10 Biggest Unification Matches In Wrestling History
2. Sting vs. Ric Flair - WCW World Heavyweight/International World Heavyweight Championship (Clash Of The Champions XVII)
Brace yourselves, this one is complicated. After Ted Turner bought Jim Crockett Promotions in 1988 WCW was born. The new promotion still used the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, the big gold belt we all know as the WCW/WWE World Heavyweight Championship as their top title. Ric Flair would lose the NWA title (the big gold belt) to Sting in 1990 before winning it back. During 1991, Flair would lose the NWA title (the BGB) to Tatsumi Fujinami in Japan. The promotions over there recognised the WCW and NWA titles as separate, while WCW didn't. Madness. Flair would eventually beat Fujinami in May 1991 to claim the belt back. Flair then left WCW for the WWF later that year and took the big gold belt with him. WCW stripped Flair of the WCW and NWA titles. Lex Luger beat Barry Windham in a cage and was crowned the new WCW Champion. A new belt was created before Masahiro Chono beat Rick Rude in Japan to become the new NWA Champion. Chono then received the big gold belt, which Flair had returned to WCW. So WCW had two world champions at the same time, 10 years before WWE would. Chono would lose the NWA title (still the BGB) to The Great Muta in Japan during another WCW/NJPW event. Muta would then drop it to Barry Windham in 1993 before Flair returned to WCW. The Nature Boy would then win the NWA title from Windham. In September of 1993, WCW would leave the NWA with Flair still the NWA champion with the Big Gold Belt. The NWA stripped him of that title which led to them having a tournament in 1994 in a company called Eastern Championship Wrestling with Shane Douglas winning. Cue infamous promo. With the NWA title gone, WCW still recognised Flair as a champion as he never officially lost the big gold belt. He would go on to lose the BGB to Rick Rude before it was renamed the WCW International World Heavyweight Championship. Rude would ultimately lose that International title to Sting and Flair would win the WCW Championship against Vader. Sting defending the WCW International World Heavyweight Championship, now the big gold belt, against Ric Flair who was still classed as the WCW Champion at Clash of the Champions XXVII. Ric Flair would win the match, and unify both titles. Then the WCW Championship would be represented by the Big Gold Belt. Flair would then drop the title to Hulk Hogan in The Hulkster's first match in WCW.
