Ric Flair vs Shawn Michaels (WWF, 12-2-1991)

WWF, Corpus Christi, TX

From the Invasion ’92 Coliseum Video. This is the first-ever meeting between Flair, already a legend, and Michaels, who would become one and was still one-half of The Rockers.

C&E start, Flair backs Michaels to the ropes and woos. Michaels stalks forward, Flair backs down. C&E again, side headlock from Michaels. Shawn off the ropes, but he shoulders Flair down, then takes him over with a side headlock. Flair gets out of that. Lord Alfred is very excited about the potential of Shawn as a singles wrestler.

Side headlock from Flair. Flair with a shoulderblock, Michaels with a hiptoss and a headlock takeover. Flair takes it to the corner and chops away. Michaels sent to the opposite corner, he moves to the apron on Flair’s charge, then hits a flying sunset flip for two! Headlock takeover again from Shawn, quick two count.

Flair stands it up, backs it to the corner, shoves and gets slapped down. Flair bails out to the floor after getting decked. Lord Alfred REALLY would rather see Michaels as a singles competitor from now on. Back into the ring and a C&E. Flair backs to the corner and lifts a knee to the midsection. Two chops, but Michaels turns it around and lands three chops and a quick six punches, before Flair tries to hit the inverted atomic drop. Michaels blocks that and drops him with a right hand.

Michaels with Flair on the apron, suplexed back into the ring. Flair begs off, but pokes Shawn in the eye. Flair slowing the pace down with a chop, but that fires Michaels up to land another series of aggressive right hands. Michaels whips Flair to the corner, Flair bounces out into a backdrop.

Michaels whips Flair into the corner again, Flair flips to the floor. Michaels follows out, but Mr. Perfect gets in his face right away to distract him. Flair up, and Shawn decks him again, then turns back to Perfect. Folks, Lord Alfred Hayes LOVES Shawn Michaels. Michaels with a suplex on the floor!

Michaels back into the ring, Flair recovering outside with Perfect right by his side to keep an eye on him. Flair comes back in with a shot to the gut and dumps Michaels out to the floor. Michaels tries to come back in quickly and meets Flair’s boots. Michaels with a shoulder from the apron, goes for a slingshot sunset flip, but Flair punches his way out of it, only to flop down on a delayed effect from the punishment he’s received.

Flair goes for a back suplex, Michaels flips out, shoves Flair into the ropes and hits a dropkick. Michaels off the ropes, Perfect trips him. Flair hits a kneedrop. Exchanging shots in the corner, both going to the body. Michaels wins the exchange, but runs into a boot in the corner.

Flair goes up top, but Michaels slams him off. Michaels drops a quick elbow, covers and gets two. Superkick from Shawn! That’s not his finisher yet, though, so it’s not a deathblow. Michaels up top, hits a flying fistdrop and gets a LONG two count. Flair against the ropes, Michaels clotheslines him out to the floor. Perfect over again to move Flair as Michaels slingshots out and crashes into the guardrail.

Flair back into the ring with Michaels dead on the floor. Flair breaks the count, though. Joey Marella begins the count again, Flair breaks it again. Perfect gets a quick shot in and Marty Jannetty finally runs down to ringside in his Overkill shirt. Michaels still down and out on the floor. Marty trying to rouse him.

Jannetty asking for a timeout, trying to tell Marella that there were shenanigans leading to this situation. Marty picks Shawn up and fireman’s carry lifts him back into the ring. Kinda dumb, as Flair covers with his feet on the ropes for no reason other than to do it, and gets the three count.

Rating: 4/5. The finish isn’t the best thing you’ll ever see, but the match rocks ass before that. Michaels looks like a million bucks before even hitting his prime, and Flair is terrific working with the enthusiastic, quick, younger guy, hearkening back to his days working a program with Ricky Morton in some ways. Compare this to Flair’s match with Bret Hart a few weeks before, and it’s night and day. I love Bret Hart, and I’m a much bigger fan of Bret’s than I am of Shawn’s, but Shawn and Flair had chemistry right off the bat. Bret and Flair never developed it.