[1990-09-05-NWA-Clash of the Champions XII] Ric Flair vs Lex Luger

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

Wrestle War '90 on fast forward. Excellent match. Flair is so animated and talkative, and seems really motivated to have a great match. The crowd is super hot for this. The match was so tired by this point, but it always got a reaction. Hansen, upset that Luger is the number one contender, attacks Luger for the DQ while Flair pulls a disappearing act. Not so crazy about the finish, as Flair was about to move to tags and could have easily done the job first, but I really liked the match and commentary quite a bit.

[Dylan Waco]

I watched this a few months back and at the time I thought it was clearly several pegs below the other good Flair/Luger matches. No problem calling it a good match, but it really felt like Flair in "get all my shit in" mode more than any other big match of his I can think of from that era.

[PeteF3]

What a great fucking series. This is better than any Flair/Sting match save MAYBE Clash I. Flair is particularly vicious at times here, especially outside, and he even throws in a few curveballs to his standard spots, like thumbing Luger in the eye as he's Flair Flopping. Eventually we tease a DCOR, but Luger beats the count only to get waylaid by Stan Hansen in a pretty neat visual as the camera angle makes Stan come out of nowhere. Luger is choked out by the bullrope and left laying to set up Halloween Havoc. Agreed that Flair could have easily done a pinfall job here. With Luger not having to challenge him for a title it would have done wonders for Lex and as we all know Flair is practically immune from the ill effects of any job at all. Hell, by proxy it would have helped out Hansen, too. Ah well--the finish isn't bad at all for what it is and the match itself is very good.

[soup23]

I liked this a good deal also. Worked in a sprinted pace for sure but still told a cohesive story. Finish is pretty cheap but this match was all I could ask for on free tv.

[Kevin Ridge]

Flair gets a brief music video for his entrance. Ric fakes a shoulder injury and clocks Luger. Flair tries grabbing a police officer’s chair outside the ring but the cop is too fast. Was going pretty well. Better than the Sting/Flair match but finish isn’t good with Hansen running down. But wasn’t like Flair was going to win US Title nor was Luger going to be beat him clean.

[ajtroma]

Anyone else catch Flair saying "This is for you, Herd!" before blasting Lex in the chest with a chop?

[garretta]

This almost felt like the main event of the night, mostly because it was a known commodity, and these two certainly delivered. It was a bit strange seeing Luger in the champion's role at first, but once I got into the meat of the bout, I was on familiar ground. This was only slightly different in structure and style from Luger's challenges for the World title, even though Luger and Flair's roles were reversed.

 

I loved the shoulder injury as a transition; I'd never seen an injury worked in quite that way before, although I've seen heels fake being hurt many times. Maybe it was the fact that Nick Patrick was as faked out as Luger was that made it different.

 

I also loved the references to Flair's past as U.S. champion. JR mentioning Flair's first title win over Bobo Brazil was a neat bonus, as was Bob remembering the plane crash in '75. He would too, since he worked for the Raleigh TV station where Crockett taped one of his shows, although I'm not sure he was in the business as an announcer back then.

 

Nice shot at the WWF by JR, calling Flair "the ultimate". He also shows that he's aware of his clichés, noting that many people criticize him for using the term "physical match" too much (which he does). He follows that up by saying, "Well, guess what? This is a physical match!" Take that, you stupid critics!

 

I kind of liked the Hansen run-in. Yes, it would have been nice to see Luger finally pin Flair on national TV, but at least they gave Stan a credible reason for causing the DQ: his anger at being number six in the top ten. I could have done without the big tobacco stain on Luger's chest, though, and I think Luger could have too. Why they insisted on playing up Hansen's tobacco chewing to such a ludicrous and disgusting extent I'll never know. It's not like we needed to be constantly reminded that he was from Texas.

 

I think that this was the last Luger/Flair nationally televised match before Flair left for Vince. If it was, it was a logical, if not entirely satisfying, conclusion to this chapter of their feud.

[drew wardlaw]

I really liked seeing these two work at a fast pace and work the match like a US Title match. The crowd was super hot and really this showed up the main event. I actually think these kind of matches is where Flair's typical spots work really well. It's exactly what the crowd wants to see, and it's in a compact, hot match.

[dawho5]

Not as good as earlier in the year, but still better than the Sting match. I suppose they had to give this less time being the semi-main and all.