1983 PWI MOTY: Two Out of Three Falls for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship: Ric Flair (c) vs Harley Race
IDK How they didn't give this to the Starrcade cage match, but I can't even find this match anywhere other than the ending. Both men have one fall and Flair is bleeding. Flair hits a crossbody from the top rope which takes out the referee, Race rolls through it but since there's no ref can't win. Flair ends up locking in the Figure-4 only for Race to break out of it quickly. They go back and forth with a nice exchange and Flair hits a back suplex, but Race is able to get his shoulder up before Flair so Race wins but Flair thinks he did Race wins his 7th NWA Championship, but this really just sets up Starrcade

1983 WON MOTY: Starrcade - Steel Cage Match for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship (w/ Special Referee: Gene Kiniski): Harley Race (c) vs Ric Flair
S/O Fab. Flair theme music with a light show before he comes out Both guys are swagged out to the max with their robes bc this is motherfuckin' Starrcade obviously. Gordon Solie calling this one Bob Caudle needs to talk less though. Kiniski already making sure they play by the rules in a fuckin cage match lmao at the dried blood on the mat from matches earlier in the night, probably that damn dog collar match. This has a great slow build at first with them mostly ignoring the cage, instead of just using it for 90% of the match THANK FUCK! This stuff at the beginning is so basic, but they're able to work the crowd so well by barely doing anything that it's super entertaining. Race starts getting more violent now, which Kiniski obviously fuckin hates because he wants to #MakeWrestlingBoringAgain. He hits a nice piledriver and then starts working over Flair's previously injured neck pretty well. Race finally starts using the cage as a weapon and Kiniski warns him about grabbing Flair's hair I forgot how proud they were of the scaffold-cam for this match. Flair is bleeding now as he starts to desperately fight back, but Race is just relentless using the cage as a weapon. Flair is finally able to get a comeback going after Kiniski does all he can to help him you just know he bet on Flair. Race is busted open now too as Flair starts going through his usual offense of knee drops and snapmares The "Woo!" count is up to like 6 now as Flair hits a piledriver for a long two count. I ain't never seen Flair do a double underhook suplex other than in this match tbh. Kiniski lets Race make a comeback now as he wants these two to go back to their rest holds. We get a nice short brawl for a bit and Flair starts strutting around Flair ends up locking in the Figure-4, but Race is able to turn it over because Flair hasn't worked on the leg at all and apparently that's only the second time Solie has ever seen the Figure-4 turned over Race is able to hit a diving headbutt, but can't capitalize because he hurts himself too. Kiniski finally gets fed up with Race's dirty tactics so he grabs the motherfucker by the hair They tease a little Flair comeback and Kiniski takes a hilarious bump. Flair ends up on the top rope and hits a top rope crossbody that was sloppy af and Kiniski is able to make the three count despite not being able to stand back up lmao great match, it followed all the formulas perfectly with slow build and decent comebacks. Kiniski was annoying, but not too bad and I wish the ending wasn't quite so sudden, but it was still a great moment with a huge pop. All the babyfaces come out to celebrate with Flair, can't wait for him to wreck them all with the Horsemen in a couple years. I wonder which wife Naitch was on at this point, may have been the OG but the announcers don't say her name and I don't feel like looking it up. Flair cuts a great promo after with blood just running down his face, they made this win emotional af.

1984 PWI MOTY: 1st Von Erich Memorial Parade of Champions - NWA World Heavyweight Championship: Ric Flair (c) vs Kerry Von Erich
I know this is in Texas and theres' like 50k people at Texas Stadium, but this crowd is stupid hot for Von Erich. Seeing the old school Cowboys ring of honor lowkey might be the best part about this Flair is playing his champion here offense now and they do a good job showcasing Von Erich as the young challenger, I feel like I've seen this formula a million times. This is a really fast paced start, so I doubt it lasts too long but they're really going all out for a great match. Von Erich is selling Flair's chops like they're belt straps Von Erich is able to lock in a sleeper hold that the crowd pops for huge only for Flair to hit a back suplex to get out of it, and then he's able to slow the match down with his beatdown. Von Erich is finally able to make a comeback and locks in an abdominal stretch and Flair yells at the ref to watch him using the tights They got back and forth for a bit again until Von Eric locks in DA CLAW The crowd goes nuts, but Flair hits a low blow to get out of it and the ref just warns him Fuckin' Naitch has to WOO on the top rope, so of course Von Eric throws him off. Flair tries to lock in the Figure-4, but Von Erich reverses a few times, and they go back and forth for him to end up getting Flair in a backslide for the upset win that pop was legendary. The match itself was basic af, but still pretty fun and a nice break from the long af slow build matches most of the MOTYs are. I can't really complain about anything.

1984 WON MOTY: Independence Day Star Wars - Badstreet Match for the NWA World Six-Man Tag Team Championship (Texas Version): The Von Erichs (Kerry, Kevin, & Mike Von Erich) vs The Fabulous Freebirds (Buddy Roberts, Michael Hayes, & Terry Gordy)
Badstreet theme music Von Erichs then come out to some ZZ Top This is an all out brawl to start and the ring announcer does the introductions as the teams are brawling NO ATTEMPT AT ORDER Like there's no point in me trying to keep up with this for a review, but they're all just beating the fuck out of each other with belts and boots and shit and even the announcer says there's no point in doing play-by-play and says he's just gonna let us watch At one point the Von Erichs hit a triple dropkick on Gordy to clear the ring and the crowd has been just as loud since the match started. Kevin ends up locking in The Claw on Hayes as Kerry accidentally THROWS A BOOT INTO THE CROWD TRYING TO HIT GORDY WITH IT THEN THE AUDIENCE THROWS IT BACK SO HE HITS GORDY WITH IT SOME MORE Kevin ends up getting suplexed by Hayes out to the floor and he's bleeding like fucking crazy now, I think Hayes might be a little too. Killer Khan ends up coming out of nowhere to knock out Kerry which allows Hayes to win. That was just a nonstop brawl holy shit that was fun. It needed a little more time though, and the Khan interference was way too sudden, no build to the end.

1984 WON Worst Match of the Year: The Brawl to End it All - WWF Women's Championship: The Fabulous Moolah (c) (w/ Lou Albano) vs Wendi Richter (w/ Cyndi Lauper & David Wolff)
The crowd is hot af so that's at least one positive. They got Gorilla Monsoon and Gene Okerlund calling this match oh god. Albano and Lauper do so much bullshit before the match can start so that takes forever. Albano calls someone a "pre-fabricated dog biscuit" Moolah is fighting super dirty with hair pulls and chokes and the ref gets distracted by either of the managers breathing so she gets away with it. Richter tries to work the arm, but Moolah's selling is just awful. Moolah's offense of hair pulling and choking is still just as bad too, so no real benefit to who's on offense as a viewer. At one point Richter hits her shoulder on the middle turnbuckle and she bounces back so fucking far way too late Moolah gets tied upside down somehow and just looks fucking ridiculous Albano tries to get Moolah out but just makes them tighter fuckin' dumbass. Richter locks on a full nelson and Lauper teases hitting Moolah which I assume would be a DQ but these announcers are just disappointed she didn't Again IN PLAIN VIEW OF THE REF Lauper decides to hit Moolah with what looks like her jacket just rolled up Albano is obviously mad, but the ref doesn't do shit other than count a few near falls for Richter. Richter goes for a backbreaker but fucks it up so Okerlund calls it a side breaker Moolah gets back in control, hits a few actually decent looking moves then fucking pulls Richter up before the three count NOOOOOO! Albano tries to do the same Full Nelson spot Lauper did earlier, but Albano just fucking misses and falls They then do some weird rollup spot where Richter gets her shoulder up but Moolah didn't so Richter wins, but everyone is confused for a few minutes FUCK THIS! I can forgive most of the shitty selling and offense, but this fucking ref not doing anything was the worst part of the whole match. After the match Moolah starts attacking the referee YES! Richter and Lauper celebrate forever as the announcers basically give Lauper all the credit

1985 PWI MOTY: WrestleMania - Tag Team Match w/ Guest Referee Pat Patterson, Guest Outside Referee Muhammad Ali, Guest Ring Announcer Billy Martin, & Guest Timekeeper Liberace: Hulk Hogan & Mr. T (w/ Jimmy Snuka) vs Paul Orndorff & Roddy Piper (w/ Bob Orton)
They got the live backpipes for Piper and he comes out with the most chickenshit smirk I've ever seen Liberace is a shit ring announcer if you were wondering Hogan coming out to "Eye of the Tiger" is underrated af and I already know the crowd is gonna be the best part about this match. Orndorff is threatening Hogan and T with a broom for some reason and then snaps it over his leg Patterson just casually throws it out and gives him a look like are you fuckin' serious. So this is just a lot of fun, they do the bare minimum to work the crowd and the crowd bites on every single thing so it's great. Everyone ends up in the ring which allows Ali to get involved early which is pretty cool. They tell a really good classic heel vs face match with Piper and Orndorff's cartoon evil heel work just perfect. Piper and Orndorff try to walk out at one point, but Patterson just stops counting until security makes them come back The heels work over Hogan for awhile, but the crowd is still just as loud for the entire match, like you can hear them gasp every time Hogan gets hit lol Orndorff gets caught missing off the top rope, and this lets T get the hot tag who just starts raking everyone's eyes that Monsoon calls "street knowledge" T gets worked over pretty quick due to his lack of wrestling skills, but then Hogan gets another hot tag. Everything then goes to shit, Snuka and Orton get involved and Orton ends up accidentally hitting Orndorff with his cast allowing Hogan to win. The ending was meh for me, but I really do enjoy rewatching this match even though its not great by any means. It deserves a lot of credit for holding up more than most of the older 'Mania main events.

1985 WON MOTY: Special Wars in Budokan - NWA International Junior Heavyweight Championship: Kuniaki Kobayashi (c) vs Tiger Mask II
Misawa wrestling as a junior This just starts off crazy af with Kobayashi sending Tiger Mask flying into the rail outside the ring and he just fuckin' destroys it and almost kills a few fans They slow it down for a bit in the ring with some nice technical work. They have a pretty sloppy exchange where none of the moves hit fully, but they sell accordingly instead of fucking it up and making it look unrealistic so I can forgive it. The crowd seems to just be taking turns cheering for whoever isn't in control so that's pretty cool. More good technical stuff, followed by some stiff strikes. Kobayshi casually hits a Tombstone for a two count, and then they go all out with some pretty moves at the end including Tiger Mask hitting a nice plancha over the top rope. Tiger Mask gets a couple nice near falls, but Kobayashi is able to hit two Fisherman Suplexes for the win that were absolutely beautiful. This was really good, but I'll be honest I did expect better. This was a good Misawa preview before I watch his series with Kobashi again though.

1985 WON WMOTY: Steel Cage Match: Freddie Blassie vs Lou Albano
Yeah I can't find this anywhere, but it sounds fucking hilarious I can find their promos leading up to the match but who knows if the footage even exists anymore. Anyway apparently Albano won by escaping the door after tying Blassie up with the ropes.

1986 WON MOTY: Battle of the Belts 2 - NWA World Heavyweight Championship: Ric Flair (c) vs Barry Windham
Naitch coming out to "Easy Lover" by Phil Collins This is the first time I've seen the big gold belt during this project this shit is so beautiful. The technical work to start this off is just fucking amazing, like some of Flair's best. Windham also looks 100 times better here than any other match he's ever done. One of the ropes looks fucked, Flair tried to whip off of them and the cable just hit him in the fuckin' face it looked like. Flair starts fighting dirty now and Windham is PISSED bc they've been pretty respectful so far, but Flair said fuck that since he was losing. OH SHIT Bill Alfonso is the ref he pushes Flair bc Flair pushed him. This regresses to a straight brawl after some more great technical work with Windham using punches and Flair using chops, with Windham keeping control and locking in a boston crab. Windham has controlled most of the match so far, with Flair selling really well, acting like his back is broken. Windham ends up running dick-first into Flair's knee and Flair ends up taking control after brawling outside for a bit. Windham is busted open now because this is 80s NWA you blade in every match Windham dodges a knee drop which Flair sells like crazy and then locks in a Figure-4 on Flair so the crowd goes nuts Flair gets to the ropes and starts yelling out "AH GAWD" Windham now turns his attention to Flair's knee, the amazing working over a body part continues Mike Gilbert on commentary says it's been well over half an hour but I've got about 21 minutes or so smh we're only like halfway done son. The fucking ring announcer says "25 minutes expired" right after this dude says again that it's been 40 minutes or some shit Flair hits a really dangerous piledriver, Windham's head was super low it's a good thing he tucked it in time. They do a great job selling Windham's desperation here, he covers Flair every chance he gets. Flair's bleeding now too as both guys are really selling how physical this match has been. I think the straight right hand to the face to block a sunset flip is my favorite spot of all time. Flair locks in a sleeper and they do the arm dropping two times but not a third spot Flair locks on a Figure-4 and starts using the ropes for leverage CLASSIC! Poor Naitch gets caught on the top rope Windham tries to hit a knee drop with his healthy knee but misses so now he can't walk We get a ref bump and Flair INSTANTLY throws Windham over the top rope Windham would have won with a dropkick, but Alfonso was dead still, so Flair ends up finally kicking out at one They just say fuck it and start brawling again and Windham hits a nice lariat, but Flair AGAIN uses the ropes to break the count. After a really nice exchange, both men end up going over the top rope, and they end up preventing each other from getting back in the ring so it's a double count out. OKAY THAT WAS FUCKING AWESOME! The ending might sound a little flat, but they were little just beating each other until the ref counted 10, it was amazing. I love rewatching this match so much, like my only problem with it is that Windham's career from this point on never got close to this match. It's just so physical with some great back and forth stuff, go watch this if you've never seen it and got 45ish minutes to spare NOW!

WON WMOTY: WrestleMania 2 - Boxing Match (w/ Guest Ring Announcer: Joan Rivers, Judges: G. Gordon Liddy, Cab Calloway, & Darryl Dawkins, & Guest Timekeeper: Herb from Burger King): Mr. T (w/ Haiti Kid & Joe Frazier) vs Roddy Piper (w/ Bob Orton & Lou Duva)
My favorite part about these matches lowkey is typing out all these guests they bring out. So this is schedule 10 3-minute rounds what are the odds that happens Piper's boxing robe is ugly as fuck but also amazing if that makes sense. This loud ass ref is gonna annoy the shit out of me. Round one was just body shots, rope breaks, and Piper taking cheap shots on the breaks. All the seconds have to break them up once the round ends. Piper gets caught using too much grease at the start of round 2 Piper destroys T and ends up getting a knockdown that was kinda fun not gonna lie. The crowd starts chanting for Roddy by the end of round 2 T goes down right at the end, really surprised they've had Piper be in control so far. During the rest period, Orton throws a bucket of water on T for no good reason T hits like 15 illegal shots to the face in the corner to start the third round, and Piper gets up at an 8 count. At one point T pushes Piper to the corner and kinda hits him with what was supposed to be a big punch and that sends Piper to the outside. Piper barely survives that round. They decide to bring out the sexy ass ring girl they got for this match for round 4 but not for any of the others Piper throws his stool hard af at T to start round 4 They start exchanging punches and knock each others mouthpieces out until Piper says fuck this shit and scoop slams T to get DQ'd Fuck this, the worked boxing really wasn't as bad as I expected, but this was so boring and I just DGAF about any of it.

PWI MOTY: The Great American Bash - Night 12 - Steel Cage Match for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship: Ric Flair (c) vs Dusty Rhodes
The story of this match is so great, with Flair being easily overpowered so he has to outsmart Rhodes. Meanwhile Rhodes is really looking to hurt Flair due to Flair and the Horsemen breaking his ankle like a year or so prior, but Rhodes realizes that it would hurt Flair more to take his belt so he maintains his composure mostly, keeping Flair's dirty comebacks from materializing when they start. Flair is finally able to get in control and instantly starts using the cage as a weapon, which causes Rhodes to bleed pretty quick. Flair starts working over Rhodes's ankle after a bit and that's a thing of beauty. Rhodes gets locked in the Figure-4 for awhile before he's able to get out, so he probably has no ankle left at this point. Rhodes is able to hit a desperation lariat out of nowhere and HOLY SHIT THE POP Flair tries to dip at one point even though I don't think you can win by escape in NWA cage matches It's Rhodes's turn to use the cage as a weapon now, and Flair ends up bleeding due to that as well. Both men end up on the top rope until Flair gets crotched, fun spot. Rhodes is just focused on hurting the fuck out of Flair at this point and Flair just wants to leave Rhodes ends up punching the cage and acts like that hurts way more than it should, and this lets Flair go to the top rope only to get caught like always lol and Rhodes locks in his own Figure-4. Flair gets to the ropes and yells "OH GAWD GET HIM OFF ME OH SHIT!" First Flair Flop of this project Flair actually hits a crossbody off the top rope like this is 1983, but it's not so it's just a two count. The ending sequence comes with Flair going for a scoop slam, but Rhodes reverses it into a small package for the win The crowd is going absolutely crazy now as a lot of faces come out to celebrate with Dusty. Really good match, I thought I had seen it before, but I think I was thinking of a different match because I don't remember seeing this.

1987 PWI & WON MOTY: WrestleMania III - WWF Intercontinental Championship: Randy Savage (c) (w/ Miss Elizabeth) vs Ricky Steamboat (w/ George Steele)
This is obviously a great match, and I doubt many people would disagree, but man it's really fucking good. They just tell such a great story throughout the match, almost every spot is done perfectly bc they planned the shit out of this match beforehand, but it feels so organic as everything just flows with a perfect pace the whole time. Steamboat's technical work is phenomenal, and Savage goes for Steamboat's previous injured throat a few times with some pretty brutal strikes. Steamboat fights a little dirtier than usual throughout as he's getting revenge for his crushed larynx. Steambotat skins the cat at one point only to get clotheslined back over the top rope Bruh I forgot how much I hated how biased Monsoon was for faces, way fuckin' worse than Ventura was for heels Savage ends up hitting his GOAT diving axe handle to the outside of the ring and once on the inside as well Steamboat ends up catching Savage with a back body drop and he fuckin' FLIES over the top rope Ventura says that should be a DQ like this is the NWA or something GREAT near fall where the crowd thinks Steamboat won but Savage had his foot on the rope Steamboat ends up trying like 8 different pinning combinations, and they're all super close, but he can't win Dave Hebner ends up taking a hilarious ref bump, and Savage hits a beautiful diving elbow, but Hebner can't make the count. Savage goes out and gets the ring bell, but George Steele interferes to stop him from using it. This lets Steamboat get a small package for the win FUCK YES GOD DAMN I LOVE THIS MATCH! I'm sure you've all seen this plenty of times, but I may even overrate it compared to you guys. I think it's the best 'Mania match up until Bret/Owen at WrestleMania X

WON WMOTY: WrestleMania III - WWF World Heavyweight Championship (w/ Guest Ring Announcer: Bob Uecker): Hulk Hogan (c) vs Andre the Giant (w/ Bobby Heenan)
This crowd is something special honestly, and this match really proves that you can have absolutely atrocious in-ring work, but as long as you have some solid build-up and two pros that can work a crowd, you'll have a memorable match. Really quick, Hogan tries to go for a slam, but Andre is way too big, so he sells hurting his back. Andre's offense is really bad, but watching Hogan actually sell for once is fun. Hogan finally makes a little comeback and Andre can't sell for shit at this point in his career, but he stuffs it pretty quickly with a big boot. Bro at one point Andre has a bearhug for like 4 whole minutes and they really don't do shit, so I started checking Twitter. They finally do the arm dropping spot and Hogan keeping his up the third time got a huge pop. They end up outside the ring and Andre misses a headbutt and hits the ring post Hogan tries to piledrive Andre on the expose floor to BREAK HIS FUCKIN' NECK I GUESS but Andre really shitting flips him over onto it with no force whatsoever. Back in the ring, Hogan knocks Andre down for the first time in the match, and the crowd goes crazy. We finally get to the slam I don't care how shitty this match is that's one of the best moments in wrestling history. Leg drop and a 3-count for the win. Yeah this is terrible until the last 30 seconds which are ***** don't @ me

Deezy said:

Worst match...fuck off Meltzer...that crowd wasn't scoring it like some gymnastics routine.

Click to expand...

It's voted on by the readers, but they pretty much just go by what Meltzer said during the year at least nowadays so it was probably what happened then too. I'm pretty sure some of the years the MOTY isn't actually the highest rated match star-wise from Meltzer and the WMOTY definitely isn't always the worst rated match, but they're still voted on by his readers so they're all drinking the kool-aid