10 Great Wrestling World Title Reigns Marred By Bad Endings

Of Ric Flair's many reigns with the NWA Title - ten, although this number has been disputed - his fifth official run with the strap is marked by an odd conclusion. For 412 days, Flair travelled far and wide defending the top prize against all manner of opponents, including old foe Barry Windham, Michael PS Hayes and Dusty Rhodes.

Promoter Jim Crockett had a lot of faith in The Nature Boy as he looked to expand the NWA and take on Vince McMahon Jr.'s burgeoning WWF. There was, however, a fear that no one else on the roster was near Flair's star level bar Dusty Rhodes, who was never trusted with lengthy title reigns.

In what appeared to be a bizarre booking whim, Flair shockingly dropped the strap to Ron Garvin in a steel cage bout. Their feud at the time was very popular with fans and involved everything from Flair lusting after Garvin's valet Precious, to dressing up in drag to jump Garvin from the barricade.

As great as their matches were, Garvin lacked the charisma necessary to successfully usurp Flair at the top. Regardless, the trigger was pulled and Garvin was given the ball to roll with. For Flair, whose title run was supposed to eventually set up a top babyface victory and new NWA Worlds Champ, this was a disappointing conclusion.

Serving as a placeholder to pop a rating opposite WWF's Survivor Series, Garvin dropped the belt back to Flair at Starrcade '87. Given the slightly pointless nature of Garvin's brief run on top, this serves as the worst conclusion to an epic Flair run from his '80s heyday.