The Ten Count 9.13.13: The Top 10 Free TV Matches

Sometimes Great Things in Life are Free. From Ric Flair to Ric Flair and Some More Ric Flair 411’s Evan Daniels looks at the Top Ten Free Television Matches of All Time.

(A word about Chris Benoit – I think we are all big boys and girls here that understand the difference between Chris Benoit the sports entertainment character and Chris Benoit the man. In my columns, I will include him when it is appropriate.)

Stone Cold had turned heel at WrestleMania. The following night he joined up with Triple H to form the “2 Man Power Trip”. They went on to win the WWE Tag Team Championships about a month later leading up to this match.

This match is of course famous for Triple H tearing his quad towards the end of the match but there was some damn fine wrestling as well. You could tell all 4men were feeling it as well as the crowd. Everyone went home happy as the Canadian Chris’ won the titles and the “2 Man Power Trip” was never, evvvvvvvvveeeeerrrrr, the same again. See what I did there, clever, right?

First off, sorry about the quality of the video….not even YouTube had this thing. I’m sure someone will find it and then make fun of me in the comments. Awesome.

I had to re-watch the match to talk about it because I knew it was great, but I completely forgot it was this great. The absolute speed of these guys was mind blowing back then and even today it is a blast to watch. These 2 teams (by name) had been wrestling each other on and off for about 3 years but this was the 1st of their matches on a national stage. They used chairs, tables, and finally a tennis racket to cause the DQ which set the next series of events in motion.

This match led to an equally great match at the Great American Bash with Cornette in a cage and the losers getting 10 lashes with a belt. That match might end up on another list someday.

When this match started at about 10pm, my 1st thought like many of yours was…

Who is going to run-in and cause this match to become a tag team match in the main event?

Little did we know that these 2 men would put on one of the greatest matches in the history of Raw. This match was WAAYYYYY better than their match at WrestleMania. It once again proved that with the right opponent John Cena can have a tremendous match. I know that probably isn’t very popular on this site but it’s true that there are some very enjoyable Cena matches.

The ending was a little bit of a surprise with Michaels actually winning the match but overall a great TV match that was just fun to watch.

This is the 2nd match from Clash 1, not surprising as JCP was doing all they could to get people to not watch WrestleMania IV. It definitely worked but definitely not as well as they hoped.

This is also the 1st Ric Flair match on this list…..there are many more to come.

Of course, Sting was made in this 45 minute draw on national television. Ric Flair once again proved that he was and is the greatest wrestler in the modern era.

With JJ Dillon in a cage and 3 judges at ringside Flair and Sting beat the hell out of each other and seemingly enjoyed it. I remember scoring the bout when I saw it for the 1st time during the “WCW All Nighter” since I wasn’t watching the NWA when I was 10. I scored it for Sting, but of course the Penthouse Pet scored it for Flair and Gary Juster (because the 3rd judge, I believe he was a NASCAR guy didn’t show up) scored it a draw. It made the Clash of the Champions appointment television.

You all didn’t think you’d see the AWA on this list, did ya? This was taped from the “beautiful” Showboat casino in Las Vegas to be shown on ESPN.

As an aside, again, YouTube failed me. These are only highlights so if someone can find the match, that would be worth 1,000,000 internet points. Buy yourself something nice….

Anyways, with Bockwinkel on the “back 9” of his career and Hennig about 18 months away from hitting the big time in WWE these 2 proved that they could tear the house down (even with probably 1,000 people in said house). This match makes the list because with very little knowledge of the back story I was riveted watching this in full for the first time on the AWA WWE-made DVD. It was matches like this that made Bockwinkel one of the greatest wrestlers of all time and Hennig a true superstar with the WWE in his future.

We now move into the Hart brothers section of this list. This was a classic good guy/good guy matchup from the classic days of Monday Night Raw. Before all the “Kliq” issues between Hart and others all he cared about was having the best match he possibly could every night.

Hart and Kid put on a tremendous display of wrestling in a time when 2 guys having great matches on television was not a weekly thing.

Bret was in the middle of his summer with Owen and this was a welcome, refreshing change to all the madness around him while Kid was elevated. That’s the real story of the match, just great wrestling that gave Hart a clean great win on TV while giving Kid the rub. Wrestling storytelling 101….it just works.

This was the final match in the tournament to crown the 1st ever European Champion. Little did we know that the tag team champs would be facing each other.

Some background, Owen was beginning to think that the Bulldog was hogging his spotlight and wanted to get a win over him showing that he was the stronger half of the team. Bulldog is well, you know, European so he wanted to win because of that.

I would put this match towards the top of the list of any match in the history of the WWE. The work rate, the story, the flow, the entertainment are all the things that you look for in a great match. This match had them and more.

It is just a shame that both of them are gone at this point but at least we have matches like this to remember them by.

I have a feeling that everyone reading this column now know what the top 3 matches are. The funny thing is that all 3 of these matches are within the 1st WWE produced Ric Flair DVD set. My goodness, are these 3 matches great. I’m not going to do a play-by-play for them since virtually anyone on this site has seen them and probably don’t need that.

Here is why this match is #3…..it doesn’t have the hatred of the Flair/Funk match or the technical brilliance of the Flair/Steamboat match but it is so much fun to watch. People just don’t realize how GREAT, and I mean GREAT, Barry Windham was in the 80s. 6 foot 6 inches tall and moved around the ring like a dancer. I think this is about as classic of a Flair match you can imagine as he hit all his high spots while taking the beating at the end he needed to. All around a tremendous 80s style match that stands the test of time and hits #3 on the list.

5 Letters, 2 Words….”I Quit” – Gordon Solie

If anything sums up this match better, please let me know.

With all due respect to Magnum TA and Tully Blanchard this is the “I Quit” match that all others are measured up to. The hatred, the psychology, and 2 of the greatest storytellers made this match about as flawless as any match can be. The entire angle, all 6 months of it, was done to set up the “I Quit” stipulation. This final match or blow off made so much sense it’s scary. Funk going after the neck, Flair going after the leg (which was hurt at Halloween Havoc), and of course the dialogue on the microphone in the ring.

Probably the final 5 minutes was some of the finest storytelling ever. Funk trying to get away from Flair, Flair jumping him and trying to finish the job, then Funk screaming in pain until giving in and saying those 2 words. I don’t think there will ever be an “I Quit” match as great as this one.

But why is it #2? The #1 match is, in my opinion, one of the top 5 matches in the history of American professional wrestling.

2 of 3 falls in the Louisiana Superdome for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship.

I think the only thing that was wrong with the match was that the crack production team put “Rick” Flair behind him when he walked down the aisle.

Everything else was flawless down to Flair in black and Steamboat in white. Terry Funk on commentary, Tommy Young putting on a great performance as the referee, and 54 minutes of action. I can’t think of much more to say about the match that hasn’t already been said except this…..it you haven’t watched it, watch it tonight and if you are thinking of becoming a professional wrestler this should be on your list of matches to study. It was then and is now, the greatest match on free television and is arguably the greatest match in the history of the business.

So there you have it, the Top 10 Free Television Matches of All Time! What is your opinion?

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In honor of the recent news of Jim Ross’ retirement, next week I will take a look back at his career with a Top 10 Jim Ross Moments and Calls.

Until then, remember it’s all entertainment and shouldn’t be taken too seriously. And I’m out.