Background: Ric Flair was scheduled to face Lex Luger for the U.S. championship not long after this match aired, and a needed a warm up.
World Championship Wrestling
8/13/1990
Gainesville, GA
Ric Flair vs. Bob Holley
Though the spelling is different, Holley is the future stockcar driver turned wrestler turned giant killer turned supposed bully Bob “Hardcore” Holly. After the initial tie up, Bob shoulder blocked Flair off of his feet to set up a hip toss. Things got ugly when Holley couldn’t flip Ric, so they repeated the spot with Flair looking at Holley afterwards like, “Oh, this kid’s gonna slap around a kid younger than him on cable TV.”
This wrestling match turned into a slugfest when Holley punched Flair into a back body drop. Sadly for Holley, the dirty veteran poked, raked, and clawed Holley’s eyes to stop his momentum. Flair tossed Holley to the floor for some breathing room, only for Holley to sunset flip the “Nature Boy” as he went to grab him. Flair stopped the pinning predicament with a simple right hand to the face of Bob Holley.
Flair made an unlikely mistake by trying to chop Holley, only for Bob to fire back. Getting tired of being punched, Flair threw Holley to the floor again. This time, Flair followed his opponent, dropping him throat first across the guardrails’ top. Chop-punch-belly to back suplex combination by Flair put Holley in position for an elbow drop before telling everyone, “Now … we go … to school!”
Following Flair’s bold statement, the former six time NWA World’s champion, Flair put Holley in the Figure Four Leg Lock to force the hopeful future WWF Hardcore champion into submission.
Winner: Ric Flair (5:58)
Is It A Classic: If you like lime green spandex and Ric Flair beating up people like only Flair can, then yes, this is a classic. If you expect more than just Flair squashing some random guy who would go on to become a “giant killer” in the WWF, then no, this isn’t a classic. It’s just a Ric Flair squash where Holley actually got in more offense then you’d expect before the inevitable loss to “The Nature Boy” happened.
