wrestling / Video Reviews

Dark Pegasus Video Review: The Ultimate Ric Flair Collection, Disc Three

April 9, 2007 | Posted by J.D. Dunn

9.5

The 411 Rating

Community Grade

Your Grade

Dark Pegasus Video Review: The Ultimate Ric Flair Collection, Disc Three

The Ultimate Ric Flair Collection3-DVD Set, Disc Three
by J.D. Dunn

Easter Egg Alert!: Highlight “Play” and push “left” to highlight the “WWE” logo in the corner and you’ll see a Flair promo talking about the little lady calling him “the man, the myth, the legend” before she closed her eyes and went to sleep. The Horsemen are going to retire the Road Warriors. Flair calls the Freebirds the “Fruitbirds” and busts a verbal move on Jimmy Garvin and Precious.

The “Nature Boy” Heads North: The Royal Rumble

WCW President Jim Herd wanted Flair to “change with the times” by cutting his hair and getting an earring. Everyone thought that was a stupid idea, but Herd was an idiot so he kept pushing it. Flair was right in the middle of a contract negotiation, so Herd wanted him to drop the title to Lex Luger. Flair is NOT an idiot and saw what that would do to his leverage and said he would drop the title once they got a contract ironed out. Herd got upset and wanted him to drop the title to Barry Windham before finally deciding to fire Flair outright. Flair told him to pay back the $25,000 deposit if he wanted the NWA belt back, and Herd told him to stick it up his ass. Well played, Jimbo. Well played. Flair took the title and went to the WWF where Vince was more than happy to have him. Jim Herd sounds stupider every time I hear this story.

Bobby “the Brain” is Excited: Bobby nervously runs through the production room and insults every single worker on his way through, berating them for not working hard enough.

Flair’s WWE TV Debut: They implied Flair showing up at Summerslam ’91, but this is his debut. Bobby has the staff roll out the red carpet for Flair. Hey, is that Bobby Knight in the audience? Flair runs everyone down and asks Hogan to hand him the belt.

Funeral Parlor: The Brother Love show, as a rule, was very good. The Funeral Parlor, as a rule, sucked. Flair and Heenan come out to taunt Hogan and Piper because Flair is the “Real” world’s champ.

Flair attacks Piper: Yeah, uh pretty much what it sounds like. Flair comes out to the booth where Hot Rod is doing commentary and slaps him around a bit. Roddy tries to be the bigger man so Flair blindsides him with the NWA Title. Randy Savage, who was also on commentary, runs around trying to look like he’s doing something without actually, you know, doing something. Vince tries to wear the big boy pants and restore order, but Roddy hits him with a chair “accidentally” to make this segment way more fun than your normal beatdown.

The “Real” World Heavyweight Champion: Heenan introduces Flair for an interview segment, irritating Piper and Savage. Flair accuses Hogan of ducking him and demands a match. Of course, that would come over two years later in another company. (And yes, I know they actually wrestled at a house show, but who in the hell cares about house shows.)

Vacant WWF Heavyweight Title: Royal Rumble 1992 (01.19.92).
It’s been about five years since I reviewed this the first time around, so it’s probably time for a do-over. I’ll be dropping in a few tidbits just to let you know why this match is so fun for wrestling historian types. You know the story: Flair showed up with the NWA Title and claimed to be the “real” world’s champion. He cost Hulk Hogan the title to the Undertaker, who then lost it right back under shady circumstances, so Jack Tunney ruled that the winner of the Rumble would take the title. The British Bulldog is #1. Interestingly, Bret Hart came in at #1 the year before and got an Intercontinental Title reign at Summerslam, and the Bulldog would mirror that success in1992. Ted Dibiase is #2, having awful luck for the second year in a row. He starts dismantling Davey Boy with his technical skill but turns his back and gets clotheslined right out. HUGE POP! Ric Flair is #3, giving Heenan an aneurysm. Gorilla: “You can kiss it goodbye, Brain!” Flair brushes by Dibiase on his way to the ring, in what could be a metaphor for their careers (Flair Trivia: In the early 1980’s, the NWA was pushing to spread title reigns between three up-and-comers — Dusty Rhodes, Ric Flair, and Ted Dibiase. Dibiase was eventually squeezed out and wound up going to the WWF instead.) Flair tries some chops but gets rattled by a clothesline. Bulldog tosses Flair to the apron, but Nasty Boy Saggs comes in at #4, allowing Flair to sneak back in. Saggs and Flair team up against the Bulldog, but Bulldog dropkicks Saggs to the floor and glares at Flair. Former Heenan charge Haku is #5, but he has no loyalty. He delivers a brutal piledriver to Bulldog, but Flair double-crosses Haku, allowing Davey to recover and dump him.

Shawn Michaels is #6, fresh off tossing Marty through the Barber Shop window. He goes after Flair. Bulldog presses Shawn but drops him in the ring. **Groan** Shawn works in his crotched on the top rope spot. Tito Santana is #7 and goes right after Flair. Flair delivers THE #1 AND THE BEST LOW BLOW on the Bulldog. Barbarian is #8. Gorilla: “Barbarian doesn’t like Flair.” The match slows down a bit as everyone just kind of grabs the ropes and won’t let go. Kerry Von Erich is #9 and renews acquaintances with Flair (Flair Trivia: Flair was his opponent the night the Freebirds pulled their infamous turn, setting off one of the hottest rivalries of the 1980s, and Flair later dropped the NWA Title to Kerry.). Repo Man is #12 and doesn’t do much of note. Say, why didn’t he try to repossess the NWA Heavyweight Title? It would have been perfect. Then again, he did repossess the Million Dollar Belt, and that’s probably worth a lot more money.

Greg Valentine is #11. He goes after his old tag team partner. (Flair Trivia: Flair and Valentine were two hot young prospects in the Mid-Atlantic region, not unlike Edge & Randy Orton today, so they teamed them up and feuded them against, of all people, the Andersons. Greg eventually jumped to the WWWF for a bit before returning and begging Flair to be his partner again. Then, in a pivotal match against Jimmy Snuka and the Iron Sheik, Valentine turned on Flair and broke his nose, triggering a big rivalry between the former friends.) They trade some unbelievable chops, and it’s funny that they have virtually the same moveset, yet their attitudes are so different about how they use it. Michaels dangles from the ropes as Kerry and the Bulldog try to shove him out. Nikolai Volkoff is #12 and still gets booed despite turning face. Valentine puts Flair in the figure-four leglock, which doesn’t make a lot of sense, but it’s still damned cool to see. Volkoff gets tossed. The Big Bossman is #13, at the peak of his popularity and skill. There goes Valentine. Michaels nearly goes out off an uppercut. There goes Repo. Flair backdrops the Bulldog to the floor, drawing the ire of the crowd. Von Erich goes the same way a few moments later. Tito and Shawn go at the same time, setting up their WrestleMania match. Hercules is #14 and goes right after Flair (I think I’ll just abbreviate that “AGRAF” from now on). Herc pairs off with Bossman while Barbarian pummels Flair. Herc dumps Barbarian from behind but gets tossed by the Bossman. Flair and Bossman do a little sequence before Bossman misses a charge and goes over the top. Heenan declares Flair the winner in a great commentary moment. Roddy Piper is #15, and he blitzes Flair with windmill punches. He no-sells an atomic drop and puts Flair in the sleeper. Amazingly, 10 years earlier, it was Flair recruiting Piper in Mid-Atlantic and making him a big star. Even more amazingly, they’d be WWE Tag Champions nearly 15 years later.

Jake Roberts is #16 and lets Roddy choke Flair out before jumping him from behind. He’s a snake, after all. Roddy saves Flair, causing Brain to call it a kilt and not a skirt. Then, Roddy goes after Flair, making Brain reverse his decision. Funny stuff. Hacksaw Jim Duggan is #17 AGRAF. Flair and Piper trade some big chops. Irwin R. Shyster is #18 AGRAF, possibly for not claiming the NWA Title among his assets. Jake slithers into the corner in between jumping people from behind. Sadly, this was just before he self-destructed because Heel Jake was so awesome. Jimmy Snuka is #19 AGRAF (Flair Trivia: see above story). The Undertaker is #20, still well into his character. He dumps Snuka AGRAF. Piper gets his third eyepoke of the match in on Jake.

Randy Savage is #21, so Jake ducks out of the ring and runs away. Savage gets swarmed by the others, allowing Jake to return and attack him from behind. Savage blitzes him and knees him to the floor before jumping over the top to get some more of the Snake. The refs rule that it doesn’t count (this year). Taker grabs Savage and tries to smother him. Flair hits THE #2 AND THE SECOND BEST LOW BLOW on Undertaker, and Heenan covers by explaining he was trying to lift him up. The Berzerker is #22. Is it ironic that Jimmy Jacobs did better with the same character than John Nord? Virgil is #23 and goes after IRS. Colonel Mustafa is #24, a year after losing his relevance (or ten years before he might have become relevant again). Rick Martel is #25 but gets jumped by Flair. (Flair Trivia: When Flair was the NWA Champion and Martel was the AWA Champion, they met in an NWA Title vs. AWA Title match in Japan. It ended in a draw, so neither title changed hands.)

Hulk Hogan is #26 as the roof blows off the place. Martel goes through the middle ropes as Berzeker, Undertaker and IRS all gang up on Hogan. He fights them off and clotheslines Taker over. There goes Berzerker. The crowd is NUCLEAR at this point. Virgil and Duggan eliminate each other. Piper starts stalking Hogan but gets jumped by IRS. Skinner is #27 as Hogan dumps Flair to the apron. Flair and Martel team up against Piper. Flair whips Hogan to the corner but gets DESTROYED by a clothesline. Sgt. Slaughter is #28 as Skinner gets dumped. Hogan and Piper renew acquaintances. Sid Justice is #29 and gets a pop nearly as big as Hogan’s. (Flair Trivia: Well, Sid was a Horseman.) The Warlord is #30 in his last televised WWF match. Hogan suplexes Flair on the floor. Justice eliminates Slaughter in an appropriate metaphor. Irwin gets tossed by Piper as Hogan and Sid team up to toss Warlord. Justice tosses Piper and Martel.

So Hogan, Flair, Justice and Randy Savage are your final four. Justice gets Savage on the ropes, and Flair knees Sid in the back, sending Savage to the floor. Hogan knocks Flair to the apron and bends over to try and eliminate him, so Sid dumps Hogan from behind. Sid got a pretty big face pop for that, one of the signs that Hulkamania was starting to get stale. Hogan grabs Sid by the arm and yanks him out with Flair providing an assist from behind. Flair picks up the win and his first WWF Title at 62:03. Heenan: “YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! I TOLD YOU MONSOON! YESYESYESYESYES!” It’s funnier if you imagine him screaming it in Gorilla’s ear as Monsoon rolls his eyes. Anyway, while the 2004 Rumble was better booked from start to finish, this one had far more intrigue, long-term importance, and was generally way more fun. Best Rumble ever. *****

Rumble Post-Match Interview: One of the great interviews of all time as Flair has just gone an hour to win his first WWF Title. “…I’m gonna tell you all with a tear in my eye, this is the greatest moment in my life…this is the only title in the wrestling world that makes you #1. When you are the king, you rule the world!”

Sting: Defining an Era:

Sting joins Tony for a typical Sting interview. Flair says that Sting was another guy like Ricky Steamboat that he could mold into his rival. They talk about Flair vs. Sting at Clash I, which did a big rating. We get a lengthy clip from that match. Flair talks about carrying the feud on into the ’90s. Flair sets up the unification match between the WCW Title and the WCW International World Title.

Kicked out of the Horsemen: A great angle from 1989. After Flair defeated Funk in the “I Quit” match, the Horsemen reformed with Flair, Sting, Ole and Arn Anderson. At Starrcade, Sting won a Round Robin tournament which included Ric Flair. Ole tells Sting that they were just brought in to destroy Sting but Flair stopped them when Sting helped him out against Terry Funk and Muta. Ole tells him that’s all over now that Sting has signed to meet Flair for the title. Ole says they’ll give him a second chance if he’ll give up his title shot. Sting says, “no.” They Horsemen attack Sting and leave him laying.

Reeking of Sex Appeal: From 1990: David Crockett interviews Flair who is “reeking of sex appeal.” He asks Sting if he’s man enough to beat Flair. It’s put up or shut up time. Flair tells Sting to stop talking to the 15 year-olds and ask the 21 year-olds what Flair’s best feature is — he’s a 60-minute man, baby!

Ladies and Gentleman, Sting: This is from 1994. Sting gives an interview that seems specifically designed to show people that Sting shouldn’t do interviews. Mind games won’t work on him because he’s a great white shark.

WCW Title vs. WCW International World Title: Ric Flair vs. Sting (6.23.94).
This was a long time coming, both for the participants and the belts that they held. Flair’s WCW Title is considered the “real” title. To explain the machinations behind the International title would probably take longer than you’d care to read, but here’s the nutshell: In 1992, a new group of promoters tried to reestablish the NWA after most of the original member promotions went under in the mid-to-late 1980s. The problem is they actually wanted to use the NWA champion just like in the old days, but WCW had a big problem with that, so they withdrew from the NWA, kept the belt, and renamed it the “WCW International World Title.” It’s one of those things where they legally owned the physical belt but not the lineage, so the belt wound up being worthless. Speaking of worthless, the NWA hoped to recover by staking it’s future to Tod Gordon and Paul Heyman’s up-and-coming Eastern Championship Wrestling promotion, which had a good media foothold. Well, that didn’t work out because Dennis Coralluzo (owner of NWA-New Jersey) and Gordon had a falling out, making the ROH vs. CZW feud look like a petting party. As one final “fuck you” to Coralluzo’s hopes of creating a new NWA, Gordon and Heyman had Shane Douglas throw down the NWA title and form ECW, which you can now see on Tuesday night’s on Sci-Fi. Think about it. Had WCW not withdrawn, there might be no ECW. Weird, huh? Onto the match. Flair had just turned heel in anticipation of Hulk Hogan coming into the promotion, which really tips the result here. Also tipping the result is Sensuous Sherri showing up at ringside in Sting facepaint. The idea is that she had been showing up in the crowd for several months, but no one knew what she was doing there. Speaking of Hogan, though, you notice the difference between a world class promotion like the WWF and a wannabe like WCW: When Flair jumped to the WWF, they had him feud with Roddy Piper for a few months to really establish himself. In WCW, they were so happy to have Hogan that they let Sting and Ric Flair fight it out for the right to face Hogan in his first match. It’s like a girl with poor self-esteem who sleeps with guys on the first date. TNA’s becoming the same way. Sting dominates early, causing Flair to stall and argue with the crowd. Sting continues to dominate until he misses a Stinger splash and falls to the apron. Flair tosses Sting over the top which would normally be a DQ but the ref was distracted. Flair takes over and hits a kneedrop right between the eyes. With his feet in the ropes, Flair goes for a pin. It only gets a series of two counts. Flair delivers a back suplex and goes for the figure-four but Sting kicks out of it. Flair misses a clothesline but hits a reverse elbow. Flair with the sleeper! Sting power up and rams Flair’s head into the top turnbuckle. They do a sloppy catapult and Flair ducks out. Sting suplexes Flair back in for two. A Flair flip gets cut off by Sting on the apron. Sting counters an atomic drop to a clothesline but Flair kicks out of a cover. SUPERPLEX! But Sting goes for a splash instead and finds nothing but canvass. Sting no-sells a suplex and hiptosses Flair. A dropkick follows and Sting clotheslines Flair over the top. Flair pulls Sherri into the path of a Sting plancha, and she takes a nasty bump into the railing. Flair takes advantage but gets backslid for two. Sting goes to check on Sherri again and Flair gets a schoolboy rollup (with a handful of tights) for the victory at 14:14. Sherri and Flair embrace, revealing their treachery, and then Flair clips Sting’s knee. They try to cripple Sting, but Hulk Hogan makes the save. Not their best work together, but pretty good. The circumstances surrounding the match really overwhelmed the quality. Still, pre-1996 Sting vs. Flair is all good. ***1/2

Celebration: A Special Night in Greenville.

Everyone comes out and gives Flair a standing ovation and a big “thank you” for all that he’s done for the sport. Great moment. Flair says he never had the greatest body, but he knew how to work and had great energy.

Rick Flair vs. Pete Sanchez (03.01.76).
This would be Flair’s debut in the WWWF, and he’s already drawing good heel heat. Sanchez starts with an armdrag and Flair claims a hair pull. Sanchez reverses an arm wringer to one of his own and works over the arm. For some reason, Vince doesn’t come in for a long time on commentary. Flair now is working Sanchez’s arm. Flair begs off as Pete gets fired up and we see a Flair flop off of a Sanchez punch. Flair misses an elbow drop and Sanchez comes back whipping Flair into the turnbuckle. To the other side, and Flair gets hung upside down. Sanchez ducks his head on a backdrop and gets a boot to the chest. Flair finishes him with a vertical suplex at 10:05. Pretty pedestrian match. Flair hadn’t refined his moveset yet, but you could see “it” was there. 3/4*

A Workout with Piper (11/24/82): Flair beats up on a few young guys as an exhibition. He starts running his mouth, so Roddy Piper challenges him to a little exhibition. He pins Flair after a brief sequence and says that the next time, it should be for real. That leads Greg Valentine to run in and sneak attack Piper from behind. They grind Piper’s face into the canvas before Bob Orton Jr. makes the save.

PWI Wrestler of the Decade: From late 1989. Sting wins “Most Popular Wrestler” and Flair wins “Wrestler of the Decade,” conveniently setting up their feud.

The Final Nitro (3/26/01): This is a great promo. One of Flair’s best, and that’s saying a lot. “Did I hear Vince McMahon say that he was going to hold WCW in the palm of his hand? Is that what he said?! Because that means you are going to hold Jack Brisco, Dory Funk, Harley Race, the Road Warriors, Sting, Luger, the Steiners, Bagwell, Ric Flair, Steamboat — does that mean you’re going to hold us all in the palm of your hands?! To coin a phrase, “I don’t think so!” You know, at twelve o’clock today, someone special to me said, “Do not go to that show tonight knowing it’s the last time that you’ll ever be on TNT or TBS…knowin’ it’s the last time. She said to me, “Don’t go out there and cry. Don’t go out there and say you’re sorry.” Because, I’M NOT! I’m the FOURTEEN TIMES WORLD CHAMPION! In my eyes, we’re the greatest — (to cheering fans) you got it! — the greatest wrestling organization in the world — WCW. I’m talking about the Stings, the Lugers, the Steiners, the Road Warriors. I’m talking about my best friend, Arn Anderson and the Four Horsemen. We have been on a par, and we have been equal to any wrestling organization in the world. As a matter of fact, we have run neck and neck with you, Vince McMahon, for years. FOR YEARS! And just for trivia, Vince McMahon, do you know that it 1981, when you were trying to become an announcer, your dad was on the Board of Directors and voted for me to be the World Champion. Whooo! How ’bout that?! And ever since then, I have been a limosuine-ridin’, jet-flyin’, kiss-stealin’, wheelin’-dealin’, son of a gun! That along with the whole WCW — dammit all! — have kissed the girls worldwide and made ’em cry. You see, we were every bit the force. We were WCW. We lived, we breathed, we sweat, we paid the price to be the best. It’s never been about the boys in the office, the boys who have gone out there night in and night out doing everything they could to be the very best at what they chose to do with their lives. Those boys are here tonight. We are! We’re not going anywhere! You can’t hold us in your hands and predict our lives. We’re WCW! We bled, and we sweat! When was the last time you wrestled for an hour?! Cut yourself five times? Bled for 45 minutes? When…were…you…there? YOU WEREN’T! YOU WEREN’T! You were never in the dressing room, on the road, forty days and forty nights bleedin’, sweatin’, going to the next town. You weren’t there! You can’t hold people’s lives in your hands. We’re the greatest wrestling company of all time. I wanna say it again: You can’t control us.” Wow. That was more than just a promo to hype a match. That was Flair’s life, WCW, the NWA all wrapped into one breathtaking promo.

World Heavyweight Title: Triple H vs. Ric Flair (5.19.03).
This is from Raw in Greenville. They were teasing a breakup of Flair and Triple H. Flair offers a handshake and then taunts Hunter. Whoo! Hunter tries one and gets a thumb to the eye. Chops! Triple H goes for a suplex but his ribs are injured and can’t get him up. Triple H takes the Hunter flip over the ropes and Flair chops him on the outside. Whooo! Back in and Hunter hits a spinebuster. Triple H chokes him in the corner but Flair fights back. Flair takes the Flair flip and it works! Figure-four by Flair! Do we have a new World Champion? Triple H makes the ropes and uses the ref to cheapshot Flair. Hunter gets a sleeper but Flair shoves him into the ref. Flair ducks under a belt shot and hits a low blow. Now Hunter takes a belt shot. ONE, TWO, THRE—NOOOO!!! Flair is strutting! Whooo! Triple H shoves him into the turnbuckle and goes for the Pedigree but Flair counters to a backdrop. Flair goes for the Pedigree, but Triple H reverses to his own for the victory at 7:27. ***

But that’s not really the point because we continue rolling after Raw goes off the air. Kevin Nash comes out and checks on Flair. Shawn leads out the rest of the Raw locker room for a standing ovation for Flair. They hoist Flair onto their shoulders and then Steve Austin comes out to toast with a beer. Then Stephanie McMahon and Shane McMahon come out to hug Flair. Finally, Vince comes out, in character, to hug a tearful Flair as I get a little misty-eyed myself. Triple H comes back down and puts the strap on Flair’s shoulder. They parade Flair around the ring and leave him alone with the mic. Flair thanks everyone and if have any kind of heart in your chest, you’ll get choked up hearing a man who has meant so much to the business look back on his accomplishments and thank all those that made it possible.

Easter Egg Alert!: Highlight “The Final Nitro” and push “left” and you’ll see a series of “whoos” and we learn that Flair got it from Jerry Lee Lewis. A number of WWE Superstars…and Al Snow try it themselves.

Easter Egg Alert!: Highlight “Main” on the Celebration menu and push “right” TWICE to highlight the beer in Flair’s hand and you get his Titantron entrance.

The 411: One of the greatest wrestlers of all time gets one of the greatest DVDs of all time. Along with the Bret Hart and Chris Benoit DVDs, this is an essential part of your wrestling viewing experience. Flair has been able to change and adapt with times for an astounding 30 years! The disc has a number of ***** matches, and most of them are still talked about by pundits or referenced by other matches to this day. Sure, we can quibble that the wrong Sting match was included, or any of a number of other things, but those are minor gripes when compared to the awesomeness that is included.

Highly recommended.