ALL TIME MOTY LIST Head to Head 1986: UWF v. NJ 10 Man v. Flair v. Morton

Ric Flair v. Ricky Morton NWA 7/5/86

PAS: This match starts with possibly the coolest entrance in wrestling history as Flair lands on the field of a baseball stadium in a helicopter and steps out to Also Sprach Zarathustra. Morton has a face mask and is looking for revenge as Flair and the Horseman mangled his face and broke his nose. The whole match is based around working the face, Morton goes after Flair's face, landing these awesome downward punches to the giant nose, and lots of eye rakes and cage face rakes. When Flair gets the advantage he rips off Morton's mask and bloodies him up. Super nasty way for a pair of hearthrobs to work, only one will be pretty at the end of this match. The whole feud was based around Flair being pissed that Morton was draining off the teen rats, so a match where both guys were trying disfigure each other works perfectly. Morton has awesome looking punches, and this was some of the best Flair punching I can remember, there was some Lawler level exchanges in this match, including one with both guys standing on the top rope which ends with Flair doing a top rope Flair flop, which is an awesome 80's high spot. Violent brawler Flair is the best and this was maybe the most vicious he has ever been. Finish was a bit cheap shotish, although you know Flair was going to sneak his way to a win. Loved this, so crazy it sat in a box for so many years.

ER: As far as life accomplishments/pro wrestling entrances go, it's probably impossible to beat landing in stadium in a helicopter, getting a red carpet rolled out for you, and stoically walking to the ring in your purple robe, large older women grabbing at your butt and you not breaking stride. And the match is big, important pro wrestling. Morton has a face mask from his Horseman beatdown, and Flair has a punchable face, and both take turns finally flying into the cage, across the ring, and faces get rubbed all across that cage. I love stooging more than most wrestling fans, and I am so happy that Flair dropped the stooging here and went for vicious killer. We get one "shoved by the ref" spot, but even then he doesn't stooge it like he typically does that spot: He he shoved into the ropes, parallel, and doesn't take a pratfall, doesn't flop, instead just falling into them and getting up pissed. Morton gets thrown violently into the cage and pinballs all the way across the ring, and I like when it's Flair's turn to go into the cage he takes the bump differently than Morton, instead falling down hard and fast.  Both men closed fist punch each other in the face, with Morton doing some great headlock punches, both having a standing exchange that reminds us just how terrible most "stand and throw" exchanges are in modern wrestling, and Flair throws his #1 best punch ever: He's got Ricky in the corner, looks to someone in the crowd and asks "Rock & Roll?" He waits for their unheard response, lets out a single HA! and then punches the fuck out of Morton's nose. Flair takes the monster bump of the match, doing the Flair flop off the top rope (I don't recall ever seeing him take the bump like that), which is a chiropractor's dream. Dropping face first from a standing position already doesn't feel like a natural way to land. Now you add another 5 feet of height to that fall? I would have flipped my wig seeing that bump live. The finish is downright mean as Flair crotch's Ricky on the top rope and Ricky bounces up so violently that you think he ruptured a testicle. Great, great pro wrestling, and not only did it take 25 years to see the light of day, but it took a third Flair DVD release for it to even happen.

10 Man Tag Review

Verdict: 

ER: This was a real back-and-forth for me. These two matches are really tough to compare, the goals were so different. Even on a base level, one was based on revenge, one was based on supremacy. One had two men locked off from the world, one had 10 men with different motives and abilities. Those are two very difficult narratives to compare directly. But in this moment, the Flair match takes it for me. Flair could get mean, but this was Flair at his most vicious. A violent Flair feels like the necessary Flair to represent our list.

PAS: If Flair is going to make it back from the hospital, he is going to have to brawl like this. No begging off from the Grim Reaper, he is going to have to rip him right in the eye. Love the 10 man, it's an all time classic, but it's the Nature Boy for me.