TNA Charlotte Round 3, Match 1. #2 Ric Flair vs. #15 Dean Malenko

[Shocky]

The following match takes place in the TNA Region, inside of the six sided ring, From Charlotte, NC.

#2. "The Nature Boy" Ric Flair

vs.

#15. "The Iceman" Dean Malenko

 

[The Todd]

Flair in a walk. I don't know why Malenko has the support he does. The fact he is a great technician overshadows the fact he didn't achieve much at all. He has one US title reign, an ECW TV reign to go with his lightweight/cruiserweight reigns. Flair is the most decorated world champion in history. Malenko was a part of Flair's faction. There is nothing he can claim to have an advantage over Flair.

 

[Tastycles]

Malenko was an excellent technician and mat wrestler, but I don't think that's enough to put him over Flair here. Flair would routinely beat guys like Malenko, even if he had to cheat, and I don't see why this would be any different.

Flair was Malenko's boss in their WCW faction when Malenko was past his prime and Flair was all old and stuff, so that should show the level that the two men operated on. This is the end of the line for Malenko, I'm afraid.

 

[klunderbunker]

Kind of odd that the deeper we get into this, the more one sided the matches become. Flair made a career out of beating guys like Milenko but making them look great in the process. Flair may not have the arsenal that Milenko has, but he's better at using what he's got. People want to argue that Flair did the same thing over and over again. Why would you change things when you keep winning with them? Flair found the perfect formula to a match and he went with it for thirty years. All he had to do was plug his opponent into it and the match was there. Milenko would be a bit of a headache for Flair, but there's nothing that Flair hasn't seen. Flair gets a cradle and some additional leverage of his choice to beat the Iceman.

 

[It's...Baylariat!]

While The Shooter is a 'Wrestling lesson rolled into a human being', Flair is 'Entertainment and greatness rolled into a ruby studded, robe filled human being.' This match will be a classic, but Flair does one thing and one thing only...focusing on the leg. Malenko will make a mistake, he'll hurt his leg, then it's time to go to school for the Man of 1000 Holds.

Flair wins, in convincing fashion, and possible help from the ropes.

 

[butsecks]

How on erf did malenko make it to round 3? anyway.... flair would brutally chop malenko to death, fall on his face, give him the low blow, woos the crowd, and put him in the figure four leg lock of hell and make dean tap out. flair wins.

 

[RVDgurl]

A great match here. Flair should and will win in what will probably be pretty lopsided, but Malenko would make a great showing. A match against a technician of this calibur would bring out the best in Flair. We would see Flair go to the ol' thumb to the eye a few times to gain control. I love that side of him. He was a sneaky motherfucker in his prime.

Flair moves on easily.

 

[TheOneBigWill]

Wow, people are walking (or rather, strutting) all over Dean Malenko as if he's some random jobber that doesn't stand a snowballs chance in hell over Flair. I guess 90% of the people who've posted in this thread, were bookers in W.C.W toward the shit days as well, which explains a lot.

Fact is, Malenko isn't a spring chicken. He knows his way around the ring, just as much, if not 10x better than Flair. Flair can cheat, he isn't the "Dirtiest Player in the Game" for nothing. But Malenko has defeated Flair before, while it was when Flair was out of his prime, the two have put on great contests and Flair just couldn't keep pace with Malenko.

Both are so evenly matched in size it isn't funny. Fuck, if it wasn't for the fact Flair doesn't hold more than maybe 20 moves, total, I'd consider Malenko a clean-cut version of Flair. In my honest opinion, Malenko will use his knowledge of wrestling, as well as counters, reversals and moves in general to make sure he stays away from Flair's Figure Four, as well as pull out of the match and reset on the outside, whenever Flair tries to work over the legs in a set-up attempt.

On the flip side, Flair WILL get over-anxious and make mistakes. This is where Malenko can capitalize. People remember Malenko best for the Texas Cloverleaf, but the fact remains he doesn't have to use that to finish Flair off. Much in the same manner that Flair doesn't need just the Figure Four to find a way to cheat to win, via the ropes or tights in general.

Malenko, in my opinion, could give Flair not just a run for his money, but pull out the upset victory in this contest. Malenko deserves more credit than what people are giving him right now.. Flair was good, if not one of the best.. but Malenko is better at the in-ring technical side of things, and just because Flair KNOWS how to cheat, doesn't always mean he won via doing it. Sometimes cheating backfires on you.. and if anyone, Malenko would study Flair like a book and know exactly how to counter, reverse and simply out-smart the man who uses every underhanded tactic in the book to try and win.

Malenko for the win in my opinion.

 

[TheOneBigWill]

While The Shooter is a 'Wrestling lesson rolled into a human being', Flair is 'Entertainment and greatness rolled into a ruby studded, robe filled human being.' This match will be a classic, but Flair does one thing and one thing only...focusing on the leg. Malenko will make a mistake, he'll hurt his leg, then it's time to go to school for the Man of 1000 Holds.

Flair wins, in convincing fashion, and possible help from the ropes.

Flair works the legs better than anyone I know. But that doesn't mean Malenko will willingly stand, or sit-by and let it happen. The Iceman studies tape on all his opponents, and knows the ends and outs of the wrestling world through moves, counters and reversals.

Flair can try his hardest to get ahold of Malenko's legs, but each and every time, Malenko will know it's coming, and have a counter or reversal waiting for the 16 time World Champion.

Malenko also does NOT make very many, if any, mistakes. He's very calculating and methodical. You say he'll make a mistake, as if he's prone to doing that a lot. What's worse, it's not like Flair forces opponent's into making mistakes.

I'd be hard-pressed to say 70% if not more of Flair's victories, came off opportunistic openings via just being in the right place, at the right time. Malenko could make a mistake, by accidentally landing wrong on his knee, or ankle.. but he won't just let Flair capitalize instantly. Again, Malenko isn't the average opponent that Flair's just walked over in year's gone by..

How on erf did malenko make it to round 3? anyway.... flair would brutally chop malenko to death, fall on his face, give him the low blow, woos the crowd, and put him in the figure four leg lock of hell and make dean tap out. flair wins.

If I could, I think I'd honestly take the infraction just to flame the shit out of you for this post alone. Instead, I'll reserve my less than polite comments for the bar room, or just hold them in, in general.

Instead, in the nicest way I can.. I'll ask that you just think before you post, the next time. You make Flair seem like some puppet on a string, or some definite one dimensional clone. If this were the case, Malenko would be the one cake-walking his way to victory, because he'd have scouted the entire moveset and match-set-up that Flair would have.. and merely counter and capitalize himself.

However, of course it won't be that easy. Flair isn't a push-over, but Malenko isn't a jobber.. it won't be as easy as you describe it to be, and Flair won't be wooing without some pain involved. If Flair wins this contest, it won't be without a shear amount of great punishment and endurance put on, by merely out-lasting the Iceman.

I still say Malenko wins this match.

 

[Captain America]

Dean Malenko couldn't even defeat David Flair, let alone Ric Flair. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlUgR_TsZ2s The fact is Dean Malenko was one of the best wrestlers of the opening card, while Ric Flair was one of the best wrestlers of the main event. You take away over half of Ric's accomplishments in pro wrestling and he still has credentials that Dean could only dream of. Ric has accomplished a whole hell of a lot more and has defeated the much better competition of the two. Why anyone would even consider voting for Dean Malenko is beyond me.

 

[Mighty NorCal]

Er yea, no chance. not that I belive it would be a walk, but in no planet in the universe does Deano Machino go over an in his prime Ric Flair. This is JUST the kind of WCW nitro main event I would come to expect, and know the outcome. and there are TONS of of ropes for Flair to lay his legs all over for pins and leverage on the fig 4.

 

[Captain America]

Here's a video of a past his prime Ric Flair making Dean Malenko tap out. The video doesn't lie and nothing more really needs to be said about this match. Ric clearly takes this.
http://www.dailymotion.com/relevance/search/flair/video/x7kkl0_dean-malenko-vs-ric-flair_sport

 

[Mighty NorCal]

uuuuhhhh. what? Dean clearly takes this bnecuase of a video of him tapping out to a past his prime Flair? so then Dean somehow beats an in his prime Flair? Please, do elaborate. Flair is head and shoulders over that little vanilla midget in every way shape and form. Flair clearly takes this.

 

[gd]

This may be a better match than some expect, but I see Flair winning rather easily. While Malenko may have 1000 holds, Flair would be able to keep him down with his superior 20. Also, Flair has the size advantage and the willingness to cheat in his advantage. I'd say Flair gets a roll up with a handful of tights about 10 min in.

 

[ZEUS]

Flair wins in the same manner that he always won, due to some dirty trick. Malenko was far and away the better in ring wrestler, but really, who wasn't Malenko better than? Flair is a legend though, and is the best all around package ever in pro wrestling.

 

[NSL]

To anyone that thinks this is a squash for Flair, please...GTFO.

The beauty of this match, would be Sly falling asleep, and me giving KB a sharpie to draw all over him. This would be a wrestling clinic. For about an hour, we'd see every dirty trick, every wrestling move in each man's arsenal, and a crowd going back and forth in support.

In the end, I agree with Will. Flair's dirty tricks worked against lesser men than Malenko. Malenko took no shit in the ring, and wins this with a Crossface.

 

[SavageTaker]

You know what I agree with Will too. Dean was a very knowledgeable wrestler, and he would be able to overcome anything that Flair throws at him. Dean will catch one of Flair's mistakes and capitalize on it.

Flair is the type of wrestler who can be dominating someone and get very confident before he has even won the match. The same will go here, he is going to get to a point were he is not completely dominating Malenko but he has the upper hand, and he is going to do his mannerism such as Wooing at the crowd and that is when Malenko will see that Flair is distracted doing something else and he is going to capitalize on it.

I see Flair winning here because there's people that know him better and don't know much about Malenko and they will think that Ric Flair is the better man because he is considered by many one of the best in the business. even though Dean has more than enough moves to take Flair out.

So my vote is on Dean, but i know people many won't vote for him.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

I have no other option but to vote for Malenko. People who posted in his previous matches can blame themselves. You've converted me. If he has the technical expertise to take out King Kong Bundy & Matt Hardy then he must have the technical nous to defeat Ric Flair. If he can defeat not one, but two wrestlers who've done more in this sport than he has, then I'm sure in the rest period before matches he can figure out a mechanical Ric Flair.

 

[Shocky]

Voting for Flair. I love Dean Malenko, and this is the type of match that Flair would probably under estimate his opponent, but in the end, pull something off to win the match. Technically speaking Dean Malenko wrestles circles around Ric Flair,w ithout a doubt in my mind. Flair was good, but Malenko is a master of Technical Wrestling. However, the Dirtiest Player in the Game will have something up his sleeves when the upset looks to happen, and then pull victory out.

 

[BooCocky]

Dean Malenko is so overrated it isn't even funny. He shouldn't have gotten past the second round, let alone past this round. Flair will work the leg, and make the worthless Malenko tap out. I don't care if Dean knows 55555555555555555 moves, he will not advance past a wrestler like Flair, even if I do hate him. Dean can counter all the moves he wants, but nothing in his repertoire will but Naitch away. Naitch wins with a figure four.

 

[Miko]

I agree with the glove hand.

Not a squash for Flair because I dont recall Malenko ever getting squashed, I dont recall him winning that much either though. Was tempted to do a Jake and vote Malenko based on the fact he's beaten better opponents already in this thing but I'll stick to my guns and say the 16 time World Champion advances another round. As much as I dislike Flair he's way beyond Malenko.