[1991-06-14-WCW-Clash of the Champions XV] Ric Flair vs Bobby Eaton (2/3 falls)

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

The story with this one was always a little sad. This match was created specifically to be Bobby Eaton's coming out party as a singles star. It was supposed to go long and be a showcase. He trained really hard for weeks to prepare himself to have the match of his life. But they crammed too much into the show, so the end result was that they had a 2/3 falls match with only 19 minutes of time left on the show, including entrances and the show wrap up with the announcers. Even with the time they had, I liked this match. But if anything, I'd say this match feels like a good syndie TV main event, while the January 1990 match feels like it could have headlined a Clash. This felt really rushed, especially in the second and third fall.

 

Flair just wasn't performing at the level he was in January 1990, and I prefer Bobby Eaton as a heel. The Flair Flop just for the sake of doing the bump, only to get back up immediately, was pretty bad. Flair was still good, but his act was tired, and he had quite the decline in a pretty short period of time.

[Childs]

Very good match, though not put together as well as their 1990 match. As Loss said, they didn't have enough time for three falls. So they rushed the Eaton countout, and Flair crammed some of his shit in fairly egregiously. That said, Eaton,like Pillman, brought out the best version of Flair, because he really wanted to go hard with him. I'm a broken record, but their strike exchanges were awesome. Give this match 25 minutes instead of 15 and it might have been special.

[shoe]

Just not enough time for a 2 out of 3 fall match . Though the story they tell us good with Eaton working the arm.Then he begins working the neck after winning the 1st fall with the Alabama Jam. The 2nd fall Eaton injured the knee and Flair targets that. They also had an awesome punch/ chop exchange that was amazing. Good match given the restrictions on it.

[PeteF3]

Based on the work here, a 2/3-fall match with full time allotted had MOTY potential and would have been as fitting of a Flair swan song as you could ask for. As it was, this just was really good considering the restrictions placed on it. The shortened 2nd and 3rd falls felt about as organic as you could get with Eaton's big bump to the floor being the turning point that ended it for him.

[Kevin Ridge]

Flair got a haircut. I thought they were going fine in the first fall and I liked it. I was expecting something in the 25 minute range with the two out of three falls stipulation. Second and third falls ends up being rushed which takes match down. Too bad. Camera’s missed Eaton winning the TV title and his big match with Flair ends up being cut down for time restraints.

[soup23]

Way too much going on in this show and I must say not the best Flair performance in the world as he didn't really adapt well to the cutting of time.

 

First fall was fine as a setup and Bobby got some big air on the leg drop. 2nd and 3rd fall were extremely rushed and flat. I agree with Loss that the Jan 90 match could have headlined a clash and been awesome.

[garretta]

If I hadn't known in advance that this match was rushed, I would never have guessed it. This was very well done considering the circumstances, and while we'd like most if not all World title bouts on the big stage to be substantial bouts with plenty of back-and-forth action, sometimes it just can't happen. The only issue I had was with the rest periods; I know they're standard in multi-fall matches, but if they were that pressed for time, they could have just eliminated them; that would have given the bout an extra minute, and a lot can happen in a match within a minute.

 

It's a shame that this is Flair's last "classic" title defense on TV, but at least he got to go out on top with a semi-clean, decisive win instead of with the usual Horseman run-in or over-the-top-rope DQ. Bobby looks like a legit challenger here who could headline a pay-per-view against Flair with a bit more singles experience, as he never backs up for a minute, either on offense or defense. Not even getting caught going for a second Alabama Jam and taking a wicked bump to the outside directly on his knee stops him, though it opens the door for Flair to dissect his leg and eventually lock in the figure four.

 

JR and Tony do an excellent job of reminding the fans that this is a brand-new Bobby, not merely one-half of the MX. Unfortunately, he's still got the "Chase" knockoff theme music and has only recently shed his "From The Dark Side" billing, so it's going to take a while longer to sink in completely, and by that time he'll be a part of the Dangerous Alliance and back mostly to tag team work. Still, any new blood on the singles scene is better than none at all, especially in light of Flair's upcoming departure.

 

It's a shame that Bobby was promised so much more from this match and ended up being denied it; still, he adapted to his new circumstances well enough to have a more than solid showing against Flair back when that was something to really be proud of. That's a tribute to his professionalism, and I'm glad I watched him pull it off.

[JKWebb]

I've seen this match three times in the past few years, and it really clicked with me last night. I always thought it was good, but as others have mentioned it feels a little rushed at times. It seems rushed to me because of the few mistakes/botches (and some of their timing issues). Flair seemed to be a little bit off at times, but Eaton really pulls you in with his stiff right hands and hard-hitting offense. It's still pretty close to being called a great match. Based on the circumstances, they delivered.

[dawho5]

This was really, really good for the time it got. Shame the booking cut it way too short.