There’s a great argument that Ric Flair is the greatest wrestler of all time. You’re almost certainly familiar with his case, so I won’t rehash it here, but the man absolutely dominated the 1980s wrestling scene in addition to having great performances and matches over the course of the next two decades.
There’s also a great argument that, at this point in time, Ric Flair was the best wrestler on earth. After a highly lauded series with career rival Ricky Steamboat as well as a phenomenal duology with Terry Funk the previous year, Flair in January 1990 was riding high atop the mountain of the wrestling universe. It’s easy to know this and intuit that, even as a babyface rather than his natural heel leanings, the Nature Boy would be the one primarily in control in a title match with someone like Bobby Eaton, a great worker in his own right but primarily utilized as one half of the Midnight Express team with Stan Lane.
This is––without a shadow of a doubt––Bobby Eaton’s match, though.
It’s not just the fact that he works the vast majority of this match in control. Even from the very beginning in the midst of Flair’s shine, he can’t help but stand out with his absurd stooging. Take, for instance, this bump off of a simple shoulder block:
It’s the kind of ludicrously awesome bump that, in the hands of a lesser talent, could easily be seen as too hokey or contrived, but Eaton commits so much of himself to taking it that it works completely here. Or, how about this bump here where he gets thrown from the apron right into the guardrail:
You see what I mean? He can’t help but steal the show here on the defensive, which is only matched by what he does when he’s the one in the driver’s seat.
As one of the best offensive guys of his era, and in maybe the most important singles match of his career up to this point, Eaton is absolutely on one in this match. All of his punches look incredible, launching right fists into Flair’s face and gut with precision. When he laser-focuses on Flair’s hurt neck in the heat section, it all feels so mean-spirited, especially the knee drop off of the apron directly onto the back of the champion’s head.
Of course, being a part of Cornette’s group, there’s plenty of cheating to go with the action as well. Corny is quick to get his shots in with his signature racket whenever the referee’s distracted, leading to a great moment where Flair tries to chase after the wily manager outside the ring only to collapse to the floor due to the damage dealt to his neck.
I would be remiss to not highlight Flair’s performance too. Often I find myself more enamored with babyface Flair than the stylin’, profilin’ bad guy that he often projects in his work, as it’s a side to him that I don’t see very often. He really takes to it well for someone that wasn’t comfortable in the role; his signature wails of pain are now used as a a ploy to garner sympathy, and it works so well. He has multiple great hope spots, trying to punch and claw his way back into the fight, and every time Eaton has an answer for the champ. When Eaton applies what Lance Russell on commentary calls a figure-four on Flair’s head, the Nature Boy is phenomenal selling the performance of a man being sapped of his energy, trying to hold on until he can reach the ropes.
Bobby Eaton in this match is akin to a fighting game character that is a glass cannon; when he’s the one applying pressure, he’s scary, but you hit them once and they’re done, basically. You could tell this from the beginning, as he recoils from a simple chop, but it’s easy to forget when he’s going to town on Flair’s neck. Eventually, Flair gets an opening and starts pouring it on, hitting all of his signature moves before appliyng his figure-four. The finish is a lot of fun, too, as Flair exacts revenge on Cornette by throwing him back in the ring, hitting him with his racket, and whacking Eaton with it as well before pinning him for the win.
This isn’t perfect, though. On the macro level, it feels like a bit of a stretch to believe that Eaton is a credible challenger to Flair’s title as a primary tag wrestler. Additionally, on the micro level, it’s easy to understand why Eaton keeps going to the figure four on the head to further wear down the neck, but it does get to a point where it feels repetitive and not forward-thinking enough.
Still, this is a great TV main event, and hopefully a harbinger for the years that both these guys are shaping up to have in 1990.
Rating: ****
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