(NOTE: Hey everyone! I just wanted to remind everyone that next Sunday, I'll be posting the inaugural edition of "The 5 Star Series" where I cover the best matches of all time. If you want to vote for that inaugural edition, click the link here. Now, onto the newest edition of The Worst in the World!)
Back in 2008 at WrestleMania XXIV, Ric Flair got just about as perfect a sendoff as you can ask for. In the sixth match on the card, Flair wrestled a Career Threatening match against Shawn Michaels. In easily the best match Flair would have after his prime in the '80s and early '90s, Flair and Michaels would have a highly emotional match that ended with the iconic moment of Michaels remorsefully making the cover and retiring Flair. Flair would go out in a way any wrestler would dream of, soaking in the admiration of nearly 75,000 fans. A perfect end to a legendary career...until it wasn't.
Yes, much like The Undertaker would do seven years after him...and again two years after that...Ric Flair did not actually hang up the boots for good after his iconic send-off. It's a story almost as old as time in wrestling, as there is no shortage of wrestlers who announced their retirement, only to wrestle again afterwards. With Flair, he'd finish out his WWE contract, in a non-wrestling capacity, making his last appearance in June 2009. He'd sign on with Ring of Honor, again in a non-wrestling role. It wasn't until November that year when it was announced that Flair would be returning to the ring for the Hulk Hogan-centered four-night Australian tour, "Hulkamania: Let the Battle Begin", a year and a half after his "retirement."
Now, a wrestler coming out of retirement isn't necessarily bad, as plenty of wrestlers, even after hanging up the boots, can still work at a pretty high level. With Flair, that wasn't really the case. Sure, his retirement match with Michaels was very well-received, and in a multi-man match or with the right opponent he can still have a solid showing, but overall, few would argue he was no longer the elite worker he was in his prime. Hell, even as early as the late '90s, you can find articles from wrestling media about how Flair should've retired. That was a decade before he'd actually retire, and then unretire.
At the same time, it's become pretty well-known that Flair's finances & and his handling of money are...rough. Whether it be not paying his taxes, living like the character in real life, or multiple divorces, Flair's history with money is not a good one. If you ever wondered why Flair seems to be endorsed by every random product you see ads for on Tubi like car insurance, protein bites, or ghost kitchens, that's why. Hell, to jump ahead a bit, even in the build to this match, Karen Jarrett explicitly says this match is happening because Flair is out of money. Following Flair's retirement and through even more financial struggles, most notably the third of four divorces and the lawsuit following the disaster that was his, and I'm not joking, financial company "Ric Flair Finance", Flair needed cash, and unsurprisingly, stepped back in the ring.
So, Flair would wrestle another 16 matches, first the aforementioned four matches on the Hulkamania tour, wrestling Hulk Hogan each time. While I don't believe these shows have ever been released in their entirety, the clips I've seen of these matches are, as to be expected with a match between a 60-year-old Flair and a 56-year-old Hogan, bad. The other 12 matches he'd wrestle would be in Total Nonstop Action, wrestling them across two years. While there were some fun matches (most notably his surprisingly good Last Man Standing match with Mick Foley), this run is more proof that Flair really shouldn't have been in a wrestling ring anymore. Flair would retire again in 2012, and in 2016 would call returning to the ring the biggest regret of his career. If anything, this was the definitive end of the in-ring career of Ric Flair...until it wasn't.
In 2022, it was announced that a revived Jim Crockett Promotions, then owned by Flair's son-in-law Conrad Thompson and Jim Crockett's son David, would be holding "Ric Flair's Last Match", a huge wrestling supercard built around the final match of Flair's career, 14 years after his initial "last match" and 11 after his second "final match." It was later announced that the match would see Flair, then 73 years old, team with another son-in-law, then AEW wrestler Andrade El Idolo, to face the team of AEW's Jay Lethal and Jeff Jarrett, who was working as an executive with WWE at the time.
On the one hand, the idea of Flair wrestling again was insane. Even if you take away the fact that he was 73 and hadn't wrestled in over a decade, he was in rough physical shape. Most notably, Flair suffers from alcoholic cardiomyopathy, a heart condition caused by long-term alcohol consumption, and has a pacemaker. Additionally, Flair was dealing with plantar fasciitis (a foot injury.) And unlike a lot of his later multi-man matches, this match is entirely based around Flair. He's the main attraction, so it's expected he be heavily involved in this match. At the same time, he was wisely put in the ring with people who could elevate him, as Andrade & Lethal are both extremely talented, and even Jarrett was still pretty solid given his age. The odds of the match actually being good were slim, but maybe it wouldn't be an absolute disaster...
The match was an absolute disaster. In over 26 minutes of action, everyone's worst fears about seeing 73-year-old Ric Flair wrestle one last time were confirmed, and it shows in the ratings for the match. It doesn't seem like Dave Meltzer gave this match a rating (as opposed to every other match on the card), but Cagematch.net currently has it sitting at a 2.94 out of 10 average rating. It's far from the worst on the site, and not even in the bottom 15 of 2022, but clearing a bar set by matches like Blue Demon Jr vs El Rayo de Jalisco Jr. or Ronda Rousey vs Shotzi is about as easy as it gets. So, by popular demand (71% of the poll vote) let's take a look.
Jarrett, with his wife Karen by his side, spends four and a half minutes making his entrance, yelling at the commentators Tony Schiavone & David Crockett before tossing their notes away, taunting fans, pushing others, throwing a drink in someone's face, and even shoving Conrad Thompson seated in the front row. He does this for so long that his entrance music loops back to the beginning. Flair comes down to the ring wearing the Big Gold World Heavyweight Championship belt. A shoving match ensues as David Penzer makes the ring introductions, forcing referee Mike Chioda to break them up. This would also end up being the final match Chioda would referee, an end to his 33-year career.
Flair & Jarrett start the match, and it's nearly 30 seconds after the bell before the two make contact. Jarrett gets in Flair's face, so Flair slaps him. Jarrett circles the ring before tagging in Lethal. It's another 40 seconds before the two lock up, with Lethal taking Flair to the mat with a headlock takeover. Flair counters with a headscissor, but Lethal escapes quickly. The crowd chants "YOU STILL GOT IT" at Flair after he did one basic move 2 minutes into a match.
30 seconds after the escape, the two lock up again. Flair puts Lethal in a headlock before taking Lethal down to the mat with a takeover. Flair just lets go of the hold before both get back to their feet, and they quickly lock up again. Flair forces Lethal into the corner, but Lethal turns the tables and slaps him. Flair responds with a slap of his own, knocking Lethal to the mat. Lethal demands Andrade tag in, so he does. Enough nostalgia bait, time for actual wrestling.
The two shove each other before Lethal kicks Andrade in the gut. Andrade responds with a headlock, but Lethal quickly shoves out of it. Andrade bounces off the ropes and floors Lethal with a shoulder block before hitting the ropes again. Lethal drops down and goes for a leapfrog, but Andrade grabs the ropes to stop. The two trade forearms and punches before Andrade knees Lethal in the gut. Andrade hits the ropes, but Lethal fires back with an uppercut. Lethal hits the ropes, but Andrade catches him with a running big boot, which gets a two count.
Lethal responds with a thumb to the eye and a back elbow, and then another, before tagging in Jarrett. Jarrett punches away at Andrade, striking him into the corner before going for an Irish whip. Andrade reverses it and hits a hip toss, and then another, before locking in a wristlock. Jarrett reverses it, but Andrade quickly reverses it right back before tagging in Flair.
That's enough wrestling for now, as Jarrett quickly scurries back to his corner. This leads to almost a full minute of Jarrett circling the ring before locking up with Flair. Jarrett locks in a headlock, but Flair pushes out of it and sends Jarrett toward the ropes. Jarrett grabs the ropes to stop before hitting the Fargo Strut and posing on the ropes. That begins over 45 seconds of non-wrestling before Flair & Jarrett lock up again. Flair locks in a headlock, but Jarrett quickly shoves him to the ropes. Flair stops and does a strut of his own before telling Lethal to suck it. That's another 40 seconds of no wrestling. I can't stress enough how little is actually done when Flair's in the ring.
Another lock-up sees Jarrett slap on another headlock. Flair pushes out and slowly goes for a chop, but Jarrett ducks it. Jarrett goes for a punch, but Flair blocks it and chops away at Jarrett. Flair strikes Jarrett into the corner until Chioda gets between them. Lethal runs in, only to get low-blowed by Flair. Andrade runs into the clothesline Lethal out of the ring, which the camera cuts away from to show Flair punching Jarrett in the corner. Andrade gets one final chop on Jarrett before he rolls out of the ring.
Jarrett walks all the way up the ramp. Chioda starts to count him out as Jarrett walks back to the ring, rolling in to break the count before rolling back out. Jarrett again starts to leave as Chioda counts him out. Jarrett eventually gets back in the ring before Andrade tags back in. Legitimately, it is TWO WHOLE MINUTES before anything else happens in the match. I get it, Flair's old as shit and can't do a whole lot, but this much blatant stalling is brutal to watch.
Jarrett gives Andrade a thumb to the eye before dragging Andrade to his corner and tagging in Lethal. Lethal beats down Andrade, only for Andrade to rush him back into the opposite corner. Andrade shoulder rushes Lethal before Flair locks in a sleeper hold from the apron. That counts as a tag, I guess, so Flair gets in the ring and stomps Lethal's hand. Flair chops Lethal before punching & chopping him in the corner. One final chop sends Lethal to the mat before Flair Irish whips him to the opposite corner. Flair hits another chop before tagging in Andrade.
Andrade stomps & punches Lethal before going for an Irish whip. Lethal reverses it and sends Andrade to the ropes, where Jarrett catches him with a boot to the back. Andrade punches Jarrett, but turns right into a Lethal Combination (an STO backbreaker into a reverse STO) from Lethal. Lethal grapevines Andrade's leg before tagging in Jarrett. Jarrett stomps away at Andrade before choking him against the ropes. Lethal gets a cheap shot in as Jarrett hits the ropes before hitting the leg guillotine. Jarrett hits another Fargo Strut before tagging in Lethal.
Lethal climbs to the top rope as Jarrett holds Andrade in place for Lethal to hit a diving double axe handle. Lethal throws Andrade into the corner, where he stomps away at him. Andrade fights back and the two trade blows, but Lethal keeps control with a hip toss. Lethal immediately cartwheels to set up a follow-up dropkick for a two count. Jarrett tags back, and he punches away at Andrade. Jarrett goes for the Irish whip, but Andrade reverses it. A bit of a clunky transition to a headlock from Andrade leads to Jarrett going for a back suplex. Andrade counters, however, and turns over to land on Jarrett, leaving both men down.
Jarrett makes the tag to Lethal, while Flair just comes in without a tag. Flair chops away at Lethal and Jarrett before Irish whipping Lethal to the corner. Lethal does Flair's trademark flip over the ropes and onto the apron. Lethal goes to the top rope and goes for a flying nothing, which Flair counters with another chop. Flair locks in the Figure Four Leglock on Lethal, but Jarrett breaks it up with a punch.
Lethal pushes Flair out of the ring as Jarrett tells Karen to give him one of her high heel boots. Andrade gets in the ring, distracting Chioda and allowing Jarrett to hit Flair with the boot. Karen slaps Flair before Jarrett slams him into the guard rail. This prompts Flair's daughter Megan, who's seated in the front row next to her husband Conrad Thompson, to grab Karen by the hair.Jarrett and the security guards, among them longtime WCW Head of Security Doug Dellenger, run over to break them up as Karen very clearly yells "I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU!" and "CONTROL YOUR FUCKING WIFE!" at her husband.
Flair's been busted open as Lethal punches away at him. Andrade runs over to make the save, but Lethal stops him and slams him into the timekeeper's table. With Chioda focused on them, Jarrett hits Flair with the shoe again before taunting Flair's wife Wendy. Lethal turns his attention back to Flair, and this leads to easily the most uncomfortable/gross moment of the match. Flair, who I mentioned as having a legitimate heart condition & pacemaker, clutches his chest, clearly insinuating he is having a heart attack. Lethal stops punching him and brings over Chioda, only for Flair to poke Lethal in the eye. Conrad Thompson has said both he & Jarrett didn't want Flair to do a fake heart attack spot, but Flair did it anyway, and Flair himself has said it was poor taste.
Flair pokes Lethal in the eyes again before Jarrett throws him back in the ring. Jarrett kicks Flair in the corner before lifting him into the top rope. Lethal tags back, only for Lethal to take Flair off the top rope and muscle him up for a suplex. Lethal makes the cover, but Andrade dives into to break it up. Lethal tosses Andrade out of the ring before Jarrett tags back in. Jarrett stomps away at Flair's leg before he locks in the Figure Four. As he does, Andrade climbs to the top rope and dives off, breaking up the Figure Four with a frog splash.
Lethal runs in to toss Andrade out of the ring again before tagging in. Lethal repeatedly slaps Flair before punching away at him. Lethal climbs to the top rope and goes for the diving elbow, but Flair moves out of the way just in time. Flair crawls to his corner and makes the tag to Andrade. Jarrett tags in as well before Andrade runs wild, clotheslining Jarrett twice before flooring Lethal with a back elbow. Andrade hits another clothesline on Jarrett before hitting a snap suplex on Lethal. Andrade front suplexes Jarrett onto Lethal before Jarrett crawls to the corner. With Jarrett in position, Andrade hits the running double knee strike and makes the cover, but Lethal breaks up the pin.
Andrade dispatches Lethal, tossing him over the top rope and out of the ring. Jarrett rushes Andrade into the corner, but Andrade fights him off with a back elbow. Andrade climbs to the second rope and hits a diving DDT. He makes the cover again, but Lethal dives in to break up the pin again. Lethal & Jarrett Irish whip Andrade to the ropes and go for a double-team back body drop, but Andrade counters with a kick to Lethal. Andrade tries to follow up with a clothesline on Jarrett, but Jarrett ducks it and puts Andrade in a full nelson. Lethal goes for a superkick, but Andrade avoids it and Jarrett takes the kick.
Lethal goes for another superkick on Andrade, but Andrade moves again and Lethal kicks Chioda. With the ref down, Andrade hits a Poison Rana (reverse Frankensteiner) on Lethal before going back to his corner. Even though the ref is down, Andrade tags in Flair, who's so gassed he's just lying on the apron. Andrade dives out of the ring toward Jarrett, but Karen pulls him out of the way, and Andrade crashes on the outside. Meanwhile, Flair slowly crawls into the ring and into the cover. He gets the visual three on Lethal, but Chioda is still down. Jarrett takes the opportunity to slide into the ring, his guitar in hand.
Lethal recovers and holds Flair in place. Jarrett swings, only for Andrade to slide in and pull Flair out of the way, causing Lethal to get cracked with the guitar. Lethal falls out of the ring as Andrade floors Jarrett with the superkick. Andrade calls for Conrad Thompson, who tosses him brass knuckles. Andrade tries to give Flair the knuckles, but Flair's so exhausted he can barely wrap his fingers around them.
Flair eventually gets to his feet and clocks Jarrett with the knuckles before another referee runs down to the ring. Flair locks in the Figure Four on an unconscious Jarrett, and despite Flair immediately falling to the mat with his shoulders down, the referee counts Jarrett's shoulders down for the three, giving the win to Flair & Andrade.
Flair eventually gets to his feet and clocks Jarrett with the knuckles before another referee runs down to the ring. Flair locks in the Figure Four on an unconscious Jarrett, and despite Flair immediately falling to the mat with his shoulders down, the referee counts Jarrett's shoulders down for the three, giving the win to Flair & Andrade.
Confetti rains down as a referee quickly slides in to hand Flair a bottle of water.Flair embraces with his family and the wrestlers at ringside, The Undertaker, Mick Foley, and Bret Hart. The rest of the locker room comes down to ringside as Flair cuts a five-minute promo with Tony Schiavone, saying that a moment so special like this got to happen twice before thanking everyone for coming out. Flair fist bumps members of the locker room before being handed the Big Gold Belt. Lethal comes out from the back to hug Flair to close out the show. And thus, the storied career of The Nature Boy Ric Flair comes to a close, one and fo-
Source: Fightful
GOD. DAMMIT.The Verdict
This match is pretty much exactly what you'd expect quality-wise. The parts where Andrade & Lethal get to wrestle each other are pretty fun, and while the quality obviously dips when Anrade and Jarrett wrestle together, those parts aren't exactly bad. Just kind of a solid brawl. However, any time Flair is in the ring is just bad. He cannot do anything outside of chops and punches, and that's only after noticeable amounts of stalling from his opponents. He's obviously got no energy for the vast majority of the match, and by the end, he legit is too tired to do just about anything in the match. I get that he was 73 at the time, but he's the main piece of the majority of this match. It's brutal. The only way I'd ever recommend watching this match is if you already have a TrillerTV+ subscription. Otherwise, it's not worth it.
The Rankings (Best to Worst)
- The Rock, Hulk Hogan, and Kane vs The nWo-Friday Night SmackDown (3/28/2002)
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- Steve Austin & Bradshaw vs Scott Hall & X-Pac-Monday Night Raw (4/29/2002)
- Sgt. Slaughter vs Colonel DeBeers-AWA SuperClash III
- The Mexicools vs The Blue World Order-The Great American Bash 2005
- The Undertaker vs Kane-Monday Night Raw (2/22/1999)
- The Undertaker vs Kane-WrestleMania XX
- The Undertaker vs Kane-Survivor Series 1998
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- Jake Roberts vs George Wells-WrestleMania 2
- The Undertaker vs Yokozuna-Survivor Series 1994
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- Jeff Jarrett & Owen Hart vs D'Lo Brown & Test-WrestleMania XV
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- Corporal Cajun & Lt. Loco vs The Perfect Event-Halloween Havoc 2000
- Melina vs Torrie Wilson-The Great American Bash 2005
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- Triple H vs Kevin Nash-TLC: Tables, Ladders, and Chairs 2011
- Wrath vs Glacier-World War 3 1998
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- Wendi Richter & The Top Gunns vs The Diamond Exchange-AWA SuperClash III
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- The Undertaker vs Chavo Guerrero-Friday Night SmackDown (10/31/2008)
- Booker T vs Buff Bagwell-Monday Night Raw (7/2/2001)
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- The Women's Tag Team Turmoil-WrestleMania 37 (Night 1)
- Triple H vs Sgt. Slaughter-D-Generation X: In Your House
- Konnan vs One Man Gang-SuperBrawl VI
- Ultimate Warrior vs Hercules-WrestleMania IV
- Candice LeRae vs Christina Von Eerie-PWG DIO!
- Jeff Jarrett vs Nathan Jones-WWA The Inception
- The Fabulous Moolah vs Velvet McIntyre-WrestleMania 2
- Rick Rude vs Hawk-Clash of the Champions XXV
- The Rock 'n' Roll Express vs The Stud Stable-AWA SuperClash III
- Ernest Miller vs Disco Inferno-Bash at the Beach 1999
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- Carmella vs Asuka-Money in the Bank 2018
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- Chyna vs Ivory-WrestleMania X-Seven
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- The Last Rites Match-Destination X 2007
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- Gunner vs Garett Bischoff-Against All Odds 2012
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- Corporal Kirchner vs Nikolai Volkoff-WrestleMania 2
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- Kazushi Sakuraba & Yuji Nagata vs Daniel & Rolles Gracie-Wrestle Kingdom 8
- Ivory vs Tori-SummerSlam 1999
- Giant Baba vs Bulldog Bob Brown-AWA WrestleRock
- The Reverse Battle Royal-Impact! (10/26/2006)
- Darren Drozdov vs Savio Vega-Monday Night Raw (8/10/1998)
- Bradshaw vs Marc Mero-Monday Night Raw (8/10/1998)
- Bart Gunn vs Steve Williams-Monday Night Raw (7/27/1998)
- Bradshaw vs Darren Drozdov-Monday Night Raw(8/17/1998)
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- Steve Williams vs Quebecer Pierre-Monday Night Raw (7/20/1998)
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- The Shockmaster vs Awesome/King Kong-Starrcade 1993
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- The 2022 Women's Royal Rumble
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- Mankind vs Paul Wight-WrestleMania XV
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- British Bulldog & Jim Neidhart vs The Dancing Fools-Fall Brawl 1998
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- Vampiro vs The KISS Demon-Bash at the Beach 2000
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- The nWo vs The Rock & Hulk Hogan-Monday Night Raw (3/25/2002)
- Steve Austin vs Scott Hall-Monday Night Raw (4/8/2002)
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- Diesel vs King Mabel-SummerSlam 1995
- Big Swole vs Penelope Ford, Rebel, and Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D.-AEW Dynamite (8/27/2020)
- Hulk Hogan vs Andre the Giant-WrestleMania III
- The Undertaker vs Kane-SummerSlam 2000
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- The Godfather vs Scorpio-Monday Night Raw (8/3/1998)
- Dan Severn vs The Godfather-Monday Night Raw (7/13/1998)
- The New Blood Gauntlet-WCW Monday Nitro (6/5/2000)
- Chris Jericho vs "Goldberg"-Fall Brawl 1998
- Jimmy Valiant vs Wayne Bloom-AWA SuperClash III
- Hulk Hogan vs Kevin Nash-WCW Monday Nitro (1/4/1999)
- Sting vs Hulk Hogan-Halloween Havoc 1999
- Hulk Hogan vs Jeff Jarrett-Bash at the Beach 2000
- Randy Savage & Sid Vicious vs Kevin Nash & Sting-Bash at the Beach 1999
- Kazuchika Okada & Toru Yano vs EVIL & Dick Togo-The New Beginning in Hiroshima 2021 (Day 2)
- Glacier vs Mortis-Slamboree 1997
- Steve Austin, Bradshaw, and Ric Flair vs The nWo-Monday Night Raw (5/6/2002)
- The Junkyard Invitational-Bash at the Beach 1999
- Michael Nakazawa vs Alex Jebailey-Fyter Fest 2019
- The 1997 World War 3 Match
- The 2022 Men's Royal Rumble
- Roman Reigns vs The Undertaker-WrestleMania 33
- Konnan vs Stevie Ray-Slamboree 1999
- The 1998 World War 3
- Kane vs The Undertaker-Night of Champions 2010
- Kane vs The Undertaker-Bragging Rights 2010
- The Undertaker vs The Undertaker-SummerSlam 1994
- The Undertaker vs Goldberg-Super ShowDown 2019
- Hiroshi Wajima vs Tom Magee-All Japan Pro Wrestling 1988
- Jim Duggan vs Big Boss Man-Royal Rumble 1990
- Meng vs Jim Duggan-Uncensored 1995
- Jim Steele vs The Equalizer-SuperBrawl IV
- The Undertaker vs Kamala-Survivor Series 1992
- David Flair vs Dean Malenko-Bash at the Beach 1999
- The Golden Truth vs Breezango-Money in the Bank 2016
- The Undertaker vs Giant González-WrestleMania IX
- Carmella vs Asuka-Extreme Rules 2018
- Sting vs Tony Palmore-Battle 7
- D-Generation X vs Brothers of Destruction-Crown Jewel
- Wendi Richter vs Leilani Kai-WrestleMania
- Goldberg vs Brock Lesnar-WrestleMania XX
- Jeff Jarrett vs Road Dogg-WWA The Inception
- Hornswoggle vs Chavo Guerrero-WWE Monday Night Raw (7/20/2009)
- Edge vs Triple H vs Vladimir Kozlov-Survivor Series 2008
- Rosita & Sarita vs Angelina Love & Winter-Victory Road 2011
- Kevin Sullivan vs Dave Sullivan-SuperBrawl V
- Steve McMichael vs Brian Adams-Road Wild 1998
- Scott Hall vs Roddy Piper-SuperBrawl IX
- Boris Zhukov vs Paul Samson-Beach Brawl
- Roddy Piper vs Hollywood Hogan-Halloween Havoc 1997
- Kane vs The Great Khali-Breaking Point
- Hollywood Hogan & Dennis Rodman vs Diamond Dallas Page & Karl Malone-Bash at the Beach 1998
- PN News & Bobby Eaton vs Steve Austin & Terrance Taylor-Great American Bash 1991
- Scott Steiner vs Sid Vicious vs Jeff Jarrett vs Road Warrior Animal-Sin
- Hollywood Hogan vs Roddy Piper-SuperBrawl 1997
- Yokozuna vs The Undertaker-Royal Rumble 1994
- The 2015 Royal Rumble Match
- Kazuchika Okada vs Gedo-New Japan Cup 2020 (Day 2)
- Batista vs The Great Khali-SummerSlam 2007
- Sting vs Hollywood Hogan-Starrcade 1997
- Sable vs Tori-WrestleMania XV
- Super Invader vs Todd Champion-WrestleWar 1992
- Brock Lesnar vs Cain Velasquez-Crown Jewel 2019
- King Kong Bundy & Jim Neidhart vs Yokozuna & Jake Roberts-Heroes of Wrestling
- Sid Vicious vs The Nightstalker-Clash of the Champions XIII
- Mabel vs Savio Vega-King of the Ring 1995
- John Bradshaw Layfield vs Batista-The Great American Bash 2005
- Monty Brown vs Trytan-Destination X 2005
- The 8-Divas Tag Match-Survivor Series 1999
- The Fabulous Freebirds vs The Renegade Warriors-Halloween Havoc 1990
- The Knockouts Gauntlet-One Night Only: Live! 2016
- AJ Styles vs Frank Trigg-No Surrender 2008
- Rick Rude vs Masahiro Chono-Halloween Havoc 1992
- Mike Awesome vs Vampiro-Halloween Havoc 2000
- Bray Wyatt vs John Cena-Extreme Rules 2014
- Brothers of Destruction vs KroniK-Unforgiven 2001
- The Miss WrestleMania Battle Royal-WrestleMania 25
- Mabel vs The Undertaker-King of the Ring 1995
- Abdullah the Butcher vs Zeus-Capitol Sports Promotions 17th Aniversario 1990
- Wendi Richter vs The Fabulous Moolah-The Brawl to End it All
- David Flair vs Kimberly Page-Mayhem 1999
- The Truth Commission vs The Disciples of Apocolypse-Survivor Series 1997
- Steve Blackman vs Marc Mero-Monday Night Raw (6/29/1998)
- Daffney vs Miss Hancock-Bash at the Beach 2000
- The Bushwhacker vs The Fabulous Rougeaus-WrestleMania V
- Randy Orton vs "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt-WrestleMania 37 (Night 2)
- Ric Flair & Andrade El Idolo vs Jeff Jarrett & Jay Lethal-Ric Flair's Last Match
- Lex Luger vs Sting-WWA The Retribution
- The Beverly Brothers vs The Bushwhackers-Royal Rumble 1992
- Savio Vega vs Rocky Maivia-WWF Monday Night Raw (4/14/1997)
- Teddy Long vs Eric Bischoff-Survivor Series 2005
- Adrian Adonis vs Uncle Elmer-WrestleMania 2
- Mike Sanders vs Ernest Miller-Halloween Havoc 2000
- Savio Vega vs Rocky Maivia-WWF Shotgun Saturday Night (1/25/1997)
- Greg Valentine vs George Steele-Heroes of Wrestling
- Abdullah the Butcher vs One Man Gang-Heroes of Wrestling
- Major Gunns vs Miss Hancock-New Blood Rising
- Vince Russo vs Booker T-WCW Monday Nitro (9/25/2000)
- Savio Vega vs Brakus-Monday Night Raw (7/6/1998)
- Bradshaw & Trish Stratus vs Christopher Nowinski & Jackie Gayda-WWE Monday Night RAW (7/8/2002)
- The Countdown to Armageddon Match-WCW Thunder (10/18/2000)
- Rayo de Jalisco Jr. vs Blue Demon Jr.-AAA TriplemanÃa XXX: Monterrey
- Triple H vs Scott Steiner-Royal Rumble 2003
- Goldberg vs "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt-Super ShowDown 2020
- Mr. McMahon vs Pat McAfee-WrestleMania 38 (Night 2)
- Santina Marella vs Vickie & Chavo Guerrero-Extreme Rules 2009
- Kevin Nash vs Scott Steiner vs Goldberg-New Blood Rising
- Brock Lesnar vs The Undertaker-WrestleMania XXX
- John Cena vs The Miz-Over the Limit 2011
- Hollywood Hogan vs The Warrior-Halloween Havoc 1998
- Mr. T vs Roddy Piper-WrestleMania 2
- The Royal Family vs Clowns R' Us-Survivor Series 1994
- The House of Horrors Match-Payback 2017
- The Blacktop Bully vs Dustin Rhodes-Uncensored 1995
- Buff Bagwell vs Roddy Piper-Bash at the Beach 1999
- Team Dos Caras vs Team El Canek-Leyendas Mexicanas 2017
- Pat Patterson vs Gerald Brisco-King of the Ring 2000
- The Wyatt Swamp Fight-The Horror Show at Extreme Rules
- The Four Doinks vs Team Bigelow-Survivor Series 1993
- Sting vs Jeff Hardy-Victory Road 2011
- Bret Hart vs Mr. McMahon-WrestleMania XVI
- WarGames 2000: Russo's Revenge-WCW Monday Nitro (9/4/2000)
- Oz vs Tim Parker-SuperBrawl
- Brock Lesnar vs Braun Strowman-Crown Jewel 2018
- Brock Lesnar vs Ricochet-Super ShowDown 2020
- Toru Yano vs KENTA-G1 Climax 2021 (Day 1)
- Konnan & Tygress vs Shane Douglas & Torrie Wilson-Halloween Havoc 2000
- The Fabulous Moolah vs Ivory-No Mercy 1999
- New Jack vs Vic Grimes-Living Dangerously 2000
- The Mighty Maccabee vs The Iron Sheik-Maccabiah Mania II: Shekel Slam
- Muhammad Ali vs Antonio Inoki-NJPW Real World Martial Arts Championship
- Van Hammer vs Doug Somers-Halloween Havoc 1991
- Eddy Steinblock vs One Warrior Nation-DWA Wrestling Legends Tour 2010 (Day 2)
- Ultimate Warrior vs Andre the Giant-Saturday Night's Main Event (11/25/1989)
- Jeff Jarrett vs Sting-Halloween Havoc 2000
- The Doomsday Cage Match-Uncensored 1996
- "Donald Trump" vs "Rosie O'Donnell"-WWE Monday Night RAW (1/8/2007)
- Kane vs The Undertaker-Judgement Day 1998
- Toru Yano vs Jado-New Japan Cup 2020 (Day 1)
- Rebel vs Shelly Martinez-One Night Only: Knockouts Knockdown
- Sable vs Torrie Wilson-The Great American Bash 2004
- The Evening Gown Pool Match-Armageddon 1999
- Kaitlyn vs Maxine-NXT (10/19/2010)
- Sabu vs The Sandman-November to Remember 1997
- The 1996 World War 3 Match
- Seth Rollins vs "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt-Hell in a Cell 2019
- Michael Cole vs Jerry Lawler-WrestleMania XXVII
- The Bushwhackers vs Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff-Heroes of Wrestling
- James Storm vs Chris Harris-Lockdown 2007
- John Laurinaitis vs John Cena-Over the Limit 2012
- Hulk Hogan vs The Giant-Halloween Havoc 1995
- The Shark Cage Match-Big Time Wrestling (1976)
- Los Villanos vs Los Psycho Circus-Triplemania XXIII
- Ultimate Warrior vs Goldust-In Your House 7
- Jenna Morasca vs Sharmell-Victory Road 2009
- The Lingerie Street Fight Battle Royal-AWA SuperClash III
- Akira Maeda vs Andre the Giant-NJPW Big Fighter Series 1986 (Day 15)
- The 1995 World War 3 Match
- The Reina de Reinas Championship Four-Way-AAA TriplemanÃa XXV
- Butterbean vs Bart Gunn-WrestleMania XV
- New Jack vs Vic Grimes-XPW Freefall
- Yoshiko vs Act Yasukawa-Stardom Queen's Shout
- Mickie Knuckles vs Mike Levy-IWA Mid-South Queen of the Deathmatch 2008
Thanks for reading! Be sure to share if you enjoyed and leave any suggestions for matches you'd like to see covered on the Worst in the World in the comments. And don't forget to click the link here and vote in the poll to decide the next edition of the Worst in the World, which will be posted in two weeks. Stay tuned...
Here is a hardcore match that happened at last years Victory Road were it consisted of Bully Ray calling the spots which included telling PCO to chockslam him through the table and at one point helped PCO set up a table.
ReplyDeleteBully Ray vs PCO (Impact Wrestling Victory Road 2023)
That one has been requested already, but thanks for the suggestion!
DeleteHere's a pretty bad WCW PPV which the Battlebowl stipulation originated from and dominated the show Starrcade 1991.
ReplyDeleteJimmy Garvin/Marcus Bagwell vs Michael Hayes/Tracey Smothers
Rick Rude/Steve Austin vs Big Josh/Van Hammer
Dustin Rhodes/Richard Morton vs El Gigante/Larry Zbyzsko
Bill Kazmaier/Jushin Liger vs DDP/Mike Graham
Ricky Steamboat/Todd Champion vs Buddy Lee Parker/Cactus Jack
Abdullah the Butcher/Sting vs Bobby Eaton/ Brian Pillman
Vader/Mr Hughes vs Rick Steiner/Nightstalker
Firebreaker Chip/Scott Steiner vs Arachnaman/Johnny B Badd
Ron Simmons/Thomas Rich vs PN News/Steve Armstrong
Battlebowl Battle Royal
I'll add these to the list. Thanks for the suggestions!
DeleteCould you maybe rank Seth Rollins vs Randy Orton from Extreme Rules 2015?
ReplyDeleteI absolutely can. Thanks for the suggestion!
DeleteI got a match that nearly killed Austin Theory's push and is one of the worst MITB cash in's of all time!
ReplyDeleteAustin Theory vs Seth Rollins Raw Nov 7 2022
I'll add it to the list. Thanks for the suggestion!
DeleteHere's an NWA event that was riddled with errors such as matches that had silly gimmicks that plagued them and James Mitchell snorting coke on live television which cost the NWA a tv deal with CW: NWA Samhain 2023
ReplyDeleteDevil's Last Dance Ultimate Hardcore Team War Match
Rush Freeman vs Brady Pierce (loser leaves town match)
The Southern 6 vs The Headbangers (rock n roll tag team match)
Jax Dane vs Blake Troop (submission match)
The Brothers of Funstruction/Violent J vs La Rebellion /Vampiro (riddlebox match)
Blunt Force Trauma vs Mike Knox/Trevor Murdoch (knights of the round table match)
EC3 vs Thorn Latimer (No Limits Match)
The majority of those matches have been requested before, but the EC3-Latimer hasn't. I'll add it to the list. Thanks for the suggestions!
DeleteHere's an oddity from Argentina that I discovered recently. A "Frog Match" where a frog is placed next to a wrestler's crotch, and the aim is to kill the frog belonging to your opponent. That bit of animal cruelty aside, the biggest problem is that they don't lean into the stipulation enough...
ReplyDeletehttps://youtu.be/wuabUsfEaSg