[1992-01-11-WWF-Superstars] Funeral Parlor: Ric Flair & Mr Perfect

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

I love that I'm finally watching a yearbook where Ric Flair is still RIC FLAIR. This is an awesome promo hyping the Rumble and pursuing a vendetta against Hogan. The Funeral Parlor set I also always thought looked spectacular.

[glea diddy]

Agreed that its definitely a good 'Ric Flair' promo . However the thing I took from it the most is the difference between suit wearing, limousine riding Flair and wwf flair wearing the robe and looking more like a sports entertainer.

[Loss]

That is true, and it's something I didn't even notice. Flair would have never come out in wrestling gear in the NWA unless he was about to get in the ring.

[glea diddy]

Its just a weird sight to see when you think about it and make the comparison. Looking at it as a whole, a lot of people enjoy Flairs 92 wwf run and for a pretty good reason but the contrast between nwa/wcw Flair and wwf Flair is pretty wide. Just going back two years to the famous 89 run he had is almost night and day character wise and in ring wise in my opinion.

[Tim Evans]

Flair seemed a lot more crazed in his WWF interviews than WCW/NWA. I also like Perfect as Flair's consultant or whatever he was. Flair didn't need it but it helped.

[goodhelmet]

I am a little saddened that Flair turned his interviews up to ten on the volume. Some of Flair's absolute best moments are just him talking to the crowd, being as cool as cool can be.

[shoe]

This is a great Flair promo. He just seem like he didn't belong. The WWF is where he became a characterizure of Ric Flair.

[MikeCampbell]

I can only assume Flair was in gear to do something to distinguish him from the Ric Flair that everyone would have seen on TBS. I love Flair promos like this, where he's so "in the zone" that you almost think he's a minute away from fainting because he's so worked up.

[WingedEagle]

Flair is on fire here, with words for Hogan as we head into the Rumble. The big gold belt is snowed out. Just a classic Flair promo firing on all cylinders.

[PeteF3]

Paul Bearer refers to Flair as the "self-proclaimed" Real World Champion--a difference from his last introduction of Flair which Vince points out. And Perfect has words for the Undertaker regarding the Royal Rumble. "Every man for himself" hype or foreshadowing? Or both? Flair goes nuts and promises to ruin the legacy of Hulkamania, which is of primary importance over winning the Royal Rumble and the WWF title.

[DR Ackermann]

I didn't like Flair's yelling. My friend and I were both confused and turned off by it. It seemed out of place.

[garretta]

I'm not sure what was so different about Flair's yelling; he's been screaming his fool head off during promos since the Crocketts bought the Saturday 6:05 slot from Vince. For every "cool cat" promo he's done, he's done ten just like this or even worse. Yelling and screaming has become his default, at least to me.

 

Curt bothered me much more than Flair did here. At least Flair was open about entering the Rumble not to win the WWF title, but solely to destroy Hogan and end Hulkamania. Curt, on the other hand, took a match that was in no way whatsoever about him and tried to interject himself. First, he claims that one of the things Taker has against him is that he's not perfect. Since you're not wrestling, Curt, and since I don't think you'll even be allowed at ringside, what does that have to do with anything? Taker won't be opposing you directly or indirectly, so your so-called "perfection" (and if you're really so perfect, how come you're not in the Rumble?) has no place in the bout whatsoever in any way, shape, or form. (We know Curt was hurt now, of course, but the WWF didn't acknowledge the injury at the time.)

 

Second, right at the end, Flair makes a pretty clever statement about how once he wins the WWF title, Hogan will have to go through the rest of his natural life as number two. Curt has no reason to say a word, yet he interjects with "Three", which Flair finds hysterical. Again, Curt, are you in the Rumble? Are you trying for the WWF title? No? Then why should anyone consider you the second-best wrestler in the world right now? I've said this on the '91 board, and I'll repeat it here: It's fine for Curt to want to keep the Perfect character over in case he wants to wrestle again someday (which, of course, he will), but to use Flair to help him do it is just plain wrong. Flair's issues should be left as unique to him, and those who speak for him and alongside him should be dedicated to those issues and none of their own. I'll say this again as well: JJ Dillon is the one who should have been alongside Flair here, and it's a shame that Vince's petty paranoia wouldn't let that happen. Curt is only a fit mouthpiece for himself and the Perfect character. Hell, even whistleblowing John Tolos would have been better with Flair than Curt has been.

 

It's also a shame that Curt's antics take away from what is a very good WWF Flair interview. I'm hearing rumblings that Flair will be back to something more closely resembling his classic Crockett persona once he wins the belt, and I'm excited to see if that's true.

[supremebve]

I love this era of Flair. I'm someone who grew up in a small town with no access to cable, so I didn't get to see a whole lot of Flair until he got to WWF. I knew who he was, because I was a wrestling fiend, but I really only was able to see him 2-3 times a year when I was somewhere where I had access to cable. So when he came into the WWF and was cutting these incredible promos I was able to enjoy them for what they are instead of comparing them to his other promos. His original WWF run is probably going to be underrated from here on out, but his promo work was just as good as his NWA/WCW stuff it was just way over the top in comparison.

[soup23]

Strong Flair promo to me. He is amped up but gets across his motives heading into the Rumble and creates a lot of intrigue while still feeling like he is justified in his words.

[dawho5]

Flair cuts a great promo and Percy is much less supportive due to Taker being involved in the Rumble. Hennig I also could have done without. If he's not going to be involved in the wrestling he should keep out of it.