Few rivalries in pro-wrestling have ever lived up to the billing of this one that ended 27 years ago.
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may 7, 1989 saw Ricky Steamboat and Ric Flair battle for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship for the third time in a three-month span. The first two battles were absolute classic bouts, with Steamboat gaining the upper-hand both times.
The third and final match of the feud lived up to the hype bequeathed upon it by the first two, as Flair and Steamboat battled for over 30 minutes before Flair finally won with an inside cradle.
The trilogy of matches is often seen as the best feud in pro-wrestling history, as all three matches between the two were given the illustrious "five-star" rating by journalist Dave Meltzer. For comparison — between NWA/WCW and WWE — there have only been eight five-star rated matches since. These guys had three in a row; unbelievable!
Even almost 30 years later, the match holds up incredibly well, with the legendary Jim Ross on commentary supplementing the match greatly.
