UnWrest Focus: Ric Flair vs. Ricky Steamboat- Part I (Chi-Town Rumble 1989)

Welcome to the second edition ever of Focus. For the next few Focus blogs, I am taking a look at one of the greatest trilogies in wrestling history.

Almost 30 years ago, a series of matches stormed the wrestling world. The quality of matches produced continues to be referenced as the greatest series of matches ever produced. Two of wrestling's greatest in-ring performers, Ric Flair and Ricky Steamboat, met 3 times within a 5 month period. And within that time, and in the 30 years since, people debated which of the matches were the best of the three. It became similar to the debate among Star Wars fans about which movie was the best of the original movies or between football fans about which team was the greatest team to win the Super Bowl.

So, let's ask the following questions:
1) Does this series live up to the hype?
2) Does this series hold up 30 years later?
3) Which one of these matches were the best?

Well, those are all questions I am going to attempt to answer. So, for the next several weeks, I'm covering the 1989 series between "The Nature Boy" Ric Flair and Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat. Each entry in this series, I will focus on one individual match. For this edition, I'm starting off with the first match, The Chi-Town Rumble match. In this match, the NWA World Heavyweight Championship is on the line with the champion Flair fighting back the recently returning Steamboat. Flair, the personification of elitism and wealth, facing Steamboat, the family man and mild-mannered hero, in the first of the epic trilogy.

So, without further ado, let's jump on the WWE Network, fire up Chi-Town Rumble 1989, and watch this together.

Let's Do This!!!

NWA World Heavyweight Championship
"Nature Boy" Ric Flair (c) (w/ Hiro Matsuda) vs. Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat 

Prior to the match, we see clips of the feud. Jim Ross and Magnum TA talk about Steamboat's return, which saw Steamboat pin Flair in a tag team match. Flair and Steamboat then have a promo at Clash of the Champions V where Flair tells Steamboat he's nothing. Steamboat rips the clothes off of Flair while fighting him in the ring. He's symbolically stripping away Flair's aura and the elitism of Flair.
Flair comes out with Hiro Matsuda looking only as awesome as he can. And my God, that robe is incredible. Flair looks like $10 million literally. Steamboat is already in the ring apparently. (I think the network edited out his entrance in all likelihood.) Tommy Young (TOMMY YOUNG!) holds up the championship belt. The bell rings!

Tie up. Side headlock by Steamboat. Tackle by Steamboat for a quick 2. Another headlock. Another tackle. Flair drops down, but Steamboat catches him with a headlock. Steamboat gets flipped over, but he lands on his feet. He gets another rollup on Flair for 2, but Flair gets out and wisely goes to the outside for a break.
Flair and Steamboat tie up again. Flair takes Steamboat to the corner. CHOP by Flair, but Steamboat answers back with multiple chops. BACK BODY DROP by Steamboat sending Flair to the lights. Flair begs off, and he catches Steamboat. Chop by Flair, and ANOTHER massive chop by Steamboat sends Flair down. ANother break. Another tie up. Flair with the headlock, transitions to a hammerlock. Steamboat trips up Flair and gets a headlock. Steamboat gets pushed off, goes under Flair, hits a dropkick, and gets the headlock back on. Close pinfall by Steamboat. Flair gets up, but Steamboat climbs up the corner and flips Flair back into the middle of the ring with the headlock still locked in. Both men are in the ropes. Flair gets Steamboat in the corner. Chops exchanged by both men. Flair runs into another massive chop! 2 count. Flair again runs out of the ring.
Flair comes back in the ring. Another tie up. Another headlock by Steamboat. Back in the corner. Flair gets a chop in. Flair now tackles Steamboat down. Flair runs over Steamboat, but Steamboat jumps over Flair and catches him with another vicious chop! Flair goes diving outside. Steamboat goes for a dive off the top, but Tommy Young gets him down.
Flair comes back in. He's signaling for a Test of Strength. Flair tells Steamboat he has no guts. Tie up instead. Flair gets Steamboat back in the corner with another chop and throws him into the corner. But Steamboat jumps off the ropes and over Flair's head, hip tosses Flair high into the air, and nails both a flying head scissors and a dropkick. Another side headlock by Steamboat! (This is incredible so far.) Flair gets Steamboat off of him. CHOP by Flair. Elbow to the head. Chop by Steamboat. Shoulder tackle by Steamboat, but he runs into an elbow by Flair. CHOP by Steamboat, and ANOTHER MASSIVE CHOP SENDS FLAIR FLYING BACK OVER THE TOP ROPE TO THE OUTSIDE!
Flair gets back on the apron, trips up Steamboat, rams his head against the rail, rakes the eyes, and hits a massive chop!!! Another shot to the rail by Flair. Flair gets Steamboat on the apron with an elbow to the face and drags Steamboat back in. Snap Mare. Knee drop to the face by Flair for 1. Another couple covers get 2 counts each. Flair gets Steamboat up for a Double Arm Suplex. Another 1 count. MASSIVE CHOP by Flair. Back in the corner, Flair gets Steamboat with a right hand. MASSIVE CHOP again. Steamboat answers with several of his own. Flair now in the corner getting chopped. Flair gets sent into the corner, flips over, runs the apron, dives off the top rope with a crossbody... BUT STEAMBOAT flips over and covers Flair for a 2.8!
Steamboat goes after Flair in the corner, but he gets caught in an atomic drop! FIGURE FOUR! FLAIR'S GOT HIM! Flair playing up the heel role here with a grab of the ropes behind the referee's back. They've got the crowd going nuts with Steamboat chants. Others are in the crowd with suits and ties on chanting for Flair. Great selling by both men (Steamboat in pain, Flair in desperation to put Steamboat away). Steamboat has been in this move for about 2 minutes. Tommy Young catches Flair grabbing the ropes, and he breaks up the move. Woooo by Flair.
Flair now kicks at Steamboat's standing leg. Chop by Steamboat. Another one. Flair and Steamboat now exchanging chops and punches. Steamboat has the advantage. FLAIR RUNS THE ROPES, DIVES AT STEAMBOAT, AND BOTH MEN GO OVER THE TOP ROPE TO THE OUTSIDE! WOW! Flair chops Steamboat on the outside, but Steamboat retaliates. Flair sends Steamboat into the ringpost. Flair is back in the ring. He catches Steamboat on the apron and sends him back in with a delayed vertical suplex! 3 close 2 counts in a row by Flair. Back suplex by Flair. 2 count with Steamboat barely kicking out. Flair now getting in Young's face about the counts. Backbreaker by Flair. Cover on Steamboat using the ropes, but the referee doesn't see it. He only gets  a few two counts. Flair tells one of the fans at ringside to "Shut up (no fat boy here, unforunately)," but Steamboat catches him with a rollup for a 2. Flair takes Steamboat in the corner and chops him. Flair sends Steamboat in the corner who fails to dive back on Flair from the middle rope.
Another headlock by Flair. Reversals by both men from a cover, bridge up, and a butterfly suplex by Steamboat! 1-2-Flair gets his foot on the rope. Flair gets Steamboat off the ropes, but Steamboat gets Flair with a crucifix pin for a 2. Flair gets back up. Both men are exchanging chops, but Steamboat is getting the advantage. Clothesline out of the corner by Steamboat. Judo Chop to the head of the laying Flair. Flying shoulder tackle by Steamboat now. Steamboat climbs up and nails a flying judo chop!!!!  He's climbing back up. He nails a flying crossbody on Flair, but HE CLIPS YOUNG IN THE PROCESS! No referee!
Flair rolls up Steamboat, holding the tights, but there's no referee for that either. Flair sends Steamboat over the top, but he gets on the apron. Steamboat dives off the top, but he misses the crossbody. Flair goes for the Figure 4, but Steamboat rolls him into a rollup! Here comes referee Teddy Long. 1-2-3!!! Steamboat wins!!!! 23:18 of awesomeness!!!!

Winner: Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat (New NWA World Heavyweight Champion)
Match Grade: A+. Hell yes. This is a classic. They went to war in this with move after move after move. This holds up just as well in 2018 as it did in 1989. This was a masterclass of selling, entertaining the crowd with the story in the ring, and mastery of the craft in general. This is my 4th or 5th time watching this match, and it's just as great as I remembered it being. Folks, if you haven't seen this one, what are you waiting for? It's amazing.

After the match, Ricky Steamboat is getting showered with champagne. He's almost speechless. He says that he is almost shocked himself. He wants to help put the NWA at #1 where it belongs. He also tips his hat to Flair for being a great World Champion. He offers him a rematch.
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So, that does it for this edition of Focus. Next time, I'm going to watch the 2/3 Falls Match from Clash of the Champions between these two legends. As far as the questions I asked earlier, I think this is setting up to be an awesome trip back in memory lane. Hope you join me in the second and third acts of this trilogy.

Until next time, take care of yourselves and spread some awesomeness.