Pro Wrestling Love vol. 39: Best of NWA 1983-1987 (Ric Flair, Roddy Piper, Barry Windham)

Hey Yo Stud Muffins & Foxy Ladies,

Pro Wrestling Love vol. 39:

The Best of National Wrestling Alliance 1983-1987

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 thirty-ninth volume of Pro Wrestling Love is the conclusion of the Top 12 countdown of the best matches to take place in National Wrestling Alliance, which includes Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling/Jim Crockett Promotions, Championship Wrestling from Florida, Georgia Championship Wrestling, Central States Wrestling, St. Louis Wrestling Club and Polynesian Pacific Pro Wrestling between 1978-1983. The bulk of the matches I watched from this era comes of course from Jim Crockett Promotions which is born out of Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling. The year 1983 makes sense for a starting point both from a historical perspective as that was the year of the big Final Conflict show and the first Starrcade show. It was the year that Jim Crockett and Carolinas clearly became the dominant force in the NWA. Prior to that year, Georgia and Florida were bigger territories and St. Louis & Kansas City due to Sam Muchnick and Harley Race remained major players. In 1983, Ric Flair cemented this place as The Man when he beat Harley Race at Starrcade and then by the end of 1984, the biggest star of the NWA, “The American Dream” Dusty Rhodes came to Crockett full time shifting the balance of power from Florida to the Carolinas permanently. There is an interesting history as Vince McMahon bought out Georgia Championship Wrestling in 1984 but after a year of trying abandoned Southern expansion plans. That’s when Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling took up shop in Atlanta and on TBS. That’s a winning hand, Atlanta, TBS, Ric Flair and Dusty Rhodes. From 1984-1987, Jim Crockett would expand by acquisition purchasing Central States, Florida and Mid-South. Thus that’s why 1987 is a great end point by 1987 Crockett had basically purchased the entire NWA and the once travelling NWA Champion became a homesteader in their promotion. By the end of 1988 due to excessive spending, Crockett was forced to sell to Turner and Dusty was ousted as the booker. That makes 1988 a great year to start the follow up to this piece. 1983 is also a great place to start as that the year when footage from Crockett and Company is most prevalent. I did not watch enough of the other territories to warrant their own blog post, but since most the matches involve NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair I thought they fit in nicely. You will see Georgia, Florida and Hawaii all represented on this list.  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.

Greatest Match Ever?

Top Six Matches of National Wrestling Alliance 1983-1987

#6. NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair vs Barry Windham – CWF 2/14/86

Ric Flair coming out to Easy Lover is so iconic. Probably the most famous match out of Florida since I dont believe we have much of Florida from its Golden Age. 

First Half: To me what makes this match special is Barry Windham's selling. Without a doubt, this is a Ric Flair Championship formula match. We see Windham outwrestle Flair early. He bests him tests of strength, amateur grappling and countering holds. Windham ends up with a nasty mat burn or bruise somehow. Flair has a weird accident running the ropes where his head snaps against the top rope. Flair tries to use motion and chops to take control, but still nothing. Windham does not fall for being lured into the corner. Windham is willing to punch Flair lights out. Windham gets a nice series of moves: Boston Crab, Suplex and Abdominal Stretch. He runs into a knee charging into the corner. It was here I was most impressed with Windham as his selling was superb. I liked that Flair did not immediately take over. He went for a suplex but Windham fell on top of him because Flair was still not strong enough to carry his weight. Flair throws him out and Windham takes a hard bump on the ring steps. I am sure Flair forgot those were there. Big chop and Windham is busted open when Flair slams him into the guardrail. Flair is looking good in control. He misses the kneedrop and Windham slaps on the figure-4. Flair is so good at selling the figure-4. Flair makes the ropes but Windham starts pounding away with rights. The other dimension Windham adds to this match is that he is a good puncher too. Windham misses a dropkick and Flair is able to back over. He locks in a Figure-4 headlock to recuperate and make Windham carry his weight. Windham escapes out the back. So far this is definitely a classic Ric Flair title defense and a contender for Match of the Year, but I have not seen anything that says this is Top 100 of all time material yet.

Second Half: Watching more, I think what Windham brings besides A+ selling is the ability to add brutality, violence and a sense of attrition to the Flair Championship formula. Steamboat thrives on energy and speed to generate heat and buzz. Windham is more about punching Flair hard in the head and ramming Flair into the post to draw blood. I like how Flair was so committed to the piledriver he gets the first one for two. He desperately wants to get back to it, but Windham keeps countering. Lariat and now Windham regains control. Like I said the pace does not pick up, but the violence does as it is all fists and blood. Flair gets a desperation inverted atomic drop where Windham fires off a punch before collapsing to the mat in a heap. Great selljob. Flair uses the sleeper to cement his advantage. Windham escapes that only to eat a suplex. Flair goes for the leg. Figure-4! Windham is really putting on a selling clinic. He turns it over. The last ten minutes is something truly special. I think the moment that captures the match is when Windham misses his kneedrop. The pain and agony is etched on his face while Flair who escaped is hobbling over. It has been a true war of attrition. I love Flair's double stomp. Why did he ever stop doing that move. The ref gets bumped which allows Flair to chuck Windham over the top rope. Is there anyone better at taking that bump than Windham? I dont think so! He just melts across the apron and it looks painful as hell, but it never hurts him. BW will not be denied! MISSILE DROPKICK! No ref, bullshit! They run through some great Windham nearfalls: Sleeper, Lariat and floatover suplex. I was biting on everything, really hot series of neafalls. Windham goes for another lariat, but Flair ducks and comes back off the ropes and it is the crossbody over the top rope. They take turns yanking the other from the apron and it triggers the double countout. 

Stone cold classic. Just pitch perfect Championship Wrestling. Flair's formula works and it is perfectly suited for Windham who is so damn athletic. Like I said Windham was selling great and I liked the feel of this match. To me this falls short of those classic Flair Championship matches against Steamboat, Kerry Von Erich & Terry Taylor. It has a shot at the Top 100, but it is on the bubble.

#5. NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair vs Kerry Von Erich – Hawaii 10/12/85

Flair vs Kerry is probably my favorite US feud of all time. I have never seen these two have a bad match. This match does have a bit of rep and at the same time is overlooked because it happens in Hawaii as opposed to one of the major territories of the time. The contenders in my opinion for the greatest Flair vs Kerry match is the WCCW August 1982 match and the Watt Mid-South match from April of 1985. I have seen this before as it has been on Youtube for a long time. It is currently in five parts please let me know if there is a more complete version out there but I suspect because this is filmed for TV there will just be chunks that we will never have. 

Pretty routine Flair vs Kerry opening. I have to say I really liked how Flair incorporated amateur wrestling into his matches in 1985. You see the same work with Terry Taylor in 1985. Kerry is able to escape when Flair tries to ride with him, but when Kerry takes Flair down Flair cant escape and is forced to get the ropes. Then he gets pissed and loses a shoving war. It is little stuff like that that make Flair so good. He is so petty that he gets upset after being shown up one time. Kerry looks like a million bucks with his fists cocked and ready to go. From there we get some top wristlock tests of strength that Kerry wins. Kerry works an armbar and a double wristlock as Flair hollers and tries to maneuver out, but to no avail. Kerry moves into the side headlock. They cut a tremendous pace for a sixty minute Broadway. Flair tries crowding in the corner. He seems to make some in roads with his heavy hands. Anyone who has watch a lot of vintage Flair knows he likes to hurl his opponent to the outside. This has the double effect of making his opponent take a nasty fall to the concrete and give himself some time to recuperate. Here we see Kerry land on his feet and immediately jump back in the ring. Flair tries to take the offense right to Kerry but in all the commotion ends up in a beautiful Military Press Slam and now it is Flair with powder. I love that symmetry. There is some really good stand up exchanges here and Kerry does get an early nearfall off a discus punch. Kerry works a front chancery and it is very entertaining with Flair struggling hard against it and them both doing interesting work. We get to around the halfway mark according to the announcers (who are probably an unreliable source) when Kerry misses a dropkick and maybe pulls a muscle in his abdomen. Flair goes to work punting the challenger. Kerry is on point here with his selling really good. If you love crazed Flair, this is good stuff. After getting his ass kicked, he has snapped and is just straight choking Kerry by throttling his throat.  

Flair begins a King of Mountain sequence. This is a heavy Flair heat segment. Just big, thunderous shots. The apron work is really good. The ref breaks it up and this affords Kerry the opportunity to shouldertackle and go for the Sunset Flip, good hope spot. Kerry lands some punches, but Flair fights through it. Flair is desperate and goes off the ropes and Kerry applies the IRON CLAW to the stomach. Flair should not have given his man that much space. An assuredly fatal mistake if he had not raked the eyes. Kerry sells this so well. This is why wrestling in the 1980s is so good because the eye rake feels like such a big deal. He uses it to escape certain defeat and Kerry sells by writhing in pain. Flair goes to the sleeper, but cant finish his man off. Of course, Kerry applies his own sleeper. Flair sells the sleeper so well fading right next to the ropes with his fingertips grazing the ropes. Kerry goes for the big Kevin-esque splash but eats knees. Flair hits a nice short knee as a follow up to the midsection, but Kerry re-applies the sleeper. This time Flair hits a back suplex and both men are out. Flair misses his Flair Flip in the corner and comes crashing back to the mat. That was gnarly. The second time Kerry whips him he clear the top turnbuckle but tumbles to the floor also gnarly. Flair staggered re-enters the ring and Kerry applies the IRON CLAW~! TO THE HEAD! Wait! He does not have it fully applied. Flair short knee and chops Kerry down. 

Flair goes for his patented kneedrop but Kerry moves and Flair hurts his knee on the move. FIGURE-4! I love the announcer marking out saying he has never seen this before. Either he is a great liar or he is never watched a Flair match before. Kerry is relentless getting the hold twice, but on the second time Flair rakes the eyes. This time Flair is too hurt to press his advantage.

IRON CLAW TO THE KNEE!!! Ok, I am marking out for that too, Dunbar! (Dunbar is the name of one of the announcers. How do I know this? Because the other announcer must have said "Dunbar" 8 million times during this match)

Kerry drags Flair to the post and wraps his knee around the post. This is excellent! Kerry is working the leg, but misses an elbow drop to the knee. Then he misses a kneedrop to the head. Kerry sells this like death. The next two minutes is incredible. They do a great job selling their respective knee injuries as Flair starts to mount his comeback while hobbling. I like how Flair just moves a step back and lets Kerry miss a dropkick before nailing a PILEDRIVER for two! Back from the commercial, they stop selling the knee injuries, which bums me out, but they are still selling attrition and exhaustion. Kerry gets a series of nearfalls as hope spots as Flair is working on him heavy. Kerry gets Flair up for a big suplex, but only gets two. Here comes the Grand Finale, Flair ballshot, Flair press slam off the top, big bump over the top rope by Flair off a standing dropkick, Flair Flip -> IRON CLAW which popped me huge! The last two minutes of the clock is spent wondering if Flair can last in the Claw and of course he can, but boy oh boy did Kerry come oh so close to recapturing the NWA Championship.

Definitely up there with the two other classic Flair/Kerry matches I mentioned. Some really great selling by both men, top notch all the way around. Very exciting, breezy ~40 minutes that we see. The majority of the match was Kerry and you dont think of Kerry as someone with a lot of offense to fill this amount of time, but he does a great job mixing in some big nearfalls and the Claw teases. Flair is a master of just making these long matches thrilling and really putting over his opponent. I think missing as much of the match as we do I cant give it the full five and I think I would put the World Class match over it, but this has some really thrilling moments and it is highly recommended.

#4. NWA US Champion Greg “The Hammer” Valentine vs “Rowdy” Roddy Piper

Starrcade 1983 Dog Collar

NWA Match of the Year, 1983

The 1980s were just a decade of absolute awesome, violent brawls. It is a total lost art. I love how Valentine and Piper put over the danger the match early with the tug of war with the chain and just how cautious they are. I love a barnburner brawl, but there is something about this slow build that adds to the danger element. You add in Gordon & Caudle stressing the injury to Piper's ear. You know at any point Valentine could lash that heavy steel chain against the Hot Rod's vulnerable ear. Piper was in command early and used the chain more effectively. We got some many cool, violent chain spots. Valentine wrapping it around Piper's eyes only to have Piper wrap it around The Hammer's mouth and nose was an awesome visual. We got of course Piper yanking the chain out from under Valentine into his crotch, a good TIMBAH spot and Piper fucking around with Valentine in the corner. One of Piper's counters was just to take the chain hold it taught and pop right into Valentine's face. I let out an audible "Shit!" and grimace every time I see that spot. On the outside, Valentine seeks refuge, but Piper just hurls a chair at him and continues to wail. The ref tries to restrain Piper and BOOM! Chain lashed straight against the ear. What follows is one of the nastiest and gnarliest heel heat segments. Valentine bashes the side of Piper's head into the post and chucks him into chairs. He constantly is brutalizing the ear with the chain, his massive forearms and knees. The infamous blading of the ear takes to a whole new visceral level. There are two times Piper is in his element: loud, obnoxious jackass you want to punch in the face and scrappy underdog. We get the best damn scrappy underdog Piper! I loved when he fires up and just tackles Valentine. He sees his own blood and just fucking loses his shit. The best part about any Valentine match he will take as good as he gives. So he is game for taking all the beating from Piper. Also what is great about the Hammer is he ain't just let you fucking hit him. He is going to fire right back at you with some stiff shots. It was awesome watching this. The suplex struggle and the visual of both men lying on their backs with the chains on their faces was more telling than any words I can write. After all this violent awesomeness, how can I have complaints, I do and they are minor. I have never really like Piper's punches and some of them were clear whiffs. I wished he tightened that shit up. My bigger problem is the finish. It is just too anticlimatic. In the 80s, you can get away with that finish because the crowd is going to pop anytime an over babyface goes over an over heel. It was just Piper yanks Valentine off the second rope in the safest bump of the match, sort of throws the chain around and then just pins with a half-hogtie, just was not that definitive violent ending. What takes Slaughter/Sheik, Duggan/DiBiase, and Mags/Blanchard to that next level is that definitive, satisfactory and memorable violent ending. It is the lack of that ending that gets this knocked down a peg. Up until that finish, it was right there with him in terms of sheer brutality and great hated-filled brawling.

#3. NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair vs Barry Windham – Worldwide 1/20/87

NWA Match of the Year, 1983

BW had the Nature Boy beat the week previous when the Four Horsemen got involved and saved Flair's title. This is the very famous return match that I watched a ton when I was a teenager because I had the Ric Flair DVD set. 

First Twenty Minutes: I am surprised the Florida match is the more heralded match now that I am finally watching them back to back. I thought this one had the better narrative. There are more touchstones like Windham's side headlock and Flair's arm work that gave the action a sense of purpose without losing any the intensity and attrition of the Florida match. Here when Windham outwrestles Flair it is always to get back to that side headlock. Flair tries to chop his way out of trouble and get the party started, but Windham just rallies. He kicks ass and hits a dropkick. Flair has to powder. Windham does a great job of mixing the technical with the fists. I liked that the way Flair was able to take over on Windham was on the outside. He could not best Windham on the inside either via wrestling or striking. He needed the outside and throwing Windham into hard metal objects to take command of the match. That really illustrates that Windham is the better pure wrestler and Flair needed to cheat to get an advantage. At this point, Flair begins his work on the arm and also attacking with some big, meaty chops. I love a strong Flair heat segment. Windham fights back with punches, got to make Flair earn it so Flair trips him with a drop toehold and goes for a half nelson pin with the feet on the ropes. I love the struggle. Each man is making the other work for it.  Windham's selling is just as great as in the Florida match. He sold Flair's punch to the face so well, theres a chop he sells with the spit flying out of his mouth as he collapses and as a said in the Florida match theres nobody better at taking the over the top rope bump. He takes a backflip and then hits the railing. These two have some great stand up battles. Windham re-earns control just by punching his way out of trouble and Flair does a great job selling all this with plenty of Flair Flops and just a general sense of being overwhelmed. Flair takes that wicked shoulder first bump into the top turnbuckle. This is when those two great moments of Barry Windham selling happen. Nice hope spot for Big Barry as he floats over on a suplex and hits a lariat for two. Flair hits trademark back suplex which is his setup for the Figure-4. He uses the ropes, but gets caught. I have liked this so far more than the Florida match. It has the elements of Florida I liked the great Windham selling and the fists, but there feels like there is more progression and more structure.

Last Part: I think what Flair is better at than anyone else is creating a sense of drama and tension through little moves. Flair never has long control segments one way or the other. Everything is broken up by little moves. Some people see this chaos as a lack of psychology. I see it as being far more realistic. If someone is kicking your ass, you are going to throw out a short knee or throw out a desperation punch or chop. It forces the opponent to earn their offense. He also makes sure his babyface never dies. How many times have see see a heat segment go on and on? It does not make the babyface look resilient. It makes the heel look like a choke and even worse the match can look credibility. Flair by always calling for hope spots ensures his babyface never dies and that benefits himself and the match overall. Coming out of the Figure-4, Flair is thinking leg, but Windham keeps fighting back and even gets a sunset flip. So Flair tries to further sap his energy with a sleeper but Windham slips out. Flair keeps pressing, but misses a kneedrop and now Windham works on the leg to set up the Figure-4. Flair creates an atmosphere of excitement because of the unpredictability. Windham has taken a lot of punishment but he is clearly very much in this. The last five minutes is a barrage of Windham nearfalls: missile dropkick, lariats, cradles, backslides, vertical suplex, but he cant muster his patented floatover after execution of the move. Ultimately the time limit expires and Windham comes up short. 

I liked this a lot even moreso than the Florida match. I thought Flair looked strong and needed to use the outside to gain control. I thought there were plenty of great stand up battles between these two and Windham's selling was great. The finish stretch was very compelling and dramatic as Windham raced against the clock to pin Flair's shoulders to the mat. Definitely a US Match of the Year Contender.

#2. NWA US Champion Tully Blanchard vs Magnum TA – Starrcade 1985 I Quit Steel Cage

NWA Match of the Year, 1985

In all my years of fandom, I don't think there is more UN-polarizing match than this one. It is universally praised as a ***** classic and undoubtedly one of the great violent brawls in history. There have been so many words used to describe this masterpiece of hate by so many people. I will try to do the match justice with my words.

What makes this match so special in my opinion are the screams of agony from Tully Blanchard into the microphone and Magnum's guttural roars of pain. It takes this match to a whole new visceral level. The eye gouging by both men is incredible. This is not a violent brawl in the usual fantastical sense of pro wrestling. This looks like what would happen between two men that truly hate each other. The match is one of the few matches where there is a real sense of fear for one of the competitors because of the danger they are in. Tully seemed to be in real danger when Magnum throws his shoulder into the arm and it was cut open. Magnum just loses control at the sight of blood and starts punching it and biting it. Baby Doll's reactions are pitch perfect. She is one of my favorite characters in pro wrestling and I really enjoyed her in this match. Tully claws at the eyes and just lunges at Magnum out of self-preservation. Then begins the mic punches from Tully. Goddamnit, Magnum say I Quit, ok you wont THUMP! Say it! THUMP! Say it! THUMP! One of the most famous sequence in pro wrestling history. Magnum gets into the mic shots too. Tully hits a inverted atomic drop and after a series of mic shots. Tully looks to be in control. Baby Doll chucks in a wooden chair, which Tully infamously shatters. Tully tries to drive a stake into the cut on Magnum's forehead , but he blocks. Magnum jabs the wooden stake into Tully eye and with blood pouring down his face and wails of indescribable pain Tully finally says YESSSSSSS! I love the ending of the match with Tully cowering in the corner of the cage looking like a pathetic, shivering man from the triumphant Magnum who slings the belt over the shoulder. *****

So greatest brawl of all time or greatest brawl of all time? Not so fast my friend! Slaughter/Sheik and Duggan/DiBiase are right there with this. I think Duggan is just as much as wild man in the cage and I think DiBiase does even better job selling that he is in there with a lunatic. It is more fantastical in its execution, but it is just as sweet in its payoff. Slaughter/Sheik has the advantage of not having the cage in my opinion which allows for Slaughter to bump huge and there is a more natural progression of shine-heat-comeback that takes you on a ride you can naturally go with and is so exciting. Magnum/Tully is so violent and so jarring. I think it is really cool how all three matches are paid off with a unique weapon. For Duggan/DiBiase it is the coal miner's glove, Slaughter/Sheik it is the boot and Magnum/Tully it is the wooden stake. When I think the matches are so close, things like context and the surrounding angle seems like it could break the tie. The DiBiase/Duggan angle is one of the all time great angles with DiBiase's return and the bloody Duggan cutting one of the greatest promos ever to the tuxedo match and DiBiase destroying Duggan's car. That bloody promo is fucking incredible and what a visual. For Slaughter/Sheik, the Pledge of Allegiance in Allentown gave my goosebumps and actually moved me. I am a sucker for these patriotic angles and Slaughter just knocked it out of the park. I loved the matches that let up to the Bootcamp match and how each match built on the next. Now we come to Magnum/Tully and I will be honest the buildup was pretty meh. I watched pretty much every Tully/Magnum promo from when Tully won the title to Starrcade right before I watched the match and they were entertaining promos, but this was not the next level shit I expected. The tit for tat dressing up as a cop was fun. The breaking of Sam Houston's arm was probably the highlight of the angle. "She likes it!" "She likes it!" angle with Magnum forcing himself on Baby Doll is definitely not timeless and I dont want to ruin anyone's memories, but I did not like a babyface doing those things to a woman. It soured me a little on the angle. Being objective, there is nothing that Magnum/Tully angle has that touches Duggan/DiBiase and Slaughter/Sheik. I think that is why I enjoyed those matches more. As for the best brawl, I still don't know. It is too close to call. I just don't think it is an open and shut case for Magnum/Tully.

#1. NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair vs Ricky Morton

Great American Bash 7/11/86 Steel Cage

NWA Match of the Year, 1986

Link: My Favorite Blog I have ever written

I watched the build for this match and WOW! Does it take this to the next level! Ric Flair came off as the most psychotic bully of all time. Having to wrestle bigger men for most of his career, Flair got a few chance to push someone else around and my God did he milk this chance for everything it is worth. Seeing Flair in this role is something you actually want to see more because it is when he is at his most heelish. There is nothing likeable about a man who goes out of his way to disfigure a man just because he can. It reminds me of Beiber first came out and there was just this violent reaction against him by the "macho" man community especially in the heavy metal community. I could not wrap around my head around this irrational hatred for a teen idol. There is an inherent dislike some men have for pretty boys that can command attention of women especially young women. In every promo, Flair channels that psychotic hatred for Ricky Morton. He went out of his way to disrespect Morton it seemed out of insecurity and because he felt like he could. You really get the sense that he think if he can show up Morton he can prove to all these young girls what a real man is and in turn make them real women, which Flair cites as loving him. Morton stands up for himself on Worldwide and slaps the Champion and the tries to tear his clothes off. They go on to have an absolute barnburner of a TV match on 4/12/86, which is nonstop action. The ref gets bumps and Gibson comes in to count three for Morton to end the show as Flair escapes with his title, but his pride has been significantly wounded. Then on an episode of Worldwide, he snaps when Morton actually pins him by ref's count in a tag match. You can see Flair's world crashing around him. How did this little punk that is not even a real man just beat me? He lashes out in a terrible fashion and executes what at the same time seemed like hot air in that promo a couple weeks ago that he would disfigure Morton's face rendering him ugly for his adoring fans. The Horsemen barge into RnR locker room and Flair rubs Morton face in the concrete floor and you see blood streaking across the floor. I think this is the greatest angle I have ever seen. Morton comes back for a promo wrapped in bandages explaining you can take my face, but that is not where the source of my power comes from, it comes from his heart and his fans and he is coming for the Nature Boy and he is going to take the title.

Ric Flair does lend some key insight into why this feud happened in a seemingly throw away line when he said "Ricky Morton is the most popular wrestler on Earth." If you listen to Ric Flair's podcast, he LOVED wrestling babyfaces that were over. Once he saw how over Morton got against the Russians, you know he pushed hard for this singles feud.

Without watching the build, this is a ***** classic and now having watched the build can you say GOAT match candidate because I sure can! Ricky Morton is wrestling in a protective mask as Flair enters the stadium via helicopter. He is psyching out his opponent right up until the bell. The entire beginning of the match is Morton working awesome payback spots against Ric Flair huge honker of a nose. Morton stalks Flair at the beginning measuring him for the immense pain he is about to administer to this bully. Morton punches, wrenches and rakes Flair's nose. This is Flair in his element screaming in pain as Morton unleashing sweet revenge on his banana nose. Morton rubs Flair's face in the mat, it may not be concrete, but it will have to do. Flair looks unsure of himself. He needs to find a way to slow down the pace because Morton is a runaway freight train of anger. So he goes to Flair 101, draw into the corner, knee to the midsection and chops stymie Morton. Morton goes back to the face and Flair is pissed! He is making mistakes because he is frustrated. Morton headbutt Flair with the mask! Flair rips the mask away in anger. Morton punches him in the face and gets his mask, which was a nice little tease for the heat segment. Flair finally throws him off of a headlock into the cage, which is enough rattle him. NOW WE GO TO SCHOOL! It is just a tease again as Morton gets a cross body. Flair and Morton start tearing in each other hitting each other whereever they can and Flair rips the mask off, hurls him into the cage and the pretty face of Morton is a crimson mask. Let beating begin!

Flair dons the mask to mock Morton as he tortures him. He throws Morton into the cage and twists the nose. He then throws the mask over the cage. There will be no refuge for Morton. Big WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Morton is selling his nose and face so well. He is in pain, but the sympathetic kind and you really want to leap out there and help him against this maniac. "You want some of this!" He throws Morton hard into the cage. "Tell em your name" as he rakes Morton's face in the cage. I wish he added "Because they wont be able to recognize you." Pelvis thrust for the ladies. That is what this feud is all about. Flair's deeply-rooted notion in what a real man is and what a real woman should want out of a man. Ricky Morton stands as an defiant affront to the ideology, which defines who the Nature Boy is. Flair starts going for pinfalls, but the teeny bopper idol wont stay down. Flair freaks out and calls Tommy Young, a son of a bitch. Figure-4 and now Tommy Young is pleading with Morton to just quit and fight another day. Morton inside cradle! He is firing back and he sends Flair into the cage. There is a terrific squeal of joy from all the girls in attendance.

Flair begs off as any bully does when you punch him in the mouth. Morton rakes Flair's head into the cage and Flair is bleeding. Morton is punching and clawing at his face. Morton sleeper! Flair makes it to the ropes. Top rope crossbody for two! Rock N Roll! Rock N Roll! Rock N Roll! Go Ricky Go! Flair tries to escape the cage, this ain't the WWF, pal! Morton missile dropkick, he pinned Flair with this on TV albeit Gibson counted the pinfall. Flair presses Morton on the kick out on Tommy Young. Flair is able to drive Morton's manhood into the ropes to win with his feet on the ropes.

In a feud that was centered around what a real man is and how that relates to what women find attractive, I cant think of a better ending then a fucking ballshot by the man posturing as a tough, macho man, but is really a vindictive, arrogant and small man. They both focused on the face with laser precision. There was only one way to end this and that was an attack on the anatomical representation of manhood. It worked on two levels it exposed Flair as the total opposite of what a real man is by stooping so low to win the match and also to psychically assault Morton's manhood after disfiguring his face. I think I just convinced myself this is the greatest pro wrestling match of all time.