Second Round: San Francisco - Ric Flair vs. British Bulldog

[klunderbunker]

This is a second round matchup in the San Francisco Subregion. The ring and arena are universal throughout the first round and the organization is not a factor. There is a 20 minute time limit. Vote using any criteria you like. Most votes in the poll at the end of the time period wins. In the case of a tie we will go off of the number of written votes. In the case of a second tie, both are eliminated. Assume one week has passed since the first round.

Location: Cow Palace, San Francisco, California.

Ric Flair

Vs.

British Bulldog

Voting will be open for 4 days.

 

[Ferbian]

This is pretty clean who's going over in this one, and that is Ric Flair, now I'm not saying The British Bulldog wouldn't be able to give Ric a run for his money, he's a big guy and able to put on a great match, but really, this is Ric Flair we're talking about.

Ric Flair was dominant throughout the 80's and was also pretty decent in the 90's, the 90's where The British Bulldog just reached his prime (if you ask me) and Ric Flair had been putting on great matches a whole decade before that, and won more titles than The British Bulldog could ever have hoped for.

These guy's have both put on amazing matches throughout their careers, The British Bulldog as both a singles competitor, and a tag team wrestler (mainly as a tag team wrestler if you ask me) but so has Ric Flair, many more than Davey has.

And to top it off, Ric Flair is without a shadow of a doubt the superior one on the microphone, and therefore would pull that part off pretty cleanly.

From a kayfabe view, certainly Davey would give Ric a run for his money, he'd probably be able to dominate Ric also for a fair while of the match, but ultimately I think Ric is gonna come out on top, he's been against guys of all sizes, and has beaten almost anybody (there might be some I've missed out on that he's never beaten, I can't exactly say) and that's why I think Ric will be able to beat The British Bulldog in this match also.

Ric Flair it is.

 

[Big Nick Dudley]

Going kayfabe, I can see this being a somewhat one sided beatdown, with Davey Boy controlling most of the offense, and Flair selling his ass off. That's what Flair did best. Smith would power him all around the ring, body slam after body slam, vertical suplex, you name it. But Flair is far too clever. The man always found a way to win without ever really dominating his opponent (physically). I see Flair using brass knucks from the tights or hitting a low blow. With the knucks, Flair slaps on the figure four and Bulldog is already out cold. With the low blow, Flair rolls him up in a small package, gets the three count.

But in all reality, there is no way I'm voting for Davey Boy over Flair anyway. Flair is the most decorated wrestler in professional wrestling's history. He has beaten anyone you can think of, more than once. Davey Boy had a nice career, a really nice career. But he never got close to the status of Ric Flair. Flair all the way.

EDIT: I really hope we don't see a bunch of TNA marks voting for Davey Boy because they hate how Flair has "ruined" AJ Styles. That would be complete shit.

 

[8thwotwATG]

Flair v. Davey could turn out to be a pretty good matchup. Smith uses his power game to knock Flair around the ring, mixing it up some with some rest holds designed to attempt to wear Flair down. That being said, Flairs' legendary ability to wrestle 60 minute title matches on numerous occasions against some of the greatest wrestlers ever to lace up the boots is well documented. I think that while he takes some punishment, eventually he wears the Bulldog down before taking Smith to school and slapping on the figure four for the win. As already stated here, Flair is one of the greatest of all time, and while Smith was a very good wrestler, he is just pretty much outclassed by a performer who competes at an entirely different level.

vote Flair.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Ric Flair wins this match and there shouldn't really even be a single vote cast for Davy Boy Smith. I don't say that to put down the Bulldog, the man was a powerhouse and could give just about anybody a run for their money. But, when it ultimately boils down to it, what's Davy Boy's brightest moment? His defeat of Bret Hart for the IC title at SummerSlam '92. That was Smith's finest match and his singularly brightest moment in the sun. It was a fantastic match, among the best matches of the 90s in my opinion.

However, when you compare the Bulldog's brightens moment to Ric Flair's, it's like comparing pitch black darkness to a cloudless, 70 degree Spring day. Ric Flair went up against and defeated the greatest wrestlers of his generation. His list of opponents and feuds literally reads like a whose who of pro wrestling of the past 30 years. He's arguably the greatest of all time and, along the way, happened to win more than 20 World Championships.

Ric Flair is the obvious choice here. Ric Flair is really the only choice here.

 

[It's...Baylariat!]

This is a testament to how GOOD Ric Flair is. The British Bulldog was a damn fine wrestler at his peak. He beat Bret Hart on a huge stage to win his IC title, but that's his only signature win. EVERY Flair win is a signature win for him because it's Ric, WOOOOOOOOO! BY GOD! Flair!.

Flair simply takes big powerful guys apart. Luger? Check. Sid Vicious? Check. Hogan? Check. Dr. Death? Check. And the British Bulldog would be no different. Power meets its match with intelligence and style. And Flair will WALK THAT AISLE and STYLE AND PROFILE to a 35 minute classic that ends with a Figure Four on Bulldog that makes him pass out for the loss.

Vote Flair.

 

[deem]

Yeah, I'm English and I can make no argument for Bulldog here. Bulldog dominates, but in no world, in any circumstance, does he get Naitch's shoulders down for three.

This would be fun, but Flair takes the offense, sells his ass off then gets a roll up and marches through. Easy game. Bulldog just hasn't done enough, and it's Ric Flair.

 

[dd23beatlesfan1]

Can't vote against the Nature Boy here.

The British Bulldog was a damn fine wrestler. One of the best athletes the WWE had in the 1990's if you ask me. He could beat lots of guys in the tournament.

But in this matchup, he's against arguably the greatest wrestler of all-time in Ric Flair. The British Bulldog, while a fine wrestler and athlete was known as a guy who couldn't lead the matches. He had to have someone really good (like Bret or Owen or HBK) leading him on. Flair, on the other hand, was the master at calling and leading matches. In a kayfabe sense, this match would be another classic Flair match. The younger, strong, popular babyface kicking the shit out of Flair for 30 minutes, making the crowd think he's got the match in the bag, only for Flair to get a sneaky advantage and win, most likely by cheating, or causing Bulldog to bleed and thus get the match called off. We saw somewhat of a glimpse of this in the first 20 minutes of the 1992 Royal Rumble. If you remember right, Bulldog was No. 2 in the matchup and lasted with Flair for the first 20 minutes of it, and they had many confrontations in the match. Same deal here.

From a kayfabe sense, like always Flair would pull out the victory. In real life whose the greater wrestler, the Bulldog while great was no Ric Flair. Very few guys are.

Count this one as another one in the win column for the Nature Boy. Wooooooo!!!!!!!!

 

[gd]

Really not that big of a fan of Flair. In fact, he's probably someone I'll look to be voting against just for the sake of doing so at more than one time throughout this tournament. That being said, I think I have to vote for him here. Really not a good reason to vote for Bulldog here. He wasn't that exciting, or than successful, or that great in the ring. What does he really have going for him? Maybe since Dynamite Kid lost his first round match he'll be here to support him, but I'm not sure of the plane schedules in San Fransico at the moment, so I guess I'll have to vote for Flair.

 

[PsychoBlack]

Bulldog was one of the greatest wrestlers to never win the bi one, Flair won the big one in 3 different promotions. its hard to put anybody over flair whether it be charisma, ability, titles, or contribution to the business. this match will be epic as flair mastered the art of taking extreme pain but giving enough out to win.

vote naitcha boyy WOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Tastycles]

Eugh. I'd be lying if I put Bulldog over, but I don't really like Flair. Flair, though, was a world champion and Bulldog never was, despite wrestling at a time when people were often given their chance. If this match was in London, he'd win, just like he always did, but in the USA against the big stars, he would lose. Flair eliminated him from a Survivor Series match once, and I don't see the outcome changing in one on one competition.

 

[D-Man]

Ric Flair is the legend that he is because he was always able to beat men like the Bulldog. He'd utilize his superior knowledge, experience, and dirty tactics to outsmart the powerful Bulldog.

After about 25 minutes of pummeling Flair, I see Bulldog reaching down to hoist Flair up for the powerslam, only to have Flair hit an inside cradle and grab the tights for a quick three-count.