Ric Flair

[goodhelmet]

From the 80s sets we have done, here are the Flair matches we have put on the sets. I am also going to post nominations for other territories as well as my thoughts on some of those matches. Ric Flair is the fucking man.

 

Mid South...

Ric Flair vs. Terry Taylor (4/28/85)

Ric Flair vs. Kerry Von Erich (4/28/85)

Ric Flair vs. Terry Taylor (5/3/85)

Ric Flair vs. Kerry Von Erich (5/4/85)

Ric Flair vs. Terry Taylor (6/1/85)

Ric Flair vs. Wahoo McDaniel (7/12/85)

Ric Flair vs. Butch Reed (8/10/85)

Ric Flair vs. Butch Reed (10/11/85)

Ric Flair vs. Ted Dibiase (11/6/85)

Ric Flair vs. Butch Reed (11/8/85)

Ric Flair vs. Jake Roberts (11/24/85)

 

Memphis...

Ric Flair vs. Jerry Lawler (8/14/82)

Ric Flair vs. Koko Ware (11/18/85)

 

World Class...

Ric Flair vs. Kerry Von Erich (2/3 falls) (8/15/82)

Ric Flair vs. David Von Erich (10/11/82)

Ric Flair vs. Kerry Von Erich (Cage Match) (12/25/82)

Ric Flair vs. Terry Gordy (2/4/83)

Ric Flair vs. Kevin Von Erich (4/1/83)

Ric Flair vs. Chris Adams (2/3/84)

Ric Flair vs. Kerry Von Erich (5/6/84)

Ric Flair vs. Kerry Von Erich (5/11/84)

Ric Flair vs. Terry Gordy (1/11/85)

Ric Flair vs. Kevin Von Erich (5/5/85)

 

All Japan...

Ric Flair vs. Jumbo Tsuruta (2/3 falls) (10/9/81)

Ric Flair vs. Ric Steamboat (6/4/82)

Ric Flair vs. Jumbo Tsuruta (6/8/82)

Ric Flair vs. Jumbo Tsuruta (6/8/83)

Ric Flair vs. Harley Race (5/22/84)

Ric Flair vs. Kerry Von Erich (5/24/84)

Ric Flair vs. Genichiro Tenryu (2/3 Falls) (9/12/84)

Ric Flair vs. Rick Martel (10/21/85)

 

AWA...

Ric Flair vs. Magnum TA (9/28/85)

Ric Flair vs. Nick Bockwinkel (1/17/86)

[Dylan Waco]

I am interested to hear what people think Flair's best year is. The default answer has always been 89 and I'm partial to it for obvious reasons. But I'm not sure it's the right answer

[KrisZ]

I'll say 1985

[soup23]

I would throw out 1987 as an underrated choice. Just on the surface he has 2 classics with Windham, the title switches with Garvin, and the Jimmy Garvin cage match from 1987 that I dug a whole lot. He also brought a good deal to the 2 wargames matches.

[goodhelmet]

Flair matches 1980-1985 Nominations...

 

Ric Flair & Dewey Robertson vs. Jimmy Snuka & Roddy Piper, Maple Leaf #1

Pretty great tag match. Alot of stalling early on but when Piper gets Flair in the corner, he just unloads with some great shots. Piper played heel-in-peril for awhile and Robertson catches him with a beautiful cross-body from the 2nd rope. The end stretch is just great give and take between Flair and the heels. However, Robertson dropkicks Flair on top of Snuka for the pin. Great match and definite nomination.

 

Ric Flair vs. Jack Brisco, Lynch Mid Atlantic 1.2

Really good TV match that has Brisco pin the champ. Flair is irate! I know Flair didn't have too many TV matches but when he did, he usually delivered. This needs to be on the set with interviews included.

 

Ric Flair vs. Roddy Piper, Lynch Mid Atlantic 2.2

Nice! We get 10 minutes plus of a Piper-Flair match and Flair made Piper look great, selling and stooging and brawling. Piper buts Flair open and works over the cut. For a minute, it looked like Piper was going to win the match but a cross body block is rolled through by Flair who gets a pin with the feet on the ropes. This was fun and a nomination.

 

Ric Flair vs. Greg Valentine, Early 1981

Former partners clash. For the first ten minutes, Flair controls and they take their time in setting the tone. However, with a few well-placed, vicious elbows from Valentine, he turns the tide. While Flair worked the arm when in control, Valentine is working the neck and head. The last 8 minutes or so had both guys throwing everything at each other in an attempt to put the match away. Flair wins the match by countout but it was actually a pretty cool ending. They were battling on the apron outside the ropes. Valentine knocks Flair over the ropes with a hard blow but falls off the apron at the ten count. This was a great match and an easy nomination.

 

Ric Flair vs. Ole Anderson (Indian Strap Match), Late 1981

Both guys are pretty reserved in the early part with Flair trying to get Ole on the ground and Ole grabbing onto Flair's arm. It picks up midway through with more brawling and incorporating the strap into the match. This started off slow but the 2nd half makes this a keeper. Nomination.

 

Ric Flair vs. Harley Race, 8/31/83 (Aired 9/10/83)

Race takes it to Flair early but each time he goes for a big punishing move (falling headbutt, big elbow drop), Flair moves out of the way. Flair briefly gains control but Harley regains it with a sweet clothesline that Flair sells like death. There were also some small touches I really got a kick out of like Flair's boot to Harley's head or Flair chopping Harley so hard he bounces off the ropes and falls to his knees or Flair's elbow drop. The end interference sucked but the Orton piledriver on Flair makes up for it. I like this one so much more than the Starrcade match. I have a feeling the Starrcade match will be voted higher but this might be my favorite American Race match. Maybe someone can refresh my memory on the great American Race matches. Maybe it just happens that I am tired of seeing the Starrcade match on every DVD release. This was just point/counter-point and who could capitalize the most off the other guy's mistakes. Awesome match and definite nomination.

 

Ric Flair vs. Harley Race (Cage match), Starrcade 11/24/83

This is one of those matches you have to include but it isn't one of my favorite matches from either guy. You had the obligatory blood, great moves from both guys and the focus on the bad leg but I think the match may have gone too long. Cut ten minutes form it, lose Gene Kiniski (I thought it was Angelo Mosca) as ref and this match becomes so much better. I'll nominate it and we'll include it but I am not excited about it.

 

Ric Flair vs. Ricky Steamboat, 3/17/84

SHOE: I'm not sure of the date on this one but I just took what the DVD put out. This bout goes the whole time limit and the crowd is crazy for it the whole time. Both guys would take the crowd up, and then take them down. The 1st half of the bout Steamer just cranked on Flairs neck and would work some spots around the headlock. The crowd would just go nuts over the highspots. Steamboat's dropkicks looked breathtaking here. They worked a babyface bout for the 1st 30 or so minutes till Flair heeled it up some. Flair worked over Steamboat's back and ribs. I gotta say both men sold for each other hard. The finish was super hot. I'm sure they ran rematches with 90 minute time limits after they ran this bout around the horn. It wasn't at the level of the 89 stuff, but still really great stuff and worthy of a nomination. I mean the bout told a story, kept the crowd the whole way, had a finish to build to rematches, and involved 2 of my favorite wrestlers doing a broadway (another thing I like to watch). The Striker/Steamer commentary hurt the bout. I mean it was cool to have that option, but I wish they would have offered one w/o commentary.

 

Ric Flair vs. Sam Houston, 5/18/85

I know Loss keeps referring to the Flair vs. George South match (which I have never seen) but I think we should start referring to Flair giving more to a lesser opponent as the Flair-Sam Houston match. Flair gives a ton to Flair who seems more concerned with showing off to Magnum TA on the outside than putting Houston away inside the ring. Houston doesn't have interesting offense but Flair is so great that he makes vanilla wrestlers like Houston look like they have a chance of getting the upset. Flair eventually damages the leg, does his leg work and puts Houston away with the Figure-4. This was a one man show and may not make the final cut but deserves some consideration at showing how great Flair can be. After the match, the Flair-TA saga continues as Magnum makes Flair break the submission. Even if this does not make the cut, it will go on as part of the Flair-Magnum feud. If it goes on, we'll include the pre-match and post match interviews as part of the match.

 

Ric Flair vs. Dusty Rhodes, Starrcade 11/28/85

KRIS Z: This is maybe the most historic matchup in this feud and one of those matches that even though it wasn't the greatest match, it was a polarizing match of the era. These two had already met at Starrcade 84 with a shitty finish there so this a rematch and unlike that one there was an actual blood feud going here. I was at the Omni that night although being 6 years old I still remember how heated this was and how just about everyone wanted to see Dusty kill Flair. The work of the match was the basic Dusty/Flair stuff except no blood from Dusty although Flair would juice of course. The main focus of the work was on Dusty's left leg of course and Flair did a good job working on it. The ref bump was par for the course for this series and the Andersons interfering was pretty much a lock but Dusty coming back and beating the odds to pin Flair was great. The fans live left thinking Dusty won the title and the Omni was jumping then of course the decision was announced on TV two days later but it didn't stop the people from coming because IIRC their first rematch at the Omni which was on Christmas Day another show I was at, had more people and was even more heated. This wasn't the best match on this show as for as in the ring work but it was in a different world as far as historic significance. I know Will didn't nominate this but there is enough in the match to warrant the nomination and the historic significance demands a nomination.

 

Ronnie Garvin vs. Ric Flair, 12/28/85

PHIL SCHNEIDER: Garvin had alot of weird athletic spots at this time, headscissors, big sunset flips, jumping headbutts. Of course this had alot of really violent chops, which is what you want from Garvin v. Flair. Garvin had great punches, but you forget Flair could throw hands too. Excellent stuff, not as good as their later series, but an easy pick

 

++++++

 

PORTLAND Nominations...

 

Ric Flair vs. Brett Sawyer (2/3 falls), 4/10/82

First fall starts off working Flair's long match formula. No rushing, headlocks, tests of strength, etc. However, the crowd is just going nuts for this match. Still, pretty solid with only one botched spot I could think of where Flair they collide and neither man could figure out who was supposed to sell the shot. Sawyer takes a nice bump off a Flair knee to the midsection where he drops headfirst to the concrete. This was setup all because Flair took advantage of Sawyer when Saywer thought Flair would break because he was on the ropes. Flair takes over and spends the remainder of the fall abusing Sawyer, tossing him around, throwing him outside the ring, executing moves designed to put Sawyer away like the shoulder breaker and gut wrench suplex. At the end of the fall, Flair is trying to put him away with the Figure 4 but Sawyer small packages him to score the upset pin. If this fall were its own match, I would not have nominated it. Secoond fall, Flair is pissed and takes it to Sawyer. Flair goes for a knee drop on Sawyer's head but Sawyer grabs the leg with his hands and applies his own Figure 4 in a spot that made the crowd erupt. Sawyer attempts a flying body press that ends up being reversed by Flair for the pin. I must have missed it but the match either cut off after a fall apiece or I missed a fall inbetween somewhere. As it stands, it is a nomination but I want to know if I have the complete match. I'll have to rewatch it.

 

Ric Flair vs. Brett Sawyer (2/3 falls), 10/2/82

The first fall has Flair abusing Sawyer throughout, very similar to the first match but with a little more viciousness. Flair even breaks out a grounded leg stretch (I have no idea what this is called) from the abdominal stretch. After that, he follows up by punching Sawyer square on the bridge of the nose. Sawyer looks dead in the water when he fights back and ends up putting Flair in the small package but it is reversed for a Flair pin. The second fall is much more back and forth with each guy trying in vain to get the win. In something I don't think I have ever seen before, Sawyer gets Flair to submit to a Figure 4!!! Shit, that is huge. Did Dusty ever beat Flair with the Figure 4 and I am just not remembering? Anyone else? In a nice touch, before the third fall, Sawyer is still selling the nose and I can't imagine him not bleeding before this thing is over. Sawyer must be feeling lucky because he goes right back to working on Flair's legs. To his credit, Flair sells the legs the rest of the way. In a nice spot, Flair gets a double knee lift from Sawyer who tries to follow it up with adropkick but Flair gets out of the way. After some back and forth, Flair drops Sawyer with a stungun and gets the clean pin to win the match. Just a great match and an easy nomination.

 

Ric Flair v. Magnum T.A., Portland 9/24/85

DYLAN WACO: The opening feeling out stuff is really good stuff. I really liked the arm wringer exchange a lot, the spot where both guys blocked the suplexes and pretty much everything else that set up the eventual "Flair gets frustrated that he can't win fair" stuff with Flair taking Magnum down by the hair off of wristlocks. They finally come up for the "big spots" and of course Flair goes to the floor after being overwhelmed. This is all textbook Flair stuff but it is really well done. Flair is reeling and on the ropes but comes back with a low blow and then does a double stomp which is a move that I absolutely love in any context. There is a real gear shift here as Flair slows the match down and works really deliberately which makes a lot of sense as every time the pace picks up Magnum gets the upper hand. Flair is also really awesome jawing with fans here a few of whom start throwing shit toward the ring. Flair takes Magnum to the floor and drives his shoulder into the post. Flair goes to the work on the arm and Magnum tries to comeback but Flair yanks him down by the hair. Magnum gets a great nearfall when Flair is distracted by a fan and they go into the shoving ref schtick which leads to Flair getting locked by Magnum in the figure-four. Magnum ends up going for another figure-four after the first one is broken but Flair escapes. Awesome moment as Magnum takes the Dustin Rhodes style missed crossbody bump to the floor allowing Flair to take back over. Flair misses a leg smash and Magnum comes back and Flair reels off his staple bumps. Flair is reeling and Magnum rattles off the nearfalls you would expect at this point in a Flair match. Magnum gets caught coming off the ropes with the double knees on a splash attempt and the crowd lets out a collective gasp. Magnum ends up chucked to the floor and they do a really awesome slow motion sunset flip spot which Flair always excels at. Flair locks on the figure-four dead center. They end up on the floor again and Flair goes to post Magnum but Magnum reverses. Back and fourth, ref bump, belly to belly, no ref, nearfall! Time runs out right on a backslide near fall from Magnum. Very much a touring Flair match, but a really good one.

 

Ric Flair vs. Billy Jack, 5/21/85

Billy Jack hooks Flair in a head scissors and Flair knows how to work a hold, constantly struggling to get out. BJ hooks on the headlock and they work out of that for awhile, once again, Flair doing the work, keeping things going. If BJ had a clue, he could do a lot more with the headlock than hold on by dear life. See, watching this match, this is the definition of a Flair match. Big muscle head who needs some guiding so flair guides him through the whole process getting his stuff in along the way. Having said this, once they ran through the headlock segments early on, this was pretty enjoyable. Really nice stretch run with Haynes throwing some nice punches and getting caught in a knee buster helping Flair set up the figure four. Nice setup for the full nelson as Flair goes to the top, gets thrown off and gets hooked. Rip Oliver comes in to ruin the match. I think we owe it to watch all of the Flair matches since they are so popular but I would not fight for this to stay on.

[goodhelmet]

1982 and 1985 are looking really, really strong.

[KrisZ]

What makes 1985 is that we get Flair working basically everywhere and having great matches against a wide variety of opponents.

[MJH]

I'm with Dylan in that 1989 has always been a default choice because of the famous feuds with Steamboat and Terry, but I think it's pretty apparent to anyone who has watched him throughout the decade that his "peak" as a talent came a few years earlier than that, around '85-'87. That doesn't mean 1989 wasn't his "best" year, mind...

[Loss]

I'll say 1985

 

What makes 1985 is that we get Flair working basically everywhere and having great matches against a wide variety of opponents.

100% agreed with this. I've always preferred his 1985 to his 1989. He doesn't have the memorable rivalries like Funk and Steamboat, but he is a guy you see turning up all over the place and tearing the house down.

[JerryvonKramer]

I've seen a shit load of Flair in 85 from Will's Horsemen set as well as when he cropped up on various sets and going through the big shows for JCP. And there's still a hell of a lot of him in 85 I haven't seen. It's a very strong year by anyone's standards. I love that Sam Houston match.

 

89 feels like the marquee pick.

 

Early 80s Mid Atlantic is something I really want to see more of.

 

I was going to mention 87 but soup beat me to it. People don't talk about the Ron and Jimmy Garvin matches enough. 87 feels more like a great JCP year for Flair, 85 is a great traveling champ year.

[Loss]

Ric Flair was working with a broken neck in 1987. He was hidden in 8-man tags for a large part of the year. The Windham matches, War Games and the matches with the Garvins are all excellent in spite of him not being used in singles matches as much as he typically was.

 

EDITED TO ADD: I don't know how "broken" his neck was, or the extent of his injury. I just know it's why he didn't have as many singles matches in 1987. It's not something that stands out watching the supercards.

[Johnny Sorrow]

I love the Flair/ Chris Adams match from 2/3/84. Here's what I wrote about it at DVDVR when the Texas set came out.

 

"I just started watching this one, and Ric Flair's entrance and pre-match stuff is just fucking incredible. It's all real subtle as he slightly acknowledges the couple of guys cheering for him, and slyly blows a kiss at some chick, as he walks to the ring. He's taking his time, being cool as this "Chris Adams" is to him, just another local hero/ flavor of the week. But since Sunshine is in the ring, he can't resist telling her over the mic, that she's "the only woman there not cheering for him." Adams is introduced to the screams of hundreds of women and he makes a point to let Flair know it. Flair keeps his swagger by ignoring Adams exists. The two come close to each other as the ref is about to ring the bell, but Flair is casually looking at Sunshine while flexing one pec at her. Awesome. The ref rings the bell, and Flair offers a handshake to Adams, as if to say, "Nothing personal, I'm the fucking champ. Let's get this exhibition on."

The match starts and Flair is still more concerned about Sunshine, who looks to him to be about as easy to bang as any other chick, "but she's cheering for this Adams kid. Isn't that cute?"

They start to have a straight forward wrestling match and Flair is outclassing him, even getting out of an armlock by lifting Adams up and gently sitting him on top of a turnbuckle corner in a show of "You're outclassed here, kid." Then Adams shows up Flair on a series of switchback armbars and holds and Flair starts to look a little concerned. Flair tries some fists and gets it right back and now the SHIT IS ON. Flair starts kicking his ass and Sunshine tries to get involved, but now Flair is all business kicking at her to get the fuck out of the way. They go at it tooth and nail and Flair even hits a Flop after an enziguri so fast it looked like he busted his nose and he sold it that way for a second. Adams hits the SUPERKICK out of nowhere and Flair hits the mat, but manages to roll toward the ropes as he lands. He escapes the pinfall with a foot on the ropes. They go at it awhile longer and Adams leaps facefront into the corner and springs back at Flair with a bodypress, the momentum rolls them over and wily Champ Flair hooks the leg and rolls him into a 3 count from the immobile Bronco Lubbich. Flair then is all worn out, has a new respect in his face for Adams, but is holding THE BELT.

It's totally the Flair "I didn't expect THIS! Who is this kid?" match set-up and it works like a fucking charm.

 

AWESOME match. "

[goodhelmet]

I may or may not move the 1983 Flair discussion to this thread but I wanted to list matches from 1985-87 that have been nominated for the CROCKETT set.

1985

Ric Flair vs. Sam Houston (5/18/85)

Ric Flair vs. Dusty Rhodes (Starrcade 11/28/85)

Ric Flair vs. Ron Garvin (12/28/85)

 

1986

Ric Flair vs. Ron Garvin (2/2/86)

Ric Flair vs.Ricky Morton (Cage Match) (7/5/86)

Ric Flair vs. Dusty Rhodes (Cage Match) (7/26/86)

Ric Flair vs. Dusty Rhodes (Pro 8/23/86)

 

1987

Ric Flair vs. Barry Windham (1/20/87)

Ric Flair vs. Barry Windham (Crockett Cup 4/11/87)

Ric Flair & Lex Luger vs. Ron & Jimmy Garvin (TV 6/27/87)

Ric Flair vs. Ron Garvin (Cage Match) (9/25/87)

Ric Flair vs. Ron Garvin (Cage Match) (Starrcade 11/26/87)

Need Date:Ric Flair & Lex Luger vs. Rock N Roll Express - Superbouts

[goodhelmet]

Matches nominated for the Crockett Set from 1988-89

 

1988

Ric Flair vs. Sting (Clash 3/27/88)

Ric Flair, Arn Anderson & Tully Blanchard vs. Sting, Lex Luger & Barry Windham (Main Event 4/3/88)

Ric Flair, Arn Anderson & Barry Windham vs. Dr. Death, Lex Luger & Nikita Koloff (Houston 6/10/88)

Ric Flair & Barry Windham vs. Midnight Express (Clash 12/7/88)

Ric Flair vs. Lex Luger (Starrcade 12/26/88)

 

 

1989

Ric Flair vs. Ricky Steamboat (Chicago 2/20/89)

Ric Flair vs. Ricky Steamboat (Landover 3/18/89)

Ric Flair vs. Ricky Steamboat (Philly 3/18/89)

Ric Flair vs. Ricky Steamboat (Clash 4/2/89)

Ric Flair vs. Ricky Steamboat (Wrestlewar 5/7/89)

Ric Flair vs. Terry Funk (GAB 7/23/89)

Ric Flair & Sting vs. Dick Slater & Great Muta (Clash 9/12/89)

Ric Flair vs. Terry Funk (I Quit) (Clash 11/15/89)

[Ricky Jackson]

We all joke about wrestlers exaggerating and saying they wrestled 500 times a year, but on 3/18/89 Flair wrestled, in Philly and Landover, two 30 minute + matches with Steamboat and a tag match with Windham vs Luger and Gilbert that went 17:48.

[JerryvonKramer]

Recent reading around George Scott suggests that Mid Atlantic was "just another territory" until the Flair - Steamboat feud. I think you can make a very strong case that Flair didn't just help the switch from the tag focus to singles, he elevated the entire promotion to be the #2 or #3 in the country.

 

I don't get the impression that was the case before 1978 or so.

[soup23]

Have any written thoughts on the Garvin cage match from GAB 87?

[goodhelmet]

I didn't write much when I reviewed the commercial tape...

 

Ric Flair vs. Jimmy Garvin (steel cage match) (7/11/87)

- As much as I love the Ron Garvin cage matches, I don't like this one. I'll include the date with Precious as an extra but I won't be nominating this match.

[Dylan Waco]

Recent reading around George Scott suggests that Mid Atlantic was "just another territory" until the Flair - Steamboat feud. I think you can make a very strong case that Flair didn't just help the switch from the tag focus to singles, he elevated the entire promotion to be the #2 or #3 in the country.

 

I don't get the impression that was the case before 1978 or so.

That's really questionable.

 

Geographically MACW covered as big a base as anybody other than the AWA and the WWF. You could argue that during points of the 60's and 70's other territories were hotter or had bigger big shows. But places like Detroit, San Fran, LA and Montreal all died out or were in the process of dying out by 78. Even if you wanted to argue they were "above" MACW for points of the prior decades, it wasn't as if Flair caused a drastic boom that changed things - it was that those places shit the bed.

 

A team like George Becker and Johnny Weaver is virtually unknown even among wrestling obsessed geeks like us and there are still towns where they hold the consecutive main event sellout streak in the Carolinas and VA - my home town among them. That had nothing to do with Flair.

[NintendoLogic]

I remember reading that it was Johnny Valentine and Wahoo McDaniel who made Mid-Atlantic one of the country's premier territories.

[KrisZ]

Wahoo/Johnny Valentine was the feud that made JCP into a singles territory.

 

The deal with Flair was Flair was the guy for JCP until he graduated out after winning the world title. If you notice the territory takes a dip slowly after he quits being a full-time guy. JCP was very interesting to watch between 1982-84 as the roster became more depleted especially in the midcard early then the main event scene in 1984 until Dusty came to town. Flair being heel champ in 1982 didn't work out the best as yeah he still drew but the fans didn't want to boo Flair even back then. Babyface Flair always meant business for JCP but the biggest business in those years took place during the Kernodle/Slaughter vs. Steamer/Youngblood feud. Flair came back in after losing to Race and he was hot as fire being the babyface Flair of 1980-81 again teaming with Steamer against the Briscos along with aligning with Piper not to mention the Race feud.

 

It wasn't until Flair became more grounded in 1985 that he reclaimed his spot as the guy in JCP again so imagine if Lawler won the AWA title and left Memphis full-time for 4 years I don't think the territory survives. JCP struggled at times but survived and even did bigger than normal business for a stretch.

[goodhelmet]

Looking at Flair's huge feuds from a match perspective...

 

Had great matches with Kerry in Texas, Mid South and All Japan. I don't know if Flair was Kerry's best opponent but he is in the conversation along with Lawler and the Freebirds.

 

I thought his 1986 would stand out more but it looks like the Morton and Dusty feuds stood alone for available footage . Flair is easily the best singles opponent for Morton. For Dusty, really hit or miss feud. He had some dogshit Dusty matches and some good ones. Also, Tully may be Dusty's best opponent.

 

From 1985-1987, the Garvin matches that were televised were all good-great. I could see Flair as Garvin's best opponent but the Valentine fans may have something to say about that.

 

I think the best singles Windham matches were the Flair matches. From Florida and Crockett, Flair and Windham were like thunder and lightning. They were just meant to go together. Maybe some people like the Windham-Murdoch pairing more. Persnally, I think the Murdoch matches are great but the Flair matches are classics.

 

I am not a fan of the Flair-Sting matchups. I pushed the Clash I match through on reputation, not on actual merit. I prefer Flair-Luger and I don't even think it is close. We know Stng had better matches with Vader than Flair. I want to examine Luger's other opponents closely before I assert that Flair was Luger's best opponent.

 

 

I will continue this later but this is a start.

[KrisZ]

Don't forget the Hawaii match with Flair/Kerry.

 

Flair was Garvin's best opponent I think easily and also Windham's.

 

Flair/Sting from Clash I was the best televised match in their feud IMO.

[Bix]

I want to know more about Jardine in general.

[KrisZ]

Jardine was a main eventer in basically every major territory once in his career