NWA World Heavyweight Title: Ric Flair © vs. Terry Taylor (4/28/85)

 

This is an early match in their series of match that would take place over the next month so there isn’t any hatred yet as there was a handshake between the two before the match. We’ll see how differently this is worked compared to the others. There was some really solid chain wrestling early in this as Flair wasn’t working heel style here but a hybrid of his face work with heel mannerisms. This early part of the match was like Mid-South MUGA and it was pretty damn great but Flair picked up the intensity in mid-match by really heeling it up using hair pulls and the ropes for leverage on moves. The fans in Oklahoma City turned the heat up and Taylor fed off of it for his big comeback using some great punches, which Taylor used as a setup for the old standby Flair match move, the sleeper hold. Taylor then went to work on Flair’s leg to setup his figure-four leglock but first went with a Boston Crab, which was a different move for a Flair match and I think it’s an effective move to use on Flair to weaken him down considering his back problems. Flair soon recovered and there was some more good back and forth action including a great sunset flip sequence with Flair fighting his ass off to get out of it before succumbing. Taylor would soon hit the backslide for a nearfall and a press slam off the top rope for another nearfall before it turned into another slugfest with Taylor knocking Flair over the top rope with a punch. Flair would get the advantage back though going to work on the legs to setup his figure-four as the OKC crowd was cheering hard for Taylor and Flair went for the move at least 5 times but Taylor fought out of it everytime before a great spot where Taylor got his leg caught in the ropes as he tried to enter the ring and Flair just stomped the shit out of him. Taylor was hanging between the ring and the security railing with not much room to spare and it was just a cool looking spot. Taylor kept fighting back though but he made a mistake giving Flair the atomic drop on his injured leg and Flair would soon lock in the figure-four as the OKC crowd went apeshit. Taylor tried and tried to fight out of it but he couldn’t and had to submit giving Flair the CLEAN WIN!!!!, which was quite the rarity.

 

I fuckin loved this match and I may get some shit for this but god dammit I loved this match more than the Superdome match, it was worked very differently and everything just looked better plus there was a clean finish, which for a Flair match is always a plus. First time I’ve used this phrase in this section but a slam dunk DVD selection.

Not only does this match have to go on, but I could see myself voting #1 for it.

 

Incredible match. In the past, I've not really been a fan of the Flair/Taylor series, and I always thought Taylor was solid, but never did anything above very good really. This is making me question that. The Flair/Taylor series was always too slow paced to me when compared to other Flair matches, and really felt like Flair was dumbing himself down so Taylor could keep up. I never got that feeling here at all. The build to the figure four was so good, because there were so many times watching where you thought, "Okay, this is the point where he's finally going to lock it in" and Taylor fought it off again. They really got the move over as a killer here, nice change of pace from Flair using his finisher as a babyface comeback transition. Lots of cool little touches as well, like Flair trying to get too aggressive too soon and getting his suplex attempts blocked, and when Taylor got his leg tangled in the ropes, the result at that point was really a foregone conclusion. Seeing Flair get that protected is refreshing, considering that Watts made him look better than even Crockett in booking, although I have no idea why Taylor was introduced second.

 

Awesome match! Had Taylor come back from the figure four and they worked even more back and forth stuff after that, we'd be looking at a match as good as anything Flair has ever done. Also fun to note that just a few days before this, Flair was in Japan having matches with Jumbo and Choshu, and Flair not looking tired or out of it at all is awesome.

I thought this match was awesome. It was by far my favorite of the 3 that I have seen between the 2. I loved the opening 10 minutes or so. Taylor was great at going after the arm, and Flair was great at feeding it to him, but escaping and allowing Taylor to one up him by ending back up in an arm lock. I was digging the amateur escape and reversals on the mat between the 2. A really neat spot was Flair using Taylor's momentum againt him and tossing him outside. I thought it was neat how Flair kept the ropes open, and then wham nailed him with a chop as soon as he gets back in the ring. I thought Flair's heel schtick was good when he had control. Both guys worked the leg well. That spot where Tayor gets his leg caught in the rope and Flair stomps the shit out of it was brilliant. I thought the guys worked to a great finish. The match just built and built and built; and the crowd was going nuts. Just an awesome match. This is an easy nomination, and probaly a top 10 match.

I was loving this when Flair kicked into full cocksucker mode, I don't think the early matwork was as good as the early matwork in the Houston match, but man Flair brung it. The dismanteling of the knee was about as good as it gets, especially the kicking of the trapped knee in the ropes, which was so brutal looking that I almost wouldn't have bought Taylor breaking the figure four. This is a slam dunk pick.