Pitting the two men for the World Heavyweight Championship in the first of two main events of the evening. Flair and Savage were at the top of their game, some (me) would argue they never really lost 'it', just dabbled in shitness the latter half of their careers. Both managed to be legends well before retirement was on the horizon.
Flair/Savage any other time would've been a killer main event. But (Psycho) Sid Justice vs. Hulk Hogan muscled its way in cause...well it was 1992 and it was Hulkamania. But while Sid/Hogan is by-the-numbers-Hogan-gets-punched-a-lot-Hulks-up-then-punches-a-lot, the World Title match is a helluva story.
Firstly we have Flair and manager Mr.Perfect cackling, as only Flair and Perfect can, about pasting up a poster of Miss Elizabeth in the nip. Hold on, are these guys the bad guys? Either way, Savage cuts a promo defending Elizabeth's honor, barking at poor 'Mean' Gene and reminding me again how much I adore Savage's interviews.
So we get to the action and its really flawless. Savage was so great at being both an underdog and a perfectly believable champ. He'd get beaten down and beaten down but his comeback is never hammy. As for Ric Flair? Well Flair is Flair, a wonderful villain, he is evil to the point of a cartoon character here, plotting to insult the honor of Elizabeth. Dramatics are brought to an absolute high when Miss Elizabeth herself shows up to get involved (along with a young Shane McMahon!) and I'm about ready to explode (with excitement...wrestling excitement...). Now Savage is livid! He is gonna make sure no one sees Lizzie's bits and pieces except him. Damn! He just turned over the goddamn figure-four!
Finally Perfect steps up. He has as much invested in Flair being champ as Flair! He employs one of my favorite interference tactics, pass the brass knucks then distract the ref. Flair nails Savage and he is ready to steal the victory. Sigh, chalk one up for the bad guys, I guess we will see Miss Elizabeth's nips..1...2...KICK OUT!
Awesome.
Unsurprisingly, with a nudity stipulation in a PG era of rasslin' Savage picks up the win and the title aaaand the hand of Miss Elizabeth.
The closing celebrations are proof that whatever about the legitimacy of what they do in the ring, I still manage to get caught up in the story and dramatics of the whole affair. Plus Flair's post-match promo goes from villainous to just plain creepy when he basically threatens rape on Miss Elizabeth.
Only in pro-wrestling!
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