|
|
|
|
|
Submitted by Xan on Sunday, October 15, 2006 at 6:19 PM EST
 "She said "I've seen you in here before." I said, "I've been here a time or two."" I'm a WWF guy. Always have been. Last year I wrote a column called "Final Table" and followed it up with one called "Glory Day" that indicated that TNA was doing a lot to turn me away from that. Two weeks later, they changed my mind by putting the title belt back on Jeff Jarrett. I imagine that's happened to a lot of people. In fact, I'm sure it has. Every time a wrestling organization that's aired nationally has a chance to stop the WWF from being #1 for me, they do something to fuck it up. WCW is a pretty good example of that. When they signed a lot of guys away from the WWF that could have made me interested in them, they then jobbed out "Stunning" Steve Austin to Hacksaw Jim Duggan and fired him by fax, got rid of the light-heavyweight title, and made the entire organization revolve around Hulk Hogan, his feuds, and his buddies. Later, after the whole NWO phenomenon started, they still weren't worth watching over RAW simply for the fact that I could watch RAW at its regular time and then watch the replay of WCW at 10. And, of course, if I were out I could easily set my timer to tape both shows. Note to future wrestling show producers: Not a good idea to show same night replays when your show is going head to head with another wrestling show. Now, because I've always been a WWF guy, I didn't see Ric Flair wrestle in his glory days. I do have the Ultimate Ric Flair Collection, and I've watched nearly all of it. I remember Flair's days in the WWF and how badly they managed to screw up what should have been easy: a dream match between he and Hogan. I remember his return to WCW and his victory over Vader for the world title. I remember his WCW feuds against Hogan that occurred too late and in the wrong setting to really mean anything to me, and I remember the versions of the 4 Horsemen that were nowhere near as good as what the originals apparently were. The memories I have of Flair's first WWF run and his last few years in WCW, along with what I've seen of him on his WWF DVD probably can't tell the whole story of his career, much like Bret's DVD doesn't tell the story of his--or even really show his best matches--but, from what I've seen, I have no idea how Ric Flair became a legend and is considered one of the best of all time. I'm not trying to get down on Flair, and I'm not trying to insult him. And, if you're one of those who believes he's one of the greatest ever, I'm not going to insult your opinion. A former roommate of mine used to say opinions are like assholes, everyone has one and they all smell bad. If you're someone who grew up on NWA rasslin' rather than WWF sports entertainment, or some combination of both, you're probably going to have a different opinion than mine and in order to determine that, you'll probably want to know exactly what mine is. That opinion is this: Ric Flair was boring. Yes, you've got that right, the man that wore a feathered robe to the ring, sunglasses indoors before it was the style, and kept on a-whooing didn't live up to his nickname. Years before Bobby Heenan would say that the WWF wasn't being fair to Flair, I say that there was no flair to Flair. Chops, foot-stomps, bodyslams, and figure fours do not add up to a thrilling performer. Nor do claims of having a new woman every night. "She said "Hello, my name is Bobbi Jo, meet my twin sister Betty Lou;we're both feeling kind of wild tonight. You're the only cowboy in this place. And if you're up for a rodeo, we'll put a big Texas smile on your face."" Of course, Arn Anderson and Flair claim on the DVD that the whole "limousine riding, jet flying, kiss-stealing sonovagun" and "dance all night, dance a little longer, party all night, party a little longer" stuff was actually the way it was, and hell, who knows, maybe it was. But, being rich and able to get any woman you want, maybe more than one at a time, has nothing to do with actually being able to perform in a wrestling ring, and I have to say that watching the Ultimate Ric Flair Collection DVD was a huge disappointment in that regard. See, I was looking forward to watching the great Ric Flair perform, and all I got to see was a white-haired guy deliver a chop or two, use a headlock, kick someone's leg out from under him, and try to win his matches with the figure-four. Of course, at least once each match the hold got reversed and he was in tremendous pain as a result, but what does that matter when you've got such a cool finisher? Seriously, folks, Ric Flair was no big deal. Sure, the Flair flop is cool and I'm sure watching his matches to see just when he'd get to hit a top rope maneuver on somebody was breath-taking, but I can't see a damned thing "The Nature Boy" does in the ring that would have led to him becoming an icon, a legend, and a 16-time world heavyweight champion. I suppose the easy answer is that the NWA didn't have the kind of talent the WWF had, and that's not a debate I'm really ready to get into. I will say that I'll take the performances I saw from Randy Savage, Jake Roberts, and Rick Rude in the 1980's over the ones I saw from Ric Flair and his overrated series of matches against Rick Steamboat. Man, talk about boring. I suppose it seems kind of weird for a WWF guy to condemn an NWA performer for not being a good worker, but I wasn't a Hogan mark, either. I was into Bret Hart, Tito Santana, and the guys I just mentioned that could really rock a ring. Steamboat could while he was there, as well... and so could Ric Flair. I remember being very excited when I first saw The Nature Boy on WWF programming. I remember the fan-boy excitement in me when I realized we were going to get what all the wrestling mags called the ultimate dream match: Ric Flair vs. Hulk Hogan and the disappointment when it became Hogan/Justice and Savage/Flair, instead. The Savage/Flair feud was classic, no doubt, and they were probably the best two wrestlers in the WWF at the time, sans Hart, but the match that was supposed to happen--the match that everyone wanted to see was Hogan/Flair and aside from a few house shows it never occurred. Instead, after his feud against Macho happened, Flair went on to have an outstanding series of matches with The Hitman, including dropping the WWF Strap to him in Saskatoon and another against Curt Hennig, including the match that would bar him from the WWF and return him to the site of his "glory" years. I said, "Girls...I ain't as good as I once was, I got a few years on me now. But there was a time, back in my prime, I could really lay you down. If you want some love tonight, well I might have just enough. I'm not as good as I once was, but I'm as good once as I ever was." Now, more than ten years later, Ric Flair is actually wrestling the way that his word of mouth would indicate. He's quick, he's energetic, he's entertaining. He still chops the shit out of his opponents and beats the hell out of their legs before popping them in the figure four, but he does it more vigorously now. Whether that's because he knows that his wrestling career is coming to a close or because he's simply adapted to the WWF style, I don't know. I'm leaning towards the latter for two reasons. The first is simple: the way I feel about his performance lately is the same way I felt when he first moved from the NWA/WCW to the WWF. He just seemed to be better in a WWF ring: more exciting and a better worker. The second is simply this: when you're an athlete and your career is coming to a close, you don't normally perform better than you have at any other point in your career. The exceptions to this, of course, are Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds--who've both been accused of steroid use--and Flair's colleague, Shawn Michaels, who took several years off. The Nature Boy isn't wrestling like a man on his last legs. He's wrestling with the energy of a rookie and kicking ass. This is unfortunate for people like the Spirit Squad who have the potential to be really good, but are looking like slugs against a man old enough to be their father, but it's good for us fans. What Flair is bringing to the table right now is all that energy and enthusiasm along with the experience that you only acquire after years in the business. It's a frightening combination and, as I said, it makes Flair better than he's ever been and right now he actually looks like the best wrestler RAW has. Shawn Michaels can still go, of course, but he's bogged down with a stable and angle he really doesn't want and is being forced into wrestling a gimmick while Flair is wrestling his ass off and making a lot of the younger talent in the company look like an idiot. No, Flair doesn't look like a man nearing retirement, but he is one and he deserves one last run at the top. It may not be a long one, of course. In the last couple of years, we've seen some fairly long runs by champions in the company, but those are far from the norm, and while Flair has been a face since roughly a second and a half after Evolution disintegrated, that doesn't mean he has to remain one. I've been pushing for months for a Michaels/Cena Wrestlemania main event and I'm still game for one, but it isn't going to happen. Michaels still hasn't taken the time off required for his knee to receive treatment and once he does, I don't expect him to be back by March. This leaves an opening. Chances are that opening will be filled by having Triple H take on Edge for the title and Cena off doing something else, but what if they go another way? Edge has had bitter words against the King of the World lately and Triple H has yet to have his inter-brand match, as well, so maybe this is the year for Flair to get his shot at the WWF spot light and FINALLY main event the showcase of the immortals. God knows with his performances this year, he's earned it. {Argument: The quotes above are from Toby Keith's "Good as I once was" and this is the first in a 4-part series that will chronicle different wrestlers that are in the twilights of their careers. They may or may not be consecutive. I make no problems regarding this. I'm Xan.} That will conclude today's voyage on The Northern Star. For feedback, please email me atXanManX@hotmail.com, with the words "Northern Star" or "feedback" in the subject line or click here to leave your thoughts in the LOPForums. The Northern Star will rise again in 7 days. Until then, Long days, pleasant nights
|
|