This was always going to be the most difficult and contentious decision. The WWE has had countless American performers, with several bona fide legends among them. The other obvious upper echelon candidates were The Rock, Stone Cold Steve Austin, John Cena and Hulk Hogan. But for me, Flair edged it. In the 1980s, Flair represented the NWA while Hogan was the kingpin of the WWF. Wrestling magazines often wrote about Hogan-Flair dream matches and debated who would win. The two were like chalk and cheese. Flair was the stylish, cocky technical master. Hogan was the bustling giant who bulldozed his opponents with a powerful offence which lacked the finesse of Flair. But what often gets overlooked with Flair is the schedule that he endured as NWA World Heavyweight Champion. The champion toured all the NWA territories. That meant wrestling all over the United States, plus Hawaii, Japan, New Zealand and Australia. He was truly a world champion. The travel was insane. Add to that the fact that he would often have to wrestle the local territorys champion, who would often be an opponent hed never met before and sometimes would need to be carried to a passable match. At other times, hed do a swing of staple NWA cities, wrestling the same opponent all week. However, his matches with the likes of Ricky Steamboat and Barry Windham often went over 45 minutes. At one point, Flair had a whole week of 60 minute draws and even a few 90 minute matches with Barry Windham. When Flair and the NWA fell out in 1991 over a contractual dispute, the unthinkable happened: Flair went to the WWF to make the fantasy match with Hogan a reality. At this time in the WWF though, Vince McMahon liked to make out that the WWF was the only game in town. No matter how great anyones accomplishments outside of the Federation were, they were ignored. The NWA World title reigns of Ricky Steamboat, Ronnie Garvin and Dusty Rhodes were all brushed under the carpet. But when Flair came in, he rewrote Vinces rulebook. Carrying the NWA World Heavyweight title belt, which he still legally owned at the time, he was acknowledged as The Real World Champion, and while the NWA was understandably not named, it was clear to anyone with half a clue who Flair and Bobby Heenan were referring to. Flairs one man show in the 1992 Royal Rumble to capture the WWF World title was one of the greatest storytelling performances of all time. He became the first man since Buddy Rogers to hold both WWF and NWA World titles. In his second WWE run, he was the lynchpin of Evolution, the WWEs attempt at remaking the Four Horsemen. Flair had one final epic encounter when in his emotion-charged retirement match against Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania XXIV. Hes the only two-time WWE Hall of Famer and has even had two cities declare a Ric Flair Day. Hes clearly the number one choice for representing the USA.
Dean Ayass is a well known name to British wrestling fans. A commentator, manager, booker and ring announcer who has been involved in the business since 1993, Dean's insight into the business is second to none.
