UnWrest Focus REWIND: Ric Flair and Sting vs. The Great Muta and Terry Funk (WCW Halloween Havoc, 10/28/89)

Welcome to another edition of UnWrest Focus REWIND as we now go back to 1989 to witness a collection of five of the all-time greats locked inside the Thunderdome Steel Cage. The Great Muta teams with Terry Funk to battle "The Nature Boy" Ric Flair and Sting. The Special Guest Referee is none other than one of the all-time great wrestlers in history, Bruno Sammartino. Add to that cornermen Gary Hart and Ole Anderson each carrying towels that can end the match. And this could turn out to be a classic encounter.

Let's Do This

WCW Halloween Havoc '89
10/28/1989
THUNDERDOME Match
Terry Funk and The Great Muta (w/ Gary Hart) vs. Ric Flair and Sting (w/ Ole Anderson)
* The match can only end when either Hart or Anderson throw in the white towel to surrender for their team. *

Muta is the current WCW World TV Champion. Some guy walks backwards behind Muta for some reason. Here comes Terry Funk, who is literally middle-aged and crazy at this time. He comes out to something that sounds like it came from a Clint Eastwood film (Might be from The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly for all I know). Sting and Ric Flair both come out to thunderous ovations. Flair and Ole together. That makes me feel happy to see. Ric Flair is currently a 6-time World Heavyweight Champion.

The cage starts to lower with all the men in it. It takes its good old time coming down, and that actually just adds more drama to the whole thing as the anticipation just continues to mount. The cage is supposedly electrified near the top. Terry climbs the cage and does a split between the cage and the ring. Muta is likewise climbing the cage. There's a legit fire near the top of the cage. MUTA SPRAYS HIS MIST AT THE FIRE AND PUTS IT OUT!!! HAHAHA! That's awesome!!!

The bell rings. Flair and Funk start us off here. Chops by Flair. Small cool moment here. All four get in the ring. Muta grabs Bruno's shirt, and Bruno pushes off Muta with a shove. Subtle, but cool storytelling in that one little moment. Funk and Flair go back at it. Funk gets slammed over the top to the floor. The cage is about 3 feet off of the cage. Flair tags in Sting who goes after Funk. Sting puts Funk's head into the bars of the cage. Sting and Flair double team Funk. Flair continues to just absolutely run Funk into the ground. Muta gets some too. Muta goes after Flair. Sting and Flair team up on Muta. More attacks to Funk.
(This is a very solid match early on here with Funk doing a lot of great selling early on for both Flair and Sting. Both Flair and Sting continue to push the attack on Funk early on, adding to the sense of urgency that being in a match like this SHOULD in theory cause a person to feel.)
Muta and Sting are in now, and THEY'RE GOING AT IT!!!! MUTA gets pressed into Funk. Suplex by Sting to Muta. Flair and Muta going at it now. Kneedrop by Flair. Tag to Sting. Frequent tags by the faces. Only 1 by the heels thus far. Muta gets rammed into the cage. Flair and Funk are fighting on the outside of the ring. Funk now goes after Sting from the apron. God. MUTA COULD MOVE. Funk chokes Sting using his foot while standing on the cage. Um... wouldn't that take the pressure off of Sting? This has just deteriorated into a brawl. Flair now hits the cage thanks to Funk. Elbows by the heels on Sting.
Flair and Funk are going at it again. JR calls this a street fight now. He's right. Great bulldog sell by Muta as Sting gives one to Funk as well. Atomic Drop by Flair, Clothesline by Sting on Muta. Funk breaks up the Scorpion Deathlock. Funk chases/sneaks up on Sting going all around ringside. Flair and Funk are now fighting on the walls on the cage. God. Funk falls and ties his legs up on the cage. Muta now climbs the cage. Sting climbs after him. Muta gets shocked on the top trying to reach up. Sparks are flying on the damn cage.
Flair continues to attack Funk. This is insanity! Sting and Muta are back in the ring. Funk and Flair are on the top of the cage. FUNK IS BEING LEVELED WITH CHOPS AS HE HANGS OFF THE TOP OF THE CAGE! NOW FLAIR IS SWINGING IN THE CORNER OF THE CAGE OFF OF A WIRE! Sting presses Muta for a long time before dropping him. Sting and Flair work on Funk while Muta slides under the ring. Now Muta has Flair thrown into the cage. Muta and Flair exchange chops back and forth!
FIGURE FOUR ON MUTA! Sting swings in the corner and dropkicks Funk in the corner of the cage. Poor Terry has been hanging there for the longest time. Muta catches Flair with a kick to the back of the head. Sting misses Terry in the corner of the cage and hits it hard in the lower regions. Reverse Spinning Toe Hold Snaps into a REVERSE STF on Flair by Muta. Funk tries to hog-tie Sting to the cage. Ole is going up to untie Sting. Funk and Muta double-up on Flair. SPIKE PILEDRIVER ON FLAIR! STING'S LOOSE!!! Sting climbs the cage!!!! HE DIVES OFF THE SIDE OF THE CAGE ONTO FUNK IN THE RING! WOW!
Sting is hyped up. He's going after Muta. Muta is up near the top of the cage. Flair and Funk are going at it. Flair is going for the leg of Funk. Sting and Muta are continuing to go at it. Muta and Sting are in the ring again. Spinning back kick to Sting by Muta. Backbreaker to Sting by Muta. Muta saddles the top of the corner. Yikes! FIGURE FOUR BY FLAIR! STING CLIMBS THE TOP OF THE CAGE! FLYING SPLASH ON FUNK! FUNK IS STILL IN THE HOLD! STING GOES BACK UP! HE SPLASHES HIM AGAIN! FUNK IS STUCK! Muta attacks Bruno. BRUNO DECKS MUTA SENDING HIM TO THE FLOOR!!!! Gary Hart gets in the ring with the towel. Ole comes in and decks Hart. The towel goes flying. The towel ends up right next to Bruno. Bruno sees the towel and that Ole still has his! He calls the match!!! Flair and Sting win!!!!

Winners: Ric Flair and Sting
Match Grade: A+. That was an awesome match. These four guys just continued to go at it for 25 odd minutes. There weren't any real down periods in the match either as all four were involved in some sort of action during the match. Funk was the MVP of this match to me as he was continually selling every thing to perfection. All four of these guys though did a tremendous job in this match. This lived up to what a cage match is supposed to be.

For some reason, the replays go on and "War Pigs/Luke's Wall" by Black Sabbath is playing in the background. How did this make it past WWE? HEY OZZY! WANT SOME MONEY?! CALL STAMFORD! Lol.
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That does it for this edition of UnWrest Focus REWIND. Have another match you want me to watch or a classic rivalry you want me to revisit? Let me know in the comments section below or send me a message on Twitter @cdub1898.

Until next time, take care of yourselves. Spread some awesomeness.