Ric Flair has finally wrestled his last match, which makes it high time to look at what Dave Meltzer has rated to be his 10 greatest ever matches. Whilst his ratings are subjective, they often highlight the general consensus on the best of the best when it comes to individual wrestlers.
Flair is undoubtedly one of the greatest of all time, and although his career has gone on far longer than it should (on more than one occasion), there is no denying that there have been some all-time classics over the years in a range of different wrestling promotions. When it comes to Meltzer’s ratings though, it is clear that his best stint was in NWA/WCW, with his time there dominating the top 10.
10 The Four Horsemen Vs Dusty Rhodes, Nikita Koloff, Paul Ellering, & Road Warriors, NWA Great American Bash, 1987 (5 Stars)
This was an incredibly historic match, although the rating itself may be solely due to how good the concept of the War Games match was, rather than the in-ring quality itself. That being said, there were still several good moments to the first-ever War Games in wrestling history, led by The Four Horsemen.
It did feel like an authentic, bloody, and brutal fight between 10 men who hated each other. It took the crowd a little while to get used to what was a strange stipulation at the time, but after a while, they got into it. It wasn’t a spot-fest like modern War Games matches, but it was certainly a fight, and it worked at introducing fans to the concept.
9 Ric Flair Vs Ricky Steamboat, NWA Chi-Town Rumble, 1989 (5 Stars)
Despite being the babyface, Steamboat brought out great aggression and a hard-hitting style in this match, doing what he needed to do to win, with him not being bothered about making it look pretty.
This had a mixture of great mat wrestling, stiff blows, and a whole of other great action in between, which ended with Steamboat winning the title after a shocking roll-up, but it felt like the perfect way for the belt to change hands.
8 Ric Flair Vs Barry Windham, NWA MACW, 1987 (5 Stars)
Over the 1980s, Flair shared the ring with some of his all-time greatest rivals in a series of classic matches, and his selection of battles with Barry Windham is one of them. In this match for the World Heavyweight Championship, the pair fought to a stunning 45-minute time limit draw.
Whilst there were some arguably slow portions, it helped create a flow to the match which sped up in some moments to get the audience hot, before slowing down again to allow the match to settle, and then exploding into action once again. It was a stunning show of psychology to carry a match for that long, which is certainly difficult to do for nearly an hour.
7 Ricky Steamboat Vs Ric Flair, Clash Of The Champions 6, 1989 (5 Stars)
After a great match prior to this which saw a title change, the stakes were heightened as this was a Two out of Three Falls Match, which lasted for nearly a whole hour.
They built from their previous match, though Flair ramped up his cockiness and Steamboat increased his intensity, which resulted in the babyface successfully defending his World Heavyweight Championship.
6 Ric Flair Vs Terry Funk, NWA Clash Of The Champions 9, 1989 (5 Stars)
This “I Quit” Match main evented the entire show, and it is easy to see why it had that spot with it being a wild brawl, and something crazier than most matches that had been seen on TV at the time. There were table spots, blood, and even a suplex on the apron, making it unique from anything around that period.
Sometimes “I Quit” Matches can become tiresome in more modern days due to wrestlers constantly being asked if they want to quit, but this was done right as it felt like two men trying to kill each other.
5 Ric Flair Vs Barry Windham, NWA Battle Of The Belts 2, 1986 (5 Stars)
This was another example of Flair and Windham not being able to get the better of each other in a World Heavyweight Championship match, with this one ending in a double count-out following an epic 41-minute battle.
Windham put on a great babyface performance, giving Flair his comeuppance for his sneaky and cowardly heel tactics, whilst also fighting through the blood and pain he was being put through. Unfortunately, the finish wasn’t perfect, but it did set up more matches in the aftermath.
4 Four Horsemen & Larry Zybszko Vs Steiner Brothers, Brian Pillman, & Sting, WCW WrestleWar, 1991 (5 Stars)
This was yet another messy, chaotic, and bloody brawl that often occurred inside the War Games structure throughout the '80s and '90s, and whilst it wasn’t overly polished or clean, that only added to the authentic nature of it.
Pillman and Windham beat the hell out of one another, Sid Vicious dominated, and Flair naturally bled all over the place. Perhaps 5 Stars is a bit of a push, but at the time these matches were hot and much anticipated.
3 Ric Flair Vs Barry Windham, NWA Jim Crockett Memorial Cup, 1987 (5 Stars)
Whilst this was just as long as some of their other encounters, it was wrestled at a much quicker and determined pace, which resulted in Flair scoring the victory to retain the World Heavyweight Championship.
Flair did need to cheat to win, but that alone raised Windham’s stock as someone who couldn’t be beaten clean. The trilogy of classics between these two all offered something different, with fan opinion varying on which is their favorite, but this was certainly the most decisive of the three in terms of finish.
2 Ricky Steamboat Vs Ric Flair, NWA WrestleWar, 1989 (5 Stars)
Everything about this match was perfect, with it wrapping their trilogy of wonderful World Title matches in 1989, spread across several big shows. The three judges at ringside and the grand entrances both added to the feeling of this being the culmination of their feud and a huge championship fight.
Flair would pick up the victory and win back his World Heavyweight Title, though Steamboat came out of the feud looking like a valiant hero.
1 Ricky Steamboat Vs Ric Flair, NWA House Show, 1989 (6 Stars)
Amongst their classic trilogy, Steamboat and Flair worked the house show circuit, with this match in March standing out as one of the few matches to break Dave Meltzer’s 5 Star Rating, by achieving an astonishing 6 Stars.
There isn’t much clear footage of this match, but in the videos that remain, the intensity is still palpable. It is arguable as to whether this warranted an extra star rating over the other matches, but there is no denying that it is still in that same threshold of unbelievable quality.