Gimmick Some Lovin': Loser Leaves Town

January 25, 1993

The former Executive Assistant prepares to rumble with his hated ex-employer

Onscreen, the hatred between the two continued to boil, with each man interfering in his foe's match on the January 18 Monday Night Raw, and Perfect even eliminating the Nature Boy from the 1993 Royal Rumble (the first iteration of the match where the victor would become the number one contender for the WWF Championship at Wrestlemania).

Offscreen, however, Flair wasn't the fit in the World Wrestling Federation many thought he could be, and the fans "up North" didn't really take to him the way that traditional NWA/WCW crowds had. Additionally, Jim Herd was no longer in charge, and Flair would be guaranteed a top spot in the company practically built on his back.

With the old-school mentality that you always go out on your back, and that a star's final match in a territory should be used to build a younger star, Flair agreed to a Loser Leaves Town match on the January 25, 1993 edition of Monday Night Raw (the night after the Rumble).

If this match were held in 2017, social media, internet rumours, and flashy headlines would have killed any suspense in this match, because Naitch's impending return to Atlanta would almost be common knowledge among wrestling fans. In the pre-internet wrestling business, however, this was a dream match of master technicians meeting in one-on-one combat for the first time (on WWF television, at least) with the right to remain a WWF Superstar on the line.