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DIR Return to: Sheriff Lonestar's PPV of the Week
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Sheriff Lonestar’s PPV of the Week Goes to the Movies; The Great
est Rumble of Al
By: SheriffLonestar Date: January 25, 2014, 1:55 am
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So today, to celebrate the Royal Rumble weekend, we look back at
the greatest single performance possibly in pro wrestling
history, but we also take a look at a movie. This is a
documentary called “Unemployed to Undefeated”. The reason for
this mishmash of columns is that it is nigh on impossible to
find the whole card I was looking for, so I had to settle for
just the Rumble itself. The documentary looks at Ric Flair’s
first period in the WWF (WWE to you sir and ma’am). Flair’s run
at the title during the summer of 1991 and his subsequent
successes but there is a story to be told before we get there so
let us go back to one spring 23 years ago.
Flair was the main event attraction of WCW. He had been since
the original Starcade in 1983 when he had taken the world by
storm in a classic cage main event with NWA Champion Harley
Race. Back then WCW was yet to exist. It was the flagship show
of Jim Crockett Promotions and aired on TBS. Flair was the rock
upon which JCP was built, and later when JCP sold out to the
Turner organisation, he held the same role for WCW. By 1991
everything was not well in the world of The Nature Boy. Having
regained his title from Sting who had not been the main event
player WCW had hoped. He was once again set in the position of
star maker, only he could quite rightly feel there were no stars
left to make. He had another problem. His name was Jim Herd.
Herd was the new Vice President of WCW who had had some success
as a former executive of Pizza Hut. Herd knew nothing about
wrestling, literally nothing. He once told Bobby Eaton (get well
soon Bobby) that he wasn’t happy with his win loss record. Yes
the lead executive of one of the biggest wrestling companies in
the world did not know that wrestling had predetermined match
endings. He also had a frosty at best relationship with Flair.
Flair thought he was incompetent and didn’t hide his distaste
for him. This situation was not helped by the fact that Herd, in
a fit of creative pique, decided he wanted to remodel Flair as a
character called “Spartacus”, an earring-ed, Roman warrior. As
Kevin Sullivan told Herd ”Would you change Mickey Mantle’s
jersey number to?”. So when it came to contract negotiations
Herd wasn’t keen on keeping Flair and low balled him an offer
when his multi-year deal was up. Flair baulked at what he
considered and insult, and negotiations were essentially over.
There was of course the small matter of Flair being World’s
Heavyweight Champion. Flair being a traditionalist he was more
than willing to do the job to the right man for the right
reasons and to leave what he thought would be the company in a
good place. Let us be honest, he had been the life blood of JCP
and then WCW, he cared and was committed to pro wrestling and
the friends he was leaving behind in WCW. He offered to drop the
belt to Barry Windham at a house show. Herd wanted him to drop
the title to Lex Luger, which Flair disagreed with strongly.
Having had many dealings with Lex before, it is understandable
why Ric would not want him as champion. After two weeks of
silence Ric called Herd to finalise the matter and told Ric to
“keep the damn belt”. Ric had already made his call to Vince
McMahon; the WWF had literally been given the feud of a century
on a plate.
Vignettes featuring Bobby Heenan started to air on WWF TV in the
summer of '91. Bobby showed off the “Real World Champions” belt
and compared its hold as ice cream to the WWF title's Horse
Manure. Pushing the buttons of Hulk Hogan specifically, he would
in the long run give a base and story to the title belt
eventually naming Flair as its holder. When Flair himself turned
up it was like the world had come undone. “Here I am in this big
bubble you call the WWF.” said Flair in one notable interview,
and he was right. The belt itself was the actual WCW and NWA
World Title belt, Flair who had put a deposit down with the NWA
when he became champion of $25,000 which all champions had to
put down to carry the title, had taken the actual physical belt
as recompense as Herd had suggested. WCW belatedly sued for
copyright infringement and the belt became video distorted
(actually it was a WWF tag team belt) so as to show the
Federations disdain. The other thing it did was wake up the NWA
to the fact that they had a world title, and the then board, no
relation to WCW, itself began petitioning WCW to find out what
it wanted to do with the NWA title. When they got it back from
Flair who had received his deposit back plus interest, they held
an NWA World title tournament in New Japan Pro Wrestling which
was won by Masahiro Chono. That is how far this feud would
effect the wrestling world, three companies and the oldest men's
belt in pro wrestling.
The WWF ever since going national avoided mentioning the
competition at all costs, this really was something special.
Flair didn't go straight for Hogan in matches though, Roddy
Piper took up the challenge first. A fine choice given that they
where the industries best talkers at the time, it gave Hogan
breathing room to tie off his previous series. On the house show
circuit Flair had some great matches with Piper and, as shown in
the film, some incredibly heated battles in Oakland with Hogan.
However on TV he faced no one of note, destroying enhancement
talents on a weekly basis. That was unusual for Flair who went
50/50 with everyone he ever faced even giving, George South
perennial WCW jobber, a 30 minute Broadway for fun one morning
on a WCW Saturday Night taping. It established him as all
conquering and dominant, which was the point.
Hogan began a series with The Undertaker going into Survivor
Series '91, while Flair was still wrapped up with Piper, they
both captained teams at the Series, but came in at the end of
the main event to slide a chair under 'Taker's Tombstone and
seal the fate of the title. It went to the 'Taker. After another
inconclusive finish to Tuesday in Texas, an impromptu PPV
cobbled together to show off Hogan's recapturing of the title.
Hogan used the ashes from Paul Beraer's earn to blind the 'Taker
and take the belt back. Watching on was WWF President Jack
Tunney who stripped Hogan of the belt and held up the title
going into Christmas.
The build for the Royal Rumble that year was epic, everything
was at stake. When you look at the line up for it was strong at
the top; Piper, 'Taker, Hogan, Flair, Sid Justice, but weak at
the bottom. They really didn't have thirty guys of note, but
what they did have was Ric Flair. The Nature Boy started third
and took on the WWF with remarkable spirit, it was a master
class in survival, in telling the long form story. Though Flair
had been the “sixty minute man” for years on the NWA and the
WCW house show circuit, this was his biggest ever performance.
Watching it back now it still stands out as a breath taking
piece of work. His selling is so spot on to the moment it was as
if his life was set up for it. Watch when finally having cleared
the ring and he stares down the aisle to see Piper heading his
way. Just something special was in the air.
Few believed he could do it at the time. On the wrong side of
forty. The oppositions star man for years. An adult performer
with adult based themes in his vocal arsenal. No one thought he
could go in the big man territory, the safe PG (and it was even
more PG then than it is now) WWF. Surely Vince wouldn't trust
him to carry his greatest prize? Well Vince is a man of
conviction who knows talent when he sees it and whose great
asset is putting it in the right place. Flair won the belt with
help from Hogan of all people eliminating Sid Justice after and
hour and three minutes. It pretty much ended the series with
Flair and Hogan. Hogan would be gone from the WWF to Hollywood
after Wrestlemania leaving the door open for Flair to have an
epic run with Randy Savage over the title.
The ripples that went through the industry though where immense
as you would imagine in this situation. WCW went with Luger as
champion, he ran out of dates on his contract and refused to
wrestle till he had to drop the title himself, he was also WWF
bound. Sting found room on the card to develop himself and get
himself into that main event position permanently after a series
of brutal matches with Cactus Jack and Big Van Vader. WCW wrote
the ship, but it wasn't with Herd. WCW released him of his
tenure in charge of a wrestling promotion after other high
profile calamities. People talk of the men who didn't sign The
Beatles to their record label, this one was a bigger mistake
than that, Herd literally let the heart and soul of the company
walk directly to the opposition and paid the price.
The funny thing is, that PPV match of the century between Hogan
and Flair would not occur for another two years and in WCW not
the WWF. With Hogan relieving himself of his duties, Flair had
to “settle” for PPV matches with Randy Savage and Curt Hennig.
His last classic WWF performance coming the night he left.
Having been told by Vince that he would be pushed down the card
as he had played his hand in the main event and he wanted to
push new talent, a decision Flair was fine with as he understood
the game better than most, he took a loser leaves the WWF match
with Mr. Perfect on Raw and they tore the house down. He lost of
course, paving his way for a return to the place even Vince
would admit he belonged, not to return for 8 years. But for that
spell there, Flair had a renaissance in his career that was
magical, I offer you the 1992 Royal Rumble the greatest
performance by one wrestler in modern times.
Enjoy the shows;
Unemployed to Undisputed;
HTML http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCgxDJ-QnLE
The Match;
HTML http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EL7CbabY0Y4
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