Friday, July 15, 2016

July Thunderstorms Make me Think of Landel and Flair

by Dick Bourne
Mid-Atlantic Gateway

"I don’t know if it was serendipity, or Joe Murnick in the heavens taking one last look, or the Lord illuminating greatness that made that perfectly dramatic moment happen."   - Bruce Mitchell

Whenever summer thunderstorms roll around, I'm reminded of one of my favorite wrestling stories, the night Buddy Landel and Ric Flair turned them away at Raleigh's Dorton Arena - - the night lightening lit up the July sky through the massive windows of Dorton Arena at the precise moment Flair dropped Landel to the mat in an explosive (literally) vertical suplex.

This was always one of my favorite feuds that never really got out of the gates because reportedly booker Dusty Rhodes was saving it for later. It was guaranteed money. When Landel's career self-destructed in late 1985, we never had the chance to see that conflict come to its fruition other than the few matches they had earlier that summer.

Bruce Mitchel of Pro Wrestling Torch wrote about that night in Raleigh for the Mid-Atlantic Gateway last summer following the untimely death of Landel. It is one of my favorite guests posts we've ever had, and one of the most popular posts ever on the website. It's also one of my favorite titles: The Lightening and the Thunder of the Nature Boys.

So as I watched lightening light up the sky last night and heard the thunder's response, it made me think of Landel vs. Flair and what might have been. I decided to post a link again to Mitchell's story. Through it, we get to enjoy what was, if only for a moment in time, one hell of an exciting match-up.

The Lightening and the Thunder of the Nature Boys
by Bruce Mitchell, Pro-Wrestling Torch 
Special to the Mid-Atlantic Gateway
July 10, 2015

http://www.midatlanticgateway.com/2015/07/mitchell-nature-boys.html



http://www.midatlanticgateway.com/p/us-title-book.html