10 Forgotten Ric Flair World Title Reigns
2. What’s The Hold Up? (1994)
When Ric Flair and Ricky Steamboat waged war in the first half of 1989, few could have predicted how legendary their trilogy of matches would become. However, while their classic three match series in ‘89 would become ingrained in wrestling folklore, many overlook the fact that the pair would have a second trilogy five years later in the spring of ‘94.
When WCW held its inaugural Spring Stampede event in April of 1994, WCW officials needed a big match to main event what would go on to be one of the company’s biggest events in the PPV calendar. That main event came in the form of old rivals, Ric Flair and Ricky Steamboat, butting heads one more time for championship gold.
Following a card that also featured Steven Regal vs. Brian Pillman for the TV Title, Steve Austin vs. The Great Muta for the US Title and Sting vs. Rick Rude for WCW International World Title, the main event showdown for the WCW Championship had some big shoes to fill. Luckily for fans, the Flair/Steamboat collision didn’t disappoint and the old rivals managed to recapture the magic of old as if time had stood still since their famous trilogy five years earlier.
After a vicious bout, the match would end under controversial circumstances when Steamboat’s attempt at a double chickenwing submission resulted in both men’s shoulders being held down for the three count. While the result had initially seen Flair retain the title, the match would retrospectively be ruled a no-contest with the title held up after the fact.
The return bout would take place on a special two hour edition of WCW Saturday Night, which aired on 14 May 1994. Proving that “wrestling” was well and truly still an integral part of the game, the two men put in a performance that was arguably even better than their previous battle at Spring Stampede.
Despite the outstanding athleticism on display, the match itself concludes somewhat anticlimactically with Flair pinning Steamboat after a headbutt to the gut following an unsuccessful leap-frog attempt by 'The Dragon'. Nevertheless, after 36 minutes of solid, fast-paced action, Flair would reclaim the vacant gold and prove once again that he was undoubtedly the man; however, the title vacation and subsequent win by Flair are still completely ignored by WWE.
The match would prove to be the final World Title contest of Steamboat’s career; however, the career rivals would clash one last time on WCW Worldwide on 24 July in what was the very last one-on-one confrontation of their storied rivalry. Steamboat allegedly lobbied for one final bout with Flair over a decade later in 2006 with hopes of a match between the two at WrestleMania 22. Sadly for fans, the proposed Steamboat/Flair encounter was never green-lit.