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I have enjoyed the wave of nostalgia that has washed over the sports entertainment world over the past three years as much as the next person. From the DVD’s, the shoot interviews, the reunion tours, the guest appearances, Hall Of Fame inductions, and on and on and on, the legends of this industry have been popping up all over the place and fans, like myself, have been eating it up.
That’s why I was shocked at this week’s RAW and the blatant disregard for this history of this industry.
For the past few weeks The Spirit Squad has taken potshots at Ric Flair, who is arguably the greatest legend of them all. Week after week, Flair’s beaten them on an individual basis but has been overpowered by sheer numbers. In an act fitting his character, Flair brought out Roddy Piper, Ted DiBiase (now released), Mike Rotunda (as I.R.S.), and, of course, Arn Anderson to watch his back.
Flair and Piper’s friendship goes way back to the late 70’s and is well documented each of their autobiographies. Flair has been buddies with Rotundao since the late 80’s and DiBiase since his WWF run in 1991. Of course, not much needs to be said about the friendship with Arn Anderson, who has been his right hand man since 1985.
On the 10/23 edition of RAW, Spirit Squad member Kenny challenged Flair to a one-on-one encounter. He even berated and attacked his fellow Squad members. It turns out this was all a ruse, as the Squad came out to attack Flair again. Here was the perfect opening for another legends reunion.
Out came Piper. Great!
Who would be next? Where’s Arn? Would Ricky Steamboat, another longtime comrade of Flair’s help out? Would the newly singed Tully Blanchard appear, reuniting three of the original Four Horsemen? The fans would surely go nuts for this!
Out came Sgt. Slaughter. Huh? Well, okay, I expect there would be more legends coming. I couldn’t really think of a connection between Slaughter and Flair other than they were both in the 1992 Royal Rumble and may have faced each other briefly in the late 70’s or early 80’s. Oh well, I’ll look past it. [Note from Mike Johnson: They have indeed wrestled a number of times over the years.]
What happened next was shocking. When the last legend came out, I actually thought for a moment he’d be aligning himself with the Squad AGAINST Flair! In truth, he should have.
Dusty Rhodes should never, ever be saving Ric Flair inside a wrestling ring. As characters, those two should go to their graves hating each other. Each stood for everything the other despised. Flair was the obnoxious heel who flaunted his style, wealth, and good looks while using every trick in the book as the dirtiest player in the game to keep his World Title. Rhodes was the “common manâ€ÂÂÂ, who used the love of the fans to keep him going and tried to take Flair’s title without the help of his friends.
Flair and Rhodes have a very long, storied past. When Flair first broke into the business in the early 70’s, Rhodes was already an up and coming star. Rhodes’ tag team with Dick Murdoch was on fire and Flair became their newest running buddy. Soon, however, the team split and Flair was on his own. After surviving a famous plane crash, Flair returned to the ring a new man and began quickly moving up the ranks in the National Wrestling Alliance, hot on the heels of Dusty Rhodes. In 1981, when Rhodes won his 2nd World Title, the decision was made to have him quickly drop the belt to the hottest young star in the NWA, Ric Flair. It was after Flair first beat Rhodes, that he began his stranglehold on the NWA/WCW World Title that would last until 1991.
The two would face each other in several big matches, such as Flair’s victory at Starrcade 84. However, it would not be until 1985 that their feud would truly get hot.
It was September 1985 and the culmination of the feud between Flair and Nikita Koloff, the dreaded Russian. A steel cage match would determine their fate. Flair was the face and Koloff the heel, seconded by Ivan Koloff, in a steel cage match that saw Flair retain his World Title, but be brutally attacked by the Koloffs. As the Koloffs attempted to destroy Flair, Rhodes made his way to ringside. Rhodes had been having his own problems with the Russians and decided, whether he liked Flair or not, he’d had enough of the Russians double-teaming.
The fans were elated when Rhodes saved Flair. As Rhodes ran the Koloffs out of the cage, he turned to Flair. The two began having words, as Flair recovered on the mat. The fans were going wild, realizing they’d get either a new series of matches between the two or a new friendship, built out of respect. What they got was something different.
Flair jawed at Rhodes, keeping his attention. Suddenly, Arn & Ole Anderson appeared through the cage door, locking it behind them. They blindsides Rhodes and, along with Flair, delivered him an equally brutal beating. The fans went crazy, as Flair had just turned heel in a big way, attacking the NWA’s #1 face. The Rock & Roll Express, Sam Houston, & Magnum T.A. all attempted to get in the cage, but the Andersons held them at bay. Meanwhile, Flair battered Rhodes left leg brutally. The fans began to riot, literally (as told by Arn Anderson in his autobiography). By the end of the attack, Flair had destroyed Rhodes’ left ankle, sending the #1 good guy to the disabled list and incurring the wrath of NWA fans everywhere.
The Four Horsemen were born and Rhodes was their arch nemesis. Rhodes battled all members of the Four Horsemen over the next three years losing friends like Barry Windham and Ronnie Garvin to the Horsemen’s power along the way. Flair & Rhodes exchanged the World Title during the Great American Bash of 1986 in some truly heated encounters. They faced off in the very first War Games Match. Each man recorded an almost equal amount of victories over the other and a true winner was never declared.
The two butted head behind the scenes several times after Rhodes’ in-ring retirement in 1991 and Flair’s return to WCW in 1993. The two men would collide once more in a tag match in 2001, with Rhodes taking the victory.
The Flair vs. Rhodes feud spanned the entire 1980’s and epitomized the "Good vs. Bad" theme of the era. Their feud was one of the most intense and brutal stories in sports entertainment history. An ending to their story has never been told and fans have rumbled for one final encounter. Instead, what they got was a moment on RAW that should never have occurred and not even a mention of their previous encounters
The proper ending to their story can still be told, but the question remains whether or not WWE "creative†wants to go there. In truth, even if Rhodes were naïve enough to run out and save Flair again, Flair should never have accepted his help, just like in 1985.
Since becoming the keepers of most of the recorded history of the wrestling industry, WWE has taken the responsibility of becoming the bearers of its past. If they are going to use the legends of the wrestling industry in their storylines, they must embrace each characters history and their interactions with each other. If it’s not done properly it should not be done at all. The legends, and the fans, deserve do not deserve to have their memories and intelligence taken for granted.
Jonathan Deiner can be reached at jdeiner2000@yahoo.com.
