Out of the kindness of his heart, Ric Flair flew his Lear Jet into there and those country bumpkins tried to pull something over on Mr. Cool. Boy, that's some nerve.
Lance Russell’s “huh” facial expression as Ric blames him for being a part of the “conspiracy” is hilarious!! That’s why Lance was so great!! He could in the most subtle way sell any angle on the show.
Ric Flair was the best at going to all the territories back then and really making the "LOCAL HERO" look great almost to the point of losing the title..."THE GOOD OLD DAYS".
Just got done watching all 4 parts and enjoyed the heck out of it. Excellent storytelling and both were absolute masters of their craft. Wrestling like this is a lot art, sadly.
Your absolutely right! I don't even bother to watch the acrobatic crap they call wrestling today. Nothing compares to that time period with Flair, Lawler, Harley Race, Bruiser Brody, the Von Erichs and the Freebirds.
@@tgbaquamanI used love how Lance would often say when everyone was fighting out front, with chairs, poles or whatever, and say things like, come on guys...can we get someone out here, almost never getting excited, it was great, and now absolutely hilarious 😂.
These were great/entertaining days of territory wrestling shows. Back then you were able to easily suspend your belief and buy into the feuds and the villains. The TV wrestling bouts were great at getting me to go down to the arena & buy a ringside ticket to support the babyfaces. ASHAME what Vince McMahon and the WWE has done to make a joke of it all, it's completely unwatchable.
What's worse is all the thousands of people who go to a wwe event knowing what we know now at least back then it seemed real .Now we know its fake and only the ones who kiss up to the mc mahons get the push .
People say this match wasn’t the greatest, people say that Flair and Lawler weren’t A good combo in the ring. But this is clearly the beginning of what would’ve been a great feud. And It would’ve resulted in classic matches!
Buzz Blackburn I heard Lawler later on say that The Memphis promotion was hesitant to put a house show together with Ric Flair and Lawler because the fans in the studio didn’t seem to enthusiastic. Perhaps they didn’t know Ric Flair. When AWA kingpin Nick Bockwinkel came in to the territory, Lawler and Nick hit it off so well with the fans they drew big houses. Lawler could never draw outside of Memphis. What works in one town does it necessarily work in the other ....
@@VolumedMusicMan Lawler was a big draw in Louisville Gardens (Louisville, Ky) on Tuesday Nights. Was always a big show when he was here. Back when $5 got you in and $7.50 got ringside seats lol good ol days
Ric Flair is such a big man that he went to Memphis, worked this angle, did all of his spots, entertained the people, and put Jerry The King Lawler over ... and in less than 15 minutes! Who else can do that? He’s The Best! (Of course he knew who Jerry was and who he’d become later - helping a brother out and doing the favor!)
The Mid South Coliseum was packed most Monday nights before The Man came to town but Slick Ric is the 1st I can recall to bring the future icons and superstars to the Mid South like Macho Man, Ric Rude, Sting, and Hulk Hogan to name a few
The funny thing about this is that shortly after this match, Mid-Atlantic started their "Race puts a bounty on Flair" for the NWA World Title which was one of their best programs leading to the Starcade cage match.
I’m surprised ric and jerry wrestled so good. I’m used to wwf/wwe. I am actually interested in seeing more matches. All technical no drama (soap opera drama).
Lol old skool wrestling was very fun back then. Today the characters are plane jane boring boring boring. Jerry the King Lawler and J.R are the only good thing about wwe. That is if they still even comentate.
NWA rules at that time allowed for a count-out victory due to the champ voluntarily leaving the ring as a means of transferring the title. This also happened just a couple of weeks after Lawler got huge press and a massive buzz for slapping Andy Kaufman on Letterman's show. This was planned by the NWA to be a year-long feud in an attempt to rise higher than the already rising WWF. But alas, Harley Race threw a fit and politicized his way to putting it all to an end.
@@paulsoxl7739 Tell that to the late great Lou Thesz who won the NWA World Title by count out in 1956. The NWA rules clearly state that the NWA World Title COULD change hands by means of count out. The problem here (which Ric points out) is that there was no official contract therefore the title cannot change hands.
@@user-jf4mv1tg3f I can’t tell Lou Thesz anything he’s in the squared circle in the sky. He also lost the title by count out that’s before my time so whatever.
They did the same angle in Florida with Butch Reed. Flair asks for 5 more minutes, Reed pins Flair, and Flair says I never agreed that the title was on the line in the extra time. In the days when you couldnt watch other territories TV, Promotions would use each other's storylines.
It's the diamond ring wearin, rolex watch wearin, jet flyin, limozine ridin, kiss stealin, wheelin n dealin, son of a gun. The Nature Boy Ric Flair! Wooo!!
I remember watching this when I was younger and didn't have cable tv in my area yet and CWA was the only wrestling that we got on the old rabbit ears. I had never seen Flair before this but I had read about him in the wrestling magazines. It was always exciting to see the new guys come through the territory and go watch the matches at Comenwelth convention center and later Louisville Gardens.
I know everyone that's older than me is gonna chuckle at this, but dude I have been a wrestling fan forever and I grew up watching WWF/WWE and there is really something about this old wrestling, man. It's so different and honestly feels so much more real. There's no music, no entrance or anything just two men talking smack and then jumping in the ring and competing. No frills and it's really really interesting! Every move seems to have more impact. I guess probably because they had to really sell every move and keep the action grounded so the moves looked believable because people still believed it was real.
How many names do Ric have 😅😅😂😂😂The Big Daddy, The Great One, The Nature Boy, Mr. Cool, Space Mountain, The 60 minute man😎 and my personal favorite The BLACK Scorpion 🦂😂😅😅😅😅. I love how he put out an open contract for Jerry Lawler on national television 😅😅😂😂😂😂😂
This is a prime example of how Flair built wrestling. He could have came in ….went ten or so minutes and left. No. He comes in and protects his rep with ten minutes....puts Lawler over with the extra five minutes...… then leaves the promotion with a storyline they could run with for months using the Flair name. Brilliant.
uhhhhhhh i think its the other way around hogan built wrestling put it on mainstream media mind you most people know the name hogan not many know flair
Richard Taylor Hogan was given his gimmick by the senior McMahon and was given the push in WWF. Flair WAS the Nature Boy on his own and travelled from territory to territory to put over their champion and build their promotion. Any muscle bound athlete with half decent mic skills while the same can not be said about Flairs impact on wrestling across the country while Hogan was a WWF only draw
This happened two and a half weeks after the Lawler/Andy Kaufman incident on Letterman's show. Due to the buzz of that, the NWA decided to attempt cashing in. The CWA at the time was a NWA territory. Lawler was the NWA Southern Heavyweight Champ at the time, which basically put him in the same echelon of Flair's contenders as Dusty Rhodes (Former NWA World Heavyweight Champ who Ric had won the title from, then NWA Florida Heavyweight Champ), Paul Orndorff (NWA National Heavyweight Champ), Jimmy Valiant (NWA World TV Champ), and David Von Eric (NWA Texas Heavyweight Champ), and Tommy Rich (former NWA World Heavyweight Champ from the year before and then NWA Georgia Heavyweight Champ), and Harley Race (6 time former NWA World Heavyweight Champ who'd lost to Dusty the previous year without a rematch). So, Flair suddenly shows up in Memphis. The week prior to this, they ran a recorded promo of Flair announcing that he was coming to town. That night, there was a big event which featured over a dozen different regional titles and a few of the world titles (including Flair's) being defended. This is the show Lawler speaks of just prior to the beginning of this match. The idea here was to create a feud between Flair and Lawler that was originally supposed to last through most of 1983... and involving a variety of the other top NWA stars. The plan was to have Lawler beat Flair at a big show in November (probably the traditional Thanksgiving show), but Harley Race began playing politics. Two weeks after this match, Jerry showed up on Georgia Championship Wrestling's Saturday evening show calling Flair out. This went on for a few more weeks, but came to a sudden stop due to Race's politicking. Lawler and CWA owner Jerry Jarrett felt slighted by this and left the NWA in 1984 to join up with the AWA.
I put this on my Top 100 Wrestling Matches of All-Time op-ed I'm currently working on for BodyslamNet. The way this is done is so brilliant. I grew up in this territory: An hour each direction East and West from Louisville and Evansville, both Memphis hotbeds so it's important to me. Flair comes out as a Babyface and, passive-aggressive like puts over the territory. Then the mic work with him and Lawler he starts to really bleed Heel. No decisive winner as it ends in a draw, so then we get the full Heel turn demanding 5 more minutes because, in his mind, he can beat this TN hillbilly. It told a story. That is what it did. Fucking beautifully done.
The best part is Flair working the crowd, yelling "He gave up, Didn't He???? Didn't he give up????" I noticed Charlotte Flair a couple weeks ago talking trash to the audience in a similar way, I hope he teaches her everything he can.
Eric Taylor Oh yes. That is the sweet, dripping irony of the whole angle. Man they should have continued that program. They would have pushed and pulled the best out of each other. I guess it all worked out anyway for them.
Pretty much everything Hulk did was done by somebody else first. The way he talked, the way he looked, and the way he wrestled were done by other people better.
I remember this as a kid! Man Flair was a savage! Dude puts a $10,000 hit out on Lawler on a televised show lol! But Flair learned what everybody else learned wrestling Lawler, you never give Lawler 3 or more consistent punches to the face. That's the formula for "The Strap" being pulled down!
"Let me say one thing baby, for ten thousand dollars he might not even be alive by the time you get back baby. For ten grand? For ten grand? Wooooo!" HAHAHAHAHA.
What a shame this angle never went anywhere... there were so many opportunities. Imagine a who's who of talent coming in for a week or two from around the world to attack Lawler. They could have done remote shoots of Jerry at a grocery store getting mugged.... or the studio parking lot. I know Memphis Wrestling loved "outside the ring" scenarios. Then lead it up to the big Flair/Lawler title match.
Blame Harley Race. This was supposed to be the start of a year-long feud. Lawler even showed up on GCW Saturday Night a couple of times after this calling out Flair and beating jobbers. Then Race played politics and threatened legal action because he'd never been given his rematch after losing to Dusty. That lead to Starrcade coming into existence, but it also lead to the CWA, WCCW, and a couple of other territories leaving the NWA in 1984 and joining up with the AWA.... thus allowing Vince and the WWF to destroy the territories at an even faster rate. Keep in mind, this match took place just 2 weeks after Lawler slapped Kaufman on Letterman... and was suddenly the biggest and most buzz-worthy name in pro wrestling for a few months.
There is something missing from today’s wrestling, this was the way wrestling was meant to be. Good promos, good storytelling, and actual wrestling moves that was based on Greco-Roman wrestling not the craziness of today. I miss the Memphis territory days and remember that when WWE took most of its roster during those days from Memphis and also remember that everyone came through Memphis at some point. Kaufman’s deal wouldn’t have worked anywhere but Memphis.
It's a lot more fun watching these classic matches than it is watching modern wrestling.
so true
Especially the ones you don't know the outcome to cuz you didn't see thim originally. This is entertaining compared to the cartoon characters today.
it was more beleivable and less cartoony and was treated as a legitimate sporting event
For Sure👍🏼
wrestling today SUCKS!!
This segment was better than the last 15 years of wwe combined
No one could sell a move like Flair! His facial expressions of "anguish" were simply hilarious!
Ikr. Nobody but Ric. Lol
Great selling, but I thought Terry Funk was better
However nobody does the figure 4 like
Ric Flair
Woo!
I like how Flare's voice cracks at 3:57.
I loved those delayed face plants and turn buckle flips. His cuts always looked great, too, because of his hair color.
I love how Flair started this all cool and calm and arrogant and ended up totally unhinged... so like life.
hows he the greatest he lost here to lawler in a few minutes
@@grawakendream8980 are you stupid?
No he didn't.
The classic "Im too good for this chump" routine...
This turned real !! Flair snapped 😎
How do I spend my Coronavirus lock down time? Drinking beer and watching vintage wrestling clips, of course.
Most had to work.
Being productive by working and not drinking would be better.
Out of the kindness of his heart, Ric Flair flew his Lear Jet into there and those country bumpkins tried to pull something over on Mr. Cool. Boy, that's some nerve.
An absolute travesty. An outrage.
😂😂
🤣👍
To top it off "lil legs" Flair said it was "my lil' jet". Woo!
Those cibil sexing barefoot Tennessee hicks will never see the day when they get one over on the nature boy, you can believe that!!!
Lance Russell’s “huh” facial expression as Ric blames him for being a part of the “conspiracy” is hilarious!! That’s why Lance was so great!! He could in the most subtle way sell any angle on the show.
The whole segment it’s gold
Ric Flair was the best at going to all the territories back then and really making the "LOCAL HERO" look great almost to the point of losing the title..."THE GOOD OLD DAYS".
please flair wasnt great
Richard Taylor He put more people over than anybody he’s the man Whooo!
who is your greatest
@@richardtaylor5461 no he wasn’t great he was the greatest
"Don't crowd me!" Lol.
Lmao classic
Best part!
Just got done watching all 4 parts and enjoyed the heck out of it. Excellent storytelling and both were absolute masters of their craft. Wrestling like this is a lot art, sadly.
Your absolutely right! I don't even bother to watch the acrobatic crap they call wrestling today. Nothing compares to that time period with Flair, Lawler, Harley Race, Bruiser Brody, the Von Erichs and the Freebirds.
Always Love how this announcer is the voice of reason being surrounded by lunatics.
Yep, the illusion of journalistic integrity in an athletic asylum. ;)
hes a broadcast journalist
Lance Russell was amazing
@@tgbaquamanI used love how Lance would often say when everyone was fighting out front, with chairs, poles or whatever, and say things like, come on guys...can we get someone out here, almost never getting excited, it was great, and now absolutely hilarious 😂.
Wow even without the glitz and glamor that was a good match. Very entertaining. Didn’t expect to watch the whole thing
"All these people have come to see ME. These ladies want to see me strip off this $7000 robe and show them what a real World Champion can do."
Same here, started watching in 1999 but this was still so entertaining. Never seen King and Flair like this
"You think you're talking to some country hick, like this town is made of? " Damn Flair was on point back then with his promos
Ric was the best worlds champ. He traveled to any territory and made the top talent look as if they could beat him.
You know this shit ain't real don't you?
@@DW-nb2zc you didn’t understand his comment
@@DW-nb2zc professional wrestling was the toughest sport in the world back then.
@@jeffeff111 Toughest job in show biz I'll give you And that ain't even close
Unlike that steroid using farce Hogan. Who didn't go to any territories with that cheap looking WWF title.
It's amazing how wrestling went from this to modern day WWE.
Yeah, it's pretty sad what's happened to the state of wrestling these days
These were great/entertaining days of territory wrestling shows. Back then you were able to easily suspend your belief and buy into the feuds and the villains. The TV wrestling bouts were great at getting me to go down to the arena & buy a ringside ticket to support the babyfaces.
ASHAME what Vince McMahon and the WWE has done to make a joke of it all, it's completely unwatchable.
The dangers of having no competition any more.It was a sad day when he won the "war". All wrestling fans lost out.
Amazing and depressing.
Attitude Era
Flair was the GREATEST heavyweight champ. Damn, he could sell!
'You country bumpkins tried to put something over on Mr. Cool, no way brother!'
Lmao. Ikr. Lmao.
Now that, ladies and gentlemen, is what made wrestling great.
Oh, yeah! Kayfabe at it's FINEST
Wooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!
This was better than WWE programming nowadays..
Country Bumpkins...Lmfao!!!!
Ric: "Show me the contract!"
The best heel ever.
Those 78 people at the match had the time of their lives
Lance Link yes they did
Damn, Your Pretty Mike
😂😂🤣
37 I counted them
What's worse is all the thousands of people who go to a wwe event knowing what we know now at least back then it seemed real .Now we know its fake and only the ones who kiss up to the mc mahons get the push .
Hey buddy you shut up an sitdown while im talking priceless 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
I love how Flair would go from cool and calm to irate and rabid in a promo haha
It's so funny how Flair used a check as payment to put a hit on The King😂🤣😂🤣
People say this match wasn’t the greatest, people say that Flair and Lawler weren’t A good combo in the ring. But this is clearly the beginning of what would’ve been a great feud. And It would’ve resulted in classic matches!
Buzz Blackburn I heard Lawler later on say that The Memphis promotion was hesitant to put a house show together with Ric Flair and Lawler because the fans in the studio didn’t seem to enthusiastic. Perhaps they didn’t know Ric Flair. When AWA kingpin Nick Bockwinkel came in to the territory, Lawler and Nick hit it off so well with the fans they drew big houses. Lawler could never draw outside of Memphis. What works in one town does it necessarily work in the other ....
@@VolumedMusicMan Lawler was a big draw in Louisville Gardens (Louisville, Ky) on Tuesday Nights. Was always a big show when he was here.
Back when $5 got you in and $7.50 got ringside seats lol good ol days
yeah it wasnt red hot
I can tell that this match took place in Memphis: NO FLAGS FROM ACROSS THE GLOBE SURROUNDING THE RING.
Ric Flair...simply the best! Some of his routines were repeated, but no one does it better than Ric. Wooooo!!!
Over 40 years later this is still the best times not even close
Ric worked them to built up tv rating...and put over jerry ...the key to wrestling is the draw...
Ric let him win the add on minutes but he was counted out if anything....plus no way it could be sanctioned...perfect set up...
@@RONRIFFLE Jerry was over in Memphis but Ric was the World Champ.. That does a lot for the promotion in general not just Lawler
Ric Flair is such a big man that he went to Memphis, worked this angle, did all of his spots, entertained the people, and put Jerry The King Lawler over ... and in less than 15 minutes! Who else can do that? He’s The Best! (Of course he knew who Jerry was and who he’d become later - helping a brother out and doing the favor!)
The Mid South Coliseum was packed most Monday nights before The Man came to town but Slick Ric is the 1st I can recall to bring the future icons and superstars to the Mid South like Macho Man, Ric Rude, Sting, and Hulk Hogan to name a few
How cool of Ric!?!
Jerry was the King of Memphis but Nature Boy put him over on a bigger stage.
Made for legendary wrestling and a legendary angle!👏
Man! This shit was AWESOME!!!
Only time I ever saw Jimmy Hart almost quiet . lol
Well..... almost!!!!!
Before he was the mouth of the south lol
The funny thing about this is that shortly after this match, Mid-Atlantic started their "Race puts a bounty on Flair" for the NWA World Title which was one of their best programs leading to the Starcade cage match.
Starrcade is the 1st Pay-per-view Event.
This is, honest to god, absolutely amazing.
I’m surprised ric and jerry wrestled so good. I’m used to wwf/wwe. I am actually interested in seeing more matches. All technical no drama (soap opera drama).
wwe is a joke. Old school wrestling was fun.
Lol old skool wrestling was very fun back then. Today the characters are plane jane boring boring boring. Jerry the King Lawler and J.R are the only good thing about wwe. That is if they still even comentate.
As with everything else,old school wrestling is the absolute best.
I grew up in Memphis and was lucky enough to have seen USWA Saturday mornings. I wish I was born earlier tho so I couldve seen this live!
I agree. I rarely if ever watch the WWE. However, I watch these vintage clips over and over and over.
It was I grew up watching it
The good old days of wrestling boy do I miss it
Flair notices the Crowd is too quiet.
Flair: *YOU SHUT YOUR MOUTH WHILE I'M TALKIN'!!*
Crowd: *antifa mode, RARARARARARARA!!!!*
Antifa are little bitches!! Don’t compare regular people with those clowns.
@@sanchovegas6664 well said
Man the TV Audience got a hell of a show that day.
At that time Ric Flair was the face of NWA and he was damn good at it
Now THAT'S wrestling entertainment! If the amazing moves in the ring didn't thrill you, the drama and the controversy did.
Just goes to show you do not have to have all the lights, glam and baby oil to have the action. I was enthralled. Real wrestling entertainment.
Flair was the best showman in and outside the ring.
Such a simple match, but it was entertaining as hell,the whole bit, from beginning to end.
Come on, Jerry! You know you don't win a World Title on a count out! Lol! Way to put a fellow wrestler over Ric! Best ever! Whooooo!
NWA rules at that time allowed for a count-out victory due to the champ voluntarily leaving the ring as a means of transferring the title.
This also happened just a couple of weeks after Lawler got huge press and a massive buzz for slapping Andy Kaufman on Letterman's show. This was planned by the NWA to be a year-long feud in an attempt to rise higher than the already rising WWF. But alas, Harley Race threw a fit and politicized his way to putting it all to an end.
Jesse Mersier
I can’t believe I’m commenting on this back in the territory day’s the N.W.A Championship only changed hands on a pinfall or submission
@@paulsoxl7739 Tell that to the late great Lou Thesz who won the NWA World Title by count out in 1956. The NWA rules clearly state that the NWA World Title COULD change hands by means of count out. The problem here (which Ric points out) is that there was no official contract therefore the title cannot change hands.
@@user-jf4mv1tg3f I can’t tell Lou Thesz anything he’s in the squared circle in the sky. He also lost the title by count out that’s before my time so whatever.
RIC Flair is the real King!!! No one comes close. GOAT!!! Wooooooooooooo!!!
They did the same angle in Florida with Butch Reed. Flair asks for 5 more minutes, Reed pins Flair, and Flair says I never agreed that the title was on the line in the extra time. In the days when you couldnt watch other territories TV, Promotions would use each other's storylines.
OMG, Ric Flair put a hit out on Jerry Lawler, LOLOLOLOL
There was a four horseman promo where one of them told somebody he was going to RAPE him, LOL
The Godfather of wrestling
One of the greatest angles in the history of pro wrestling. All parties involved were A+ !
I love the way he points at Lance as if he has something to do with what
True promo man!
you country bunkins you have got to love it Rick Flair was the man
Lol
Love this type of old school wrestling.
It's the diamond ring wearin, rolex watch wearin, jet flyin, limozine ridin, kiss stealin, wheelin n dealin, son of a gun. The Nature Boy Ric Flair! Wooo!!
Old school is good school
This is a great series of posts. Thank you. Sorry about the young folks who neither get nor appreciate the territorial days.
I remember watching this when I was younger and didn't have cable tv in my area yet and CWA was the only wrestling that we got on the old rabbit ears.
I had never seen Flair before this but I had read about him in the wrestling magazines. It was always exciting to see the new guys come through the territory and go watch the matches at Comenwelth convention center and later Louisville Gardens.
This is a classic before its time .two legends
an unsigned check from the worlds champ is as good as gold daddy take it to the bank woo!
...Flair came in to town- and the ratings went through the roof
"There's only one Big Daddy - Ric Flair!" I guess he'd never heard of Shirley Crabtree.
I know everyone that's older than me is gonna chuckle at this, but dude I have been a wrestling fan forever and I grew up watching WWF/WWE and there is really something about this old wrestling, man. It's so different and honestly feels so much more real. There's no music, no entrance or anything just two men talking smack and then jumping in the ring and competing. No frills and it's really really interesting! Every move seems to have more impact. I guess probably because they had to really sell every move and keep the action grounded so the moves looked believable because people still believed it was real.
How many names do Ric have 😅😅😂😂😂The Big Daddy, The Great One, The Nature Boy, Mr. Cool, Space Mountain, The 60 minute man😎 and my personal favorite The BLACK Scorpion 🦂😂😅😅😅😅. I love how he put out an open contract for Jerry Lawler on national television 😅😅😂😂😂😂😂
this was more entertaining than anything today lol
Better then anything that's been on t.v. for awhile
This is a prime example of how Flair built wrestling. He could have came in ….went ten or so minutes and left. No. He comes in and protects his rep with ten minutes....puts Lawler over with the extra five minutes...… then leaves the promotion with a storyline they could run with for months using the Flair name. Brilliant.
kevin baker yes the eightes was the best time for pro wrestling fans in my opinion
Mine, too.
uhhhhhhh i think its the other way around hogan built wrestling put it on mainstream media mind you most people know the name hogan not many know flair
Richard Taylor Hogan was given his gimmick by the senior McMahon and was given the push in WWF. Flair WAS the Nature Boy on his own and travelled from territory to territory to put over their champion and build their promotion. Any muscle bound athlete with half decent mic skills while the same can not be said about Flairs impact on wrestling across the country while Hogan was a WWF only draw
I really miss this wrestling. I was getting into a match that was almost 20 years old. The wrestlers of today couldn't touch their jockstraps.
This why flair the best he put over lawler with the 5 extra minutes
dare2727 yeah and that’s a shocker considering that flair was just as much as a politician as hogan
This happened two and a half weeks after the Lawler/Andy Kaufman incident on Letterman's show. Due to the buzz of that, the NWA decided to attempt cashing in. The CWA at the time was a NWA territory. Lawler was the NWA Southern Heavyweight Champ at the time, which basically put him in the same echelon of Flair's contenders as Dusty Rhodes (Former NWA World Heavyweight Champ who Ric had won the title from, then NWA Florida Heavyweight Champ), Paul Orndorff (NWA National Heavyweight Champ), Jimmy Valiant (NWA World TV Champ), and David Von Eric (NWA Texas Heavyweight Champ), and Tommy Rich (former NWA World Heavyweight Champ from the year before and then NWA Georgia Heavyweight Champ), and Harley Race (6 time former NWA World Heavyweight Champ who'd lost to Dusty the previous year without a rematch).
So, Flair suddenly shows up in Memphis. The week prior to this, they ran a recorded promo of Flair announcing that he was coming to town. That night, there was a big event which featured over a dozen different regional titles and a few of the world titles (including Flair's) being defended. This is the show Lawler speaks of just prior to the beginning of this match. The idea here was to create a feud between Flair and Lawler that was originally supposed to last through most of 1983... and involving a variety of the other top NWA stars. The plan was to have Lawler beat Flair at a big show in November (probably the traditional Thanksgiving show), but Harley Race began playing politics.
Two weeks after this match, Jerry showed up on Georgia Championship Wrestling's Saturday evening show calling Flair out. This went on for a few more weeks, but came to a sudden stop due to Race's politicking. Lawler and CWA owner Jerry Jarrett felt slighted by this and left the NWA in 1984 to join up with the AWA.
Lawler had already wrestled Jack Brisco and Harley Race multiple times before Flair came to Memphis.
I put this on my Top 100 Wrestling Matches of All-Time op-ed I'm currently working on for BodyslamNet. The way this is done is so brilliant. I grew up in this territory: An hour each direction East and West from Louisville and Evansville, both Memphis hotbeds so it's important to me. Flair comes out as a Babyface and, passive-aggressive like puts over the territory. Then the mic work with him and Lawler he starts to really bleed Heel. No decisive winner as it ends in a draw, so then we get the full Heel turn demanding 5 more minutes because, in his mind, he can beat this TN hillbilly. It told a story. That is what it did. Fucking beautifully done.
all four of these best wrestling show I've watched in awhile
Wow I barely recognized a very young Mouth of the South Jimmy Hart.
Belt don't change on a countout.... dammit! Now You kids get out of my yard!
Ric doing what Ric does best.
Ric Flair should have earned 30 Oscars in his career.
Punch to the face, slap in the chest, hit for the ropes, get out the ring, figure four... all the dirty tricks at play.
"Tried to put something over on Mr. Cool. No way daddy!"
The good ole days, Wooooo!
This was when wrestling the great
The Nature Boy was the Best Heel in
rasslin'!
I remember watching this as a kid. I got grounded for a lot of profanities.
TOTALLY WORTH IT!!!
I don't think Flair ever had a bad promo. He never missed a beat.
The best part is Flair working the crowd, yelling "He gave up, Didn't He???? Didn't he give up????" I noticed Charlotte Flair a couple weeks ago talking trash to the audience in a similar way, I hope he teaches her everything he can.
Flair was a classic champion and Lawler was a great territory babyface. Long live the NWA they wrestle.
Aint it funny how he acts like Memphis is beneath him when in reality he was born here.
Eric Taylor Oh yes. That is the sweet, dripping irony of the whole angle. Man they should have continued that program. They would have pushed and pulled the best out of each other. I guess it all worked out anyway for them.
now kids....do you see?...where "hulking up" came from???????
I saw that 👀
Pretty much everything Hulk did was done by somebody else first. The way he talked, the way he looked, and the way he wrestled were done by other people better.
Exactly.He ripped off just about everybody.Hes a fraud in addition to being the worst wrestler to ever lace up a pair of boots.
@@Emerje1 dumbasses. Hogan made wrestling!
@@erictaylor9481 and you are another dumbass. Flair AND Hogan are two of the greatest wrestlers, EVER!
When wrestling back then was much better than today.
They Always Picked on Poor Lance 😂😂😂😂😂
But Lance got back I forgot who when he left and bought some flour and poured it on some dude's head. Lance is no pushover
the "no contract, no title" was brilliant !
they should use it in wwe.
WWE stinks like Bull Manure
This is about wrestling, ego! who's the best!! brilliant stuff!! todays Wrestling is about?? who's the coolest looking??
" Who's waist is it around" Flair at his best love him or hate him much love to the true American Eagle.
When Pro wrestling was still fun to watch!! What great jobs of selling from both Lawler and Flair!!! WOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
YOU'RE TALKING TO THE WORLD CHAMPION BROTHER!!!
I remember this as a kid! Man Flair was a savage! Dude puts a $10,000 hit out on Lawler on a televised show lol! But Flair learned what everybody else learned wrestling Lawler, you never give Lawler 3 or more consistent punches to the face. That's the formula for "The Strap" being pulled down!
How dare Jerry the burger king Lawler lay hands on the Black Scorpion😂😂😂😂😂😂
Word still out that Jimmie Hart gave the check 10k to Hulk Hogan to manage him.
Thats true
Raw real tv. We can never get that back
@ 7:29 somebody said, "you better not try to cash it"/
stanbrekston yeah I noticed that too
Good ears, guys! Man those were good times.
When Ric Flair was a good guy, boy, was he good! But-when he was bad, he was better!!!!!
"Let me say one thing baby, for ten thousand dollars he might not even be alive by the time you get back baby. For ten grand? For ten grand? Wooooo!" HAHAHAHAHA.
Flair claiming to have millions of dollars and that his cheques are as good as gold 🤣 that didn’t age well.
If it were a real Flair check that thing might have bounced all the way outta Memphis!
What a shame this angle never went anywhere... there were so many opportunities. Imagine a who's who of talent coming in for a week or two from around the world to attack Lawler. They could have done remote shoots of Jerry at a grocery store getting mugged.... or the studio parking lot. I know Memphis Wrestling loved "outside the ring" scenarios. Then lead it up to the big Flair/Lawler title match.
Blame Harley Race. This was supposed to be the start of a year-long feud. Lawler even showed up on GCW Saturday Night a couple of times after this calling out Flair and beating jobbers. Then Race played politics and threatened legal action because he'd never been given his rematch after losing to Dusty. That lead to Starrcade coming into existence, but it also lead to the CWA, WCCW, and a couple of other territories leaving the NWA in 1984 and joining up with the AWA.... thus allowing Vince and the WWF to destroy the territories at an even faster rate.
Keep in mind, this match took place just 2 weeks after Lawler slapped Kaufman on Letterman... and was suddenly the biggest and most buzz-worthy name in pro wrestling for a few months.
Yeah, what a program that would have been! Might’ve changed history, though ...
From calm Ric to chaotic Ric (and for good reason because the NWA World Title COULD change hands by count out). This was very entertaining.
NWA title could NOT change hands by a count out in 1982.
There is something missing from today’s wrestling, this was the way wrestling was meant to be. Good promos, good storytelling, and actual wrestling moves that was based on Greco-Roman wrestling not the craziness of today. I miss the Memphis territory days and remember that when WWE took most of its roster during those days from Memphis and also remember that everyone came through Memphis at some point. Kaufman’s deal wouldn’t have worked anywhere but Memphis.