The opening feeling out stuff is really good stuff. I really liked the arm wringer exchange a lot, the spot where both guys blocked the suplexes and pretty much everything else that set up the eventual "Flair gets frustrated that he can't win fair" stuff with Flair taking Magnum down by the hair off of wristlocks. They finally come up for the "big spots" and of course Flair goes to the floor after being overwhelmed. This is all textbook Flair stuff but it is really well done. Flair is reeling and on the ropes but comes back with a low blow and then does a double stomp which is a move that I absolutely love in any context. There is a real gear shift here as Flair slows the match down and works really deliberately which makes a lot of sense as every time the pace picks up Magnum gets the upper hand. Flair is also really awesome jawing with fans here a few of whom start throwing shit toward the ring. Flair takes Magnum to the floor and drives his shoulder into the post. Flair goes to the work on the arm and Magnum tries to comeback but Flair yanks him down by the hair. Magnum gets a great nearfall when Flair is distracted by a fan and they go into the shoving ref schtick which leads to Flair getting locked by Magnum in the figure-four. Magnum ends up going for another figure-four after the first one is broken but Flair escapes. Awesome moment as Magnum takes the Dustin Rhodes style missed crossbody bump to the floor allowing Flair to take back over. Flair misses a leg smash and Magnum comes back and Flair reels off his staple bumps. Flair is reeling and Magnum rattles off the nearfalls you would expect at this point in a Flair match. Magnum gets caught coming off the ropes with the double knees on a splash attempt and the crowd lets out a collective gasp. Magnum ends up chucked to the floor and they do a really awesome slow motion sunset flip spot which Flair always excels at. Flair locks on the figure-four dead center. They end up on the floor again and Flair goes to post Magnum but Magnum reverses. Back and fourth, ref bump, belly to belly, no ref, nearfall! Time runs out right on a backslide near fall from Magnum. Very much a touring Flair match, but a really good one.

It' pretty cool to see Flair bring Magnum in as his opponent and they have a great match that goes a 30 minute broadway. Nomination

I know we've all bitched about the inflated rankings for Flair matches from the territories, but fuck if this isn't another one that's likely to do pretty well. As Dylan said, it was a Flair match through and through. They did a really nice job of building from the matwork and stalling early to a finishing stretch that carried serious intensity. I've said it in the various Flair threads of yore, but he was incredible at creating the sense that he was fighting desperately to keep his title. If you were a Portland fan, you had to know Ric wasn't losing the belt to Magnum on some random show in the Northwest, but those people still hung on every spot in the last 10 minutes. I thought it was cool that they worked past the feet-on-the-ropes spot which ended some Flair matches. They actually used Sandy Barr to good effect throughout the match. Magnum should get credit here as well; he delivered the necessary babyface fire. An easy choice for the set.