[1987-04-11-NWA-Crockett Cup '87] Ric Flair vs Barry Windham

[Superstar Sleeze]

NWA World Champion Ric Flair vs Barry Windham - NWA Crockett Cup 1987

 

Wanted to start 2017 off with a bang with a classic that I had never seen before. I have seen the other two very famous Windham matches (Florida '86, Worldwide 1/87). If those two are the Oscar nominees, this is the action blockbuster. Very few people can make 25+ minutes feel like a sprint, but for these two competitors 25 minutes is just a drop in the bucket.

 

From the outset of a Ric Flair match, there are three things to watch. How does he utilize space? How does he utilize motion? How does he utilize temperament? At the beginning, Flair is supremely confident in his abilities as a wrestler to win the day, but his temperament will gradually change as he becomes more and more frustrated. Windham overcomes Flair's attempts at takedowns. He hits through the chops and short knees. The short knee is such an underappreciated part of Flair's game and crucial to that feeling of struggle and the babyface having to earn his shine.

 

Ric Flair is a master of both time and space. He is the king of the transient. It is how he creates opportunities for himself. Ric Flair is the greatest corner wrestler in history. He is so effective at using that part of the ring. That part of the ring is the definition of a transient. It will force a break and in very short time they will be out. Flair can do so much in that corner especially crowd in the corner or use the ref as a blocking piece. A lot of Flair's game is about changing space. In the corner he will crowd, in the middle of the ring he will throw a short knee. He is trying to get in close to break momentum and transfer it to him. Windham is able to thwart this with right hands and does not succumb to this tactic. However, what makes Flair so great is that he does not just rely on one tool. He is brilliant at using motion.

 

I have described before Ric Flair's perpetual motion strategy. The idea is that success can be born out of chaos. By constantly moving, you are creating the possibility of a mistake. Heat segments are a condition of steady state. Someone is definitively in control. Whether it is a heel working a body part or a babyface throwing a heel around, there is a sense of inertia that this will continue unless otherwise disrupted. Flair creates disruption through movement. However, it takes multiple tries and it is a high risk strategy because he can fall prey to it just as easy. Notice on the first criss cross spot, he almost got tripped into a drop toehold. The second he dropped down and Windham shrugged his shoulders and dropped down into a headlock. He sticks with the strategy because in a static world, he cant win. He cant outwrestle Windham. That was established. He cant out-strike Windham, Windham's right hand has been winning the day. Windham has the leverage advantage so he cant outpower Windham. He must create a mistake. He does this by disruption through motion. By forcing Windham into motion, he creates chaos and in that chaos anything can happen. What happens in this match is he gets up earlier than Windham expects from a drop down and is able to catch him unawares and hotshot him against the ropes. And that my friends is why Ric Flair is the greatest American wrestler who ever lived.

 

That was just the first five minutes. The rest of match is great, but I would not say it is the best Flair/Windham match I have seen. Flair definitely packed too much into this match as time went on. I thought the heat segment was good with Windham selling well.

 

 

[Loss]

Did you watch the complete handheld or the edited commercial version?

[Superstar Sleeze]

I watched handheld. I didn't my review due to time constraints. I will when I get back from tennis

[paul sosnowski]

Are you finished with tennis yet???

[SmartMark15]

What's there to say about a match like this or something like Flair vs. Steamboat? It's crisp, it's clean, it's fast, it's just...seamless. Textbook classic wrestling from two of the greats. Windham's the heavy handed brawler who can take it to Flair on the mat and Flair's the wily champion trying to get any advantage that he can to retain the championship. They just go at it for 30 minutes of just beautiful action. It's almost too clean for it's own good. The only thing keeping this from the full monty is the lack of a 5 star moment. Otherwise, these guys just simply did nothing wrong.

 

****3/4

[El-P]

As great a go-go-go Flair match you'll ever see. It's like after all those matches against Dusty and Nikita, Flair finally found a dance partner that could just go-go-go for as long and as fast as he did. Windham was so amazing in 87/88. It's an overlooked feud because you don't have those big PPV matches, but this is Flair and Windham at their respective best. Which, in 1987, was basically the best in the US and some of the best ever.

[paul sosnowski]

Sigh..... Still waiting for Superstar to finish his original review of this match......

[Superstar Sleeze]

NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair vs Barry Windham - Crockett Cup '87

FINALLY Superstar Sleeze has finished his review of Ric Flair vs Barry Windham at the Crockett Cup! I like my original review as something if I was writing an article on Ric Flair, but I think it was missing the point of this match. Flair is usually seen as the overconfident champion, but up until 85-86 he was wrestling his peers: Steamboat, Dusty and Kerry. In the mid-80s, new faces cropped up. I think he became even more confident. You dont see him Woooing in the middle of top wristlock sequences with Steamboat or chopping Kerry's chest and retreating just to toy with him. Flair respects his opponents, but he does not respect Barry Windham. He wrestled Barry's dad in bloody brawls. To him, Barry is a wet behind the ears kid. The kid did take him to limit in Florida and on Worldwide, but this is Flair so he can be delusional.

Flair seems more confident than ever. He is trying to get into the mind of the youngster as I said Wooing in the top wristlock and then chopping & retreating. He was getting BW's dander up. I like the spot where on the third Barry charges the corner, mounts, balls his fist up, looks for approval, but he also knows it is the wrong thing to do. Goody-two-shoes! He climbs down. Flair goes for a cheapshot...block...Windham fires off a punch! Here we go! Dropkick and a nearfall. I like it was an underhanded Flair tactic that finally set off the ultimate good guy, Barry Windham. Flair then tries to use motion to discombobulate Windham, but Windham does not fall for it. He falls into a side headlock and then almost gets a drop toehold as Flair powders. Flair is still pretty calm on the outside. Back in Windham makes a rookie mistake of charging and Flair hotshots him. Here we go! Textbook Flair, heavy chops, pitch him to the outside, do plenty of damage out there with the steel and his heavy hands. They time Windham hope spots well. I like how Windham gets a fast break with those big punches in the corner he promised earlier and now delivers. Then when he goes for the dropkick it misses and Flair wastes no time for the figure-4. Normally, Flair would wait, but now he is freaked out. He thought he had the big youngster where he wanted him, but when Windham showed him he would not fold, he freaked out and went for his big weapon. Flair gets caught using the ropes and I love that immediately went back to Windham hope spot. Surviving Flair's biggest shot should be followed up by another win and this comes in the form of an explosive lariat from the corner, however due to the figure-4 he cant capitalize. There is a small cut here to the floor where Flair is going for the piledriver on the floor, but does not get it. Back in the ring, they do a barrage of nearfalls for Windham and Flair's reaction is to powder and take a hike. Again, I love Flair's fight or flight instincts. First time he is in trouble it is figure-4; second time it is just to leave. Windham gives chase but Flair comes back under his own volition. Flair's strategy upon re-entering the ring is to try to engage Windham in a fist fight and this goes poorly for him, but it is great for the fans as it is very exciting. I like him doing a backwards Flair Flop off the final Windham punch as that gets a two count. Windham gets some rapid fire punches and I love that this leads to a floatover suplex for two. Very scintillating nearfall!

The match loses some luster here. Flair is just adamant about not having a heat segment even though there are three massive opening. Windham misses an elbow drop off the top rope, Flair backdrops him on the concrete and the most egregious Flair hits him in the balls. All three spots, Windham is able to counter Flair's next move easily and win control back. Very disappointing because those were great transitions and it hurts the match that Windham is put in a position especially no-sell a ballshot. Now a fourth time, Windham eats knees on a splash after an extended sleeper by Windham on Flair. Flair goes to the top rope and Windham pops up and hits a press slam. Why is this happening? I appreciate making a babyface earn his offense, but it does not feel like Windham is fighting through something rather the preceding moves dont have consequence. Now Windham is applying the figure-4 usually that is at least set up by Flair missing a kneedrop. Flair rakes the eyes so of course Windham hits the next move which is a powerslam for two. Windham has a ton of bombs such as the missile dropkick and the lariat both times Flair gets his foot on the bottom rope. You would think Windham would hook the leg. The first one Tommy Young actually counts three to a pop but realizes his mistake which is a good spot and he sells it well. Windham goes for an O'Connor Roll and Flair reverses for the win with the tights. 

Flair just does not do championship matches under 45 minutes well. He is fine in a short sprint brawl, but he tries to pack way too much in at the detriment of his own offense. He wanted Windham to shine so badly he forgot to create obstacles for Windham to overcome. The first 15 minutes is EXCELLENT! It had a cool vibe of cocky, veteran champion vs. young, inexperienced challenger. Then it became Windham blows off selling to hit his next bomb for 15 minutes. This was quite disappointing, it is still fun, but I was expecting it to be on the level of the other Flair vs Windham matches. To me something like Flair vs Sting from Clash I crushes this and that has a bum rap now. This is overrated at the all time level more like ****.