How did Flair leave the WWF in 93?

[Guest Anglesault]

Watching the Flair DVD reminded me of a question I wanted to ask for a while/

 

On what kind of terms did Flair leave in 93? A year and a half is a really short stint, did he even live out his full contract?

 

On the DVD he calls it the best year and a half of his career (Besides 1st version Horsemen), but he could be bullshitting for all I know and he could have been miserable.

 

The thing that kind of makes me think it was at least a fairly friendly split was a promo from Flair on Vince Russo during the David Flair feud where Flair claimed he could call Vince at any moment because he had never burned bridges with him.

 

So, for someone who didn't watch back then, what exactly happened?

[DMann2003 0]

From what I've picked up

 

Vince felt Flair's potential as a top flight guy was done

 

He wanted to move him into the midcard

 

Flair wanted to return to WCW to be closer to home (similar to Arn leaving in 89)

 

The 2 parted ways and Flair went out putting over Hennig

 

Now, why Flair put up with WCW's crap over all those years when he could've called Vince I'll never know.

[Guest Choken One]

he left the night after the 1993 Rumble...Losing to Perfect in a Loser leaves town Match...

 

He was happy but they each agreed they didn't have much to do and he missed home anyways and Watts was gone now neways.

 

I always DISAGREED with the sentiment that he had nothing else to do...He could have extended the Perfect angle to WMIX(and saved that piece of shit in the process)...leave for a month or two and return as a Face...He could have gone another year with Vince but he liked being THE MAN in Atlanta more.

[Guest Mad the Swine]

Flair was happy Jim Herd was gone. Watts was still in charge when Flair began negotiating to get back in.

 

He and Vince came to a mutual agreement. Flair thought he still had a little more left in him and WCW's schedule was much more forgiving in 1993.

 

Vince did have some reason to question how long Flair had left. One of the reasons why Flair lost the strap in October 1992 was vertigo, and that might have still been affecting him. Plus, Hogan was returning. Not much main event room for him.

 

He didn't leave right after the Hennig match.

 

He stayed through one last European tour in February. Days later, he appeared at SuperBrawl.

[Guest Man Of 1,004 Modes]

Flair was also under a "no compete" clause in his contract, which explains his Flair for the Gold segment, but not wrestling until the summer time.

[Your Paragon of Virtue 0]

Watching the Flair DVD reminded me of a question I wanted to ask for a while/

 

On what kind of terms did Flair leave in 93? A year and a half is a really short stint, did he even live out his full contract?

 

On the DVD he calls it the best year and a half of his career (Besides 1st version Horsemen), but he could be bullshitting for all I know and he could have been miserable.

 

The thing that kind of makes me think it was at least a fairly friendly split was a promo from Flair on Vince Russo during the David Flair feud where Flair claimed he could call Vince at any moment because he had never burned bridges with him.

 

So, for someone who didn't watch back then, what exactly happened?

You didn't watch wrestling at all? You seem like one of those guys whose been watching for ages, and you seem to be a big fan of Flair which now seems weird since you never saw him during his heydey, back in the day. Odd is all.

[Guest Choken One]

thats the magic of video tapes my friend...

 

I missed most of the NWA greatness but thanks to tapes and shit...I've loved them forever.

[Tony149 0]

DMann has it right. Much like Jim Herd years before Vince thought Flair was done, so he wanted to move him down the card into the IC title division (before you ask, it means Flair would compete for the IC title, not the WWF championship). The two agreed to part ways and Flair was on his way back to WCW.

 

From what I've read, the original plan was to blowoff the Flair/Perfect feud at WM IX but obviously that went down the crapper when Flair went back to WCW. And the odd thing is I believe Vince STILL could've done the match at WM but decided against since he didn't want Flair returning to WCW coming off a WM.

[Your Paragon of Virtue 0]

thats the magic of video tapes my friend...

 

I missed most of the NWA greatness but thanks to tapes and shit...I've loved them forever.

Eh, it's not really the same as being a mark and enjoying that shit. I know for a fact that I wouldn't enjoy the "Canada v. USA" angle now as much as I did back in 97. That is probably my favourite angle ever. Would it be if I had just caught it on tapes here and there? Probably not.

[cawthon777 0]

He didn't leave right after the Hennig match.

 

He stayed through one last European tour in February. Days later, he appeared at SuperBrawl.

That's correct. Actually, a lot of people don't realize that the Loser Leaves Town match was taped. It aired the day after the Rumble but took place the previous Monday.

 

Had it been live, that would have been a killer day - fly from Sacramento to NYC then fly back to CA to do the syndie tapings.

[Guest Anglesault]

Watching the Flair DVD reminded me of a question I wanted to ask for a while/

 

On what kind of terms did Flair leave in 93? A year and a half is a really short stint, did he even live out his full contract?

 

On the DVD he calls it the best year and a half of his career (Besides 1st version Horsemen), but he could be bullshitting for all I know and he could have been miserable.

 

The thing that kind of makes me think it was at least a fairly friendly split was a promo from Flair on Vince Russo during the David Flair feud where Flair claimed he could call Vince at any moment because he had never burned bridges with him.

 

So, for someone who didn't watch back then, what exactly happened?

You didn't watch wrestling at all? You seem like one of those guys whose been watching for ages, and you seem to be a big fan of Flair which now seems weird since you never saw him during his heydey, back in the day. Odd is all.

I did watch occasionally, but really, really casually.

 

I know I went to a houseshow in 91, and I definately saw Mania X and Royal Rumble live, but just because it happened to be on wherever I was.

 

I distinctively remember the ladder match and the casket match, though.

[yankovic fan 0]

Question in regards to the Loser Leaves Town match.

 

I remember clearly after Mr. Perfect pinned Flair, Heenan threw his head set off and in the process you heard teh censored *BEEP* as Heenan was saying something.

 

 

Does anyone know what was so bad for them to censor him on "uncut, uncooked, and UNCENSORED" Raw?

[JJMc 0]

He didn't leave right after the Hennig match.

 

He stayed through one last European tour in February. Days later, he appeared at SuperBrawl.

That's correct. Actually, a lot of people don't realize that the Loser Leaves Town match was taped. It aired the day after the Rumble but took place the previous Monday.

 

Had it been live, that would have been a killer day - fly from Sacramento to NYC then fly back to CA to do the syndie tapings.

WOW. You learn something new every day.

[OldSchoolWrestling 0]

I still would have liked to have seen Flair vs Hogan at WM. I saw what I think was their second encounter ever at the Oakland Colisseum and the crowd was hot. A lot of Flair fans too.

[Guest Your Olympic Hero]

I still would have liked to have seen Flair vs Hogan at WM. I saw what I think was their second encounter ever at the Oakland Colisseum and the crowd was hot. A lot of Flair fans too.

I never thought about this before, but maybe that's another reason why Vince didn't run Hogan vs. Flair. Maybe he knew the fans would side with Flair and make Hogan look bad. Then again, this started happening with Sid F'N Justice around the same time period anyway, so.... nevermind.

[Guest Man Of 1,004 Modes]

I still would have liked to have seen Flair vs Hogan at WM.  I saw what I think was their second encounter ever at the Oakland Colisseum and the crowd was hot.  A lot of Flair fans too.

I never thought about this before, but maybe that's another reason why Vince didn't run Hogan vs. Flair. Maybe he knew the fans would side with Flair and make Hogan look bad. Then again, this started happening with Sid F'N Justice around the same time period anyway, so.... nevermind.

To be fair, Sid Vicious was pretty damn over in NWA/WCW before he went to WWF, so the fans taking a liking to him was not surprising.

 

 

<<<Closet Vicious-maniac back then

[Guest Mad the Swine]

I still would have liked to have seen Flair vs Hogan at WM.  I saw what I think was their second encounter ever at the Oakland Colisseum and the crowd was hot.  A lot of Flair fans too.

I never thought about this before, but maybe that's another reason why Vince didn't run Hogan vs. Flair. Maybe he knew the fans would side with Flair and make Hogan look bad. Then again, this started happening with Sid F'N Justice around the same time period anyway, so.... nevermind.

Meltzer has explained why it didn't happen.

 

* Beyond the first couple, their house show matches really didn't draw.

 

* Vicious was contractually obligated to main event at WMVIII.

 

* Hogan was on the way out, but they wanted it open-ended enough for his return. A win over champ Flair wouldn't have made a dab of sense.

[JHawk 0]

Meltzer has explained why it didn't happen.

 

* Beyond the first couple, their house show matches really didn't draw.

 

* Vicious was contractually obligated to main event at WMVIII.

 

* Hogan was on the way out, but they wanted it open-ended enough for his return. A win over champ Flair wouldn't have made a dab of sense.

Considering the fans had already been turning against Hogan anyway, I don't think Hogan going over anybody would have made a lick of sense.

 

And although I trust Meltzer more often than not, I have a hard time believing Hogan vs. Flair wasn't drawing, as even people I knew who were getting away from wrestling wanted to see that match, and they were getting some pretty good crowds for the Flair-Piper matches at the same time period.

 

Hogan vs. Flair at WMVIII would have shattered any PPV records at the time, especially if fans thought that either man could win.