Their first match was built up for three months. They were to meet at the Great American Bash and it was done in a way that is different from today. That angle done today, would have seen a match in three weeks. Back then, however, they waited three months. Ric Flair was no where near television and Terry Funk had his run of the company. There was even more drama behind the scenes before the match though. Funk had injured himself working the house a couple weeks before the show and could barely walk. Funk, however, had no intentions of missing this match. He would later say that he felt an obligation to the fans.

The match was everything it was built up to be, full of non-stop excitement. Flair wrestled angry and out for revenge, while Funk, like a classic heel, never backed down. Similar to Steve Austin, Terry Funk took it toe to toe. The telling tale may be what happened after the match. During a post brawl, Ric Flair was sprayed with green mist from the Great Muta. Flair interviewed after the match, was like a warrior, full of emotion, dripping in a combination of blood and green mist. He cut the promo of his career with the emotions coming out of Ric Flair's mouth, equaling the blood coming out of his head.

The next step in the rivalry came on a Clash Of The Champions out of Texas. Dick Slater replaced Terry Funk, as he tagged with Great Muta taking on Sting and Ric Flair. In an angle later repeated in ECW, Terry Funk put a plastic bag over Ric Flair's head. The angle was intense and only solidified Funk's crazy persona. Terry Funk was then fined $100,000. Ric Flair paid it so he could wrestle him.

The next match was a bloody battle that headlined Halloween Havoc in Philadelphia, PA. Bruno Sammartino came back to referee the match. It was here that the reformation of the Four Horseman began, as Ole Anderson lead the team of Ric Flair and Sting to the ring. The match was the first ever Thunderdome event and it was a wild and crazy tag match, surrounded by a huge electrified cage. Contrary to popular opinion, Atsushi Onita was not the innovator of the electrified cage match. Referee Tommy Young even had to extinguish a fire.

The final showdown was next, appearing on free TV at a live Clash Of The Champions. Arguably, this Clash is the best one ever. It was from New York and featured an incredible line up: Lex Luger wrestled Brian Pillman in a return match from Halloween Havoc, The Road Warriors continued their rivalry with the Freebirds, The Skyscrapers received their toughest challenge to date from the Steiners and Ric Flair and Terry Funk headlined in an I Quit match, with the loser of the match was to retire.

Terry Funk entered the match accompanied by his manager Gary Hart, with Flair entered the ring as the number one babyface of the company, a position he had not been in for many years, at least never on a mainstream level. The match was brutal and hard fought and in a matter of moments, like Flair-Steamboat the feud was over. The crazy man from the Double-cross Ranch was retired and the series was over. The man that helped keep a sinking company afloat was retired for the wrong reasons.

Terry Funk the professional however, did not argue. Like the true cowboy he is, he rode into the sunset. Ric Flair searched for a heel to feud with after Funk retired, but the Flair-Muta series did not draw what they expected. They just couldn't find a heel, so Ric became the heel again. Funk remained in WCW as a color commentator but it remains… what could have been the greatest feud of all, ended prematurely for all the wrong reasons.

NEXT MONTH:

A recap of the first ever Great American Bash