This review was commissioned by CJ over on my Ko-fi account.
Moreso than the bell to bell, Flair vs. DiBiase here succeeds as one of the all-time great pieces of wrestling television. The title match itself is the culmination of several Mid-South angles intersecting on one great episode of TV. Flair’s in town to defend the World Title, but with the help of Dick Slater has neutralized Butch Reed from getting his shot. Meanwhile, DiBiase has been chosen as Flair’s replacement challenger, which upsets DiBiase’s mentor Dick Murdoch who feels that Flair has overlooked him after doing some of the champion’s dirty work.
That leads to tensions in the ring before the match is set to start. Murdoch’s out talking trash to DiBiase about jumping ahead in line, and DiBiase tells his mentor that he’s probably over the hill. This leads to a great brawl breaking out when Murdoch throws a truly nasty punch that you can hear on the ring announcer’s microphone. Flair’s content and happy to watch the fireworks, but importantly, the brawl ends with Murdoch ramming DiBiase face first into the ringpost. Watch closely the bump DiBiase takes into that ringpost and how skillful it is. Even looking for it, one struggles to see DiBiase’s hand go up to protect himself, and his immediate bladejob on the floor is both discrete and speedy. In seconds, DiBiase’s revealed to be absolutely pouring blood all over the concrete floor at the Irish McNeil Boys Club.
The follow up to the attack is pitch perfect as well. Bill Watts delivers a serious reportage style recap from the backstage area, putting over that DiBiase refuses to go back to the start of the line and must have his title match tonight. I’m especially charmed by Watts’ use of the phrase “arterial damage” to refer to DiBiase’s wound, and his pleas to parents to beware of the potential bloody consequences of DiBiase’s choice I’m sure served only to make the main event all the more enticing to the viewers at home and the curious children eager to see such horrors.
With all these pieces in place, the actual title match itself is shockingly straightforward in its ideas and execution.
For one, I love how much this disrupts the classic Flair formula. Being on TV does that on its own, as Flair’s working with the broadcast time limits, but the addition of DiBiase’s disgusting cut adds a lot here. Flair eschews his early feeling out process in favor of an immediate ambush, swarming DiBiase with his great chops, punches, and just a generally more aggressive approach than he might have utilized against a fresher challenger. It’s matches like these that demonstrate Flair’s versatility without ever betraying the core of his persona. He doesn’t immediately switch up to be a brawler in the style of Dick Murdoch here, but the shift in tone here from the cagey and defensive champion to a more direct and opportunistic aggressor speaks volumes of the entire angle’s gravitas.
The match lives and dies by DiBiase’s blood less selling. For many, this performance DiBiase has become the shorthand template for blood loss selling in pro wrestling. While I can think of at least one other performance I prefer in this style–see Carlos Colon in a Texas Death match with Hercules Ayala–it’s hard to deny how great what DiBiase brings to the table is. With the help of Jim Ross commentary, there are so many small ways that DiBiase finds himself debilitated in this match. He’s a little slower to capitalize on his own offense, and things like a simple pinfall attempt become a struggle. At one point, he slaps on an abdominal stretch but seems unsteady enough on his feet that he has to transition instead to a pinfall combination on the mat–one that Flair easily slips out of before two. There’s great wobbly selling from DiBiase as the match continues as well, really putting over the idea that he’s off his balance from all that blood loss.
And the blood itself is spectacular. All the credit in the world to DiBiase for digging that blade in deep because that blood goes everywhere. At one point, DiBiase lands on the floor close to where he met the steel in the first place and we can still see the dried and gory splatter from the initiating angle on the concrete. It’s disgusting and it gets all over Flair whose body ends up covered in DiBiase’s blood.
The shape and progression of the match itself is a bit of a mixed bag. We never get a really strong Flair control segment here–something that we know he’s definitely capable of against a bloodied opponent–and that feels like leaving money on the table a bit. They opt for something a little more back and forth with DiBiase typically finding ways to cut off the champion while never being able to seize on that opportunity. On the one hand, this allows the match to present DiBiase as a credible challenger even at this great deficit, but I can’t help but feel a little drama was sacrificed by going this route as opposed to the more traditional three-act structure.
That said, the finish is at least perfect with Flair kicking DiBiase out of the ring on a Figure Four attempt. DiBiase’s bump is beautiful, spilling over the top rope, and crashing face-first into the ringside barricade on the way down. It’s visually appealing and logical enough to lead to the devastating countout finish.
The match ends there, but the greatness of this episode of Mid-South does not. Murdoch comes to pick the bones and his brainbuster to DiBiase on the concrete is incredibly sick even by 2026 standards and is also met with the appropriate amount of gravitas from the Mid-South production crew. The final moments of the match put over the immediate attempts to tend to DiBiase after the attack as well as the potential career (or even life!) ending consequences of it. Tense, weighty, and just begging for us to tune back in next week. Pro wrestling TV accomplished with such confidence and style.
Rating: ****
