Woman O Woman Wont You Marry Me Now: Ric Flair & WCW Nitro from April 1996-June 1996

“I stayed up all night throwing touchdown pass after touchdown pass and LOOK at my wide receivers [Woman & Miss Elizabeth]” – “Nature Boy” Ric Flair, WCW Nitro May 13, 1996

I Got The Whole World In My Hands

I got wicked sick about a month ago (bacterial sinus infection, not COVID-19) and I needed something mindless to watch as I spent an hour at a time transforming my bathroom into a steam room. I settled on watching old episodes of Nitro. I grew up on Nitro from 1997 on and there is something so nostalgic about the show, the announcers, its set and the wrestlers that I love going back to it whenever I just want to watch something that makes me feel good. Since I started watching in July of 1997, I like going back and checking out the older episodes because it gives me the same feel, but at the same time being new to me.

I decided to start with Nitro after Uncensored because it was the end of the silly The Alliance To End Hulkamania (read: Horsemen & Dungeon of Doom) storyline, but still before Scott Hall’s debut on May 27th. So I was intrigued what WCW’s landscape was like during this, what was the main story and who were the major players.

I was pleasantly surprised at how fun the Nitro was from Uncensored up to Bash at the Beach so this from March 26, 1996 to July 7, 1996. Nitro was a one hour show up until May 27th when it expanded to two hours. When it expanded to two hours is when they introduced Tony Schiavone and Larry Zbyszko as the hour one announce team and Eric Bischoff and Bobby Heenan as the hour 2 announce team. When I was growing up, Tony was the consistent thread through an episode along with Mike Tenay, but they would rotate Larry Z and Bobby Heenan out. This would not be a bad idea for WWE to try especially with the 3 hour RAW. The other fun they did is that they shoot off pyro at the beginning of hour 2. It felt like a party on Nitro. I cant remember which guest on Austin’s podcast said it but he said what makes AEW’s Dynamite stand out is that it feels like a party. I think that’s one of things WCW did really well in the early days of Nitro. It was so fresh and exciting. You couldn’t wait to see what happens next and this had stood the test of time as the show still feels very fun to watch. Besides the atmosphere, the other thing that made Nitro so much fun to watch were the colorful characters and it also helped that Hulk Hogan was gone for the bulk of this period.

Uncensored was main evented by Hulk Hogan & Randy Savage beating eight grown men in an absurd cage match which I have not seen. I actually now want to watch the build for it because I think the Ric Flair and Kevin Sullivan promos leading up to it would be gold. Hulk Hogan would stick around for three more weeks with his last appearance on Nitro being April 15th where he would defeat Kevin Sullivan & Arn Anderson (remnants of Horsemen/Dungeon Alliance) in a handicap match, intimidated Woman & Miss Elizabeth, humiliated Jimmy Hart and owned The Giant. It all felt very disgusting, ego-driven and stale. It was easily the worst part of WCW during this time period. It was very forced and so transparent that it was desperately trying to overcome Hogan’s shortcomings as top babyface by putting him over every top heel besides Flair all at once on Nitro. Once, he left Nitro never felt like that again. The show was dynamic and interesting and it all ran through one man: Ric Flair.

“O, Mean Gene, how it is hard to be humble!” – “Nature Boy” Ric Flair, Spring 1996 pretty much every single Nitro

Ric Flair started this campaign as the WCW World Heavyweight Champion and ended this campaign winning the US Heavyweight Championship from Konnan. The month of April was built around his feud with The Giant which was a part of the overarching Horsemen vs Dungeon of Doom, heel vs heel feud. Slamboree was built around him and Randy Savage, mortal enemies teaming in the Lethal Lottery. Great American Bash was sold on Ric Flair teaming with Arn Anderson against the Football Players, Steve “Mongo” McMichael & Kevin Greene. It was not until Bash at the Beach that he took a backseat to the Outsiders. He did all this alongside his valets, Woman & Miss Elizabeth, who he affectionately called “The Girls”.

What a trio these three were! It was such a great old school heel act. It was just about being an asshole. Ric Flair was such a greedy, delusional, vain, and low-down cheat; it was awesome. He reveled in spending Miss Elizabeth’s alimony from Macho Man Randy Savage. He taunted the football players (Steve “Mongo” McMichael & Kevin Greene) for being half-man he was and that Debra was really lusting after him, not the other way around.  He loved flaunting to the world that he got to spend time in the company of such beauties. “O Woman O Woman wont you marry me now!”
A lot of people say post-WWF heel Ric Flair became a caricature of himself. He did become more over the top and more of a supervillain during his time in mid-90s WCW. He lost all volume control in the 1990s and became very loud all the time. One funny thing I really enjoyed about this Flair run he would sing a couple lyrics every promo out of tune and it always popped me. It was fun and wrestling is missing that fun. He cheated a lot more and relied a lot more on tricks and gimmicks. During every match, Woman would cheat nonstop to garner the victory from hot coffee (which was preposterous), to high heel shoes, to a well-timed kick to Konnan’s gonnads, Woman was always there to help the Nature Boy to victory and Flair always tied it off with having his foot on the ropes. It is easy to believe Flair had become a shell of himself, but I disagree with this notion as I still feel Flair was one of the more fleshed out characters in pro wrestling.

Well he was not wrong! WOO!

The one thing that really stood out about WCW during this time period is that they did not do much in terms of building storylines around their wrestlers. Instead they would book a match and let the fact these two characters were colliding sell itself. This only works of course if the characters sell themselves. I think in WCW’s landscape that was true. They were lucky in the fact they inherited 5 main event stars (Hogan, Savage, Flair, Sting & Luger) from the 1980s with well-defined and easily distinguishable characters. I think unlike the others Flair actually kept his character fresh in the 90s. He stopped hanging around the Horsemen so much and started hanging around “The Girls”. He cheated more than ever because he was older and more than ever was trying to hang onto past glory. He was leaning more into the playboy aspect of his character than ever before. It all centered around a very important idea in Ric Flair’s mind and that is what a man ought to be. That’s how he taunted Randy Savage & the Football players he would go after their manhood because his own manhood is so near & dear to him.

If there is one thing I recommend above all else from this time period is go watch all the Ric Flair promos with Mean Gene from this era with Woman’s fingers crawling up Mean Gene’s shoulder, Flair shouting incessantly and Miss Elizabeth wondering what the fuck she has gotten herself into, it all works together in one awesome heel package. It is easy to overlook Miss Elizabeth but she is essential in all this. Even when Randy Savage was a heel, Elizabeth was the reluctant babyface. She didn’t help him cheat. She was being pressured by her insane, jealous husband. For her to turn heel was absolutely shocking at the time. It was clearly dwarfed by Hogan turning at Bash At The Beach, but it was crazy that girl next door betrayed the Macho Man and hooked up with the loathsome Nature Boy. Unfortunately, her lack of acting chops did not afford them as strong of a follow through, but her mere presence with the Nature Boy made the heel act feel like a main event act.

The only major fumble during this run of Nitro (besides the aforementioned Hogan burial of the Dungeon of Doom) was that Ric Flair was not allowed to go in front of the live crowd in Charlotte, NC on June 24th. As was customary for Nitro, the announcers would run down the card at the outset of the show, spontaneously and organically a thunderous “We Want Flair” chant rung out. During the Horsemen (Anderson/Benoit) vs Rock N Roll Express match, the Rock N Rolls were BOOED and they chanted “We Want Flair” (the previous week, it was insane how over Arn Anderson was against the American Males, Horsemen Country was a very real thing). They chanted “We Want Flair” during Randy Savage’s match and during Carolina Panthers’ Kevin Greene’s promo. I know Ric Flair was a heel at the time, but fucking hell how did you rob these people of Ric Flair. The pop would have been huge. At the end of this episode, the Outsiders invade with baseball bats causing Sting & Lex Luger to lose the WCW World Tag Team Titles to Harlem Heat in a triangle match (also including the Steiner Brothers). If the Horsemen confronted them, they would have needed a new roof on the arena because that crowd would have blown it off. I really felt bad for those people even in 2020 because they so desperately wanted to see Ric Flair and they were robbed that. The kayfabe reason was that he was under guard in his locker room safely away from Savage & Greene. There are times to respect kayfabe and there are times to give the fans what they want and this was a time to give them what they wanted.



This is already going much longer than I expected, but hell there was a lot that happened in these three months. Lets keep the ball rolling with the Horsemen. In April when Ric Flair was either teaming with or facing The Giant, it felt like the Horsemen were not a thing. Anderson was hanging around the Dungeon, Benoit was on tour in Japan and Pillman had left the company. So it felt like Flair and The Girls was what was left and that was no Horsemen. After Flair dropped the title to The Giant, his focused was renewed on Savage and also Debra McMichael, wife of Steve Mongo McMichael. They reintroduced Ric Flair & Arn Anderson as a tag team and they would face McMichael & Greene at Great American Bash with Randy Savage in the corner of the football players and Bobby The Brain Heenan in the corner of the Horsemen. This was the last appearance of the classic Bobby The Brain character. He was always so great in his interactions with Flair and there is a great moment on the Nitro after Great American Bash where The Brain is being chased by the Macho Man and he does his classic over the top rope leap to floor. Wow! The Brain still had it then. With the New World Order looming, it was our last chance to see classic Brain.

In parallel, Kevin Sullivan was attempting to maintain his alliance with the Horsemen because he feared that when Hogan returned he would gunning for him and he wanted allies. However, Benoit thought he was a snake and wanted to end the alliance. Sullivan thought Benoit was like Pillman weak and undeserving of being a Horseman. Anderson was caught in the middle and made it seem like he was siding with Sullivan, but ended up turning on Sullivan at Great American Bash during the classic Benoit/Sullivan brawl that ended up in the men’s bathroom (“Tony there’s a lady in men’s bathroom”-Dusty). Finally, we get the Mongo heel turn when Debra comes out with a Haliburton full of money and bashes Kevin Greene’s head in with the briefcase. It felt like the Horsemen had all the momentum in the world. Of course, this would all be squandered in deference to the New World Order. The Horsemen of the 90s is something that would have kept Nitro hot and done well, but Hulk Hogan turning heel is on whole other world, brutha. Horsemen were correctly sacrificed, but still this was a great run for Ric Flair and proof positive that he could hold down the fort basically by himself while Hogan was away for three whole months.

I am going to do the rest of this in bullet format.

• Macho Man delivered some great unhinged promos during this time trying to get in the building. His best was after beating Hugh Morris and getting up in the Turner suit’s grill. Most of his matches were 90s Savage formula matches. Long heat segment and short comeback with the Elbow for the win. I thought the matches against Fit Finlay (Belfast Bruiser) and Greg Valentine were his best. He had a match with Flair after Great American Bash and he has had better, but it was fun. It was the blow off to the feud as they were transitioning Savage into his role as top babyface against the New World Order. The feud deserved a better, more climatic ending.
•  The Giant was the World Champion during the bulk of this time period. He slowly got better as a promo but was still trying too hard to be menacing and knowing what we know now about The Giant just wasn’t who he was as a person. They worked really hard to get the Chokeslam over. I liked how he would chant “Chokeslam” in the background of a Sullivan or Jimmy Hart promo to get it over. They did a great job playing up his size as the reason behind his confidence.
•  Kevin Sullivan & Jimmy Hart it is amazing how these two were such huge acts in the middle of the 1990s. They would fade into the background after the New World Order, but after Ric Flair these were your top two heels in 1995 and 1996 which is crazy to think about. Sullivan had not had a big time run on top since Florida and Jimmy Hart always played second fiddle to Heenan in WWF so it had been since Memphis that he was a top heel manager. Good for them, but crazy they got a second run on top. Sullivan, probably cause he was booking, cut the most story-driven promos and if you were smart you knew where a story was going based on a Sullivan promo.
•  Lex Luger & Sting – I think they could have done so much with the Lex Luger character. The whole he is a babyface with Sting and heel with everybody else is so good and it is so real life. There are so many people that have kinda scummy friends/family members, but we put with them because we love them and we try to help them change.  Also because nobody is all good or all bad. However, I just felt like they dropped the ball with Luger more often than not. I wanted them to play up the relationship with Jimmy Hart more. Slamboree and Great American Bash were main evented by Giant World Championship defenses even though both PPV was sold on Ric Flair angles and matches. They did so little to build these matches up. They put more effort into John Tenta leaves the Dungeon of Doom and takes on Big Bubba Rogers storyline than these. I liked The Giant chokeslamming Lex Luger through the table a week before his Slamboree defense against Sting. That was a hot, crazy angle especially for 1996 and really put the chokeslam and Giant over. They do the interesting finish where Luger/Hart are handcuffed together and they are tussling over the Megaphone and it ends up cracking Sting in the head. Did Luger mean to hit Sting or was it an accident? However, this all got erased by the New World Order when everyone had to go babfyace. Again, a big missed opportunity. The Great American Bash match between Giant vs Luger, had almost no build. It was just Chokeslam vs Torture Rack which is a solid story but they could have leaned into more. They had a much better match at Starrcade 1996 so check that out instead. Finally, there was a random mini-push of Steven Regal right before Great American Bash. Regal had the awesome series with Finlay including the very novel and cool Parking Lot Brawl. Then Regal slapped Sting in an interview segment and gets a match with Sting. Regal & is Bluebloods go over some midcard babyfaces but he loses to Sting at the Bash and is shunted back down the card. Very peculiar.
•  “Diamond” Dallas Page, the only man outside the Big Six (Hogan, Savage, Flair, Sting, Luger and Giant) to get a consistent push during this time period was Dallas. Page is such a try hard I love it. You tell him to be a heel. He is a fucking heel. He is such a scum bag. The king of the gimmicks. Don’t tell Page less is more because he will tell you less is just less, brutha! He won the Lord of the Ring Battlebowl ring which everyone wanted to call the Lord of the Rings and would trip over themselves not to say. He had the chains, the sunglasses, the cigar, the Self Hi-Five, the weird psychedelic thing he did with his hands. He oversold everything. He bumped like a cartoon. He made funny faces. He made a royal horse’s ass out of himself. It was all so fucking glorious! He wanted to be the biggest scummy, clown heel of all time and he just rocked it. Watch the Craig Pittman match for his most over the top performance but pretty much every DDP match from this time period is so entertaining because of how much effort he puts into the match. That’s why I love DDP and I will always rank him in my Top 100 wrestlers of all time because no one and I mean no one tries harder than Diamond Dallas Page.
•  In terms of great matches well there are the obvious ones:
• o Fit Finlay vs Steven Regal – Nitro April 29th Parking Lot Brawl
• o Dean Malenko vs Rey Mysterio – Great American Bash 1996, my pick for WCW Match of the Year 1996
• o Rey Mysterio vs Psychosis – Bash at the Beach 1996
• o Chris Benoit vs Kevin Sullivan – Great American Bash 1996 Fall Count Anywhere
•  The not so obvious ones include
• o Ric Flair vs The Giant -Nitro March 25th
• o Ric Flair vs Lex Luger – Nitro April 1st you feel like you transported back to 1988
• o Nasty Boys vs Public Enemy – Nitro April 15th Fucking insane brawl. Knobbs and Saggs still the hell out of Public Enemy, I wish that the Nasties got a run in ECW. They would have ruled that tag division
• o Eddie Guerrero vs Chris Benoit – Nitro April 22nd not as good as their 95 stuff but it is Eddie vs Benoit
• o Dean Malenko vs Jushin Liger – Nitro May 6th
• o Ric Flair vs Eddie Guerrero – Nitro May 20th
• o Faces of Fear vs Lex Luger & Sting- Nitro May 20th, watch this one! Barbarian was the best worker in 1996 that no one talked about. He should have been pushed to the moon.
• o Ric Flair & Arn Anderson vs American Males – Nitro May 27th , the best of the “Flair & Anderson get ready to take on the Football players so we put them in a bunch of tag matches” matches. Perfect Horsemen psychology
• o DDP vs Craig Pittman – Nitro May 27th I love DDP and this was such a DDP match so over the top. So many fun spots. DDP rules!
• o Ric Flair & Arn Anderson vs Rock N Roll Express – Nitro June 3rd It is Flair vs orton, you cant go wrong!
• o Ric Flair & Arn Anderson vs Sting & Lex Luger – Nitro June 10th. In 1988, this would have been the biggest thing ever. Still good craic as the Irish would say.
• o Arn Anderson & Chris Benoit vs American Males – Nitro June 17th just watch this to see how fucking over Arn Anderson is.
• o Randy Savage vs Ric Flair – Nitro June 17th not their best match but it is the blowoff to their epic 1995-1995 feud so worth seeing.
• o Dean Malenko vs Rey Mysterio – Nitro June 17th not as famous as their July8th Nitro match but this one is still very good and Mysterio’s debut on the show.
• o The Giant vs Scott Steiner – Nitro June 17th The Giant’s best title defense of his reign. Great rib selling by Scotty and a focused attack by the Giant. They build the comeback well and Steiner’s suplexes are impressive and pop the crowd.
• o Eddie Guerrero vs Barbarian – Nitro June 24th The night where Barbarian got more over with crowd because of his workrate than Eddie. Push Barbarian!
• o Arn Anderson & Chris Benoit vs Rock N Roll Express – Nitro June 24th The Horsemen are so over in Charlotte that Rock N Rolls get booed! Arn vs Morton, you cant go wrong!

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.