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Views from the Hawke’s Nest: “Nature Boy” Ric Flair – The Definitive Collection – Disc 3

February 5, 2015 | Posted by TJ Hawke
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Views from the Hawke’s Nest: “Nature Boy” Ric Flair – The Definitive Collection – Disc 3  

 

WWF
October 28, 1991

Ric Flair (w/ Bobby Heenan) vs. Roddy Piper

Between the two official Flair-only DVD releases so far, they’ve only put two matches from his WWF run in the early nineties. The 1992 Royal Rumble and this one. That seems very odd to me.

They took their time to get going. Roddy took him down after a combination of strikes. Flair fought back quickly enough and got control of the match. Roddy came back. Flair shoved him into the ref, and Roddy then got a phantom pinfall. A second ref showed up as they continued to go at it. Flair hit Roddy in the face with a chair: 1…2…NO! Roddy went to use a chair, but the referee prevented it. Flair punched Roddy in the face and pinned him with his feet on the ropes: 1…2…3!

Piper hit the referee and Flair with the chair after the match. Flair got hit with the chair three times in fact.

I thought this was perfectly fine. I’ve never been a big fan of Piper’s in-ring work though, and this did nothing to make me question that belief.

Match Rating: **1/2

 

WCW Spring Stampede
April 17, 1994

Ric Flair(c) vs. Ricky Steamboat [WCW Heavyweight Championship]

WCW went back to this in mid-nineties before Hogan officially came to town.

Flair could not get much going for a while. Steamboat maintained control with a side headlock. Flair finally cut him off after driving him into a turnbuckle. It was a rather uneventful way of cutting off an opponent that has been running through you for close to twenty minutes. Flair took both men to the floor with a leaping crossbody. Steamboat fought back though and then hit a superplex in the ring. Steamboat made a big comeback in the ring.  Steamboat applied a figure four. Flair kicked him in the face to escape. Steamboat got a couple of pinning combos, but Flair survived them. Steamboat had all the momentum. He got a big nearfall on a diving crossbody. Flair avoided a Superfly Splash. Steamboat blocked the figure four in a very clever manner. Flair kicked him in the face though to apply the hold. Steamboat got to the ropes. More pinning combos for Steamboat. Thirty minutes in at this point. Steamboat got the double chickenwing. They did the double pin spot: 1…2…3

Commissioner Nick Bockwinkel rules that the double pin goes to the champ.

I enjoyed this quite a bit, but it’s no doubt a level below their epic trilogy from 1989. It’s missing all the energy and passion that really elevated so much Crockett/WCW stuff from the mid to late eighties. Instead, this reminds me of the cruiserweight matches from mid to late nineties where you have extremely athletic performers trying their hardest to entertain a crowd that seems surprised they are at a wrestling show. The double pin finish did not help matters. If they cut out 10-15 minutes, they probably overcome all of that and have a great match.

Match Rating: ***3/4

 

WWE Taboo Tuesday
November 1, 2005

Ric Flair(c) vs. Triple H [Cage match for the WWE Intercontinental Championship]

We learned that Taboo Tuesday was sponsored by WWE.com. WWE’s advertising revenue streams never cease to impress.

HHH got control quickly enough, and Flair got busted open shortly thereafter. HHH was climbing out, but Flair managed to crotch him on the ropes. HHH took a chain from the cage. Flair fought back a couple of times, but HHH was in full control. The referee took away the chain for unknown reasons. Flair survived one figure four and then kicked HHH into the cage on the second attempt. HHH was now busted opener. FLAIR STARTED BITING HHH’s FOREHEAD! Flair made a big comeback. He went after the leg that HHH had torn a quadriceps in. FIGURE FOUR~! HHH used the referee to escape the hold. This is a fucking bloodfest by the way. Flair nearly crawled out, but HHH dragged him back. Flair managed to bring in a chair though. HHH went to use the chair, but Flair resorted to the TESTICULAR CLAW~! Flair reversed a pedigree attempt and dropped HHH onto the chair. Flair walloped him with some chairshots to the head. Flair escaped out the door! That was the rare escape the cage finish where it seemed like the winner truly won from kicking his opponent’s ass so much.

It’s relatively stunning to go back and watch a WWE match from the last decade that features so much blood and chairshots. Obviously, we now know all the reasons why blood should not be purposefully used, and “protected” chairshots to the head are archaic. There’s just no denying though how both of those things can be used to enhance a wrestling match. In the case of Flair, they are basically crutches to cover for his physical deficiencies as his career came to a close. Maybe he should not have been wrestling at all, but his best stuff from 2002 on almost always featured blood and guts. This match may have been the best one.

Triple H really seemed to go out of his way here to put over Flair clean and make him look strong. That clearly does not make up for the fact that Triple H was so unwilling to do that from 2000 to 2004 when he really needed to, but it was nonetheless nice to see this not end with Flair slipping on a banana peel to win.

Match Rating: ****

 

WWE Wrestlemania
March 30, 2008

Ric Flair vs. Shawn Michaels
This would of course be Flair’s final WWE match ever. I have not watched the match since it originally happened. I remember being conflicted about how I felt about it overall.

FFS, the last person to interview Flair in the WWE before a match was Mike Adamle. Flair’s gameplan is, “To be the man.”

Shawn caught him with a slap to the face that caused Flair to bleed from the mouth. Flair had control for a bit after that. Flair actually hit the diving crossbody for a nearfall. Shawn came back by sending him to the floor. Shawn went for the Asai Moonsault, but he landed on a table that did not break as planned. Shawn almost got counted out after that. Flair went after the ribs briefly and was then just in control for a while. Shawn cut Flair off with a neckbreaker and then dumped him to the floor. Shawn went for a moonsault to the floor. Flair barely caught him on that. Shawn surprisingly did not milk the two big highspots in the match. They both felt like relatively small moments, which is something he’s usually much better at avoiding.

Shawn was in control after that. Shawn called for the superkick, but he hesitated before delivering. Flair took advantage and applied the figure four. Shawn reversed the hold, and Flair had to break it. They couldn’t pull off the bridge into the backslide spot. Flair chopped down the left leg. Shawn reversed a figure four into a small package. Flair then got the figure four after dodging an enzuigiri! Shawn got to the ropes. Flair had the advantage, strutted a bit, and then ran into a superkick: 1…2…NO! That was perfectly executed. Flair was on the struggle bus, as Shawn tuned up the band. Flair was somewhat playing possum though and managed to kick Shawn in the balls: 1…2…NO! Shawn applied his modified figure four. Flair got to the ropes, Shawn pulled back, and Flair hit him in the eyes to finally. Flair got a nearfall with a schoolboy. They traded chops. Shawn caught him with a superkick out of nowhere! Shawn looked remorseful as he realized what he had done. Flair struggled to his feet. “I’m sorry. I love you.” Superkick #3: 1…2…3!

I don’t know what more anyone could want from this one. They worked a friendly pace, paid tribute to some famous Flair spots and sequences, worked in the “Old Yellar” storyline, had some nice character beats, and even threw in a couple of high spots (even if Shawn didn’t milk them for all their worth). Flair obviously wasn’t the Flair of old, but he looked better for the most part then he had in a while and went out finished his in-ring WWE career on a performance he could be proud of. It wasn’t Shawn’s best performance, but he did what he needed to do in order to make sure Flair’s final WWE match was memorable for positive reasons.

Match Rating: ****

 

WWE Raw
March 31, 2008

Ric Flair comes out for his farewell. It’s a fairly quick goodbye, and Flair didn’t cry. Triple H then came out to invite some other people out to the ring. A whole bunch of friends and enemies from Flair’s past come out to say goodbye. Flair losing it when Batista came out like he hasn’t seen him every week for the last five years always kills me. Flair regains his composure by the time Cena and Jericho come out, but he loses it again when his family comes out. Shawn Michaels is the last one to come out and get an entrance. Batista is shown staring down Shawn to kickoff their feud. The whole roster comes out to say goodbye. Snitsky was still using a wallet chain in 2008 apparently. We got footage from after the show went off the air. The Undertaker came out and paid tribute to him. Vince McMahon then came out to give him a giant hug. Vince looked like he was trying to show off how strong he was with that hug.

Too bad this wasn’t actually the end. Only Flair would have to turn down a 500K/year job doing nothing in the WWE because he had too many bills to pay. Flair attacked his coat in the ring one final time and then walked up the ramp and to the back.

 

The DVD also had some of Flair’s most famous promos and videos.

 

Watch some Ric Flair matches for free!

Ric Flair vs. Hulk Hogan

Ric Flair vs. Shawn Michaels

Ric Flair vs. Bret Hart

Ric Flair vs. Edge

Ric Flair vs. RVD vs. Matt Hardy vs. Shelton Benjamin vs. Finlay vs. Bobby Lashley

Ric Flair & Hulk Hogan vs. Sting & Lex Luger

Ric Flair & The Undertaker vs. Hulk Hogan & Sid Justice

Ric Flair & Goldberg vs. Kevin Nash & Hulk Hogan

Ric Flair, Shawn Michaels & Triple H vs. Edge, Randy Orton, & Kenny

Ric Flair, Matt Hardy, Abyss, & Bully Ray vs. AJ Styles, Kazarian, James Storm & Bobby Roode (wtf)

Ric Flair vs. Val Venis

Ric Flair & Roddy Piper vs. Edge & Randy Orton

 

9.0
The final score: review Amazing
The 411
Ric Flair is unquestionably one of the greatest professional wrestlers ever, and it's always a treat to dig into his extensive library of great matches. In my opinion, that is the real reason that this DVD is so great. The matches offer a glimpse into Flair at different stages of his career and show how he was able to have great matches the majority of his time as an active wrestler. The documentary is fine and gets the job done, but it didn't feel like something you would need to go out of your way to see unless you knew absolutely nothing about Flair's career.
legend

article topics :

Ric Flair, TJ Hawke