Dream Matches - Entry 1

Dream Match - Entry 1

Wrestling is an industry to test the strength and wrestling prowess of those who admire. Many a times we find ourselves in a dilemma as to who is our most favourite or that out of chosen two, who would outshine the other. Here, I will try to give my thoughts on some of those rare match-ups where we can go either way of the fence.

Arn Anderson vs Ric Flair

I am not going to sit here and proclaim to be a great historian of the wrestling business. I am not aware of half the things of my own wrestling viewing time and to call oneself an expert on the subject, one would need much more knowledge than that. On that premise, this choice of a match seems more of a valiant effort by a rejected under-aged kid, to look ‘cool’.

I would be lying if I would say I am flattered by the performance of Arn Anderson on the mic or on the mat because I have never seen him perform. I have seen Ric Flair perform, but I am sure none of you believe he can be his former self at this old age – in TNA – where I have seen him perform.

Sure I might have streamed a match or two or a promo or two but that does not justify my selection for this match as a Dream match. Especially when I came to know that this feud and this match has already taken place. Dream matches are those which are yet to take place, right?

I completely get your point. And still, I choose this match as a dream match.

You see, even John Cena vs Undertaker would classify as a dream match despite it already having taken place. The reason behind this is that the feud, the overall conditions were different at the time when it took place. John Cena had not yet become even the rising star that he would become through this feud. Whereas now; he is not only a star but ‘the star’. There is a difference. Undertaker’s legacy was there even then but over the course of the half-decade, it has grown to even more epic proportions. They are both legitimate legends now and have never collided as such. Hence, John Cena vs Undertaker still remains a dream match. In the same way, Arn Anderson vs Ric Flair remains a dream match. And this, even without changing the feud they had the first time around. I would go by the absolute same storyline they had when they actually feuded. Arn Anderson claimed that Ric Flair had held him down for all those years they were the part of Four Horsemen. That is indeed the base on which the whole feud should take place/ should have taken place.

But if the match is the same, the feud is the same, then why is this match a dream match, you ask?

Let me first tell you where I have seen Arn Anderson. I have seen him being made a puppet by Stone Cold Steve Austin. A puppet. Sure everyone gets a beating in the hands of Stone Cold but being made to look like a puppet? What does that tell you of the status of Arn Anderson on the overall history of the business?

You see, Arn Anderson is considered a phenomenal talent. He had all the tools to be the greatest ever. He had the technical prowess, the moves to go along with that, the mic skills that can put Dolph Ziggler to shame, the intensity that can only be matched by Mick Foley and the charisma. He had everything. He even had that one particular aspect which is the most determinate factor of all, the drawing power. As a part of Four Horsemen, he surely drew well.

But he never became the Superstar that he deserved to be. He just remained a megastar. The one who would appear in the top 10 list of the smarkiest smarks but never on a top 10 list of a mark.

Look no further than Batista vs Triple H storyline from 2005. Batista was the modern day Enforcer. Triple H was the modern day Nature Boy. Batista became a fan favourite that many can only dream to be. What if this was given to a man who actually had all the better tools to handle such a huge fan support? He would go on to become the greatest of the great.

What separates Arn Anderson from other greats in the business who never won the big one – namely Rowdy Roddy Piper, Mr Perfect, Ted Dibiase and others – is that none of them had a built in feud in their careers. In the end, even they could have taken that final step towards greatness that no doubt they were deserving of but none of them had that one competitor who was just so right. Mr Perfect could have won the big belt from Bret Hart, Roddy Piper could have won it from Hulk Hogan but none would be as intense as Arn taking the big gold belt from Ric Flair. The personal history between the two is in itself so epic and storied that there was no chance for it to fail. And it surprises me to a great extent, why this has not taken place in reality.

I would want Arn Anderson to go over Ric Flair clean for the World Heavyweight Championship, when it made the most sense. And it could have been at anytime during the 80s or early 90s when they were both relevant. And we could have seen a face so strong that rivalled Stone Cold Steve Austin and Hulk Hogan in terms of popularity and overall impact in the world of professional wrestling.