On the latest episode of The Ric Flair Show, The Nature Boy spent some time talking about the worst matches he’s ever had, which involved a fellow Hall of Famer, the late Ultimate Warror. The Warrior was never known for being a technical wizard or warhorse, but a pair of house shows against the 90s icon left a lasting impact on Flair.
“I’m wrestling the Warrior in Winnipeg [Canada], right? I’m the champion. And the match, Mike, probably, the second worst match I ever had in my life. The first being when I wrestled The Warrior in Phoenix [Arizona] and he dropped me on my head. Okay? So I come back from the ring. I knew the match just was absolutely brutal. And Pat Patterson goes to me, ‘that was the worst f–king match I’ve ever seen in my life’. And I said, ‘you’re telling me, motherf–ker? I was in it!'”
“It was absolutely terrible. I just couldn’t have a match with him.”
But that isn’t where the story ends. Flair famously dropped the WWE Championship to Bret Hart at a house show in Saskatoon in 1992 — Hart’s first world title reign. Unfortunately, Flair believes that match didn’t live up to his personal expectations for it … all because he was still feeling the effects of his Phoenix match against the Warrior.
“Well, going back to what I had said before, I was wresting The Warrior two nights before that and he dropped me on my head in Phoenix. And I got that inner ear problem where I lost balance. And I never was capable of giving Bret nearly the match he deserved that night. I literally lost my balance and I just hobbled through the match. And he actually carried me because every time I went down, my equilibrium was gone and I couldn’t get back up fast enough to feed him. Do you know what I mean because I fell down and it took me awhile to get used to it.
“I did the best I could. It wasn’t nearly the match that it should have been. I wish I could have given him a better match because he won the world title and he deserved to get it, so that’s how it started. And I had that darn inner ear thing and it didn’t go away for six months. I wish I could have given Bret a better match. We certainly had some good ones after I got well and he was champion and I was chasing him. It was fun. It did real well.”
No one has a longer memory than an aggrieved pro wrestler. On the other hand, you probably have a pretty good memory of people who have dropped you on your head, and where and when. Would that Hart vs. Flair match have become a legendary bout that fans still talk about today? I guess we’ll never know.
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