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In Gimmick Some Lovin', we take a look at one iteration of a gimmick match each week. Some are iconic for their success, others for the extent to which they flopped, and some just...happened.
Also read: Gimmick Some Lovin': The Buried Alive match
We defined a "gimmick match" as, in any way, adding a rule/stipulation to or removing a rule from a match, changing the physical environment of a match, changing the conditions which define a "win", or in any way moving past the simple requirement of two men/women/teams whose contest must end via a single pinfall, submission, count out, or disqualification.
This week, in honor of ESPN's 30 for 30 about The Nature Boy Ric Flair premiering Tuesday, November 7, and with the announcement last week that the 25th anniversary edition of Monday Night Raw would emanate, at least partially, from the Manhattan Center, which hosted this contest along with much of the early editions of Raw, we're taking a look at the final televised match of Flair's first WWF run, the iconic Loser Leaves Town match which pitted Flair against his former confidante, "Mr. Perfect".
From Executive Assistant to Enemy
Two major events, one more fortuitous than the other, led to one of the then-WWF's most iconic pairings of the early 1990s. First was the injury to Curt Hennig's (a.k.a. Mr. Perfect's) lower back in the summer of 1991, which led to Perfect submitting to Bret Hart's Sharpshooter at that year's SummerSlam, losing the Intercontinental Title in what was purported to be Hennig's final match. Because of severe damage to his tailbone and several discs in his back accrued over his storied career, Perfect transitioned into a managerial role the next time he was seen on T.V.
His client?
The limousine-ridin', jet-flyin', kiss-stealin', wheelin', dealin', Jim Herd-fightin', To Be The Man-writin' son of a gun himself, "The Nature Boy" Ric Flair. Flair and then-WCW head honcho Herd clashed often over Flair's pay, look, contract, influence in the company, legacy, and just about anything else two men can clash over backstage at a wrestling show, which resulted in Flair leaving WCW (but, in one of the greatest examples of oversight in sports entertainment history, taking the world championship belt with him until a five-figure deposit could be returned).
Flair was naturally paired with easily the greatest heel manager the business has ever seen, Bobby Heenan, and Heenan's legacy managing Mr. Perfect (among too many other notable bad guys to list), made the recently-retired Hennig the perfect addition to Flair's entourage. With Hennig and Heenan by his side, Ric Flair captured the World Wrestling Federation Championship by lasting a then-record 62:02 in the 1992 Royal Rumble, where the vacant WWF Championship went to the victor.
Hennig would support Flair throughout 1992 but, as Survivor Series approached (and as Heenan's comments toward Perfect became more derogatory and dismissive), a replacement was needed for the departing "Ultimate Warrior" to team with "Macho Man" Randy Savage against Flair and newcomer Razor Ramon. In a heated confrontation, Perfect accepted Savage's invitation to partner up, and a newly-babyface Mr. Perfect and his Slim Jim-snapping partner were victorious.
January 25, 1993
Onscreen, the hatred between the two continued to boil, with each man interfering in his foe's match on the January 18 Monday Night Raw, and Perfect even eliminating the Nature Boy from the 1993 Royal Rumble (the first iteration of the match where the victor would become the number one contender for the WWF Championship at Wrestlemania).
Offscreen, however, Flair wasn't the fit in the World Wrestling Federation many thought he could be, and the fans "up North" didn't really take to him the way that traditional NWA/WCW crowds had. Additionally, Jim Herd was no longer in charge, and Flair would be guaranteed a top spot in the company practically built on his back.
With the old-school mentality that you always go out on your back, and that a star's final match in a territory should be used to build a younger star, Flair agreed to a Loser Leaves Town match on the January 25, 1993 edition of Monday Night Raw (the night after the Rumble).
If this match were held in 2017, social media, internet rumours, and flashy headlines would have killed any suspense in this match, because Naitch's impending return to Atlanta would almost be common knowledge among wrestling fans. In the pre-internet wrestling business, however, this was a dream match of master technicians meeting in one-on-one combat for the first time (on WWF television, at least) with the right to remain a WWF Superstar on the line.
The Rules
This is only somewhat tangentially a "gimmick match," but the Loser Leaves Town match is a standard one-fall contest wherein the loser, as the name implies, leaves the company. It's a match type which harkens back to wrestling's territorial era and used as a convenient means to explain a particular character's disappearance from one territory until his eventual return.
The Match
There's a lot about this match that shouldn't work, but it does.
First, it's a total anachronism; the opening segment of the show saw Macho Man Randy Savage defeat Repo Man to regain possession of Savage's legendary hat, and the post-show graphic hyped up the following week's highly-anticipated matchup of Doink the Clown vs. Typhoon. In an era (and company) where the cartoonish family fare was becoming the norm, this match was old school AWA or NWA wrasslin'. It's a multi-segment match (the WWE Network cut of this night's Raw is roughly 44 minutes, nearly half of which is taken up by this contest), and Perfect bleeds through a good portion of it.
It's also sloppy at times; there are several awkward looking and/or blown spots (Perfect at one point counters a Flair flying attack into a strange-looking sleeper/side headlock attempt and another time hit a stiff-looking clothesline during a babyface rally to counter another Flair attack). Additionally, Flair works Hennig's back early and often, keeping a long-term story going well, but then Perfect spends the latter half of the match selling the knee after a lengthy figure-four leglock.
It strangely all works, though; the match tells a story of two men desperate to keep their careers intact, so much so that their technical mastery often falls by the wayside. Add to that every man in the match (Flair, Perfect, referee Earl Hebner, Heenan, even Vince McMahon on commentary) playing his part to absolute perfection (pun 100% intended).
Ric Flair plays the classic heel like no other, resting his shin on Perfect's throat while simultaneously pleading his innocence with Hebner, gripping the top rope for leverage during the figure four spot, and using the mysterious foreign object (hidden in his kneepad, of course).
Heenan's intermittent commentary (intermittent because of his constant meddling in the bout's action) takes the heat to a whole new level. His raspy desperation as the match wears on calls back to the 1992 Royal Rumble, and it's a testament to his mastery on the mic that, nearly 25 years after the fact, Heenan's exhausted gloating as Flair took control near the end made me doubt Perfect's ability to come back.
Perfect, likewise, makes his babyface comeback with a righteous fire that would pull in even the most jaded of fans, but its effectiveness is truly made by Flair's dastardliness and Heenan's righteous indignation at his ally's mistreatment.
However, the real MVP of this contest is Earl Hebner, who is so insistent on a fair contest that he takes a flying dive off the ring apron to prevent Flair from attacking Perfect with an ornate-looking ballroom chair at ringside. It's proof positive that no ingredient in this match is wasted.
My Rating
This match is good. Really good. It's not the technical masterpiece I was expecting based on these men's reputation, but it was a classic of storytelling and the career vs. career stipulation ups the intensity for literally everyone in the match (it's also interesting that it's billed as "career vs. career," as if no longer wrestling in the World Wrestling Federation were the equivalent of no longer wrestling again, ever).
Heenan, as always, amplifies the in-ring action as only he could, and even Vince McMahon's stereotypically bombastic commentary doesn't detract.
Though the style these men worked made for a great contest, I can't give it a perfect 10/10 because of some of those sloppy spots; it took me out of the action a little to wonder how what a crisper, tighter contest between the two might have been.
Final score: 9/10
Meltzer says:
Dave gives this one ****, which is incredible for a "free" TV match at the time.
