[1994-04-17-WCW-Spring Stampede] Ric Flair vs Ricky Steamboat

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

This is a hard match to describe. Seeing it in yearbook format compared to seeing it in isolated fashion has a definite impact. On the plus side, we get an excellent 30 minute-plus match with two vets who know what they're doing. On the downside, this feels behind the times of where wrestling was at the time. I say that, but at the same time, Flair and Steamboat are still as good as almost anyone at milking drama in holds -- backslides, trying to escape a side headlock, the long struggle to lock in a figure four and so on. I would go as far as to say that the working of basic holds was done better than in any All Japan singles match in '94 to this point. Pretty high praise. But this didn't feel like a match that was giving the audience quite what it wanted. But still, the working of basic holds is where this match shines.

 

Steamboat's top-rope superplex is a really strong moment, and you watch and wish there was more of that sort of thing, that they could have modernized just a little bit, because had they just added some 1994 offense on top of what they were doing, we'd have a classic. Wrestling had changed quite a bit even since the '89 series, which is made apparent by the lack of heat for much of this match compared to the heat Chi-Town Rumble had, which was worked in a similar style. Positioning the referee properly to throw a closed fist is a great lost art, but it's not as effective as it used to be, and it's not something people really care about as much. So this match suffers for being transplanted from another time period, even though as a match, it's excellent. Dustin/Buck and Vader/Boss aren't as good as this, but both matches seem more contemporary.

 

Some of the change is a dumbing down of the wrestling style, which definitely happened in the U.S. in the early 90s. Fans dumbed down with the dumbing down of the style, which is why so many of the subtle things that would have gotten a great reaction a few years earlier don't anymore. But Flair and Steamboat - even in their 40s - are headlining a PPV and people expect certain things from them. I think there were ways they could have played up their strong points, added in some new things and really took the match to a whole new level. Instead, we got a great match with both guys in their comfort zone and nothing more. It's hard to complain about that, but these guys are considered torch bearers too, so you want more from them.

[Kevin Ridge]

Really good points there Loss. Crowd is not fully behind Steamboat from the start. Flair obviously has his fans but people not supporting Steamboat enough will make it tough for this kind of match. They just don't seem to have the patience to sit and watch this. It could be because of the earlier matches which featured a lot of brawling and/or this match not really being with the times. I still think this is a pretty good technical match on it's own. Crowd picks up when Steamboat gets the figure four on which has Flair close to get the ropes a couple times but Steamboat pulling back. Steamboat with a bit of a brain fart pinning himself though. This probably needed a more clear finish.

[Exposer]

I think Loss really nailed it on the head here. The struggles for basic mat holds is something I've grown to love but the crowd wasn't very in tune with what they were doing. The few times they were on the floor felt like a big step in the direction they needed to go but they refrained from that right when it was starting to click. Steamboat's lack of fans hurt this some because I think WCW was banking on it being a split crowd or a Steamboat crowd. This was still an excellent match and was the best of the night but it certainly didn't fit the picture of professional wrestling in 1994 when you look at what other matches were on the card. I liked it a good bit but it definitely was placed in a time where fans weren't as invested in something like that anymore.

[Dylan Waco]

Even on the yearbook this has to follow three matches on the show that featured things like huge hosses crushing each other, hitting dives and moonsaults, et, bloodbath brawls, large men hitting each other with blunt objects and taking insane bumps onto their head, et. I'm not saying there isn't something to Loss point but on a show like that the crowd was never going to fully respond.

[soup23]

Couple of things before the match since I loved re-watching this PPV and it remains one of the classics. First, it is cool to see Aaron Neville sit ringside for the entire show along with Nick Bockwinkle. Having a celebratory sit and watch the whole PPV makes it feel important. Neville is by no means a big star but we have seen same claiber stars before look like they had rather be anywhere else in the world but a wrestling ring and scurry off as quick as they can. Bockwinkle being there gives credibility to the proceedings since he is the commissioner of the company.

 

Second, it is a shame how Bobby and Tony would become because I thought they were fantastic here. Bobby has been around the product for a little while now so he is familiar with all the talent and their banter back and forth is just enough to be interesting but not derail the action. They constantly seemed genuinely enthusiastic about the product also. Bobby's rationale of why Steamboat was booed comparing Hank Aaron to Babe Ruth i thought was spot on.

 

I thought the work in this match was excellent. I agree with Dylan's post above and would add that while the crowd was certainly not as hot as they were doing the street fight, they did still seem to be engaged in the opening 15 minutes of the match. There was not a lot of jostling in the seats, leaving for concessions, or side conversations going on. It almost reminded me of watching a classic movie like the Godfather compared to an action flick like the Avengers. The Avengers may have more adrenaline and fist pumping moments but The Godfather is overall the better crafted movie and really sets in on you how great it is the longer it lasts. The nods that Flair and Steamboat did to their previous matches was astute and rewarding. I loved the added torque they put on the finishing pins. Flair cheating more and more as he gets more in trouble is brilliant. The ending while not a great finish does logically set up a rematch and I liked that it occurred on the hold Flair lost the title on and one Steamboat didn't use very often at this point. Great match overall up there with the best in the year so far.

[Childs]

Dustin vs. Buck blew this away in terms of intensity and setting up swings in momentum. I have to dock them points for working the match they felt like working without any regard for the context of the show. These were guys who prided themselves on their ability to improvise a performance on the fly. But here, it was like they bought into some deep misconception about the importance of their 1989 series. The callback to the chicken-wing finish seemed ridiculous, a little sad even, after 30+ minutes of evidence that the crowd wasn't buying what they were selling. I agree that there was plenty of solid wrestling in the match. But it's hard for me to call a match great when it was so tone-deaf as a performance.

[DocSarpolis]

…I had remembered thinking this was great, but noticeably inferior to the ’89 run. I felt like it was pushing it to put these two on top at this stage of their careers. How silly is that? Flair would go on to continue to deliver quality bouts for years and while Steamboat would retire soon, it was due to injury and not before he would have a handful of classics v. Austin. Looking back, this match is fantastic. The crowd is clearly a bit burned out after a fantastic night of wrestling, so they’re a little down for the mat exchange stuff, but they come alive whenever there’s chopping or the occasional big spot. And these two know exactly when to kick it into gear. The moment they feel a yawn from the crowd you get a thunderous chop to wake everyone up. The moment you feel the fans fearing a 45-min. 1970s style contest on a night when they saw Vader-Boss, Buck-Dustin, and Nastys-Jack/Payne beat the dog shit out of each other, they take it to the floor and bump.

 

Some spots that stick out for me are when Flair goes for his knee drop and Steamboat catches the knee before contact. I first saw that spot in January of ‘87 when Windham did it to Flair and I popped like crazy at the time and it instantly became a favorite spot for me. Also, there’s 1 exchange where they get mixed up a bit and Flair ends up hitting a clothesline. You know you’re watching a couple of pros when they’re calling everything in the ring and just letting it happen rather than sticking to a script. When you go at it this way there’s no such thing as a botch. You roll with the punches. That’s when wrestling is at its best. It should be organic. Sure, you should have a planned story to tell, but the meat of it should be called on the fly. Anyhow, he hits that clothesline and the crowd erupts because Flair never hits clotheslines. One of those gifts that come from a match called on the fly and a lot of Flair’s matches delivered those little moments.

 

30 min. in and the fans are with it as they start elevating the action, but the fans are now pretty solidly behind Flair. Fuzzy finish here as there’s a double pin and they let Flair keep the belt since it’s technically a draw. I agree with that and the fans were pleased to see Flair keep the belt. I think if they pulled an angle and held up the title that the fans would have shat on the non-finish and it would have hurt an otherwise incredible show.

Also, again, I have to think there was more of a celebration and closing here and I wish Goodhelmet would have included it.

 

This is 1 of the greatest discs of wrestling ever. And on a disc with 3 MOTYC from Japan in 1 night and a Flair-Steamboat classic....I think my favorite match of the disc is Buck-Dustin.

[Superstar Sleeze]

I just watched this again today and definitely felt that beginning of the match was flat. It seemed like they were going through the motions of what a Flair/Steamboat match should be rather than having a wrestling contest. It picked quite a bit towards as expected because Steamboat's nearfalls and Flair's desire to move matches along will just naturally generate that feeling. I agree with the feeling that was an anachronistic match, but I still think some of the same fire they had in 89 was missing. Did anyone feel that Flair was giving an uncharacteristically reserved performance? Dont get me wrong, I think he was definitely trying, but just lacking that panache.

 

I am going to watch the Saturday Night rematch for the first time ever soon and am excited to see a better performance.

[El-P]

Shitty finish aside, this match is perfectly fine in 1994. It's a a slow build match capping off an excellent PPV with no downtime and tons of exciting stuff, you can't expect teh crowd to get hot for the firt 10 minutes of headlocks exchange. But that's how you build a match. The issue is not that they didn't modernize the match, the issue is that Flair was getting older and had cut back on stuff he was still doing in 1989, plus not being has smooth and he was. Steamboat nearly looks the same, which is amazing. They could also have refered to the infamous CHi-Town match by having Steamboat work on the arm and shoulder, which would have made the final spot way more efficient, but in the context of the match it wasn't exactly needed either. I disagree with Loss when he says you want more from them, because it's obvious getting that kind of match from Flair in 1994 is already pretty great, it's about as good as you might get at this point. I don't think he was reserved, but he wasn't working fiery babyface underdog like against Vader not full fledge heel like he would again Hogan, so it's kinda in between, with more emphasis on working as technical babyface Flair which isn't his best role at all. It's like the Bret vs Flair match from 1998 (4 years after this one, think about it), which I find perfectly fine considering the level of Flair's work at the time. Despite the dumb finish (a Flair template), I would be confortable to put this in a MOTYC for WCW, although it's clearly not as good as Arn vs Regal. All in all, it's not 1989 anymore, but it's still pretty damn good.

 

(oh, and I gotta mention that Hulk Hogan's name was dropped during Steamboat's intro...)

[goodhelmet]

Completely disagree with Childs on this one. The crowd was still pretty responsive. It isn't like Wrestlemania 18 where HHH and Jericho wrestled in near silence for 20 minutes. When you watch the show as a whole, you sort of want to come down from the madness and watch these two guys work a different match. It might be why I enjoyed Austin-Muta more than anyone else since it seemed so much more sensible than what the Nasty Boys-Cactus Maxx match was doing. Also, I love how early on, Flair is peppering Steamboat with hidden punches and knee drops. Later on, when Flair is in a jam, he goes back to Steamboat's tender grill and is able to gain an advantage with a punch to the face or palm strike. The shit he did in minute 2 still matters in minute 20. Better yet, later on, when Flair goes for the knee drop, Steamer moves because he was expecting it. I also enjoyed the finish as a throwback. It had been 5 years. The hardcores get a shout out and the casuals get a non-finish to set up the WCWSN match. Good enough for me.

[PeteF3]

They add a few wrinkles that we didn't see in '89, like Steamboat's attempted dive to the floor and some awesome milking of the figure four from both sides (Steamboat pulling himself on the mat to keep Flair from the ropes, and Steamboat blocking Flair's leg). However, Loss' points are well-taken. The work is a good balance of smart and athletic, but the interpretation of Flair giving a PPV payday to his working buddy still comes through, as much as I liked the build-up. The fans are into it, even in a "quietly watching intently" way, but the idea of Flair turning heel is lost on them. The unclear face-heel alignment has an affect on this, as the crowd isn't anti-Steamboat but as the Brain says, they don't want him beating Flair either. And the finish pretty much sucks--a rehash of the Superdome Clash, poorly explained by everyone involved, and used to set up a rematch on Saturday Night back before giving us a PPV main event repeat immediately after on TV was so foreign as to be almost nonsensical. I think the idea is that the match was supposed to be ruled a draw, but Buffer and the fireworks make it come across as a straight Flair victory. I liked this a lot and always have, but ultimately I can't see it as Match of the Night much less US MOTY.

[Zenjo]

The commentary team kept referring to the classic series of matches from 5 years beforehand. Yes this is WCW, not AJ. For this great rivalry it was a welcome return to form, and would prove to be Steamboats last hurrah. They gave us a shade over half an hour of real pro wrestling. Both men had periods in control with body part work. Nice stiff chops from both parties as well. Beats punches any day of the week in my book. You could well argue that the action wasn't cutting edge or continually dynamic. But 20 year old wrestling feeling like 25 year old wrestling doesn't bother me much. Both eras were awesome. I don't spend much time worrying about what the crowd thinks either. The pacing was right and they told a great story. Plus there was plenty of excitement with near falls and believable submissions. Alas, the double pin was a bit of a letdown. The 80's can keep its finishes. Both men still looked like they were still in their primes on this night.

[BruiserBrody]

Steamboat used two superplexes which I would like to think is a call back to Vader injuring Flair with a pair of them a few months earlier.

[Superstar Sleeze]

Don't care for my comments from 2012 so lets re-do this.

 

WCW World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair vs Ricky Steamboat - WCW Spring Stampede 1994

 

Before Flair becomes a Hogan cartoon character and before Steamboat retires we get on last showdown at the OK Corral between these two legends. No it is not as good as their 1989 series, but few things in this world are. The flaws are mostly due to strange choices for transitions things like Steamboat eating the guardrail and the next spot being him hitting a superplex. That can be present in our Flair matches, but it is avoided in the Steamboat classics. So it is a bit spotty at times, but overall it tells the story of two old gunslingers that have been firing at each other for almost two decades giving it all they got.

 

Really dug the opening minutes of this contest. They are already talking Hogan so Flair is playing subtle heel here before turning out right heel in June. Great amateur ride sequence and Steamboat has Flair flustered with the flying headscissors. Flair powders and back in he tries to intimidate Steamboat by crowding him in the corner, but Steamboat will not be intimidated and delivers a THUNDEROUS SLAP. Flair fires back and here comes Steamboat! There are some incredible chop exchanges in this match. Loved it. Thought Steamboat headlock sequence was good not great, so good ins and outs. Flair pulls back as Steamboat goes for a dropkick and now we go to school Lots of Flair fans in the Rosemont Horizon on this night. Flair works over Steamboat like a champ. As Steamboat tries to fire back, Flair gets desperate and a crossbody sends them both tumbling to the floor. I liked them bringing this into the 90s with spots like Steamboat eating the guardrail (instead of the knees after a sleeper) or a the flying chop from the top rope to the outside. Now it is classic Flair time with the Flair Flip and the Flair Flop to a huge pop! Flair cant get anything going. Kneedrop attempt, CAUGHT! Steamboat applies the figure-4! This is classic Flair psychology, "haste makes waste" as he is running desperate to get something started he ends up putting himself in precarious predicaments. Flair does not get the ropes or power out, he just thumbs him in the eye. Classic.

 

Steamboat is great at selling the eye powdering and trying to get his vision back while Flair tries to recuperate. Steamboat falls on top of Flair on suplex attempt and now it is a barrage of nearfalls for Steamboat. It is high drama in the Windy City! Steamboat tries to come down with a chop from the apron, but eats boots to the arm. Again, Steamboat is selling really well, but this does not go anywhere. Steamboat ends up back in the drivers seat with a crossbody from the top. It is just frustrating because they are not connecting all their spots. Some of these segments are rock solid, but others there will be a random spot and it is just hanging out there. I know this is Flair in the 90s as a heel, but some more offense wouldn't kill him. I mean he is fighting back and making Steamboat earn it, but a little more control would be nice. Like was it necessary for Flair to hit a nice clothesline, eat a press slam from top then Steamboat misses the bodypress from the top and then figure-4. It makes too much my turn/your turn.

 

Out of the figure-4 it is the big finish, Steamboat goes back to the superplex, but this time it is the TOP ROPE SUPERPLEX! He milks the selling for all its worth. He cant capitalize so Flair kicks out and now it is another barrage of nearfalls. DOUBLE CHICKEN WING the finish to the Clash classic (Brain and Tony get so excited they mistakenly call this the finish for Chi-Town Rumble). Steamboat cant hold bridges back and both men shoulders are down leading to the WCW World Championship being held up.

 

Excellent match. I thought it was hard fought and energetic. The beginning established that neither man would back down, but that Steamboat seemed to have a little more pep in his step. Flair took advantage of a mistake, but due to them falling over the top Steamboat re-established control and ever looked back really. Flair mixed in some great cutoffs and chop exchanges. Steamboat had the highspots and nearfalls. This did not flow as well as their classics, but it is hard not to enjoy the hell out of this. I like the finish to set up the kickass rematch. 1994 belongs to Bret/Owen and nothing else from 94 will touch it, but I see this as a contender for second place. ****1/4

[Makai Club #1]

The wrestling is tremendous. Great back and forth action with both men struggling for every move, every chop, every hold, every reversal; the never-ending struggle for the win. Steamboat is an uber face but he fit the subtle heel role to a tee here. Also, Steamboat's selling was top notch. His and Osamu Nishimura's selling is very unique because they don't just favour the leg or arm or whatever the main focus of the match is, they sell everything. The damage they took, the fatigue, the pace of the match. It's really simple but clever in many ways. I love it. The finish was great too. The match was a really excellent match. Another classic in the boat of Flair and Steamboat. ****3/4 

[cactus]

Steamboat gets some boos as he enters the arena and I appreciate that the commentary acknowledge this and don't try to insult our intelligence. WWE could take a few pointers from this. Anyway, the first 10-15 minutes felt like both guys were autopilot. The wrestling is obviously good, but it's not Flair vs Steamboat in '89 good. Thankfully, the last 15 minutes are utterly enthralling with Steamboat getting countless number of convincing false finishes. Steamboat wins over some of the Flair fans with some brilliant selling. Despite this being a long match, I could of easily watch them go at it for another 10-15 minutes without getting bored. They were clearly starting to get past their prime by this point in their careers, but they can still work a hell of a match when they really put their minds to it. 

★★★★¼