I liked this. A couple of sloppy moments kept it from a solid nomination. I thought Rotundo was great here. He worked over Flair's back with a nice looking adominal stretch. Some suplexes, and using the apron to work over Flair's back. The tide would turn for a bit. Flair focused on his arm. His arm work was really neat. This happens for a few minutes. Rotundo cuts him off and a really nice exchange in the corner we get a chop/European Forearm Exchange. Flair targets the leg and works it for a bit. He hooks on the Figure 4, but Rotundo makes the ropes. All of this is great. The last couple of minutes dropped the match in my eyes. Still good enough to go forward.

NWA World Heavyweight Title: "Nature Boy" Ric Flair © vs. Mike Rotundo (10/16/89)

These two had some matches in Florida in 1984 but this is a cool matchup for this time period. Rotundo was a buzzsaw early on working over Flair's back which was smart since Flair had his back issues. Flair comes firing back and this turns into quite the competitive match as both men give as good as they take. Flair would eventually get the win and this was a helluva little match here. Low-end nomination.