I’ve been long and drawn out so often over the past 16 shows about the importance and impact of all of these events on the Monday Night War and the history of the business that I just want to get into it. If you are new here, welcome to the Flairiod (named in honor of Ric Flair and stealing an idea from Bill Simmons and Grantland way back when)! This recaps the best, the worst and everything in between during a designated period of shows.
Who was on the frontlines sniping their rivals and who was crying in the trench asking for their momma?
Here is my Top 5 Overall MVPs for the Eighth Flairiod
1. Stone Cold Steve Austin- For the first time in Flairiod history, the number one overall performer in one category has gone back-to-back! The last go around was the steady climb, this was the meteoric rise. Watching it all over again really highlights how special the Rattlesnake was as a character, a promo and in the ring. Every time he is on my screen, I give a big OHHHHH HELL YEAH!!! (Ranked as number 1 overall MVP in Flairiod #7, number 5 overall MVP in Flairiod #4 and number 5 disappointment in Flairiod #3)
2. DDP- If it weren’t for his good friend in the other company, the oldest rookie in the world would have locked up the top spot easily. He’s every bit of an antihero, every bit of a charismatic workhorse and every bit of a good, deserving guy in the midst of so many assholes. It’s also hilarious that our top two have versions of Johnny Ace’s move and they are 9 billion times better than him at everything else. (Ranked as number 1 surprise in Flairiod #6, number 4 overall MVP in Flairiod #7 and number 2 disappointment in Flairiod #3)
3. Mankind-Mick Foley has petered off a little bit as of late, but his impact at the beginning of this section is arguably the greatest of his in-ring life. He’s in decent shape, he’s busting his ass and making every opponent look great and he’s hammered out the intricacies of this new gimmick. (Ranked as number 3 overall MVP in Flairiod #4 and number 2 uncrowned MVP in Flairiod #3)
4. Ultimo Dragon- I always knew that Mr. Asai was badass, but my appreciation for him has grown even further in these last few shows. He is state of the art in presentation, execution and attitude. In the groundbreaking cruiserweight division, he’s holding the jackhammer and shovel. (First Flairiod appearance)
5. Undertaker- You give the Dead Man something besides immobile giants or never-ending stables to fight and he excels. He has been reinvigorated and his evolution feels natural and fresh. Plus, he is the most popular he’s ever been. It’s anything but the Dark Side for ole Mean Mark nowadays. (First Flairiod appearance)
Here is my Top 5 Overall LVPs for the Eighth Flairiod
1. Vince McMahon- For much of this project, I never understand the widespread hate for the boss behind the headset. Sure, he wasn’t the best, but he wasn’t offensively bad. I take those internal thoughts back now. His final stretch as the lead announcer is filled with cliches, overexaggerated braggadocio and a seeming lack of basic listening and comprehension skills. What a maneuver it will be when he’s no longer doing this job. (First Flairiod appearance)
2. Fake Razor Ramon- Say hello to the totally uncoordinated and shitty guy! Whereas Glenn Jacobs did his best as Diesel, Rick Bogner essentially made Scott Hall look like the most unique performer in wrestling history by failing to replicate a single thing accurately at all. (First Flairiod appearance)
3. Ted DiBiase- It’s ironic that his catchphrase in WWF was “Everybody’s got a price” because it’s definitely true about Ted in WCW thus far. He fits the nWo like a hedgehog fits in a balloon both as a manager and as a commentator. (Ranked as number 4 overall MVP in Flairiod #2)
4. Debra McMichael- The last overall LVP list had Diana Smith, so I guess we have an honorary nepotism spot every time now! I highly doubt she grows into anything besides a pair of bosoms. If she does, you certainly didn’t see any inkling of it in her early WCW days. (First Flairiod appearance)
5. Madusa- As Alundra Blayze, she was putting on bangers and looked like a burgeoning icon in the industry. As Madusa, she’s bimbofied and holding back an entire division with her lackluster work. Maybe the wrong thing went in the trash. (First Flairiod appearance)
Here is my Top 5 Uncrowned MVPs for the Eighth Flairiod
1. Dean Malenko- When I grow up, I want to be 1996-1997 Dean Malenko. He’s the toughest guy in the world, always puts on baller matches and has a level of respect with the crowd that’s so hard to achieve. Being an opening match guy is the only thing that’s caused him to fail at earned top honors. He’s excelled when not being a priority. (Ranked number 4 uncrowned MVP in Flairiod #7)
2. Mike Tenay- I’ll happily go to class with the Professor any time he shows off his knowledge, actually calls moves and shows why he’s the best pure play-by-play commentator in the game. He always brings out the best in Bobby Heenan and Dusty Rhodes AKA they don’t eat him alive like they do Schiavone. (Ranked number 5 uncrowned MVP in Flairiod #7)
3. Kevin Nash- Scott Hall finally earned MVP honors during this timeframe, but I really should have made the future Big Sexy co-MVP with him because he’s been basically his partner’s equal in being the coolest dude in wrestling. He’s also been dialed in, bumping and the only person treating the nWo angle like it should be at all times. (Ranked as number 1 surprise in Flairiod #5
4. Eddie Guerrero- It’s crazy to me that 60% of this list is holdovers from the last uncrowned MVP block and the former number one is no exception. Don’t let his fall in this list fool you: Eddie is still churning out great matches, showing new shades of personality and connecting with the audience either way he wants them to. (Ranked number 1 uncrowned MVP in Flairiod #7)
5. The Giant- Joining and leaving the nWo humanized the biggest athlete in the world and given him much more depth to work with and he’s made the most of it. His work has gotten noticeably better and he’s always an intriguing promo. I finally see the potential. (Ranked as number 1 disappointment in Flairiod #7)
Here is my Top 5 Uncrowned LVPs for the Eighth Flairiod
1. Prince Iaukea- Taking a perennial jobber and giving him a title run and prominent wins on PPV sure is a decision and it could be exciting if the guy you chose isn’t a borderline offensive 70s stereotype that’s probably a jobber for a reason based on his ring work. (First Flairiod appearance)
2. Ahmed Johnson- After making history last time as the first guy to appear on both uncrowned lists, the Pearl River powerhouse has finally settled into a lane and it’s not the one I was hoping for. This is largely because of his injury history and absolutely unintelligible mic work. It’s sadly not going to get any better from here. (Ranked number 2 uncrowned MVP in Flairiod #7 and ranked number 5 uncrowned LVP in Flairiod #7)
3. Crush- He’s back and no one asked for it. It hasn’t helped that his real-life controversy has been made into part of his character and it’s almost as awkward as every move he delivers and every moment he has standing with the otherwise cool Nation. (Ranked as number 4 surprise in Flairiod #5)
4. Mark Henry- It was only two short appearances at the beginning of the Flairiod and I’m glad there weren’t more appearances because I’m not sure that anybody told him what wrestling was at this point. He seemed lost and out of place both talking and wrestling. (First Flairiod appearance)
5. Sonny Onoo- I’m fucking tired of this blatantly offensive friend of Eric Bischoff getting so much time managing talented people and impacting their good matches in a derogatory way. (First Flairiod appearance)
Here are my Top 5 Surprises for the Eighth Flairiod
1. The Barbarian- Yo, the Barbarian fucking rules! Meng hasn’t been shabby either, but I’m legitimately mad that it took this long for the big man to bust out some cool moves, bump like a badass and be as selfless as he is. Give this guy a push! (Ranked as number 7 surprise in Flairiod #1)
2. Lex Luger- Lex Luger’s successes and failures yoyo like a Duncan factory, but I’m happy for him becoming this juggernaut and potential savior as of late. His arc has given him more time to get comfortable on the mic and fine tune his ring work. There is nothing like a Luger rally and an impressive Torture Rack during this era. (Ranked as number 1 overall LVP in Flairiod #5 and Flairiod #7, number 2 overall LVP in Flairiod #4 and number 5 overall MVP in Flairiod #2)
3. Buff Bagwell- You mean giving a cocky, arrogant looking prick the gimmick of a cocky, arrogant prick will cause him to excel at his job? Go figure! (Ranked as number 1 uncrowned LVP in Flairiod #4)
4. Leif Cassidy- Al Snow’s comments in Beyond the Mat start to make sense when I see him carving out a great niche as a lower card heel in a meaningless gimmick and actually getting over for it only to have nothing capitalized from it. I thought it took Head to get me interested, but somehow a New Rocker already has. (First Flairiod appearance)
5. Mark Curtis-I love a good referee and I think the late Brian Hildebrand is a top five third man. He is in the background when he needs to be, sells the action better than most and takes a hell of a beating. I’m going to miss him and now retroactively wish he was hanging with Charles Robinson to this date. (First Flairiod appearance)
Here are my Top 5 Disappointments for the Eighth Flairiod
1. Flash Funk- I should just put a picture of Rick James saying “Cocaine is a hell of a drug” here, but I’ll elaborate. I had high hopes that the former Too Cold Scorpio was just underutilized during his WWF stint. I fear that he was rightfully held back because he can’t stop botching and the presentation is just off. Sweet ass theme song, though. (Ranked as number 4 uncrowned MVP in Flairiod #4)
2. Hollywood Hulk Hogan- Speaking of high hopes, the beginning of the Hulkster’s heel turn got me excited because he seemed so energized and different. While most (and I stress most) of his promos and character work are, his in-ring work has gotten worse because it’s somehow lazier and filled with more shenanigans that his face run in WCW. Oh brother. (Ranked as number 4 overall LVP in Flairiod #4, number 1 surprise in Flairiod #1 and number 3 disappointment in Flairiod #3)
3. Chris Jericho- If I hear “come on, baby” one more time, I think I get something for free on my struggling babyface punch card. The real reason Jericho is here is a general lack of interest from the audience. He’s not over and the crowd isn’t necessarily wrong. Tracking the early “list of Jericho” has been pretty boring. (First Flairiod appearance)
4. Jeff Jarrett- A change of scenery can do wonders on your perception and Double J needed that from his last WWF stretch. Instead, he’s ambiguously booked as a tweener and doing exactly the same old shit he’s been doing since he debuted on PPV some three years ago. It feels like 30. (Ranked as number 2 uncrowned MVP in Flairiod #6)
5. Shawn Michaels- This pains me, but success (and being a massive asshole) has finally caught up to HBK’s actual appearances. You can tell he actually lost his smile in some manner during this period, but I wish he was able to mask it like the overwhelming amazing stretch he had before this. (Ranked as number 1 overall MVP in Flairiod #6, number 2 overall MVP in Flairiod #7 and number 3 uncrowned MVP in Flairiod #3)
Here are my Top 5 Favorite Matches during the EIghth Flairiod
1. Bret Hart vs Stone Cold Steve Austin at WrestleMania 13
2. Shawn Michaels vs Mankind at In Your House: Mind Games
3. Bret Hart vs The Undertaker vs Stone Cold Steve Austin vs Vader at In Your House: Final Four
4. The 1997 Royal Rumble
5. Bret Hart vs Stone Cold Steve Austin at Survivor Series 1996
Here are my Top 5 Least Favorite Matches during the Eighth Flairiod
1. Perro Aguayo, El Canek and Hector Garza vs Fuerza Guerrera, Jerry Estrada and Heavy Metal at Royal Rumble 1997
2. Hollywood Hulk Hogan vs Randy Savage at Halloween Havoc 1996
3. Hollywood Hulk Hogan vs The Giant at Souled Out 1997
4. Akira Hokuto vs Madusa at Starrcade 1996
5. Rocky Maivia vs The Sultan at WrestleMania 13
Here are the Top 5 Win Totals in Retro Diary History
1. Sting- 40
2. Hulk Hogan- 36
3. Randy Savage and Bret Hart- 30
4. Ric Flair- 28
5. Lex Luger- 26
Here are the Top 5 Loss Totals in Retro Diary History
1. Arn Anderson- 31
2. Lex Luger, Bret Hart and Michael Wallstreet- 24
3. Ric Flair, Meng and The Barbarian- 23
4. Goldust- 22
5. Randy Savage- 21
Here is the Top 5 in My All-Time Favorite Matches
1. Bret Hart- 21
2. Ric Flair- 20
3. Shawn Michaels- 19
4. Randy Savage, British Bulldog and Vader- 13
5. Sting- 12
Here is the Top 5 in My All-Time Least Favorite Matches
1. Hulk Hogan- 12
2. Undertaker- 10
3. Goldust and Jim Duggan- 8
4. Lex Luger and Kevin Sullivan- 7
5. Mabel- 6
Here is the All-Time MVP Leaderboard
1. Bobby Heenan- 9
2. Shawn Michaels- 7
3. Ric Flair and Steve Austin- 6
4. Vader, Randy Savage, Sting and Bret Hart- 5
5. Mick Foley- 4
Here is the All-Time LVP Leaderboard
1. Lex Luger- 5
2. Vince McMahon- 4
3. Roddy Piper, Brutus Beefcake, Nikolai Volkoff, Bob Caudle and Nailz- 3
Here are the Top 5 UNPROTECTED HEAD SHOT Recipients
1. Mankind- 32
2. Johnny Grunge- 29
3. Vader- 22
4. Jerry Sags and Rocco Rock- 21
5. Brian Knobbs- 18
Here are some of the other things I’m tracking
Billy Gunn is STILL batting a perfect 100% on appearing like Billy Bitchcakes (and is soon about to become Rockabilly, so that’s not gonna change anytime soon)
Ric Flair’s top rope success rate still sits at 45%.
Triple H has been THE guy 35% of the time and done something surprising 65% of the time.
Undertaker added five Tombstones to his tally and it has looked like death 55% of the time.
DDP has now hit 13 Diamond Cutters and Stone Cold has now hit nine Stunners.
You can predict what happens with Chris Benoit 94% of the time.
The Rock has smelled like his first two movies, his biggest comedy flop and his introductory role as his most famous character.
Ted DiBiase and Tony Schiavone joined the “MVP and LVP” list.
Wrath is the active wrestler with the most losses without a win at seven.
Nine of the shows were recommended, so it was an above average section. Three shows entered the top 25 and three shows entered the bottom 25. It hasn’t been as drastic of an era in terms of quality as I figured, but everything feels more important. Business is booming and there’s an energy that has been missing for most of this project.
I hope that keeps going through the ninth Flairiod. It should be considering the land of extreme joins the war, there’s a whole new war over North American supremacy in the WWF, the Worm enters the ring, there’s a less than Perfect defection, the new rising star has their legendary setback, Shawn Michaels bones the United Kingdom and the month of October in 1997 goes absolutely insane while going to hell at the same time.
PPV Rankings
1. WrestleMania 3
2. Royal Rumble 1992
3. Spring Stampede 1994
4. Great American Bash 1996
5. Survivor Series 1987
6. Great American Bash 1989
7. WrestleMania X
8. SuperBrawl 2
9. Bash at the Beach 1996
10. SuperBrawl VII*
11. Royal Rumble 1993
12. Survivor Series 1988
13. Starrcade 1986
14. Royal Rumble 1990
15. SuperBrawl 3
16. Chi-Town Rumble
17. WrestleMania VI
18. WrestleWar 91
19. Starrcade 1983
20. Halloween Havoc 1996*
21. Starrcade 1992
22. WrestleWar 90
23. SummerSlam 91
24. Royal Rumble 1997*
25. Starrcade 1988
26. Royal Rumble 1995
27. Halloween Havoc 1990
28. King of the Ring 1993
29. King of the Ring 1996
30. Royal Rumble 1996
31. WrestleMania VII
32. Survivor Series 1995
33. Fall Brawl 1996*
34. Buried Alive*
35. Great American Bash 1990
36. Survivor Series 1991
37. Great American Bash 95
38. World War 3 95
39. Uncensored 1997*
40. WrestleMania 2
41. Great American Bash 88
42. WrestleWar 89
43. SuperBrawl I
44. Survivor Series 1996*
45. SummerSlam 95
46. Survivor Series 1992
47. This Tuesday in Texas
48. WrestleWar 92
49. Starrcade 1996*
50. King of the Ring 94
51. Slamboree 95
52. Halloween Havoc 93
53. Starrcade 95
54. In Your House 2
55. Starrcade 93
56. Mind Games*
57. In Your House 1
58. Survivor Series 1994
59. WrestleMania XII
60. The Wrestling Classic
61. Starrcade 1987
62. Beach Blast 1992
63. SummerSlam 1993
64. WrestleMania VIII
65. In Your House 5
66. Royal Rumble 1991
67. Good Friends, Better Enemies
68. WrestleMania 13*
69. Slamboree 1994
70. SummerSlam 1988
71. SummerSlam 1989
72. Starrcade 1989
73. Survivor Series 1989
74. SummerSlam 1992
75. Slamboree 1993
76. SuperBrawl IV
77. SummerSlam 1994
78. Final Four*
79. Survivor Series 1990
80. Bash at the Beach 1994
81. In Your House 3
82. Halloween Havoc 1989
83. Great American Bash 1992
84. Beach Blast 1993
85. Royal Rumble 1994
86. Spring Stampede 1997*
87. Starrcade 1985
88. Beware of Dog
89. Bunkhouse Stampede
90. The Big Event
91. Royal Rumble 1989
92. Survivor Series 1993
93. SummerSlam 1990
94. WrestleMania V
95. World War 3 96*
96. Fall Brawl 1994
97. Hog Wild 96
98. In Your House 6
99. Slamboree 96
100. SuperBrawl V
101. Uncensored 96
102. Fall Brawl 1995
103. International Incident
104. Battlebowl
105. It’s Time*
106. Halloween Havoc 1992
107. Royal Rumble 1988
108. SummerSlam 1996*
109. Halloween Havoc 1991
110. WrestleMania 1
111. Halloween Havoc 1994
112. SuperBrawl VI
113. Bash at the Beach 1995
114. WrestleMania XI
115. WrestleMania IX
116. Halloween Havoc 1995
117. Starrcade 1991
118. Starrcade 1990
119. WrestleMania IV
120. In Your House 4
121. Starrcade 1994
122. Capitol Combat
123. Starrcade 1984
124. Souled Out 1997*
125. Fall Brawl 1993
126. King of the Ring 1995
127. Great American Bash 1991
128. Uncensored 1995