9. Triple H vs. Ric Flair (2003)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uzXKgyAuO4 Ric Flair spent 2002-2005 as Triple H's faithful manservant. Yeah, he worked a few dull singles matches and a tag run with Batista during those years, but mostly he was there to pretend to be J.J. Dillon while Triple H pretended to be Ric Flair. It seemed as though there was nothing he wouldn't do for his employer/apprentice /bestest friend, at least until Triple H made the faux pas of assuming Flair would lie down and take the fall when the two were scheduled to face one another for the world title. Raw was in Greenville, South Carolina that night, the very heart of Flair Country, and the Nature Boy was determined to show he was anything but an afterthought. For this one night, he was like the Ric Flair of old, targeting the Game's injured midsection with his trademark hard chops and even a vertical suplex on the outside. It was like the Nature Boy was running on muscle memory, reliving some long-forgotten mid-South epic with Ron Garvin or Magnum TA. Flair whittled away at Triple H scientifically when he could, and when the champ's youth and strength didn't allow that he'd rake the eyes and go right back to work. There was blood in the water, and with his hometown fans behind him, it really seemed as though Flair could add a 17th world title to his resume. Alas, it was not to be, and Triple H managed to put down his mentor with a Pedigree. Following the match, the champ symbolically handed Flair the championship anyway - the same belt that Flair had defended against the likes of Vader and Sting years earlier. Naturally, they'd both resume being the biggest heels on the show by the next week.