Posted February 7, 200817 yr comment_5427919 Ric Flair vs. Rick Martel (10/21/85) (NWA Title vs. AWA Title) (38:33) - This will be a nomination for historical impact alone. Not the best Flair match or Martel match that I have ever seen. Still, both guys keep the match moving and do enough to keep things intriguing. Flair does his classic stooging and bumping while allowing Martel to shine. The biggest disappointment is that Flair didn’t show his dirty side. I don’t know if that was because he was in Japan or what. As the match [progresses, this becomes a story of Martel desparately trying to put Flair away but never able to close the deal. Late in the match, Flair gets busted open and I love how Martel just attacks the cut. Nothing real stiff or vicious but the spirit is there. I think I would nominate this even without the historic title vs. title tag placed next to it. Good stuff from both guys. (AJC 119)
December 3, 200915 yr comment_5446126 The first 10 minutes were pretty boring, though I get that they were going for an evenly matched, feeling out vibe. But they did a nice job of gradually building the pace and intensity, and the last 10 minutes, with Flair bleeding and Martel desperately trying to finish him, were plenty good. I'll second the nomination, though it probably won't do that well on my ballot.
September 5, 201015 yr comment_5455355 NWA World Heavyweight Title vs. AWA World Heavyweight Title: "Nature Boy" Ric Flair © vs. Rick Martel (10/21/85) This is a very historic match that you know won't have a real finish going in but it's so cool watching a "unification match." This starts as a total scientific match with both men keeping it fairly clean. I loved Martel's diving headscissors takedowns as I'm a mark for that spot and he did them as good as anyone. Flair was awesome here being a chickenshit yet aggressive heel on offense while Martel was just as awesome as the fiery babyface which he did as good as anyone. Martel getting the figure-four first was a great touch with Flair selling like a motherfucker then Flair following up with his own while still selling Martel's was great. Everything that followed was just great high-end wrestling with both men especially Martel wanting this win so bad as he wanted to prove to everyone and himself that he was the best of the world champions. Flair then juiced as Martel went to work on the cut giving him even more confidence leading to a very hot stretch run with the crowd going nuts before the obvious double countout finish. This was just great stuff and a slam dunk nomination.
