Diamonds Are Forever: Great Feud #2

Feud #2: Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat One of the most amazing things about Flair and Steamboat’s feud is that it spanned three decades. Flair and Steamboat headlined shows in the Carolinas throughout the late 1970s. Flair and Steamboat headlined pay-per-views in 1989. Flair and Steamboat wrestled a series of matches underneath some forgotten shows in 1994.

Out of thirty years of matches, one stands out as coup de grace of the series. Flair vs. Steamboat from 1989 may be the greatest series of matches in pro wrestling history. The two had several unforgettable confrontations both in and out of the ring. On February 20,1989 in Chicago, Steamboat pinned Flair to win the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. This prompted a series of rematches, where Steamboat was presented as a "family man" (often accompanied by his wife and young son), while Flair opposed him as an immoral, fast-living "ladies man." Following a best-of-three falls match with Steamboat that lasted just short of the sixty-minute time limit (and ended with a disputed finish where Steamboat retained the title) at Clash of the Champions VI: Ragin' Cajun on April 2, 1989, Flair regained the title from Steamboat on May 7 at Wrestle War '89. This match has been cited by many as one of the greatest wrestling matches in history and was voted 1989's "Match of the Year" by Pro Wrestling Illustrated.

While this run seemed to be the feud’s pinnacle, the rivalry’s roots go back much further. The N

ature Boy and the Dragon also feuded over the NWA US and Tag Team Championships in the late '70s.When Steamboat was brought into Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling he became a spectacular performer who showed Bruce Lee-like fire, and quickly became one of the territory's most popular performers. Matching him with his brash young counterpart, Ric Flair, was a natural fit. Steamboat stepped up to the plate during an interview on the syndicated Mid Atlantic Championship Wrestling when Flair, the then-Mid-Atlantic television champion, began goading the youngster. Steamboat knocked Flair out with a backhand chop to set up a match between the two. Steamboat's star making performance came when he pinned Flair after a double thrust off the top rope to win the Mid-Atlantic TV title at WRAL studios in Raleigh, North Carolina. Flair and Steamboat would face each other in many matches in the years 1978, 1984, and 1989. There were a couple of memorable out of the ring confrontations between the two that Mid-Atlantic and NWA fans still talk about to this day: 1) The day Flair dragged Steamboat's face around the television studio, causing facial scarring; 2) Steamboat retaliating the following week by ripping Flair's expensive suit to shreds.

The Ultimate Ric Flair Collection (Extras - Part 6)
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Steamboat rips Flair apart at the Clash of Champions...

Fastforwarding a bit to the ‘90s, the rivalry would resume. The two legendary warriors battled it out over the world title, resulting in a match Spring Stampede ’94 where the title was briefly held up due to both men's shoulders being pinned at the same time. They had a rem

atch shortly afterwards on WCW Saturday Night where Flair would defeat Steamboat to reclaim possession of the title. Their final singles match was on WCW Main Event in July 1994 which ended on a disqualification when Steve Austin interfered. Steamboat and Flair's last encounter was in a tag team match on WCW Saturday Night where Steamboat teamed with Sting against Ric Flair and Steve Austin.

The great thing that I like most about this feud is that it didn’t rely a lot on flashy angles, just good, pure wrestling and the spirit of competition. Both men simply wanted to prove they were the best and they were clearly two of the best of all time. Flair has mentioned many times, including in his best-selling book and his DVD, that Steamboat was “the best he ever wrestled.” “Honestly, I never had a bad match with Rick Steamboat, and we probably wrestled each other two thousand times. In fact, some of our battles in 1978 may have been than the ones in 1989. But there weren’t cameras around for a lot of those early matches, so the memories are confined to the people who happened to be in the arena,” said Ric Flair in his book on his series with Steamboat.

Here are some oldies but goodies as well as the Flair-Steamboat match from WCW Spring Stampede 1994...