A few months ago, the wrestling world celebrated the career of Ric Flair when he was forced to retire. To mark this milestone, the WWE has released a 3-disc DVD set to commemorate his career. Ric already has a three-disc set dedicated to his career and a 2-disc set dedicated to the Four Horsemen on the market. How does this DVD compare to the other Flair DVDs on the market and how much repetition is on this DVD?
The Verdict
This DVD features the first documentary that looks exclusively at the career of Ric Flair. The overlapping between the stories on this DVD and the Four Horsemen DVD are kept to a minimum. The documentary is also much more entertaining than Flair's autobiography. Compared to other wrestler documentaries, this is one of the better ones that the WWE has done. Not only do you learn a lot about Ric Flair, it is also a history of wrestling. Flair is the champion that bridged the territorial era and the national era. This DVD explains the massive changes that took place in the industry in a way that is much better than on previous WWE DVDs.
Even though there are now 8 DVD discs dedicated to Ric Flair, I must commend the WWE for not putting any matches that are on other non-PPV DVDs on this DVD. Eight of the ten matches on this DVD set are on DVD for the first time.
As far as comparing this DVD set to the Ultimate Ric Flair collection which came out a few years ago, I would call it a draw. I feel that the matches on the Ultimate Collection were better than the ones on this DVD but the documentary and Flair's farewell address on this collection offset the difference in match quality.
Overall Recommendation: Buy this DVD. Old school fans that remember the prime of the Nature Boy's career will be sure to enjoy this trip back in time. Younger fans that might have been wondering why Ric was shown such a great deal of respect and brought many stars and fans to tears when he retired will understand why once they watch this DVD.
What's on the DVD?
Disc one consists of a 2-hour documentary about his life and career, a few bonus stories, and a video tribute featuring the Fuel song Leave the Memories Alone. Disc two consists entirely of matches. Disc three has a few matches, a few promos, and his farewell address that took place the night after WrestleMania with a few minutes of footage that was not seen on RAW.
Matches on this DVD Set
- Mid-Atlantic 8/82: vs. Jack Brisco - The first thing I thought while watching this is that TV production values have significantly increased in the past few decades. The other thing I realized is that the first two matches on this DVD and this really gives you an insight of what Flair used to go through in the territorial era.
- WCCW 8/82: Best-of-3 Falls Match vs. Kerry Von Erich - This is the match which led to the Michael Hayes officiating the rematch. That match led to the Von Erich-Freebird feud. Not only was Flair responsible for making stars out of individual wrestlers, he was also used to start feuds that would sustain several territories. After watching this match, I wonder how this referee got out of Texas alive.
- Mid-Atlantic 8/83: vs. Harley Race - This is exactly what you would expect to get when two of the all-time greats are in the ring together.
- World Wide Wrestling 12/85: Ric, Arn Anderson, & Ole Anderson vs. Dusty Rhodes, Magnum TA, & Manny Fernandez - Dusty's charisma is off the charts. It is amazing that he could get so much out of the crowd with every little thing he did. I always love the opportunity to watch Magnum TA and there is no doubt in my mind that if not for the car accident he would have been a major figure in the history of wrestling.
- Clash of Champions 1: vs. Sting - They say that you get what you pay for but on this day the opposite was true. While fans had to pay for WrestleMania IV, this was a much better event and it was shown for free on WTBS.
- Great American Bash '89: vs. Terry Funk - This was my favorite PPV event. Since this is the main event of my favorite PPV there is no doubt that I love this match. Not only is the match great but the post-match antics are wild and you don't see PPV events end like this anymore.
- MSG 10/91: vs. Roddy Piper - Another fun match on a DVD packed with them.
- Spring Stampede '94: vs. Ricky Steamboat: - While this is not as epic as their trilogy of matches in '89, which are all on DVD, it is still a very good match.
- Taboo Tuesday '05: Steel Cage Match vs. Triple H - It just seemed strange to see Triple H an Flair battle over the Intercontinental title at this point in their careers.
- WrestleMania XXIV: vs. Shawn Michaels - This is the front-runner for my 2008 match of the year award.
