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Lawler/Dundee vs Steamboat/Flair


jpchicago23

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I see a lot of wrestler vs wrestler comparisons but this will compare two legendary feuds. Flair/Steamboat might have the edge on ring and that's a strong might. I'd definitely give the out of ring to Lawler/Dundee. Both iconic feuds but my choice would be Lawler/Dundee. So many twists and turns and was basically the backbone of a town for decades. The overall synonymous nature the two have with each other is hard to beat for me. Other guys come to mind for Flair but Dundee is always the guy for Lawler. Who ya got?

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Oh, its Lawler vs Dundee for sure if you're only counting the 1989 Flair vs Steamboat stuff. But if you count the Seventies into early Eighties Flair vs Steamboat stuff...it's a closer contest. The Seventies stuff was far cooler and violent than the "Beloved Trilogy" with the fucking Family Man bullshit that stunk.

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Oh it's totality vs totality. So even the 90s stuff even though it's only a match or two for Flair/Steamboat. Are there other feuds that would hold a candle to Lawler/Dundee? Horsemen vs Dusty and friends?

 

It sort of depends. Something like UWF vs New Japan is probably the single greatest feud ever in terms of super high end matches but it was an interpromotional feud with a dozen or so wrestlers. It feels unfair to compare Lawler vs Dundee to a feud that has stuff like Fujiwara vs Choshu, Maeda vs Fujinami, all the 10 man tags and elimination matches etc. But Lawler vs Dundee makes up for it for lasting 30 years.

 

In terms of "Eternal Rivalries" which is what I think of when I think of Lawler/Dundee and Flair/Steamboat I'd say stuff like:

Lawler vs Funk

Hijo del Santo vs Negro Casas

El Satanico vs El Dandy

Jumbo vs Tenryu

Hashimoto vs Choshu

Ishikawa vs Ikeda

 

all hold a candle to Lawler/Dundee and Flair/Steamboat.

 

But I still say Lawler vs Dundee is the best.

 

And Lawler vs Andy Kaufman is #2. :)

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I just love that Lawler/Dundee feels like a life long battle. Sure they would team up, and be great at it, but they'd also kill each other at the drop of a hat. There was so much familiarity. The angles and moments in between the matches is what sets it apart from something like UWF vs NJPW for me. I've actually been watching the latter feud recently and holy shit Fujiwara and Choshu tear it up

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I'd be interested to hear the case for leaving Misawa/Kawada off the all-time feud list, since I assume it's intentional after mentioned in the AJ thread you were down on them. That would be my pick for best in-ring feud ever for all the epic singles and tags they had. Probably even best feud period given their history before the feud and for how great they were at using the matches to advance stories.

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I just love that Lawler/Dundee feels like a life long battle. Sure they would team up, and be great at it, but they'd also kill each other at the drop of a hat. There was so much familiarity. The angles and moments in between the matches is what sets it apart from something like UWF vs NJPW for me. I've actually been watching the latter feud recently and holy shit Fujiwara and Choshu tear it up

 

This is basically exactly how I feel. Lawler vs Dundee has the great matches for sure. But between the teaming together, the angles, promos, that familiarity you reference it is just the richest feud in wrestling. If we did a top 100 feuds of all time poll, I would rank Lawler/Dundee #1 overall because of that richness. It is hard to deny something like UWF vs NJ but I'm far more likely to give credit to the feud between 2 guys that lasted 30 years than the one that had 15 guys and lasted 2 years. And while Flair/Steamboat certainly has the matches to compete, I don't think it has the richness of Lawler/Dundee. Flair/Steamboat always feels like wrestling. Lawler/Dundee is one of those rare feuds that transcends that and feels like life or death.

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I haven't seen as much of the Lawler/Dundee stuff (outside the big three loser leaves town matches), but it is awful close. The feud does feel more prolonged for Lawler/Dundee, like they were truly destined to fight forever. Steamboat and Flair had their matches over a long period of time of course, but it certainly feels more focused into 89, with even the 70s stuff sort of coming off in hindsight as a preview of sorts. I guess right now I would have to pick Flair/Steamboat, but that is mostly about what I have seen. I can imagine if I sat down and really dove into both of them I would come out caring more about Lawler/Dundee. I agree with the point that Flair/steamboat comes off as wrestling competition and Lawler/Dundee comes off as a real, hate-filled, life or death feud. I like that. That is what I really want out of my wrestling.

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  • 1 month later...

Lawler vs. Dundee is the winner between these two.. Bill and Jerry actually did not like each other. Jerry did not drink or use drugs.

, played softball , loved comic books , loved monster movies , lived in the city , did not work out and most of all love girls. While Bill was known to bend an elbow , hang out in honkytonks , lived in the weight room , raced motorcycles and loved small town Tennessee. City vs. Country The real heat was that Bill wanted Jerry's spot in the Jarrett promotion . All these differences and personal issues added realism to the feud. The brawling was top notch. No as good as Lawler vs. Fargo , but a close second.

 

The Lawler vs. Fargo feud is one of the great feuds as well. That feud caused the roof to blow off the MSC . Fargo was Lawler's mentor. Lawler turned on Jackie in tag match . Lawler broke Jackie's ribs by wrapping a chain around his fist and hit second rope fist drop over and over. .

 

Jackie was out of commission for some time . Lawler would run Jackie down on TV during his recovery period. Lawler was always selling his own T- Shirts and buttons on TV . Lawler who say things like " Not having your King Lawler button would be like Jackie Fargo not having his Geritol " You get the picture .

 

 

Fargo returned and some the greatest brawls seen in a wrestling ring took place. For me top feud ever .

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