Forgotten Favorites 06.25.09: King of the Ring 2002 – Ric Flair vs. Eddie Guerrero

Welcome back, wrestling fans. After another week of mysteriously disappearing into Parts Unknown, I have returned to drop that knowledge on the masses.

If you are currently popping your Forgotten cherry, this may help:

The evil master of wrestling history, who rules from his titanic towers of evil, takes great joy in robbing his followers of cherished memories. He has even gone so far as to wave his billion-dollar wand on more than one occasion in an attempt to completely erase particular pockets of time. Well, we, the people, have refused to stand for such injustices, and as a result, I have been called upon to right the wrongs of time.

So let’s not waste any time here. God knows nobody really pays attention to column introductions anyways.

So … who wants great wrestling?

King of the Ring – June 23, 2002
Ric Flair vs. Eddie Guerrero

HOW IT WENT DOWN

Well, it was supposed to go down a whole lot differently than it did.

Before there was any heat between Ric Flair and Eddie Guerrero, there was a ton of heat between Ric Flair and a particular Texas Rattlesnake. Ever since the brand extension had begun a couple of months prior, Flair was the man in charge of Monday Night Raw. And since Stone Cold Steve Austin does not work well with authority figures, a clash between the two legends was inevitable.

When Flair assumed control of Raw, he worked as the honest, crowd-pleasing booker. But over time the Nature Boy came to realize that someone in his position just couldn’t get the job done when constantly seeking the approval of his employees and audience alike. And so the sixteen time World Champion was driven to make some questionable decisions, the boldest of all being a new alliance alongside those no-good nWo guys. Teaming up with the nWo’s Big Show at May’s Judgment Day PPV, Flair sought to eliminate the menace that was Steve Austin in the dreaded Handicap match. But unfortunately for Flair, it doesn’t matter whether it’s two, three, or four opponents; a man who is literally fueled by alcohol and badassery will not be held down. And thus, Flair fell victim to a Stone Cold Stunner and ate the pinfall that night.

The following night on Raw, heelified Ric Flair confronted his bald-headed adversary. Naitch admitted to making some mistakes in the way he had approached his problems with Austin. So instead of seeking to destroy him inside the ring, Flair decided simply to take Austin away from what makes him tick: the ring. Flair informs Stone Cold that he is officially benched, and Stone COld informs Flair that he is officially on the receiving end of another Stunner.

With the night off, Austin did what you might expect: he went out drinking. Cameras followed the Rattlesnake and his wife Debra as they entered Memphis’s Mugs Pub and ordered some drinks. Over the course of the evening, Raw cameras periodically flashed back to Mug’s Pub to check in with the Rattlesnake, who at one point caught a glimpse of one Eddie Guerrero on the other side of the bar. The interaction between the two men started off innocent enough, but all innocence was lost once the magical word was uttered: karaoke. First, Eddie stole the spotlight from Stone Cold to offer his rendition of a Garth Brooks tune, which Austin matched by standing up and masterfully weaving between Jimmy Buffet and Hank Williams Jr. songs. But Eddie wasn’t much of a Buffet or Williams Jr. fan, and he let Austin know how he felt in the form of a beer bottle breaking over the Rattlesnake’s head. Stone Cold isn’t one to lose many bar fights, but on this night, Latino Heat got the better of him.

The following week’s Raw was kicked off by a little promo work from Chris Benoit. Excited to finally be returning from a year-long hiatus, the Rabid Wolverine was ready to jump right back into action. However, Benoit’s promo was cut short by the appearance of his former running buddy, the Intercontinental Champion Eddie Guerrero. Trading words, Guerrero and Benoit were clearly not on the same page … or were they?

Cue Ric Flair, coming down to the ring to straighten things out. Since Benoit was property of SmackDown, Flair was not going to have any part of the Wolverine putting his hands on a Raw superstar. In so many words, Flair suggested that Benoit remove himself from the Raw ring. When Eddie jumped in to order Benoit out of the ring as well, the Crippler took matters into his own hands, literally, by shoving the IC Champion clear across the ring. At this point, Flair called for security to escort Mr. Benoit off of the premises.

The main event that night saw Eddie Guerrero put his IC Title on the line against Rob Van Dam in a Ladder match. After putting on one hell of a performance, RVD was able to scale the ladder and reclaim the IC Championship. A slightly-pissed Guerrero was not satisfied with the outcome, and he made sure RVD was well aware of the fact by attacking him from behind with a ladder. Only Eddie’s sneak attack didn’t last too long thanks to the appearance of an even-more-pissed Steve Austin, who immediately took Guerrero down and started stomping the proverbial mudhole. Flair and Arn Anderson came on the scene, accomplishing a whole lot of nothing, victims to Stone Cold’s rage. Evening things up a little more, the previously-thrown-out Chris Benoit ran down to the ring to provide Austin some back-up … or so we thought …

The next week on Raw, Flair, Benoit, and Guerrero all appeared as a cohesive unit. Pure evil and a love of dastardly deeds had brought these three men together, and their path of destruction seemed as if it might be limitless. But while in the ring, the three heels were interrupted by a particular Rattlesnake on the Titan Tron. No longer satisfied with waiting on the sidelines, Austin demanded to be put back into action, ordering a match with either Benoit or Guerrero. Since Benoit was property of SmackDown and Guerrero had already been booked for that night, the only person left to face Austin was Flair. Although he didn’t seem too crazy about the idea at first, Flair consented to a match between himself and Austin to be held later that night. However, Flair ordered a few stipulations: If Austin wins, he is off the bench, but if Austin loses, he’s eternally on the bench and out of action. The deal sounded good enough to Austin, who showed Flair his appreciation by destroying Arn Anderson and then urinating on him. Literally.

Before the match took place, a few backstage segments both added and clarified a few stipulations. First, Flair added that Austin was barred from throwing any punches in their match, and he would immediately be disqualified for any such actions. Secondly, the stipulation was added that if Austin were to lose, he would become Flair’s “personal assistant.” However, due to Flair’s inability to draw up a contract correctly, the stip was put into place for both competitors. Therefore, the loser was going to be the winner’s personal assistant, regardless of who it was. When it came time for the match, all the help in the world from Benoit and Guerrero was not enough. In the end, the Stone Cold Stunner sealed Flair’s fate as the personal assistant of the Rattlesnake.

Well … at least that’s what was supposed to happen …

It turns out that Austin’s match with Flair was going to be Stone Cold’s last action in a WWE ring for nearly a year. Due to a series of issues with the way he had been booked recently, Austin walked out prior to Monday Night Raw going live. The show kicked off with Flair and McMahon in the ring, once again renewing their previously-thought dead rivalry. A match was signed for later that night between the two men, where the winner would assume total control of WWE.

After trading some heated words with Ric Flair backstage, questioning his sudden change in attitude, Eddie Guerrero took on RVD once more, this time in a qualifying match for the King of the Ring Tournament. Just like a week earlier, RVD was able to earn the victory over Guerrero, and he had advanced to the KOTR event itself. Later in the main event, Vince McMahon, with some help from a young Brock Lesnar, defeated the Nature Boy to claim total control of his company once more.

The next week on Raw, Flair had completely turned his character around. He came to the ring to apologize to fans for his recent actions, claiming that the power of Raw ownership had gone to his head. But after looking at the historic comeback of Hulk Hogan, Flair figured that he had something else to offer the Raw brand. Rather than be remembered for a losing effort against McMahon in his last match, Flair felt like he had “one last good run” left in him, and he was officially becoming a member of the active Raw roster.

This news was mildly upsetting to Eddie Guerrero. With Flair still in the ring, Guerrero made his way out to verbally cut the old man down to size. Since Austin had walked out during Flair’s watch, Eddie considered Flair responsible for his personal lack of a match at KOTR, considering he’d been scheduled to take on Stone Cold. This prompted Chris Benoit to make an appearance, surprisingly siding with Flair and getting in Guerrero’s face. Benoit spoke of Flair’s sixteen World Titles and the fact that over the years the man has beaten the best the sport has to offer. Caught up in the moment, Flair offered to take Austin’s place against Eddie at KOTR. However, once this occurred, Benoit’s attitude changed. He suddenly began berating the Nature Boy, which eventually led into a full-scale beatdown from both Benoit and Guerrero. Benoit, it seemed, had swerved fans twice in two weeks, having baited Flair into accepting a match against Eddie.

And so we were set for the King of the Ring. The re-babyfaced Ric Flair was set to take Stone Cold’s place in a singles match against Eddie Guerrero. How would things play out between the Nature Boy and Latino Heat?

WHY IT SHOULD BE REMEMBERED

When Ric Flair returned to World Wrestling Entertainment the night after Survivor Series ’01, no one really had any idea what to expect from the Dirtiest Player in the Game. Like many others, I marked my goddamn brains out, but I (naively, I suppose) assumed that Flair’s role in the E’s programming would be limited to an on-air personality and not as an active wrestler. Re-introduced to the WWE audience as the company’s co-owner, Flair did not return to become an active member of the roster. At least not at first.

This KOTR match against Eddie Guerrero was the first official match of Flair’s return to active duty. While he stepped into the ring against Mr. McMahon, Undertaker, and Steve Austin prior to KOTR, Flair was still technically an inactive performer and not a regular member of the roster. It wasn’t until Stone Cold pissed on the creative staff and walked out that things on Raw were dramatically shaken up, leading to a completely unexpected face turn for Flair as well as his declaration that he still had one good run left in him. Keep in mind that, at the time, fans’ most recent memories of Flair lacing up his boots had been the clusterfuck that was WCW’s final years. The man’s last televised match at this point was his final Nitro encounter with the Stinger, and, well, it didn’t quite match up to their battles held over a decade earlier.

Needless to say, when Flair announced that he had one good run left in him, some fans were a little more than skeptical. For the first official match of this “one good run” to be against a competitor the quality of Eddie Guerrero, well, that made fans a little more skeptical. On paper, it seemed like a disaster waiting to happen; if Flair had lost a step in the last couple (or few, or ten) years, it was sure as hell going to show in the ring against one of the company’s most gifted athletes. But on the flip side, any shortcomings the old man might’ve had would’ve likely been made up for by the greatness of Latino Heat. In the end, we got a little bit of both. Flair was obviously not in the same ring shape as Guerrero, but Eddie’s damn near flawless execution of every move made Flair’s ring rust irrelevant. This wasn’t your typical Flair classic, but it was still a hell of an impressive showing considering the time the man had spent away from the ring.

And this match’s historical significance isn’t just limited to the Nature Boy’s “last run.” Remember that, at this time, Eddie Guerrero was, to WWE fans, nothing more than a former multi-time Intercontinental Champion. This KOTR match against Flair was Eddie’s first step into the territory that’s just above the IC Title division and just below the E’s main event scene.

Until this point, Eddie’s peak had been as IC Champion.

Of course, a match against the re-activated old timer in ’02 wasn’t exactly the spotlight of the evening’s festivities, but it was damn sure a step above everything else the E had booked Eddie into up until that point. Flair’s first official return match could’ve gone to anybody on the roster, and the E chose Eddie Guerrero, a man with no main event experience in WWE. Plus, remember that the original plan was Guerrero vs. Austin, which would’ve boosted the hell out of Eddie’s career, possibly even putting him on an even faster track to the WWE Championship. This is proof that WWE wanted to put Eddie in the ring with a legend at KOTR and really stands as the first time the E’s booking showed us that the company really did have faith in Eddie developing into one of their top guys.

And since we’re on a roll of Eddie memories that deserve to be revisited, let’s not forget about the interaction between Eddie, Flair, and Benoit prior to Austin’s walkout and Flair’s face turn. For a little while there, Flair was the heel general commanding the equally evil Benoit and Guerrero to do his dirty work for him. As you might guess/remember, there were a few Four Horsemen rumors floating around at the time, which, if they had actually materialized, would’ve been completely awesome. Benoit and Guerrero had great potential on the E’s roster as a heel tandem, but they never got an extended period of time to do anything monumental together. If they had had Flair’s leadership and managerial services, the sky would’ve been the limit, perhaps speeding up each man’s road to the World Title. Since Benoit is now and will forever be a douche (and since both guys got their World Titles eventually anyway), I can’t say I really regret this not happening. But still, it’s interesting to look back and consider what might’ve been.

Oh, and another thing … I’m not a huge mark for the guy (in fact, I’m not a mark at all for him), but one dude’s overness stands out when you watch this match to its conclusion. That dude is Bubba Ray Dudley. He’s gotten a lot of heat over the years for his (lack of) ring work and his (alleged) behavior outside the ring, but, in the summer of 2002, Bubba Dudley was over as a singles competitor. He might not have had a chance in hell of lifting that World Title off of Triple H during their mini-feud, but the audience still bought into it and reacted positively. The pop Bubba gets at the end of this Flair/Guerrero match is fucking insane, considering, y’know, it’s Bubba Ray Dudley.

So yeah, I’m not calling for Bubba’s glorious return to singles action. And I’m not saying WWE missed their chance on a potential World Champion. But, regardless of any negative criticisms of the guy over the years, Bubba was, at one point, pretty damn over. Like Hurricane Helms, I’m just sayin’…

WHY IT ISN’T REMEMBERED

There are a few factors here, but the biggest one has got to be Austin walking out of the company. The plan was for Guerrero vs. Austin, and thus, the E’s programming was booked as such. The evil Flair was trying to make his least favorite employee’s life a living hell, and therefore he had enlisted the help of his goons Guerrero and Benoit to do his dirty work for him. This match was built on a Guerrero-Austin set-up … and then there was no Austin.

Anyone who was watching on and off at the time may have a hard time remembering the specifics of an Eddie/Flair PPV feud because it, uh, hardly happened. It was hard enough for me to piece together the twists and turns of the month of June in 2002, and I had all of the television reports to refer back to. A fan without a razor sharp memory might think, “Flair vs. Eddie at KOTR? But weren’t they working together a couple of weeks earlier?” And yes, my non-razor-sharp readers, you would be correct in your assumption.

Since the E had been banking on Guerrero vs. Austin, they were up the proverbial creek without a paddle once Stone Cold hit the road. So once Austin was gone, we got all sorts of nonsense from WWE’s brilliant creative team, including the once-maniacal Ric Flair suddenly coming out with his tail between his legs, kissing up to the fans once again. On the same night, the “Co-Owner vs. Co-Owner” rivalry that had been waged for over half a year was suddenly brought to an abrupt end, leading things right back to where they were before with Vince as the main man in charge. Flair’s face turn made about as much sense as his very, very recent heel turn and nWo partnership, which, of course, didn’t make a damn bit of sense from the general perspective of the continuity of wrestling history, both in and out of WWE.

Real men hold hands.

Another reason WWE isn’t going to revisit this lost gem anytime soon is because they’ve recently not felt like revisiting anything KOTR-related. In a time right now where WWE is apparently on a mission to develop new “concept” PPVs, you’d think that a return to the tournament-style of KOTR would be a no-brainer. Unfortunately, the term “no-brainer” more accurately applies to the type of writer assigned to the E’s creative staff, and therefore, the idea of a proper PPV return for the KOTR has not occurred to any of them just yet.

And so with the KOTR having been terribly abused and neglected, so too has some of the classic matches that the PPV used to showcase. To my knowledge, WWE has never released any sort of KOTR DVD anthology, and likely never will, considering the event is essentially dead. It’s a damn shame considering KOTR not only gave us some awesome tournament drama but some damn fine under/upper card matches that filled out the rest of the show.

WILL IT BE REMEMBERED?

Since both men’s names are in fine standing with WWE, I don’t see why this match should remain forgotten forever. Flair and Guerrero have both received two DVD anthologies of their careers, yet none of the four releases featured their KOTR clash. Although it might not be for a few years, I’m sure that at some point we’re going to get yet another career-spanning set for at least one of these guys, more than likely both. Whenever that day comes (provided my dream of a KOTR anthology doesn’t come true first), we’ll likely see this match finally get the DVD recognition it deserves.

– –

That’s gonna do it for this week. Feedback will return at some uncertain time in the future. Keep in mind I do check out what you guys are saying, and I’m all about investigating and revisiting your picks for future columns. So, as always, keep those suggestions coming and keep the discussion going. And if you can, stay safe and out of jail.

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