Brandon’s Blast From the Past Ep. 002 – Sting vs. Ric Flair

Episode 002
“To be the man you got to beat the man.”

Hello everyone and welcome to the second edition of “Brandon’s Blast from the Past”. To those who may have missed my first piece (seen here: Episode 001: The Shield), the concept is very simple. I choose a match from wrestling’s past, from a wide variety of wrestling promotions. I give the readers the background information surrounding the topic. The readers watch the match from a selected video website such as YouTube or DailyMotion, then I dissect and discuss the match below. This is a fun way to give my fellow wrestling fans a nice trip down memory lane, and to also introduce new fans to matches or feuds they may not have seen before.

I want to personally thank everyone for the overall positive response to my first written episode. I am very pleased with the feedback that I’ve received. Your responses, likes, shares, retweets and so on mean so much to me and I want the readers to know that I deeply appreciate it. This goes without saying, but also a big thank you to the staff of 411Mania.com for making this possible and for allowing me a chance, on a global spectrum, to showcase my skills as a writer and my vast knowledge of the wrestling industry to the masses.

Today’s episode will focus on one of my all-time favorite rivalries. To the fans who grew up with the NWA (Jim Crockett Promotions, which would later become WCW) know these two legends became synonymous with the company all the way to the very end in 2001. I’m talking about “The Nature Boy” Ric Flair and the man called Sting!

BACKGROUND

The event was the first ever “Clash of the Champions”, taking place on March 27, 1988 from Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina. The event was broadcasted on TBS with roughly 6,000 fans in attendance. Clash of the Champions went head-to-head with WWF(E) WrestleMania IV, which was unprecedented for the time. The show drew a 5.6 cable rating overall. The main event of the evening pitted (arguably) one of the NWA’s fasted rising stars and most popular athlete who would go on to dominate the 90’s just as his antagonist had dominated the 80’s. The blonde hair, flat-top haircut, neon colored face paint and colorful tights instantly made Sting a hit with the fans upon entering the organization in 1987 as part of a company buyout from Bill Watts’ Mid South/UWF promotion. “The Nature Boy” Ric Flair was at the very top of his game. To say Ric Flair was “The Man” can be an understatement, as feuds with the likes of Dusty Rhodes, Harley Race, Wahoo McDaniel, The Von Erich family were just some of the highlighted feuds Flair was apart of to help mold, shape and create his legacy like Michaelangelo would sculpt and create a work of art.

Going into the match. A pair of stipulations was in order to keep the match an even playing field as possible. Flair’s manager, J.J. Dillon would be suspended from a shark cage above the ring to prevent interference. Secondly, the match would be contested with judges in the event of a time limit draw in order to decide a winner (more on this later). The judges included former wrestler Sandy Scott, “Penthouse Pet” model Patty Mullen, The “New Leave it to Beaver” star Ken Osmond, and “The Wonder Years” own Jason Hervey.

Sting was heading into the match as the underdog crowd favorite. A young lion that was hungry to make a name for himself. Flair was already established as “The Man”. The guy no matter if you loved or hated him could make a star out of anyone based on his natural charisma, over-the-top mannerisms and his star power. Therefore it was no surprise when the match was made to headline Clash of the Champions that it was going to be a make it or break it opportunity for Sting, and a golden opportunity for Ric Flair to showcase his power as a main event caliber superstar.

So without any further ado, let’s get right to the action!

THE MATCH:

THE OUTCOME:

What an unbelievable match! This match gave what wrestling fans during this timeframe came to see. You got a classic match that went above and beyond all expectations. Every fan walked away with their money’s worth. Best of all, if you were lucky to watch the show on cable TV you were satisfied and treated to a match that has withstood the test of time. Sting and Ric Flair have a chemistry that is organic, genuine and unmatched. Seeing these two premier athletes give it their all with the NWA World Heavyweight Championship at stake defined what wrestling should be all about — wrestling! More sport. Less spectacle. That was the message delivered on this very night in 1988 to the WWF(E) courtesy of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA).

Sting came into this match as the heavy fan favorite. His popularity was sky rocketing and would only continue to grow and expand into the 90’s. Thanks to Ric Flair, who did an amazing job playing his role as the classy “dirtiest player in the game” heel that fans loved to hate but wanted to be. He put over Sting and created a rivalry that would captivate the audience for decades to come.

Sting used his power and strength, along with his agility and quickness to outmatch Ric Flair, whilst Flair dictated the pace and played the mind games with Sting throughout the course of the contest. The pacing was great. Naturally, the style of wrestling was different back then, where the wrestlers used a lot of rest holds and would amp up the action when needed to be and where appropriate in comparison to what the fans are used to seeing nowadays. This is one man’s opinion, but I very much enjoy this style of wrestling over any other, with all due respect to today’s generation. Perhaps that is the old-school in me, but these types of matches is what drew me in and made me a fan in the first place.

Another thing I’d like to point is the commentary by Jim Ross and Tony Schiavone. Two of my all-time favorites calling the action. What I found unique and interesting about their style on this match was how they called it hold for hold and portrayed the match as a legit fight. You don’t see that any more in wrestling, and I don’t mean to draw in any comparisons here or anything but wouldn’t the industry be way better if the commentary styles would follow wrestling and treat it as more of a sport than pure entertainment? Now granted, the business was obviously way different back then compared to now and less exposed. That much we can all establish without question. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t take a step or two back by changing things up and using your genuine emotions to draw fans in to believing what you are seeing is the real deal.

The crowd was into the match. The one key difference here that you notice, even in the 80’s, was that most NWA/WCW audiences were adults and the key demographic for the NWA was geared towards the 18-35 range and above. WWF(E) was all about the kids and families of all ages. Having said that, the fans bought into this match with all the excitement, drama, athleticism and flare (no pun intended) that you would expect from seeing Sting and Ric Flair wrestle one another at their best.

The selling was very good and has to be mentioned. “The Nature Boy” sold the back throughout the entire battle. Flair made you believe that Sting was killing him with his screams and battle cries of pain and anguish. Ric would use his own dirty tactics to get the advantage and would also work over the back and legs of Sting. Both men told an amazing story. Despite the head scratching end result, the story was told wonderfully. Sting was a made man on this night. Ric Flair weaseled his way out of a potential title loss and retained the NWA World Heavyweight Championship.

The decision is the only smudge on this beautiful painting that could have been handled better. The concept of having the celebrity judges at ringside was to determine a clear and decisive winner in the event of a time limit draw. Obviously, both Sting and Flair wrestled to the 45 minute time limit and a decision had to be made. We had five judges at ringside, yet for whatever reason, only three decisions were announced officially. One vote for Sting. One vote for Flair. One vote as a draw. The other two were not mentioned at all. As a result of these votes, the match ended in a draw with “The Nature Boy” retaining his championship belt. Yes, it was a very silly decision in general and to this day I am baffled as what the booking committee was thinking on this very night.

Be that as it may, in spite of the outcome, this an instant classic that all wrestling fans young and old should check out and enjoy. This is one of the reasons why I chose this as my topic of discussion for this evening. The other being that, quite frankly, had it not been for the likes of Sting and Ric Flair, I would not be a wrestling fan today. These two men made me a fan, more so Sting than any other wrestler on the planet. This was quite an honor and a privilege on my behalf to discuss, dissect and present this match for everyone to enjoy.

I thank you all for your time. Episode 003 is currently being decided. I will gladly welcome suggestions and so on. I have an idea of what I (may) be doing for the next topic, but we will cross that bridge when we come to it. Until then, I’ll see you next time!