A miracle comeback, two marathon matches, and we have a winner in King of the Ring II. Ric Flair came out of the losers’ bracket and pulled off an incredible finish to force one final winner-take-all-match. However, he couldn’t do it twice and Nikita Koloff powered his way to the crown.
Match #1: Ric Flair def. Nikita Koloff by submission at 72:00.
Match #2: Nikita Koloff def. Ric Flair by pinfall at 60:00.
Flair entered the match as the top seed in the tournament, but having come through the losers’ bracket, he would need to beat Koloff twice. He had already wrestled six times, including three straight wins in the losers’ bracket. Third-seeded Koloff had had a much easier time of it to this point, posting four comfortable victories.
Match #1: Koloff quickly wiped out Flair’s early advantage with a pair of Russian Sickles, though Flair kicked out of both. A Cobra Clutch continued to sap Flair’s energy. Flair fought back, getting Koloff into the Figure Four twice, but Koloff had too much left in the tank to give up. Koloff continued to hammer away on Flair, and Flair appeared to be a dead man walking. Koloff was on the verge of landing his finisher to end the match and win the tournament, but Flair kept avoiding disaster. A late flurry by Flair deeply hurt Koloff. Flair locked in the Figure Four, and this time he got Koloff to tap out, forcing a second championship match.
Match #2: Flair continued where he left off, holding the momentum for the first half of the match. But Koloff played dirty, cheating twice in a matter of minutes to stun Flair. Koloff looked to end it with a Russian Sickle, and then another Russian Sickle off the top rope, but Flair escaped the three-count twice. Koloff dominated from that point forward. He hit a third Russian Sickle, but a near-exhausted Flair kicked out. He hit a fourth Russian Sickle, but Flair again miraculously kicked out. A fifth Russian Sickle finally put Koloff over the top and sent him home with the win.
ROGER SPORTS & GAMES 