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Post by Cap on Dec 8, 2017 9:32:14 GMT -5
Ric Flair vs Terry Funk (I Quit - NWA World Championship - WCW - 11/15/1989)
Another classic from Flair and Funk. The match is hurt a little by the fact that it is on TV so they can't juice. Not that matches need blood, but this feud/match probably did at this point. Regardless, this match is incredible. They are frantic in this match, absolutely ape-shit insane stuff. I love how reckless Flair is and it gives this a really different feel. Ultimately I think that is a testament to both men, but it makes for a match that obviously deserves consideration even if I am not 100% sure it makes my list.
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Post by elliott on Dec 8, 2017 18:46:18 GMT -5
Seconded. I need to rewatch this alongside some of the other Funk Brawls to see where it ranks. I've always liked the Bash match more, but also still love this. Strong contender. Not ready to call it a lock, but I haven't watched it in a while.
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Post by stunninggrover on Jan 6, 2018 0:22:50 GMT -5
Great feud. WCW had some really great matches in 1989 and this was definitely one of them. It's a great brawl featuring two veterans who were still one of the top wrestlers in the world at that time. And then there is the memorable line from Jim Ross after the match: "The Japanese have attacked Flair!" I want to re-watch this match at some point to see if it still holds up as an all-time great match. Either way, this deserves to be on the nominees list.
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Post by stunninggrover on Feb 19, 2018 19:37:58 GMT -5
I re-watched it and I still think it's an all-time great match and I think it's one of the best 10 matches of 1989. There's definitely a chance it will be in my top 100 Greatest Matches Ever.
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Post by bossrock on Apr 17, 2018 9:19:52 GMT -5
Not quite as good as the Bash match, but this is still a tremendous brawl. Fired-up, brawling Flair is the best Flair.
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Post by superstarsleeze on Dec 9, 2018 22:07:49 GMT -5
I get why people like the GAB match more. It is more physical, bloody, but I still prefer the I Quit match for the decisive, definitive finish and the bigger, iconic spots. I think nostalgia plays a role for me as this was the first chance I ever got to watch older wrestling thanks to the Ric Flair DVD collection that came out in 2003. Mortal lock for the list with a lot of sentimental value.
NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair vs Terry Funk - Clash of the Champions IX I Quit
I am so glad I watched this at 14. The Ric Flair DVD collection came out in 2003 and never had I wanted something for Christmas so bad. Honest to God, I had a great childhood, but I dont remember one Christmas gift I got before 2003. Thats not an indictment on my childhood that's an indictment on the fact I just dont really care for material things. To me this represented everything I wanted: a chance to finally see everything I had read about. For me, this was my absolute favorite match on the set. I have probably not watched this match in 8 years, but you wouldnt have known because I was calling every spot before it happened and lapping it up with a spoon. Flair jumping on Funk's back by the guardrail gets me everytime. Pumping my fist in the air. Slamming Funk's head into the table and then of course the iconic spot when Funk slides across the table headfirst into the chair. It was a great brawl. Was it missing blood? Sure, but I thought they more than made for it with the intensity and stiffness of their shots. After the first heat segment when Flair goozled Funk, Goddamn! It was on like Donkey Kong! The way he rifled him with chops. Then Funk fell out of the ring before Flair was done with him. Flair gave chase. The look in Flair's eyes, boy, he looked like a Man possessed. Funk was selling like a million bucks for him. Funk was great on offense. Using the thumb in the eye early during one of their scraps on the mat gave him the advantage early. My all-time favorite pro wrestling insult has been and always will be "egg-sucking dog". I have no fucking clue what it means but I pop everytime I hear Funk say it. I love that is a thumb to an eye or a Gary Hart distraction that always get Funk the advantage. The microphone berating from Funk is awesome. Remember the wreck, remember your neck. A chance to say I Quit before the Piledriver and then bang! Piledriver. Flair is such an amazing verbal selling, the greatest of all time. I will say you know what didnt feel as big this go-around was the piledriver on the floor. I think there should have been more pause to add weight to it. Maybe even some Funk mic time. Flair comeback is glorious and just a showcase of what makes him great with all the vim and vigor you expect out of the Nature Boy. I love how when Flair grabs the foot of Funk and begins to drag it to the ropes the entire arena COMES ALIVE! You know you are fucking over when you can just drag a man by his foot and the crowd goes nuts. Funk delays the inevitable but Flair applies the Figure-4 and wins the match!
Fun fact because I have only seen this on my DVD set, I had never seen the post-match! Great post-match. I knew Gary Hart berates Funk, but I never saw him kick Funk in the knee and then Flair jumps Hart. Here comes Muta & Nagaski only for Sting to save. Then Luger comes out tussles with a fan for the chair and waylays the faces. Excellent set up for the ill-fated Ironman tournament at Starrcade 1989. They really screwed the pooch with the double turn. They should have built to Luger as the number heel for at least all of 1990 if not 1991 too and then built to Luger vs Sting in either 1991 and 1992 as Sting's ascent. Luger should have been a money heel champion.
In 2003, this was the greatest match I have ever seen. I dont I hold it in as high regard anymore, but still a mortal lock for the Top 100. I prefer this to the GAB match, which is excellent because this has the more decisive finish. The brawling in the GAB is more physical and bloody, this is more chaotic and with the bigger spots. Five Letters, Two Words, I Quit. *****
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Post by tetsujin on Jun 8, 2021 6:39:52 GMT -5
I love this match, is everything you could have asked for for the finale of this rivalry. Flair's babyface on fire performance was so great, I always wondered how the wrestling world would have been if he was a longtime babyface his whole career, instead of the most iconic heel ever.
What I don't like about this match though, it's how bad structured it is. I think this match needed five more minutes or so dedicated to a vicious legwork and Funk really struggling before quitting. But it's pretty much a chaotic brawl for more than fifteen minutes, then a couple of minutes of legwork, F4 and the end. Terry lost pretty easily, and there was never a moment I thought he was close to win. The climax of the match should have been a bit longer to incorporate more drama and false finishes, to put it at the next level, to me.
Still a great match, maybe the most unique big Flair match, and very fun performances from both masters. A classic.
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Post by puropotsy on Jun 10, 2023 17:18:53 GMT -5
This has such an epic feel to it. A brawl in and out of the ring, similar to the July match, but with tables a little more involved at a time that that was not overdone. This felt legitimately like a battle to the point of exhaustion and Funk put over the figure four like no other, with the microphone placed well for him to say his leg was breaking.
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Post by KB8 on Jun 22, 2023 3:24:45 GMT -5
I watched this after watching Dandy/Morgan, Santo/Brazo, Santo/Parka and Satanico/Chicana over the previous couple days. That could've worked against it, but in the end it didn't really and if that's not a compliment I don't know what is! Any match where you give Funk a live microphone in situ is going to be worthwhile and obviously him raving like a nutcase during this was great. The INTENSITY is what I always remembered and that was still there. Flair's chops might've never looked better and rabid animal having to fight and scratch and claw for his life or title (practically the same thing to the Nature Boy) is the very best Flair. I loved the points where he'd just leap on Funk's back and start punching him in the ear and neck. At one point he grabbed Funk by the throat like a man who'd well and truly had enough and it was very amazing. Funk makes every brawl feel wilder just by his presence and there were so many awesome little moments from him here, where he'd eat a shot and crawl out the ring and land on his head, get back up, sprint back in the ring and go toe to toe again, just to get his chest lit up for the thirteenth time. I remember watching this for the very first time when I was like 16 and it really just felt like a standard sort of brawl with not a lot happening other than punching and chopping and I couldn't understand why it had been hyped up as much, but the spot where Flair chucks Funk across the table and Funk slides face-first into a steel chair stood out to me as being amazing even then. I was young and foolish but also maybe not a TOTAL idiot. I think I'll still vote for this. I had it right around the top 30 last time and even then my memory was sort of sketchy. It probably won't be within 60 spots of that this time, but I'd feel stupid leaving it off completely. "Remember you NECK, Ric?" Well, do you, Ric?
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