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Couture's Championship Profiles: WCW Champion Ric Flair
By James E. Couture
Aug 23, 2007 - 9:51 AM

Folks, it's the leading candidate for the world's first appendix transplant, me, James E. Couture. Even though he's been clawed, chopped, slammed, and dropped by the Great Khali, Ric Flair is still, and always will be, the man. But there was a time when he was more than just wrestling's version of Jack LaLane (without the muscles), he was a no-foolin' World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion. Not only that, he managed to rule both the roost as Champ and a company as president. That's right, it's Ric Flair, WCW President For Life and WCW Champion, by god! Whooooooo!

Was there ever a time more magical than early 1999? Some might argue for the time Chester A. Arthur's personal magician briefly served as interim Vice President, but those people huff silver polish. Ilregardless, in March of 1999 Hollywood Hogan was WCW Champion coming off an epic victory over Kevin Nash.

"Tony, I'll tell you. I first saw the 'finger poke' in Mexico, performed by the legendary Felipo Vargas. He called it 'La Carpesa.'"
-Mike Tenay, "101 Wrestling Facts That Could Just Be Made Up, Who's Gonna Check, Really?", Bantam Books, 2000

Ric Flair had become WCW President by defeating Eric Bischoff, or maybe he won a ladder match against Mortis and Bronson Pinchot. Eitherway, the question burned: Who was on top of WCW, the Champ, or the Prez?

At WCW Uncensored Except For The Swears 1999, it would be the latest in "ultimate" cage matches. Flair. Hogan. Flair's career. Hogan's title. Flair's Presidency. Hogan's....heroes. It was the first ever Champion v. President Retirement Barbed Wire Steel Cage First Blood Match. Why that's not an available matchtype on Raw v SmackDown! is beyond me.

And so the match commenced. Hogan punched. Flair chopped. Arn Anderson slipped Flair the tire iron to score the pin with a figure four leglock in a first blood match where both guys were already bleeding. We've seen it a million times before. Finally, Flair was 14 times a World Champion. Of course, because this is WCW in 1999, Flair's reign as champion lasted until the next Pay-Per-View, but that meant 3-4 weeks, unlike in today's WWE, which would mean 5-7 business days. And while Flair's time as champion was over, he was still the President of WCW, which would lead to all sorts of wacky shennanigans with Roddy Piper, and Charles Robinson and David Flair playing Scarlet Spider and...other Spider-Man to Ric's regular Spider-Man. But that ended too, because the only thing that's "for life" in wrestling is the nWo, baby! Too sweeeeeeeet!

Well, until TNA establishes a woman's division and crowns Kurt Angle their first champion, I am, in fact, James E. Couture.

And I'd just like to say that the Balls Mahoney/Vince McMahon bit on ECW was copied directly from a cut segment of the Saturday Night's Main Event I saw live. ECW: What's For Dinner? Leftovers? Again?