2. “The Icon” Sting
Are you wondering like “What? Number 2? Sting should be #1”, well let me tell you, this is as close as it gets and #1 & #2 are almost ex aequo here on our list.
Ric Flair though, has without a shadow of a doubt been by far the Greatest Opponent in Sting’s entire career, no doubt about that. Not even close.
It’s very well known that Ric Flair had the gift of getting everyone over and getting a great match out of everyone, even the most talentless goof.
Now Sting was very talented on his own, but it’s known among the boys in the lockerroom, that Sting needs someone to call the match for him in the ring, in order to have a great match with him.
And The Nature Boy was THE perfect opponent for him, going Head to Head with the WWF WrestleMania IV PPV, as the main event of the Live Free-TV NWA Special Event “Clash of the Champions 1” on March 27, 1988 at the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina.
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3707t1_wcw-clash-of-the-champions-sting-vs-ric-flair_sport
They wrestled to a 45 minute Time Limit Draw that night.
They would face each other countless times so we’re only going to focus on their most famous match here.
The next notable match between the 2 came during the Final of the Iron Man tournament at NWA Starrcade 1989 (produced by WCW), where Sting defeated Flair, but the World Title wasn’t on the line.
Unfortunately Sting got injured and couldn’t compete against Flair in early 1990, so Lex Luger took his friends place at both, the main event of NWA Wrestle War 1990: Wild Thing, and NWA Capital Combat 1990: The Return of Robocop.
Sting’s big moment came, when he returned to the ring for the main event of NWA The Great American Bash 1990: The New Revolution, where he defeated Ric Flair to win his first ever NWA World Heavyweight Championship.
At NWA Starrcade 1990: Collision Course, Sting retained his World Title against the masked Black Scorpion, who got unmasked after the match, and who was under the mask? Yep, Ric Flair.
On January 11, 1991 The Nature Boy would regain his Gold in the main event of an untelevised House Show in East Rutherford, NJ.
Another famous match between the 2 happened on June 23, 1994 at WCW Clash of the Champions XXVII in a Championship unification match, where Flair beat Sting to unify both, the WCW World Heavyweight Championship and the WCW International World Heavyweight Championship to become the Undisputed WCW World Heavyweight Champion.
Most of us Old School Fans certainly remember their match on the very first episode of WCW Monday Nitro on September 04, 1995.
They faced each other many times on Monday Nights during Nitro’s 6 seasons, so it only fits, that they ended up wrestling the very last match ever on WCW Monday Nitro during its final episode on March 26, 2001, where Sting would once again beat the Nature Boy.
To the surprise of many, “The Nature Boy” Ric Flair & The Stinger would face each other one final time 10 Years later in TNA on Spike TV’s show iMPACT Wrestling.
That match could hardly be described as a classic, but when it comes to the entertainment factor, these 2 still stole the show … this time for the very last time.
