Welcome to the third edition of my weekly ‘Match of the Week' FanPost offering here at CSS! Today, I've decided to present before you not one but two matches which I felt are incredibly underrated and deserved mention. Since the last two matches I presented belonged to the Ruthless Aggression Era, I decided to go old-school with this week's presentation.

The first match is Ric Flair v. Kerry Von Erich at the David Von Erich Memorial Parade of Champions event held on May 6, 1984. This was a historically significant match as it was held in front of a crowd of fifty thousand people which was at that point the largest crowd to ever assemble to watch a pro wrestling event in the United States (Source:Wikipedia). The match saw the Champion Ric Flair defend the title against Kerry Von Erich in an entertaining bout which saw the challenger go over clean. It was a fitting finish at an event dedicated to the deceased brother of the challenger. The match itself was great with both men putting on great performances. Von Erich put on a tremendous display of athleticism while Ric Flair brought the showmanship and the combination of both these in addition to the wrestling ability of both men (particularly Flair) made for a great match. Lastly, the crowd was terrific, staying invested in the match throughout and reacting perfectly at the right moments.

To me the reason this match stood out to me were the little things like the emotion expressed by the winner after winning the title, the other wrestlers coming out to celebrate in the ring after the match, the way in Von Erich won the title in tribute to his deceased brother. While it was pretty obvious that he would win considering the event itself was dedicated to his brother and it was only fitting that he do so, the predictability of the end in no way affected the emotion of the crowd when Von Erich pinned Flair. It was a genuine feel-good moment and attempts have often been made to replicate that sort of emotion most recently during the deaths of Benoit (2007) and Eddie Guerrero (2006) but without as much success. Even the other little things like the wrestlers coming in the ring to celebrate with the new Champion or the emotion expressed by the new Champion after winning the title which have also been replicated numerous times over the years have rarely felt as genuine as they did on this particular occasion. Overall, an entertaining bout with a great crowd and some heart-warming feel good moments with a big-match feel to it.

The second match is the lesser known rematch to the above match which took place in the short reign of Von Enrich. This match lacked the big-match feel of its predecessor due to it being a non-title match and the crowd being decidedly smaller but it more than made up for that by virtue of the excellent wrestling on display by both men. While the first match can be described as being an entertaining match, the second was nothing short of a wrestling clinic. Both men showcased their technical prowess and attempted to tell a story during the match as was seen by the excellent chain wrestling at the start of the match, to the solid back and forth between both wrestlers in the middle all the way through to the ending which was similar to the previous match. The crowd was hot throughout and made the match all the more enjoyable. The thing I loved about this match was the fact that it avoided going the predictable route while dealing with a fresh young babyface champion and having him being beaten down throughout the match only to make a comeback at the end and kept the match largely even throughout with both wrestlers getting in equal amount of offense. Apart from that, this match felt like a legit contest like most matches of that era where the emphasis was on the wrestling and not so much on the taunts and the crowd pandering like it is today. This is the kind of match that I enjoy personally and what makes me a fan of this business.

That's it from me Cagesiders. See you next week!

Side Note: These matches are available at

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2c5Q8cLN0sM and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hq1vdJY4-40