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

March 22, 2007 | Posted by J.D. Dunn

9.5

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

Old Flair business re Ric Flair in Mid-Atlantic:

Hi JD,

I was very happy to see the old school MidAtlantic
review that you wrote.

I am a bit confused by the claim that Snuka and
Orndorff were heels though. I’m pretty sure that Snuka
was a babyface in MidAtlantic from his arrival (late
1978) up until he betrayed Rufus R Jones on July 22,
1979, which was after Orndorff had left the area. I
would be very interested to know if there was any
other suggestions on the tape that Snuka and Orndorff
were heels before that match. From your descriptions,
it certainly sounds like they were breaking the rules,
but I suppose that was permissible as long as the
opponents were (super)heels like Flair and Valentine.

Also, do you happen to recall what the ref looked like
during the match where the Andersons beat
Flair/Valentine in the cage? The description sounds
like an angle in which Wahoo McDaniel was the guest
ref.

Now let me tell you, I’m no first-hand expert on old
MidAtlantic wrestling. I just read everything I can
find about it. If you have time, I strongly recommend
that you visit the “almanac” section at the
MidAtlantic Gateway web site. They’re doing a very
careful job of research, especially when it comes to
clarifying various title switches.

The address is:
http://www.midatlanticgateway.com/Lobby.htm

Keep up the great work. The Enlightenment is my
favorite part of the 411 site.

I definitely do recommend Midatlanticgateway.com for old schoolers. The old news clippings are part of the inspiration for The Kayfabe Chronicles. Plus, they have in-depth recaps of the TV shows from the mid-1980s.

I’ll have to check the tape again on the ref for the cage match, but it wouldn’t surprise me if this was something done “around the circuit” ,as they say, with several different guys filling in.

As for Snuka and his heeldom, you may be right. Anyone who was around back then care to set the record straight on this. I was sure they were getting booed, and they were definitely cheating. Like I said regarding the title histories, though: it’s very difficult to piece things together with all the stuff that “didn’t really happen” at house shows.

The Ultimate Ric Flair Collection, Disc One
by J.D. Dunn

This is a re-review from one I did nearly four years ago. In some cases I did new reviews. In some cases, I cut-and-pasted. If you see a reference or something that seems out of place, that would be why.

Harley Race: The NWA Championship

9.23.81: Bob Caudle and David Crockett announce Flair has won the NWA Heavyweight Title. Flair says that even the AWA and WWWF guys would acknowledge that the NWA champion was the real champion.

6.10.83: Harley Race takes back, lifting his shoulder on a double suplex spot and getting the pin on Flair. Flair puts Race over as the toughest competitor and a complete professional. The NWA would later award Jim Crockett’s territory the rematch at the very first Starrcade (as if there was any doubt). Flair says that it was an honor to reclaim the title because his first title reign was fairly short.

$25,000 Bounty: Harley Race, in perfect gruff ol’ bastard mode, offers a bounty of $25,000 on Ric Flair’s head. Sound familiar? Race begs someone to take the damn money from him and eliminate Flair.

Orton and Slater collect: During a match between Flair and Harley Race, Dick Slater and Bob Orton Jr. collect the bounty by delivering a spiked piledriver and wrenching Flair’s neck. The WWE is nuts if they don’t do that Flair/Orton connection again. Roddy Piper and Wahoo McDaniel make the save. Flair is stretchered out. Jim Crockett bans Slater and Orton from Mid-Atlantic but they still get the cash. Flair must have thought highly of Slater’s bounty-hunting skills because he wound up hiring him to take out Butch Reed a few years later.

Ric Announces Retirement: Ric, in a neck brace, announces his retirement. His body is willing, but he doesn’t know if his heart is in it. “You’re the greatest fans in the world, and I want you to go to sleep at night knowing that Ric Flair is a fan of yours too.” Great line. Great interview. Great angle.

“It’s Only Just Begun!” (9/21/83): Orton and Slater are wrestling a squash when suddenly here comes the Nature Boy with an aluminum bat to chase them out of the arena. He stops to give an awesome interview in which he rips off the neck brace and announces that he’s here to stay. “Orton, you and Slater, will go to your grave because of me!…and Race, I promise you Race, before it’s all over, I’ll have a piece of you!”

NWA Press Conference (10/12/83) An NWA “newscast” comes from the NWA meetings in which Flair vs. Race is announced for Starrcade ’83 in Greensboro, NC. Crockett sounds like he just signed Lebron James to his team. Race gives his thoughts from Kansas City via satellite. He’s not very happy because that’s Flair’s backyard. Race says Orton and Slater were nothing compared to what Race will do to him. Ric is much happier and casual and is interviewed by an 11 year-old Tony Schiavone. Crockett takes a moment to say that his father died ten years ago and never had a chance to see Ric Flair wrestle. Now THAT’S how you put someone over.

Pre-match Interviews (Harley Race): Race gives a pre-match interview in the locker room with all the heel champions. Race says that the Briscos and Greg Valentine are letting him in on Flair’s weaknesses.

Pre-match Interviews (Ric Flair): Flair is interviewed in the face locker room (along with Steamboat and Jay Youngblood.) Flair wishes them good luck.

Pre-match Interviews (Race, Bob Orton Jr., and Dick Slater): Back to the heel locker room. Race, Orton, and Slater give an interview talking about Wahoo and Flair. Race says that Orton and Slater know Flair better than he knows himself. Race says he’s coming for Flair’s neck.

Pre-match Interviews (Ric Flair and Wahoo McDaniel): Flair and Wahoo then give an interview. Wahoo has his arm bandaged up thanks to Orton and Slater. Flair says he expects Race to come after his neck. He wouldn’t expect anything less. This is epic buildup here, folks.

NWA Heavyweight Title, Steel Cage: Harley Race vs. “Nature Boy” Ric Flair (11.24.83).
Gene Kiniski is the (infamous) referee. Flair had won the title back in 1981 and had an “interesting” reign in which he lost the title to Jack Veneno, Carlos Colon, and Dusty Rhodes but none of them counted. The one loss that did count was when he lost it to Harley a few months earlier after Race had put a bounty on Ric’s head. Flair survived and Race ducked him up until now. Flair goes right after him early on and argues with Kiniski. Solie warms my heart by going into each man’s wrestling history and comparing their styles. Kiniski physically pulls Race off of Flair. Race hits a high knee but misses a falling headbutt. Flair covers but Kiniski takes forever to get down and doesn’t even get a count. Ric continues to confound Race with a headlock. Solie and Caudle talk about Race holding out for the hour time limit because time is his ally. This was a time when that actually could happen. Meanwhile, Race has turned the tide and is methodically working over Flair’s head and neck with a series of knees. Race hits an archaic powerslam for two. The champ jaws with Kiniski about the count and then decides to use the cage as a partner by slamming Flair’s head into it. The camera gets spattered with Flair’s blood making this truly awesome. Kiniski pulls Race back and Flair takes the opportunity to chop him. It doesn’t last long as he does the same to Flair while Race headbutts him. Harley gets sent into the turnbuckle to finally turn the tide. Now it is Race going headfirst into the cage. “Whooo!” Flair is strutting!! He hits a piledriver for two and now he and Kiniski get into a shoving match. Finally, Race cheapshots Flair and shoves Kiniski out of the way. Flair makes the comeback but his face is covered in blood. Flair locks in the figure-four (back in the day when this was a big deal.) Solie thinks it’s over and Caudle is in the parking lot warming up his Ford Tempo but someone forgot to tell Race. He makes it to the ropes and turns it over which, according to Solie, has only happened once before. Race comes off the second rope with a headbutt. Solie says that Kiniski’s count is deliberate and steady. So is a tortoise. The center of the ring is stained with blood. Flair tries to come back but there is nothing behind his blows. Kiniski pulls Race away by his hair allowing Ric to make another comeback. Race “accidentally” headbutts Kiniski off of a headlock. Flair takes the opportunity to go up top and comes off with Race (in theory) stumbling over Kiniski and falling on his back for the pinfall loss at 26:00. All of the babyfaces come in to celebrate with Flair. Flair gives a great emotional speech thanking the crowd. Certainly not for people with today’s tastes, but a great back-and-forth, bloody brawl that was appropriately epic for this huge event. ****1/4

Post-match Interviews (Ric Flair): Now we go to post match interviews. A bloodied Flair delivers thanks to all the people who stood behind him. Steamboat comes up and shakes his hand. Steamboat: “You owe me one, brother.” Dusty Rhodes shakes Flair’s hand and reminds him that Flair vs. Dusty Rhodes is on the horizon.

Post-match Interviews (Harley Race): Race says that he’s not going anywhere anytime soon and he’s going to hound Flair until Flair beats him fairly. The sound pops a little on this interview from the original source.

(Post-match Interviews (Ric Flair, Ricky Steamboat, and Jay Youngblood): Steamboat and Youngblood, who won the NWA Tag Titles on the same night, pose with Ric and talk about how much support they’ve all given each other. Steamboat says they had their minds set on gaining the titles and they did.

Dusty Rhodes: Talkin’ the Talk:

Flair tells Dusty Rhodes to learn to live with the fact that he is the champ in a great interview. Flair says he loved working with Dusty and how Dusty did such a great job connecting with the fans when he talked. We see Dusty doing an interview saying all that Flair has is wrapped around the title. They go back and forth delivering great soundbites. Dusty Rhodes looks like Shelly Winters, but other than that this is some good stuff. Flair and the Andersons break Dusty’s leg. Flair says Dusty didn’t look like he was in great shape, but he could still wrestle an hour just like anyone else.

Flair and the Anderson break Dusty’s ankle: From Mid-Atlantic Wrestling: Tony Schiavone and Bob Caudle show us some footage of Flair defeating Nikita Koloff and then getting beat down by both Nikita and Ivan Koloff. Dusty Rhodes then makes the save for Flair. Flair points at Rhodes and starts jawing with him until the Andersons jump in and attack Rhodes from behind. Flair padlocks them all inside and they break Dusty’s ankle. HORSEMAN POWER, BABY! The babyfaces empty the locker room and make the save but not before Dusty suffers a “serious injury.” They have to dismantle the cage to stretcher Dusty out.

Flair cuts a promo: Bob Caudle tells Flair his faith is shaken in the world champion. Flair says your faith in winners is never shaken. He says that all of a sudden, he likes Tully Blanchard because he’s a winner. He also likes the Andersons. Hmmmm, that could go somewhere.

“That’s Hard Times!”: Now it’s Dusty’s turn. He thanks everybody for their cards and letters. He talks about everyone who is out of work and how there are hard times. Looking back on these interviews with more than a basic knowledge of economics you see that Dusty is basically a socialist. Does McCarthy know about this guy? Dusty says that Flair put this country through hard times when he put Dusty out of action. No, he didn’t. Really. I didn’t mind at all. Dusty says he’s taken it for the people and he loves them all.

NWA Heavyweight Title: “Nature Boy” Ric Flair vs. Dusty Rhodes (11.28.85):
Rhodes is challenging and is listed as weighing 275 lbs. That’s somewhat dubious. This is a rematch from the infamous Starrcade ’84 where the match was stopped because Rhodes was cut open and bleeding everywhere. By “everywhere”, I mean his eye brow, the area directly above his eye, and a tiny fraction of his forehead. Rhodes struts to start and Flair’s gaze burns a hole in his chest. They trade blows in the corner and Rhodes gets the better of it. Flair no-sells it (for him) and pops back up only to find another barrage waiting for him. He rolls out to think things over. Back in and Rhodes hits an elbow to Flair’s crown and Naitch rolls out again. Rhodes takes Flair down in a hammerlock but Flair goes after his knee to counter. The champ backs Rhodes into the corner and delivers a series of chops. Flair drops a knee between the eyes and Rhodes kicks out before a one count. That must have pissed Flair off because he goes after Rhodes’s injured knee knocking big Dust out of the ring. Rhodes comes back with a vengeance taking the Nature Boy down on the apron and stomping his leg. A legvine continues to bring the pain and Rhodes drops an elbow between Flair’s legs which is promptly no-sold by Flair. Ric rakes his eyes to counter but a follow-up suplex is unsuccessful. Well, I think we all saw that one coming. Rhodes drops another elbow on Flair’s leg and this time Flair counters to a chinlock. Flair shoots him off the ropes and into a sleeper but Rhodes rams Flair into the turnbuckle to counter. More stomping on Flair’s leg. That’s a pretty good strategy, I guess. Rhodes flips Flair over with the laziest snapmare in the history of snapmares. He misses an elbow, though, and Flair goes up top. This can’t lead to anything good. Naturally, Rhodes slams him off. Rhodes tries a figure-four but Flair kicks him away and tries one of his own. In an odd moment, Flair appears to actually lift Rhodes’s leg so it looks like he’s kicking him just so Flair will have something to sell. Flair flips over and out of the ring. Rhodes goes up this time and there seems to be a miscommunication as Flair tries to cut him off and Rhodes just bellyflops on him. Good God, Flair is a grease spot! It only gets two so Rhodes backs him into the corner and pounds away. Flair flop! Rhodes whips him into the turnbuckle for the kill but Flair flips out of it and goes up again. This time he flies off into a fist to the gut by Rhodes. The challenger moves in again but Flair kicks him in the injured leg and puts on the figure four which Rhodes then no-sells and reverses. Rhodes no-sells some chops and hits a “flying” clothesline. Flair kicks out so powerfully that he tosses Rhodes right onto referee, Tommy Young. How unfortunate. Rhodes puts Flair in the figure-four but Arn Anderson runs in to attack Rhodes. Rhodes fights him off but Ole Anderson attacks from behind and slips out while the new ref comes in. Flair goes for the figure-four but Rhodes small packages him for the victory and the title. This was a bizarre mix of poorly executed and communicated spots along with each guy seemingly refusing to cooperate at different times. **

Controversy explained: Tony the Porn Star talks with Tommy Young about the results of Starrcade ’85. Tommy remembers Flair kicking out and throwing Dusty on top of him. Tommy apologizes and says that Flair is still the champ.

The Man: Caudle says the rivalry isn’t over. Flair says that the whole world thought J.R. was dead and he climbed back up and he still rules the ranch just like Flair rules.

The Legend: Rhodes gives an odd interview. I know a lot of people like him, but I get the same feeling from him I do from Michael Jackson. Then again, a lot of people like Michael Jackson. Rhodes says that Flair may be “the man” but Rhodes is “the legend.” Yeah, so where’s his 3-disc DVD? (Update: Well, okay, he has one now.)

Easter Egg Alert!: -Highlight “Flair cuts a Promo” under the Rhodes section and push “left” to see…well, Flair cutting a promo. He says that when you know Flair’s in town “things are taken place.” This is mostly aimed at Nikita Koloff. People absolutely ate Flair up on this one.

Barry Windham:

Flair compares wrestling Barry Windham to putting on a pair of gloves.

Attacked by the Horsemen: Barry and Ronnie the Hedgehog are giving an interview since they’re the U.S. Tag Champions. Ronnie kind of reminds me of Paulie Walnuts from the Sopranos. We see footage of Windham getting involved in a Blanchard vs. Tim Horner match and getting a Horseman beatdown as a result. Windham says if he can’t back up what he says, he has a good partner who can (and, in fact, that’s exactly what happened).

“You Cried the Blues”: Flair is stylin’ but not quite profiling as he cuts a promo on Windham. Flair says Windham’s cryin’ the blues and whining about the Horsemen. Flair says they are the elite and there are 15,000 fans there every night because he is the champ.

Flair vs. Windham (1.13.87): We see clips from a Flair vs. Windham TV match which breaks down when the Horsemen come out for Flair prompting Dusty and the Rock ‘n’ Roll Express to come out for Barry. Where’s Ronnie Garvin? Not that I care. Barry catches Flair’s leg and puts him in his own figure-four. Think about the irony. Windham’s eyes get raked to break the hold so Tommy Young admonishes JJ Dillon at ringside. Flair takes the opportunity to crotch Barry on the top rope. Barry hits Flair with the Flying Clothesline (one of his finishers) which prompts Tully and Arn to jump in and get Flair DQ’d to save the title. I don’t think much was cut out, and it looked to be about ***1/4

NWA Heavyweight Title: Ric Flair vs. Barry Windham (1.20.87).
This is from Worldwide TV, and it was quite a risk by the NWA to put something of this length out there. One thing Vince always had on the NWA was his ability to put the right matches in the right places. Remember, Flair was just coming off his successful defense against Nikita Koloff who had to do a quick face turn to substitute for Magnum T.A.. Imagine if they had just gone ahead with this match at the PPV. Anyway, this is quite the awesome match on its own, surpassing even their 1986 MOTY at Battle of the Belts. Windham, for the younger fans who have never seen him, wrestles like an odd combination of John Bradshaw Layfield (rough, powerful, violent) and Shawn Michaels (lithe, crisp, quick). After a quick amateur sequence, Windham tosses Flair around for a bit. Flair tries to intimidate him with a slap, but Windham knocks him down with a soupbone right. Flair begs off and tries a cheapshot, but Windham blocks and knocks him down again with another right. Flair hops into the crowd to regroup. Finally, Flair hotshots Windham on the ropes and tosses him to the floor to take over. Back in, Flair grabs an armbar. Windham tries to punch his way out of it, but referee Tommy Young blocks him, allowing Flair to grab a handful of hair and yank Windham down. Windham comes back with the corner pummel. FLAIR FLOP~! Windham reverses a suplex and knocks Flair silly with a lariat. He hauls Flair up, but Ric surprises him with a backdrop suplex and applies the figure-four. Young catches him using the ropes, but not until the damage is already done. Windham gets two off a sunset flip. He gets out of a sleeper and hits a flying lariat. ONE, TWO, TH-Flair gets his foot on the ropes. He tries a splash, but Flair gets his knees up. Now Flair misses a kneedrop. Barry knocks him over the top to the floor with an uppercut, which is supposed to be a disqualification, but Tommy Young lets it go. Barry drags Flair back in and locks in THE FIGURE-FOUR! Flair squeals like a pig before eventually dragging himself to the ropes. Both guys are limping around now, but Windham is the one stomping a mudhole. Flair buys some time with an atomic drop as we go to break. When we come back, Windham blocks a hiptoss and applies the abdominal stretch. Flair hiptosses out of it anyway, sending Windham right into Tommy Young. Windham hits a missile dropkick, but of course, the ref is slow getting there, and he only gets two. Windham reverses a crossbody and gets two. The corner punches get two more as we near the time limit. Flair whips Windham to the corner, but Windham EXPLODES with a lariat. Flair rolls to the apron to avoid getting pinned. Windham hauls him up and suplexes him back in. Backslide! Only two. Flair goes up…and gets slammed to the canvas. POWERSLAM! ONE, TWO, THRE-NO! Windham’s up. FLYING LARIAT! ONE, TWO, THR-time expires at 30:51 shown (of 45:00). Windham grabs the belt but says he’s not going to wear it until he can pin Flair’s shoulders to the mat. Tremendous effort from both guys as there was minimal resting and just a balls-out pace for the full 45-minutes (assuming they didn’t stop for tea and crumpets during the commercials). Probably Windham’s greatest match and one of Flair’s best too. For some reason, this is the match I think of when I hear the letters “NWA.” ****3/4

Dusty’s analysis: Dusty Rhodes analyzes the Flair vs. Windham match and says that Flair withstood the storm but Barry proved himself ready to be World Champion.

Flair post-match promo: After the Flair vs. Windham match, Flair celebrates with the Horsemen. Flair calls Windham a loser and says Flair has 50 girls standing outside his door because he is the champ.

Easter Egg Alert!: Highlight “Barry Windham: Keeping Up with the Champ” and push “right” and you’ll get Flair cutting a promo on Tully Blanchard, Dusty Rhodes, and Magnum T.A.. He moves on to Nikita Koloff and talks about owning a Rolex and a Rolls Royce. We see Buddy Landell in the ring playing a Ric Flair wannabe waiting for Flair to get his promo over with. Flair says he’d lend Buddy one of his robes but Buddy would get lost in the arms. Funny stuff.