Memorable lines from these promos:

Race -  (staring in the camera, as serious as he can be) – “Ric Flair, you’re a PUNK. I am a Mizzorah man and I am going to take the belt in front of these Mizzorah fans!!” (massive cheers from the studio audience)

Flair – (a young Ric Flair, complete with suit and tie) – “Harley Race, Harley Race, how many times do I have to beat up Harley Race. Larry Matysik, I am tired of beating him all over the Kiel Auditorium” (massive boos and heat from the studio audience)

 · Ric Flair vs. Dick the Bruiser (1981-1982) – These two met at least once that I witnessed in person. More funny stuff, as only these two can deliver. Flair took the match two out of three falls. A rare job from the Bruiser. I remember Flair juicing, probably hardway. Kind of a strange matchup for a few reasons – given Muchnick’s love of competitive matches, did anybody think they’d put the NWA belt on Bruiser? Or was the match going to be somebody else who got hurt, fell out of favor with Muchnick, etc? Anyway, given that Bruiser was pretty much a pure brawler, it was a fun match to watch. The St. Louis faithful always wanted to see Flair get pounded, and in this case, they got it! 

·        Ric Flair vs. King Kong (AKA Bruiser) Brody (1982-1983) – Another great brawl that gave the St. Louis fans what they wanted: Flair getting his butt kicked (but maintaining the NWA belt). A funny part of the buildup to this feud was an incident that happened during a TV taping. Flair, as was his custom, had his sequined robe and belt with him. While Flair was busy during a TV squash with a jobber, Brody came out of the dressing room and put on Flair’s robe and took the NWA belt!!! 

During the “next week’s” TV show (approximately an hour later), Flair cut a blistering promo on Brody how dare he treat the NWA champion like that, etc. etc. And even funnier, during Flair’s next match, he crushed some poor jobber – in the corner, Flair chopped away while questioning the jobber “Are you one of Brody’s friends??!! <CHOP> <WHOO> This lead to a pretty good match at the Kiel. Same story as above, Flair is beaten from pillar to post, but retains the NWA title. 

Just an observation as I am writing this: There is an old saying about Ric Flair: “He could carry a broomstick to a good match” – or in this case, Brody and Dick the Bruiser. 

This month’s chapter ends with a few thoughts – feuds as we know them today did not exist in St. Louis, as they did in some other territories. Most “feuds” that we did have were as a result of promos cut on “Wrestling at the Chase”. The matches, in general, were excellent and by having the “blow off” match at the Kiel, the fans could see a conclusion to the feud that started in the studios of Channel 11. In the use of feuding as a tool to draw fans, Sam Muchnick knew that sometimes less is more.

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