When watching 80s and 90s wrestling television, you’ll sit through a lot of squash matches. Some of my favorites involved tag teams. You knew how the match would end most of the time: the tag finisher. On occasion, you something great like a match that ends while the over wrestlers are still entering. A match that stood out to me was newly-crowned U.S champion Ric Flair vs. Jim Powers on WCW Nitro July 8, 1996.
Jim Powers Arrives in WCW
Flair and Powers had a few matches prior to this one in WWE. Their first showdown was for Ric Flair’s WWE debut in September 1991 on Wrestling Challenge. WWE had a number of TV shows during this period—as did WCW. If you don’t know Jim Powers’ career progression in the 90s, let’s just say he lost posthaste. The outcome was the same when they squared off in 1992 on the same program.
Even though Jim Powers had a powerful babyface look to him no one expected a former Young Stallion who didn’t achieve gold in WWE to beat the multiple-time World champion. Excuse me—the real World champion. It just wasn’t going to happen.
Fast forward to 1996 and Flair’s been back in WCW for about three years now. Also, Jim Powers had since finished a seven-year stint with WWE. Now he’s in WCW, he’s delivering solid bouts in mostly losing efforts but now he has a manager in Teddy Long. Great! Long’s a great manager. The plan was apparently to put him a faction with Joe Gomez and The Renegade. Instead, Powers and Gomez should’ve just been a team and The Renegade could go do…whatever.
Ric Flair vs. Jim Powers on Nitro
This brings me to that July 8th match. Ric Flair is defending his U.S title against Jim Powers! The Not So Young Stallion has an opportunity at championship gold in WCW! Flair is out there with Woman and Debra McMichael because he’s too much man for one woman apparently.
The match could’ve easily flown under my radar because a lot happened on this show. As a matter of fact, it was an extremely busy Nitro mainly because the nWo was in the house! That said, Flair and Powers had one of the best almost 6-minute squash in WCW.
This wasn’t just an out and out squash though. Considering Flair’s opponent here, yeah it could be considered a squash but Flair worked with him. Several veterans have said that Flair enjoyed blowing up enhancement guys, so it wasn’t that unusual to see him wrestle longer matches with them in WCW. However, Jim Powers actually got in offense here.
Yeah, it was shy of six minutes and we knew Powers wasn’t going to win but it was an even bout. I don’t know what Powers would’ve put the Nature Boy away with to win. Probably that running powerslam of his. Who knows?
You can check out this match below.
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