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[1993-01-09-WWF-Boston, MA] Ric Flair vs Bret Hart (60-Minute Iron Man)


Loss

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  • 3 weeks later...

Okay, Flair and Bret both need to grow up. They complement each other well and this is a great match. Really guys, get over yourselves.

 

I guess Flair had his Wheaties and then some when he realized he was going out the door and headed to WCW, because this is the best performance and best match of his entire run.

 

The flaws are minor and probably wrapped in compliments for the most part. For example, it's amazing how much heat holding the ropes and using them for leverage gets. It was cool five minutes into the match. It was really old 50 minutes into the match. But that's really the only major thing that stood out to me.

 

For the first 20 minutes of this or so, this is Flair Flair Flair. Flair is on offense doing lots of arm work which looks great, some of the same stuff he does in that Wahoo match from Houston that people like. Interestingly, Bret keeps countering by putting Flair in the figure four.

 

About 28 minutes in, Flair gets the first fall with a reverse rollup.

 

Almost immediately, Flair lures Bret in and then starts targeting the leg. Flair gets a win at the 35-minute mark holding the ropes while applying the figure four, then does the same thing again a few minutes later to put him at 2-1.

 

About 47 minutes in, there is an amazing nearfall when Bret gets a backslide and it could not possibly be any closer to a three count. Flair thumbs Bret right in the eye when he first comes to his feet, which is perfectly timed.

 

The drama is off the charts in the last 5 minutes because Bret is down a fall. But with about four minutes to go, Flair submits to the sharpshooter, putting the match at 2-2. Heenan, who was earlier ejected from ringside, sneaks back down and passes Flair some brass knucks. Flair clobbers Bret and gets a great close fall, but Bret kicks out.

 

Right before the 60-minute mark, Flair goes for the figure four once again, and this time, Bret rolls him up in an inside cradle to take the fall, and the match, as he beats Flair 3-2.

 

Overall, they do a great job of keeping the crowd engaged for the full 60 minutes and the match is laid out really well. Way better than any of the other 60-minute Ironmans I've seen. This is largely a selling performance from Bret, and he's terrific in that regard. Flair has probably lost a step here from where he was a few years earlier, but he's not that far behind.

 

It suffers from some of the same fate many 60 minute matches do, in that it can't help but meander at times because some stuff is very obviously designed to fill time and nothing more. But they usually fall on the right side here, and they usually do a great job of keeping the holds interesting instead of just laying on the mat.

 

The best match of the set so far.

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  • 2 months later...

This was an excellent match. I've seen a few handhelds between the 2 and they did have good matches with one another. The heat in the final 5 minutes was great. Flair might have lost a step, but he was one of the top 5 workers in the WWF at the time. I see Loss that you enjoyed this match more than you did in the past. That's what's great about wrestling going back and gaining different opinions.

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  • 3 months later...

I have had this show on disc for years but never got around to watching the match.

 

What a fool I was.

 

Easily Flair's best WWF match, and perhaps Bret's best at this stage of his career (Bulldog at SS 92 & Perfect at SS 91 would be close). The 60 minutes flew by, and I think for the limitations of the match (crowd knows that it is going 60, multiple falls etc) they worked it perfectly. I never felt the match dragged, and progressed logically throughout. Flair bringing out some of the awesome arm work was reminiscent of his work in the Mid-South set, and both this and the leg work later in the match were sold perfectly by Hart. There is so much to love, I will give bullet points for the other highlights:

 

- I really liked Bret going back to the figure four time and time again early on, and I was convinced that he would get a fall from it

- The rollup to give Bret the first fall was really smooth and well executed

- Loved Heenan giving the distraction for Flair to use the chair on Bret's leg, which played into the next two falls

- Flair throws some great looking kicks at Bret's leg, just nasty

- The final few minutes were amazing, Bret's bump and sell off of the first brass knux shot looked killer, and I totally bought the near fall that followed

- I love how with time winding down, Flair releases the figure four as soon as Bret reaches the ropes to show the desperation of needing a fall. Previously in the match, he would hold it a little before breaking. Little touches like this make it a great match

- Perfect finish, with the technical babyface having one trick left to pull out the victory. The fact that they didn't use the roll-up off of the figure four any time in the match before the finish adds to the effectiveness

 

Just a fantastic display by both men, which was better than I could have hoped for as I had previously been lukewarm about their other matches that I have seen. Probably the best ironman match I have ever seen, and is my MOTY nine days into the year. Realistically, if this drops out of my top 10 for the year, then this is truly one of the best years ever for in-ring wrestling.

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  • 7 months later...

Honest question: Is it too much to expect, in a match like this, that twenty minutes of armwork by Flair (which was great by the way. It's amazing how entertaining he can make working a hold; that might be the very best thing he does) should mean something to the rest of the match?

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I'm not endorsing it, that's just how it is. Hour-long matches tend to have a lot of filler, and the left arm is a convenient target. Since most people don't use it much, you can work it over without really inhibiting your opponent's offense or forcing him to no-sell. I tend to avoid those types of matches for that reason.

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  • 1 year later...

Watching an hour long match done from fan came is asking a lot out of me. Heenan out there managing Flair. Thought he was retired. The earlier arm work was pretty pointless and some of the Flair putting an arm bar on and using the ropes for leverage didn't make physical sense. Think this is my third time watching this one but I have to admit liking it a lot more on this viewing. It does get really good as match progresses. Flair was as good he had been during his WWF run. The hour long also had both guys doing more variety of offense. Flair totally had Hart on the ropes until the last few minutes where Bret was able to pick up the two falls. Crowd was going crazy at the end. Wish they had done some type of Coliseum Video taping of this.

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  • 3 months later...

Not much to add from the previous rundowns here. The final half of this was really well-laid-out, with the surprise return of Heenan and the great use of the brass knucks. Also a bold move to have your babyface champ submit twice--even with Flair using the ropes, that's something that simply didn't happen in North America until at least the 2000s. It does meander, yes, but it's a hell of a match and a fitting swan song (sort of) for Flair in the WWF. Actually, a 30-minute Ironman between these two on TV or PPV would probably be as fondly remembered as Rude/Steamboat.

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  • 2 months later...

The first 15-20 minutes here dragged. I mean really, really dragged for me. Lots of meaningless armwork that wasn't remotely as compelling as in Windham-Steamboat. Then you've got Hart easily and repeatedly applying Flair's own finisher to him without having to soften him up too much. What is that about? They buy more time with some light brawling outside before again returns to Flair's finisher but at least this time the knee became a focus. Hart takes the first fall with a roll up.

 

Now its Flair's turn to work the knee and Flair evens things up with a figure four using the ropes, then goes up 2-1 the same way. I liked how that third fall happened so quickly as it built on the damage just inflicted. The crowd really got behind Bret being down late and the last 5-10 minutes with the quick falls was very well done.

 

This was good. They did a lot of smooth things and after a meh start much of what they did was logical and played out throughout the match. But if you telling me you're going 60, you need to do a lot more than simply last 60 to keep things interesting and compelling along the way, because I know the finish isn't coming until the late 50s at best. That's one reason I strongly prefer the Kawada/Kobashi hour draw to this, but hardly the only one. Much like that kid encouraging the Heat after they lost that home playoff game to the Celts, and before Lebron became a monster, I find myself telling Flair & Hart "good job, good effort." Just not enough to win.

 

***1/2

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  • 10 months later...

I was really engaged by Flair in the early going. Cheating when he had to. Laser like focus on the arm and enough variations to keep it interesting for me throughout. Bret was fine but his main job was to play hurt and occasionally get some hope spots. All of the table setting seemed to be done by Flair and I was completely engaged. Bret his a good flurry of punches but Flair is able to take him down with an atomic drop. Bret counteracting Flair’s offense with the figure four was an interesting strategy which was crowd pleasing so it worked to me. I liked Flair showing off the variations of escaping the figure four as he didn’t just result in reaching the ropes. Bret counteracting Flair’s offense with the figure four was an interesting strategy which was crowd pleasing so it worked to me. I liked Flair showing off the variations of escaping the figure four as he didn’t just result in reaching the ropes. Flair gets more desperate sending Bret to the outside, but Bret remains relentless with his strategy. You can see Flair start to lose it more and more and he ends up losing his focus and dropping the first fall on a roll up. Tremendous stuff. With Bret now on top, his strategy shifts into more wear down holds and stuff to run out the clock while hoping to obtain a fall as a bonus. Flair senses this and quits dicking around by going for the leg. I love the feeling that we are halfway through and the time has flew by for me. Flair attacks the leg with his good precision. It is neat to see Bobby doing interference allowing Flair to get in some added offense with a chair. Hebner sends Bobby to the back in a good crowd pleasing spot halfway through. Flair clinches in the figure four and with a little help of the ropes, we get a submission victory for him. Huzzah. If something works, go back to the well so Flair does the same thing again to go up 2-1. This was incredible and I thought put the figure four over as huge. Bret needs to regroup as his leg is severely damaged. He goes to the outside and gathers his bearings but Flair meets him as he comes in to inflict more punishment. Great spot as Bret desperately reaches for the ropes to avoid the figure four but Flair synchs it in. He then however gets caught finally using his trusty tactic and is forced to break. Forty five minutes in, Bret shows some signs of life and gets a great flurry of punches but has to stop based on the leg pain. Now we get Flair’s signature spots with the flop, flip and dive off the top. The backslide Charles mentioned was tremendous and once again Flair gets desperate with his thumb to the eye. Flair going for the sleeper now is a good callback to what Bret did earlier when he had the advantage. Flair takes the ram into the corner like a champ. Flair being a gambler, tries a top rope dive one more time and gets caught. Bret mounts his comeback and goes through his series of moves to set up the Sharpshooter. Flair submits to some great heat and we are all tied up with around five minutes to go. Hennan sneaks in and hands Flair some knuckles before getting booted again by Hebner. I loved the build up to the foreign object shot and Bret takes a great bump off of it. Flair covers him and Bret narrowly kicks out to another fantastic near fall. Flair gets on the figure four again but this time Bret is able to reach the ropes. Flair sends Bret to the outside and you can feel his uncontrolled rage. Moon shot rollup gets a nearfall for Bret. Flair stomping around looking like a castle mad man about to lose his castle is outstanding. He drags Bret into the middle of the ring and goes for the figure four, but Bret is resourceful and able to roll him up right in the nick of time. This was one of the better hour long matches I have ever seen and built up some outstanding narratives throughout the sixty minutes. I thought the arm work was fine as a lead in and did lead to the strategy shifts that would happen later on in the match. I watched this match alongside a ton of great 80’s lucha and it stood out the most with me. (****1/2)

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  • 1 year later...

First fall: Nice to see Heenan at ringside for what has to be the last time other than his one-shot in WCW. He should have been there for all of Flair's televised appearances after Curt's turn. How did Vince get him to go to Boston for a non-televised card, anyway?

 

I don't care whether it "went anywhere" or not, I liked seeing Flair take Bret's arm apart. Ditto the use of the figure-four by Bret, which Flair sold brilliantly for the rest of the fall. It makes sense to me that if a body part that's been worked on is left alone, it gets feeling and motion back into it, so Bret not going around with his arm hanging limp for the rest of the match also makes sense to me.

 

The handheld was not only jiggly at times, but there were other times when the guy was late moving the camera from where he thought the action should be to where it actually was, and we missed some stuff because of it. I know not to expect professional camerawork at all times with handhelds, but would it kill people to actually follow the wrestlers when they're wrestling?

 

Earl Hebner's stupidity has to be seen to be believed here. I think it was Loss who said that Flair using the ropes as often as he did got real old by the fifty-minute mark. Try ten, Loss. The worst part was, the ropes were visibly shaking, and most referees will eventually break a hold on suspicion after the second or third time they see that, which Earl did. But he did absolutely nothing about it. Most people applaud the heel for getting heat after doing stuff like this, but I'm not one of them. Once or twice, maybe. After the third time, the ref's an idiot.

 

It seemed like Earl wasn't sure why Heenan would be at ringside, since he hadn't been there for a while and was never known explicitly as Flair's manager. Their back-and-forth went way too long to be just a normal conversation between a manager and a ref. Could Earl have been checking to see if Bobby's neck was all right, or what kind of spots he'd be able to do? You'd think they'd have taken care of that back in the locker room beforehand.

 

Second fall: Most of this one was Flair working over Bret's leg as only he can. I noticed that like Windham against Steamboat, he used a closed fist to work on his opponent's leg even further, only in this case he was the one applying the hold, not trying to break it,

 

The handheld didn't catch Heenan passing Flair the chair he used to attack Bret's knee, but did you notice how Bobby didn't stop to argue like he usually did when he was tossed. He knew that any argument on his part would most likely cost Flair a fall that he couldn't afford to lose under the circumstances.

 

No shame at all for Bret to quit under these circumstances. A lot of guys have withstood Flair's figure-four once, but twice is another matter. He needs the rest period to get ready for the third fall and get some life back into his leg.

 

Third fall: Not much to comment on. Flair continues his attack on Bret's knee and gains a second submission in a row with his third figure-four. I wonder how many people in the Boston Garden that day thought that Flair would take the title right about now, since Bret looks like he can't even move, let alone stand up.

 

Great heel move by Flair taking extra stomps at Bret's knee during the rest period. It's hard to remember in a day and age where Ric is one of wrestling's most beloved legends that he at one time had a mean streak that even most other heels envied.

 

Fourth fall: The main thing I noticed here was one of the inherent flaws in a match like this: Bret has his set of moves that he uses to set up the Sharpshooter, and almost all of them require a fully functioning leg. So all the damage Flair has done so far to his left knee has to be ignored so Bret can hit the Russian legsweep, the second rope elbow, etc., and do it in the manner the fans want to see it done. Never mind the Sharpshooter, which should be impossible to apply with a leg as injured as Bret's supposedly is. About the only move I can't forgive them doing under the circumstances is Bret press-slamming Flair off the top. Can't Flair forget about that spot for once in his life? Everyone probably has it on tape a hundred times by now (1993).

 

I give Bret credit for selling after he hits each move. Watching in the moment, you can buy that Bret's ignoring the pain in his knee in order to execute his offense, as all champions should. But each move is still taking its toll on him.

 

We get another non-argument spot early in the fall after Earl runs out to intercept Flair's intended chair shot on Bret's leg. Stuff like this really put over just how important and precious each individual fall is, even in a match that's designed to have many of them.

 

Fifth fall: How did Heenan get away from the security to come back to ringside and hand Flair the knucks? Damn those Boston rent-a-cops! :D

 

Great use of the ironman psychology again, as Flair would have surely won the title had he been able to cover Bret right away after the knucks shot. But he had to get down off the buckle, then crawl over to where Bret had fallen, which gave Bret the chance to get his shoulder up just in time.

 

They milked the drama right down to the end, as Flair put the figure-four on Bret again with just about a minute to go. When Bret got to the ropes, I was sure we were headed for overtime even though I already knew that we weren't.

 

What I wouldn't have given for an official countdown clock, as it seemed that there were still a few seconds left when Bret got the last pin. In fact, it looked like Flair was asking what the hell Earl was doing when he raised Bret's hand and declared him the winner.

 

This may be the best Bret singles match I've seen chronologically to this point in January of '93. As for Flair, this is his best singles match in the WWF by a pretty wide margin, but he was never better than in the '92 Rumble, even in his NWA World champion prime, (I reserve the right to change that opinion after seeing more footage from the 80s Project.) Just as with the Rumble last year, it's going to be hard to knock this match off of its perch as WWF Match of the Year, although we have 356 days left.

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  • 7 months later...

#171 - placetobenation.com/countdown-top-500-matches-of-the-90s-200-151/2/

 

First of all, I'm shocked I have not heard of this before. Maybe I have, and it just slipped my mind. I'm just surprised you don't hear Bret Hart talk about it more, because usually he doesn't shy away from talking about his better performances. And, this is just that. This is the Bret Hart show. His selling in this match was amazing. He fires up when he needs too, but his selling really drives the hour. I thought he was great. The arm work in the beginning did not bother me, because I thought Flair was really entertaining in those spots. I do think he relied on the ropes for heat too much by the time it was all said and done, but I can't really say it made the match less enjoyable for me. I loved Flair's ruthless attack on Hart's leg. He was great in his role as the heel here, so I hate to fully say it was the Bret Hart show, because that's not fair. I just thought Hart's performance is what drove this to greatness. Great drama down the stretch. This is a great match. I'm there with the ****1/4 to ****1/2 range. I really loved this one.

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  • GSR changed the title to [1993-01-09-WWF-Boston, MA] Ric Flair vs Bret Hart (60-Minute Iron Man)

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