Ric Flair vs Barry Windham (NWA - 1/20/1987)

1987 was arguably Barry Windham’s best year. Ric Flair was still one of the best workers in the world at that time. The crowd heat was excellent. The match went to a time-limit draw. Flair retained the title. It was one of the best matches from 1987 and I could see this ending up in my top 100.

Coming into this I thought Florida was better, but on rewatch I put this over. It is my US MOTY. This is Flair at his best creating an environment that makes his young challenger look like a credible threat and I thought Windham is one of the better offensive wrestlers Flair faced.

NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair vs Barry Windham - Worldwide 1/20/87

BW had the Nature Boy beat the week previous when the Four Horsemen got involved and saved Flair's title. This is the very famous return match that I watched a ton when I was a teenager because I had the Ric Flair DVD set.

First Twenty Minutes: I am surprised the Florida match is the more heralded match now that I am finally watching them back to back. I thought this one had the better narrative. There are more touchstones like Windham's side headlock and Flair's arm work that gave the action a sense of purpose without losing any the intensity and attrition of the Florida match. Here when Windham outwrestles Flair it is always to get back to that side headlock. Flair tries to chop his way out of trouble and get the party started, but Windham just rallies. He kicks ass and hits a dropkick. Flair has to powder. Windham does a great job of mixing the technical with the fists. I liked that the way Flair was able to take over on Windham was on the outside. He could not best Windham on the inside either via wrestling or striking. He needed the outside and throwing Windham into hard metal objects to take command of the match. That really illustrates that Windham is the better pure wrestler and Flair needed to cheat to get an advantage. At this point, Flair begins his work on the arm and also attacking with some big, meaty chops. I love a strong Flair heat segment. Windham fights back with punches, got to make Flair earn it so Flair trips him with a drop toehold and goes for a half nelson pin with the feet on the ropes. I love the struggle. Each man is making the other work for it. Windham's selling is just as great as in the Florida match. He sold Flair's punch to the face so well, theres a chop he sells with the spit flying out of his mouth as he collapses and as a said in the Florida match theres nobody better at taking the over the top rope bump. He takes a backflip and then hits the railing. These two have some great stand up battles. Windham re-earns control just by punching his way out of trouble and Flair does a great job selling all this with plenty of Flair Flops and just a general sense of being overwhelmed. Flair takes that wicked shoulder first bump into the top turnbuckle. This is when those two great moments of Barry Windham selling happen. Nice hope spot for Big Barry as he floats over on a suplex and hits a lariat for two. Flair hits trademark back suplex which is his setup for the Figure-4. He uses the ropes, but gets caught. I have liked this so far more than the Florida match. It has the elements of Florida I liked the great Windham selling and the fists, but there feels like there is more progression and more structure.

Last Part: I think what Flair is better at than anyone else is creating a sense of drama and tension through little moves. Flair never has long control segments one way or the other. Everything is broken up by little moves. Some people see this chaos as a lack of psychology. I see it as being far more realistic. If someone is kicking your ass, you are going to throw out a short knee or throw out a desperation punch or chop. It forces the opponent to earn their offense. He also makes sure his babyface never dies. How many times have see see a heat segment go on and on? It does not make the babyface look resilient. It makes the heel look like a choke and even worse the match can look credibility. Flair by always calling for hope spots ensures his babyface never dies and that benefits himself and the match overall. Coming out of the Figure-4, Flair is thinking leg, but Windham keeps fighting back and even gets a sunset flip. So Flair tries to further sap his energy with a sleeper but Windham slips out. Flair keeps pressing, but misses a kneedrop and now Windham works on the leg to set up the Figure-4. Flair creates an atmosphere of excitement because of the unpredictability. Windham has taken a lot of punishment but he is clearly very much in this. The last five minutes is a barrage of Windham nearfalls: missile dropkick, lariats, cradles, backslides, vertical suplex, but he cant muster his patented floatover after execution of the move. Ultimately the time limit expires and Windham comes up short.

I liked this a lot even moreso than the Florida match. I thought Flair looked strong and needed to use the outside to gain control. I thought there were plenty of great stand up battles between these two and Windham's selling was great. The finish stretch was very compelling and dramatic as Windham raced against the clock to pin Flair's shoulders to the mat. Definitely a US Match of the Year Contender. *****

Re-watched this after the Crockett Cup match and this totally smokes the Crockett Cup match. I agree with everything I said, but I am upping my rating to the full *****.

Hmm, I def voted for this last time around…