While it's true Andre's margin of victory was greater, let's also look at how Ric Flair may be the best conditioned wrestler there ever was. How he wrestled sixty minutes every night for years. How he would often wrestle in one town for sixty minutes in the afternoon then travel to another town and wrestle sixty minutes again that night. I'm not worried about the Nature Boy having to work one tough match right after another in the same night.
Very good Brain, I see you've done your homework. Ric Flair is famous for being a sixty minute man, because his matches would typically end on a time-limit draw. A time-limit draw is the most boring finish a match could possibly have.
I'm not worried about Ric's ability to work a match the night after a grueling match either, but we're talking about Andre the Giant here. Andre has endured 60 minute matches in his prime, but he had a reputation for finishing his matches in ways that made him look dominant. Having a hardy work ethic is just one thing, it'll take a hell of a lot more than that to beat Andre.
I've seen people before just look at the margin of victory from the prior round and put too much stock into it. I don't think it's a big factor here.
You'll probably need to change your name to "The Balls" pretty soon, because statements like that take balls of steel to just blurt out. I'm not trying to sell Andre just on how he had a wider margin of victory in his match against Sting as compared to Flair's margin of victory in his match against Goldberg, and making a point in reference to that occurrence isn't an attempt to fool you.
I think I would yawn through a savage Andre the Giant sized beat down. That doesn't sound like a very exciting semi final in a tournament that has been going on for months. And Flair is only an underdog in size, not ability.
I think you would yawn through nuclear war, but that's probably just the narcolepsy. Flair is an underdog in size, and compared to Andre the Giant he's an underdog in ability. Being able to flounder through a 60 minute match with Bob Backlund or King Kong Brody until the match is called for time is a feat worthy of
some praise. Andre went on perpetual win streaks against opponents like Killer Kowalski, Bob Backlund and Harley Race. Andre has dominated all of Flair's toughest opponents, thus Flair is probably at a disadvantage here in terms of ability.
The 92 Rumble was all about Flair. He was the story of the night. He came from enemy territory down south and outlasted the entire WWF roster in one match. It wasn't necessarily the best example of how Flair would beat Andre but it was an example of how Flair has the skill and endurance to overcome the odds and come out on top against the best in the business. If you want a more clear example of a one on one situation you can look to how Flair dethroned the unstoppable Vader at Starrcade 93.
Truth be told; Flair had one of the best debuts in the WWF and he used his cunning and cleverness to capture the world title in one of the greatest Royal Rumbles of all time. His win over Vader was spectacular as well, and there's the fact that Ric has a higher win percentage against Vader.
Comparing Vader to Andre is pretty damn lopsided in Andre's favor. In Vader's prime, he would take pins that would make him look like he has the athletic ability of a turtle and then snap back up like "What just happened!?" Prime Andre would take a pin an average of once every five years, and then those pins would come after his opponent used everything short of the kitchen sink to take Andre down. When comparing Vader and Andre, Vader does
not look unstoppable.
So you can't think of a way Flair can take Andre off his feet? He can give Andre a chop block and then continue to work the knee. I'd say that's pretty realistic. Or he could dodge an offensive move from Andre that puts the Giant on the mat. It's happened before. Andre didn't go down much after 1986 because he was in such bad shape he couldn't bump anymore and struggled to get back up. Before that people took Andre down plenty.
Ok, rewind a second Brain. Your original statement was:
Can't you just picture the dirtiest player in the game coming up with something underhanded to upset the lovable giant?
I wasn't arguing that I couldn't imagine Andre being taken off his feet, at this point I think Ric could at least manage that. Taking Andre down is one thing, beating him is something completely different. I'm still going to need your help to inspire my imagination to believe that Ric can win this one.
Andre wasn't quite everything Flair was. Andre wasn't a champion. Well he was for about 30 seconds but I don't think that matches up with the near 4,000 days Flair wore the gold. Flair is just the more realistic winner from a booking standpoint. Who is more likely to wrestle three times in one night, Andre or Flair? Andre is the special attraction. The fans got to see him win once and then wrestle again. He's done. Flair moves on and makes for a better opponent for Austin or Cena in the final.
Damn Brain, I think you lost an argument to yourself in the first three sentences. There's very few world champions that Andre hasn't beaten decisively.
You make valid points when it comes to the fact that pro-wrestlers are ultimately at the mercy of the bookers, but you seemed to stop that train of thought when considering just who was more likely to be booked for an actual win. The special attraction, or the guy the fans have seen a hundred times already that year.
Andre moves on here because he's a bigger threat to Austin or Cena, the better man deserves to win.
