Big Van Vader was the only wrestler that genuinely spooked me as a kid. He'd have you on toast!...... Absolutely massive man that did jaw dropping moves. RIP Leon.
I remember having that feeling as a kid. I'm guessing I'm a little more aged than you at 50,but the wrestler who made me feel that way was Bruiser Brody. Good stuff...
@@InkWarrior those Cactus Jack matches were insane. WCW stopped booking them together because they were worried Foley was going to kill himself in the ring sooner or later.
@@Thor-Orion they never in their wildest dreams would ever think that Foley would throw himself off the top of a 30 foot cage onto a table, survive and cement himself as a wrestling legend.
I actually enjoyed WCW in 1993. Though the wrestling business was down but it was still fun to watch. Lots of great talent like Sting, Flair, Vader, Austin, Pillman, Rhodes, Steamboat, Mero, Sid and Regal. Such a great era in the early 90s if your were kid then.
I don't know why 1993 gets all this hate! I loved 93, one of my favorite years in WCW, so many great Wrestlers and great matches Steamboat/Douglas- Hollywood Blondes, Davey Boy-Vader,Cactus Jack-Vader,Flair- Rude, Steven Regal, Dustin Rhodes, Orndorff, Scorpio, Eaton, Arn....
The Best thing about Wrestling Bios is the coverage of WCW from the 80's and early 90's as as a kid in the UK we never got to see it. I can see why it had its own following and that it stood out a lot better in a lot of ways against WWE bar 93 of course 😂 If I was older back then, I'd definitely see more appeal in their product then Vinces style Great work as usual WB
For some of the videos I was 2 young to see but mostly I just watch this to refresh my memory without having to watch hours of videos lol it's like reading the back of the book
Same, it was so obscure for years but thankfully the WWE Network has so much of it now. Very interesting to see future WWE stars like Foley, Austin, Regal and Dustin Rhodes already putting on good matches. The biggest surprise was Bagwell/Scorpio, I could watch their matches for days.
@B W I remember they had wrestling in the weekends I think it was Saturday night in a small studio type setting. It was kind of dull looking wwf always looked better
@only1icon. Absolutely. It was only when channel 5 would show it from the mid to late 90’s. The problem was the programming and vignettes were completely up the wall and seemed very weirdly spliced together that half the time the stories didn’t make much sense. I’m unsure whether that was channel 5 piecing together but a massive problem was that the programming would run out of time so you could have a main event that would finish half way through. This is covered in here though that programming would go beyond the time which was terrible because that was solely down to the restraints from Ted Turner etc
What makes matches like this so great is the fact that even though the wrestlers know it’s predetermined outcome they make it look like they’re fighting for their lives. It puts the fans on the edge of their seats despite knowing it’s all planned out. When your disbelief is suspended completely magic happens in the ring
I Remember being on the Edge of My Seat watching this Match Live...Everything worked so Smoothly, the Story Telling, the Pacing, the Physicality, and the Reactions from the Crowd..Still one of My Fav Flair Matches.
I'm always amazed when looking back at Vader how a man his size and weight can execute a moonsault so beautifully. This match told a great story in what was to me the weirdest year ever in WCW in 93. I feel WCW in 93 was worse than the WWF in 95.
Ron Garvin, same thing. Main eventer in JCP land, nothing in WWF sadly. At times I feel that WWF just signed talented wrestlers just to make sure they did not compete in any other organizations and became stars that would rival the talent roster that the WWF actually cared about. Just as long as they had Hogan or Bret Hart, Michaels and the Undertaker.
@@per-olofwiktorsson2650 Vince made sure to bury EVERY former WCW/NWA champ except Flair. He dressed Harley up like Burger King, put Dusty in yellow polka dots, made Ronnie Garvin a referee, put a stocking mask on Terry Funk, made Ron Simmons look like the martian from Bugs Bunny, dressed Ricky Steamboat as a lizard, jobbed out Vader and DDP. Vince was and is a petty POS!
@@bcushing I agree with you that’s what I hate about Vince never understood that. To this day I don’t understand why stink even went there that wrestlemania match with Triple H was horrible. Vader should have been WWF champion how to be honest with you I feel like he shouldn’t have lost the title to Rick just wasn’t believable he was so dominate at the time…
Vader looks so funny wearing a suit while still wearing his mask. Wrestling Bios I’ve been a big fan of wrestling since the mid 80’s and I love hearing about backstage stuff and how matches came together so I absolutely love your videos. You’re not only the best wrestling documentary video maker on RUclips but you do a better job than the documentaries shown on the WWE Network since you come from neutral stance where as documentaries made by WWE usually come from the wrestlers & WWE staff themselves who come from a bias point of view. Keep up the amazing work and thank you for taking the time to research and put together the videos as I like so many other people love to watch a Wrestling Bios video
Tears, hard seeing Reid Flair & Mean Gene. Reid, Charlotte & David just getting life started & Gene being a classy presenter as always! Great video some of the best of times!
Top pick for the best Flair for the Gold segment featured The Hollywood Blondes destroying Flair & Arn on the mic. I would bet that Shawn Michaels took some inspiration from Pillman ( R.I.P.) Brian & Steve's delivery was pitch perfect
I have this on VHS! I watched it recently, before going to a AEW event at this same Coliseum (now Bojangles). I remembered watching this after Christmas at age 13. CLASSIC FLAIR!! Wooooo!!
@@raymondtipton7243 They destroyed the old Charlotte Coliseum in '07 yes, but this took place at the old Independence Arena (now Bojangles Coliseum), still kickin.
I always love seeing Vader in a suit and his mask. I just always thought it was a cool combination, considering how the mask did nothing to hide Vader's face.
Van Vader was possibly at one time, over Taker as a "big man". Where Taker had a scary gimmick, he worked. It was obvious, he worked. Whereas Vader was equally athletic, you could tell Vader was "stiff" as hell. He was BELIEVABLE !! Other than Ron Simmons, You knew before the bell rang, Vader fixin' to whip somebody's ASS !!! His physicality was unmatched. God bless Leon and Thank you Sir !!!!
Vader is definitely in my top 5. His run in Japan and WCW was amazing. His run would've been much better had he not have had to work with Hogan and Shawn as they both couldn't handle Vaders stiff style
I like this match a lot, but I also like his loss to Kerry Von Erich, the atmosphere in Texas that day (The David Von Erich tribute show) was phenomenal.
It's good, the best match I've see in person was Flair vs Magnum, title vs title at Spartanburg after TV taping. Flair and Windham was excellent. Windham never got credit for his feud with Flair.
@@Wadzillia Windham is on the short list for most underrated and under appreciated wrestlers ever. So is Tully Blanchard. That Tully-Magnum cage match was exceptional as well.
This build and match were absolutely top shelf. Master class. And seeing the promos back now with David and Ashley is almost eerie. This is easily one of my favorite scenarios involving Flair. The unification match with Sherry and Sting was ace also, if a bit predictable.
The best part of Flair's return (although some hated him in his short babyface runs) was he came back as a babyface and almost a God in WCW after his almost 2 year stay in WWF. It was so different to see him being humble and not cheating in matches. The family build up as part of the storyline here was so well done. They build the match up as David vs Goliath and just added that emotional element that's hard to pull off in wrestling.
This was a great match with a great buildup. One of the few times I was genuinely emotionally invested in an entire wrestling storyline from start to finish. The promo Flair cut before the match on TV was superb and it was genuinely touching when he told the late great Mean Gene Okerlund that he was a very fortunate man through tears.
Love the story of Vader vs Ric flair it was one of the better storylines going on at the time in wrestling. The way they did this story it made me really believe that Vader was going to beat and retire Ric flair at starrcade 1993. That's how invested I was in this storyline
Dude you’re such a pro, and you tell these stories seemingly with ease. When I was first getting back into wrestling i devoured these videos, catching up on the big events I missed and the histories I never knew. What set your channel apart for me was the amount of research you put into each subject. That is still true but you’ve become such a great storyteller and the editing is top notch - I also appreciate the humor you’ve inserted into the RLTW series. Anyway, that just hit me today. Thank you for creating content for us to geek out on. First ballot HOFer right here, folks.
I personally love this era early 90s WCW you see a lot of dudes from The Attitude Era before they become what they do and it's interesting to see and also to know what's to become
I only knew Ric Flair as the dirtiest player in the game before this. I grew up as a WWF fan so he was still dirty there. haha I saw some other shows on video and this was brought to my attention. This is how I found out that he was a master of the wholesome work as well. Felt purer than a lot of the babyface stuff we might see. I enjoy all your videos, but had an even bigger smile when I saw this one. Cheers.
A lot of people say that’s what puts Ric Flair so high on the shortlist for GOAT; his ability to play the baby face nearly as well or just as well as he played the heel, and everyone knows that he is without question of the very best heels of all time. I think Bret Hart, Flair, Hogan (as Hollywood, he was a better heel than Hulkster as a face in my opinion, his baby face Schtick was boring and repetitive in my opinion) Shawn Michaels and Randy Savage are probably the best baby face/heel wrestlers ever. Part of me really wants to throw Scott Hall in there, but when he was a baby face he was basically a tweener, no matter how over he was as a baby face when he was a tweener.
@@S1873 I watched that I quit match so many times on my Ric Flair DVD set that I could hear Gordon Solie and Jim Ross in my head. "Five letters, two words." I read that If anyone questions what made Flair great, they should give a watch to his matches at the first few starrcade events and Clash of the Champions shows. Of course, any promo on Saturday Night wrestling was also worth the watch.
Amazing video. Love this channel so much. Being more into WWF at the time, i missed all this great stuff in WCW so its great to learn about all these old matches and be able to go back and watch them fully. Keep up the excellent work Wrestling Bios. 👏
@Wrestling Bios 00:00 - WCW in 1993 03:07 - Vader’s dominance 04:26 - Ric Flair’s 1993 08:01 - Flair replaces Sid Vicious 09:46 - The build towards Starrcade 1993 12:30 - Flair travels to Starrcade 14:19 - Big Van Vader vs Ric Flair 22:34 - Wrap up The final timestamp was botched in the description.
Awesome video buddy 💯 ... This brought back alot of memories I was kind of in and out of wrestling during 1993 but when the Vader Vs Flair feud happened I was back in and I still have my VHS copy of Starrcade ' 93 to this day 😎
David & Ashley (Charlotte Flair) look really young in this video. Yeah I know it was filmed 28yrs ago but watching old WCW programs on the WWE Network they show David & Ashley several times and even in the late 90’s Ashley still looks young and I can’t believe it’s the same woman who’s gonna have 2 or 3 times the World Championship reigns as her father had
I remember first time I saw him come out with the elephant helmet blowing smoke. Awesome . Also watching him hit a moonsault almost as good as muta. Just amazing what an athlete he was.
I would love for you to review/talk about A Flair For The Gold Talk Show as I don't feel enough people talk about it PLUS I would also love to see you talk about the WCW/NWA/WCW International Heavyweight Title situation as again I feel not many people talk about it
I know RIC said he regretted leaving the WWF in 93 but WCW gave him his place as one of the TOP guys and the 94-99 4horsemen were some of their best years. Vince would have diminished his legacy one job at a time throughout the attitude era.
Flair being so much smaller than Vader. Yet still coming off as believable when he would stand up to him in the promos. That is what made this match so epic!
WCW in 92 and 93 was arguably it's best period of the 90s probably up to mid 94 when Hogan came in and everything was done to accommodate him. Been watching some of it back recently since they have been adding more stuff on the network and been watching it in chronological order with Superstars and the early episodes of Raw. If I had the choice back in the early 90s I probably would have preferred WCW at this period. Also other than Sting vs Hogan in 97 this match was probably the best build to a Starrcade main event of the 90s. It's a shame how the show as a whole was treated as just another PPV with very little importance for the actual show and a card thrown together at the last minute or using random concept formats.
According to certain talent and creative staff involved during Bill Watt's time helming WCW it was less him making mistakes and more him not having the authority to stop other people from screwing with his decisions after the fact
You can literally see the crowd stop breathing when Rick gets on top for the last pen and then they explode on the count of three, amazing performance from both guys
I was there at starrcade 1993 in Charlotte as a kid I will never forget it was so crazy I remember the graffiety coming from the ceiling gold flakes and look up on the catwalk and there was a bunch of people up there with buckets full of gold flakes just pouring them out into the ring it was too he coolest thing I have ever been to so far
Flair worked so well as the sympathetic babyface in this feud. Yes he is an amazing heel and rightfully so is known for this more, but his work as a babyface is very underrated IMO. You could see fans were having a blast cheering him too.
13:17 That's gotta be Charlotte in the middle of that shot, doesn't it? She would have been uh...*looks it up* 7 years old at the time. Heh, who knew at the time they were looking at someone who'd become one of the most decorated women's wrestlers of all time?
that is charlotte. i thought that the little girl was flair's other daughter who doesn't wrestle. young charlotte, for me, looked a bit tall for 7 years old. but, then again, charlotte is tall.
And This Sir … is what made me fall in love with wrestling 🤼♀️… god wrestling was awesome bk then. RIP Vader , one of the baddest Big men in wrestling history. And thank you Rick
There's more to what you said about "Sid attacking Arn with a pair of scissors". It was the other way around, and Sid stab him back in self defense. Both men were injured. The police asked Sid to press charges. Sid declined.
@@jamaalmoses8821 yeah I know I was being sarcastic as I’ve heard the story so many times that’s why I said “they kept that quiet over the years”. But I do appreciate you taking the time to tell me what happened because I might not over heard the story before (if there is a wrestling fan who hasn’t heard the story) and since sarcasm doesn’t translate into text very well you couldn’t tell if I was serious or not
This was a pivot job well done by WCW esp. since they had been taping TV for weeks ahead of time and were well into setting up Sid vs. Vader...excellent recap as always!
This is one of the very, very few WCW PPVs I ever bought. It would've been funny if wrestling had to live by their own rules and Flair had lost this match, making him ineligible to wrestle in any major company in North America.
Big Van Vader was the only wrestler that genuinely spooked me as a kid. He'd have you on toast!...... Absolutely massive man that did jaw dropping moves. RIP Leon.
Papa Shango baby!
Yep, he and Earthquake weren't just huge.. They were huge and AGILE!! Made them scarier!
Great Muta
No doubt, big Leon was the man.
I remember having that feeling as a kid. I'm guessing I'm a little more aged than you at 50,but the wrestler who made me feel that way was Bruiser Brody. Good stuff...
I remember watching this with my mom before she passed. She was jumping up and down when Ric won. Thank you for this walk down memory lane.
Ditto.
🙏❤
Spoiler alert. Thanks assohole
@@1201zj Shut up dude
God Bless
Vader was in a lot of important title changes in WCW before the NWO arrived. This match and especially Ron Simmons title win come to mind.
And the Sting Strap Match.
@@Thor-Orion the cage matches, the Cactus Jack matches, Vader was king heel and Sting the king face carrying WCW.
@@InkWarrior those Cactus Jack matches were insane. WCW stopped booking them together because they were worried Foley was going to kill himself in the ring sooner or later.
@@Thor-Orion they never in their wildest dreams would ever think that Foley would throw himself off the top of a 30 foot cage onto a table, survive and cement himself as a wrestling legend.
91-93 WCW was awesome to me as kid. I watched it more than WWF at the time.
I actually enjoyed WCW in 1993. Though the wrestling business was down but it was still fun to watch. Lots of great talent like Sting, Flair, Vader, Austin, Pillman, Rhodes, Steamboat, Mero, Sid and Regal. Such a great era in the early 90s if your were kid then.
One of the greatest big man wrestlers of all time rest easy Leon White AKA Vader
I don't know why 1993 gets all this hate! I loved 93, one of my favorite years in WCW, so many great Wrestlers and great matches Steamboat/Douglas- Hollywood Blondes, Davey Boy-Vader,Cactus Jack-Vader,Flair- Rude, Steven Regal, Dustin Rhodes, Orndorff, Scorpio, Eaton, Arn....
I agree. Maybe the attitude towards WCW in '93 is because of how monumental '89 and '92 were for the company, and early '94 pre Hogan.
How can anyone not love Flair for The Gold? Without that we don't get the magnificent debut of The Shockmaster!
The Best thing about Wrestling Bios is the coverage of WCW from the 80's and early 90's as as a kid in the UK we never got to see it.
I can see why it had its own following and that it stood out a lot better in a lot of ways against WWE bar 93 of course 😂
If I was older back then, I'd definitely see more appeal in their product then Vinces style
Great work as usual WB
For some of the videos I was 2 young to see but mostly I just watch this to refresh my memory without having to watch hours of videos lol it's like reading the back of the book
Same, it was so obscure for years but thankfully the WWE Network has so much of it now. Very interesting to see future WWE stars like Foley, Austin, Regal and Dustin Rhodes already putting on good matches. The biggest surprise was Bagwell/Scorpio, I could watch their matches for days.
@B W I remember they had wrestling in the weekends I think it was Saturday night in a small studio type setting. It was kind of dull looking wwf always looked better
9pm Friday - Catoon network changed to TNT and we got Nitro.. Also Channel 5 on friday night we got WCW worldwide
@only1icon. Absolutely. It was only when channel 5 would show it from the mid to late 90’s.
The problem was the programming and vignettes were completely up the wall and seemed very weirdly spliced together that half the time the stories didn’t make much sense.
I’m unsure whether that was channel 5 piecing together but a massive problem was that the programming would run out of time so you could have a main event that would finish half way through.
This is covered in here though that programming would go beyond the time which was terrible because that was solely down to the restraints from Ted Turner etc
What makes matches like this so great is the fact that even though the wrestlers know it’s predetermined outcome they make it look like they’re fighting for their lives. It puts the fans on the edge of their seats despite knowing it’s all planned out. When your disbelief is suspended completely magic happens in the ring
I Remember being on the Edge of My Seat watching this Match Live...Everything worked so Smoothly, the Story Telling, the Pacing, the Physicality, and the Reactions from the Crowd..Still one of My Fav Flair Matches.
I didn't see you
I'm always amazed when looking back at Vader how a man his size and weight can execute a moonsault so beautifully. This match told a great story in what was to me the weirdest year ever in WCW in 93. I feel WCW in 93 was worse than the WWF in 95.
He and Bam Bam Bigelow were 2 big guys who fascinated me with their surprising agility
@@jimbo_1312 Facts, Bam Bam had amazing agility. Rest in Peace to him and Leon White aka Vader
Though it wasn't as pretty as Vaders or bam bams but as a kid thought the giants moon sault was wild due to his size
92 was amazing for WCW
Flair’s punches in this match are my favorite ever. It looks like a cowboy punching a bull.
Vader was putting it on him because he wanted to piss him off and it worked!
Ironically, in the AWA, Leon White was "The Baby Bull."
Almost 30 years later Ric Flair is still actively relevant to pro wrestling.
RIP to Mean Gene!
Ric flair is the man
Lol. They were talking about flair retiring in 1993.. wow. He wrestled 25 years after talks of retirement.
He should have, instead he chose to stick around and keep tarnishing his legacy.🙈🙉🙊
This is one of my all time favourites. Being a huge mark for flair I often go back to watch this.
Eric Bischoff--"Whats the matter Sid can't find your scissors?"
Mark Madden--"wow"
Best insider dig EVER!
@Wasp Factory I think you don't understand what inside means lolz
@Wasp Factory meow
@Wasp Factory Thats exactly what makes it a good dig. Sid knew and Bischoff knew he knew. Doesn't matter who else knew.
@Wasp Factory sure jan
Damn Vader going to WWF was a huge mistake for him
Vader dominated WCW from 1990 to 95- Then Shawn Michaels buried Vader in.WWF when he debut in.1996 Vader never won a world title in.WWF
Ron Garvin, same thing. Main eventer in JCP land, nothing in WWF sadly. At times I feel that WWF just signed talented wrestlers just to make sure they did not compete in any other organizations and became stars that would rival the talent roster that the WWF actually cared about. Just as long as they had Hogan or Bret Hart, Michaels and the Undertaker.
@@per-olofwiktorsson2650 Vince made sure to bury EVERY former WCW/NWA champ except Flair. He dressed Harley up like Burger King, put Dusty in yellow polka dots, made Ronnie Garvin a referee, put a stocking mask on Terry Funk, made Ron Simmons look like the martian from Bugs Bunny, dressed Ricky Steamboat as a lizard, jobbed out Vader and DDP. Vince was and is a petty POS!
@@bcushing I agree with you that’s what I hate about Vince never understood that. To this day I don’t understand why stink even went there that wrestlemania match with Triple H was horrible. Vader should have been WWF champion how to be honest with you I feel like he shouldn’t have lost the title to Rick just wasn’t believable he was so dominate at the time…
Hogan buried Vader all of 95 in wcw smh
Underrated Program and Vader is still one of the Best Big Men in Professional Wrestling History in My Humble Opinion … 💯
He still wrestles? He had thar backflip and that was not something you'd normally see from big guys. As a kid i actually liked him alot.
Not underrated you putz....
Vader looks so funny wearing a suit while still wearing his mask. Wrestling Bios I’ve been a big fan of wrestling since the mid 80’s and I love hearing about backstage stuff and how matches came together so I absolutely love your videos. You’re not only the best wrestling documentary video maker on RUclips but you do a better job than the documentaries shown on the WWE Network since you come from neutral stance where as documentaries made by WWE usually come from the wrestlers & WWE staff themselves who come from a bias point of view. Keep up the amazing work and thank you for taking the time to research and put together the videos as I like so many other people love to watch a Wrestling Bios video
Tears, hard seeing Reid Flair & Mean Gene. Reid, Charlotte & David just getting life started & Gene being a classy presenter as always! Great video some of the best of times!
Top pick for the best Flair for the Gold segment featured The Hollywood Blondes destroying Flair & Arn on the mic. I would bet that Shawn Michaels took some inspiration from Pillman ( R.I.P.) Brian & Steve's delivery was pitch perfect
I have this on VHS! I watched it recently, before going to a AEW event at this same Coliseum (now Bojangles). I remembered watching this after Christmas at age 13. CLASSIC FLAIR!! Wooooo!!
They destroyed that coliseum n 2007
@@raymondtipton7243 They destroyed the old Charlotte Coliseum in '07 yes, but this took place at the old Independence Arena (now Bojangles Coliseum), still kickin.
I always love seeing Vader in a suit and his mask. I just always thought it was a cool combination, considering how the mask did nothing to hide Vader's face.
It was a kind of ‘we have to muzzle this beast’
Van Vader was possibly at one time, over Taker as a "big man". Where Taker had a scary gimmick, he worked. It was obvious, he worked. Whereas Vader was equally athletic, you could tell Vader was "stiff" as hell. He was BELIEVABLE !! Other than Ron Simmons, You knew before the bell rang, Vader fixin' to whip somebody's ASS !!! His physicality was unmatched. God bless Leon and Thank you Sir !!!!
Vader is definitely in my top 5. His run in Japan and WCW was amazing. His run would've been much better had he not have had to work with Hogan and Shawn as they both couldn't handle Vaders stiff style
Classic match. Loved the Stinger & especially Steamboat with the congrats afterward.
This is probably my favourite Flair match as it’s not the cookie-cutter BS he usually does every night.
I like this match a lot, but I also like his loss to Kerry Von Erich, the atmosphere in Texas that day (The David Von Erich tribute show) was phenomenal.
And of course, the Steamboat Trilogy and the Macho Man Randy Savage-Nature Boy Ric Flair world title Wrestlemania match.
It's good, the best match I've see in person was Flair vs Magnum, title vs title at Spartanburg after TV taping. Flair and Windham was excellent. Windham never got credit for his feud with Flair.
@@Wadzillia Windham is on the short list for most underrated and under appreciated wrestlers ever. So is Tully Blanchard. That Tully-Magnum cage match was exceptional as well.
@@Thor-Orion BW was excellent!
Another masterpiece from Wrestling Bios.
I'd love to see a video of the Flair-Steamboat rivalry.
I don't know why but videos about vader's wcw run always fascinate me
Because they book him right
This build and match were absolutely top shelf. Master class. And seeing the promos back now with David and Ashley is almost eerie.
This is easily one of my favorite scenarios involving Flair. The unification match with Sherry and Sting was ace also, if a bit predictable.
Thank you again for doing these. When I here the music for these I know exactly what channel RUclips brought me to next!
I never watched any WCW as a kid but I’m hooked on this series. Knew nothing of the Flair vs Vader match. Brilliant old school booking.
The best part of Flair's return (although some hated him in his short babyface runs) was he came back as a babyface and almost a God in WCW after his almost 2 year stay in WWF. It was so different to see him being humble and not cheating in matches. The family build up as part of the storyline here was so well done. They build the match up as David vs Goliath and just added that emotional element that's hard to pull off in wrestling.
Vader legitimately terrified me as a little kid.
Same.
Hunting down matches is becoming a daily motion for me. Thanks for all the great hints.
This story really reminds me of the Rocky movies, great underdog story Flair and Vader told!
Yeah, an "underdog story" is just one of those things that always works in wrestling, if it's done well, of course.
This was a great match with a great buildup. One of the few times I was genuinely emotionally invested in an entire wrestling storyline from start to finish. The promo Flair cut before the match on TV was superb and it was genuinely touching when he told the late great Mean Gene Okerlund that he was a very fortunate man through tears.
im back form school i got my cozys on and now its time to watch a awesome wresting bios video
Love the story of Vader vs Ric flair it was one of the better storylines going on at the time in wrestling. The way they did this story it made me really believe that Vader was going to beat and retire Ric flair at starrcade 1993. That's how invested I was in this storyline
Dude you’re such a pro, and you tell these stories seemingly with ease. When I was first getting back into wrestling i devoured these videos, catching up on the big events I missed and the histories I never knew.
What set your channel apart for me was the amount of research you put into each subject. That is still true but you’ve become such a great storyteller and the editing is top notch - I also appreciate the humor you’ve inserted into the RLTW series. Anyway, that just hit me today. Thank you for creating content for us to geek out on. First ballot HOFer right here, folks.
I personally love this era early 90s WCW you see a lot of dudes from The Attitude Era before they become what they do and it's interesting to see and also to know what's to become
It may have been thrown together at the last minute, but Vader-Flair at Starrcade '93 remains a LONGTIME favorite.
I only knew Ric Flair as the dirtiest player in the game before this. I grew up as a WWF fan so he was still dirty there. haha I saw some other shows on video and this was brought to my attention. This is how I found out that he was a master of the wholesome work as well. Felt purer than a lot of the babyface stuff we might see. I enjoy all your videos, but had an even bigger smile when I saw this one. Cheers.
A lot of people say that’s what puts Ric Flair so high on the shortlist for GOAT; his ability to play the baby face nearly as well or just as well as he played the heel, and everyone knows that he is without question of the very best heels of all time. I think Bret Hart, Flair, Hogan (as Hollywood, he was a better heel than Hulkster as a face in my opinion, his baby face Schtick was boring and repetitive in my opinion) Shawn Michaels and Randy Savage are probably the best baby face/heel wrestlers ever. Part of me really wants to throw Scott Hall in there, but when he was a baby face he was basically a tweener, no matter how over he was as a baby face when he was a tweener.
Anyone who doubts Ric’s place on the Mt Rushmore of wrestling need only watch this and his “I quit” with Funk.
@@S1873 I watched that I quit match so many times on my Ric Flair DVD set that I could hear Gordon Solie and Jim Ross in my head. "Five letters, two words." I read that If anyone questions what made Flair great, they should give a watch to his matches at the first few starrcade events and Clash of the Champions shows. Of course, any promo on Saturday Night wrestling was also worth the watch.
Another legend that vince destroyed. RIP vader
The Kliq had a huge amount to do with it.
@@Thor-Orion Shawn wasn’t the only guy in the locker room who complained about Vader, there were others including Bret.
Vince is getting his right now...all the people he destroyed....CM Punk is destroying him through AEW
Amazing video. Love this channel so much. Being more into WWF at the time, i missed all this great stuff in WCW so its great to learn about all these old matches and be able to go back and watch them fully. Keep up the excellent work Wrestling Bios. 👏
THIS FEUD MEANT ALOT TO ME AS A KID back in 1993 SO THANK YOU 🙏 THANK YOU 🙏
10:47 OK, I think that is the most "badass" anyone has ever looked wearing a suit! lol
Best Wrestling channel! And always puttin out the goods!
Ric Flair was & still is the man, I've watched him since I was around 10 years old, 1978 & on.
@Wrestling Bios
00:00 - WCW in 1993
03:07 - Vader’s dominance
04:26 - Ric Flair’s 1993
08:01 - Flair replaces Sid Vicious
09:46 - The build towards Starrcade 1993
12:30 - Flair travels to Starrcade
14:19 - Big Van Vader vs Ric Flair
22:34 - Wrap up
The final timestamp was botched in the description.
Thank u for making this video, took me back years this was awesome when i watched it first time round
This match in my opinion was Flair’s last at top level.
One of the best matches ever! This one had it all. I was there!
Awesome video buddy 💯 ... This brought back alot of memories I was kind of in and out of wrestling during 1993 but when the Vader Vs Flair feud happened I was back in and I still have my VHS copy of Starrcade ' 93 to this day 😎
Love old school WCW and NWA content. Keep em coming. PS: seeing Vader wearing a suit but still having his mask on is very funny to me
Another great episode on wrestling bios, I've told so many ppl about wrestling bios.
Vader was at his best during his runs in Japan(NJPW/All Japan) and WCW,his WWF run was a disaster.Dude was a beast back in the day....
David & Ashley (Charlotte Flair) look really young in this video. Yeah I know it was filmed 28yrs ago but watching old WCW programs on the WWE Network they show David & Ashley several times and even in the late 90’s Ashley still looks young and I can’t believe it’s the same woman who’s gonna have 2 or 3 times the World Championship reigns as her father had
Another awesome upload from the greatest wrestling channel on the net
I've never heard of this match. I was very emotional by the end of your video. Thanks, WB!
Always a fan of Slick Rick! Thanks for the video!
I would have loved to see Vader vs. Lesner. OMG what a match that would be.
Vader vs Brody.😉
I remember first time I saw him come out with the elephant helmet blowing smoke. Awesome . Also watching him hit a moonsault almost as good as muta. Just amazing what an athlete he was.
I remember that mask omg that was amazing
12:33-that’s Conrad Thompson between Tony and jesse
Idk it that’s Conrad but it definitely could be the guy Conrad ate
@@jeyDsixx18 lol savage!
great choice for soundtrack (you built it up extremely well)
Great Video this is one of my favourite WCW matches
Love the content thank you again you are definitely a highlight of my week.
People give 1995 a lot of grief, but I feel 93 was even worse. At least ECW was getting hot in 95, you didn't get that option two years earlier.
Great work, as always.
One of my absolute favorite content creators!
Dude, your docs are the best. Much success to you.
Vader was great
I would love for you to review/talk about A Flair For The Gold Talk Show as I don't feel enough people talk about it PLUS I would also love to see you talk about the WCW/NWA/WCW International Heavyweight Title situation as again I feel not many people talk about it
The Hollywood Blonde’s spoof of it was HILARIOUS.
Flair for the gold gave us the amazing Shockmaster debut
I know RIC said he regretted leaving the WWF in 93 but WCW gave him his place as one of the TOP guys and the 94-99 4horsemen were some of their best years.
Vince would have diminished his legacy one job at a time throughout the attitude era.
thank god a new video...im gonna run out and i rewatched white castle of fear twice...STINGER!!!
You're a great storyteller! Thank you, man🍻🍻🍻
Flair being so much smaller than Vader. Yet still coming off as believable when he would stand up to him in the promos. That is what made this match so epic!
Once again, wonderful video , thank you for the great content
WCW in 92 and 93 was arguably it's best period of the 90s probably up to mid 94 when Hogan came in and everything was done to accommodate him. Been watching some of it back recently since they have been adding more stuff on the network and been watching it in chronological order with Superstars and the early episodes of Raw. If I had the choice back in the early 90s I probably would have preferred WCW at this period. Also other than Sting vs Hogan in 97 this match was probably the best build to a Starrcade main event of the 90s. It's a shame how the show as a whole was treated as just another PPV with very little importance for the actual show and a card thrown together at the last minute or using random concept formats.
Was Flair for the Gold where Shockmaster debuet? :D
LARRY YOU ARE DRINKING AGAIN...but yes.
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 👍🏿 That Damn Larry! You is hilarious 😂
Edited: I enjoy the hell out your sports games segments! Great Stuff 👍🏿
Oh yes lololol
Yes it was! Lol
According to certain talent and creative staff involved during Bill Watt's time helming WCW it was less him making mistakes and more him not having the authority to stop other people from screwing with his decisions after the fact
You can literally see the crowd stop breathing when Rick gets on top for the last pen and then they explode on the count of three, amazing performance from both guys
I was there at starrcade 1993 in Charlotte as a kid I will never forget it was so crazy I remember the graffiety coming from the ceiling gold flakes and look up on the catwalk and there was a bunch of people up there with buckets full of gold flakes just pouring them out into the ring it was too he coolest thing I have ever been to so far
Flair worked so well as the sympathetic babyface in this feud. Yes he is an amazing heel and rightfully so is known for this more, but his work as a babyface is very underrated IMO. You could see fans were having a blast cheering him too.
13:17 That's gotta be Charlotte in the middle of that shot, doesn't it? She would have been uh...*looks it up* 7 years old at the time. Heh, who knew at the time they were looking at someone who'd become one of the most decorated women's wrestlers of all time?
I noticed that too
@@jamessaliturewizard5694 I noticed David too, but that was easy, lol
that is charlotte. i thought that the little girl was flair's other daughter who doesn't wrestle. young charlotte, for me, looked a bit tall for 7 years old. but, then again, charlotte is tall.
Here we *GO*
International World Heavyweight Title is the most redundant name
And This Sir … is what made me fall in love with wrestling 🤼♀️… god wrestling was awesome bk then. RIP Vader , one of the baddest Big men in wrestling history. And thank you Rick
Ah yes another day another excellent video from wrestling bios time to sit down and listen lads
Vader vs Brock Lesnar would've been epic!
There's more to what you said about "Sid attacking Arn with a pair of scissors". It was the other way around, and Sid stab him back in self defense. Both men were injured. The police asked Sid to press charges. Sid declined.
Is this the match Vader talked about in his shoot interview where he said RIC FLAIR would tell people he “PUFFED” Vader’s eye?
Yep. The exact one
When Flair became world champion every match was the same EXPECT for this one. Vader was one of the greatest big me ever@!!!!
I totally disagree Steamboat, Harley, Dusty, Sting, Garvin, and Von Erich styles were totally different.
I wanna see Vader fight Kimbo slice..
Unfortunately, we won't ever see it. Their in heaven wrecking the place. Lol..
Love your channel I’m really learning alot
Sid attacked Arn Anderson with a pair of scissors on a European tour! Well they kept that very quiet over the years 😱✂️
Arn started it,according to eye witnesses.Sid dissed Flair on and AA had the scissors first.
@@jamaalmoses8821 yeah I know I was being sarcastic as I’ve heard the story so many times that’s why I said “they kept that quiet over the years”. But I do appreciate you taking the time to tell me what happened because I might not over heard the story before (if there is a wrestling fan who hasn’t heard the story) and since sarcasm doesn’t translate into text very well you couldn’t tell if I was serious or not
This was a pivot job well done by WCW esp. since they had been taping TV for weeks ahead of time and were well into setting up Sid vs. Vader...excellent recap as always!
Vader…grossly underrated in my humble opinion. RIP legend!
This is one of the very, very few WCW PPVs I ever bought. It would've been funny if wrestling had to live by their own rules and Flair had lost this match, making him ineligible to wrestle in any major company in North America.
My friend and I watched this PPV. This match was indeed great. Definitely one of Flairs greatest.
VADER - vs - VICIOUS: Who is the man that will rule the world!