Sting vs. 'The Nature Boy' Ric Flair (Part 2)

Ric Flair pulls the Scorpion to his feet… With one hand on Sting’s head and the other clutching the top of those royal blue tights, Naitch guides his opponent as he walks down the ramp toward the ring…

Nature Boy tosses the challenger through the ropes and back to the inside… Flair follows, stepping through the space between the top and middle rope… Sting slow to stand… Nature Boy quick to strike… Big boot to the ribcage sends Sting sprawling…

Stinger grabs the ropes to try and right himself… Flair right there…

A sky-blue kneepad strikes the Stinger’s own unprotected joint… Again Flair is working that previously injured knee…

Flair grabs Sting’s arm and throws it behind the rope before leaning back and readying another chop… And another Nature Boy chop finds the Stinger’s chest!

The Scorpion tries to hold on to the ropes… His knees give out… Stinger kneels and clutches the second rope to keep himself right…

Ric right on top of him… He pulls the Stinger upright before again throwing a boot to that knee…

Stinger looks hurt, but he’s still in this fight… Trying to keep his knee straight, he staggers, attempting to make distance between himself and the grinning champion… Look at that smile on Flair’s face… You’d think he’s already won…

The two combatants circle the ring… Sting is still on shaky footing, he throws some weak fists in Flair’s direction, not to damage, just to distance…

Flair reaches forward for the lock up… The Nature Boy backs the Scorpion into the corner… The two men struggle... Sting circles, powers the Nature Boy into the corner instead… Sting catches the champion with a gut punch… The challenger unleashes a burst of blows!

Flair takes two big fists to the face followed by a pair to the stomach! Another fist to the face! A boot to the abdomen! A second! A third big white boot! And Sting hip tosses the champion to the middle of the mat…

Flair rolls to the corner…

Sting again with an attempt at the drop kick…

Naitch too wise… He holds back and Sting crashes to the canvas!

Flair takes a moment to catch his breath before he nears the challenger… Nature Boy pulls the Stinger toward the ropes before he drapes his opponent’s leg over the rope at the ankle… Flair straddles the suspended leg before jumping into the air and crashing his rear right down on the Stinger’s ailing knee…

Sting flails in agony before coming to rest on his belly in the center of the ring…

The champion stands over the injured and exhausted challenger… The crowd tries to rally their hero…

Sting to his feet but Flair right on top of him… The Nature Boy backs the Stinger into the corner… Sting catches another brutal chop to the chest! Naitch follows the strike up with another boot to the challenger’s knee…

Sting tries to limp away…

The champion pulls the feet right out from under the Scorpion… Again Flair drags his opponent toward the ropes… He sets that ankle back on the bottom rope…

Flair in the air…

And the Stinger rolls out of harm’s way…

The Nature Boy’s tailbone hits the mat hard…

Flair clutches his backside as he circles ‘round the Stinger… The champion pulls the challenger to his feet by the head… Another stunning snapmare by the Nature Boy!

Flair to the corner… He heads toward Sting and goes for that big knee drop to the face that caught the Stinger earlier…

And the challenger rolls out of harm's way yet again!

Ric Flair clutching his knee on the mat… Stinger with an opening… The Scorpion on his feet… He grabs the Nature Boy’s legs… He’s going for it! The Scorpion Deathlock!

Wait… No!

Sting’s going to use Ric Flair’s own move against him! He’s got it locked in!

Sting’s got Flair in the figure-four leglock!

Is the man called Sting going to get the champion to submit to his own move?!

No! Flair’s got the ropes… Sting is forced to let the champ out of the submission…

Ric Flair, free from the hold, rolls to the outside…

The challenger nears the ropes and the platinum-haired champion quickly grabs hold of his opponent’s legs… Sting drops to his back on the mat… Flair pulls the challenger to the outside… Both men on their feet on the outside… And Flair with another stinging chop to the chest!

The Nature Boy goes to grab a chair as Sting reels from the blow… The ref stops Flair’s use of the weapon and the champ tosses it to the cement, instead opting to grab the Stinger by the head…

Naitch straightens the Stinger before whipping him into the steel barricade… The Scorpion holds on to the top after crashing into the divider in effort to keep his feet…

In effort to keep his feet? No! Sting stands straight up… It’s as if Flair’s attack simply glanced off the buzz-topped vigilante!

The Stinger stares out across the crowd… The cheers fill the arena… The champion wears a worried look on his well-tanned face…

Flair rolls into the ring, followed closely by Sting… The Nature Boy on his knees, again pleading…

Sting nears his opponent as Flair cowers down to his back on the mat… Sting atop the champion… He readies his fist…

One! Two! Three! Four! Five Six! Six blows to Flair’s wheeling, dealing, kiss stealing face…

Sting stands, and Flair soon too finds his feet…

Ric Flair to the far corner… Sting nears… Flair catches his opponent with a boot to the abdomen… Sting doubles over, grabs the top rope for support… The Nature Boy up to the top rope…

The Stinger stops the champion on the top with a blow to the stomach… He grabs the Naitch… Going for something big… Flair struggles… Sting caught with a blow to the face… The blow doesn’t faze the challenger as the crowd cheers him on…

Sting with a huge military press from the top rope! The champ’s body brutally bounces from the mat from the great fall…

Flair struggles to his knees and meets the standing Stinger with an attack from down on one knee… A strike to the stomach allows Flair to stand erect and he forces Sting to the ropes before Irish-whipping his opponent across the ring…

Flair with the hip toss…

Stinger musters all his strength and stands firmly on the ground… Flair can’t toss the Scorpion… He flexes his muscles and tries a second time… Again, Sting stands with footing firm…

Sting with the reversal… He grabs Flair by the arms and rotates both their bodies ‘round… Nature Boy’s arms now hooked by the Stinger’s own outstretched, spread-eagle span…

The Stinger drops to his knees and slides the champion forward down his back in attempt to pin Flair’s shoulders to the mat…

1… 2…

The Nature Boy kicks out… This match isn’t over…

Sting on his feet… He looks at the ref, disbelief on his flag-painted face… He reprimands the referee, taps his hands together three times… In the Stinger’s defense, the ref looked like he had a floppy arm for that count…

The Nature Boy takes advantage of Sting’s distracted state… A sweeping kick catches the Stinger’s knee and sends him sprawling to his back on the mat…

Flair on his knees trying to catch his breath, contemplate his next plan for attack… Sting rolls around on the canvas clutching his knee…

Ric Flair slow to rise… Sting still reeling on his back… And the Naitch with another big boot to that aching knee!

Flair straightens his opponent’s leg so it is vertical with the ceiling before he brings his sky-blue padded knee again into the Stinger’s worked joint… If Flair keeps this up he could ruin Sting’s career—the last time the Nature Boy injured that knee the doctors said the Stinger would never wrestle again!

Naitch pulls the Scorpion to his feet before delivering another snapmare… Flair follows it up with a boot to the face…

The Stinger clutches his finely chiseled façade for a moment before Flair delivers a second sky blue boot to its surface…

Sting rolls from his back… He’s on his hands and knees… Flair right behind him… He rolls to his back to get away from the stalking champion…

The Stinger grabs the ropes, tries to right himself… Flair right on him, he pulls the Scorpion the rest of the way up…

Nature Boy leaves the stunned Sting standing in the middle of the ring as he heads to the far ropes… And Flair with another brutal boot to that injured knee…

Sting falls to one knee… Flair holds the Stinger by the head with a loose grip… He pushes the Stinger to the mat by the face in an act of disrespect… He’s pulling the Scorpion to the center of the ring… He might be getting ready to lock in that dreaded figure four…

Flair going for the submission, he starts to twist the Stinger’s leg… Sting catches the champion with a big boot to the face!

Flair staggers backward, keeps his feet… The boot buys Sting enough time… Again the Scorpion’s standing, though awkwardly, his leg troubling him something awful…

The Nature Boy charges the Stinger and forces him into the corner… Sting fights back… Naitch catches a fist to the kidney… A fist to the upper spine… Another… One more…

Flair backs off as he gets caught with another fist…

Naitch with some space… He arches back… And a chop lights up the Stinger’s chest! Another! The challenger drapes his arms over the upper ropes for support as his feet nearly fail him…

Flair wasting no time… He again works the Stinger’s knee with a stiff boot… The Scorpion slowly lowers himself to the mat, his knee offering no more support with which to stand…

The Nature Boy not about to give up his assault however... He pulls the Stinger to his feet by that close-cropped mane… He pulls the limping challenger across the center of the canvas and to the far corner…

Sting in the corner…

How foul of Ric Flair… He slaps the Stinger across the face in an act of sheer disrespect before delivering another chop across the challenger’s chest… Another knee-to-knee strike by the champion connects and he follows it up with one more sounding chop across Sting’s chest…

Sting moves from out the corner and clutches the top rope… He turns his back to Flair in attempt to avoid another horrendous chop…

A mistake… Naitch sees the opening and brings another boot to the back of the vigilante’s knee…

Flair grabs the Stinger’s arm and tosses it backward before striking again with a big right chop… A second slicing blow connects…

The Stinger straightens up and stares into the eyes of his opponent and motions for the champion to hit him again…

Flair is fazed, but only for a moment… He gives the Stinger what he wants… Sting takes another boot to the knee… A right chop to the chest… A second… The Nature Boy backs away in disbelief as the Stinger walks toward him…

The Scorpion shakes his finger at the Nature Boy and Flair puts his hands up in attempt to plead with the Stinger…

Revenge is in the air and the vigilante sends the Nature Boy to the far ropes… He catches the champion on the return and there it is! The Stinger with another powerful military press!

Sting straightens his arms to press Flair high into the air before sending him hard down to the mat! The strength of the Stinger is absolutely amazing!

Flair struggles to find his feet… Stinger ready… Naitch caught with a hard clothesline as soon as he stands straight…

And the Stinger goes for the cover!

1… 2…

And a kickout by the Nature Boy… Ric Flair is still in this…

Sting looks at the crowd, he can’t believe this match is going to continue… The crowd goes wild under the Stinger’s stare!

Flair backs into the corner and clutches the ropes with one hand, his other up in askance of mercy…

The vigilante is not going to show mercy… Not to this man… Not to the man who nearly put him out of the business… Who has been trying all night to put him on the shelf…

Sting pushes Flair to the corner and hops to the second rope in front of the champion… He readies his fist… One! Two! Three! Four! And four big right hands come to crash with the Naitch’s cranium!

Sting hops down before readying Flair for an Irish-whip… Flair to the far corner with all the force of a freight train…

And Flair up and over the corner and to the outside apron… The fancy maneuver ain’t gonna save him however… Sting catches Flair with a clothesline sending him down to his back on the outside apron!

The crowd is going wild for the Stinger!

With face paint now nearly absent from the sweat and effort, Sting pulls Flair to his feet…

Flair standing on the outside apron… Sting readying the suplex!

And the Stinger with a huge suplex to bring the Nature Boy back into the ring! The champion crashes to the mat…

Sting crawls over for the cover…

1… 2…

And again the Nature Boy kicks out…

Flair rolls around on the ground as Sting stares out across the crowd… What is it going to take?

The Stinger rears back and lets out a great howl…

The crowd’s roar in response rumbles throughout the arena…

Sting to his feet… Flair scoots toward the corner, again pleading with the challenger…

The Nature Boy finds the ropes and holds on for dear life… He kneels and looks at the Scorpion with fear in his eyes…

Sting pulls the Naitch to his feet… Irish whip to the far corner… Sting getting a running start…

And there’s the Stinger Splash!

The champion stumbles from out the corner before falling face first to the canvas…

The Stinger ain’t done yet!

Sting nears the fallen Flair and grabs him by the boots… It looks like he’s going for it! He’s setting it up… He places his leg between Flair’s own before turning both bodies and sitting in the small of the champion’s back…

The Scorpion Deathlock is locked in! We might see Flair tap right here! The Nature Boy struggles… He’s trying to crawl to the ropes…

And Ric Flair gets the rope-break!

Sting releases the hold and stands straight as Flair rolls to the outside apron…

The Nature Boy tries to use the ropes to right himself… Sting wasting no time with his sly opponent… Stinger meets Flair at the ropes, pulls the struggling man fully to his feet...

A big right hand from the man called Sting and the champ falls with his back to the mat on the outside apron…

Nature Boy grabs the top rope and pulls himself up… Sting, quick to meet his opponent, catches him with another strong right to the face…

Flair again on his back on the outside apron…

The referee tries to make space between the two combatants to no avail… Sting nears Flair on the outside… The Nature Boy is ready this time… Flair drops down and holds the middle rope… He rears backward and uses the tension of the rope for momentum… A big shoulder to the Stinger’s gut!

Sting on his back on the canvas…

Flair dives through the top and middle rope… He’s atop Sting with a dirty pin… Flair’s got his feet hooked onto the second rope and the referee is clueless!

1…

An outside interference from Scott Steiner! He bats Flair’s feet from the rope!

The referee didn’t see it, though he knows something fishy happened… He reprimands the wrestler standing on the outside… Flair also has some words for Steiner… He nears the ropes to rain his insults down…

Sting with an opening!

With a hand between Flair’s legs, Sting pulls the man backwards for the rollup…

1… 2…

And the champ kicks out…

Both men quick to their feet…

Naitch grabs Sting in a headlock before pulling him around and to the ground… Stinger attempts the head scissor… Flair reverses and rolls to his back atop Sting’s belly for the pin…

1…

The strength of Sting! He bridges up and out of the Nature Boy’s pin attempt!

Sting rotates both his own and the body of Flair around, guiding the other man by his outstretched arms… Again he hooks the man’s arms with his own…

Sting trying to power Flair’s shoulders to the ground for the pin... He does it!

1… 2…

And another kickout by the Naitch!

Both men back on their feet!

The Nature Boy Ric Flair with a huge chop!

Sting stands stoic, staring his opponent into the abyss…

A second searing chop to the Stinger's chest!

Another!

Flair falls to his knees… The Stinger’s stare pierces his soul… Flair begs the Scorpion…

Sting pulls Flair to his feet… Irish-whip into the far corner… Flair hits the turnbuckle hard… He’s ready though…

Flair dodges a huge knee by the Scorpion… Sting’s leg smashes into the turnbuckle and he crawls out of the corner and to the center of the canvas in agony…

The Nature Boy rallies the crowd—the reaction is mixed, but huge, make no mistake…

Flair setting up the figure four on the fallen Sting…

And the Stinger springs to life! He grabs the champion and pulls him into a rollup for the win…

1… 2… 3…

Sting has done it! He is the new World Heavy Weight Champion! The Vigilante has got his vengeance! He has beaten the man that nearly ended his career! He has overcome all odds! He recovered from a career ending injury!

Here at the Great American Bash we have a new champion, and he is the man dressed in the red, white, and blue…

He is the man called… STING!

“My mouth… Is really dry… So try and understand what I’m gonna say…

“Ric Flair is the greatest World Champion of all time…

“Me… On the other hand… I’m a champion tonight and tonight only… I got some big shoes to fill in Ric Flair’s shoes…

“Though we may have our differences…

“All I’m gonna say…

“Is I’m gonna do the best I can do… And that’s all I can do…

“Whoooooo!”