Nazzac's Rebookings

Ric Flair was unhappy in WCW in 1991 after basically being told by then president Jim herd that the company is going to focus on future stars such as Sting and Lex Luger instead of the Nature boy, despite Flair being the biggest star in the company. Herd wanted to bring Flair 'into the 90s' by cutting his hair, giving him a shield and giving him a 'Spartacus' gimmick that is more larger than life than the Nature Boy. He also wanted to cut Flair's 700K contract in half despite him being the NWA World Champion at the time. With Flair refusing the contract offer and WCW refusing to budge on their offer, negotiations came to an impasse in July of 1991. Herd then demanded that Flair lose the World Championship to Barry Windham, despite the fact that WCW were building towards a PPV main event of Flair vs Lex Luger at The Great American Bash ‘91 and that the event was less than two weeks away. Flair agreed to do the job and had returned from a holiday to do so, but Herd, fearful that Flair would hold WCW up for money to drop the belt, promptly faxed a notice of termination to Flair’s lawyer. The unthinkable had happened – WCW had fired Ric Flair.

Seizing the opportunity to sign one of the biggest stars on the business, Vince McMahon got in contact with Ric Flair about possibly bringing him to the WWF. Flair agrees terms and signs with WWF in August 1991.

What Happened in Real Life

Flair Debuts on the 9th September WWF Prime Time with his manager Bobby heenan proclaiming he is the real world champion and immediately lays down the foundations for a feud with then WWF Champion Hulk Hogan. Flair made his in ring debut at the Survivor Series captaining his team to victory against Roddy Piper's team, but his biggest impact of the night came when he cost Hulk Hogan the WWF title against The Undertaker. After another controversial finish in the rematch at the 'This Tuesday in Texas' PPV, the WWF Championship was vacated and put on the line in the 1992 Royal Rumble. Flair entered at number 3 and lasted an hour to win his first WWF World Championship in what many consider to be the greatest every Royal Rumble match.

Initially the plans were for the Hogan vs Flair dream match at Wrestlemania, but bizarrely they did the program on house shows and instead opted for a Flair vs Randy Savage title match at Wrestlemania 8 whilst Hogan faced Sid Vicious in the main event. Flair would drop the title to Savage at Wrestlemania, but the rematch was never set up for a later PPV. The Nature Boy did not compete at Summerslam that year, but he did interfere in the Randy Savage vs Ultimate Warrior WWF Championship match alongside Mr. Perfect. He then won the title off Savage in a non-televised event before dropping it again to Bret Hart in October 1992.

Flair moved into a tag team feud where he teamed up with Razor Ramon against his former associate Mr. Perfect and Randy Savage. Furthermore, Vince pulled Flair aside and informed him he was going to start going with the younger guys, starting with putting over Razor Ramon and wasn't sure what was next for Flair after that. Subsequently, Flair had been working for WWE on a handshake deal. Vince told Flair before he ever showed up, that if he wasn't satisfied with his spot, he was free to go elsewhere. Flair's ticket out of WWE would be a Loser Leaves Town match against Mr. Perfect on Monday Night Raw which ended up being one of the earliest classics in the history of the show. Ric Flair's first WWF run ended that night and he would go back to WCW.

The Rebooking

So before i get into it i will be setting a few parameters. Firstly, i am working on a timescale of August 1991- Wrestlemania 9. I am going to assume that despite my booking, Ric Flair would leave for WCW in 1993 regardless, but i am taking the liberty of having him stay on until Wrestlemania 9. Secondly, his character will be more lie his WCW character, wearing suits and being more of the nature boy than his WWF run, but the music he would be using would be the WWF music. So here goes....

To start with, to hype his debut i would have Bobby Heenan hint at Flair coming through saying Hogan is not the 'real world champion' on tv without revealing it is Flair. Keep it a secret and have fans talking about who it could be for a few weeks. Ric Flair debuts in late september rather than early, with Bobby Heenan interupting a Hulk Hogan interview before introducing the 'Real world champion' Ric Flair (in a suit, not a robe). The Nature Boy cuts a promo saying Hulk Hogan is a fake champion and a phony and that he is looking at the real world champion. "To be the man you have got to beat the man, and Hulk, you have never beaten Ric Flair! WOOOOOOO!"

Flair appears in segments and interviews leading up to Survivor Series taunting Hulk Hogan, including an attack on the Hulkster during the funeral parlour along with The Undertaker ( who is challenging Hogan for the WWF title) and his associate Mr Perfect. Piper and Savage make the save holding chairs

Roddy Piper then calls out Flair for his recent actions. The pair have history from Georgia Championship Wrestling in the 1980s, and Piper has not forgotten Flair. This it is brought up by Roddy who is sick of Flair coming around here and claiming this and claiming that without stepping into the ring. A 4on4 Survivor Series match is set for Flair's in ring debut. Flair is the sole survivor in the match and wins in a legitmate manner rather than a countout. Instead, Piper is the only one counted out which leads to a future match. Flair's night is not done though and he later interferes in the WWF title match, costing Hogan the belt.

A one on one match between Ric Flair and Roddy Piper takes place at the This Tuesday in Texas PPV (not the Tuesday after Survivor Series, but closer to Christmas). Flair defeats Piper whilst Hogan controversially defeats The Undertaker in the main event after Flair's interference fails. President Jack Tunney The WWF title is then vacated and put on the line in the 1992 Royal Rumble match.

I would not change the 1992 Royal Rumble much as it is considered a classic for a reason. For those not in the know, Ric Flair enters at number three and lasts an hour in the match before winning the WWF title. The only change would be the ending, where Flair would eliminate both Hogan and Sid as they squabble.

Sid turns heel at the Royal Rumble, laying out Hulk Hogan after the match which sets up a number one contenders match at a February Saturday Night's Main Event. Hogan defeats Sid that night whch means it is Hogan vs Flair in the main event of Wrestlemania. By this point, these guys have not faced each other one-on-one at house shows so the match should be fresh. On a Prime Time Wrestling Special, The Mega Powers reunite to defeat Ric Flair & Jake Roberts in a tag team match with Hogan getting the pinfall on Flair. A press conference is held before Wrestlemania 8 where Hogan and Flair face off for the final time before their dream match. It is billed as the biggest match in Wrestling history where the top to wrestlers in the world face off for the WWF Championship. In a shock ending, Flair defeats Hogan with a low blow and roll up to retain after Mr Perfect distracts both the referee and Hogan.

 

Post Wrestlemania, Hogan leaves like he does in real life, and Flair works Roddy Piper on the house shows before his next big feud with Randy Savage. The Macho Man had defeated Jake Roberts in a loser leaves town Steel Cage match at Wrestlemania and had earned a shot at the WWF Championship. The programme is similar to their Wrestlemania 8 build (which i enjoyed), with Flair claiming Elizabeth was his before she was Randy's, running 'pictures' of them together on the big screen. This leads to a WWF title match at Summerslam in the UK with Flair promising to show 'private pictures he took of Elizabeth' This enrages Randy during the match, and in the end costs him the WWF title as he uses a chair and gets himself disqualified beating on Flair. A rematch is set on TV with Flair getting the win due to interference by
Mr Perfect. Savage does however catch up with Flair backstage and
forces Flair to admit that nothing ever happened, and that all the
photos were fake.

Meanwhile, Bret Hart is announced as the number one contender for the WWF title at Survivor Series. It is billed as the young up and comer vs the veteran. Bret says Flair is not a model champion and not a fighting champion which he promises to be. Flair is dismissive of Hart as a challenger saying he does not have what it takes to be the WWF Champion. At the Survivor Series. Hart defeats Flair with the Sharpshooter to win the WWF Championship.

After losing the title, Flair blames Mr Perfect for his failing to help with Heenan backing him up. Perfect then gets angry and says the reason Flair was still the champion in the first place was thans to him. He just has to accept what Perfect himself accepted at Summerslam 1991, Bret was the better man on the night. The rematch is set on tv, and with the ref down Flair calls for Mr Perfect's help and instructs him to hit Bret with the title belt. It looks like he is going to do it, but Hennig has second thoughts and drops the belt. He says to Flair "You're gonna have to do it yourself. You're on your own!" before dropping the belt and walking out on Flair. Hart retains the title and Flair heads into the new year with a brand new rival.

At the Royal Rumble, Flair enters the Rumble at number one and looks like bettering his remarkable feat of last year and makes it to the final four. However, he is eliminated by Mr Perfect who is maing his return to in ring action. Randy Savage wins the Royal Rumble. In the weeks after the Royal Rumble, Bobby Heenan works on a campaign to get Mr Perfect out of the WWF because he is making Flair's life miserable but to not avail. During this time, Perfect would torment Flair with appearances during his matches, burning some of his suits, pouring paint over his limo, cutting holes in his robes etc...  Ric Flair then says Mr Perfect might be perfect, but he is no nature boy Ric Flair. "Whatever he can do, i can do better" which leads up to a series of challenges between the pair on tv. They shoot hoops, Perfect wins. They play table tennis, Perfect wins. They play Golf, Perfect wins... but this time Flair attack him with the Golf clubs after the final hole.

Eventually the pair reach a compromise. Mr Perfect vs Ric Flair at Wrestlemania, the loser leaves the WWF. Perfect defeats Flair cleanly with the Perfect-plex and Flair's run comes to an end in the WWF, and he returns to WCW.

So that is my rebooking of Ric Flair's first WWF run. Whilst i enjoyed aspects of his initial run that i kept, overall it felt like a bit more could have been done with Flair during this time. In my booking, i had to get the Hogan match in for Wrestlemania, and he would have feuds with other great workers such as Piper, Savage and Bre Hart. With a longer build, i thought it would be fun to do some skits with Mr Perfect rather than play it seriously.