WWE Ultimate Ric Flair Collection Disc 2

Written by: Tom Hopkins

This is the second disc of the series which highlights the greatest year in wrestling: 1989. Ric Flair had his memorable series of matches agains Ricky Steamboat and also his famous matches against Terry Funk. That said, here’s the review!

We start off with Ric Flair talking about Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling trading One Man Gang to Georgia Championship Wrestling for Ricky Steamboat. Smart trade. If the New York Rangers made trades like that they might make the playoffs. Ric says he must’ve wrestled Ricky Steamboat 3,000 times in his career, like every night or every other night for 5 years. Ric talks up Ricky Steamboat saying he was a great athlete and they were good friends, never best friends, but good friends because their lifestyles were different. He says Ricky was the best he’s ever wrestled.

-Ric Flair vs. Ricky Steamboat(c) for the NWA Title from Clash of the Champions IV (04/02/89) in a 2/3 Falls Match.
They circle to start and hit a headlock. Steamboat pushes Flair to the corner and Flair pushes him off and WHOOOOS in his face. Steamboat quickly slaps Flair to shut him up. They circle again and hit a nice reversal sequence which leads to some swank mat wrestling leading Flair to bail to the ropes. He makes it and Steamboat AGAIN with a vicious slap to the face. They lock up and Steamboat goes to a side headlock. Flair reverses it into an overhead wristlock and brings Steamboat to his knees. Steamboat starts to power out of it and brings Flair down but Flair quickly makes the ropes and slides under to the outside challenging Steamboat. Flair takes a quick break and heads back to the ring. They lock up again and Flair hits the side headlock but Steamer pushes Flair to the ropes to break. Flair is sent to the ropes and shoulderblocks Steamboat down but Steamer hip tosses Flair over and hits a side headlock on the mat which gets a two count. He keeps on the side headlock and Flair turns him over for a two count a few times. They make it to their feet but Flair forearms out of it and sends Steamboat to the ropes, only to get shoulderblocked down. Steamboat bounces off the ropes and Flair goes down for Steamboat to hop over, but Steamboat just stops and puts the side headlock on again. They get back to their feet and Flair pushes Steamboat to the corner aand hits some vicious chops. Steamboat comes back with some vicious chops of his own and hiptosses Flair and follows with a headscissors and a dropkick. Steamboat goes back to the headlock on the mat, switches to a facelock and starts working Flair over pretty good. Steamboat drops a knee to the back of Flair’s head a few times and picks Flair up only to snapmare him over and work a facelock into a headlock. Flair pushes Steamboat to the corner and Flair elbows Steamboat in the corner then a huge chop but Ricky chops right back and sends Flair to the turnbuckles. Flair bounces off and Steamboat with a back body drop. Steamboat hits a dropkick which gets a two and Flair begs for mercy. Steamboat lays off of him too. Flair lures Steamboat to him and kicks him in the gut and follows up with a punch to the face knocking Steamboat down. Flair sends Steamboat to the ropes but Steamboat slides underneath a Flair punch and rolls up him up for two. Steamer follows with a clothesline then a big headlock takeover brings Flair to the mat for yet another two count. He turns it around to a front face lock and works Flair over for a while. Flair breaks and drops the knee to the back of Flair’s head. Ross calls it methodical and for once it doesn’t mean slow and boring. Steamboat brings Flair to the corner and unloads some monster chops. Flair walks out of the corner and just collapses. Steamboat wisely jumps on top for a two count. Steamboat comes back with a front facelock which Flair turns into an atomic drop. Steamboat comes right back with a chop and a cover gets a two count. Ricky with another headlock but Flair sends him to the rope only to get shoulderblocked down. Again to the ropes and Flair gets shoulderblocked down. Flair sends Ricky to the ropes but as Ricky bounces off the ropes he takes Flair and sends HIM to the ropes then hits a double chop for two. Flair bails and catches a breather outside. Steamboat draws Flair to the center of the ring and goes for a lock up but Flair knees Steamboat in the gut and stars chopping away. Steamboat responds with some chops of his ownand knocks Flair over with a double chop for two. The ref had to go outside to count the cover which was pretty cool. Flair bails to the apron but Steamboat catches him and suplexes him right in. He tries for a splash but hits Flair’s knees. Flair snapmares Steamboat over and just jumps on Ricky’s stomach. Flair hits a double underhook suplex and that gets a pair of two counts. Flair keeps trying for the pin and gets another pair of two count. Flair keeps at it and yet 3 more two counts. Then another. Steamboat just keeps fighting out. Flair gets at least 5 more two counts as the match gets more awesome. Flair tries again to hold Steamboat’s hands down but Steamboat kips up as we head right into a test of strength which is broken by a Flair kick. Steamboat kicks right back and chops away. He hiptosses Flair out of the corner but misses a dropkick. Flair goes right for the figure four but Ricky turns it into a small cradle which Flair reverses to his own cradle for the pin at 19:33.
We’re back for the second fall and the two again circle each other. They lockup and Flair hits the headlock but Steamboat sends him to the rope to break and gets shoulderblocked down. Steamboat is on fire though, moving like a madman, having Flair hop over him, then leapfrogging Flair then picking him up and over, then going to the top rope for a flying tomahawk chop for two. Steamboat goes right to the side headlock which he turns into a facelock then back to a side headlock which Flair turns into a back suplex. Flair then drops a knee to Steamboats face. He tries again but Flair misses and Steamboat starts right away dropping elbows right ot Flair’s knee. He does this at least a dozen times and finally goes for a figure four in the center of the ring. Flair sits up and Steamboat punches him down for a two count. Flair sits back up and is sent right back down for a two count. Flair finally makes the ropes and Steamboat breaks unwillingly. Steamboat pulls him off the ropes and tries for the figure four but Flair kicks him off. Ricky bounces off the ropes and Flair is ready to kick him off but Ricky grabs his legs and puts on the Boston Crab. Flair again makes the ropes causing Steamboat to break the hold. Flair crawls to the corner and Steamboat just lays some rights into Flair’s face. Flair tries to comeback and connects on a few chops but Steamboat chops right back. Flair takes Steamboat down into side headlock but Steamboat reverses into a headscissors and a niceee pinfall reversal sequence leading to a Steamboat backslide for two. Flair goes out side and grabs Steamboat, pulls him out, and sends him to the steel railing then bodyslams him onto the padding. Flair rolls into the ring to break the 10 count and heads right back out, sending Steamboat to the steel railing again. Flair rolls back in as the ref begins the ten count. Flair grabs Steamboat as Steamboat’s on the apron and uses the top rope to choke Steamboat. Flair then connects with a huge punch leading to Steamboat falling on the apron. Flair suplexes Steamboat from the apron into the ring and gets a two count. Flair goes to the abdominal stretch and cradles him over for a two count (which Funk calls an Oklahoma cross-body ride, I won’t dispute it). Flair keeps Steamboat down and gets a multiple number of two counts, even while using the ropes. Flair goes for a belly to back suplex but Ricky reverses and cradles for two but Flair kicks out. Ricky tries for a rollup but that also gets a two. Steamboat sends Flair to the ropes and tries for a back body drop but he’s kicked instead. Flair chops him down and goes up top but Ricky catches him and crotches him. Steamboat suplexes Flair from the top and Steamboat chops away on Flair’s back, then elbows him in the back. He goes right for a double chicken wing and Flair gives up at 34:14 making the match even at 1 fall apiece.
We return to the third fall with Ricky trying for an abdominal stretch but Flair breaks out of it. Flair chopblocks Ricky’s leg but Ricky starts chopping away, causing Flair to fall down and get covered for a two. Flair begs for forgiveness but The Dragon gives none. He works Flair over in the corner and whip to the turnbuckle leads toa back body drop. Flair comes right back with a HUGE chope but Steamboat comes back with an even BIGGER chop. Flair comes right back by dropping Steamboat on his knees and goes right to the figure four but Steamboat quickly makes the ropes. The referee untangles the legs so Flair pushes the referee. Now we know where HHH got all his heel tactics from. Steamboat sells the leg like a champ as Flair and Steamboat exchange blows which Ricky gets the best of, chopping away at Flair in the corner. He sends Flair to the corner and Flair flops out onto the apron running but gets PLASTERED with a huge chop. Flair rolls back into the ring from the apron and begs for mercy in the corner. He lured Steamboat in and does the Flair pin for two. He then places Steamboat in the cotner and absolutelyy kills him with some chops. He sends Steamboat to the corner but Steamboat uses the ropes and jumps over Flair only to charge at Flair and hit a Flair boot. Flair tries to send Steamboat to the corner but Steamboat reverses. He charges Flair but misses a big boot and his leg just hangs from the top rope. Flair like a shark smelling blood goes right after the leg. He abuses it in the corner and sends Steamboat to the center of the ring and drops a knee. He goes for a few spinning toeholds then applies the figure four. Steamboat can barely move and he falls over on his shoulders for a few two counts. Steamboat tries to roll Flair over to reverse the hold and manages to do it, but Flair grabs the ropes to break the hold. Flair goes right after Steamboat’s leg and rams it into the apron a few times for good measure. Steamboat can barely stands but he connects with some huge chops in the corner. He sends Flair to the corner and Flair flops over and runs to the opposite corner and goes up top hitting a crossbody for two. Steamboat is the first one up and tries for a bodyslam but his leg buckles and Flair falls on top for two. Flair sends Steamboat to the ropes but misses a clothesline and Steamboat bounces of the ropes and hits a flying headbutt and follows with a chop to the face. He goes to the top rope and hits a flying body press and Flair BARELY, I mean BARELY gets the shoulder up at two. Steamboat drops an elbow, but misses and Flair is back up. He works Steamboat over and whips him to the ropes but a back body drop attempt is reversed into a swinging neckbreaker which gets two. Flair is up first however and tosses Ricky to the outside. Flair goes after Steamboat who is on the apron but Steamboat hits a sunset flip and that’s good for a two count. Steamboat shoulderblocks Flair over but Flair grabs a sleeperhold as Steamboat comes off the ropes. The ref picks up Steamboat’s hand but it drops, he does it again and the match is over…but Steambot somehowe finds the strength to wake up. He breaks the hold by diving into the ropes and ducking so Flair’s head hits the top turnbuckle. Flair bails to the outside as Ricky recovers in the corner. Flair sneaks in and chops at Ricky’s leg, knocking him over. He then grabs the leg of a standing Ricky Steamboat but he turns in into an enzuguiri and gets a two count. Ricky goes up to the top but misses a flying body splash and Flair starts working over Steamboat’s knee. Flair works over Ricky in the corner some more and Steamboat is dazed. He can barely walk but Steamboat fights back with huge chops. He sends Flair to the ropes and connects with a double chop and Steamboat is pumped up as Flair cowers in the corner. He goes to the top turnbuckle and chops Flair a few times. Flair tries to turn that into an atomic drop but Steamboat counters and clotheslines Flair. He covers but Flair makes the ropes. He sends Flair to the ropes and put his head down, only to have Flair elbow it. Flair follows up with a belly to back suplex and Flair goes up top. Steamboat catches him and body presses him off the top and Steamboat goes right back to the double arm chicken wing, but Flair falls on top of Steamboat but leaves his shoulders on the mat as referee Tommy Young counts to three giving Steamboat the win at 54:26. This lead to a rematch because if you look at replays, Flair’s foot was on the rope. What the hell, awesome match. Perfect match, buy the DVD for this match. The match was an hour long but it felt like 10 minutes, really. *****.

Ric says that the next match, which many consider the best ever, flatters him but he claims to have 200-300 matches that were BETTER than that match throughout the country that no one ever saw except for the fans in attendance.

-Ric Flair vs. Ricky Steamboat(c) for the NWA Title from Wrestlewar 1989 (05/07/89)-
This was the final match in the series of three that these two men had. There were judges at ringside in case of a tie. The judges were: Terry Funk, Lou Thesz, and Pat O’Conner. They lock up to start and Flair pushes Steamboat to the ropes and breaks clean. Another lock up and Steamboat arm-drags Flair down, then stares him down. They circle and locl up again and Flair gets a side headlock which Steamboat breaks by sending Flair to the ropes. Flair shoulderblocks Ricky down but another cross to the ropes results in a Steamboat hiptoss. They end up in the corner and exchange slaps in the face. They go back to the lock up and sends Ricky to the corner. He doesn’t break clean this time, he instead knees him in the gut and unleashes two big chops. Steamboat comes right back with chops of his own and Flair returns. They go into a huge chopping war which is just vicious. Steamboat sends Flair to the turnbuckle and Flair bounces off right into a Steamboat back body drop. Flair rolls to the outside to regain his composure. Flair gets back to the ring and grabs a side headlock which Steamboat breaks out of it into an overhead wristlock which brings Flair down to the mat. Steamboat turns it into an arm bar and drops knees to the shoulder. Flair works his way to his feet and sends Ricky to the ropes only to get shoulderblocked down. Flair gets up only to get armdragged down by Steamboat who goes to the arm bar. They get back up to their feet and Steamboat works on a hammerlock. Flair drop-toe-holds Steamboat to break out but Steamboat comes right back around with a hammerlock. He goes for a half nelson pinning combination which gets a one count. Flair again gets to his feet and chops away at Steamboat, who is still holding onto Flair’s arm. Flair sends Steamboat to the rope but Steamboat slides underneath Flair, trips him up and goes back to the arm bar. They get back to their feet and Flair pulls Ricky’s hair dragging him to the corner to cause a break. Flair forearms Steamboat in the corner and takes advantage. Flair continues with the chopping but Steamboat chops right back. Flair decided to go to the fists so he punches him instead. Steamboat comes right back with his own chops and Flair does his wander around and fall down routine. Steamboat goes right back to the arm bar and changes it to a hammerlock on the ground. They stand up and Flair picks up Steamboat and sets him on the top turnbuckle then moves away. He charges but Steamboat jumps over him and chops him, then hiptosses him, then dropkicks him out of the ring. Flair stays on the outside for a while and then comes back in. Flair gets Steamboat with some kicks to the gut but an Irish whip is reversed and Steamboat hits an arm drag and goes right back to the arm bar. He continues working over Flair’s arm. Flair sends Steamboat to the ropes but gets shoulderblocked down. Steamboat goes to the ropes and he get hiptossed himself. Flair showboats just a little but misses an elbow drop. Steamboat with another armdrag and goes back to the arm. Flair again pushes Steamboat to the corner to to break and Flair takes advantage, chopping away at Steamboat. As of right now, Steamboat is winning according to the judges. Flair keeps chopping away though until Steamboat decides its time for him to chop back. Flair eye rakes him to take over and shoulderblocks Steamboat down. He sends Steamboat through the ropes to the outsie but Steamboat comes RIGHT BACK IN and he is PISSED. He beats the shit out of Flair and send Flair to the turnbuckles resulting in the Flair flop. Steamboat goes to the rope and shoulderblocks him down but going to the ropes again Flair uses Steamboat’s own momentum to toss him over the top rope, thus avoiding a DQ. Flair follows Steamboat outside and chops him over the steel barricade. Flair grabs a chair but referee Tommy Young pulls it away from him. Flair goes back to the ring to break the count but Steamboat was waiting and thw two exchange chops. Steamboat takes the advantage and Flair runs away into the ring. Steambot comes right back in with a chop off the top rope. He sends Flair to the turnbuckle and he flops over, running to the next turnbuckle only to get chopped down on the apron. Steamboat brings him back to the ring area and snapmares him over and works the arm some more. They get back up and Flair gets shoulderblocked down. Steamboat goes off the ropes and goes for a cross body press which Flair ducks and Steamboats goes flying to the outside. Flair works over Steamboat on the apron and slingshots him back inside. He follows with a knee to the face then more chops. Flair then drives his knee into Steamboat’s face. WHOOO! Steamboat comes right back with a chop or two only to get knocked down by Flair. Flair hits a belly to back suplex and covers for two. He tries again but that’s only two. Again and another two. Another two count, and another. Flair gives that up and drops a knee to Steamboat’s head. Flair actually flexes his muscles to the fans and hits Steamboat with a double arm suplex which gets a two count. Flair drops the elbow on the Dragon but that too, gets a two. Flair yells at the referee allowing Steamboat to get up.Flair chops him then whips him to the ropes. Steamboat ducks a chop but a cross body is caught by Flair and drops Steamboat onto the ropes. He covers but since Steamboat’s arm is under the ropes the ref doesn’t count. As Flair argues with the referee he drives his shin across the throat of Steamboat which is just awesome. Flair breaks and walks away and comes back right to a Steamboat chop. Flair bails to the outside and pulls Steamboat with him then hits a big suplex on the padding. This just in, Funk and O’Connor have given the edge to Flair while Thesz still goes with Steamboat. So it’s 4 for Steamboat and 2 for Flair says Jim Ross. Steamboat gets to the apron and Flair tries to suplex him in but Steamboat goes behind and rolls him up for two. Steamboat starts punching away and sends Flair to the ropes. Flair ducks a chop and hits a crossbody on Steamboat sending BOTH men over the top.Referee Tommy Young starts the 10 count and Flair is the first one up. He sends Steamboat inside and goes to the top rope. He gets caught, of course, and tosses Flair off the top. Flair begs for mercy but Steamboat gets none and punches Flair in the corner, then back body drops him out of the opposite corner. Flair again asks for mercy but kicks Steamboat in the gut. He goes for a belly to back suplex but Steamboat flips out of it and cradles Flair for two. Flair with an eye rake but Steamboat brings Flair to the top rope. Steamboat hits a superplex from the second rope and he goes for the double arm chicken wing but Flair QUICKLY gets to the ropes. Steamboat sends Flair’s head to the top turnbuckle and Steamboat heads to the top hitting a big chop. He again goes to the tope but Flair falls on the top rope causing Steamboat to land hard on the apron onto the floor. Steamboat is on the outside favoring his leg now. Flair wisely waits for Steamboat to make it back to the ring and Flair immediately goes after his leg. He suplexes Steamboat in from the apron and starts working on the leg hard. He just tugs on it and Flair goes right to the figure four in the middle of the ring. Steamboat falls back and that gets a two count for Flair. Steamboat manages to get to the ropes and Flair has to break. The damage is done as Steamboat can barely stand. Steamboat pulls him self up using the ropes but Flair continues on the leg. He holds it as Steamboat chops away and hits an enzuguri. Steamboat picks Flair up and goes to bodyslam but his leg isn’t strong enough and as he slams Flair down, Flair rolls through the slam and cradles Steamboat for the pin and the win at 31:31 . What a match! I don’t think I like it as much as the one before, but still a ***** match if there ever was one. Flair actually displays some sportsmanship afterwards by raising the hand of Steamboat.

Of course, after the match Terry Funk congratulates Flair and asks for a shot at the title and Flair politely tells him that he isn’t the number one contender and therefore doesn’t deserve a title shot. Classic banter here between Flair and Funk with Flair saying he doesn’t want to wrestle someone who was rubbing shoulders with Sylvester Stallone instead of with the World Champion. Funk then tells Flair he was just kidding and offers to shake hands with Flair. They shake but Funk cheapshots him and goes absolutely crazy attacking Flair. He ends the whole thing by piledriving Flair on the table. Funk doesn’t stop and drops a chair right across Flair’s head. Awesome.

We go right to a Flair promo hyping the I Quit match. Flair talks about Funk piledriving him through the table in one of the first hardcore moments in history and he talks about Funk being a great Wrestler.

-Ric Flair(c) vs. Terry Funk for the NWA Title in an I Quit Match from Clash of the Champions IX (11/15/89).
Funk offers Flair the chance to quit before the match even starts but of course, Flair does not. They start with a lock up and they break clean in the corner. They lock up again and Flair ducks a Funk chop and Flair chops Funk to the outside of the ring. Funk comes back and they lock up as Flair sends Funk to the corner. He chops the hell out of him and Funk bails to the outside. Flair follows and chops away on the outside. Flair returns inside while Funk recooperates on the outside. They circle and and lock up which Flair turns into a side headlock. Funk quickly takes Flair to the ropes and shoulderblocks him down. Flair takes down Funk and starts choking him. Funk gets up and starts pounding away on Flair on the ring apron. Funk forearms Flair in the back but Flair comes right back with a chop. Funk punches Flair right down and throws Flair to the outside. Funk works over Flair on the railing and takes the microphone. He starts using the microphone but Flair fights right back and Funk bails to back inside the ring. Flair follows but Funk punches down Flair. Funk yells for the microphone and asks Flair if he wants to quit as he pounds on his head in the corner. Flair hits an inverted atomic drop and sends Funk to the ropes. He tries for a back body drop but Funk’s swinging neckbreaker turns the tide for Funk. He slaps Flair in the face but that only pisses Flair off as he starts chopping away at Funk and chops him so hard he goes outside. Flair follows outside and the vicious chops continue. Funk tries to bail to the ring but Flair catches him and brings him back outside for more brutality.For good measure, Flair pushes Gary Hart aside. They go back to the ring and Flair tries to get Funk to say “I Quit.” Gary Hart distracts Flair though, and that allows Funk to attack Ric from behind. Funk hits a spinning neckbreaker as Funk trash talks to Flair. He asks Flair to quit while he’s setting up for a piledriver, reckoning back to the piledriver on the table at Wrestlewar. Funk hits the piledriverbut Flair still won’t quit. Funk drops a leg but Flair still won’t quit. Funk sends Flair to the outside and sets him up for a piledriver on the concrete and hits it. Flair still doesn’t say he’ll quit so he takes the microphone and uses that as a weapon. Ross says he can’t use it as a weapon even though it’s no DQ. He then calls Funk compassionless. No shit. He piledrives him through a table I wouldn’t call that a lot of compassion. Anyway, Funk sends Flair back to the ring and pounds on him for a bit then takes him back outside and bodyslams Flair on the table. Funk sets up the table, propping it against the ring apron and as he walks over to Flair gets chopped. Flair takes over and sends Funk headfirst into the table. Flair takes said table and sets it up against the barricade and throws Funk face first across the table. Gary Hart goes to look over Funk but Flair elbows him out of the way. Flair chops Funk and Flair crotches Funk across the steel barricade then chops him off of it. They go back inside and Flair is feeling it now. He drops a knee to Funk’s face and Funk bails to the outside. He comes back inside though and Flair hits an inverted atomic drop and starts working over Funk’s leg which the crowd pops HUGE for. Funk sells the leg really well, just hopping around. Flair just brutalizes Flair with a combination of chops and kicks to the leg. Funk tries to bail but Flair follows and works over Funk’s knee some more. He brings Funk to the apron and suplexes him back inside. Flair goes right back to the leg and tries for the figure four which Funk fights off and eyerakes him to break. He brings Flair to the apron to try to suplex him in but Flair reverses and drops Funk on the apron. Flair goes back inside and chops Funk down then applies the figure four which gets a huge pop. Funk says he’ll never quit but Flair just keeps it on. Funk is great saying break my leg but finally can’t take the pain anymore and says “I Quit.” Another great match. Probably the third best on the match on the tape but still, you guessed it: *****. Afterwards, Funk shakes Flair’s hand.

That does it for the match portions. Now, the EXTRAS!

This is under the Ricky Steamboat portion of the extras
-Flair/Windham vs. Steamboat/Gilbert from World Championship Wrestling 01/21/89-
Of course, the story here is that Gilbert signed for a match against Windham/Flair with a mystery partner. That mystery partner turned out to be none other than Steamboat. Steamboat and Windham start as Steamboat armdrags Windham around. They lock up again and Ricky grabs a headlock which Windham breaks by sending Ricky to the ropes. Steamboat shoulderblocks Windham down then Steamboat goes over Windham a few times then slides beneath his legs and bodyslams him. Flair comes in and tries for a belly to back suplex on Flair but Steamboat flips out of it and picks up Flair and tosses him onto Windham. The heels bail and once back in the ring, Windham tags in to Flair. Flair trashtalks to Steamboat and it ends with Steamboat shoulderblocking him down. Flair comes back with a chop but Steamboat responds with two of his own, knocking Flair down. They go to the ropes and Steamboat military presses Flair down. Flair bails and is irate on the outside of the ring. Steamboat goes out to the mic and tells Flair that if he wants to play he needs to stay in the sandbox. Well, Ricky was never known for his mic skills. Steamboat chops away on Flair and Windham comes in which results in a double noggin knocker. Flair gets back body dropped after being sent to the corner and Flair chop is met with even harsher Steamboat chops. Again, Flair bails. Flair comes back in and Steamboat gets a side headlock. He then turns it to a facelock and tags in Eddie Gilbert. Flair starts chopping him but Gilbert fights back and hits a headscissors on Flair. Flair’s dazed and falls down, tagging Windham. We take a quit cut as Gilbert is lying on the mat. Windham tries for a flying elbow drop but misses. Flair is tagged in as Hot Stuff makes the hot tag to Steamboat. Steamboat destroys both heels and back body drops Flair after sending him to the corner. He drops a karate chop on Flair and then starts pounding his head into the mat. Windham comes in again but is quickly dispatched. Ricky hits a flying crossbody off the top of the rope and that pins Flair at about 6:45 aired. You might remember that Steamboat tried that same move in the first match but with different results. I hear the full version is pretty awesome, but I haven’t seen it. The clipped one looked pretty good but I don’t feel right rating it due to the clips.

-Steamboat’s Three-Man Workout-
This isn’t a match, just a workout training session. One of the scrubs he’s training with is Dustin Rhodes. Pretty neat training segment. Ric Flair comes out and gets riled up. He is pissed they equate a Dustin Rhodes knee drop to his knee drop. Flair goes absolutely crazy and says he’d beat three guys in 30 seconds, not 5 minutes. There was a commercial break and during the break Flair and Steamboat go to the ring and they start wrestling. Flair slapws Steamboat around until Steamboat takes over and starts schooling Flair. Flair gets his shirt torn off then runs away, then runs back to talk trash to Flair. By the way, Flair’s shirt was torn off, but he still had his tie on. Just awesome.

-Flair calls out Steamboat-
This is from Clash of the Champions V. Basically, Flair comes to the ring to give an interview. He comes with like 7 girls and calls out Steamboat. Steamboat comes out and they talk. Of course, they end up brawling. And what a brawl it is. Flair ends up losing all his clothes except his briefs and socks. Steamboat hitsa crossbody off the top rope which the crowd counts to three on. Some guy comes in to the ring to help Flair out but Steamboat beats the shit out of both of them. Crazy ass brawl that is probably more intense than almost all of the brawls you’ll see in ECW. Steamboat comes back into the ring and starts putting on the remnants of Flair’s $1500 suit. Then throws it to the crowd.

-Controversy Recap-
This was all because of the Clash VI match where Flair had his foot under the ropes on the third fall.

-Flair’s Lawyer-
Flair’s lawyer reads from the rulebook and blah blah blah, Flair’s foot was under the rope, blah blah blah, Flair deserves a rematch within 30 days of Flair will sue. He will sue everyone for money and for Steamboat’s title to be vacated and that the rematch will include people at ringside to watch the match and a second referee at ringside.

-Jim Herd-
Jim Herd has reached a decision on the Flair match. There will be a rematch and three former world champions will be judges and there will be a winner in this match. Herd says this decision was not due to Flair’s lawyers but instead listened to the what the fans had to say.

-Ricky Steamboat-
Ricky says that he will give Flair one last chance at the title due to the match not being conclusive. He says it’ll be his last chance like 5 times, so I’m guessing it will be his last chance.

-Ric Flair- Flair gives the usual promo saying he’s gonna get the belt back.

-WrestleWar Pre-Match Interview-
Flair says he has to style and profile like never before. He calls Steamboat the greatest wrestler on the face of the earth and says he’ll kiss Steamboat’s boots if he can do it.

Now to the Terry Funk portion of the Extras
-Press conference 06/22/89-
Ric Flair announces to the “press” that he will return to wrestling. He also asked Herd and WCW to sign a match against Terry Funk on 07/23/89. Unfortunately, that match didn’t make it onto this DVD, I guess because it was only ****1/2 stars and it would drag the average match quality down.

-Bagged-
This is from a Sting/Flair vs. Muta/Slater match from Fall Brawl 09/12/89 where Funk attacks Flair and puts a bag over his head.

-“I’ll Shake His Hand”-
This is a Terry Funk interview (from 11/04/89) where he says he’ll shake Ric Flair’s hand if Ric does in fact make Funk say he’ll quit. Funk says that if he beats Flair, Flair has to shake his hand and say he’s the better man.

-Flair’s Rebuttal-
Also from 11/04/89, Ric Flair answers back to Funk’s comments. Flair says it’s hard to believe that Funk will shake his hand. Flair of course says he’s gonna win.

-“You’re gonna say ‘I Quit’”-
This is a Flair interview one week before the match. Standard hype promo from Flair.

-New York Knock Out Promos-
Both men say that this isn’t about the belt, it’s about their pride.

-Pre-Match Interviews-
-Terry Funk-
Terry and manager Gary Hart give a promo at ringside. Funk is the best and Flair is the quitter.

-Ric Flair-
Ric gives another interview in what seems to be the same backdrop and same suit as the previous two Flair interviews on this disc. Good intense Flair interview here.

There is also three other extra segments on the disc. All three are from WWE Confidential episodes.

-The Plane Crash-
They talk about the plane crash on 10/04/75. They decided to fly the 200 miles to the next show instead of flying. The card on the next day was supposed to feature Ric Flair vs. Wahoo McDaniel and Johnny Valentine vs. Tim Woods (Mr. Wrestling 2). On the plane was Crockett, Flair, Valentine, Bob Rudders, Tim Woods and the pilot. About halfway between Charlotte and Wilmington, the gas gauge on the right side just stopped. As the plane was going down, Flair doesn’t remember people saying anything, and he doesn’t remember the impact. Flair guesses that they were travelling at about 300 miles per hour. None of the victims remember about the plane crash. The first thing Flair remembers are the ambulences and being loaded into it. The fans were in shock when they found out about it at the arena. David Crockett broke a few bones. Bob Rudder, Johnny Valentine, and Ric Flair all had broken backs. The pilot died a year later but he never woke up from his coma. Woods had minor injuries and left the hospital the next day. Flair says he turned a negative into a positive. He says he started living the life of the Nature Boy, and used his insurance settlement to buy a new Cadillac. Flair says he thinks about the plane crash only on long trips over seas or when there’ turbulence.

-The History of The Horseman-
Original horseman: Tully Blanchard, Ole Anderson, Arn Anderson and Flair with JJ Dillon as manager. Arn says it’s the best because the original was always the best. Flair was the leader, Tully was the ring technician, Ole was the heavy hitter and Arn was the rookie. Everyone knew their roles. They always wanted to be the best. Their goal was to sell tickets, which they did. Tully says that they couldn’t revive the 4 Horseman once Arn and Tully left.

-A Day in the Life of The Horseman-
Basically, Cadillac to private plane, to limosuine, to Mariott hotel, to arena to “kick major league ass,” then another cadillac, then out to party. They talk about their wild lifestyle basically.

Ok, the Easter Eggs.
To get the first, go to Chapters, highlight A Day in the life of The Horseman, then hit left. You will unlock a Ric Flair interview. Ric starts ranting and pulls a guy from the crowd to make fun of him. He makes mention of Larry Bird and Magic Johnson. Man, this guy could talk about anything.

For the second, go to Chapters, highlight Main and hit right. You get, you guessed it, a Ric Flair interview. Flair talks about him being a real man. He starts making fun of the announcers clothes. No one will take the title from him.

Well, what can I say? Most likely it’s the single best wrestling DVD that will ever be made. Three ***** matches, awesome extras looking back on those matches, and even the Confidential stuff was fun to watch. Highest recommendation ever, and out of the three it’s the best disc and probably the best wrestling DVD ever made

Overall Rating
10.0