Goody Bag 35: Treinta y Cinco, Baby!

WWF Title Match: Ric Flair v Ultimate Warrior: From a WWF house show, fall 1992. Flair tries charging him, but that goes very badly, and Ric ends up flying out of the ring. Warrior follows him out, but Flair is ready with a whip into the guardrail - which is promptly no-sold. Inside, Ric is begging off, but Warrior hits him with an atomic drop, followed by a clothesline to send the champ back to the outside. Warrior follows, allowing Ric to get the high ground on the way back in, but Warrior no-sells his chops, and delivers a facebuster. Cross corner whip flips Flair back to the outside, and Warrior follows to ram him into the apron, but again gives up the high ground on the way back in. That allows Flair a side suplex, but Warrior totally no-sells that as well, and he bodyslams the champion. Mr. Perfect throws a cheap shot to try and turn the tide, which puts him in Warrior's path of destruction, so Perfect uses a chair to finally get Warrior to sell something. Inside, Flair capitalizes with a choke, and Perfect even sneaks in behind the referee's back to drop a knee on the challenger! Ric works the leg, but Warrior blocks the Figure Four, and starts making his comeback. Jumping shoulderblock and a splash look to finish, but Perfect runs in for the DQ at 8:22. Flair (and Perfect, for that matter) worked hard to keep this exciting. Not a great match by any means, but they carried him well enough so that it wasn't at all boring. * ¼

WCW European Cup Tournament Quarterfinal Match: Vader v Cactus Jack: From a WCW live event Munich Germany on March 16, 1994 - this is the infamous match that cost Mick Foley his ear. Lots of posturing to start, until Cactus drops him with a DDT, and Vader bails to the outside to regroup. He stalls out there for a long while before coming back in, where Jack is ready with a flurry of right hands. He tries a sleeper, but Vader drops back into the corner to escape. Jack tenaciously tries again, but this time Vader isn't so nice - dropping back onto the mat with his full weight on Cactus to break! Vader pounds him down in brutal fashion, and a slam sets up the Vaderbomb for two. Chinlock wears Jack down a bit, and Vader clubs him with a short-clothesline, then hits another slam to set up a 2^nd rope flying splash for two. Snapmare sets up another try at the Vaderbomb, but Cactus rolls out of the way of this one, so Vader tries a sit-down splash, but Jack dodges that as well! Cactus clothesline sends both men tumbling over the top, and Jack tries a charge as they come back in, but Vader sidesteps, and Cactus ends up caught in the ropes. He's stuck there, so the referee tries to help him out - succeeding, but ripping Jack's ear off in the process! Apparently, the ropes were too tight there (tightened after someone earlier on the card - 2 Cold Scorpio, I think - complained of them being too loose), and that spot Foley has done so many times became much more dangerous because of it. We're then treated to Jack and Vader slugging it out, and you can see Cactus' ear (which I guess was still hanging onto the side of his head) fall to the mat in the process. Yuck! The referee immediately picks it up like it's nothing, and tucks it away for safekeeping. He didn't even warm up to it! Just like it was no big deal at all! They must see some sick shit in Germany. Anyway, Jack wins said slugfest, but an attempt at a bodyslam gets him toppled for two. Vader then follows up with a simple clothesline, and we're done at 9:20. How Mick managed to finish the match after realizing he'd LOST AN EAR is a testament to not only how tough he is, but how dedicated he is. Worth seeing for the historical significance, but not much as far as a match, with lots of stalling in the early going, and weak finish. * ¼

Ric Flair and Lord Steven Regal v Ricky Steamboat and Sting: Also from Munich Germany on March 16, 1994. Flair and Regal teaming is kind of an odd choice, considering Ric was still a babyface at this point. Regal starts with Sting, and they do an extended battle over a collar-and-elbow lockup. Sting controls it with a wristlock, then over to Steamboat to work a double-knucklelock with Regal. Regal manages to escape, and he takes Ricky down with a drop-toehold during a criss cross, but the Dragon counters to an armbar. Steven tags out while still in the hold, and we gets a feeling out process from Ric and Ricky. Some great execution as they trade off on the mat here, both guys looking in top form. Tag to Sting, and Ric eats a press-slam following a nice criss cross. Flair bails to the outside, but takes another press-slam on the way back in, so he goes to the eyes, and dumps Sting over the top! That's our Nature Boy! He and Regal are able to take control and cut the ring in half, and Flair slaps on the Figure Four, but Sting reverses. Regal cuts off a comeback, but Sting still manages a backslide on Flair for two. Ric tries to cut him off again with a snapmare, but gets slammed when he goes to the top, and the Dragon gets the hot tag. He comes in breathing fire, and Roseanne Barr the door. Ricky tries a slingshot sunset flip to finish off Regal, so Flair assists a reversal from the apron, but Steamboat reverses back for the pin at 19:00. Technically fine, but bored me to tears. * ¼


Ric Flair v Ricky Steamboat: From WCW Main Event on July 24, 1994. This is notable for being the last ever televised Flair/Steamboat one-on-one match, and the second to last ever, period. Feeling out process to start, until Ric takes over in the corner, and he snapmares Steamboat down for a kneedrop. Sherri distracts the referee so Flair can freely toss Steamboat over the top, then she runs over with a cheap shot out there while he recovers. Sherri could teach a masters course in heel managering. Flair hops out to ram Ricky into the rail, and then heads in to distract the referee again so that Sherri can choke the Dragon with her stalking. Ricky gets understandably miffed, and goes after her, but that allows Ric to sneak up on him, and Sherri lays the Dragon out with her shoe. She gets in yet another cheap shot as Ricky makes his way back into the ring, where Flair is ready with chops. Steamboat returns fire, however, and manages a cross corner whip to set up a backdrop. Into the corner for a ten-punch, and that flops Flair! Chop sends the Nature Boy over the top, but Steamboat is hot on his tail, and rolls him back in - Ric begging off now. Steamboat keeps cracking him with those chops, and another corner whip sets up another backdrop, this time followed by a dropkick. Flair goes to the eyes to try and turn things around, but Steamboat fights him off again, so Ric tries a leveraged pin in the corner, but can't put the Dragon away. Steamboat with a bodyslam for two, and a nice criss cross ends in Ricky hitting a press-slam. Corner whip flips Flair to the floor, and he hides behind Sherri out there - able to throw a cheap shot at the advancing Steamboat. The referee gets bumped on the way back in, and he misses Ricky countering a side suplex with a rollup. Ric goes up, but Steamboat slams him off, and slaps on a figure four - only for Sherri to come in and attack! Steamboat cradles her while applying the hold on Flair, however, then gets rid of her with an atomic drop. He turns his attention back to Ric with a flying bodypress, but there's still no referee, and Steve Austin runs in! He attacks, but the referee comes to, and calls for a DQ at 12:08. This was definitely on the lower end of the spectrum for their series, but still quite good. Ric and Sherri ganging up on Steamboat was especially fun. ***