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[1991-01-30-WCW-Clash of the Champions XIV] Ric Flair vs Scott Steiner


Loss

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  • 4 weeks later...

This match was a mess. Flair is the champ again, but he's not at all the guy he was the last time he wore the gold. His performance isn't really bad, but it's very flawed, and it's obvious that he's slipped a lot. Scott Steiner is a guy with explosive offense and Flair kept him grounded and made him sell for most of this match. Flair didn't really know how to sell Scott's suplexes very well, and I'm not sure why there was no Frankensteiner. The thing that Flair could still do better than just about anyone is kick out at the very last second of a pin attempt to get the crowd going crazy, and that absolutely worked. But everything else about this seemed really off. They were working at half speed, the layout was all wrong and Scott didn't really get to showcase the stuff that got him over.

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I think it was a bit of both. This was the match that is at the root of Steiner's dislike for Flair, right? Because he felt that Flair went out of his way to make him look bad, or at least, not really put him over the way he did other guys? I can see that, whether that's Flair having an off-night, no longer being up to the task (which is highly doubtful), or just not wanting to give Steiner the same treatment he gave to Sting, Luger and others. On the other hand, Steiner really didn't help himself here. He just didn't carry himself like a star, and seemed a little overwhelmed by the situation, to me.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hiro Matsuda is introduced as a New Japan representative as we get hype for the Tokyo Dome show. El Gigante, too--yay. I wonder what a ranking of the frequency of Flair's color schemes would look like. His gold number here has to be his most rarely-seen outfit. I'm talking about everything except the match because holy shit is this a snoozefest. Flair bails a million times to stall in not that interesting fashion, and Scott is pensive himself. If someone wants to criticize Ric with a "Flair by numbers" formula then this is a match to point to. Gary Cappetta may as well be in another city because his time calls have absolutely no bearing on what the wrestlers are actually doing. No Jim, Flair was not "saved by the bell," either. The Scott Keith-perpetuated idea that Steiner was going to be handed the title tonight is completely laughable if you actually watch the match. He was nowhere near as ready for such a push as the Warrior was.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Flair gets an atomic drop in successfully. Steiner clotheslines Flair over the top rope in front of the referee but no disqualification. This makes the tag match finish from earlier continue to look worse and worse. The Steiners really look like idiots at times. Here Scott stands in the ring while Flair is outside on the floor which a minute left in the time limit. Show some urgency Scott. He then taunts to the crowd as the time is being counted down. What a moron. Not ready to be a top singles guy.

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El Gigante is still getting carted out there and doing nothing.

 

This may be the most disappointing match I have ever seen with Flair that got 10+ minutes. You hear the broomstick statement but this was not good at all. Methodical, weird bumps, Steiner looking lost. Just an overall disaster that should have really put a halt into any single Steiner plans at the time.

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  • 3 months later...

You know, I agree with most of you on this...I am tired of hearing Steiner talk about how this was done to de-rail him and his push...someone that wants to be the man and move up a level woudl learn to do their best and adapt when things are going wrong and he didnt. And if Flair was the wuss Steiner always says he was, he could have bullied his way into getting something out of Flair, as others have done in matches where they felt they were being taken advantage of or being made to look bad.

 

How much credence is given to Flair wanting to drop the title to him that night that he says?

 

He was sloppy and not ready for the primetime moment....he'd get there, but not yet. Back to the tag ranks with you...

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  • 1 year later...

This match was a mess. Flair is the champ again, but he's not at all the guy he was the last time he wore the gold. His performance isn't really bad, but it's very flawed, and it's obvious that he's slipped a lot. Scott Steiner is a guy with explosive offense and Flair kept him grounded and made him sell for most of this match. Flair didn't really know how to sell Scott's suplexes very well, and I'm not sure why there was no Frankensteiner. The thing that Flair could still do better than just about anyone is kick out at the very last second of a pin attempt to get the crowd going crazy, and that absolutely worked. But everything else about this seemed really off. They were working at half speed, the layout was all wrong and Scott didn't really get to showcase the stuff that got him over.

 

I'm so glad that so many people shared this line of thinking. I was afraid I was just not "feeling it" and this would be showered in praise.

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  • 7 months later...

There's not much to add here. You knew Flair wasn't losing the title, since breaking up the Steiners would have been a horrible move that would have left WCW without a top face tag team, but they could have gone out there and at least given an effort to make it look like Scotty could be a champion. Flair's excessive stalling, the lack of nearfalls, the fact that Rick was there to throw Flair back in the ring when he bailed out instead of Scotty being aggressive enough to go out there and get him, as Dusty kept telling him to do on commentary, all of these and more added up to something that looked like a Worldwide non-title main event instead of the main event of the next closest thing to a pay-per-view. We got a "saved by the bell" finish almost as an afterthought, but no one watching was convinced by it. Flair never looked like he was in danger of losing at any point.

 

Even JR and Dusty noted the overall lack of fire that Scotty showed, and most of it was his fault. He could have made sure that he looked good even if Flair didn't for whatever reason, but he chose not to. I've heard it said that Scotty really didn't want a run with a singles title yet; he preferred to stay with Rick as a team. Well, this match was a good way to get his wish.

 

I enjoyed the cameos by Matsuda and Gigante; they really helped to give the match a big-time feel that it ended up not deserving. Dusty was insightful on commentary while still being recognizably himself, and JR did his best to call a match that he no doubt would have termed "bowling shoe ugly" just a few years later. In fact, this was a rare occasion, at least during a so-called "big" match, where the commentary completely outclassed the action in the ring.

 

I liked the gauntlet match in September of '90 much better than this; in fact, Rick's constant physical interference has me wanting to see what he can do against Flair at some point. When the best thing people can say about your performance is that it helped elevate your cornerman, that goes to show how bad Scotty was on this night. Better luck in a few years, pal.

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  • 2 years later...

I've seen this a few times, and watched it again tonight. It doesn't deliver. Scott didn't show any fire, and Flair was off. He should have flipped his lid at the ref when they didn't DQ Scott for the over the top rope lariat, and he just quickly recovered and took over on offense. Not much to add, the match is a bummer.

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  • GSR changed the title to [1991-01-30-WCW-Clash of the Champions XIV] Ric Flair vs Scott Steiner
  • 1 year later...

El Gigante is introduced before the match and if I didn't know how terrible he was in the ring, I'd be quite chuffed at seeing him versus Flair from their interaction here alone. 

Not to be contrarian, but I liked this a lot. Scotty's performance wasn't his best. He botched a spot where he and Flair were meant to go over the ropes, and he didn't show a lot of fire and he looked lost during the final few seconds (something that's very important not to fuck up when you are doing a time limit finish!), but Flair saved this one for me. It's classic heel Flair. He slows the pace right down, cheats to stay on top before going to town on his opponent's leg. Steiner's selling of his damaged leg was great at least. 

★★★½

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