Where to start..... I couldn't locate the derogatory (I assume) comment about Gordon Solie. It was a privilege to hear Gordon call a match. Best ever.....and didn't have to rely on yelling "GOOOOODDDDD LAAAAAARD !!!!!" 300 times a show....but I digress.
There was no derogatory comment about Solie, not from me. I liked Gordon Solie. Again, I grew up with Florida Championship Wrestling. Solie was the only guy who pronounced "suplex" as "soo-play" (leaving the "x" silent). Everyone else says "soo-plex".
As for Hogan/Vince/Flair, etc... I remember being very fired up to actually see a Hogan match on USA or WGN back in the day when we first got cable, yes I'm old.... I had read about Hogan in mags for years and wanted to see what it was all about. This was around the time Muraco and Snuka were fueding if I remember correctly. Hogan's entrance, as always, was great.....looks great, way-over....great music.. Eye of the Tiger.... and then the match commenced. Wow.... after watching Flair, Steamboat, Masked Superstar, Buzz Sawyer, Mr. Wrestling I and II, Wahoo, etc... to say it was a letdown would be like saying McWay was "disappointed" when Obama was re-elected. He wrestled the EXACT same match over and over and over. Some will say Flair was repetitive and of course he had signature moves, etc... but I watched Flair extensively for YEARS in various territories and he could adapt and him "taking an hour" to defeat Terry Funk (another all-time great worker) is the point. He could hold an entire arena in the palm of his hand for an hour....never knowing when or how a match would end. With Hogan there was very little doubt about the final minute of EVERY match. I know it's all individual tastes and at the age I was when the Horsemen took off, I wanted to drive the nice cars, drink the finest and have all the hot women...just like Flair. I certainly didn't want to be a bald guy who cut promo's talking about eating vitamins. Hogan was aimed at a certain demographic, young kids, and Flair was aimed at a more mature audience.
My take was the exact opposite. I wanted to be a HUGE guy with 24" pyhtons, who stood larger than life and could vanquish any foe in his way. I certainly didn't want to be some (relatively speaking) shrimp of a champion with a raggedy belt (before he got the big gold one), who couldn't tie his shoe without the Horsemen helping him.
When Flair needs an hour (and help) to beat a guy, while Hogan beats that same guy in 5-10 minutes, there's no question to me who the better champion was (back in the day).
I've summed it up like this before and feel it's the most accurate. Flair is Robert DeNiro and Hogan is Arnold or Stallone. I think most will understand that comparison.
On April 29, 1995, in North Korea, Ric Flair wrestled Antonio Inoki in a match attended by 190,000 people. The number is believed to be the highest ever to attend a professional wrestling card. Take that VKM media-hype machine..... Whoooooooooooooooooooooo oooo !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That's just it. Flair's matches were almost as predictable as those of Hogan. Flair would either keep the title on a technicality or the Horsemen would save his behind.
I pretty much wrote off Flair matches and those of the NWA/Florida Championship Wrestling, when I saw a match between Flair and Luger for the title.
Luger got busted open, during the match. The match continued and eventually, Luger beat Flair and won the title, or so we thought. Then, came some STUPID decision that the match had to be stopped, because Luger was bleeding. It didn't stop while he was gushing blood. But, the decision had to be reversed AFTER Luger pinned Flair and won the belt. The refs gave the title back to Flair.
Add to that a 2-out-of-3 falls match, where Luger won the first fall. But, then the Horsemen and a bunch of other goons jumped Luger, between the first and second falls. Luger was in no shape to fight and Flair won the next two falls easily.