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This is a review of the Ric Flair Definitive Collection special DVD set, which features 3 discs; including a documentary, collection of matches, promos and extras.
Release Date: July 8, 2008
Run Time: 480 minutes

Pick up your copy now at Amazon.com

First off if you are a Ric Flair fan, no wait, even if you aren’t a Ric Flair Fan, hell even if you hate Flair and have barely ever watched him wrestle you must get this DVD, because it will remind (or teach) you exactly what wrestling is and how it should be done.

Now I wasn’t even born during Flair’s hey day, in fact I only began watching Flair when he was jobbing to Hulk Hogan in 1996 onwards, which would lead you to believe that Flair is a crazy old guy that takes sidewards back drops and is forever talking about women he clearly can’t get because he’s a saggy old man. Luckily for me I made it my job to know that Flair is a legend, but for those that have yet to hit the tape archives this DVD will go about writing history the way it should be and not what WCW and his later WWE run would have you believe.

Despite this, the Definitive Collection, is not a “complete” collection by any means. It will definitely entertain you and explain why the Nature Boy is the man, but you really need to pick up his older DVD release, the Four Horseman set and some bootlegs because there isn’t enough here to accurately showcase a career that spanned as long as Naitch’s did. Old timers are screaming for more Mid-Atlantic, Florida, World Class etc footage, whereas modern era fans might be stumped at the lack of WCW; at least on the extras. Still there is plenty of fun to be had with this collection, so gimme a Whooooo!

The first Disc is a good 2-hour documentary that still only has enough time to scratch the surface of his career (there’s a reason why his shoot interview is 14 hours long), but for a historical round-up of where he’s been from beginning to end, with added comments from his family, pals and peers makes it thoroughly entertaining and interesting to watch. You really feel for David Flair who appears to have suffered from his father’s traveling.

So the disc discusses his early years, that he was adopted as a baby (I had no idea) and went to boarding school, when he first tried to get in to wrestling as a porky 300 pound kid, originally quitting after his first day and his amazing rise to fame through the old territory system, where he’d go from region to region putting over the local babyface so the business as a whole drew money.

It touches on the famous plane crash that should have retired him for good, the rise of the original Four Horsemen, the early problems in WCW under Jim Herd, his first run in the WWF when he took the WCW title with him, how Hogan vs Flair never took place in the WWF despite the build and countless other aspects of his career. The ironic fact that Flair was the one that helped Eric Bischoff get hired in WCW will make you see how selfless Flair actually was and the insight in to how WCW broke his confidence and it took Triple H and the guys in the WWE to bring him back out of his shell makes you see how vulnerable a person “the man” really is. Flair was a giver to this business and people took advantage of that.

The Extras are what really bring this set come alive. Although newer fans might be surprised at how long some of the bouts go (these aren’t the ten minute commercial break filled matches from Raw) I am 100% sure people of all ages can appreciate them. Every one tells a unique story and whether it’s brawling with Terry Funk and using the table before anyone used tables, or going at it in an athletically astounding match with Steamboat that will put ROH marks in their place, there will definitely be something for you to enjoy. The full listing includes:

- Jack Brisco vs. Ric Flair – Mid-Atlantic (8/18/82)

- 2 out of 3 Falls Match: Kerry Von Erich vs. Ric Flair – World Class (8/24/82)

- Ric Flair vs. Harley Race – Mid-Atlantic (8/31/83)

- Ric Flair & The Andersons vs. Dusty Rhodes & Magnum TA & Manny Fernandez (12/15/82)

- Sting vs. Ric Flair – NWA Clash of the Champions I

- Ric Flair vs. Terry Funk – NWA Great American Bash ‘89 PPV

- Ric Flair vs. Roddy Piper – 10/28/91 WWF at Madison Square Garden

- Ric Flair vs. Ricky Steamboat – WCW Spring Stampede 1994 PPV

- Steel Cage: Triple H vs. Ric Flair – WWE Taboo Tuesday 2005 PPV

- Ric Flair vs. Shawn Michaels – WWE Wrestlemania XXIV

On top of his great matches, nobody is more renowned for promos than Ric Flair, with one disc featuring many of his famous interview segments from TV in the 80’s. You won’t be able to walk passed a mirror without spurting out some of his lines after watching these:

*Limousine Drivin’ Jet Flyin’

*Stylin & Profilin’ – NWA World Championship Wrestling May 25, 1985

*Take a Ride on Space Mountain – NWA World Championship Wrestling June 22, 1985

*The Boss – NWA World Championship Wrestling August 17, 1985

*Slick Ric – NWA World Championship Wrestling September 7, 1985

*Real Men Stay Up – NWA World Championship Wrestling September 21, 1985

*What’s Causing All This – NWA World Championship Wrestling December 20, 1985

*Space Mountainettes – NWA World Championship Wrestling April 7, 1987

*Golden Spoon – NWA World Championship Wrestling November 13, 1987

And to wrap all of this up we are treated to the heart wrenching farewell address on Raw after Wrestlemania, which carries on a good few minutes after the original TV broadcast, showing Undertaker and Vince McMahon come out and pay homage to the Nature Boy. It is the third time I watched it and I was still choked up.

I personally bought my copy from Amazon.com using the cheaper market place section, although you may want to look for a cheaper trusted seller on Ebay.