand out. Sometimes tempers flare it doesnt mean the team has to dissolve. I liked that touch. It is so good nobody has mentioned that cool spot where Morton climbs up on Eaton and delivers a fist drop onto Lane. That was a holy shit moment for me. They just jammed so many damn good spots in that opening segment. Honestly, it is not worth making an entire list. Really just watch it. It is just comedy gold and the Midnight Express cant buy a break. Morton looks so damn good in there. Next thing, you know Bobby Eaton and Ricky Morton slug it out and end up tumbling outside and Lane delivers a wicked slam and we enter Ricky Morton's bread and butter.

The Midnights have so many MOVEZ~! but they never get lost in just tossing them out and everything is filled with great heelish behavior: the tennis racket shots, the eye-rakes and cutoffs. Again, like the the babyface shine, I dont think there is too much of a point of just listing move after move, but I think what makes that's this so good is how urgent the action is. They know that Morton is one of the greatest of all time so they are constantly tagging in and out. How many times did Morton have one member of the Midnight Express down, but the other cut him off. Stuff like ramming Eaton's head off the post, but Lane saves. Or Morton looks for an O'Connor Roll, but Lane had blind tagged Eaton and he hits a devastating neckbreaker. The spots looked great: Eaton's top rope elbow drop and Lane's powerslam, but it was the tension around the hot tag that makes this work. You really felt that agony of it being 2 on 1. Every time Morton would get the upper hand on one the other would save. It was exhilarating. Morton is in his element. The face in peril segment I believe is in excess of 10+ minutes. On second watch, I do think they go a little too long. The arm work at the end is strong but ultimately it is filler. The more Morton I watch the more I believe his penchant for really long face in peril segments is to the detriment of the match. I realized this time the finish is botched, but still the finish stretch was red hot and liked that Midnights had another nearfall with the racket shot before they went home. I am happy the Rock N Rolls go over because in such a feel-good match it was the perfect touch to have the Rock N Rolls pick up the duke.

Is this considered the best RnR/Midnights match? I asked this back in 2013. I actually think I have now seen every major one now. I think some of the Condrey matches from 1986 on TBS are little underrated, but I dont think they match this level. Lane/Eaton are the ultimate workrate heel tag team and while I dont think workrate is everything, but when you add how selfless and how character-driven the Midnights are with this workrate you have a recipe for really amazing matches. To me, this match is the cure for depression.

# 8. NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair vs Lex Luger – Wrestlewar 1990

WCW Match of the Year, 1990

WOOOOOOOOOOOO! It doesnt get much better than this. The Nature Boy vs The Total Package. I am not going to rehash the backstory. It has been analyzed to death. I am going to echo many other sentiments when I say this is the exact right match to run except it should have been Flair as a face dropping to a heel Luger who runs roughshod over the territory as the new ace heel. Luger vs Sting at GAB '91 would have been something to write home about it. 

First 15 minutes: When Flair sells for Luger's flex that's my favorite moment of the match. I love this match and have seen it bunch. Flair thinks he has finally gotten one over on The Package. Only to turn around and see Luger no-sell and then flex and Flair just wilts. It is perfect. Ten minute shine. Luger looked great. Did Flair feed him? Sure as hell, but that big boy can eat! This is not a typical 80s Flair shine. I am seeing 90s Flair already here. What do I mean by that? There are a lot less short knees. A lot less chops. A lot less strategy changes. It is not Flair going for offense and being overwhelmed. Instead, he is opting for just outright feeding. It was a fun and energetic shine. The knucklelock spot was awesome. Luger carrying him back in on the powder was over like rover. The press slams were impressive. Those were really damn good press slams. Luger said in his pre-match interview: powerslam, torture rack. He was working the back with those slams and the bear hug. Great call on the transition to heat with Luger going for that home run clothesline, but whiffing and sailing over the top rope. I really liked his selling. Flair was masterful in playing King of the Mountain and using Woman to keep the advantage. Really good heel work from Flair, both on offense and character work. The kneedrops get him his first cover. Luger starts to fire up, but again he charges in with reckless abandon but this time eats the turnbuckles. Now Flair will settle in on the arm. Perfect pacing thus far just as I remembered. Have enjoyed the revisit.

Second Ten Minutes: Flair is consummate heel here. Cocky and always cheating. Lots of hammerlocks with the feet on the ropes for extra leverage. Luger hollering out in pain. Lots of short punches to the arm or a thunderous chop to the chest. Whenever, the Total Package looks to mount a comback, he goes to the eyes. Lots of eye pokes even Woman gets in on the action with a eyerake. I thought Luger did a great job selling the pain and how disoriented he is from this. Luger's real comeback is amazing. The way he just goozled Flair coming out of the corner is electrifying.  Flair tries to chop his way out of trouble, but it is 1990, we are in Greensboro, NC and the Total Package is ROARING! Luger actually works the leg by wrapping it around a ring post to set up the figure-4. We all know the opponent putting Flair in the figure-4 is a common spot, but it sometimes feels shoehorned. They actually build to it, but Luger fucking botches the figure-4. I am a huge Luger defender, but that was cringe-worthy. Then they get their signals crossed when Flair shouldertackles Luger and bowls him over, but Flair also takes a bump. They get back on track with a powerslam and Flair bouncing off Luger on a jumping elbow. I am not an execution mark, but those two are noticeable enough that they do mar the match enough along with the finish that I dont consider this is a tippy top great match like I do Starrcade 1988. 

The Finish: Was way better than I remember it. This match is actually less repetitive than I remembered to. They do go for another ten count punch and one more press slam, but I thought it was a barrage of press slam. Just one more aint gonna break the bank and actually fit well. Flair went for a lot of eyepokes thats for sure. It was that ten count punch that did Luger in as Flair hit his inverted atomic drop out of the corner. Flair was great on offense here. A lot more top rope stuff from here, he busted out the butterfly suplex, a really nice sleeper and then we went to school. All the classic Flair trappings going into the Figure-4. The Figure-4 was an electric moment with Sting out there on crutches. Flair was alternating between slapping Luger in the face and spitting at Sting. Thats a heel's heel. Sting's pep talk is great early 90s trash talk "Kick his you know what! DO SOMETHING!" Becky Lynch wants to talk about being The Man and Straight Fire. LEX FUCKING LUGER WAS STRAIGHT FIRE! Holy shit! What a comeback! Just perfect no-sells. The No-Sells can be one of the most effective tools in pro wrestling and Lex Luger was popping Greensboro like no tomorrow with it. You look into that crowd and every middle-aged woman was freaking the fuck out. Tons of great power moves. Woman gets involved. She needs to just haul off smack a bitch. Cmon those are some of the daintiest slaps of all time. Just go for it. Flair comes flying in with a high knee wiping out Luger and the ref. Something is rotten in the city of Greensboro. Luger continues his home stretch. Powerslam, but no ref. He is signaling for the Torture Rack. He racks up the Nature Boy, but the Andersons threaten the injured Sting and Luger opts to save his friend and ends up being counted out. Then the Steiner Brothers make the save. Where the hell were you?

Wow! To me this is the quintessential wrestling match. When I think of wrestling, I think of the good looking, musclebound hero against the cocky, cheating villain. Has any match-up exemplified that more than Flair vs Luger. Yes, I hear the argument for Flair vs Kerry. I really do. For my personal tastes, it is missing the wrestling that the Kerry matches has and it is missing the levels and gear shifts that Starrcade 88 has. Starrcade 88 has an all time great finish. But in terms of what I think of when I think of as a match that is the essence of pro wrestling I think it is this match because how overboard Flair goes with the cheating and character work. Just how much a Superman Luger looks like in this overcoming all the cheating. Not the best match of all time, but when you watch it you go that's pro wrestling. 

#7. NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ricky Steamboat vs Ric Flair 

Clash of the Champions VI 2 Out of 3 Falls

It feels weird writing Steamboat as the champion and Flair as the challenger. 

First Fall: We see Flairism at its peak here with the shifting gears and the perfect blend of movement and story. Flair shows five different strategies in the opening 15 minutes. The first two are readily quashed by Steamboat and end up with Flair embarrassed, slapped and on the outside. As is typical, Flair tries to wrestle at the outset of a match. He bested both in an amateur riding sequence and a top wristlock test of strength by the champion. Thwarted by these two, he tries two of his more successful strategies: crowding in the corner and creating movement via rope running. The heavy chop in the corner definitely stings the Champ. Steamboat sells this so well, great facial expression and his arms lock up as he tries to push Flair away. Ultimately, Steamboat starts rifling Flair with his own chops and overwhelming him. In the movement game, Steamboat proves to his superior, not falling for a drop down he drops into a side headlock or he is able to pull off a headscissors/dropkick combo or he converts two shouldertackles into nearfalls. Flair tries his last go-to strategy: begging off. He successfully breaks Steamboat's rhythm and even gets a boot to the midsection, but Steamboat quickly rallies. Flair does get an inverted atomic drop that looks like it could lead to something, but against Steamboat snuffs out the rally. We see Flair use the powder twice, but both only serve to delay the inevitable Steamboat offense. Steamboat has used the headlock and front chancery as his primary touchstone hold. The kneedrops to the back of the head have been sold exceptionally well, great verbal selling. Steamboat has been able to transition out of the headlock into uptempo offense. A very strong opening 15 minutes that shows Flair at his best trying out different strategies, but getting bested at every turn while Steamboat has done a great job mixing it up between holds, highspots and firefights. Steamboat's first mistake is a splash that eats knees. Flair hits a heavy duty chop and follows that up with a great double stomp. A butterfly suplex gives Flair his first pin attempt. Look how good Flair's pin is. One hand in the lateral press, the right arm hooking the leg and the shin covering the near arm. Any one who says Flair is not detailed oriented is a moron. Great 3/4 nelson follow up. You can see how valuable the first fall is to Flair, he switches a knucklelock, but Steamboat has a great display of strength and powers out. Steamboat misses the follow up dropkick, another mistake. Figure-4...NO...Inside Cradle...1-2...REVERSAL 1-2-3! Nature Boy Goes up 1-0. Strong first fall that lays the foundation without blowing their wad. It is nothing Steamboat cant come back from. He should be pissed. He dominated that first fall, but made two late mistakes and it cost him the fall. Flair tried a lot of things, but until Steamboat made the mistakes it looked like a rout. 

Second Fall: Steamboat comes out breathing fire! Press slam! Top rope chop! 1-2-NO! Love this attitude from Steamboat. He is challenging his frustration.  He gets a bit overzealous and Flair executes a back suplex. Flair up 1-0 slows it back down going to his patented, measured kneedrop. First one hits, second misses, and Steamboat takes him to school. Repeated elbow drops on the leg and you know what that means...FIGURE-4! Flair makes the ropes and kicks Steamboat off a second one, but he goes for the Boston Crab. Great selling here by Flair. Now here's a strategy that does well for Flair and that is take the match to the outside. He powders to break the momentum, but Steamboat gets too close to the apron so he drags him out. He whips him hard into the steel railing twice and then he Steamboat tries to re-enter the ring he stomps him hard because he is now King of the Mountain. Flair looks good up 1-0 and employing his best strategy. He gets his best nearfall off a vertical suplex from the apron back into the ring. He applies an abdominal stretch (Steamboat's midsection has been worked over since the missed splash and railings). Goes into the banana split rollup. Watch the different pinning predicaments he applies. Great struggle here and a great sense of the objective of pro wrestling, hold your opponent's shoulders to the mat for a count of three. Simple but effective. Steamboat rattles off two quick nearfalls: O'Connor Roll and Jacknife. Flair seems to get worried by this and unwisely heads up top. Steamboat meets him there and SUPERPLEX! The momentum has swung to the Dragon! Flair is hollering and selling the back. Steamboat smells blood and attacks the back vigorously. Double Chickenwing! which I dont think I have seen applied before or since even though I think it should be a finish today. Flair does a fantastic job selling this and I love his head shaking and then we get the head nod. It is all tied up!

Third Fall: They saved the best for last besides the Double Chickenwing there has not been many bells and whistles. It has been uptempo and lots of great chops, but it has been sound wrestling. Now they go all out. We see the first eye pokes and chop blocks from Flair early in the 3rd fall. It is desperation time. There is no more wrestling with 25 minutes to go and one fall left, it is time to throw everything including the kitchen sink at Steamboat. I love how Steamboat keeps fighting back. There is some amazing chop exchanges. There were some BRUTAL Flair chops. There is one that almost knocked Steamboat clear over the top turnbuckle. Flair ends up getting the kneecrusher and now it is looking bad for the Champ. Still he presses on, gets the ropes quickly on a Figure-4 attempt. I love the Flair Flip into the chop on the apron. It is better than the press slam finish. Steamboat wrenches his knee on a tree of woe spot and now things have gone from bad to worse. Flair gets the lengthy Figure-4 he was looking for but cant force the submission. Great selling and love Flair slapping Steamboat in the hold. Flair Flip against but this time he finishes the frantic run down the apron with a top rope crossbody for TWO! Huge reaction to that. They are peaking at the right time! Desperate Steamboat tries for a bodyslam, but his knee cant hold Flair's weight and Flair falls on top of him for two! Flair tries to go a motion-strategy late in the game. They are at the 45 minute mark and they are doing criss-cross sequences like they are only 5 minutes into the match. Their cardiovascular conditioning is awe-inspiring. Steamboat wins these criss-crosses even getting a top rope crossbody the move that won him the title in Chicago. Flair does end up winning one with a sleeper which stops the Steamboat rally, but Steamboat drives Flair's head into the turnbuckle. Again, Steamboat goes back on offense and Jim Ross notes that Steamboat could try to milk the clock for a draw but he is here to win the match. He misses a flying bodypress from the top and Flair goes back the leg. AMAZING SELLING BY STEAMBOAT! AMAZING CHOP BATTLE! THIS IS SCINTILLATING! There is a great moment where Steamboat goes for a pin and hooks the leg but he is so exhausted that Flair is able to force his leg onto the ropes to break the count, great facial reaction by Steamboat there. Flair gets a back suplex, but instead of going for Figure-4; he goes for a move off the top. Oh no! Press slam and Steamboat goes back to the Double Chickenwing which won him the second fall, his knee buckles and both men's shoulders are down. Thus necessitating the rematch at Wrestlewar. 

Incredible match on so many levels from a physical standpoint to go 54 minutes and still be wrestling so fast and so quickly speaks to their conditioning. From a booking standpoint, this is a great way to sell the PPV rematch with the draw finish that still ties back to the pure wrestling. From a psychology and pacing, just great with Flair trying so much at the beginning, but Steamboat having an answer for everything. Flair winning the first fall even though Steamboat dominated was smart booking because he made the second fall that much hotter and this was a much longer second fall than in most 2/3 falls matches. Flair got some solid heat and I really liked the run up to the Double Chickenwing. I loved the pacing hey wrestled an excellent 35 minutes, but really kicked into high gear in the last twenty minutes, HUGE chop exchanges, great Steamboat selling and big nearfalls.

 It is an easy ***** match, but it is not perfect. There are some times when there could have been a bit more struggle and the finish stretch which while exciting could have been more efficient and some of the spots lacked consequence. I think it is non-obvious which is better Flair/Taylor 6/1/85 in regards to the best long NWA championship match. I think it is non-obvious whether this or Chi-Town Rumble is better for best Flair/Steamboat. I am going to wait until I see Wrestlewar again before I do any rankings. Regardless, as someone who likes their wrestling to be between 15-25 minutes for a 54 minute match to hold my attention, feel breezy and exciting means it is an all-time great match and it still holds up today.

Pro Wrestling Love vol. 45: Best Japanese Junior Heavyweight Matches 1989-1999 (Jushin Liger, Great Sasuke, Shinjiro Ohtani)

Hey Yo Stud Muffins & Foxy Ladies,

Pro Wrestling Love vol. 44:

The Best of Japanese Juniors 1989-1999

Objective:  Break up the Greatest Match Ever Project (hosted at http://gweproject.freeforums.net/) into more manageable chunks to help me build my Top 100 List for the project.

Motivation: Contribute to the discussion around these matches to enrich my own understanding of pro wrestling and give a fresh perspective for old matches and even hopefully discover great pro wrestling matches that have been hidden by the sands of time.

Subject: This forty-fourth volume of Pro Wrestling Love is the beginning of the Top 12 countdown of the best matches to feature the Japanese Junior Heavyweights (New Japan, WAR, Michinoku Pro and BattlArts) from 1989-1999. The rise of Japanese Junior Heavyweights coincided when Keiichi Yamada took on the mantle of his famous alter-ego, Jushin “Thunder” Liger in 1989. New Japan Pro Wrestling had the most prestigious and active junior heavyweight scene with Jushin Liger as the centerpiece. Throughout the 90s, Liger would be on an endless quest for his rival, the Lex Luthor to his Superman. In the early 90s, he would face Naoki Sano and Pegasus Kid. In parallel, Gran Hamada was developing the lucharesu (portmanteau of Puroresu & Lucha Libre) which would develop into the Michinoku Pro wrestling promotion. Also, Genichiro Tenryu’s WAR promotion would build his Junior Heavyweight division around Ultimo Dragon. During the New Japan vs WAR feud allowed Liger to look outside New Japan for his archrival and he would find a superstar equal in Ultimo Dragon (not an equal in workrate). In the mid-90s, Liger would take on New Japan’s attitude of collaboration working on Super J Cup and J-Crown tournament which afforded Great Sasuke the opportunity to rise to the level of Liger and Dragon. As the 90s kept progressing, the New Japan talent started to catch up with Liger in the form of Shinjiro Otani and Koji Kanemoto. No one ever reached the heights of Liger as a superstar or in-ring talent, but the gap was closed. I need to do more research but I believe due to a change to the TV programming of New Japan in the late 90s, the Japanese Juniors time was cut and the status dropped and by the year 2000 they became a non-factor in the Japanese Match of the Year picture. You can revisit past Pro Wrestling Love Volumes at ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com. You can check out the full version of these reviews in ProWrestlingOnly.com by going to the forums and finding the folders associated with the date of the match.

Contact Info: @superstarsleeze on Twitter, Instagram & ProWrestlingOnly.com.

The Five Masked Marvels of the Puroresu Junior Heavyweight Scene of 1990s

#6. IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Jushin Liger vs Koji Kanemoto - NJPW 2/16/97

Besides the 2009 Hayato match, I'm hard pressed to think of a better Kanemoto match or performance. He came to play in this match. You really felt that he was out to assert himself as the man even as Ohtani failed just a week before to fell the Man, the Myth, Legend, Jushin The Thunder Liger. I love how when Kanemoto gets Liger up on the ropes right the beginning there are no mind games, he just chops the hell out of him. Liger tries to match Kanemoto's early and Kanemoto just overwhelms him. Kanemoto proceeds to beat the living shit out of Liger. He is just rifling every part of Liger's body with sick, deadly kicks. If you love kicks, this match is for you as Kanemoto is absolutely on fire here. I just love that intensity and energy he is bringing. He is mostly focusing on the legs of Liger. Liger tries powdering after a cross armbreaker (no setup needed for that move, it is a match ender if applied), but he is met with more kicks. This is a thrashing but in a really compelling way. It feels like a team that had been living in the shadow of a better team for years and was just breaking free here. It was not just the kicks, it was how he pounced on him and started hammering Liger with fists. It was a Merciless Onslaught. I love Kanemoto giving him the finger in the figure-4! After the figure-4, I was like I feel like this needs a hope spot or they run the risk of going overboarding. Right on cue, Kanemoto is punching Liger in the corner and Liger throws him down with a powerbomb. Kanemoto roars back, but he is starting to get cocky. Notice how his energy level comes down and wants to humiliate Liger. He pins him with one hand. He grabs him by the horn. He is letting that chip on his shoulder get the best of him. Liger is really great selling all this. You really feel like he has nothing to give in this match.

Kanemoto goes for the moonsault. Liger moves. Kanemoto lands on feet. SHOTEI~! That was the mutha of all palm strikes. You can feel the relief in Liger's body as he hits and sort of exhales with his entire body. Like FINALLY I can catch my breath. Now lets got to work. He starts smacking Kanemoto around, Kanemoto charges dropkick to the knee. FIGURE-4! Great idea gives him a chance to breathe and really hurt Kanemoto. Liger is pissed and starts slapping Kanemoto. Kanemoto was an asshole this whole time. Kanemoto has a lot left in the tank and makes the ropes. LIGER THROWS Kanemoto down. Kanemoto gives Liger some serious side eye as he realizes he is squandering his lead. This is how the Falcons must have felt. The GOAT is telling him, Daddy's Home! Kanemoto tries to get something going on outside, but eats a Kappo Kick to the head and then a BRAINBUSTER ON THE CEMENT!

Exactly what Liger needed, head shots. Kanemoto sells this beautifully falling before he gets into the ring. The first misstep in my opinion was the belly to belly by Kanemoto into his twisting senton. He is selling the damage well. I think a Liger mistake would have made more sense to set this pass up. Liger clotheslines out of the corner. Basically, Liger is taking command of the match. Kanemoto is getting flurries now, but Liger feels like a runaway freight train. SUPER BRAINBUSTER!!! 1-2-NO! Great first nearfall!!! Liger is beside himself asking the ref is that really two. Liger keeps working. Top Rope Frankensteiner. Insane German suplex bump by Kanemoto. Liger is pouring it on. La Magistral Cradle. Kanemoto pops out at two, exclaiming two with two fingers. He cant believe it himself that he kicked out. He is exasperated. Diving Headbutt, NO FEET TO THE FACE! Great transition! This feels like Kanemoto's last chance. Great powerbomb by him! He signals to the crowd for Tiger Suplex. He throws him too far. He cant hold him!!! Big mistake? He hits the moonsault! Gets two! He does what any smart person would do. He tries again, but crashes and burns. He hurt his knee. They get up and slap exchange and SHOTEI~! RUNNING LIGER BOMB!!!! RUNNING SHOTEI!!! Liger's selling is off the charts right now! SUPER BRAINBUSTER!!!!! 1-2-3!

Incredible match, one of the best Juniors matches ever. The opening onslaught by Kanemoto is ferocious and you have no idea how Liger will make his comeback. It really comes down to the moonsault in this match. Kanemoto was ready to put Liger away and even though he landed on his feet he left himself open to SHOTEI~! The real key of this match is Liger's selling and body language. You can feel that he felt he was on the brink of defeat throughout the match. That game-changing Shotei felt like a big deal because Liger sold it like a big deal. After that Kanemoto put up a fight, but you noticed he was having a lot of trouble sustaining offense. He was getting stuff in because Liger was weakened, but there is a reason Liger is the GOAT because he can turn defense into offense like that. (I snapped my fingers, but you reading this could not hear that). Kanemoto sold pretty well himself. I loved that two out of La Magistral. It felt like he was trying to convince himself he still had a chance. I loved how he did get one more chance by a missed move the diving headbutt to the feet. That's the key. Liger is making that comeback, but he still has to win and when he eats the feet. Oh shit, maybe it is too little too late. Tiger Suplex-Moonsault is such a money false finish. Going for the moonsault was the absolute right call, but Liger moved. It really became who could win that strike exchange. The Shotei took it home for Liger. Running Liger Bomb, Running Shotei (the way Liger was running trying to exhort himself to finish the job) and Super Brainbuster to finish. Just scintillating. I know that Ohtani match is considered the crown jewel (I have seen it before and loved it), but damn if this was not expertly laid out and executed.

#5. IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Jushin Liger vs Shinjiro Ohtani - NJPW 2/9/97

Jushin Liger's take on King's Road. Otani opens as characteristic with his overly dramatic handshake. Austin says you can predict how good a match will be based on the lock up. Well that's a ***** lock up. Great drive in the legs. I have seen this match twice before loved it both times. To call this Mitsuharu Liger vs Shinjiro Kobashi sounds insulting, but it feels that way. It is a bit inaccurate. Ohtani sort of combines the prickly wrestling style of Kawada with this histrionics of Kobashi. Ohtani challenges Liger to come off the ropes and hits a spin kick. He shows some high Wrestling IQ there, but applauds himself instead of following up. Liger dropkicks the knee and zeros in on the leg with his classic inverted deathlock. Another thing separates this match from King's Road is the commitment to double limb psychology and mat works for the first half of the match. The match is also nasty. Liger is repeatedly kneedropping the bad leg and putting boot on the face of Ohtani in the corner. Ohtani fires up in the corner and he bootscrapes Liger. There is definitely a lot of heat here. Liger tries to go back to the knee to quell this rally, but Ohtani fires back with some head rocking shots. Then much like Misawa's mythical elbow, Liger's Shotei bails him out of trouble as he unloads with palm strikes from both wings as Ohtani is trapped in the corner. With Ohtani reeling, Liger goes back to the knee. Ohtani escapes and rubs his forearm bone in the face and grabs a top wristlock then begins to zero in on the left arm of Liger. Why? That Shotei! A very similar strategy that many of Misawa's opponents would use to neutralize the vaunted Emerald Elbow.  

This is a good change of pace from the perfunctory matwork that usually fills time at the beginning of New Japan matches each man is working a limb with strong selling from both men. Liger is a really expressive seller both verbally and physically even though he is masked. There is one toehold that Ohtani applies with his knee across the ankle, my God you think Liger was having acid poured on it. Great stuff! This allows Ohtani take Liger back down with an armbar. Ohtani cross-armbreaker! Liger gets the ropes immediately but continues the verbal selling as Ohtani would relinquish the hold. Ohanti is standing on the face and throat of Liger. I like how chippy this is. Ohtani throws him in the corner. He crowds him and bullies him. He is just hitting him with these big open handed blows. He is trying to make a statement. Those nasty bootscrapes in the corner, but no running facewash instead of giving Liger one moment to breathe while running, he brings out and drops him with a Single Arm DDT. Wise move. He wants the Cross Armbreaker, but settles for snapping it over his shoulder and Liger sells this like a million bucks. 

I think my one criticism of this match as I am watching it for a second time today is the lack of escalation and big time transitions to make this feel really epic. Ohtani's arm work is really tight and fierce and he is adding in good prickly work, but there is not a sense that he is building to a big arm submission. Liger for his part sells wicked well and he goes back to the leg enough for his hope spots to tie back to the beginning. He wrenches in some toeholds as the man fighting underneath I think he does his job expertly.  When Ohtani applies the Crossface it does not feel like a nearfall, but just another hold even though it is tight same goes for the noogie to the arm. All great work, but does not feel huge. 

When I was watching earlier today, I knew around the 15 minute time call, they were going to start busting out the bombs. There were no highspots in the first 15 minutes. Liger starts nailing Shoteis in the corner (great fighting through the pain selling), Kappo Kick (instead of the Shotei he hits the Kappo Kick) and then the trademark Superman Dive from the top rope to the floor and then the powerbomb on the floor. The Powerbombs (Ohtani hits one too) on the floor and the whip to railing feels very All Japan. Liger swatting Ohtani out of the way of a springboard dropkick feels All Japan too, but the immediate La Magistral cradle feels more Juniorish and gives it a hybrid vibe. I like them trading nearfall cradles here.  Liger hits a Frankensteiner but Ohtani rolls through. Liger goes for the German, but Ohtani lands on his feet. Still too early and Ohtani immediately pounces with a spinning heel kick. The best sequence of the match so far. It feels sudden and unpredictable. I like how Ohtani hits a snap German suplex right afterwards. He didnt go for the release. He is not taking any chances. Here comes those Ohtani histrionics as he is psyching himself up and makes the cardinal mistake of Irish Whipping your opponent. He gave Liger free space and Liger NAILS a lariat, but with the bad arm. Great selling by Liger as he cant capitalize. Liger hits his first big bomb a Ligerbomb for two and Ohtani is definitely on Weird Street as Kal Rudman would say. Ohtani has a great sell of this on the apron as Liger pulls him in. Liger wants the brainbuster, but Ohtani struggles against. The Suplex Struggle is a trademark All Japan spot. Ohtani floats over and it is another snap German. Loving his take on the German. He is lying in wait. Liger makes it to his feet BANG! Springboard Dropkick to the back. Premature celebration. Ohtani thinks he has it in the bag. Dragon Suplex 1-2-NO! Here come the waterworks! Ohtani is beside himself. Ohtani still calling out to the crowd. He wants another Dragon Suplex, but Liger scrambles for the ropes. Ohtani trying to fight, but Liger breaks free. SHOTEI~! Ohtani takes a wicked bump for this! 1-2-NO! Big time nearfall! Liger hits two Fisherman Busters, would have liked to seen more struggle there as Ohtani is ragdolling. On the third bomb, a Brainbuster, Ohtani reverses his weight. Ohtani puts Liger on the top, which is dumb never give your opponent the high ground. He tries desperately to scale the ropes but three times Liger knocks him down. On the fourth try, he hits a barrage of headbutts and a Frankensteiner. Well fuck me, it worked out for the little bastard, but at what cost. SPRINGBOARD HEEL KICK! 1-2-NO! Ohtani had a weird reaction to this. He acted like he won, but he clearly didnt. He collapses. He just keeps covering Liger. He is in denial. Ohtani hit him with his best shots and he cant beat the Beast God. Liger collapses trying to get up. Ohtani goes for another Dragon Suplex, but Liger breaks free...SHOTEI~! Ohtani sticks his chin out. Now they are channeling Choshu/Hashimoto. Liger hits the MUTHA OF ALL SHOTEI! 1-2-3! Jushin Thunder Liger retains!

The finishing stretch is truly great one of the best Liger has ever crafted in his matches. Ohtani gets TWO big time runs late and both times you feel like he has a really strong shot to dethrone the Ace. Liger uses the Shotei twice to break free from the Dragon Suplex and turn it back to his favor. The first Ohtani transition landing on his feet on a release German followed by a spinning heel kick was genius. The second one did not feel earned or big. The beginning of the match I really liked and it made a lot of sense. Ohtani going after the arm to prevent the Shotei was smart and Liger going after the legs of Ohtani who uses two springboard moves also smart. Let's be honest if we JIP to Liger splashing off the top rope to the floor do we need to the know the beginning of the match. I say not really besides some arm wringing by Liger it is not that important. This is a small nitpicky complaint because I thought transitioned well between the two and the work was high end. I thought they do a strong narrative of the extremely talented, but immature upstart challenger against the veteran champion with the great equalizer (the Shotei) incredibly well. After much deliberation, I am going to say it falls just shy of ***** for me, ****3/4, still I think this will make my Top 100 matches of all time. 

#4.UWA Jr Light Heavyweight Champion El Samurai vs Shinjiro Ohtani - NJPW 1/21/96

Nasty little fucking match. There's a segment where Sammy is clawing at Ohtani's bloody nose to avoid a legbar and then minutes later Ohtani is biting Sammy's leg to avoid a cross-armbreaker. Nasty little fucking match. Mr. Ohtani is straight cash money in this. He would be the biggest meme in the wrestling world if he existed today. This disapproving look he gives when his son squanders his advantage and his arm dangling off the apron is so amazing. At the end of the match, just looks away at yet another loss for Shinjiro when he really had the match at multiple points.

The hook of the match is the incredible dueling limb psychology and the fierceness of the grappling.

The matwork in this is so intense and so detailed. Samurai crossfacing Ohtani to try to release a toehold, but when Ohtani starts to grind his elbow into the knee Sammy actually grabs his arm and tries to apply a cobra clutch to stop it. It really was magnificent. Ohtani was using his joints to create lots of pain in the ankle and knee of Samurai. When Samurai tries to counter, Ohtani gets really revved up. You can feel how bad he wants this. Samurai gets some hope spots here and there, but this Ohtani's match to lose. Samurai tries to go after the arm, but Ohtani is able to return back to leg. However, in the process of trying to submit Samurai is able to gain wrist control and yank Ohtani down hard into a double wristlock (kimura). He tries to convert this into a cross armbreaker, Ohtani flays so hard onto his stomach he gives himself a bloody nose. Nasty little fucking match. Samurai is relentless on the arm while it is dangling on the apron. Cue the first image of Mr. Ohtani shaking his head, "What are we going to do with you, Shinjiro".

Samurai creates some opportunities for himself to fly. I agree that the number one complaint of this match that the selling while on offense does lead something to be desired. Ohtani is able to avoid Samurai and hit a dropkick to outside. Samurai thinks he avoids the slingshot, but Ohtani hits a great dropkick from the apron that sends Samurai swinging on the steel gate. Nasty little fucking match.

Ohtani uses more typical pro wrestling attack on the knee (seat drop, driving knee into the mat). He applies a kneebar. Loved the struggle over Samurai hitting a piledriver and then immediately going for the cross armbreaker. He has a game plan and everything is working towards that goal. The struggle over every hold makes this match the classic that it is. I love rolling double wristlock takedowns and Samurai has a beauty in this one. Ohtani's comeback begins by grabbing Samurai's head and hitting repeated heabutts! Nasty little fucking match. There are some issues I have with transitions mostly from Samurai like hitting the powerbomb out of nowhere. I did love again the diving headbutt right into the cross armbreaker. Everything is about the coross armbreaker so I loved it.

I have watched this match before like five years ago and loved it. I remember the dueling limb psychology, but there was only spot that really stuck with me. Ohtani's German and Samurai's immediate counter from the bridge into a double wristlock in one fluid match. MARK OUT CITY! The tension on the that submission was unreal. I loved Ohtani's big succession of three springboard dropkicks to the knee. Before AJ Styles, there was Shinjiro Ohtani. Ohtani goes for legbar, but it is back to the ropes. Ohtani cant believer, he is selling his arm a little. He is trying to fire himself up. Tries to hoist him up in Dragon Suplex, but when Sammy reverses he rolls through into a legbar. Nice! I love the facewashes on the apron. Nasty little fucking match.

Now it is Samurai with the nasty headbutts. He totally WIPES OHTANI OUT with a springboard dropkick to the back. Ohtani's father disapproves greatly. The camera misses how Ohtani takes out Samurai's knee. Springboard dropkick to the back of the head! He doesn't cover! Is this a mistake? DRAGON SUPLEX! 1-2-NO!!!! OHTANI IS INCREDULOUS! Total exasperation. He lifts Samurai up on the top rope. Never give your opponent the high ground! Headbutts and a tornado DDT follow. Big mistake!

Sammy finally gets that armbreaker and then as Ohtani is reaching for the arm to picks himself up Sammy comes crashing down on the arm with a kneedrop!!! MARK OUT CITY!!! CROSS ARMBREAKER TAP OUT! Ohtani's Dad, "Whose child is that?"

Perhaps the greatest finish of all time! I loved that! From a layout, commitment to strategy, escalation, offensive psychology, and struggle perspectives, the match is absolutely perfect. I just cant give it the full monty too many selling issues on offense and the transitions should have been tighter. The struggle was just off the charts. Everything was contested and earned. Samurai's commitment to applying double wristlocks and cross armbreakers out of any situation was great. Ohtani's urgency down the stretch was awesome, you cant help but get invested in who is going to win. Both were great mixing in their bombs with their submission attempts. The finish stretch with Ohtani's combo of Sprinboard dropkick/dragon suplex failing. Only to have Ohtani reach out for the ropes for salvation to have Samurai crash down with all his weight on the exposed bad arm and in a flash Ohtani is tapping out to a cross armbreaker. Nasty little fucking match. 

#3. Great Sasuke, Super Delphin, Gran Hamada, Gran Naniwa, Masato Yakushiji vs 

Kaientai DX (Dick Togo, MENS Teioh, Shiryu, Taka Michinoku, Sho Funaki)

Michinoku Pro 12/16/96

Yakushiji is back! They sure saved the best for last. It is every awesome Michinoku Pro sequence done to perfection. I liked the addition of hate here. Taka and Hamada have a chippy exchange at the outset. Then Sasuke and Taka Michinoku just go at it. Sasuke ends up throwing Taka into the crowd and wiping out a bunch of chairs. Speaking of the crowd, they were electric popping for everything! I love things where earned this bout. Like Naniwa does his crabwalk and Taka dropkicks him out of the sky so Sasuke comes in and puts that Taka prick down and Naniwa hits his crabwalk. They earned that. The first half is just nothing fast-paced, full throttle action that does not let up. If you are going to do a spotfest then go balls to the wall like these guys! To me the match kicks into overdrive during the Sasuke heat segment. It is like all the other great Sasuke heat segment but they add in a CHAIRSHOT TO THE SKULL! It was bonkers! Spike Piledriver & Shieldbomb don't do it. Togo hits a massive German suplex on Yakushiji. Yakushiji tags out to Super Delphin who is a house of fire! Sasuke quebrada on Kaientai. It is breaking loose in Tulsa, BABY! They do that excellent chair throwing sequence from Inoki Festival. This time Yakushiji does not eat the pin but instead hits a dive to the outside. Crazy finish sees Gran Hamada winning the match with hurricanarana on Shiryu! MASSIVE POP! This crowd was raucous the whole time but they popped HUGE for the finish. It is the Greatest Hits of Michinoku Pro plus more hatred plus an insane crowd plus the babyfaces win = best Michinoku Pro match ever! 

#2. IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Jushin Liger vs Naoki Sano - NJPW 8/10/89

Jushin Liger's magnificent selling has been much discussed and raises this match to all time classic status. I loved the first match so much with Liger beating the shit out of Sano only for Sano to kick his head off then the double knockout finish. Here Sano rips off Liger's arm and beats him with it.

The beginning of the match with them just kicking each other in the head during lock ups outta nowhere was bitchin. Sano reverse thrust kick gives him his first opportunity at the left arm and Liger selling the hell out of it. Liger makes ropes. Liger is wearing shoulder pads...was he injured in an intervening tag match?

Liger hits a kappo kick but Sano makes it back to the arm. The heat segment is glorious. Love the fake out Irish whip into just snapping his arm down or Ligers prone selling with his dead arm limp by his side.

The match changes complexion when Sano hurls his body to the outside but smacks his head against the concrete busting himself open. Sano abandoned strategy and paid for it. Young dude in a championship match got to leave it out on the table.

Liger's broken wing selling is great his offense of kicking Sano straight in the Open wound. I don't think that gets discussed enough is that he matches violence with violence. Loved the pile drivers!

Liger makes the cardinal mistake of putting his opponent On the top rope. Never let your opponent have the high ground. Sano hits a missile drop kick and hits that splash to outside. Great transition. Finish is double hot. The struggle over the German duplex ending in a Fujiwara armbar. Ligers hope spots were great. Loved the trio of armbar, German and super back duplex (play off the double KO spot). Great finish!

Heated, energetic, violent, sublime selling blood from Sano and a raging climax. Maybe a hotter transition back to Sano is keeping this from the full Monty. Just doesn't feel that level but goddamn this is just insanely great pro wrestling.

#1. IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Jushin Liger vs Great Sasuke - NJPW 7/8/94

Absolute BANGER! Sasuke dropkicks Liger in the middle of Liger's introduction and the match never lets up from there. This is the best extended sprint of all time. Sasuke was just hurling his body at Liger with reckless abandon trying to prove that the Super J Cup was not a fluke. The dive over the top looks so out of control. Liger is totally overwhelmed. What makes this match so much better than Super J Cup is that this is not a squash-banana peel match. It is an organic match where both men are fighting back. Even though Sasuke is in control of the majority of the match, he has to earn his offense. Liger is still throwing out Shotei and Kappo Kicks. It is not a ragdoll match where Liger is just letting himself get thrown around. I really liked that they replaced the opening New Japan matwork with Sasuke trying pugnaciously to go for the cross armbreaker. I do wish they stuck with it a little longer because it was a good touchstone, but the match did not suffer. Liger sold the arm for a while and then it gradually got better. The Lucharesu sequences came off incredible in this match. A lot of the time they feel rote or artificial. Like it is stage blocking in a musical. Here things came out of nowhere. Sasuke was going for a fancy move and Liger would just nail him with a Kappo Kick and then follow it up with Somersault Plancha. Sasuke's back handspring elbow comes off as sudden because it was Liger that set it up and the Asai Moonsault looked great. If you define workrate as the spots per minute, then this match has a very high workrate. Normally, I would decrying that, but like I said what makes this match work is that the spots are sudden, set up organically and there a lot of counters and missed moves. Sasuke BIG classic dive to outside looked great and the missile dropkick was a great nearfall and the Crucifix Powerbomb was even better. Strong escalation from the mat to dives to the outside, to bombs in the ring. Sasuke misses the top rope reverse sidesault. It is important to me that there are missed moves. I really liked that Sasuke still initiated the next sequence going for the victory roll, but it was Liger that tossed him off and led to a massive Liger release German to reassert himself. I loved that sequence. Liger really felt like a power wrestler in this match against a flyer with the big strikes and throws. It is the Tiger Mask combo (Tombstone/Diving Headbutt), but thats only two. Top Rope Frankensteiner, but it is a cocky cover and that almost costs Liger again as Sasuke sunset flips him . It was hubris that cost him the Super J match. Will his ego be his downfall again? Liger eats knees on the splash and Sasuke gets an inside cradle. This is a great play off the Super J Cup finish with lots of roll ups that make Sasuke look like he can steal one as Liger as established himself on top. Sasuke wants to go upstairs, but Liger meets him and punches him in the gut. AVALANCHE BRAINBUSTER! Liger keeps both hands on Sasuke's arm during the lateral press and does not count along to get the 1-2-3! Notice in the two pinfall covers before Liger took one hand off to count along with the ref. That's ego. Liger was getting worried and he made sure to keep his hands down to take no chances. Details like that make Liger the Juniors GOAT. 

I said all I needed to right at the beginning. THIS IS A BANGER! It is full throttle, pedal to the metal pro wrestling. However, it has meaningful momentum shifts, the moves have consequence and there was a narrative. Yeah it was that damn good.