Ric Flair vs. Ricky Steamboat (JCP - 11/19/1978)

I felt that this was too clipped to rate but not going to deny anyone that there is enough footage to get a good handle on the match. I agree this is very different from the workrate-Heavy 84, 89 and 94 series. This feels like a blood feud and I thought both men brought it.

NWA United States Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair vs Ricky Steamboat - JCP November 1978

I am telling you the greatest match of all time happened in the Carolinas somewhere in 1978 when Ric Flair and Ricky Steamboat went at it, but we just dont have it on tape. We have twenty minutes of great Flair vs Steamboat action here, but it is hard to assess how great the match is with so much missing. This coming off the heels of the red hot angle where Flair rubbed Steamboat's face in concrete. I believe as a shoot they roughed up Steamboat's face with sandpaper. It does not look like make up. That is some nasty cuts and bruising. We are JIP to Flair's trademark work in the corner sans Chop. You heard me right, I didnt see any chopping from the Nature Boy. It was odd to say the least. he has a very underrated punch and that was on display. Nice shots to the bad eye. Gotta sting. Steamboat fires back, but the ref stops him from going full bore. Flair butts him in the abdomen. Flair does a nice job working the eye with kneedrops and boot scrapes and also working the ribs. Steamboat misses an elbow and Flair works the arm too. This is a very heavy handed, varied Flair heat segment. Not as much bump 'n' run, workrate more just beat his opponent down. I like Steamboat just lunging at him with a choke. Flair fends him off. At one point, the camera becomes fixed at a certain spot and they are fighting off camera, but there is some hot chick in the front row fidgeting with her bra so an extra 1/4* for that, brutha. Kudos she was also wicked into this match. We cut to a figure-4 and then cut out of it. Flair hits a nice delayed vertical after a short burst of offense from The Dragon. Steamboat hits a big time dropkick that whips the crowd into a frenzy as Flair takes one of his big time bumps. Flair tries to quell the rally with an atomic drop, but that is blocked and Steamboat hits a back suplex. Then it is all Steamboat. He chops Flair so many times in the head that busts him open. The crowd is going crazy as is Steamboat with bloodlust working over the cut with chops and biting the cut. Steamboat looks like a man possessed with between the nasty injury on his face and Flair's blood all over his mouth. Steamboat misses his big splash and seems to hurt his knee. This seems like the prelude to the Figure-4, but the match cuts again and we miss that section. We cut to Steamboat making his final comeback lunging at Flair, overpowering the Nature Boy biting at the cut. He gets two big nearfalls off a top rope chop and a delayed vertical suplex. Big pops. It is confusing. It seems the time is either running out or has run. He is trying desperately to stop Flair from leaving by yanking down his tights as Flair is scampering on his hands and knees. This is great ribald comedy as the cop is grinning ear to ear and the fans are going nuts. Flair breaks free and absconds with his US Championship.

Cant rate with all the clipping, but what we saw was less of a workrate match, which is what these two are known for, but rather a match based on hot injury angle and lots of heat by Flair to set up the comeback. The two comebacks we see from Steamboat are the best two best I have ever seen from him. They are heated and violent. The image with Flair's blood all over his mouth is gnarly. The finish is a bit confusing like I said. Definitely worth a watch as it is pretty different from the other Flair vs Steamboat matches.