Ric Flair was unquestionably one of the very best wrestlers ever. He wrestled all of the big stars from territory to territory, and was part of one of wrestling's most successful heel factions, the four horsemen. He has been the subject of three WWE-produced DVDs, this being the earliest, coming out in 2003.
The DVD looks at the build to some of Ric's best known matches, shows the matches in full and then the aftermath. As well as showing the skill of Flair in promoting matches it also gives him the opportunity to pay tribute to some of his greatest rivals.
First up in this three disc set is Ric's famous match with 7 time NWA World Champion Harley Race from the first ever Starrcade in 1983. All of the key moments in the build are caught, including Dick Slater and Bob Orton Jr claiming a $25,000 bounty Race had placed on Flair. The storyline went so far as to have Flair retire to protect his health. Needless to say he returned and defeated Race to win the Championship in a well put together match and become a 2 time champion.
From here the DVD goes forward two years to Starrcade 1985 where Dusty Rhodes defeated Flair to win the NWA World Title, but in one of those infamous Dusty finishes, which infuriated fans so, the decision was reversed the following night and Flair reinstated as champion. This was a typical Flair/ Rhodes match with a great build as Ole and Arn Anderson had supposedly broken Rhodes' ankle in the lead up to the fight.
This is followed by a successful NWA title defence against Barry Windham from 1987, this is another nice match with a great build and ends Disc One.
Disc Two is dedicated almost entirely to one of the greatest feuds in wrestling history: Ric Flair vs Ricky Steamboat from 1989. Over the course of the year Flair and Steamboat traded the title across three superb bouts, two of which are included here. Steamboat's best two out of three falls triumph from Clash of Champions VI and Flair's eventual win in the blow off match at Wrestlewar. All of the intensity and emotion of the rivalry is wonderfully captured with vignettes and interviews. A great rivalry relived vividly.
Last on the disc is Flair's Clash of Champions IX "I Quit" match with Terry Funk. Again the build is captured well.
Disc three treats us to Flair's Royal Rumble win in 1992, arguably the best Rumble match ever which Flair won after coming in at three. Bobby Heenan did a superb job selling the match and most of his good work is captured here, as are Flair's attacks on Roddy Piper.
Next is the only real disappointment of this DVD as it goes over one of Flair's weaker matches with Sting. It's still a fine match, but these two have wrestled many scorchers in front of hot crowds. This was just a so/so match in front of a so/so crowd. It would have been a travesty for Sting to be left off this collection but they could easily have picked a better match.
Last is the Ric Flair tribute edition of RAW from Greenville in 2003. Included in this section are Flair's first match in the WWE, back in 1976 against Pete Sanchez in Madison Square Garden, and a decent World Heavyweight Championship match against Triple H from the tribute show, a heart felt address to WCW fans on the final episode of Nitro, an amusing amateur training session with Roddy PIper from 1982 and Flair accepting PWI's Wrestler of the Decade award in 1989.
This is an excellent DVD, looking back at a great career. The coverage of each of the matches is comprehensive, and most of the matches are of a very high quality. A good buy for any fan of NWA/ JCP wrestling, though younger fans may not appreciate the matches so much. Very different style to the matches of today.
The DVD looks at the build to some of Ric's best known matches, shows the matches in full and then the aftermath. As well as showing the skill of Flair in promoting matches it also gives him the opportunity to pay tribute to some of his greatest rivals.
First up in this three disc set is Ric's famous match with 7 time NWA World Champion Harley Race from the first ever Starrcade in 1983. All of the key moments in the build are caught, including Dick Slater and Bob Orton Jr claiming a $25,000 bounty Race had placed on Flair. The storyline went so far as to have Flair retire to protect his health. Needless to say he returned and defeated Race to win the Championship in a well put together match and become a 2 time champion.
From here the DVD goes forward two years to Starrcade 1985 where Dusty Rhodes defeated Flair to win the NWA World Title, but in one of those infamous Dusty finishes, which infuriated fans so, the decision was reversed the following night and Flair reinstated as champion. This was a typical Flair/ Rhodes match with a great build as Ole and Arn Anderson had supposedly broken Rhodes' ankle in the lead up to the fight.
This is followed by a successful NWA title defence against Barry Windham from 1987, this is another nice match with a great build and ends Disc One.
Disc Two is dedicated almost entirely to one of the greatest feuds in wrestling history: Ric Flair vs Ricky Steamboat from 1989. Over the course of the year Flair and Steamboat traded the title across three superb bouts, two of which are included here. Steamboat's best two out of three falls triumph from Clash of Champions VI and Flair's eventual win in the blow off match at Wrestlewar. All of the intensity and emotion of the rivalry is wonderfully captured with vignettes and interviews. A great rivalry relived vividly.
Last on the disc is Flair's Clash of Champions IX "I Quit" match with Terry Funk. Again the build is captured well.
Disc three treats us to Flair's Royal Rumble win in 1992, arguably the best Rumble match ever which Flair won after coming in at three. Bobby Heenan did a superb job selling the match and most of his good work is captured here, as are Flair's attacks on Roddy Piper.
Next is the only real disappointment of this DVD as it goes over one of Flair's weaker matches with Sting. It's still a fine match, but these two have wrestled many scorchers in front of hot crowds. This was just a so/so match in front of a so/so crowd. It would have been a travesty for Sting to be left off this collection but they could easily have picked a better match.
Last is the Ric Flair tribute edition of RAW from Greenville in 2003. Included in this section are Flair's first match in the WWE, back in 1976 against Pete Sanchez in Madison Square Garden, and a decent World Heavyweight Championship match against Triple H from the tribute show, a heart felt address to WCW fans on the final episode of Nitro, an amusing amateur training session with Roddy PIper from 1982 and Flair accepting PWI's Wrestler of the Decade award in 1989.
This is an excellent DVD, looking back at a great career. The coverage of each of the matches is comprehensive, and most of the matches are of a very high quality. A good buy for any fan of NWA/ JCP wrestling, though younger fans may not appreciate the matches so much. Very different style to the matches of today.