On January 6, 1983, Colón defeated Ric Flair in a match for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. However, the outcome of this match was not made official or aired on NWA television. Flair received the belt back in a phantom title change that took place on January 23, 1983. Later that year, Colón required hospitalization due to injury following a match against Bruiser Brody. This loss was publicized and made the covers of "El Nuevo Día" and "El Vocero", both of which are mainstream newspapers. Two weeks later, Colón defeated Brody in a rematch. In December 1983, Capitol Sports Promotions began a feud between Colón and Flair, which included a skit where the NWA champion criticized Capitol's title claiming that he was the only "real world champion", leading to a steel cage match to determine the "undisputed champion of the Universe". The encounter headlined an event held in Bayamón on December 18, 1983. Colón won cleanly, and the WWC World Heavyweight Championship was renamed to Universal Heavyweight Championship as a result. In subsequent interviews, Flair has stated that the NWA title was not on the line for this match because an official unification was proposed, but he vetoed it.