It's been said many times that Flair had to basically tailor make his matches that way cause he wrestled most every nite in different cities nationwide.
Far too many people say these exact same things about Flair for there to be nothing in it. In fairness its a question of how good he was and how over-rated he was - because he was/is both.
Wow! Superstar's looking good daddy! Good man. Love Mr. Bill Dundee! He and Jerry Lawler made my childhood in the 1980s with Championship Wrestling. Is Beautiful Bobby Eaton of Midnight Express fame still his son-in-law?
I remember Jerry Lawler saying that in 1982, that Flair couldn’t get a good pop from the crowd when he first came to Memphis. The territory did much better with Bockwinkel instead of Flair. In 85, there were disagreements among Lawler’s and Dusty’s people over the payoffs after Crockett’s people wrestled in Memphis.
@@VolumedMusicMan I heard that Memphis did not want to pay the normal 10% to the NWA champ. In 82 Flair was a new champ. At that point Harley Race still considered the best in 1982 even though Flair was the champ.
I know wrestlers can have big egos and that can effect perceptions but Dundee is right about one thing and that is when you see one Flair match, you've seen them all. And I love Nature Boy, he's an icon, even wrestling fans who don't know anything else know who Ric is. Ric was great cutting a promo and entertaining as hell. Loved his ha-ha moment in Atlanta when he baited Precious to come out to the mike and while Ric did his thing, Precious slapped him. Great comedy that really popped. Memphis style wrestling was in many respects unique, which adds to its appeal, Dundee a big part of that. And not to diminish Lawler either. Dundee knew how to book and tell a great story and credit to Jerry Jarrett in knowing how to have good people around him and if memory serves me, wasn't Memphis the last of the old school territories to survive which also sez something about Memphis IMO. I grew up with Crockett wrestling in the 60's and then Georgia/Gordon Solie Wrestling in the 70's and 80's but have a lot of respect for Bill and the Memphis/Mid South/UWF wrestling. That was good stuff and it would be ashame if I failed to mention the great Lance Russell RIP.
Bret said the same thing about Flair's matches being the same as well.Bret definitely has nothing to be jealous about,so I think that's how these guys truly feel.No hate involved
I was a big Bret fan, but the same could be said of him. Side Russian leg sweep, elbow off 2nd rope, sharpshooter.. i just called every Hart match for his last 10 years.
rid had the figure four and when it got reversed on Jim it would bring more excitement to his matches because we always wondered.. is he gonna tap out of make it to the ropes
Dundee is under rated this guy could wrestle and yes he had more moves than Flair because flair carried the belt did not make him the best wrestler its because he fit the role better and was a great showman on the mic sorry he is not the greatest wrestler . I do like Flair but don't worship him like some do.
Ric Flair outclasses Bill Dundee as a wrestler. He was the 2nd biggest draw worldwide in the 80s behind Hulk Hogan. Bill Dundee wasn’t close to the draw that Ric Flair was.
Flair is known for two things. 1 his figure 4 leg lock 2 he cut good promos. He wasn't the wrestler Dundee was, he was just fortunate to be more famous overall. Dundee is a legend in many parts of the US.
These shoot interviews gives a perfect platform to see just how many old wrestlers were jealous of Ric Flair. I’m certainly not suggesting that Flair was innocent of everything, but everyone of these old territory wrestlers who throws hate his way never drew money outside of their own territory. Bill Dundee was 5ft nothing, weighed 100 and nothing, and if it weren’t for Jerry Lawler and Jerry Jarrett he wouldnt have been nothing. Meanwhile, Ric Flair and his handful of wrestling moves is a household name even to nonwrestling fans 🤷🏻♂️.
Just b/c he is still a household name, doesn’t mean he isn’t also an habitual liar. I give Flair props bc he sacrificed nearly everything for the business.
He never drew money outside of the CWA, I don’t care how successful he was as a booker he wasn’t a draw as a performer anywhere other than Jarrett’s promotion.
"Unsuccessful" ??? No I guess you meant other than = Starcade , and two Crockett cups, selling out in Dallas, Holding AWA World Tag Titles, twice,Central States Title in Kansas, Titles in Florida, and Alabama, outside that, hell he hasn't done anything other than Jarrett's company.
The fact that you probably had to google that information just proves my point 🤷🏻♂️. Btw, the accomplishments you stated doesn’t mean anything as far as drawing money goes, he was not the top draw in any of those scenarios... but nice try though. I mean, there was a reason why top draws in certain territory’s didn’t have the NWA title put on them. And when they did it wasn’t very long (Tommy Rich). We know who was the top draws in JCP, the Fullers and Armstrong’s were the top draws in Alabama (Southeast/Continental/USA), Dusty, the Graham’s, Windhams, and Sullivan in Florida, and territories like Kansas (which was controlled by Geigel and Crockett) was just a melting pot of NWA talent. Which goes back full circle to Dundee, his success was in CWA where Lawler and Jarret made him a star and where he had the most success.
@@greene74 Well i didn't need to google anything, i remember it. I'm 50yrs. old. I was there for a lot of it, lol. You sure are down on the Superstar, did he beat you up at some point, or steal your woman ?
I thoroughly enjoy these shoot interviews until they get to the subject of other wrestlers, especially very high-achieving performers like Ric Flair, Steve Austin, The Rock, Triple H, Hulk Hogan Etc. Rarely do the interviewees have a decent word to say about wrestlers that were far more popular than themselves.
No. Any true fan of pro wrestling knows Dundee is one of the greats. Some guys just don't like each other. There is no need for fans to take it personal.
Wow another amazing super great video info and analysis from absolutely the best channel on RU-vid. Bill dundee sounds a little jealous and I think at only 5 ' 1" tall bill exaggerated this story to try to pretend he's like 6 ' 4 tall..Mr dundee sounds like he took one to many chairs shot and knows ric flair and Jerry Lawler was 1000 x the draw that little Billy was and he knows it . Thank you and keep up the good work
Flair was a heel. Heels didn’t do high spots in the territory days. It was the NWA world champion’s job to make the local champ look good and almost lose the title. Flair did the same basic match from mid 80s on because wrestling changed. It moved from storytelling to high spots and power moves. Think about it, Flair had the same match so that his opponent could fit in his high spots and/or power moves. Flair put guys over.....even when he won. Sting, Lex Luger, Nikita Koloff Vader.....and others. He sold like crazy and took great bumps. Flair allowed them to showcase their moves and take 70% of the match. Find his matches in the 80s against guys that could really work. Flair wasn’t innovative and wasn’t an offensive wrestler for the most part. But look up Flair vs Brisco or Dory Funk jr. He could mat wrestle w/ finesse and style. Look up some of his matches in Japan. William Regal had some very good mat wrestling matches w/ Flair. He is one of the greatest technicians in the history of the sport. Sure, he did some goofy stuff. But so did Terry Funk and Harley Race. Why do they never get called out for repetitive matches and goofy high spots? When u trash a guy like Flair, it shows that u probably started watching wrestling in the 90s. Get a clue. I’ve seen him live in the 70s and early 80s. At house shows before he was NWA champ, I saw him do dropkicks, sunset flips, leap frog, cross body blocks and many other moves that he didn’t use as a heel world champ. Bill Dundee had a great mind for the business and was a solid worker, but he didn’t draw money like Flair. Memphis was not my cup of tea. 90% of the wrestling was brawling, so I guess that did make decent wrestlers like Dundee and Lawler stand out. Those guys can’t carry Flair’s jockstrap. Those clowns would have been in the 2nd match if they would have tried to make it in a REAL wrestling territory like Mid Atlantic Championship Wrestling.
He was a mid card wrestler. His size held him back. He's 5'7". He did booking in Mid South for Bill Watts. He would leave Memphis when he had a job elsewhere. By doing that he kept himself strong in Memphis. He just turned 75 years old and still wrestles sporadically.
Tiger supporter0848 - He Drew very well every where he went, Central States, Bull Dog Brower Put him over for their title, Florida, the grahams would give him the book, and he'd perform and get heat as single, and manage teams. He was in at least 1 starcade , 2 Crockett cups, once with Buddy Landell, and 1 with The Barbarian , AWA World Tag Champ did it at the request of Vergn Ganya , US Jr Title in Mobile Territory, champions there more than once, sell out Dallas, with Eric Embry, John Tatum, and Jerry Lawler. Made over half million dollars in Mid south with Bill Watts. I'd say he drew.
@@imafreakinhistorian2169 Dont get me wrong, he definitely made a name for himself. I remember him showing up now and then on mid-Atlantic cards. But imo he was never THE draw. A piece of the puzzle? For sure. A partner/opponent for Jerry Lawler, absolutely. But it's just my opinion that he was a cog rather than the machine itself. And as for him booking, Memphis booking to me was everything that was cheesy from the late 70's early 80s. The Mummy? Baby Diaper matches? It was all to appeal to that particular fan base and would not have worked in many territories. Again, just my opinion. I love my old school NWA guys, but this dude has always been overrated to me. Still, great historical points, good to see another old school fan.
@@trademarktraining Love the old school, never liked the cartoon stuff neither. Flair "IS" the GOAT. But , Bill has a point, somewhere in the 90's Flair's matches did start to look a lot alike. Superstar's matches against Billy Robinson, Nelson Royal, Bockwinkel, were awesome, I was so mad when Ko Ko beat Dundee for the title shot with Flair, I think they would have had a great match. They were both heels at the time, so maybe not, but I wanted to see them exchange holds, and wrestle. Don't forget, the man is 5'7", took a lot of determination and skill to get himself into a business dominated by strength and size.
Yes but Bill is probably in a lot less debt then Ric these days who has well documented massive debts from decades of overspending, numerous divorces and failure to properly pay taxes among other reasons.
