by Scotty Szanto-Nicodemus
Exclusive to OnlineOnslaught.com

Ric Flair (champ) v. Dusty Rhodes:  
Great American Bash 7/26/86

There you see the World Heavyweight Champion, Ric Flair.  He’s defended it against the best in the world.  The man across from him now, “The American Dream”, Dusty Rhodes, wants Ric Flair, and wants that championship.

Everything in the world is second best, until it comes to the World Heavyweight Championship, held by “The Nature Boy” Ric Flair.  Right here is where Ric Flair won that championship, inside a cage, and now…look at this.

Bell rings.

We’re ready…they’re ready…it starts.  The cock of the walk, “The Nature Boy” Ric Flair.

Look at Dusty…who’s the cock of the walk now, right?

Look, look, look at Dusty.  Left jabs…puts him down.  Ric comes in, another left jab.  Down on the mat.  Catches him again.  Gets ready, winds up.  Ric rolls ou…there’s nowhere to go!

Ric slowly comes up.  Objecting to the tactics of Dusty Rhodes.  Ric comes out slowly…after Big Dust.  Hesitates…grabs him in a Headlock.  Ric Flair now, squeezing tighter and tighter, switching, goes around to the arm.  Dusty reverses, he has it.  Ric tries to come out of it, Dusty still has hold of the arm…twisting now.  Ric backs him in, tried to get him, to push him into the fence.  Dusty stopped it.

Look at Ric.

Oh yes.  Dusty is what, three times World Heavyweight Champion?  I guess so, you have to be cautious.  Oh yes.  Ric takes him now, twists.  Dusty reverses it, puts him down.

Ric and the Four Horsemen…all right, he comes up.  The leg…

These two men, Ric Flair and Dusty Rhodes, two of the greatest wrestlers in the world.

Here he goes across, good tackle by Dusty!  Dusty goes in, Ric drops down, Dusty goes over.  Switch…switch…yes, good!  Grabs the arm again.  Chop now!  Dusty comes right back with a chop!  Ric backs into the corner.  Referee Tommy Young…ho ho!  Now here he goes, trying to make him lose control!

Oh yes.  Ric now, puts the knee into Dusty.

Chop to the chest…don’t you know.  Switch now by Dusty…picks him up, Scoop Slam, yes!  Hard on that mat!  Ric now again backs into the corner, Dusty takes him though, this time, catches him with those right hands to the side of the neck.  Wait a minute, referee Tommy Young steps in…just long enough for Ric to catch Dusty.

Ah!  Sleeper!  Oh yes.  Does he have it in?  Does he have it in tight enough?  Is he in the right position?  That’s what’s going through his mind right now.  Ric now, trying to get over to the ropes…they’re close…he’s so close.  So close to the ropes.  Dusty now, trying to turn him away…Ric trying to reach, he finally got it.  Got the ropes.

Ric is down…drag him over.  Elbow…yes!

He only hooked it at the last…the last moment.  OK now, both men come up, back him into the ropes.  Here he goes across, good tackle by Dust.  Dusty goes across, drop down…oh!  In the stomach, knocks that wind out.

I know he’s winded, but Ric is standing over there…he should’ve tried to pin him.

Here he goes, rams him into the cage!  Dusty is down.

Ric now, takes his time, goes over to Dusty, pulls him up by the hair, and rams his head into the fence again!

Ric now, backs into the ropes, position, comes off…knee!  Right to the head.  Rolls him over, hooks that leg…

Dusty has the weight and the power to kick out.  Takes his head again, runs it across the ropes!  And now, trying to grind his head into the cage.  Just like hamburger.

Ric now, has Dusty exactly where he wants him.  Snaps him!  Dusty goes down.

Ric taking his time, takes Dusty.  Remember what they did to Dusty’s leg.  Ric now, gets his position, comes off…drives the knee into the ankle!

That it is.  Ric now stomping on the ankle.

Ric not trying to pin him…not trying to put the Figure Four on.  He wants to take Dusty, drags him over to the ropes.  Here he goes, drops all of his weight onto the leg.

He yanks it…now we go to school.

Exactly where he wants Dusty…in the center of the ring.  Can Dusty get out of it?

Almost…almost.

The fans are behind Dusty!  Can he hold on?  Ric has him exactly where he wants him.  Can Dusty turn him, can he get to the ropes?

Ric now, content to be exactly where he is…pulling on that leg…putting more and more pressure on it.  Look at him, beat on his leg!  Just about…just about…he’s got him!  Oh no!

Oh yes.  Dusty’s in the corner, Ric takes him…rubs his face across the ropes.

Ric goes from the head to the leg.  He backs into the ropes again, here he goes, this time, knee right to the head.  He says he’s got him.  No, only two.

Chop!  Dusty’s taken so much punishment!

Ric just sits him there…backs in…here he comes…oh!  Dusty caught him!

Oh!  Almost!  Count of two!

What’s he going to do to Ric?  Dusty’s up…elbow!  Top of the head.  Ric goes right for the leg.  Where’s he going?

Yes, yes he is.  Oh!  Right on the top of the fence!  Ric backing up…he has nowhere to go!  Dusty comes over, Ric now turns Dusty, Dusty stopped him, here he goes…rams him right into the fence!  Down goes Ric Flair!

Not now…not now…now he takes Ric…now it’s his turn!  Rubbing Ric into that fence.  Ric falls back in.  Now it’s Dusty’s turn, he takes his time, he comes, he’s ready…with a hard right hand.  Backs him…rams the head into the fence!  Now we go to school!

He’s trying to get out…almost!  He’s almost over!  Dusty holding him, he’s won’t let Ric out.  Oh!  Right on the top of the fence…again…and again!  Look at this…these two men fighting on the top rope!  Oh!  Headbutt by Dusty.

Ric trying to get out.

At first it was all Ric Flair, now it is all Dusty Rhodes…the American Dream.

That hurt.

Ric Flair crawling over to Dusty.  Chop to the chest, and Dusty goes down.  Ric now, going up, going all the way to the top rope, he’s there, Dusty comes over, catches him there and tosses him off that top rope!  He comes over, Figure Four!

Now…now it’s Dusty’s turn.  He has him in the center, Ric’s trying to make the ropes…count of two.  Can he make it?

He’s there, he’s there.  All right, they have to break…but Dusty took his time.

Here he goes, chop right to that chest.  Chops him again.  Polarizing that chest!  No!  Ric’s down!  What can I do now?

All right, he takes him…Ric has…tries for it…tries…tries for a Backslide.  Can Dusty get him over?  Trying…he’s got him down…for the…oh!  A two count!

Oh, you know it.  Ric tries…the Lariat!  Drops the elbow!  Hook’s him…for…a count of two!

One more second and it could have been the end of the match.  Ric now, here he goes, trying to get out.  Ric kicks him.  Ric comes off, Side Body Block!  Has Dusty down…count of two there!  Oh, so close!  So close!  Has him again, oh, Ric goes in!  Dusty takes him, rolls him up…count of two.  All right, they go across…elbow now.  Dusty comes over to him.

Ric moves out of the way!  Both men are exhausted.  Small Package, has Ric Flair…he did it!  Dusty did it!

Dusty Rhodes, the new World Heavyweight Champion!

Tony, he did it!

Closing Comments:

This was a fun exercise for me, and so I hope that you enjoyed reading it.  Also, I want to say “Thank you” to everyone that emailed with feedback from my History of ECW piece.  I received more email from that endeavor than anything else I’ve written, so a shout-out to both of you!!

In all seriousness, I really did get a lot of response to that column, and it seems that there are a lot of folks out there that long for the good ol’ days of the mid-to-late ‘90s with me.  I hope that you also enjoyed this trip back to the mid ‘80s.  Hopefully next time I will have something that is less than ten years old!  I’ve got three or four Ring Of Honor DVD’s that Amey gave me for X-Mas, and so I should get to them soon…especially if I wind-up taking an extended amount of time off for this broken foot!!

PEACE

E-MAIL SCOTTY
BROWSE THE RECAPS ARCHIVE

All contents are Copyright 1995-2014 by OOWrestling.com.  All rights reserved.
This website is not affiliated with WWE or any other professional wrestling organization.  Privacy Statement.