Ric Flair v Harley Race

[Loss]

Ric Flair v Harley Race - Starrcade 1983 (Cage Match)

 

To properly explain this match, the setting and circumstances surrounding the match are crucial parts of the story. It's necessary to understand the impact, the emotion and the place in history this match has. Ric Flair won his first world championship on September 17, 1981, from Dusty Rhodes, in Kansas City, Missouri. Flair was winning the NWA World Championship for the very first time, in a town where neither was a known star, from a champion that was unhappy about dropping the belt. Flair proceeded to hold the belt for 21 months, touring Japan and making a name for himself. He went to All Japan Pro Wrestling, where he battled Jumbo Tsuruta, Genichiro Tenryu and longtime rival Ricky Steamboat in memorable matches. He went to Alabama, where he defended his title against Austin Idol in a match where local fans desperately wanted to see him lose. He went to Florida, where he had his first-ever encounter with Barry Windham, who would be a legendary opponent for him in the future. He went to Georgia, where he made his first appearance on national television as the world heavyweight champion, on a network to which he'd become more acquainted later. He went to Portland, where he wrestled in two best of three falls matches against local boy Brett Wayne Sawyer. He went to Memphis, where he was hoodwinked by local legend Jerry Lawler into defending the NWA World title on television, an unheard of practice at the time. He went to Dallas, where he faced the most popular of the Von Erich brothers, playing part in a story that would play itself out in that town for five years. He went home, to North Carolina, showing off his newfound success, much to the delight of friends, family and longtime supporters who knew he'd have his day. And on June 10, 1983, he went to St. Louis, Missouri.

 

Flair's first title reign was impressive. He conquered the world in one fell swoop. It was the beginning of a great story, the beginning of a great career. Flair, however, would not walk out of St. Louis a champion. The title would return to the hands of the man who had worn it six times before, Harley Race. Harley Race was very similar to Ric Flair in many ways -- both did whatever was necessary to keep the title in their possession, both enjoyed the life of a champion and both took their standing very seriously. In more ways, they were completely different, which is evident before the match even begins. Music entrances were becoming popularized, and Flair was part of the generation that was seeing that happen. His entrance is preceded by the pomp and circumstance of the theme from 2001 - A Space Odyssey. Race needs no such introduction, and the only music played with his entrance is the roar composed by the live crowd. Flair smiles at the audience and accepts flowers from adorning women, while the fans earn only the scowl of his opponent. Race began wrestling professionally at the age of 17, establishing a name for himself the hardest way and earning respect based on his toughness, to which Gordon Solie alludes. Flair was an amateur standout at the University of Minnesota and started wrestling at the age of 22. He was the son of a physician and lived a good life. Of his peers, Harley Race is the last man standing. Of his peers, Ric Flair is the first man standing out.

 

November 24, 1983, was the date where pro wrestling stopped being what it was, and started being what it is. Prior to this event, Race was defending his title against Flair in the Mid-Atlantic area when Bob Orton and Dick Slater interfered on the champion's behalf, severely injuring him, betraying a friend, and thus collecting a bounty to take Ric Flair out of the sport in the process. Flair would soon apologize to his fans for being unable to return, but thank them for the support they granted him in the first place, stating that he was being forced into retirement. His enemies gloated in their accomplishment, until they were surprised by Flair showing up and chasing them all away with a baseball bat in hand, vowing revenge. Promoters made the match for Thanksgiving night in Greensboro, North Carolina, and decided to call the event Starrcade. The match would take place inside of a steel cage, which was the first time ever that the NWA World title had been defended in such a match. Race spoke out against the structure, calling it barbaric, and saying that he would not disrespect the championship by defending it in such an environment. He was eventually forced into accepting the match. It was also decided that in the interest of fairness, former NWA champ Gene Kiniski would be the special referee.

 

The mother of all staredowns starts the match, as both speak volumes without saying a word. Ric Flair is energetic and full of charisma; it was obvious to anyone who was paying attention that he was the NWA's next superstar. A simple "whooo!" energizes the crowd and gives them hope. Flair takes control early, with a headlock, which Race breaks, but Flair finds a way to get him back into the hold. Race breaks again, and then catches Flair with a high knee, only to miss a headbutt. Flair goes back to the headlock, which he realizes isn't enough, so he switches into a front facelock and also holds the arm, attempting to secure a pinfall. Race counters the front facelock by returning to a vertical base and executing his first of many vertical suplexes, but he follows with an elbow drop that misses its target. A theme is developing that Race can't string together two successful moves. This is a defined build. This isn't a modern-day WWE-style match where they start off with a headlock because that's what long matches do; there is consistent progression from move to move. Race is the first to bend the rules by choking out Flair, and Gene Kiniski puts himself over for the first of many times by stepping in aggressively and breaking the momentum of the match. Harley follows up with rabbit punches to Flair's neck, establishing his game plan, as he and his hired goons had sidelined Flair with a career-threatening neck injury just months before. A piledriver and elbow drop get a nearfall, but he might have gotten a victory had he covered him sooner. Race's next tactic is to execute a swinging neckbreaker and drop repeated knees on the back of Flair's neck.

 

Not that anyone needed to be reminded, but Race reinforces his role as the villain by exposing his hypocrisy. He complained loudly about the match being held inside of a steel cage, but he was the first to use the structure to his advantage as a weapon. Flair teases a comeback, but Race cuts him off with a pair of well-timed headbutts and repeatedly rams Flair into the cage. Flair starts bleeding, but he also starts fighting back, which Kiniski blocks to put the spotlight on himself. Race saves the sequence, putting the heat back on himself and off of the referee. Flair comes back again and is finally able to regain control of the match. He gets revenge on Race for throwing him into the cage, which causes Race to also start bleeding. Flair moves in for the kill, dropping a knee on his cut open forehead, and he continues to even the score. He gets his own piledriver, he snaps Race's neck and then he executes a nice butterfly suplex. He turns more violent, which causes Kiniski to yet again step in and place the focus back on himself. This gives Race a chance to find an opening, as he headbutts Flair's lower abdomen and rakes his head on the fence, causing Kiniski to literally pull him off of the cage. Flair comes back yet again and goes to hit Race with a punch, but Kiniski grabs his hand, leaving an opening for Race to sneak in his own closed fist punch, which the crowd absolutely hates. Flair can't be stopped now, though, and punches Race repeatedly in the forehead before applying a figure four leglock. The vision of Ric Flair locking in his finishing manuever on Harley Race on a blood-stained mat with the letters NWA in the middle is an amazing one, and nicely sums up what this match was all about. Race rolls out of the hold and into the ropes, and manages to shift the tide yet again with another headbutt. He attempts a vertical suplex, but Flair reverses the move and nearly gets a victory as a result. Race comes back with a middle rope headbutt and now successfully executes the vertical suplex. He again throws Flair into the cage. "At this point, he looks like a beaten man," announcer Bob Caudle says of Flair. Kiniski yet again pulls Race to the center of the ring, and this time by the hair! Flair blocks another vertical suplex attempt and counters with one of his own, but now Flair misses an elbow drop, which signifies that Race has gained momentum and Flair has lost it. Kiniski takes something that I'm sure he calls a bump, but really isn't, and Flair gets a flying bodypress off of the top rope for the pinfall and secures his second world title.

 

This match is painfully slow, even taken in the context of its time, considering what Jumbo Tsuruta, Jaguar Yokota, Ricky Steamboat, Bob Backlund, Ted DiBiase and especially Tiger Mask and Dynamite Kid were accomplishing at the time. There are no flashy moves, which is fine, but the moves that are used are repeated far too many times, in Race's case his vertical suplex. The referee sees the opportunity not to let the two brightest stars shine on a night when Flair and Race were getting unprecedented exposure, but rather as a chance to establish himself as a hard-nosed referee who's still a tough and fair guy. The match wasn't about him, and everyone except him seemed to understand that. All said, the match is still essential for fans of Ric Flair, and even more so for those who look to fully understand how he became the man. Of course, he's been telling us all these years anyway that it's by beating the man, and watching this shows us that he only speaks from personal experience. Vince McMahon came to Harley Race and asked him to jump to the WWF with the title just before this event. Harley Race's response was for him to take a good look at himself in the mirror. He knew the importance of what he was doing here, and this was basically a passing of the torch, on the first supercard of the modern era, a modern pro wrestling staple which is hard to see as special anymore since we see them more times in a year than there are months in a year now. The first title reign showed that Ric Flair could become a legend. The second title win made him one. The crowd knows this as well, as they chant "Two, two, two!" at him after the match. Future rivals, past legends and just a few of the many casualties of the wrestling business hoist Flair on their shoulders, uniting to celebrate the occasion. Flair's wife Beth enters the ring and hugs him. It was what would eventually be Flair's area, the Carolinas, the same Carolinas where he made Sting a superstar in 1988; the same Carolinas where he defied the odds to defeat Vader for the World title in 1993 after most had written him off; the same area Carolinas where he returned after a bitter legal battle in 1998; the same Carolinas where his peers paid tribute to him in a moment shared with the audience in 2003. This match nicely captures everything Ric Flair is all about, great work or no great work.

 

"To try and explain what a major part all of you have played in this would take a long time, but I want you to know, each and every one of you that are here tonight, and each and every one of you that are out in closed circuit locations: this is the greatest night of my life, and I can't thank you ... thank you very much!" -- the new NWA World Champion, covered in blood, sweat and tears, about to embark on a journey more exciting than he could have ever possibly predicted

 

***, which will seem low to some. The *'s just don't accurately surmise the story here, though. Despite this match not being anywhere near the best of Flair, the best of Race, or the best of Flair v Race, this is Flair's breakout moment, and anyone who considers himself a fan of the "Nature Boy" should see it. The three stars are for nothing more than the match's logic -- there isn't really anything within the confines of it that goes against the story they're trying to tell (aside from the referee) and there isn't anything glaringly wrong with what Flair and Race are doing. There just isn't anything great about it either, aside from the atmosphere, the occasion and Flair's coming of age.

[goodhelmet]

So where is the star rating?

[Loss]

***, which will seem low to some. The reason I didn't include it was because I was trying to be deceptive. The *'s just don't accurately surmise the story here. Despite not being anywhere near the best of Flair, the best of Race, or the best of Flair v Race, this is Flair's breakout moment, and anyone who considers themselves a fan of his should see it. The three stars are for nothing more than the match's logic -- there isn't really anything within the confines of it that goes against the story they're trying to tell (aside from the referee) and there isn't anything glaringly wrong with what Flair and Race are doing. There just isn't anything great about it either, aside from the atmosphere, the occasion and Flair's coming of age.

[goodhelmet]

I know it was deceptive. That is why I called you out. I couldn't let you get away with that.

[Loss]

I know it was deceptive. That is why I called you out. I couldn't let you get away with that.

You need to say fuck the police, and start letting people get away with whatever they want.

 

[goodhelmet]

Where is the fun in that?

[Loss]

I think criminals have more fun than cops.

[goodhelmet]

Maybe... but not more fun than detectives.

 

Also, are you saving these into some format so they can be compiled at a later time?

[Loss]

Yes.

[Guest Bruiser Chong]

Loss' review of the Race/Flair match has to be one of the best reviews I've ever read for one of the dullest matches I've ever seen. You get most of that history lesson watching the three-disc Flair DVD set, but Loss, your review almost made me want to watch it again.