Observer Flashback: Flair beats Vader at Starrcade 93, huge career rundown, tons more

Arguably the most emotional world title win of Ric Flair's career took place 30 years ago today.  

Flair defeated Vader for the WCW Heavyweight Championship in a title vs. career match to headline Starrcade 93.  

Our own Dave Meltzer wrote that Flair's title win that night "was easily the most memorable of all his title wins, and created a unique emotional moment almost foreign to American wrestling." 

Subscribers can click here to read the entire January 3, 1994 edition of The Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

Meltzer continued to write that Flair's performance at Starrcade 93 defined his legacy as the greatest all-around performer in wrestling history. 

Meltzer wrote: 

Whether this was the last real hurrah or a career rebirth, either for WCW and/or Ric Flair, will be answered by crowd reactions over the next few weeks. But no matter which it is and what the future of WCW is, Flair's role in wrestling history as its greatest all-around performer of all-time, which was solidified many years ago, was defined on this night. It was the night where his versatility, interview ability and obvious love for his sport took center stage above any wrestling match. If it seemed real at times, it probably was because with the exception of what actually went on in the ring (which was really brutal in its own right), an awful lot of it was.

Subscribers can click here to read the entire January 3, 1994 edition of The Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

Coverage of Starrcade 93 in the issue also includes a detailed rundown of Flair's title history and career highlights up to that point. 

Flair vs. Vader headlining Starrcade 93 was, of course, not the original plan for the show. Sid Vicious was set to face Vader on the pay-per-view until the infamous scissor-incident with Arn Anderson two months earlier derailed WCW's plans. That incident was covered in the November 8 and November 15, 1993 editions of the newsletter. 

Subscribers can click here to access the Wrestling Observer Newsletter archives.